VILLAGE OF EAST SYRACUSE – The Village of East Syracuse’s seventh annual Fall Festival took place at Ellis Field Park on Saturday, Sept. 30.
The festival from 11 to 2 p.m. rang in the autumn season with hay rides that went around the block, a pumpkin patch out in the field, and pony rides in another section of the park on McCool Avenue. There were also bounce houses, balloon animals, arts and crafts like face painting, and other games for kids like an inflatable BB shooting range courtesy of a local Boy Scouts troop, a spiderweb hoop to toss footballs and discs into, and a catapult that launched a soft pumpkin toy.
Tom Richardson, the director of East Syracuse’s parks and recreation department, said this year’s festival brought in the biggest turnout it’s had in its seven years. He attributed the amount of attendees to the unseasonably warm weather for late September, the variety of activities, and the giveaway of free tickets for a caramel apple, ice cream, apple cider, doughnuts and a pumpkin to take home for the first 250 kids in attendance.
“We just thank everybody and all the volunteers and organizations that came because everybody seemed to enjoy themselves,” Richardson said. “You can come down with a couple of bucks and have three hours of fun, so it keeps people happy.”
The festival also included a chili cook-off sponsored by the East Syracuse Recreation Committee that allowed for tastings of seven different recipes from seven contestants and a vote for the favorite for $2 per person. All proceeds from the cook-off went to benefit East Syracuse Parks & Recreation.
After a vote tally, the winner of the cook-off was declared to be East Syracuse Recreation Committee member Robin Richardson, who is also Tom Richardson’s wife and a teaching assistant at East Syracuse Elementary.
Robin said she keeps her ingredients a secret but that she makes her chili differently every year. She revealed that she cooks it for a longer amount of time than most people do and that she doesn’t put in anything spicy because she doesn’t like hot food. To go with the samples dispensed into cups, Robin served Doritos chips, sprinkles of cheese and a topping of sour cream.
The New York State Police K9 unit, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad, EAVES Ambulance and the DeWitt Police Department were also present at the festival to greet families and show off their vehicles, while The Noisy Boys provided live musical accompaniment, playing such songs as “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley and the Wailers, “’Heroes’” by David Bowie and “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel.
Other upcoming events
The Village of East Syracuse Parks & Recreation Department is making sure to have its activities continue into October and November.
A free archery night will be held at Ellis Field Park on Wednesday, Oct. 11 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Children must be at least seven years old to participate, and all equipment will be provided with no registration required.
On Saturday, Oct. 14, there will be a family fishing day from noon to 2 p.m. at Ryder Park near the DeWitt Town Hall on Butternut Drive. That free event will include prizes and a cookout, and pre-registration is required via a message to [email protected] or a call to 315-463-6714.
The village will be offering a Pumpkin Hollow Family Day on Saturday, Oct. 21 at a cost of $5 for village residents and $7 for non-residents. No transportation is being offered, but recreation staff will be at the Pumpkin Hollow patch at 3735 W. Seneca Turnpike beginning at 10:30 a.m.
A pre-Halloween pumpkin carving and decorating event is planned for Monday, Oct. 23 under the pavilion at Ellis Field Park from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Pumpkins and carving tools will be provided on a first-come-first-serve basis, but people are welcome to bring their own. That event will be free as well with no registration required.
There will be a Halloween house lighting contest on Wednesday, Oct. 25. To enter, participants can fill out the registration form on the village website, villageofeastsyracuse.com, or else pick one up at the village hall.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three houses and each house will receive a participation gift. The following night, on Oct. 26, wagon rides will be offered through the village to see the decorated houses, starting at Ellis Field Park between 6 and 8 p.m. The rides will have complimentary snacks and refreshments.
A free, “not-so-scary” family movie night will take place at the North Center Street village office from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27. Kids will be able to build their own haunted house to sit in and watch from, and there will be complimentary popcorn.
On Wednesday, Nov. 15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. there will be a free cookie-decorating and hot cocoa party at the village office with no registration required but limited supplies available.