A gold medalist leads Farmingdale St. Patrick's Day parade

The gold medal around 8-year-old Hiram Cowhey’s neck glistened Sunday afternoon. So did his smile as he went among the first to step off in the Farmingdale St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The Northside Elementary School third-grader earned his medal after competing in figure skating at the 2014 Empire State Winter Games last month.

“At first he was scared to go on the ice and then we couldn’t get him off,” said his father, Rob Cowhey.

Hiram, now in his third year of competing, started out with a simple group lesson offered by the Town of Oyster Bay.

“My dad said I should try it and I loved it,” he said.

Part of the pomp and circumstance upon his homecoming from the annual winter sports competition held in Lake Placid included leading the village’s second annual parade.

Bagpipers, church groups, local businesses and organizations followed closely behind as the parade route moved along Main Street and spilled onto the village green for an afternoon of activities.

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Parade organizers said the event is a way to highlight downtown Farmingdale's revitalization.

“After six-plus years of planning studies, resident input meetings, drafting a master plan and revising codes, Farmingdale Village is implementing that plan,” parade organizer Chuck Gosline said. “Developers have presented numerous projects that are now going forward, other new merchants have been updating storefronts and opening new businesses in our downtown. The downtown is nearly full.”