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Mostly Cloudy Valley Stream carnival-goers: Bring it back!
The carnival at the Arthur J. Hendrickson Park pool parking lot on Mother's Day weekend was a success, its organizers said, and it could become an annual event.
“Based upon the hundreds of responses and the number of repeat visitors, it should go on for a very long time,” said organizer Phil Jones.
The damp weather kept the crowds down until Saturday, but once things got going, the scene looked like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting, Jones said. Smiling children ran from ride to ride and couples strolled along holding hands and eating corndogs.
“There were folks coming up to me saying that this brings back beautiful childhood memories of when their parents brought them to the carnival when it was held on the Village Green over 20 years ago,” Jones said. “Now they are able to share this same experience with their own children.”
The commanding officer of the Valley Stream Auxiliary Police, Richard Vela, said that the event was well-planned and ran smoothly, with no incidents to report. “I thought it was one of the better ones I’ve been to,” he said.
The Valley Stream Presbyterian Church sponsored the carnival as a fundraiser. The money raised will be used to have much-needed work done to the church and to hold church events, according to Jones. He donned the purple shirt that his volunteers wore throughout the event and approached groups of attendees to ask how they were enjoying it. The most frequent comment he heard was that it should come back next year.
“One person said that Valley Stream was hungry for an event like this because it is such a family centered place,” Jones said. “It’s built for a carnival.”
