Weather Curtails Frosty Day; Parade, Tree Lighting Pushed to Saturday
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
For the second time in four years, weather impacted North Castle’s annual Frosty Day celebration.
The town announced late Saturday that the Frosty Day parade through downtown Armonk and the tree lighting ceremony at Wampus Brook Park were postponed until this Saturday, Dec. 3 as weather forecasts called for a near 100 percent chance of significant rain throughout Sunday afternoon and into the evening.
Some of the activities leading up to the time of the parade, which was scheduled to step off at 4 p.m., continued as scheduled.
Robby Morris, president of the Friends of Frosty, the volunteer nonprofit group that takes the lead in organizing the day, said they met on Saturday morning with police and town officials to determine the best course of action given the weather forecast. The heaviest rain was projected to overspread the area in the afternoon but they tried to get as many of the pre-parade activities in as possible, particularly those that were held indoors, from 12 to 4 p.m., Morris said.
“For us, we had to make the call because you’re not going to have anybody watching the parade in the rain, you’re not going to have anybody marching in the parade in the rain, so that part of it would have been killed anyhow,” Morris said. “We were hoping to get this in, even with it being just a light rain, so we ended up doing that today.”
Sunday’s turn of events was the second time since 2019 that the parade and tree lighting had to be called off. Three years ago, there was a snowfall during the afternoon, with numerous accidents in town, forcing officials to cancel the parade and postpone the tree lighting. Frosty Day in 2020 was canceled because of the pandemic.
Despite the disappointment, Frosty didn’t melt from the afternoon rain. The famous snowman that Armonk has claimed as his own was in downtown greeting children and families.
The activities, which included arts and crafts at the nearby Hergenhan Recreation Center, a continuous loop of the animated movie “Frosty the Snowman” at the North Castle Public Library and promotions in many of the stores that opened on Sunday, drew a decent turnout to downtown with parents toting their young children. One of the musical groups, Heartfelt, an a cappella quartet, sang in front of stores and in the plaza of Armonk Square.
Daniel Kokoszka of Scarsdale said he and his family are Frosty Day regulars, and even if Sunday’s activities had to be limited, they are prepared to return for the parade.
“We’ll be back next (Saturday) if it’s still on,” Kokoszka said. “We’re here every year and it’s fun.”
Michelle Curchack of Armonk, who was waiting in a line for hot chocolate and cookies with her husband Jonas and their children, said they weren’t disappointed and also vowed to return on Saturday.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “They’re having a great time and we’re enjoying all the activities.”
Morris said if there’s a silver lining to the inclement weather this year it’s that extra people will be attracted to downtown for a portion of two weekends. Plus, Main Street and Maple Avenue, which would have been closed the entire afternoon, will only have to be shut for about an hour on Saturday.
Judy Willsey, the owner of Framings in the downtown and also part of Friends of Frosty, chalked up the circumstances to being outside of anyone’s control.
“What the heck, you’ve got to make the best of it, right?” she said.
For more information about Saturday’s rescheduled parade and tree lighting, visit www.armonkfrosty.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
