COLONIE — The second leg of the village’s Centennial Plus One celebration took place on Saturday, July 16, at Cook Park.
The picnic was essentially an expanded Family Fun Day, an annual event held at the village’s signature park that was absent from the calendar for the past two years thanks to COVID-19.
“We have a nice crowd and we have some great weather and it was worth the wait,” said Village Mayor Thomas Tobin while hanging out among the crowd at Cook Park. “There was a lot of preparation that went into this event and our crews were here cleaning everything up and getting everything up to date.”
The 3.3-square-mile village in the heart of the Capital District was technically incorporated in 1921, but the official centennial celebration was postponed last year out of an abundance of caution because of the pandemic so the theme of the centennial is 100+1.
The village is bisected by the busiest section of Central Avenue, from the east side of Route 155 to the west side of Wolf Road. At its widest point, roughly north to south, it extends from the Guilderland town line to Sunset Boulevard along Sand Creek Road.
On May 14, the village held a Centennial Open House, and residents were invited to come to the Village Hall Complex to visit with village employees and elected officials and tour the facilities.
The rest of the centennial events are as follows:
• Mayor’s Cup 5K & Fun Run: Saturday, Aug. 13, with the 5K starting at 9 a.m. and the fun run kicking off at 9:45 a.m. The races will be held at Cook Park and surrounding neighborhoods and they will be timed by ARE Event Productions.
• Centennial Parade: Saturday, Sept. 17. The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. at Jupiter Lane and marches down Central Avenue to Lincoln Avenue and into Cook Park. It will feature dignitaries, fire departments, floats and marching bands.
• Centennial Dinner: Saturday, Oct. 8. The 100+1 celebration will culminate with a dinner reception at the Italian American Community Center on Washington Avenue Extension. It will begin at 6 p.m. and reservations are required. It will feature a Roaring 20s theme in recognition of when the village was officially founded.
Click on a photo below to view a slideshow of the rest.
