Big Duck lighting ceremony back on
The Big Duck in Flanders was built in 1931 as a tribute to Long Island duck farming. The formidable fowl earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places and tourists flock to see it year round. Inside the stucco, wood and wire duck is a museum and gift shop. (July 5, 2010) Credit: Colleen Harrington
The on-again, off-again holiday lighting ceremony of the Big Duck in Flanders has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. next Thursday, according to the office of Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy.
Rain on Dec. 1 canceled the original ceremony, and officials had said it would not be rescheduled.
But Levy said in an e-mail Wednesday that "the lighting of the Big Duck on the East End has been a major tradition during the holiday season and shouldn't be denied because of bad weather."
The holiday lighting ceremony in Flanders usually attracts elementary school children singing songs, their parents and a smattering of dignitaries.
The ceremony had been postponed by weather only twice in the last 15 years, including on Dec. 1, said Suffolk deputy parks Commissioner Tracey Bellone.
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