Yes, it’s November and Thanksgiving is about a week away, but that won’t stop the Village of Farmingdale from celebrating the upcoming holiday season.
The Farmingdale Chamber of Commerce will be holding their annual holiday parade on Saturday, Nov. 23, at noon. Parade goers will march from Northside Elementary School at 55 Powell Place and continuing all the way down Main Street. The parade will end at the Village Green on 361 Main St.
“It’s a staple for the village because we are a traditional village,” said chamber president Joseph Garcia. “It’s a village that appreciates celebrations and traditions. For people who long for nostalgia and tradition, the holiday parade provides that. It’s like a scene out of It’s A Wonderful Life. We want people to walk away from it thinking they just watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade at the local level.”
Regarding the early date, it’s not new for Farmingdale to hold the parade in November as they’ve done so for a while now. But that doesn’t mean the chamber isn’t trying to find a way to schedule it post-Thanksgiving.
“We’ve looked at pushing it into December, which is something we are hoping to do for future years,” said Garcia. “Its been difficult to get everyone on schedule. The closer you get to all the different holidays that are happening in December, the more difficult it is to organize with the fire department and, more importantly, the schools since the students are involved. The closer you get into December, you are looking at the SATs and end of semester testing. Add in the school break and its forced us to keep it near the end of November.”
The chamber begins its preparation for the parade in the spring as they begin coordinating calendars with the different groups involved, with the date usually set by January. Then, it’s making sure that everyone in the area can coordinate around the parade.
“We’re dealing with six to seven community organizations and making sure they have what they need,” said Garcia. “We contact municipal organizations like the county for the road use. The village has been a great partner of ours, making it much easier to plan. They handle a lot of the municipal stuff. We also make sure the businesses in the village are aware of the parade and what the hours will be.”
The parade features the Farmingdale Public School Marching Band, the Dalerettes Kickline and Hardscrabble Girl Scouts all in holiday costume. Chamber and village officials also march in the parade. And of course, Santa will be part of the festivities, played by village trustee Dr. Walter Priestley. After the parade, he will be at the Village Green, handing out candy canes and taking photos with any kid who comes by.
“I have to give credit to the school because the marching band and the Dalerettes make the parade more grand than it already is because they bring so much energy to the event,” said Garcia. “Dr. Priestley triple checks the costume and brings his daughters out to help hand out candy canes. I know its become a tradition for them to do this every year. And the great thing is I have so much help from the rest of the chamber that it makes it easier as president because they’ve done so much to get this under way.”
For Garcia, the thing he loves about holding this parade is having families come together to enjoy it.
“I have two kids, aged 5 and 2, and they love the event,” said Garcia. “They love the amazing display. It’s important to me that the kids who live in Farmingdale can enjoy the parade and it goes off the way we plan because it’s sets the stage for the holiday season.”
The hope is that the chamber will be able to coordinate and align the parade with the village’s Winter Wonderland event that happens in mid-December in the future. According to Garcia, he hopes the village can become a leader in holiday events on the island.
“Anytime that you can help a family come together and be present in the moment, you almost have a duty to make that happen,” said Garcia. “The world moves so quick. We live in unprecedented times. Anytime you can have people have some fun, lighten up a little bit and have the public display of fun for the holidays, I think you do that.”
