Amenia carnival heading into town next week

AMENIA — You can almost smell the popcorn and hear the cheers. The Amenia Fire Company’s 84th annual parade and carnival will be June 30 through July 3.

Unlimited ride bracelets will be available for $16 for the carnival on Wednesday and Thursday. In addition to the carnival, the fire company will hold its parade on Friday, July 2. At 7 p.m. about 20 fire company units, accompanied by various floats and marching bands, will make their way down the traditional parade route, lining up on Broadway and heading up Route 22 en route to the firehouse on Mechanic Street. Following the parade, the band “Shadow Creek� will perform.

The next night, Saturday, will feature karaoke and a fireworks display at 10 p.m., along with jackpot bingo games and raffle drawings.

“The carnival has been a tradition for many, many years,� said Captain Andy Murphy. “We are really the first town in the area to have one. Millbrook follows us and Dover follows that. There’s just something about the Amenia carnival. Everybody seems to have a story about it.�

Last year’s carnival was marred by poor weather, and organizers are crossing their fingers this year. The carnival will be in the parking lot of the firehouse on Mechanic Street. The grounds will open each night at 6:30 p.m. Food will be available. Proceeds will benefit the volunteer fire company.

“It’s nice to see the support from the town, and they all seem to come out every year,� Murphy said, adding he had been tracing the carnival’s history back in time through archival issues of area newspapers. “The earliest I could find was 1933, but I know the carnival was around back in the early 1900s. It really is an Amenia tradition.�

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