Huntington holiday parade big on creativity

Eddie Irizarry parked his pickup at his uncle's gas station, his two daughters perched on folding chairs in the bed.

They had a prime location on New York Avenue in Huntington Village Saturday night, waiting for the annual holiday parade.

"Same seats, every year," Irizarry, a 41-year-old truck driver, said before bedazzled, electrified floats swept past.

The parade drew regulars such as Irizarry, whose girls always remind him about it around Thanksgiving, and Richard Shaneberger, a former volunteer EMT in suburban Pennsylvania.

"The creativity is a great thing. These guys put a lot of work into this," said Shaneberger, 48, of Huntington.

Village officials said the parade, now in its fifth year, usually draws 5,000 to 10,000 spectators. A tree-lighting ceremony followed in a temporarily vacant lot at 10 Wall St.

This year's parade theme was "Holidays Across America."

A Huntington Fire Department float featured a snowman in a hula skirt and a reindeer sitting in a beach chair. Both wore Hawaiian shirts.

The Beach Boys' "Surfin' U.S.A." blasted from the East Northport Fire Department float.

A woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty, a torch in her left hand, and a man dressed as the Naked Cowboy -- with cowboy hat, white briefs and brown boots -- waved from a New York City-themed float.

"I love your boots!" someone yelled.

The Halesite Fire Department float boasted a Santa's workshop. "I know Santa! Santa's on his way!" a man in an elf costume said into a microphone.

"They're interesting," Sonny Berberich, 60, of Huntington said of the floats as he held his grandson, Jacen Talleur, 3.

As fire trucks thundered by, Jacen inexplicably covered his mouth with a hand.

The horns and sirens were "too loud for his mouth," his mother, Diane Talleur, 31, of Huntington, said with a laugh.