When December rolls around, North Bergen prepares for the holiday season in a huge way. The town’s major thoroughfares are decorated with Christmas wreaths and ornaments, countless merchants join in and decorate their storefronts, and residents go out of their way to spruce up their homes with lights and decorative figures.
As its official kickoff to the holiday season, the township sponsors its annual “Winterfest” parade and celebration – a day that brings out the holiday spirit in everyone who participates.
“Winterfest 2000” took place along Bergenline Avenue the night of Thursday, Nov. 30, much to the delight of nearly 3,000 youngsters who participated along the route. There was a parade, complete with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Several of the children’s favorite characters, like Blue the Dog from “Blue’s Clues,” Pikachu of “Pokemon,” Barney, the “Rug Rats” and others were in attendance to entertain for the youngsters.
“The characters received such a response from the children that at one point the parade stopped because of the children just swarming to the characters, wanting to be near them, to get a hug,” North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco said. “It was amazing to see how the kids all got excited and came out.”
What made the appearances of the beloved characters even more special were the people wearing the costumes. Representing Blue and Pikachu were the members of the North Bergen High School Student Council and Key Club, who volunteered their time and services to dress in the costumes of the beloved cartoon characters.
“The students were so patient with the kids and they were so nice to them,” Sacco said. “I think the high school students really enjoyed themselves as well and had a lot of fun. They all remember that they were little kids themselves not too long ago. They became the characters that the children love and that was nice to see.”
There were performances by several choruses, including the North Bergen High School band and the music departments, as well as representatives from several of the township’s grade schools.
The merchants of the town also got involved. For example, children were able to go to Plescia Photo on Bergenline Avenue to have their pictures taken with Santa Claus at no cost. Several other merchants offered free gifts and refreshments.
The North Bergen DARE program donated 1,000 baseball caps.
“They were all distributed within 20 minutes,” Sacco said.
The North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue squad allowed children to ride the fire vehicles down Bergenline Avenue and they also gave away souvenir fire hats to the youngsters, which also went in a hurry.
“We went through thousands of hats and balloons,” Sacco said. “It really made for a nice community event. It’s been a really nice thing to have for the children. We used to do it on a Saturday afternoon, but it didn’t work then. We then moved it to nighttime and it really took off. Now, we’ve enlarged it every year and had our sections of Bergenline Avenue blocked off, in order so the fire vehicles can go up and down without a problem.” Sacco also credited the volunteer support that the township received to make the event possible.
“There were a lot of teachers and administrators from the Board of Education who volunteered,” Sacco said. “We had people from the Department of Public Works. There were 27 police officers that volunteered their time. We had members of the North Hudson Regional who volunteered their time. There was a lot of community involvement and that made it a great event.”