A Festival for Kids and Kids-at-Heart

As part of festival month in the , more than 2,500 parents and children gathered at North Hempstead Beach Park on Saturday for a fun day catered to kids.

“Our goal is to give people an opportunity to appreciate the community where we live,” said Supervisor Jon Kaiman.

Kaiman as well as Town Clerk Leslie Gross noted that Kidstock is one of the events hosted in the Town to try to bring the community together in a family-oriented fashion.

“We always have events for the adults, and this is the one time before the end of the school year that we can give back to the kids,” said Councilwoman Viviana Russell.

Throughout the day performers took the stage; the dynamic entertainment included Long Island’s very own Robert Poe who performed “The Broccoli Rob Show” where kids learned about nutrition in a fun way through songs and trivia. Although “Broccoli Rob” is a superhero, he changed into other characters including Mr. Leek, the martial arts master and Elvis Parsley who sang “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hot Dog” to emphasize the importance of healthy eating.  

“I love dancing,” said Ashley Munch, 5, from Bayside. She and her mother wanted to take part in the weekend festivities. 

“One day I hope we can move locally,” said her mother. “The Town always has so much to offer.”

A highlight for both the kids and parents was being able to interact with an original “resident” from Sesame Street. Gordan Robinson traveled all the way from Sesame Street to be the official host at Kidstock. Roscoe Orman has been playing the part of Gordan for 37 years; in the show, he is married to Susan, father to Miles and is a loyal neighbor to Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

“I love doing this,” said Orman. “The kids will be wondering how I got out of their TV sets, I’m sure their folks will explain that to them.”

“It’s one thing to have a good idea but the trick is to make it happen,” said Kaiman. “It’s a beautiful day, everyone is coming out; I think we accomplished our goal.”