Even some of the kids made their hats

Giovanni Naso was on a ladder decorating his store, Bellport Apothecary, with a cascade of flowers with Nancy Lee when fifth-grader Charlie Ficken walked down the street with his towering chapeau, a masterpiece of chicks, Easter eggs bobbing in the air and whatever.

Ficken later would be awarded with a third place Bellport Easter Crazy Hat Parade prize.

The weather turned heavenly on Saturday as people gathered for a bit of fun at Bellport Village’s Easter Crazy Hat Parade, a tradition since 2015. Bellport Chamber co-president LuAnn Thompson had the prizes and candy all lined up in her store, Bellport Arts & Framing, with Allison Holden, a chamber board member and new liaison with the business owners. “There’s lots of candy for the kids,” Thompson said, pointing to overflowing baskets. Good-natured Bellport High School senior Derick Rommie came in to get his bunny costume. Paul Quinn set up the sound equipment from the Sitting Ducks band he plays in just outside. (“Here Comes Peter Cottontail” and “The Bunny Hop” were heard as the kids paraded.) Ziggy the dog posed expertly with Dylan Wright, who came with Nicholas and Kathleen Tew. Maureen O’Connell with dog, Fiona, got her vintage hat from an estate sale. “I saw a hat like it in a Doris Day movie; she was wearing it,” she said. Logan Biggs, who later won first place with her magical creation, came up with the design, her mother Kathleen Biggs said. Nora Franzese from South Bay Art Association, who helped judge the hats, wore a rainbow tulle hat. Olga Guevara from Bellport, whose hats have wowed the crowd in the past, was pretty in pink. Her efforts won third place.

“Eight different businesses were generous with items for the prizes and between 85 to 100 came,” Thompson said, which included runners-up, Juno Vale, Nicholas Tew, Adelaide Mersaud, Hazel Hartman and Baylee Holden and Ruben Flag.  “We lucked out with the blessed weather.”