After rocky weather interrupted festivities earlier, the annual street fair of the New Hyde Park chapter of the Cellini Lodge lit up Michael J. Tully Park over the weekend.
Last Thursday, on the second night of the festival, it was shut down due to a torrential downpour, said Mary Modica, feast chair and lodge vice president. Lodge President Anthony Calabro was on stage performing with his band, L.I. Rewind, when the town made the call to close the festival.
“You have all these people that are in the tents and the wind started kicking up severely and security is like ‘Look, we got children here. We have to get them out of here.’” Calabro said. “It’s a rough decision.”
Nonetheless, they were able to hold the fair for the rest of the weekend as the weather remained fair.
The fair has been a staple of the community since 1983, said Calabro, and has been held every year with the exception of 2001, as it was called off after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City.
From last Wednesday to Sunday, New Hyde Park residents and others were able to check out the fair’s international food court, zeppoles, pastries, rides, live music, crafts, vendors and the “games of chance” tent, which included card games like blackjack.
Calabro, a New Hyde Park resident for 22 years, has been a member of the lodge, a chapter of the Sons of Italy, since 2009. He has been president since March.
“It’s been tough,” Calabro said. “It’s just a lot of work, a lot of phone calls, a lot of mail.”
Modica said her role as feast chair involved the overall supervision and maintenance of the project. During the fair, Calabro said, he is in charge of “everything.”
‘We’re the sons and daughters of Italy in America. It’s a social organization, a fraternal organization,” Modica said. “Many of our members are from New Hyde Park, Mineola and the Garden City area.”
Calabro joked that Modica’s position is like a “rite of passage” for eventually becoming president, saying, “If you survive this, you become president.”
“It’s a fundraiser, but the biggest thing is the community,” Calabro said. For five days it brings everyone together and the lodge gets about 100 volunteers throughout the weekend, he said.
North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth helped serve food for part of Friday night, and said: “I’ve never tasted zeppoles as delicious as this and I think that’s what the secret ingredient is. The secret ingredient is love and the heart it’s made with.”
One local organization that the lodge is contributing the proceeds to is Joey’s Friends, named for New Hyde Park resident Joey Dente, who died from a pulmonary infection.
