Community events mark the start of summer

When the Memorial Day parade and Community Pride Day ride up against the 80-degree heat, it is the beginning of summer in East Meadow. Yet, over the years, these activities are not just annual mainstays to the sun and surf -- they have become our families’ invisible growth charts played out in the streets and parks of this active community.

My own family’s relationship to the parade, for example, has morphed and grown as the kids aged out from one group of marchers to the next.Early on it was an opportunity for my oldest child to walk with the Girl Scouts carrying banners, American flags and Troop colors. Then came her choice to walk with the top baseball team competing for the championship in East Meadow Little League or the scouts (This turned out to be a no-brainer since it was a bit more rare to be part of a winning season than to earn the Bronze Award). Then, as high school musicians, so many in our town are called upon to provide the beat for the entire length of the parade.

Because my husband and I tend to stand near the end of the route by Veteran’s Memorial Park, it has always been a defining moment when the twirling flags and drum rhythms are heard all the way north on Prospect Avenue. The crowd’s anticipation -- antsy children and adults with cameras -- never gets old, even as we do.

For East Meadow Pride Day, the morning festivities have been a particular favorite for our early-to-rise family. But here too, there have been adjustments tothis yearly experience.

At first it was all about getting street parking and making it to the bounce house and jumbo slide before maximum capacity took over. Then, the importance of “winning” mini trophies for kicking a soccer goal reigned supreme. But, with time, the day became more serious, especially with the opportunity for our kids to display their artwork from Woodland Middle School on the chain-link fence in a giant outdoor art exhibition. Nowadays, it’s about seeing friends and recognizing the people and businesses that comprise our area.

In all of these moments, captured first on hundreds of feet of Super 8 tapes and now ona disk no bigger than my thumbnail, I have unexpectedlymeasured this community’s events as more than just another turn of the calendar page. Now, more than ever, each time seems likeanother invisible line in ourEast Meadow’s growth chart. In my mind’s eye, I can see the stages: here’s where we were, where we are today and where we might be next year.