A dreary forecast didn’t damper last night’s crowds at the Jamesport Fire Department’s 60th annual parade.
Hundreds lined Main Road in Jamesport to watch the hour-long parade, many from pickup truck beds and lawn chairs. Children shrieked and squealed with delight at the shrill sirens as the long procession of local fire departments made its way down the street.
Denise Lucas, founder of Riverhead Move The Animal Shelter, led the parade this year as grand marshall. She is first female grand marshall to ever lead the parade.
“Denise Lucas has volunteered four years of her life to the cause of the animal shelter,” said Mason Haas, emcee at the grandstand set up in the heart of Jamesport. “When we’re picking the grand marshall, we look for someone who has given a lot to the community. We feel Denise has done that.”
Although the forecast called for rain and thunderstorms, the dark clouds did little more than drizzle on Route 25. “We really lucked out, because it was pouring on Sound Avenue,” Sean McCabe, chief of Jamesport Fire Department, said today. “One of our guys called in the middle of the parade to ask if we were canceling. He was on Sound Avenue – he said he couldn’t even see out of his car it was raining so hard.
“It never rains on Jamesport’s parade,” he added, chuckling.
The parade kicked off the fire department’s annual carnival and bazaar, featuring food, games, rides and prizes. The carnival will be open 6 p.m. – 11 p.m. tonight and tomorrow, and from 4 p.m. to midnight Saturday. A fireworks display will finish off the carnival at 10 p.m. Saturday.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl and Katie Blasl.
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