Citizen Of The Year; Friendly Football Rivalry: Harrison Mayor

From Mayor Ron Belmont

Last weekend, Harrison held its annual “Its Great to Live in Harrison/Columbus Day” Celebration. Our community takes tremendous pleasure in this yearly tradition as our nation honors the culture and heritage of Italian-Americans. In addition to recognizing the many achievements of Italian-Americans, Harrison residents and visitors participated in a weekend of exciting events. Saturday evening’s fireworks display was spectacular and the Open House at Police Headquarters, featuring a display of emergency apparatus and tours of the Police Station, was well attended.

Thankfully, the weather cooperated as a sizable crowd attended the annual “Its Great to Live in Harrison Day” Parade on Monday. Marching bands serenaded as student groups and civic organizations marched down Halstead Avenue. Following the parade, a festa took place in Ma Riiis Park and included a variety of children’s activities. I would like to thank Wegmans for joining us as we celebrated and for providing refreshments on the evening of the fireworks as well as after the parade. It was a successful event, full of national and hometown pride!

At the post-parade celebration, Bruno Strati was recognized as this year’s Citizen of the Year. Mr. Strati is a lifelong Harrison resident and previously served on Harrison’s land use boards as well as the Harrison Town Board. He is a well respected member of our community and is a wonderful role model. I am so glad that his many years of service to our community were acknowledged in this way.

It was a pleasure to see many friends and familiar faces at the recent Harrison-Rye football game. Friendly rivalry is part of the football tradition in both communities. Like most rivalries, the week before the big game is filled with excitement and hometown pride. I was happy to see that when the Harrison players looked up into the stands, they witnessed our community rallied together to support them and cheer them on. I look forward to watching the team as they progress through the playoffs.

Recently I attended the first annual Flight of Dreams event hosted by ACDS Westchester, an organization that services children and adults with developmental disabilities. It was an honor to be at this important event and to receive an award for supporting the mission of ACDS.

As you travel down Harrison Avenue, towards Mamaroneck, you may notice a newly painted mural on the side of 221 Harrison Avenue. The mural depicts an Asian American woman and reflects the issue of gender equality and diversity. The non profit organization, Street Art for Mankind, curates murals that primarily center on issues pertaining to social justice. London based street artist Mr. Cenz is producing the mural and has recently been commissioned by the International Labour Organization of the United Nations to produce 5 murals in New York City. For more information, visit www.streetartmankind.org . To see more murals, join Street Art for Mankind on November 2 nd at 3 PM at 134 North Avenue in New Rochelle for the largest Art Walk exhibit in Westchester.