By Angela Marshall
Weather permitting, dozens of children in grades four to eight will put brush to paper, creating goulish scenes on village businesses' windows during the painting contest.
The Rockville Centre Lions Club is hoping all of the young artists, their families and the rest of the village turn out at Centennial Park in the afternoon for the fourth annual Duck Race and Fall Family Festival, which will be open from noon to 4 p.m. The festival will feature arts and crafts, amusement rides, a petting zoo, face painting, a hayride and more.
Once again, the highlight of the day will be a rubber duck race along Mill River. Ducks can still be sponsored the day of the race.
The small rubber ducks adopted by hopeful winners will be released from the Park Avenue bridge and will sail toward the finish line. Sponsors of fast ducks, last ducks and wayward ducks will be awarded prizes donated by local merchants. All proceeds will benefit Lion Club charities, both local and national. The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 20.
Students at South Side High School will take to the streets for the annual Home Coming Parade at noon. Each class will have a float and alumni will ride in vintage cars. The parade will start at the corner of Sunrise Highway and Long Beach Road and go north on Long Beach to Shepherd Street where it will end at the high school football field.
The Home Coming game against Mepham will start at 2 p.m. It will be followed by an Alumni Football Game to raise funds for alumni scholarships. All South Side grads are welcome to play. The alumni will meet for a post-game celebration at Kasey's on Park Avenue.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 240 Lincoln Ave., will hold their Oktoberfest on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will feature a German band and dancers, face and pumpkin painting, German food, a beer tent, 50/50 and more.
There is also plenty to choose from in the evening. The Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts production of "The Pajama Game" will be held Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at South Side High School.
The 40th annual St. Agnes Parish Celebration will be held at Molloy College and will honor Marilyn and Bernie O'Brien. The evening will begin at 8 p.m. will feature dinner, dancing and live music. Tickets are $40, or $45 at the door. For information and reservations call (516) 766-0205.
Candlelight vigil
All residents, their families, and friends are invited to a second Candlelight Vigil on the Village Green, Maple and Lee avenues, on Sunday at 7 p.m. to mark the anniversary of our community's response to the 9/11 terror attacks.
During the Vigil, the new 9/11 Memorial to the victims of the World Trade Center attacks from the Rockville Centre community will be dedicated. The memorial area will be opened for visiting at the conclusion of the ceremony.
New York State Gov. George Pataki, who addressed the vigil audience in 2001, hopes to attend; State Senator Dean Skelos, who helped secure funding for the memorial, and Mayor Eugene Murray will speak.
The memorial, located in the northwest corner of the Green, includes granite monuments inscribed with the names of those lost from our community.
Please bring a candle to light as part of the ceremony.
