Poseidon’s Parade to Celebrate 10 Years!
By Bert Sanders
As a community that suffers from collective seasonal affective disorder, it is important to mentally prepare for the inevitable changes that go with living in a beach town in the northeast. Labor Day has come and gone, the kids are back in school, and the cool north wind is tempting us to turn off the air conditioners. There are, however, two more weeks of summer, which does not officially end until we come together as a town, wear ridiculous costumes, and flood the boardwalk for Poseidon’s Parade!
This year marks the 10th Annual Poseidon’s Parade, which will kick off on Saturday, September 21 at 1 p.m. Geoff “El Capitan” Rawling is particularly excited to get back to his pagan roots and celebrate the parade on the actual last day of summer. “It’s fitting that the tenth parade falls a day before the Autumnal Equinox. I recall my days as a youth celebrating the equinox at Stonehenge, where I would gather with the Druids and watch the sun come over the stones. While the Parks Department won’t grant us any permits for animal sacrifices, it is surely going to be the most fantastic parade yet. Now if I can just get this dragon head out of the bay, I’ll be able to focus my energy on the parade.”
When he’s not fishing dragon heads out of the bay, Geoff is busy designing the parade’s official posters and t-shirts. This year, the Rockaway Mermaid Brigade has a special 10th annual commemorative white t-shirt that celebrates some of the various mermaid memories from the last decade of decadence on the boardwalk. I checked in with the benevolent dictator of the Brigade, Casey Brouder. She was tie-dying the aforementioned shirts in Poseidon’s Cave, where she is also making trophies for the winners of each category. “This year is going to be insane!” she shouted as she hot glued a broken record to a trophy. “We have a brutal judges panel which will be announced next week. People are going to have to really earn it this year.” I had many more questions for her, but with the Jewel album on, it was impossible to get her attention. I guess “Pieces of You” is more important to her than getting her message to the media.
Luckily for us, we have local blabbermouth Jerry Rea to pass information to the press. Adorned in Mets bling in his used car lot, Jerry was an encyclopedia of Poseidon Parade information. “You can register for the parade on the internet at https://www.poseidonsparade.com. The parade starts at 1 p.m. and marches from Beach 105th Street to the 97th Street concessions, where the fun continues. There are several categories where you can win trophies. The judges sit on lifeguard chairs on Beach 102nd boardwalk,” Jerry explained before we were interrupted by a potential bikini clad customer. “I would steal a 1972 Ford,” Jerry muttered as the interview concluded.
I popped in on Jimmy Dowd of St. James, an official partner of Poseidon’s Parade. He is not only the MC, but he also prints the many shirts that will be available on Beach 97th Street on parade day. He was sitting shirtless in the Moose Lounge, on the phone, taking care of business. “I can’t interview right now, bro,” he apologetically blurted while covering the phone. “We are slammed this month. We got the Richie, Cinco’s wedding, the Battle on the Beach, Poseidon. I’ve been pressin’ shirts like a sweatshop worka ova hea!” He threw me a Medalla Light and sent me on my way.
After 10 years of covering this parade, the maniacs involved are still as insane as ever. For more information, reach out to the Rockaway Mermaid Brigade and Poseidon’s Parade on social media. In the meantime, it is a great time to start building your floats and costumes. This year is on pace to be the biggest parade yet. There will be more updates next week, where the Brigade will announce the categories and the official judging panels. In the meantime, stay weird Rockaway!
