Residents of the Town of Newburgh enjoyed locally made food and drinks and live music and eagerly anticipated the grand fireworks display at the annual Newburgh Community Day on Friday, June 30. The scenes of Community Day were of families and friends enjoying time together where only just last year in 2022, the community celebration returned after two long years of cancellations due to COVID.

“There’s always a great crowd, great food. This is like the old fashioned Community Day as we had years ago where the whole town came out and we’re doing it again,” said Newburgh Supervisor Gil Piaquadio. “If you don’t come out, you’re missing something. After what we’ve been through with the pandemic, it’s like a blessing to be out here, really.”

Algonquin and Cronomer Parks served as hosts for the community celebration where families enjoyed time at the swing sets and playgrounds, hung out by the small creek or relaxed and picnicked out on the fields. Children played baseball or soccer or ran around with friends waiting for the fireworks to begin. On one side of the park, Cronomer Valley and Winona Lake ladder trucks welcomed residents with the display of the American flag flying in the wind from the truck’s buckets.

Festivities officially kicked off at the park at 6 p.m, with families browsing the booths or setting up their camps with blankets and chairs for the fireworks display later that evening. Live music from the Hillbilly Parade band kept fans entertained. The band played various covers during the afternoon such as “When It Rains It Pours” by Luke Combs and “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker.
Damian DePauw, co-owner of City on a Hill and Level Up Clothing, had previously attended Community Day as a spectator and now had the opportunity to experience it as a first time vendor. He and his family all enjoyed the local food waiting for the fireworks. “This is my first time to this event. We just started the business a few years ago, and most of our focus was on online sales. But we came to a couple of street festivals and set up similar to this one, and we did really well,” he said. “Everybody’s really enthusiastic to be here.”

Food and drinks from Freeze Squeezed Lemonade, Perfect Sweets, Arios Expresso, Chilly Willy’s, Empanada O’Nada, Baby Dahl’s Catering, Bojo’s, Gina Gyros and more were served to customers over the course of the next several hours. “I think the committee did a great job this year on our Community Day. We added more booths. We have a great band here today. As long as the weather holds out, we’ll be in good shape,” said Town Councilman Paul Ruggiero.

As the sun began to set, the park lights started to come on to illuminate the field for the vendors a little longer before the show. At about 9:15, the lights one by one began to turn off, and soon the whole park went dark. In the distance, a whirring sound filled the air and fireworks one by one blew up in the night sky before a final grand finale concluded the celebration.