BRICK – There will be no Ocean County Columbus Day Parade or Italian Heritage Festival this year but that doesn’t mean honoring Italian heritage and culture won’t happen.
Township resident Michael Blandina, who has chaired the Ocean County Columbus Day Parade Committee since its inception 29 years ago, recently announced plans for a different kind of observance to be held on October 10.
The Ocean County Columbus Day Parade Committee noted that this year’s events to celebrate the national holiday of Columbus Day would involve a procession around several areas around the county.
“We have decided along with other Italian American Organizations to have a procession, which will be followed by a ceremony on the Franklin Avenue Stage located on the Seaside Heights Boardwalk. All who would like to join us for the ceremony should arrive on the boardwalk by 11 a.m.,” Blandina said.
“The Metropolitan Festival Band will perform prior to the ceremony, which will begin at noon. The ceremony with feature the Knights of Columbus Color Guard posting of the colors and renowned singer Cori Scotti, who will sing the American and Italian National Anthems,” he said.
The program will also include Ocean County Freeholder Director Joseph Vicari and the mayors of the four municipalities participating in the procession.
Those mayors include Berkeley Township Mayor Carmen Amato, Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill, Brick Township Mayor John Ducey and Seaside Heights Mayor Tony Vaz.
Participating Italian organizations will also be recognized and Robert DiBiase, chairman of the New Jersey Italian Heritage Commission will speak during the event.
The ceremony will conclude with a performance by The Juke Box Legends. “The boardwalk concessions and restaurants will be open so bring your family and friends to celebrate our national holiday of Columbus Day,” Blandina said.
Blandina said in a recent interview with JerseyShoreOnline.com that while it won’t quite be the same that he and the committee are determined to make the event something special. The pandemic has hurt many businesses and caused the cancellation of many community events normally held around this time of year.
“It costs money to put on this parade and the pandemic really limited our ability to hold fundraisers and to do the things we normally would do during the year to prepare for this weekend-long event,” Blandina said.
He noted that bands in the parade cost roughly $18-$19,000 and the bands that perform at the three-day long Italian Festival cost about $30,000. The cost of having the five to eight floats in the parade ranges from $6,000 to $7,200.
“There are other things people don’t think of like the tents which cost us $4,200 a year,” Blandina added. He also explained why, unlike the Ocean County St. Patrick’s Day which is held on a Saturday in March, the Ocean County Columbus Parade is always held on a Sunday.
“Bands are more accessible in March but not in October. The high school bands are committed to performing at football games that are played on Saturdays and the schools won’t allow them to participate in the parade so we are limited to Sundays,” Blandina added.
That does allow for the parade to cap off the weekend festival but it also prevents a rain date for the parade until the following weekend. When that occurs some of the bands could be committed to other Sunday events on the next weekend.
“We also lose our group from Italy,” Blandina said. Each year the parade committee brings in a group, sometimes two, of folkloric performers from regions of Italy to perform during the weekend and to be a part of the parade.
“It is what makes our parade so unique. That is what really put us on the map because it presents our Italian heritage and culture,” he added. “These groups have been phenomenal over the years and are always very well received.”
The members of these groups usually arrive by Thursday and remain for a week afterward following the parade. They get a tour of the area and go on special trips such as Philadelphia or New York City. That also costs money and the committee is grateful to those restaurants and hotels that have shown their generosity in providing meals and sponsoring other activities over the years.
“We usually have 28 to 47 people in the groups who come over,” Blandina said. He also noted that this is paid for through events like the committee’s annual golf outing and dinner dance which were not held this year.
Musical numbers such as Julian and Dominque of Staten Island have been popular acts for the festival. “We can’t afford national acts but we have popular acts that our audiences look for and it brings people to the shore for the weekend.”
Carabba’s Italian Grill resturant has been a big fundraising sponsor for 20 years. “We started off in the VFW in Brick but it got so big we had to move it there. We get 200 to 250 people and it is at no cost to us. They have really been wonderful to us,” Blandina said.
The parade and Italian Festival have certainly grown over the course of almost three decades.
“For our first four to five years we had limited entertainment. We were two days and in our third year we went to three days with Friday being a kind of dress rehearsal day where we could check out the sound, location and other things,” he said. “Our sponsor banners need at least two people to carry them and we often get the Interact Clubs of the Brick high schools to help out because we have between 25 to 30 banners so we need 60 people for just the banners alone.
“We have an active committee of 15 to 20 people but it swells up to 60-70 people during the usual parade weekend. We all work well together. It may not be the same and I’m sure I’ll be a little sad that day that it won’t be the same but I am happy that we will be celebrating Italian-American heritage and culture,” he said.
