Friday, November 7, 2025
More than 100 residents showed their support for the Malverne Police Department last Monday evening, attending the Malverne Police Benevolent Association’s first Hops and Cops Farm Fest at Crossroads Farm at Grossmann’s.
With a $100 entry donation, attendees enjoyed unlimited craft beer provided by local breweries, as well as catered food.
“This was a fundraiser for the Malverne PBA, the first of its kind,” Christopher Aresta, a Malverne police officer and event coordinator for the PBA, said. “We just offered a nice event to the community to come and enjoy.”
Door prize raffles, raffle prizes, a 50/50 and more were offered during the inaugural event. The raffle prizes were donated to the PBA from numerous local businesses.
“I’m very happy to say the event was a success,” Aresta said. “We’d like to thank everyone that showed their support for us. It only strengthens our ties to the community.”
With a projector set up behind Crossroads Farm’s educational hoop house, attendees watched the Monday Night Football matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Kansas City Chiefs on the big screen.
“Aresta had reached out to me a number of months ago and shared his desire to do a large-scale fundraising event for the Malverne PBA, which we immediately decided to support,” Malverne Mayor Tim Sullivan, who attended the event, said.
“It was a wonderful community event to support the PBA, which has supported the village throughout its existence,” Sullivan added. “It was a pleasure catching up with not only the men and women of the department, but the other members of the community that support our police.”
Providing the beer were Oceanside’s Barrier Brewing Co.; South Shore Craft Brewery, also in Oceanside; Jones Beach Brewing Company in Point Lookout; and Somerset Brewing Company in West Hempstead.
Serving up the food during the fundraiser were Malverne’s Antonio’s Delicatessen and Catering; Dominick’s Italian-American Deli of New Hyde Park; and Dilly Dilly Donuts food trucks.
“We want to support local initiatives, local fundraisers,” Michael D’Angelo, operations manager for Crossroads Farm, said. “So when the Malverne PBA reached out, we were really excited to cooperate and create an event that worked for the community.
“It’s important to us to give space for local groups to have a community gathering space — for people to come down to the farm and enjoy time together,” D’Angelo added.
The Malverne PBA is a union representing members of the Malverne Police Department. “Our police department is an integral organization in this village and certainly credited with keeping Malverne safe,” Sullivan said.
Funds raised during the farm fest will support PBA events, such as the annual senior barbecue, the volunteer barbecue the PBA hosts during the annual Lighting of Malverne, and the PBA scholarship fund. Prior to the farm fest, donations and membership dues supported PBA events.
The Sgt. Thomas J. Winters Memorial Scholarship Fund is available to all Village of Malverne high school seniors who are graduating. The scholarship honors Winters, who died suddenly in 2021 after serving more than 20 years in the Malverne Police Department and more than 10 years as PBA president.
Each year since 2022, two students from Malverne have received the scholarship.
“Malverne is a very special community,” Aresta said. “Anybody who lives in Malverne knows it’s very tight-knit. So we’re just happy that we can do something like this and host a fun night for the community members that want to show their support for us.”
Aresta said he’s already looking forward to organizing the farm fest again next year.
