Howard Beach swings!

For one night, Howard Beach traveled back in time.
On Thursday, August 30, Arnie Mig and his Serenaders in Blue Orchestra carried on a long-lived Howard Beach tradition by holding a free concert in the schoolyard at St. Helen’s, 83-09 157th Avenue, featuring big band tunes from the swing era.
The crowd was comprised mainly of seniors, but you wouldn’t know it by watching them dance.
“I love watching people upwards of 80 having a ball dancing,” said Councilmember Joe Addabbo, who sponsored the event. “It’s amazing. It’s a great tradition.”
“They play mostly older songs, so it’s good to be able to come out here and listen to songs from when you were younger,” said Gene Greco, a member of the Howard Beach Kiwanis Club, which contributes funding to the show. “It’s been going on a long time.”
Nineteen years, to be exact - and band leader Arnie Mig says he and his 18-man band have no intention of stopping now.
“I’m already looking forward to next year,” he said. “Doing this is the love of my life. It makes me feel young.”
A former Navy Lieutenant who spent five years playing with George Liberace, brother of the famed and eccentric entertainer, Mig is used to being approached by hoards of adoring fans requesting old favorites. Though not a man who demands attention, he said it’s “wonderful and thrilling to see so many people so happy.”
“A big band in full cry is one of the most exciting things in my lifetime,” said Pat Polisciano, who made the drive from Richmond Hill to see the show. “If there’s a show within 50 miles, I’ll be there.”
Lou Simon, Democratic District Leader for the 23rd Assembly District, said his only regret was that there are not more shows like Mig’s.
“Arnie is a fantastic individual,” said Simon. “He makes people happy. These people don’t need this once per summer, they need it every week.”
Simon, who will run for City Council in 2009, said concerts like Mig’s will be weekly events if he is elected.
“Even if the money has to come out of my own pocket, it will happen,” he said.
Howard Beach resident Max Stern may best exemplify the youthful energy present among concertgoers. At 93, Stern took few breaks from the dance floor throughout the night.
“I can do almost every kind of dance,” he said. Stern never had any formal training, but said having four sisters “was training enough.
“Young kids today don’t know how to dance,” he went on. “It’s a shame.”
Stern said the chance to sit with friends on a summer night was a rare experience.
“I’m having a ball,” he said.