Kickoff to Thanksgiving

Patchogue’s Annual Holiday Boat Parade

Boat+decorated+for+the+holidays

Photo by Stella Rae Wilkins

Boat decorated for the holidays

Stella Rae Wilkins, Staff Writer/Co-Anchor (Raider TV)

This past Sunday, November 19, the Town of Patchogue celebrated its 24th annual Holiday Boat Parade. This year´s theme: A Hollywood Christmas!

Every year families gather by the docks of the Patchogue River to watch boats of every size covered in lights and decorations float past. Local restaurants and businesses with viewing sites supply food and drinks, as well as fire pits to keep customers warm as they face the brisk winds. Judging the best boat also takes place at some of these sites and is announced later in the week. Many partake in the parade itself as well, both boaters and business owners alike, and you can always count of the Davis Park Ferry Company to blow the crowd away with the decorating of one of their ferries.

For many, it is a tradition. It is one way the community kicks off the Holiday Season and it provides the chance to spend time with family and friends. For myself, the boat parade elicits memories of hot apple cider, baked brie, arts and crafts, and a house full of family and friends crowded against the windows to watch the boats. For others, it might be the hot cocoa, warm mittens, heavy coats, and fire pits that call our warm memories to the present. But, no matter your connection, the outcome is always the same; a great night spent alongside family and friends, support for local business, and coming together as a community to start off the season of giving.