Holiday party held for caretakers of ill kids

Carolers surrounded the door, singing to the beat of a sleigh bell. They ushered in awestruck guests under an archway of metallic balloons and past a dancing Santa, inflatable snowmen and a gregarious king.

A Hauppauge union hall became a Winter Wonderland Sunday, and the man whose nonprofit it benefited could barely soak it all in. Bob Policastro, director of Angela's House for medically frail children, watched parents he's known for years enter with tears in their eyes.

"Let this be an escape," he told one of the roughly 100 families in attendance, many of which care for sons or daughters who are in wheelchairs and ventilator-dependent.

Escape, in fact, was the goal of "King" Arthur Krantz's 20th annual We Care For Kids holiday party. The St. James businessman was dependably dressed in his royal crown and robe, previously reserved for his annual Christmas event for the financially needy.

This year, he provided the gala as a thank you to caretakers of the chronically ill. "Every time I think about not doing it," the president of PRC Industries said, "something like this comes up."

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 25, donated the hall, while an assortment of companies gave gifts, including teddy bears, hardcover Winnie the Pooh books, a high-end coffee maker and DVD player to each family.

Krantz provided an additional $5,000 for Angela's House, urging others to also help the charity as it struggles to construct its third Suffolk County group home in Stony Brook.

"If we can't build another house on Long Island for medically frail children, then there's something wrong with this island," he said.

Karen Romeo, a Port Jefferson mother to a 6-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, is awaiting placement in the planned home. She cradled her son, Joseph, as Krantz gleefully announced the arrival of SpongeBob SquarePants on the dance floor.

"I take strength in how the other parents look," she said. "You feel there's nobody like you out there. But when you're all together, you feel like you've come home."

As children excitedly jockeyed for position next to SpongeBob - their parents snapping photos - volunteers in elf hats handed out crown-wearing stuffed frogs. A line formed for hot dogs, churros and hot pretzels.

Meanwhile, Policastro continued to greet grateful parents, some lugging gift-filled plastic bags as big as Santa's sack. Jennifer and Al Ellis, of Bohemia, brought their 2-year-old son, Joshua, who was born prematurely and requires a feeding tube.

"He needs this," Jennifer Ellis said. "We need this."