What a day for goblins and grants

You couldn’t pick a better day for the Bellport Chamber’s Halloween Parade on Saturday, with 400-plus adults and kids on a gorgeous fall day swarming the street with their costumes. Giovanni Naso, of Bellport Apothecary, got up at 6 a.m. to paint his face and arrange his getup as Steam Punk Skeleton. Keith Dawson, owner of Brewport, walked down with his imaginative crew dressed as a princess, her Protector, Spider-Man and a Banana. Paul Quinn set up lively music for the day.  Deputy mayor Nathan Rohrmeier announced the scarecrow winners: No. 1, Inky;  No.2,  The Other Mother; No. 3, The Ice Cream Sundae Girl. Winners received prizes from Bellport Arts & Framing, Bellport Apothecary Boutique, Bellport General, Bellport Jewelers & Rarities, Brewport Coffee House, Café Castello, Pamela Lerner Home & Design, Uncle Joe’s, TOLA and Summer Salt Beach & Surf.

But it was Legis. Dominick Thorne who made the surprise announcement. “The county is giving another $10,000 to the Bellport Chamber, a cultural Omnibus grant, and the Gateway is getting $18,000, too,” he said.

Kids clamored into the antique fire truck before the parade to ring the bell.  After Bayport Fire Department commissioner Rich Terwilliger steered it down the street, residents and visitors mingled and caught up as youngsters went in and out of the stores trick-or-treating and parents were encouraged to shop local.