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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Broad Channel Bits



By Dan Guarino
How else can you start this week’s BC Bits column with any other phrase but “Mardi Gras is coming!”
Get your very last chance to win $10,000. Buy a raffle ticket for $100. Buy it yourself or split with friends. But do it now. Call 718-839-4302 or 347-449-3955 ASAP!
On Friday, Aug. 29, the Broad Channel Athletic Club’s 3rd Annual Kickball Tournament at the BCAC field with DJ Miltey. Admission of $30 per person includes beer and hot dogs. Sign up at 7 p.m.The big Mardi Gras parade on Labor Day, Monday Sept. 1, will start off at West 10th and Cross Bay near the Ruffle Bar. As is long running BC tradition, it will step off promptly at 1 p.m… ish. Floats and marchers will head southward, come about at 20th Road near Grassys and head up the east side of town. There will be loads of Mardi Gras events over the weekend.
Saturday, Aug. 30, is Family Day down at the Field, starting at noon. There will be He-Man and She-Man contests, running races for all ages, kids’ games and rides, face painting, cotton candy, food, soda, beer and more.
Build Your Float Day and Bar Visitation Night happens on Sunday. Swing your hammers, rev up your electric saws during the day and build up a thirst for the evening. Come out and support the bars that have supported Mardi Gras all summer and BC all year round. Hit Grassys at 8 p.m. and Ruffle Bar at 10 p.m.
You can still register your parade float or group before Labor Day. Call 347-449-3955. There will also be parade day registration. You’ll need to send a representative to the BCVFD firehouse on Noel Roadbetween 10 a.m. and 12 noon.
The parade will end at the BCAC Field and trophies will be awarded. There will be rides for the kids, food, beer and soda. Then…drum roll please… the grand $10,000 raffle winning ticket will be pulled! Best of luck to all.
If you are unfamiliar with Mardi Gras here, here’s the very short version. Going back 100 years, Mardi Gras is a summer-long series of fun and creative events to see who can raise the most money for a local cause. This year it’s all for the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department.
It all winds up with a rollicking homemade neighborhood parade where people build their own creative and often hilarious floats, complete with costumes, signs and music.
Neighbors with kids, carriages, coolers and folding chairs come out to watch the parade as it proceeds up one side of Cross Bay Boulevard. They then haul everything and everyone across the road to catch it all again as the line of march turns and comes down the other side of town!
Any part of Mardi Gras in Broad Channel, whether it is over the summer or this weekend, is something not to be missed, just in terms of fun and neighborhood spirit!
In other BC news: now is the time to sign up your
3- and 4-year-olds for the curriculum based Broad Channel Educational program. Half-day sessions from 8:45 to 11:45 a.m. Mondays to Thursdays will be held at Christ Presbyterian by the Sea on Noel Road. Contact Kerry at kerrylarkin76@gmail.com or Julianna at sanibelle593@aol.com regarding registration.
Registration is going on for BCAC Shamrock football down at the BCAC field from 6 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. Practice has started, but there’s room on each team. Contact Gene Guttieri atGitso4@aol.com or call 347-403-2591.
The BCAC meets at 7:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at the clubhouse next to theAmerican Legion Hall on Cross Bay Boulevard. Next meeting is Thursday, Sept. 11.
As you park along the median, be careful of the tree fences, flower boxes and plantings. BC people have put a lot of time and care into these. Let’s keep our town looking good.
Assemblyman Goldfeder’s mobile office will be at Rock N Roll Bagels, East 21st Road and Cross Bay, on Tuesday, Sept. 9 from 3 to 6 p.m.
Father Richard Ahlemeyer was good enough to send a few parish updates. Here they are:
St. Camillus Catholic Academy will open on Wednesday, Sept. 3. There are many new exciting things happening. As an academy, the school will have a lay board of directors. These 11 people are parishioners from Broad Channel and Rockaway with a variety of experiences in education, administration, business, law, media and the community.
St. Camillus also welcomes a new principal, Mrs. Sheila Smith Gonzalez. Her family is no stranger to theRockaways; you may know them from the Rockaway Artists Alliance. She has previously been an educator and principal in Brooklyn and Queens
And St. Camillus will offer a free universal pre-kindergarten full-day program. “We will have 20 4-year olds,” Father Richie says.
The St. Camillus - St. Virgilius Religious Education Program (CCD) will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 3:30 p.m. in St. Camillus Church. Please call 718-634-8229 or email saintvirg2@aol.com. There is no fee for CCD. Sister Maureen Ahlemeyer PBVM will be responsible for the CCD program. Sister Maureen is a graduate of St. Virgilius School. She has taught grammar school and has been a principal. Her office will be located at St. Camillus Rectory.
St. Virgilius Senior Citizens Club will resume meeting at the Broad Channel American Legion Hall on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m., beginning Sept. 4.
St. Camillus Golden Age Club will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 12:30 p.m. in Springman Hall inRockaway.
Buildings update for St. Virgilius: “We have obtained a land survey and elevation survey. These have been submitted to the architect who is preparing plans for the extension on St. Virgilius and the new religious education building.”
Thanks, Father Richie!
Finally, Muriel Berry Stemmann recently noted in a P.S. “Is there anyone left in Broad Channel that remembers all the things I remember?”
Got an upcoming BC event? Don’t wait till after it’s over. Let’s tell everyone about it in BC Bits! Send info toworkingstories@aol.com.
Thanks for reading
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