By:Carrie James
Each year, members of the East Meadow Kiwanis Club gather to help area residents celebrate the community they call home in an event known as East Meadow Pride Day.
Greg Peterson of East Meadow, the former Town of Hempstead presiding supervisor, founded the day in 1992 because he thought his community needed an event that brought the people together on a positive note.
"At the time, Long Island was slower in coming out of the recession than other areas. Everyone was really depressed, a lot of people were out of work," he said. "At the time I was the supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, and I thought we should start with my own community of East Meadow and let's show everyone what's good about our community."
Peterson contacted the Kiwanis Club of East Meadow, a group he also belongs to, and asked the organization to host a three-hour festival that brought together community businesses, organizations and residents.
From the beginning, Peterson said, many area businesses and organizations have come out to help make East Meadow Pride Day a success.
Many donate food, prizes, rides and even money so that the event is free to all those who attend the event, which will take place at Speno Park Saturday, June 2 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; June 3 is the rain date.
"It really is a fun day for everyone who comes," said Sal Napolitano, Kiwanis member who coordinates the fest. "We have five or six rides. The Chamber participates and we have hundreds of kids. We bring in about 5,000 between 10 and 1."
This year's pride festival will feature pony rides, a health fair, a giant slide and Velcro olympics, art show, games, demonstrations, fire safety tours, refreshments, face painting, live music and much more.
Because the event is so popular, it's hard for people to find parking at Speno Park, so Kiwanis set up a free shuttle that picks up visitors parking at Veterans Memorial Park and takes them to and from the event.
A big donor to the event, Pietro's Restaurant and Pizzeria, gives the fest about 200 pizzas each year to help feed the guests. Hot dogs, drinks and other food items are also donated.
In previous years, organizations also covered the costs of child activities, such as the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored pony rides.
While the community gives many donations to help the fest, many organizations, especially those that serve the community at large, set up booths or tables throughout Speno Park so that visitors can obtain information about the organizations and learn what they do for the community, Peterson said.
Community bands, organizations and residents also come out to provide entertainment for the event. In previous years, the East Meadow High School Marching Band performed and people did face painting as well, Napolitano said.
The event has been a success from its very beginning, Peterson said. Even the first one brought between 1,500 and 2,000 people. Since then, it has become somewhat of an institution that people look forward to attending.
"The first event was tremendously successful," he said. "And actually once it developed steam, it was really easy to get people to volunteer. The Kiwanis jumped in with both feet to help. Everyone has felt that that first one was so good that they wanted another one. Every year it has grown bigger and bigger. It makes newcomers feel very welcome as well."
