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A Few Clouds Centennial parade steps off Aug. 6
Valley Streamers will have the chance to see more than 1,000 firefighters from across the state when the village’s Fire Department welcomes 25 others for a parade commemorating Engine 341’s 100th anniversary.
On Saturday, Aug. 6, the Valley Stream Fire Department will host what Chief Joseph Fernandez said will be one of the largest parades in the village’s history. He said departments coming from across Long Island and as far as Oneonta accepted their invitation to participate in the third battalion parade, one of the “big three” for county competitions this year.
Fernandez said that the department was slated to host this type of event next year, but the Woodmere Fire Department agreed to swap so that Valley Streamers could commemorate the birth of Engine Company No. 1 a century ago.
Now one of seven companies in the Valley Stream Fire Department, Engine Company No. 1 is the second outfit to celebrate it’s centennial — Truck Company No. 1 turned 100 in 1998. Fernandez said organizing large, celebratory events like the parade can take more than a year of planning, but that it’s worth it in the end.
“In the 33 years I’ve been here, I’ve always heard people saying, ‘we’ve got to prepare for the 100th,’” he said. “This is history in the making and will be a day I will never forget. I am honored to serve as chief and be a member of this company.”
The parade will begin at Wheeler Avenue and Morris Parkway at 6 p.m. Marchers will turn onto Rockaway Parkway, where the parade route will continue before heading west on Hawthorne Avenue toward the Village Green. There, the department will sponsor a block party with food, rides for children and entertainment that includes a performance by the Billy Joel tribute band, Big Shot, at 8:30 p.m.
A color guard from Andrew Fatscher Post 854 of the American Legion will lead the parade, followed by the Fire Riders of Nassau County motorcycle club, the Nassau County Police Department Mounted Patrol and local and county dignitaries lead the way. Grand Marshal Ed Facompre and honorary marshals including Thomas Carney, Gerald Gerfig, William St. George and Thomas Simek will also be marching with hundreds of participating firefighters. Fernandez said these are the most senior members of Engine Company No. 1, all having served the outfit for 40 or more years.
During the block party, judging will take place for countywide competition in the best appearing, best band, Ladies Auxiliary and Junior Fire Department categories. While members of Engine 341 said they share some rivalry with other departments, volunteer James Murphy said it is purely friendly. “Once you get down to it, if we get a call from another area or from another town, it’s all business,” he said. “Everything else stops then.”
Fernandez said he hopes others in the village will want to join the Valley Stream Fire Department when they see the parade, adding that some of the younger members of the 240-person department began volunteering after attending other events.
Patrick Scanlon, who feels it is important to honor the past of Engine Company No. 1, said he is looking forward to another opportunity to spend time with the volunteers that he has become close with over the course of about two years. “We will say that we all joined here, and then lost all of our other friends,” he said, laughing. “Because I used to have a lot of friends, and now I have these guys. And that’s OK.”
