EAST SYRACUSE — The Village of East Syracuse Parks & Recreation Department is making sure to have its activities continue into late September, October and November.
To start, the village’s seventh annual Fall Festival is taking place at Ellis Field Park on McCool Avenue this Saturday, Sept. 30 from 11 to 2 p.m.
The festival will include a chili cook-off sponsored by the East Syracuse Recreation Committee allowing tastings of different recipes and a vote for the favorite for $2 per person, with those proceeds going to benefit East Syracuse Parks & Recreation.
There will also be wagon hay rides, pony rides, a pumpkin patch, face painting, balloon twisting, other arts and crafts, an inflatable BB range, a bounce house, big trucks on display, a New York State Police K9 unit, and musical entertainment from The Noisy Boys at the fall festival. People can also enjoy doughnuts, cider, caramel apples and ice cream over the three hours.
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, there will be a free parent-child cornhole tournament from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the same park with pre-registration required. To register, email [email protected]
A free archery night will be held at Ellis Field 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 the aforementioned parks email address 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.
