Witchingtonville - Top Item @ Blooming Grove/Washingtonville April Workshop

The Town of Blooming Grove had a big stack of projects for review for its April Work Session last week, including  the intricate plans for approval of this year’s Annual Halloween “Witchingtonville” Events, some of which are being held at the Town’s Mays Sports Fields. Witchingtonville has become one of the Region's top Fall Events, and it takes a season of planning to become the success it has become in recent years. Washingtonville Event Committee’s Co-Chairs Patrick and Justine Maiorino came with several of this year’s star performing groups, each of which has a detailed list of logistic and safety plans to coordinate with both Blooming Grove and Washingtonville Police Departments, First Responders and DPW staff. Once again, Witchingtonville is in the finals for last year's top spot of best Chronogram Halloween Event in the Mid-Hudson Region. The Event Committee and municipal officials have a very high bar of safety measures to work out, especially this year since it includes the exciting inclusion of an Archery Demo & Lessons that includes some of the highest safety precautions ever, including the closure and barricade of an adjacent playground. After a long career in NYPD and well over a decade and a half of overseeing Community events, Town Supervisor Rob Jeroloman is all about safety. In addition to intricate insurance documentation by every participating vendor, he and the other Blooming Grove council members already have a list of additional cautionary measures and will conduct additional meetings to fine tune precautions as Fall approaches.....especially since just weeks before Witchingtonville, on September 26th,all of the municipal first responders and DPW workers will be incredibly busy hosting one of the biggest County events of the year- the 2026 Orange County Volunteer Firemens Association Parade.

Another level of safety will be provided for Witchingtonville since the Event Committee hires a Security Agency, and the Blooming Grove Town Board now has two Councilmen with extensive fire department and event oversight experience - Frank Malloy who represents Ward 2 and John Byrnes who represents Ward 3.

With the many years of the Town and Village PDs partnering for both fun snd safety it is no surprise that Witchingtonville has become a regional favorite.

The Maiorino’s (now tasked both with the Village Events Calendar and exciting opening of their new Guilty Pleasures Cafe site at the former Corner Candle Store) sounds overwhelming. But this is not Pat and Justine's first rodeo and they have an impressive string of awards to show for it. Patrick has already begun dropping clues as to what Witchingtonville ‘26 will be like, so stay tuned.

Why on earth do they start planning  a Fall Event when we are still just stepping into Spring?  Just like the early bird gets the worm, Early Event Coordinators get the best acts and make sure they have what they need to give the best performances in the Hudson Valley!

Heads up for Part II of workshop coverage later this evening - A "top oversight company" from Philadelphia gave a presentation about "Electric Grid Battery Storage Box Backup Systems". The general reaction - "A Field of Electric Battery Backup Boxes? Not Here, Not Now!"

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Washingthonville's Memorial Parade is on Monday, May 25th at 10AM. It will proceed from Washingtonville High School on East Main Street, then left on Arrow Pt. Lane and proceed to Ahern. After a right turn on Ahern it will end at Firemen's Memorial Park with a gathering and some light refreshment. Contact Maureen DeVinko at 845-742-4621 for any additional information about participation.