This past Saturday, up to 600 people came out to Roslyn Heights to help the Roslyn Highlands Fire Department celebrate its 100th anniversary on a day that featured numerous events, including the Nassau County Fire Battalion Parade & Drill, a big parade down Mineola Avenue, and a party that lasted throughout the evening.

In the morning, Roslyn Highlands hosted the Fifth Annual Fire Battalion Parade & Drill, the latter of which took place at Michael J. Tully Park in New Hyde Park.

Roslyn Highlands personnel came in second place in the drill, which was won by the Oyster Bay Fire Department for the 14th year in a row. The drill included such events as the running ladder, a three-man ladder, a running hose, and "2 into 1," buckets.

Prior to the parade, which began around 6 p.m. at Mineola Avenue and MacGregor Avenue, the skies grew dark and rain appeared imminent. However, by the time the parade was under way, the skies had cleared and a late afternoon sun greeted the parade's many participants.

Fire departments from throughout Long Island came to honor Roslyn Highlands. They included personnel from Albertson, Manhasset-Lakeville, Oyster Bay, Bayville, Glenwood Landing, Sea Cliff, Locust Valley, in addition to The Fire Riders of Nassau County, and the Comanche Raiders, billed as "Long Island's Family Band." In all, more than 25 fire departments participated in the parade. All of them paraded their class "A" fire trucks, plus some antiques as well.

The Roslyn High School marching band kicked off the parade, which also featured a contingent from Roslyn Highlands' fellow Roslyn Fire Company, Roslyn Rescue. Two large Roslyn Rescue fire trucks each carried two different, but equally melancholy tributes, one to the Langone brothers, Tommy and Peter, both of whom perished in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, and another to Captain Allen Frye, who died in the spring of 2002 during a training exercise on Glen Cove Road.

For the parade, the Roslyn Highlands contingent was judged the first place entry for both its overall performance and those by its "over 50" members. The Highlands' Juniors contingent came in third place in that competition.

The parade made its way to company headquarters, located next to the Roslyn Long Island Rail Road station. There, local residents enjoyed an all-night Block Party, which featured plenty of food and music by a local DJ. In addition to fire department personnel and Roslyn area residents, State Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Jon Venditto attended the day's festivities.

"It was a successful day," said Lewis J. Unger, corresponding secretary for Roslyn Highlands. "There were no problems." The day's events, Unger added, represented the highlights of the ongoing centennial celebrations for Roslyn Highlands.