By Aidan Johnson
Sunny skies greeted the residents of Northport and elsewhere as they celebrated the annual Cow Harbor Day Sunday, Sept. 22.
The event, which has been running for more than 50 years, celebrates the history of Northport whose original name, Cow Harbor, stems from the cows who “used to graze on the fields along the harbor which are now two lovely parks,” according to the village website.
Sunday’s festivities began at noon, with community members participating in a parade down Main Street which saw community members participating, including Grand Marshal Mikey Brannigan, a Northport High School alumni who recently won a bronze medal in the men’s 1500-meter T20 race at the Paris Paralympics.
Other activities included live music performances, carnival rides and games, and a boat race.
Northport Mayor Donna Koch discussed how the festival was started in 1973 as a way to boost local businesses and morale, and has successfully continued ever since.
“I’m amazed at the turnout today,” Koch said in an interview. “I don’t think I’ve seen a crowd this big in a long time.”
Also in attendance was the East Northport Civic Association, which was recently formed in response to the potential selling of three Northport-East Northport school district buildings, which ended up not coming into fruition, instead being leased.
John Scherer, president of the civic association, was happy to be a part of an event that was very meaningful to Northport, with whom East Northport shares the aforementioned school district.
“It’s a neighboring community, but we’re for all purposes one greater community … but it’s very important to us to be part of a very big celebration with the greater Northport community,” he said.
The Great Cow Harbor Weekend started Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with a 10K race followed in the evening by a lighted boat display at the Village Dock and a concert at Northport Village Park.
Prev
