Huntington Unity Fun Day celebrates community with fair, parade

Sheer-paneled windows of a shaking bouncy castle framed bobbing heads in silhouette outside Stimson Middle School in Huntington Station Saturday.

The inflatable attraction was the tipoff: on school grounds, dozens gathered to celebrate Huntington Unity Fun Day. Community members, local leaders, school district personnel and students participated in the parade and fair organizer Kimberly Jerideau called "a family reunion."

"You fight with your family, but you still have to come together and celebrate one another, despite your differences," Jerideau said in a phone interview before the event. "And recognize and honor your hometown heroes, who are there for each and every one of us."

This year's event honored grand marshals Ray Spatafora, who works in security for the South Huntington School District, human rights activist Betty Miller and Huntington High School dean and coach Ron Miller.

"These individuals are people who are, I call, 'trusted messengers,' for the community," said Jerideau, a community affairs assistant for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. "They are always there, they are that shoulder that all of us could lean on."

Jerideau said her drive to chair this event comes from her grandmother, the late Huntington community activist Dolores "Dee" Thompson, who died in 2023 at age 94. Thompson started Unity Day in 2000, according to Jerideau, and her granddaughter is event chair for the first time this year. 

Saturday morning, nonprofit organizations, community businesses and law enforcement officers took up tables in the middle school parking lot. Jerideau said she had encouraged each table or vendor to come with an activity to play with the children in attendance.

"There's so many wonderful services and programs right here, in our own hometown, that many individuals don't know about," Jerideau said. "It's important that we get together, in a fun way."

Attendees traversed the grounds with soft serve ice cream cones and rode yellow go-karts. Music — "Cupid Shuffle," then "Cha Cha Slide" — crossed the street.

Event sponsors included the Chamber of Commerce, Huntington Station Business Improvement District and Jonny D's Pizzeria. .

Krystin Banko, executive director of the Huntington Chamber of Commerce, held her sons' hands as they stood overlooking the go-karts. Rhemy, 5, and Rhylee, 3, had marched with her in the parade.

"The Chamber is just happy to support unity day in any way we can," Banko said.

 

For Ruthanne Cooley, president of the Huntington branch of the NAACP, a day like this is "a better forum" for community outreach than the organization's monthly meetings.

"They come out, we're able to speak with them," Cooley said. "Because not everybody makes it to the library."

As a Diamond Life Member of the NAACP, Naomi Brown likened Saturday's event to the mission of the organization.

"We represent people, not just one group," said Brown, who is in her 80s. "And I think today is a great day because we can come together, and this is what the NAACP is about, to make a change."

Vito D'Elia, superintendent of the South Huntington Union Free School District, co-chaired the Unity Day committee. Like Jerideau, he cited Dolores Thompson's community efforts as the reason Unity Fun Day takes place today.

"We're keeping this event going because we're a big believer in what she believed in — in unity within our community," D'Elia said in a phone interview.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly included two companies as sponsors of this year's event.