Electric Lights Parade
By Lauren Zaepfel
Originally Published on WNYPapers.com
Although trick-or-treaters are gearing up for Halloween night, residents and officials of the Town of Niagara have already begun preparing for the upcoming winter holidays.
The 11th annual Electric Lights Parade is set to take off from Fourth Avenue and down Military Road at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7.
The parade is organized and presented by the Town of Niagara and the Town of Niagara Business and Professional Association Inc.
Applications to take part in the parade lineup are currently being accepted until Nov. 2 and can be obtained online at www.tnbpa.com or directly at the Town of Niagara clerk's office.
Last year, the parade drew several thousand spectators, along with the hundreds of participants who played in bands, coasted on floats and, of course, handed out candy.
"It kicks off the holiday season. For some people, they'll say it's a little too early, but the holiday season to us includes Thanksgiving and that's why we always do the first Saturday of November and I see a lot of people year after year coming out for it and they enjoy it ..." Town of Niagara Business and Professional Association President and parade Chairman Gary Strenkoski said.
Strenkoski describes himself as merely "the leader of the pack," as numerous volunteers from several local organizations help make the parade possible.
Town of Niagara Business and Professional Association members help put on the parade from setting up signs beforehand, to cleaning Military Road the morning after.
Another organization known to help out with the parade is the Niagara-Wheatfield Kiwanis Club. Members arrive early to help all participants line up at their proper stations, making "order out of chaos."
"We'd be in huge trouble without them," Strenkoski said.
For the past several years, the parade's major sponsor has been Republic Services - Allied Waste Industries of Niagara Falls, which owns and operates the Niagara Falls sanitary landfill.
The majority of the landfill sits in the Town of Niagara, which therefore serves as its host community.
