Dear Editor:
Re the July 19 article “‘The Feast’” is back.” This annual festival used to be one helluva blowout! When I first came to Hoboken, in the early ‘60’s, the heavy statue of Saint Ann would come swaying slowly down the streets, between poles borne on the shoulders of 6 or 8 women, 3 or 4 on either side, the Saint’s dress covered with money and trinkets pinned there by well-wishers.
Preceding the women along the streets were men blowing up fireworks, big boomers and little strings of hundreds of firecrackers, after which the heavy summer air would smell of gunpowder and the streets would be littered with scraps of exploded smoldering paper. Every year, for several days, this wonderful event happened, up until (as I recall), around 1980, and then some Yuppies, coming into Hoboken (attracted by the cheaper rents) from New York, (remember the book, “Yuppies Invade My House At Dinnertime”?) complained about the noise and the smoke. So I guess the festival, instead of telling the newcomers to go f… themselves, tamed their wonderful, boisterous, noisy tradition in the interest of being… good neighbors?
Too bad.
T. Weed