If you had one bottle of beer on the wall for each year since Hoboken was founded, you could sing 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall and still have 50 beers left. That’s a lot of beer!
And that’s a lot of history. The 150th anniversary celebration has been running at full swing all year, with the upcoming burying of the anniversary time capsule, the world’s largest birthday card, and last weekend’s anniversary gala and fundraiser aboard the Cornucopia Cruise Line.
This weekend, we’re celebrating with an extravagant parade. It starts at noon on Saturday at the Tea Building on 15th Street and marches down Washington Street to Observer Highway.
This is a special event for Hoboken – the biggest parade the town has ever seen – bigger than the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which signifies Hoboken’s own personal St. Patrick’s Day.
Macy’s, which has stored its Thanksgiving floats in Hoboken since 1968, will march down Hoboken’s street for the first time, breaking out a rocking horse, lobster, and turtle float along with two Americana ornament balloons.
“We were asked by the mayor to participate, and we agreed,” said Macy’s Spokesperson Elina Kazan. “We always love a parade. It’s a special celebration of the city.”
All kinds of clubs and landmarks will participate.
The floats
The Hoboken Ski Club has been busy working on their float at a house in West Orange.
“We’re probably going to get ski garb. Our float is an imitation mogul with out banner. We’ll probably throw out some candy to people,” said Rob Redanz, Ski Club president. “The club has been active 15 years, so we’re part of the community for one-tenth as long as they’ve been around. We want to be active in their events.”
Sergio DeNichilio, owner of Leo’s Grandevous Restaurant, looks forward to showing off his 1961 Corvette Convertible, a collector’s vehicle.
“Leo’s is one of the oldest restaurants in Hoboken,” said DeNichilo. “Mayor Roberts is a friend of ours who frequents the restaurant, so we wanted to participate in the parade.”
Of course, the bars will be open, so get out and get in line early.
“Usually, the bar is really busy all day long, because parades start right about us,” said Cory Checket, bar manager at the Madison. “People come in and drink. Especially people in the parade. Then it slows down during the parade, and then they come back. Other than that, it’s just business as usual.”