East Norwich parade's short and proud of it

How short is the East Norwich Memorial Day Parade?

At 6/10ths of a mile, it's the shortest in Nassau, says the 100-year-old fire department that organizes it. And it's one of the shortest, if not the shortest, on all of Long Island.

It is so short that you can see the entire parade at one time from anywhere along the line of march that follows Route 106 and straddles Route 25A. You can hear the only band play from anywhere on the route as well.

This year, it took only nine minutes for the leading unit, the color guard from the East Norwich Fire Company No. 1, to make the trip. They were followed by the rest of the department volunteers and junior firefighters, the Oyster Bay High School marching band and Boy Scout Troop 253, a dozen fire trucks and three Nassau County police cars with lights flashing. The parade was over in 13 minutes, followed by a memorial ceremony at the firehouse.

"No way can anyone on Long Island have a shorter parade," said Oyster Bay High band director Matt Sisia, whose 165 students provided the only music. Even though the march route was short, the band went through the three-song rotation several times.Fire Chief John DeBellis said the route used to be a little longer until the fire department monuments were moved from there to the firehouse.

"We have to do our own parade," he insisted, as well as a local ceremony at which the names of volunteer firefighters who served in the military are read aloud. Spectator Kathy Nastri said, "We need to honor the local veterans from East Norwich," no matter how short the event. "That's the nice part of it."

Spectator Ken Nastri said, "It's probably the shortest parade on Long Island, but it's the best." He and his wife like longer parades, as well. They planned to "go down to Oyster Bay next to watch that one."

The high school band and firefighters took a short break at the firehouse and then headed down the hill to the larger and longer Oyster Bay parade to march again a short time later.