New Hyde Park Hosts Annual Tree Lighting

Written by Marilou Giammona, nassauillustrated@antonnews.com Friday, 07 December 2012 00:00

Residents gather to kick off holiday season

New Hyde Park Village Hall was all aglow on Saturday, Dec. 1, as the village hosted its annual Christmas tree lighting and magic show. Valley National Bank and the Village of New Hyde Park Cultural Commission sponsored the event, which was held at the Marcus Christ Community Center.

“On behalf of the Village of New Hyde Park, I’d like to welcome you all to the annual tree lighting ceremony,” Trustee Donald B. Barbieri said to a standing-room-only crowd. “I want to first thank Rich DeMartino and Mary Durkin from Valley National Bank for sponsoring the event today. They’ve been good friends of ours for many, many years,” he said. Indeed, as in previous years, DeMartino and Durkin presented a check for the event’s magic show. This year, guests were entertained by Amore, a magician who engaged audience members of all ages.

“I want to take one more second to thank Lisa Miranda from our Cultural Commission,” Barbieri continued. “We all went through this horrible month and it’s wonderful that we can move right into this terrific season and all be here together to kick this off and enjoy it together.”

The magic show was followed by live holiday music performed by the New Hyde Park Memorial High School choir and band.

While the choir sang its final song and the band played its final tune, the sun sank deeper, setting the stage for the main event of the day. As guests prepared to head outdoors onto the front lawn of Village Hall to witness the tree lighting, they received one more treat: Teachers from Little Treasures Nursery School surprised the children in the room by giving each of them a gift.

Once outdoors, guests heard the sirens then saw the bright lights of a New Hyde Park fire truck, which stopped in front of village hall carrying a very special passenger. Santa Claus jumped down from the truck and made his way through the crowd, stopping along the way to greet children and listen to their Christmas wishes. Before long, he made his way up the front steps of village hall and with help from Barbieri, DeMartino, Durkin, Deputy Mayor Robert A. Lofaro and Trustee Lawrence J. Montreuil, Santa flipped the switch to illuminate the village’s Christmas tree.

With that, the holiday season officially began in New Hyde Park.