By Susan Lin
"The objective is to bring the various heritages that make up Nassau County together," said Pete Cimino, a staffer at the Long Island Partnership serving as logistics coordinator of the event.
The annual Heritage Festival also serves as a fundraiser for the Long Island Partnership, a non-profit organization. Proceeds go toward running the festival and other programs at the institution.
"There's no anticipated goal, though," said Cimino. He said it's hard to predict how much funds they hope to generate because the weather might throw in a monkey wrench.
According to Cimino, the now-defunct Nassau County Office of Cultural Development originated the Heritage Festival. When the office was left out of the 2000 county budget, the Long Island Partnership took over the orchestration of the Heritage Festival, among other former tasks of the county office.
Cimino's job included booking reservations for the booths at the festival, and laying out the floor plan for the booths and special events. "We take up 2/3 of the parking lot, about a football field," said Cimino.
This year, about 30 different nations have reserved a booth, said Cimino. Among others they include Africa, Argentina, India, China, Chile, Germany, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Egypt, Puerto Rico, Russia, Korea, Japan, Scotland, Sweden and the Ukraine.
The Museum of Italian Culture from Uniondale will be there with a display featuring their current exhibits.
While the Long Island Partnership didn't know exactly what each booth has planned for this year's exhibit, Cimino said all will provide some information about their culture. The festival "is like walking through an encyclopedia sometimes," said Cimino.
In previous years, for example, the an Olive Oil company representing Greece sold its wares. Another booth held a raffle with the prize being an expense-paid trip to their country. And many booths took memberships for their organizations.
Besides booths representing nations, some booths will represent the local community. For example, The Herald Community Newspapers will be there with samples of its publications.
While exploring the various booths, visitors can enjoy scheduled entertainment. This year, the Schade Irish Step Dancers from Levittown will demonstrate their skills. Other performances include ethnic favorites like Flamenco, specialty Russian dancing.
Bands playing country, jazz, swing, Doo Wop and golden oldies make up the musical entertainment for the weekend. Highlights include Arleen Smith and the Shantels, who are performing on the stage at 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Tokens, known by some as the band that sings "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," will be performing on stage at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
For the kids, the Children's Pavilion will feature a play based on stories by Hans Christian Anderson at 2 p.m. everyday, followed by a magic act from Bill White Productions.
And performers costumed as Roman gladiators will be re-enacting a fight, at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday. "They'll be using real metal swords," said Cimino.
At a Glance
2001 Heritage Festival
Eisenhower Park, Parking Field 6, East Meadow
(516) 571-8550
11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, August 3 and 4
12 noon to 6 p.m.; Sunday, August 5
Admission: $5; children under 6 free
