The front of the Marshall Farm Market at 114 US 46
Sometimes you will pass a farm stand and you see the standard pumpkins, peaches and apples outside. When you pass Marshall’s Farm Stand in Delaware, NJ, you see a whole farm experience with orchards of fruit, corn fields and a property that is decorated for the upcoming Halloween holidays.
The side of the farm stand
The other side of the farm stand stocked high with pumpkins
The festive pumpkin sat on the roof of the building
The whole front of the farm was stocked with all sorts of early Fall produce, honey, jams and jellies and delicious baked goods including pies, cakes and rolls and their specialty, their mini Apple Cider doughnuts.
The fresh Jersey produce
The cream rolls and homemade pies, including apple, berry and Shoo Fly pies
The best is their mini Apple Cider doughnut. One bag of these and you are content for the afternoon. I can barely get out of the parking lot with indulging in one or two of them before my drive down Route 46 to the Delaware Water Gap.
The farm stands addictive Apple Cider doughnuts
These sugary delights are so good!
What I also enjoy is their delicious apple cider. I found out though that they do not make it in house but a farm close by makes it both for their farm and Marshall’s. It is sweet and very refreshing and only comes in gallon containers.
I love walking through the stand, walking past the pumpkin, produce and the crafts display.
The pumpkin display in the parking lot
After I put my purchases in the car, I walked around the farm, looking at all the decorations they had for the upcoming Halloween holidays. The farm has pumpkin picking, corn mazes and a hayride where the $5.00 cost includes along with the hayride a cup of apple cider and a doughnut. I could handle that.
The sign for the weekend hayrides
The witch sign in the parking lot near the Corn Maze
The witch painting at the start of the corn mazes
Ghosts decorating the field
The Corn Maze was still tall and green and I am sure led all around the property. Each part of the front part of the farm was decorated for Halloween festivities which would happen the next weekend.
The cemetery in the back of the farm stand
A horrible ghoul
All the Halloween decorations at the start of the hayride
The Halloween decorations in the back of the building
The Halloween poems on the decorations
The Halloween decorations
What I love about the farm in the farm in the Fall are all the beautiful colors and hues of the surrounding area.
Looking down Route 46 West/East
The sign on the other side of the fields
The decorations in the front part of the parking lot
Poems and riddles were on all the panels
There is a very warm welcome for Halloween
Don’t forget to visit the Delaware Water Gap just down the highway. The colors are amazing in the early Fall.
The sign for the park
The Delaware Water Gap in the Fall
The beautiful hues of the park
Visiting Marshall’s Farm Stand in the Spring:
Marshall’s Farm Stand 114 Route 46 West in the Spring months
Marshall’s Farm Stand in the summer of 2023
Talk about a step back in time. It reminded me of places I used to go to as a kid that have since disappeared with suburban sprawl. I toured around the stands with shelves of fresh jellies and honey, sauces and salsa and arts and crafts. I found a nearly empty shelf of pies and doughnuts and not a sweet roll in site. The girl working the register told me that everything sells out so quickly and they had baked a second batch of everything.
The signs leading to Marshall’s Farm Stand in the summer of 2023
There were three pies left and that was it of the baked good when I got there.
I did grab one of the last bags of cider doughnuts for the trip home and freshly made cider that you rarely see any more. Most of it is processed in big facilities now not at farms. Their doughnuts were outstanding ($4.75 for six). All but two got home with me as I munched on them on the trip through the Delaware Water Gap.
The Apple Cider doughnuts at Marshall’s Farm Market
The Apple Cider doughnuts are amazing here!
In 2021, I bought the same items again but after a big breakfast and then lunch, I only ate two of the doughnuts this time.
Marshall’s Farm Stand in the summer of 2023
The Fresh peaches and plums at Marshall’s Farm Stand.
I had a lively conversation about the upcoming election and trust me, this woman said a mouthful as most people were right before the election. In 2021, people were talking about the recent Governor’s election and Murphy seems in the doghouse with most of these residents. I said my good byes as quickly as possible. Politics is not something to talk about when buying food products.
Marshall’s Farm on a warm sunny afternoon.
At any time of the year, visiting Marshall’s Farm Stand is a treat!
The History of the Farm:
(from the Marshall Farm Market website)
Founded in 1920, by George Amer Marshall, Marshall’s Farm Market sells quality fruit, vegetables, and specialty foods. George W. Marshall ran the farm for many years and now the third generation of Marshall’s continues the tradition. Marianne Marshall Saponaro & her husband Nick Saponaro are on site daily to make sure customers have the finest products available.
A visit to Marshall’s Farm Market is like stepping back in time. Old time values of hard work, friendliness, service, and the finest quality are what you can expect. Many people return each year to purchase produce, gifts, specialty foods, outdoor furniture, meats, cheeses, pumpkins, and more.
Families visit Marshall’s Farm Market each Fall for the hay rides and the Halloween Hollow display. There is nothing better than a cup of apple cider on a cool Autumn day. All of the seasons are special on the farm. Stop in year round to see what new items have been added to the store.
It was a banner year in ‘Haunted Hasbrouck Heights’ as a record number of Hasbrouck Heights residents decorated their homes for what has now become the start of the Holiday season. ‘In our town of Halloween’ we searched for the best ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night to find the best house and merchant that best represents the spirit of the Halloween holidays. This is my forth year as the Chairman of the Hasbrouck Heights Halloween House Decorating Contest and I have never seen so much creativity in our town.
We found that our winners were two members of the community that had been winners in previous contests, who really stepped up their game and created displays that dazzled the judges unanimously, Heights Floral Shoppe for a third straight year and the Fiduccia family of 85 Woodside Avenue for a second year since winning two years ago. The judges were blown away by their creativity and ingenuity in creating such fantastic displays.
Our Merchant Division is starting to grow with more of our Downtown merchants decorating their windows for the Halloween season. We wish more would get involved but the clear winner is now a three time winner with not just the most amazing windows but interior as well.
The Heights Flower Shoppe dazzles during day and night
‘I love Halloween,” owner Ray Vorisek said. “We like to use our creativity in the windows. I am always adding on and looking for new things for the display. We have been so busy lately that we were not able to finish adding some of the newer pieces for the store.”
The witches, goblins and ghosts in the display at Heights Flower Shoppe
The windows were decorated with flying witches and beasts smiling on their journeys while a howling wicked witch of the west stood guard in the front of the store. The interior was a wonderland of Halloween decorations and candies perfect for any Halloween event and party.
The inside is decorated for a Halloween get together
The candy selection for you little goblins
The store both inside and out was decorated to the hilt with items for sale and the displays.
Three time winner Ray Vorisek with HHMA Halloween Chairman Justin Watrel
Winner and owner of Heights Flower Shoppe Ray Vorisek in front of his store.
Our runner up the year was Healing 4 the Soul, the gift shop and café that is one of the newer additions to our business district. The business is owned by residents Renee and Dawn Pikowski. The windows were simple and creative and elegant.
The enchanting windows of witches and pumpkins
The spiritual windows up close
“We love to decorate our windows,” said co-owner Nicole Pikowski “ we strive to be creative. You will always see different displays at each holiday.” The store was decorated with beautiful witches wishing everyone a Happy Halloween.
The inside of the Cafe for Healing 4 the Soul
The enchanting gifts at Healing 4 the Soul
There are a lot of lotions and potions and sweet treats to eat inside that are all handmade in house. The Halloween fragrances abound the store. More of our merchants got very creative this year and we are hoping to see more next year.
Chairman Justin Watrel presenting the Runner Up Merchant award to Co-Owner Renee Pikowski
In the House Decorating Division it was a difficult decision for judges who drove around many days both day and night to see the houses. Of all the wonderful houses we visited all over Hasbrouck Heights, one home was on the top of every list of each judge and that was 85 Woodside Avenue.
The Fiduccia family had been our winners in the Second Annual contest and stepped up their game by adding all sorts of new elements to the yard to be the winners again in 2024. The vote was unanimous amongst all five judges.
85 Woodside Avenue at night
These are some videos on the winning home’s video display that won the contest. These were amazing and so spooky:
Ghosts and ghouls lined the yard performing all sorts of interesting acts
Skeletons lined the yard awaiting the crowds of Trick or Treaters visiting on Halloween Night
The Fiduccia family in their family ‘skeleton’ costumes
The Fiduccia family with their second year win!
The display during the day was just as impressive as it is at night
Matt Fiduccia said that he really wanted to add new things to the display. “We found a lot of new items that became available and added them to the display. I created the arch for the ‘Ghostbuster-like video’. We added the projectors to the windows on the second level of the house as well. There are a lot of new decorations on the market now for Halloween.”
The house not only had sculptures and mannequins of all types but creatures, skeletons and ghouls that lines the yard. In the archway in the front yard was a running video of apparitions from movies like ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Poltergeist’. In the upstairs windows of the home were running videos of desperate souls and violent blows. Each part of the house had its own storyline. It was a well-deserved win.
The Fiduccia family together with their second win for the Halloween House Decorating Contest
The Judges Marc Mancuso, Chairman Justin Watrel and Vinnie DeCicco from the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association with winner Matt Fiduccia
With so many wonderful houses to choose from, the judges narrowed it down to three homes as the runners up. There were so many that we liked but each judge was asked to narrow it down to three and it was pretty much unanimous amongst the five of us. Just like the winner, the judges had a short list of the runners up and three homes captured our imagination.
The first two were previous runners up who upped their game and had extraordinary displays of creativity. One was at 36 Hamilton Avenue, the home of Alex, Laura and Scarlet Pena. The other was at 115 Ottawa Avenue the home of Dennis Hall. The displays were both intriguing and imaginative both during the day and night. Like the winners, everyone stepped up the decorations with lights and sound effects and added that special touch to their homes that made it stand out.
Our third was a house on the Hasbrouck Heights border in Lodi that captured the imagination of each judge at 236 Paterson Avenue. The house had a bevy of creatures displayed both in and out of the house. All the judges kept passing it at night so impressed by it we did not realize that it was on the border of Hasbrouck Heights in Lodi, NJ.
“My grandfather used to decorate his house and people used to travel to visit it, so I wanted to keep that tradition going,” said Runner up Jay Logan. “We keep dreaming up new ideas for the display and we keep adding to it.”
Jay and Ann Logan of Lodi were one of the three Runners up for the contest
“We didn’t even know that there was a contest going on,” said Anne Logan. “We live right on the border of Hasbrouck Heights and Lodi, so we feel like we are part of both communities.” The Logan’s turned their display on and lit up and roared. The Logan’s are active members of both communities and were surprised and very excited about their win.
236 Paterson Avenue at night
The ghost and ghouls in front of 236 Paterson Avenue
236 Paterson Avenue during the day
Chairman Justin Watrel awarding the Logan’s their award.
At 26 Hamilton Avenue, Alex and Lauren Pena and their daughter, Scarlett added at lot to their and their display had more horrors in each section of the yard and house. “We have a lot of fun decorating on Halloween and everyone is impressed by the front yard display,” Lauren explained.
26 Hamilton Avenue was Runner Up last year as well
36 Hamilton winners Lauren and Scarlet Pena in front of their home with Chairman Justin Watrel
The Skeleton surgery in front of 26 Hamilton Avenue
36 Hamilton during the day
The mother and daughter Runner Up winners Lauren and Scarlet Pena
The last house on the Runner Up list was 115 Ottawa Avenue which had an honorable mention last year in the contest and has been noted on the list since the first year of the contest. Owner Dennis Hall accepted the Runner Up award with much excitement. “I love decorating the house for Halloween. The kids really seem to love it when they come here Trick or Treating. We are a very popular house. I added the sound effects and have several new pieces that I did not have time to put out for next year. You will have to come back next Halloween.”
115 Ottawa Avenue
115 Ottawa Avenue by the doorway
Runner Up and previous Honorable mention winner Dennis Hall Second next to his ghoulish display that was lit for the night of the presentation
115 Ottawa Avenue drinking the day
We want to thank all the members of the Hasbrouck Heights community for their wonderful displays and with a little extra decoration here and sound effect there can make a big difference in the judging.
I want to thank the judges in the contest Vinnie DeCicco and his kids, Ed Gumbrecht, Marc Mancuso, Joe Salib and his kids and Pat Fass and his daughter, Maggie. I also want to thank HHMA member Steve Feuss for creating the signs every year for the contest. This really makes it special for the winners to display their signs and awards on Halloween night.
I want to thank HHMA President Steve Palladino for all his support on this annual contest.
Happy Halloween everyone!
Boo!
Some of Honorariums that we thought were impressive:
House One 304 Roosevelt Avenue
House Two 344 Harrison Avenue
House Three 250 Cleveland Avenue
House Three 233 Passaic Avenue
House Four 155 Henry Street
House Five 10 Passaic Avenue
House Six 257 Henry Street, our first winner and Honorary House twice
257 Henry Street keeps getting more creative with new props
82 Burton Avenue has the same display every year but it is still interesting
House Seven-85 Woodside Avenue-our winner for Year Two
The Ghosts and Ghouls of 85 Woodside Avenue
The foliage in the late Fall in Hasbrouck Heights is just spectacular. I saw this tree when I was driving around Division Avenue. The sun hit it just right.
The town is so beautiful in the Fall
House Eight 226 Walter Avenue
House Nine 26 Hamilton Avenue one of our Runners Up last year
The skeletons doing surgery at 26 Hamilton Avenue with a Mad Doctor
House Ten 143 Kipp Avenue
House Eleven-510 Henry Street Last year’s winner
The horrible ghoul protecting the house at 510 Henry Street
Last year’s winner, Frank Blunda, welcomed us inside to see his Halloween paintings
I revisited some of our past winners at the end of the day as the sun went down to see the displays lit at night. It was mighty gruesome.
Winner of the first year 257 Henry Street
Winner of the second year 85 Woodside Avenue
Winner of the third year 510 Henry Street
We still had a lot more judging to do but our previous winners did a good job upping their game.
House Twelve 123 Washington Avenue
House Thirteen 42 Central Avenue-one of last year’s runners up
House Fourteen 117 Ottawa Avenue
House Fifteen 115 Ottawa Avenue-one of last year’s runner up
115 Ottawa Avenue really upped their game in 2024
House Sixteen 236 Paterson Avenue (we never realized this was in Lodi, NJ, the next town over that borders us)
236 Paterson Avenue was very impressive
House Seventeen Lots of inflatables but the monster on the porch was a horror at 219 Paterson Avenue
We thought she was pretty terrifying at 219 Paterson Avenue
House Eighteen 310 Bell Avenue
I hate evil clowns at 310 Bell Avenue
House Nineteen 118 Bell Avenue
It knows what scares you! at 118 Bell Avenue
House Twenty 533 Burton Avenue
House Twenty-One 219 Longworth Avenue
More evil clowns plotting their ways at 219 Longworth Avenue
House Twenty-One 446 Burton Avenue
House Twenty-Two 431 Kipp Avenue
Than you to all the residents of Hasbrouck Heights who captured the spirit of Halloween. We want you to know that we saw all of your homes and the amazing job you all did. Please keep it up and on Halloween night you might ‘get visited by three judges’ bearing ‘a treat’ for you with our annual award. Good luck in 2025!
In between exploring every street in town for the perfect home, we had to walk the Boulevard to look for the perfect business. I wish more businesses downtown would decorate for the holidays. The ones that did did a good job. What I enjoyed seeing was all the window painting that the kids did downtown. These kids are really talented.
Bill O’Shea’s Flower Shoppe with windows at 231 Boulevard
Bill O’Shea’s Flower Shoppe windows and painted windows
Some of the paintings just stood out
I thought this was clever
The Grooming Cove windows
The window painting at Heights Flower Shoppe
The Maki B Shushi windows
The windows snd the puppet outside the new Heights Burgers
I really liked this one
The IDesign windows
More fun paintings
More creative artwork
Things that are headless that. Reel and crawl
This was interesting
More headless things that go bump in the night
My across the street neighbors yard right before Halloween
Their maze of pumpkins decorated the lawn
Their pumpkin path filled with Jack-O-Lanterns beasts
The path of pumpkin people fascinated me
Then there is their evil scarecrow, Giggles, does mischievous things around the neighborhood when they are not looking. I still can’t find my garbage can lid!
I can’t believe that Halloween is over again! It comes and goes so quickly and I can already see the traces of Christmas on its way. There are times that I can’t believe that July and August go by so fast and then there are the holidays.
Halloween, as you can see by the last few years of this blog, have become more than just handing out Halloween treats to kids at my house. In fact, even when I have been home I rarely see trick or treaters, the most being 14 kids about ten years ago. Kids today at least in my part of the neighborhood have little interest in doing this anymore.
Halloween started for me on the first weekend of October with the ‘Pumpkin Blaze’ at the Van Cortlandt Manor (See my reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). Last year I saw the Blaze on the last weekend it was open on the first weekend of November and the temperature had dropped to 32 degrees and I said never again. I wanted to see it when it was warm out and I could take my time to really see the displays.
So I asked my Aunt Deloris to attend with me as a delayed birthday present to her and on October 7th we headed up to Croton-on-the-Hudson to see the Annual Pumpkin Blaze. It was unusually warm that night at 62 degrees but there was the threat of rain later that evening. Still for the entire time we were at the Van Cortlandt Manor, it was mild and pleasant. Since we attended on a Monday night long before Halloween, the crowds were not as large.
Entering the Blaze event
It was a spectacular display this year with many new displays to ohh and ahh at while walking the paths around the manor. To let you all know, the Pumpkin Blaze is a volunteer event and major fundraiser for the Hudson Valley Historical Society. Thousands of hand-carved pumpkins are illuminated all over the grounds of the estate and the light makes it quite intriguing.
The pumpkin carving starts in late August and early September
As you enter the path into the estate, they are lined completely with lit pumpkins. That lead to the Circus train display and the Tappan Scream Bridge, both made from a combination of real and plastic pumpkins, The train had gotten longer and more detailed over the years with detailed ghostly animals arriving at their destination.
The spooky Circus train
Another display that was amazing was the Museum of Modern Art display that had with copies of famous works in pumpkins. It was in honor of the renovation and extension of the museum.
The Andy Warhol Soup Can
The Headless Horseman Scream
As we exited the ghostly museum, you pass the musical carousel and the Albany Post Road that was lined pumpkins. There were pumpkin jack in the boxes, pumpkin dinosaurs and pumpkin mummies. The displays were bigger, more detailed and more elaborate then years past.
Pumpkin Dinosaurs
The pumpkin carousel
The paths leading to the Van Cortlandt Manor were lined with a pumpkin cemetery and then the dinosaur displays. This lead to the light show at the Van Cortlandt Manor that was lined with pumpkins and a light show that illuminated the house. The house was surrounded by pumpkins of all faces and expressions along the path around the house. This lead to another cemetery that had the Van Cortlandt family names as you exited the property.
Van Cortland Manor at Croton-on-the-Hudson
As we exited the property it lead to a series of tents that carried all sorts of gifts and Halloween items, two different food concessions with hot dogs, cider, homemade doughnuts and popcorn. It was very active after everyone had walked the show.
Then my aunt and I came across this giant pumpkin that was craved out of wood that everyone was taking pictures at and we pose for our own Halloween portrait. That was a lot of fun dodging the other families to take the shot.
My Aunt Deloris and I at the end of the Annual Pumpkin Blaze
Just as we were leaving the site and heading to the car, the heavens opened up and it started to rain. We just made it to the car as it started to pour. As we headed back to New Jersey and crossed over the Tappan Zee Bridge, the rain started to let up to a light drizzle. When we reached Paramus, it was just a light mist.
We stopped for dinner at the Suburban Diner at 172 Route 17 North in Paramus, NJ ( see review on TripAdvisor) for a snack. The snack ended up being a large Turkey Club Sandwich with a side of fries, Cole slaw and a pickle. This thing was huge! My aunt ordered a BLT that was just as large and for two people who just wanted a ‘snack’ we devoured everything. I guess it was all that walking.
I love Turkey Club sandwiches
What a sandwich!
I continued my Halloween activities to where it all took place, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, NY, where the months of September, October and early November are very busy. Historic Hudson Valley has lots of events this time of the year, one of them being the Pumpkin Blaze.
Another event I attended was the “Home of the ‘Legend'”, a tour of Washington Irving’s home, ‘Sunnyside’, which is located at 3 West Sunnyside Lane in Irvington, NY (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com). I had visited the house years ago but they now had a Halloween tour of the house.
‘Sunnyside’ was the home of Washington Irving from 1835 until his death in the house in 1859. The house was originally a small two room stone house had been built around 1690 for a tenant farmer and had once been part of the Philipse Manor estate grounds. When Washington Irving bought the house in 1835, eyeing the home when visiting his son Oscar who lived in the area.
Washington Irving’s Sunnyside at 3 West Sunnyside Lane
With his friend, George Harvey, a painter, they created the home in the Romantic style with almost a fairy tale appearance. The ‘storybook’ home is covered in wisteria and has the most beautiful views of the widest area of the Hudson River. The author wrote some of his most famous stories from this house. He lived here with his brother, Ebenezer and his five daughters after his business failed so the house was a busy one.
Washington Irving’s study
The house was sold to John D. Rockefeller for the State by Washington Irving’s great grandson, Louis Irving in 1945 preservation. The house tour is really interesting as the old Victorian wing was torn down to preserve it to the time of Washington Irving so it has the original kitchen, ice house and barn. These ten acres were a working estate.
I got to see Washington Irving’s study and bedroom with the original furnishings which I thought was interesting. It does have a small kitchen for all those people and the bedrooms the rest of the family had were almost the size of today’s contemporary homes. So it must have been tight for the family.
When you exit the kitchen from the back to end the house tour, you head to the back lawn where the ice house is located, the gardens and the barn. There are ten acres to roam around with ponds and streams and again that amazing view of the Hudson River. This tour should not be missed when it opens back up in the Spring.
The last event I went to in Tarrytown was ‘The Unsilent Picture, which took place at the Tarrytown auditorium. The program was a movie based on a story line mystery that takes place one evening and the local actors play out the characters to scare a family member. I was so tired from the cold and it was so boring that I think I fell asleep for five minutes and missed a section of it. I just didn’t get the interest in the whole thing. I would bypass this in the future.
The Unsilent Movie
Here is the trailer for the movie:
One Halloween event you should look into is the Victorian Halloween Tea lecture at the Staatsburg Historical Site/Mills Mansion in Staatsburg, NY. These lecture teas are very interesting and the food is wonderful.
The Staatsburg Historical Site/Mills Mansion at 75 Mills Mansion Drive
The Mills Mansion estate during the Fall
The back of the estate during the Fall event
I have been a Friend of the Mills Mansion now for about four years finding that I was going to a lot of their events it just made it easier to join and get priority on their special events which are enjoyable. The Halloween Tea was one of them the opened the holiday season.
The slide show as we were about to begin the lecture
The table set for the Halloween Tea
The guests arriving for the Halloween Afternoon Tea
The friendly witches getting ready to greet guests
This event was a tea and lecture of how the Victorians recreated Halloween from a dark more countryside evening wrapped in mystery to an engaging urban event with costumes, specialty foods and traditional events like apple bobbing that guests then made their own. Local Historian Carol Kohan discussed how the event went from a dark rural event to fun and engaging holiday.
The celebration was spooky and fun
From the old traditions to new ones
The Victorian’s made everything elaborate and overdone and the Halloween celebrations were ‘taken up a notch’ with elaborate costumes, parties, bonfires and desserts and candies that were to be served. There were special invitations and cards that were to sent and rules of etiquette.
The Ghosts and Ghouls of the holidays
Following the Civil War and at a time when disease was not understood the way it is now, there was an interest in spiritualism and seances were in vague as people want to reach out to their loved ones. So having a medium at a party was part of the activity. The Victorians knew how to transform a holiday.
The Menu for the afternoon
Our tables numbers on the table
During the discussion, we enjoyed an afternoon tea of the specialty Staatsburg Tea blend, a variety of finger sandwiches, pumpkin and cranberry scones and many types of pastries including mini pumpkin cheesecakes, tiny devil’s food cupcakes and assorted sweet cookies. The caterer always does a nice job with the food and service here.
The food at these function are excellent and plentiful. These were the current and raison scones
The Assorted delicious Tea Sandwiches
Sweets and cakes
Pumpkin Cheesecake bites and Apple Tarts with Marshmallow Cupcakes represent the holiday
The start of the lecture after tea was finished
After the tea and lecture, we took a detailed tour of the Mill’s Mansion which I had taken many times but this was with another tour guide and he gave us another perspective to the house. He mentioned stories of the Mills family that I had not heard before and we also got to see how the renovations of the house were going. It looks like the dining room and entrance hall will be finished in time for the holiday party.
The foyer of the Mills Mansion as they prepare for the holidays
All of these activities lead to the big event in my Halloween every year, the NY Greenwich Village Halloween Parade which I have been marshaling now for five years. Participating in the event this year, I got an invitation to go to Rokeby, the estate of the Aldrich/Livingston family to see the puppet rehearsals. This year’s theme to the parade was “Wild Things” and the puppets and costumes were to reflect this.
Because I had the above Afternoon tea at the Mill’s Mansion the next day, I stayed at an Airbnb for the night and that was interesting. I had a feeling that the host really did not want to meet me as she scrambled out the door that night. The room was in a small private home near downtown Kingston and the nice part was that I could enjoy all the restaurants, museums and historical sites (See VisitingaMuseum.com for the sites I visited) and go back to the room to sleep.
After I checked into the Airbnb, it was off to The Rokeby Estate which is a 400 acre property in Red Hook, NY. Most of the artists for the Halloween Parade and the Sinterklass Parade in December (see my blogs on this as well) live on the Rokeby Estate in the homes that surround the old mansion.
The Rokeby Estate in Red Hook, NY
By the time I got up there, it was just starting to get dark and trust me, the roads are not paved going up to the house and it gets dark up there. I parked by the barn where all the magic happens and they create and assemble all the puppets. This was interesting because I got to see all the designs and all the construction areas of the barn.
The rehearsal went by well and they even created music for the puppets to dance to when performing. Then the participants holding the puppets lead everyone to the Rokeby Mansion and we all assembled on the porch which was lit with Christmas lights and watched the performance from there.
The Wild Things at the Puppet Rehearsals at Rokeby
The Max’s of the Wild Things
Watching from the porch of Rokeby was a lot of fun and what a place to view everything. Before it got dark, I got to talk to Tracey and Wilt Aldrich and introduce myself (we are like 12th cousins by marriage) and we got to chat before the performance. I got to see the sun set over the Hudson River from there and it was spectacular. The colors over the mountains was amazing and you can understand why people moved up here.
After rehearsals, it was off to Rhinebeck for dinner at Pete’s Famous, a diner concept downtown that I highly recommend. I had a much needed Hot Turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes ($10.95) and a Coke (see review on TripAdvisor). The main meal was loaded with that thick turkey gravy that diners are known for when serving this dish. The meal started with a Chicken and Rice soup that really warmed me up. It was nice to warm up in the restaurant and chat with the waitstaff.
Pete’s Famous at 34 East Main Street in Rhinebeck, NY has wonderful food
After dinner, I just walked around downtown Rhinebeck, NY knowing that Sinterklaas was only four and a half weeks later. I could see that the Christmas lights were being put on the trees already. Then it was off to bed and back to the Mills Mansion for the tea. The parade would be four days later.
The Chicken Rice Soup is amazing
The ultimate comfort food a Hot Turkey Platter with Mashed Potatoes
Halloween Night was really unusual again this year. The weather was threatening rain all day and it was weirdly warm being 71 degrees and humid that night. Somehow we never saw the rain that night and as it got dark didn’t even notice the clouds.
Getting ready for the parade
I got the parade early this year arriving at 3:00pm to meet with the Head Marshal at the gate (and my distant cousin by marriage), Marc Schuyler. I had lucked out and had been invited to the Marshaling meeting the week before which made me better prepared for the parade. By the time I got there, most of the marshals had arrived and I got to work with the locations of people and where everyone was supposed to go.
My ‘cousin’ Marc Schuyler and myself at the parade entrance
With the exception with one pain who lived near by and snuck into the parade route, we did not have one problem this year and getting people into the parade was easy. We had no hassles this year and because it was not raining as expected, the parade route got really busy. People came out for the parade in droves and the costumes were more creative than in previous years.
We got all the bands in, all the ‘Thriller” dancers checked in and all the float people into the park on time and kept the tourists out. By the time we closed the gate at 8:00pm, there was no one left and the parade was in progress. By the time I got to Sixth Avenue and Spring Street, most of the parade was uptown.
The parade during set up
I got to see about four floats go up Sixth Avenue and one band before the rest of the parade was people in costume. There was everything from Superhero’s to cheerleaders in that parade. People dressed as horses, birds and trees. Lots of Jason’s and Freddie Kruger’s and spirits of death. People were dressed like little kids and cartoon characters the list goes on.
Preparing for the parade
There was a small get together after the parade but that was not until 10:00pm so it gave me about an hour to walk around the Village and watch people in action. I swear I walked all over the Village and Soho and every street and restaurant was mobbed! Because it was so warm outside all the outdoor cafes were open. All the outside tables were taken and it seemed that every restaurant was packed with people with more waiting. Even the McDonald’s and littlest pizzerias were busy. With no rain and warm weather, people were in the mood to be outside one last time.
The Floats in the parade
A group of us had light dinner that night at Da Umberto on 107 West 17th Street in the Village and the food and service were wonderful. They had a nice buffet set up for us and we had a choice of a Risotto Bolognese, Penne with a Pesto Cream sauce, Rigatoni with Vodka sauce, or Eggplant Parmesan as the main dish, a wonderful salad with house dressing and a Tiramisu for dessert. The food and the service was excellent and we had a nice evening just sitting around and talking about the parade.
Da Umberto is an excellent restaurant! Make sure to try the pastas
The food at Da Umberto’s is excellent
When I left the party around 11:30pm, it was still going strong as was the street party after the parade. People were still eating outside, house parties could be seen from the windows and people were still parading around in their costumes.
When I got home just past Midnight, I felt the first drops of the storm and when I got inside around 12:15am, the heaven’s opened up and did it rain! It pounded the roof. God had really spared us all of that. It was the last night that I slept with the air conditioner on and the heat off because when I woke up it must have dropped 25 degrees and the heat went right back on.
Another Halloween over and here come the Winter and Christmas!
Halloween has never meant ‘Trick or Treating’ to me. Even as a child, I was bored with it by the sixth grade and did not want to go out for it anymore. I liked it better when I got to college and was able to be on the entertaining part of it. I would assist other student government leaders in entertaining small children during the holiday.
As an adult, I still assist with the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department on the town’s Rag-a-Muffin parade and the holiday party over my years as a fireman. What I enjoy the most is volunteering for the Annual Halloween Parade in New York City and seeing the magic of a parade come to life.
For the last three years, I have worked with a very distant cousin of mine through marriage, Mark Schuyler, whose family married into mine (the Beekman family) about 150 years ago so hence I tease him and call him my cousin. Over the past few years we have assisted in getting performing groups in the parade to where they are supposed to be and keeping the wondering tourists and demanding New Yorkers out of the parade staging area.
I can’t believe how many people feel because they live in Manhattan that they are ‘entitled’ to enter the parade staging area to watch the parade come to life. We have too many people to attend to and we are ‘working’ even in volunteer form.
My ‘cousin’, Mark Schuyler and I at the gate at the Halloween Parade
Watching the magic of our founder, Jeanne Fleming, as the parade gets bigger and more creative by the year, you can see the countless hours that so many volunteers put into making this parade special. I am a seven year Alumnus of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (with my seven years as a Macy’s executive in the Buying Offices) and know what it takes to organize a parade. This is more of a ‘peoples’ parade as the people who join the parade whether in a group holding puppets, performing in a band or waving on a float, these costumed participants are what make this parade special and add that spark to how real people mold this parade into what it has become.
Jeanne Fleming, our fearless leader at the Halloween Parade NYC
It is always an exciting night. We must have had a good group or I am just used to people trying to pull one over on me that I found it easier to get people in and out of the parade route. They will tell you every story to get in and no one wants to pay attention because we ‘know nothing’. I love when the answer always ends with ‘but I am a New Yorker!’ Great everyone, so are millions of others who know the rules of parade route. We are lucky to have the NYPD with us the whole time. A beefy police officer walking towards you usually ends the conversation.
When we finish our duties of getting all the talent to where they need to go, around 7:30pm, I get to see the rest of the volunteers work their part of the magic. You should see how the volunteers and the NYPD keep the order of thousands of people in costume walking in the parade and how it is coordinated with floats and marching bands. It is quite a feat. I have never seen people have more fun marching in a parade and showing off the creativity of their costumes or just enjoying the evening with family and friends. The parade route just keeps getting deeper and deeper every year as the reputation of the parade keeps getting bigger.
The Halloween Parade floats
What really makes the Halloween Parade successful is the people who are participate. The thousands of New Yorkers, residents from the surrounding states and the foreign tourists that add their enthusiasm and sense of excitement of either watching or participating in the parade. I talked with people all night and it seems tourists from all over the world came downtown to see the parade. Even little kids came down dressed up for the evening who might not celebrate Halloween in their country.
Because I have to work the parade, I get to see the staging area of the parade on Sixth Avenue and I got to see the last of the floats and bands head uptown. The evening had been rather warm for Halloween Day but as it wore on it did get cooler and I could not believe some of the costumes these Caribbean and Brazilian groups were wearing on a cold night. It was not the tropics outside and I did not know how far some of these women were going to go before they had to put a coat on.
The start of the parade by Domick Street
As the last of the bands heading uptown around 9:00pm, there were still hundreds of people in costume waiting to walk the parade route. It was cool but not cold that night but some of the people in costume I knew would not last long walking uptown. They were just not dressed for a cool New York night. Some of the costumes I did see really sparked with creativity from members of the books “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice in Wonderland” to the casts of “101 Dalmatians” and “Star Wars”, some showed the time and effort of getting ready for a one night event. Others were standard but original costumes from cowboys and Indians to robots, witches, Demons and cheerleaders. Each one adding their own charm to the event.
The Halloween Parade by lower Sixth Avenue
Our last part of the evening for the crew of the parade was an after-party that one of the production company’s had for us. It was in a very nice loft near the NYU campus and I was not sure how many people they were expecting but one tray of ziti and one tray of ravioli is not enough for the hundred people that came through that night. We were all exhausted and cold from being outside all night.
The Halloween Parade on lower Sixth Avenue
As I took the subway back to Port Authority to go home, I saw costumed people walking all over the city, on the streets and in the subways. Plus the hundreds of people walking around going into restaurants and bars all over the city. As I learned from last year, restaurants all over lower Manhattan that stayed open even as far as Chinatown and Little Italy were busy for the rest of the evening.
This is my third year of working on parade and I can tell you it is never dull and gets more exciting every year.
This is the parade in 2016. I give the YouTube contributor credit for this video. I was working that day.
I postponed my walk today and got all my errands done early so I could get to the parade route downtown on Dominick Street. It was my second year as a volunteer Marshal for the Annual Halloween Parade in New York City. This parade has gone in leaps and bounds in the twenty-five years that I have lived in the New York area.
Being in a parade can be exciting if you are the one marching in it. For those of us who work the parade, it can be a fun but trying evening. I got there at 4:00pm and it was nice because I worked with the same group of people that I did last year and we really get along well. It is also a very organized group of volunteers lead by our supervisor, Marc, who has been in the parade for years. Nothing gets past Marc including all the bullshit that people say when they are trying to sneak their way past the Marshaling area. I swear I heard some whoppers that even I didn’t know to believe.
Photographers arriving after the parade has already started looking for press passes, spectators who keep claiming that their friends are inside the Marshaling area, costumed people who would not walk down to Canal Street and walk through with the entertainers. Then the entertainers friends sneaking in with their friends not realizing that there is serious organization going into the parade from the launch area for the entertainers. I swear, we had more people yell at us as the parade was about to begin then all my years in retail. They all thought this is a spectator spot.
By six thirty, it was all out craziness considering many of the participants who were with musical groups and the floats were so late, it was a rush to get in. This is when everyone else tried to sneak in as well. So many people arrived late that by seven, some of the floats and bands had already left the staging area and were on route up Sixth Avenue. I saw more than one musician and costumed float marcher get annoyed when we told them their group left twenty minutes earlier. This is considering the parade was on a Saturday and there was not the usual traffic that day.
By 7:45pm, the parade had already long started and our duties were all done so we got to leave the post for the evening and I got to go inside the launch area and watch the parade from where the press stood, which is the best place to see everything at Spring Street and Sixth Avenue. There was so much going on getting the floats, bands and thousands of costumed marchers into their spots, I give my fellow Marshals for this part of the parade a lot of credit.
The parade from what I saw for the last hour of it was a lot of fun. People on the floats were preparing for their time slot, dancing around their creations, bands were putting the final touches on their costumes before the long walk up Sixth Avenue and then there were the thousands of people in costume corralled behind ropes ready to ‘walk the walk’ to show off their costumes to a huge crowd of New Yorkers, who were enjoying their version of Mardi Gras.
The Halloween Parade 2015
I had seen the parade as a spectator for years but to be part of the parade and see it from behind the scenes of how it is created for the pleasure for the spectators is amazing. The work that goes into planning this parade not just in getting sponsors and performers to perform but the building of the puppets upstate and the time and effort people put into their costumes for the parade is a true love of the holiday.
I wish I could have seen the parade growing up instead of the lame trick or treating in the suburbs I was subjected to every Halloween. For over a decade I worked in the city and it became a tradition with my friends and I or coming in with my father we would go to Chinatown for dinner and then go watch the parade. The last time I came to see the parade was in 2003 with my father and after dinner we settled in at 14th Street only to go almost mowed down by people trying to film the ‘Thriller Dance’ for the twenty anniversary of the video. After that, he refused to come in for the parade.
Thriller Dance The Village Halloween Parade
Towards the end of the parade after all the bands and floats had left to head uptown there will still over a thousand people ready to make the march. The alternate routes from Canal Street to Spring Street had people still coming up until about 9:30pm when the last of the marchers walked past us. Then started the clean up and break down by the police.
I walked down Spring Street after the parade to see massive amounts of people flood the bars and restaurants of SoHo, NoHo, Tribeca, Little Italy and Chinatown. The smart restaurants remained opened and were packed with patrons from the parade some braving the cooling evening and eating outside. It was still nice out by 9:30pm but temperature was dropping by the half hour.
I ending up at 456 Chinese Restaurant on Mott Street for the most delicious late night summer. They make a delicious shredded pork with plum sauce and the best crab and pork soup dumplings. I still consider this one of the best Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and the place stayed open to midnight the night of the parade. After dinner, I walked through Little Italy and their restaurants were still going strong at 11:00pm.
456 Chinese Restaurant on 456 Mott Street has the best Soup Dumplings
It has been such a nice night for the parade it seemed that every restaurant from 23rd Street to the tip of Manhattan stayed open and they were all busy! The parade attracts so many people that every restaurant from the fast food restaurants and pizzerias to the fine dining establishments were packed with people having a good time.
The inside of 456 Chinese Restaurant on Mott Street
By the time I back to parade site to take the subway uptown, the police had really cleaned up a lot. Most of the barricades were down and the garbage was being picked up. Another Halloween over and a another parade to look forward to in the future. It is something you should experience once visiting the city.
I credit ktodoma for this video of my second time in the parade as a marshal.
The Halloween Parade is every Halloween night on October 31st from 7:00pm to about 9:30pm. You can see the parade on Sixth Avenue.
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