Massapequa Park Holds Annual Holiday Open House

Village Hall in Massapequa Park was filled with seasonal cheer and fun for local children and their parents, as Massapequa park held their annual holiday open house.

“It’s a time-honored tradition,” said mayor James Altadonna of the event, which has been held for more than 25 years. “It’s a way for our community members to come in, visit Village Hall, their public officials, and see their children have some fun. It’s just another day that we use to kick off the holiday spirit.”

Among the many holiday attractions at the open house, Santa Claus was the main draw for the many kids present. Seated in the main meeting chamber, that's normally the workplace of the mayor and the village board, Santa entertained the kids while listening to their Christmas lists, which mostly consisted of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and Apple products a’plenty, with an occasional doll or football thrown in for good measure.

However, the good times continued in the basement of the Village Hall, where kids discovered a room filled with toys and gifts for the taking, all donated by local Massapequa Park merchants. In addition to that, there were also activities, refreshments, and visiting characters from popular cartoons, such as Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse.

Jean Geiger heads up Girl Scout Cadet Troop 2150 of Massapequa, and said she and her girls were more than happy to come down to Village Hall this day and donate their time for the children.

“The Girl Scouts are all about community service...helping out the community any way we can,” she said. “When we were asked to help out today, we said yes.”

The girls of Cadet Troop 2150 had tables set up at the Open House where they engaged local kids in face and body painting, in addition to helping to blow up balloons to decorate the room and handing out toys and goodie bags. 

Additional assistance running the show in the basement was provided by the always-helpful ladies of the, located in nearby

Another character having fun with the kids in the name of holiday spirit could easily be distinguished from the Girls Scouts by his red rubber nose and size 24 shoes. Yes, “Tin Can” the Clown was up to his old tricks, making fun balloon sculptures for the boys and girls.

“I’ve been doing this for about 20 years,” Tin Can said, who insists that his size 24 shoes do indeed contain size 24 feet. “I do this part-time ever since I retired...it’s more of a hobby, really. I’m just basically clowning around.”

Emily Chambers brings her daughter and son to the Holiday Open House every year.

“It’s a really sweet, what the Village does for the kids during the holidays...this, the tree lighting, decorating Park Boulevard so nicely, all that,” she said. “I’m glad that you can always count on the little things that the Village does during the holidays to make the kids happy.”