Annual Columbus Day parade to be October 8th
City's bimonthly Bike Night coincides
By Mary Hawk
mhawk@news-press.com
Published by news-press.com on September 19, 2005
Next month's Columbus Day parade in Downtown Cape Coral should be filled with bands, floats, classic cars and the ror of motorcycles.
The annual event is planned for Saturday, Oct. 8, along Southeast 47th Terrace and is conducted in conjunction with the city's bimonthly Bike Night, which is sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department.
The parade is scheduled to begin around 6:15pm and will travel about a mile along Southeast 47th Terrace form Southeast 9th Place to Southeast 15th Avenue.
"This event just keeps getting bigger and better, of course." said Linda Biondi, parade prganizer. "With this being held in conjunction with Bike Night, it's very cool."
The parade is presented by the Charles J. Bonaparte Lodge No. 2504, Sons of Italy in America, and honors the 513th anniversary of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World. The theme is "Freedom Equals Peace, Pride and Prosperity," and the event will feature marching units, floats, cars, bicycles, and, of course, hundreds of motorcycles with glistening chrome and vibrating engines.
Bikers will rev up the rest of the evening's activities from the end of the parade route at around 7pm and will head up a "poker trot" event.
The person with the best poker hand will get a top prize of $400 cash, and the second-place winner will get $200. Money raised from entry fees for the event will go toward Making Strides for Breast Cancer, a 5-kilometer walk to raise money for breast cancer. The entry fee is $10 per hand.
"Things are starting to take off, and we are now starting to get a lot of responses for participants," said Nick Napolitano, event organizer and member of Sons of Italy. "But we really need marching units."
Last year's parade featured around 60 units with more than 2,000 to 3,000 people. This year, organizers hope for 7,500 people to attend the event.
"What will be so great is that at the end of the parade will be a bunch of bikers roaring down the street," Biondi said.
Returning this year will be classic, antique and other auto mobiles by the Timeless Traveling Treasures, PT Cruisers, a local Corvette Club and more.
Beverages will be sold by the Sons of Italy and will benefit Alzheimer's patients, reasearch and support, and the club's scholarship fund. The Sons of Italy has about 60 members locally and is dedicated to promoting Italian heritage.
According to 2000 census figures, there are around 16 million Italian-Americans living in the United States, or about 5.6 percent of the population. In Cape Coral, there are 13,437 Italians, or about 13.1 percent of the population, based on the 2000 population data.
The grand marshal is Dan Cositore, state president of the Order Sons of Italy in America Grand Lodge.
The parade is a celebration of Italian heritage and diversity in Cape Coral. Italians in New York organized the first celebration of Columbus' voyage on October 12, 1866. The following year, more Italian organizations in other cities had banquets, parades and dances on that date. In 1869, when Italians of San Francisco celebrated October 12, they calledit Columbus Day.
In 1905, Colorado became the first state to observe a Columbus Day. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed every October 12 as Columbus Day, and it ahs been celebrated on the second Monday in October since 1971.
Those interested in participating in the parade can call Biondi at 542-2254 or Nick Napolitano at 458-8503. For Bike Night information, call Tracy Arkin at 573-3125. |
