By Cynthia Koons
Normally the parade budget is around $25,000, a number that has grown over the past seven years.
This year Mazzarello said the private bus companies could not afford to lend their equipment and services to the community, so instead the group must pay for them.
“The budget with this unexpected cost, it's going to jump up to … $27,000,” said Mazzarello, a World War II veteran. “We have a small reserve that we're going to have to dip into.”
The city's takeover of private buses, scheduled for July 1, will change the operating procedures so that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority assumes responsibility for all bus service in the borough.
Mazzarello said the buses are used to transport bands such as the Jackie Robinson “Steppers” Marching Band, which will be performing that Sunday, May 30.
The 107-year-old parade, which Mazzarello said honored veterans before the advent of Memorial Day, begins at 2 p.m. at 26th Avenue and College Point Boulevard.
The “Steppers” band has been featured in films such as “Our Song” and “Pulse,” according to the College Point Citizens for Memorial Day organization. It has also appeared on shows such as “Good Morning America,” “The Today Show” and “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.
The band will be a welcome addition to the parade, which cannot afford the same number of bands as in previous years, Mazzarello said. This year's parade will feature 12 bands compared with last year's 16.
“There's no parade in the whole country that had 16 bands except ours,” he said. He hopes the Jackie Robinson Band will make up the difference.
“That's really a premium band so that's going to pick up the slack. There's 110 members in the band,” Mazzarello said.
Raising money for this year's parade was more difficult than he expected.
“The fund drive that we had wasn't as successful as we anticipated,” Mazzarello said. “We have various sponsorships. … We have people who have never failed every year and they decided to skip us this year.”
He could not speculate why his parade would be a low priority for donors this year in particular, adding “you can't depend on the same people every year.”
The College Point Citizens for Memorial Day organization will honor U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) as its grand marshal. Also marching will be Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Borough President Helen Marshall, according to the organization's press release.
The parade begins on College Point Boulevard and will stop at nursing homes for performances before ending in MacNeil Park. Mazzarello said the troops will march on, rain or shine.
As for whether the parade will empty its savings account to cover this year's increase in expenditures, he said “when I'm finished this year, then I'll know.”
Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.
