Happy kids crowd the Freeport Fall Festival

ven though the skies had been cloudy all day, families filled the big parking lot and plaza outside Operation SPLASH on the Nautical Mile, determined to enjoy their annual Fall Festival and let Covid-19 drop into the past for the afternoon of Oct. 24.

Inflated dragons rubbed elbows with a blue lion, a fairy clothed in shout-it-aloud pink, and an enormous doughnut sporting bright frosting and rainbow sprinkles.

Tents covering tables with treats and literature from organizations like Fidelis Care and famer’s markets spanned one side of the parking lot. The U.S. Army livened the air with rap and hip-hop. Cars belonging to single individuals and businesses sat with their trunks open, decorated for the occasion, with their owners smiling while dropping Hershey’s kisses, Skittles and Jolly Ranchers into brown paper sacks, Halloween-themed bags and plastic pumpkins.

Deborah Newton, co-leader with Katherine Castellanos of Freeport Girl Scouts Troop 2453, said, “With today’s climate, and the way that things are so unsafe now, we wanted to provide a safe environment for everybody to have the kids come in — a safe environment where they’re not going to get hit by a car crossing the street, everybody lines it up, it’s friendly, it’s safe, the candy is safe, and so we just provide a safe environment for the children. We do it every year. This is our third time participating as a Girl Scout Troop, and we absolutely love it. They didn’t do it last year.”

Sparkle On Stage, the well-known children’s theater troupe, placed a figure of a skeletal dog and a brilliantly rainbowed Mexican doll in the hatchback of a van as if they were speaking to each other. A slime-green sign above the two heads advertised the Batwing Bar and Grille: Bug Burgers, Tentacle Tacos, Spaghetti and Eyeballs, and Spider-Leg Fries.

The festival, sponsored by the Freeport Chamber of Commerce and the Village of Freeport, provides a relaxed occasion for residents of all ages to meet Mayor Robert Kennedy and other village officials, indulge in treats and watch demonstrations put on by the Freeport Fire Department.