Record crowd flocks to Jones Beach for air show

A soaring blue sky with summery temperatures set the stage Sunday for a sparkling Memorial Day, with large crowds packing Jones Beach for an air show and communities turning out in force for patriotic parades and holiday runs.

A sea of bright, multicolored umbrellas and beach towels stretched more than 4 miles along Jones Beach, part of what state parks officials estimated was a record crowd of about 236,000 for the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Air Show.

World War II bombers, fuel supply planes, aerobatic fliers and loud jet engines roared thousands of feet above spectators, many of them watching from vehicles parked on the shoulders and medians lining Ocean Parkway.

Untold numbers were turned away from the show after 10:45 a.m., when officials decided the park was at capacity.

"They began arriving at sunrise, from the moment we opened the gates," said George Gorman Jr., deputy regional director for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The Derista family from Demarest, N.J., arrived at 8 a.m. and felt lucky to get a spot on the beach. "The amount of people is astonishing," said Joe Derista, 47, a native of Woodmere, as his son Aidan, 7, and daughter Hunter, 4, played Wiffle ball and built trenches in the sand.

Amid the cookouts and aerial daredevilry, sunbathing and Frisbee games, there was a somber undercurrent on the day before the country mourns its war dead.

In Hempstead Village, the streets filled with the doleful music of bagpipes and snare drums as hundreds marched and rode in floats in a Memorial Day parade. Among them was Tuskegee Airman Victor Terrelonge, 87, of Roosevelt, who said he marched out of loyalty for his comrades.

"We were such a tight group. If you lose one who gets shot down, while I didn't - it's a feeling that's pretty hard to shake," he said. "I have to respect the guys who fought, who came home, and the guys who didn't come home. And this is the only way I know to do that."

About 500 veterans, local leaders and well-wishers turned out in Eisenhower Park to dedicate two new monuments to fallen soldiers in the park's Veterans Memorial Plaza. One memorial commemorates the 5th Marine Division of World War II while the other is dedicated to the Vietnam War Veterans Association.

Hempstead resident James Merritte, a Vietnam veteran, asked that "everybody stop and give a thought about what this day means. . . . A lot of people who aren't veterans, they see it as a holiday. But we veterans never forget."

In Long Beach and Hauppauge, hundreds of runners marked the weekend with races.

In Centereach, families sat under shade trees among the strip malls and chain restaurants that line Middle Country Road to watch fire trucks, classic cars and veterans groups file by in a parade.

Katherine Walsh of Farmingville - who counts her father, husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law as military veterans - waved an American flag and clapped.

"I'm from a generation that remembers this stuff," said Walsh, who said she was "over 65."

Nearby, Keri Columbel, 35, of Centereach, sat with her 13-month-old daughter, Trinity, and said her favorite part was the veterans marching by.

"These are people who fought for you and who don't even know you," she said. "It's very emotional, very touching."