The Belmont Festival will be held this Friday, June 9 from 6 until 11 p.m. along Seventh Street and Franklin Avenue. This exciting family event will include entertainers, six bands, great restaurant fare, special beverages, a shop window contest and a number of surprises and special promotions. Make it a part of your family's weekend plans.

Special feature of the festival will be a demonstration by the famous United States Army Golden Knights and a parade down Seventh Street to the Garden City Hotel. It will step off promptly at 7 p.m. from Franklin Avenue and will feature our own Garden City Police Honor Guard, the Nassau County Police Department's Pipe Band, the Garden City High School Marching Band, and Mounted Unit Belmont Race Track's Colorful Outriders and rare antique automobiles.

In order to accommodate the event as safely as possible, Seventh Street will be cleared of parked vehicles starting at 5 p.m. and will be closed to all traffic at 6 p.m. Parking fields to the rear of the stores (7S and 7N) will remain open.

It has been the Village's pleasure to have worked closely with the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, the Garden City Hotel, the Town of Hempstead Department of Tourism and the New York Racing Association on this event. We are all looking forward to the 9th and the Belmont Festival at Garden City, our newest annual event.

Village tax bills will be mailed to residents and their banks this week. The first-half of village taxes are due during the month of June and will be delinquent and subject to a penalty if payment is not made on or before July 1. Kindly return the "first-half" bill stub with your payment.

Recreation personnel are busy effecting finishing touches in getting the Garden City Swimming Pool ready for the opening of its 43rd season, scheduled for Saturday, June 10. I am confident that residents will be delighted with the results.

Should there be any questions with regard to filing for an application or procedures, please call the Garden City Pool at 483-1714, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.