Creativity and Halloween spirit were in the streets Saturday, Oct. 25, in New Hyde Park.
The village’s fifth annual Halloween parade saw over 150 kids, adults and pets take to the streets in full costume, led by Mayor Christopher Devane dressed as the joker, Trustee Eve Sheikh as Cruella de Vil and an enthusiastic quartet of kids dressed as a box of fries, a fairy, a headless man and a demon hunter.
“My favorite part is seeing all the children in costume,” said Trustee Sheikh, who led the efforts to organize the event. “It’s one of our favorite events of the year. We all dress up, it’s a great way to have the community get together and have fun.”
The parade marched to the tune of the New Hyde Park Road School band toward a fall festival in the village’s Memorial Park, which included a costume contest, inflatable corn maze from All in One event company, pumpkin painting, yard games and a pie-eating contest, which the village board participated in.
“It’s really wonderful,” said Kamaldeed Singh, a village resident who attended the event with his young children. “The kids really enjoy it. They meet their friends. We appreciate the activities.”
“I hope they keep doing this every year,” Singh added.
It was a sentiment shared by many at the event, who laughed as the costume contest’s DJ “Dan the Man” joked personally with each and every kid who stepped up to the stage to show off their outfit, photographed the mayor and village board as they put their faces in pies and cheered on the high school dance team’s spooky performance.
Sheikh says the village absolutely will continue to carry on the tradition. In fact, she hopes even more people will participate next year – and that even more adults get in the festive spirit and come in costume.
Town officials in attendance emphasized the importance of community gatherings and commended the village board for cultivating new village events throughout its five years in office.
“Festivities like this keep the community together,” said Town Clerk Ragini Srivastava.
Sheikh said the village thanks its staff, volunteers, fire department and all event participants.
