Volunteers Prepare for Holiday Dinner & Santa Claus

Harrison Fest Committee Volunteers have been working for weeks to prepare to tomorrow's (Sunday, December 20th) Holiday Dinner Celebration for families and children.  Councilman Anselmo Millan, President of Harrison Fest, with the help of Mayor James Fife and a lot of volunteers are set to bring cheer and joy to children and their parents.  The goal of the Holiday Dinner is to bring Joy to children and their parents during this very special time of year. Anxious parents bringing their children to meet Santa Claus, some with very limited resources, feel uncomfortable at first.  As food is served and carols are sung, the parents realize that they are among an extended family.  When Santa Claus arrives and each child gets an age appropriate gift and a free picture with Santa, Joy arrives in the faces of the children. 

There are still opportunities to contribute to the dinner.  If you are a local or far away restaurant and want to contribute food to the dinner, please call us at (973) 268-2706

A complete list of those who contributed to the Annual Harrison Fest Holiday Party will be published in the coming days.

Children's Holiday Funraiser Brunch A Success

Harrison Fest's Fundraiser Brunch was a success as supporters local and from far away made time to have brunch at the Spanish Pavillion in Harrison.  As usual Michael Fernandez from the Spanish Pavillion put out a beautiful buffet style spread and brewed some great coffee.  As Michael pointed out "I don't do breakfast."  But after a small pause he states, "except for the children."  He might make breakfast for his children but the children he's referring to is the children in attendance at the Harrison Fest Holiday party for Families coming up in December. The Brunch Fund Raiser raises funds for that special event.

Mayor James Fife joined Councilman Anselmo Millan in the event.  Camera were out for a photograph with the Mayor Fife and Councilman Millan.  Some attendees came early because they had to go to other sports and family events to be replaced by others who decided to come later.  There was plenty to select from and good company throughout.

Take a look at Facebook to catch who was in attendance.  Mayor James Fife and Councilman Anselmo Millan thank all those who attended and donated to this wonderful cause and event.

Jose Morillo

Just a little over a week ago the Harrison Fest Committee honored Jose Morillo as a Country Honoree.  Jose walked in the Harrison Fest Parade and participated in the Queens Gala and 175th Anniversary Gala Dinner.

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Jose Morillo, Country Honoree Dominician Republic Harrison Fest 2015 standing on Harrison Avenue closed to traffic on Saturday, September 19, 2015 after the Harrison 175th Anniversary Parade.

Jose passed away suddenly this past week from complications from a stroke.  Jose was 32 years old. There are no words that can express the sorrow of such a loss of a husband, father and Harrisonian. 

A wake will be held at the Mulligan Funeral Home in Harrison tomorrow September 30, 2015 from 2 pm to 8 pm.  A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Stephen's Church in Kearny on Friday, October 1, 2015 at 11:30 a.m.

James Hague, from The Observer, wrote a very nice tribute to Jose Morillo in the September 29th Edition of the The Observer.  The tribute captures how special Jose Morillo was and how his presence will be missed by his wife Amy Nicosia Morillo, his children, family and friends. You can read the tribute by clicking here

Our condolences to the Morillo family for their sudden loss of a wonderful human being.

LusoAmericano Newspaper Article

The LusoAmericano, a Portuguese-American Newspaper, ran a full page story in its September 23, 2015 edition on Harrison's 175th Anniversary celebration and the Parade on Saturday.  They got a great shot of the United States Marines Color Guard and Marines Marching down Harrison Avenue; of the Queens including the Queen representing Portugal Catia Alves on the Queens Float; of the Camponeses do Minho Rancho originally from Harrison but now at the Portuguese Sports Club in Newark; the Groupo de Bombos Os Rouxinois from the Casa do Minho and the line of dignitaries marching including Councilman Anselmo Millan, John M. Pinho, Esq., and Monica Miquens, Coordinator of Harrison Fest Committee.  One of the nice statements contained in the article accompanying the pictures was the statement that Harrison's Parade was so good it is something other towns should emulate.  Thank you Ricky Duraes for such a nice compliment.  We do think it was an excellent parade.

The LusoAmericano is available locally in stores and online at www.LusoAmericano.com

The Observer Covers Harrison Fest

The Observer Newspaper ran a story on Harrison's 175th Anniversary Celebrations during Harrison Fest 2015.  The article was comprehensive and provided detailed information on Veteran of the Year, Second Ward Councilman Victor Villalta.  Businessman of the Year Jaime Lacero.  Businesswoman of the Year, Maria F. Reis.  Woman of the Year, Marion Listwan.  Man of the Year Jorge J. Tena. Woman of Year Louise Wozniak.

Click Here for Observer Article.

Harrison Fest Parade Photos and Videos

If you missed the Parade yesterday and your friends can't stop talking about it, you can try faking you were there by looking at the photos of the parade and videos we just posted on our website www.HarrisonFest.org

The Street Festival continues today so if you missed it yesterday you still have time to say you walked down Harrison Avenue during Harrison Fest's Street Fair.

Check back tonight and tomorrow for more photos and videos.

Harrison Street Fest Continues

It's a beautiful night to come out with the kids and family to Harrison's Street Festival.  The Parade was amazing.  But now there is food and music to be had from Economy Hardware with a DJ music and food from the neighboring restaurants to the other side of Harrison Avenue with the Portuguese club having a live band and great food and drink.  In between you have a food court with Zeppoles, Funnel Cakes, Mr. Softee IceCream, Hotdogs, Hamburgers, Cupcakes, ... it's all there.

Help spread the word on Facebook.  Tonight is the night to come to Harrison NJ.

Harrison Parade Makes History

Over 40 groups participated in Harrison's 175th Anniversary Parade and Harrison Fest 2015 taking a little under 2 hours to make it's way down Harrison Avenue.  At one point, the Parade stopped to allow one of groups to catch up and the Harrison School Cheerleaders on a float did a continuance cheer to the delight of the crowd in front of Town Hall.  The Rancho Camponeses do Minho youth group then decided to entertain the crowd with a Dance which was spontaneous and the crowd cheered their effort to keep everyone's mind off the parade had stopped.  Councilman James Doran was the Master of Ceremony announcing each group as they passed town hall.  Mayor James Fife thanked everyone and singled out Councilman Anselmo Millan for all his hard work that he did on behalf of the community in organizing the parade and the prior nights Gala Anniversary Dinner.

We are working on posting pictures from the Parade later on tonight.  We are trying to take it all in for now.

Outfront Media Helps Spread The News

The Outfront Media Bulletin Board which is located at Harrison Avenue and 2nd Street and displays to Eastbound traffic on Route 280 in Harrison finished its conversion of its Static Bulletin Board into a modern electronic bulletin board.  The Electronic Bulletin Board went online yesterday just in time to celebrate Harrison's 175th Anniversary and Harrison Fest 2015.

Outfront Media wasted no time in spreading the word about Harrison Fest by placing two advertisements indicating that Harrison's was celebrating its 175th Anniversary this weekend and another advertisement indicating that Harrison Fest and the official website of www.HarrisonFest.org for more information.

A thank you goes out to Outfront Media for this public service on behalf of the Town of Harrison.  The Bulletin Board looks great.  Here is the picture of the ad letting everyone know about Harrison Fest.