Dix Hills' Halloween Week Peaks on One Saturday
At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas will be greeting kids at the Half Hollow Hills Community Library on Vanderbilt Parkway, next to a pumpkin patch and a costume parade. At 7:30 p.m. that night, the Studio Theatre at Five Towns College on the North Service Road will dim its lights for Godspell. In between, a taco shop on East Deer Park Road that was a Bay Shore food truck three years ago will be serving consommé de birria, a dish it only makes Friday through Sunday.
None of these places plans around the others. The library, the college box office and the Town of Huntington each set their own dates. This year the library and the college land on the same day, Saturday, Oct. 24, and the town's event comes four days later. The rest of the week spreads out from that Saturday, from Godspell's opening night on Thursday to the town's Halloween parade the following Wednesday, which has a new route this year.
| Day | What | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 22 | Godspell, opening night | Five Towns College Studio Theatre, 305 North Service Road | 7:30 p.m. |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | Godspell | Same | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Fall Festival | Half Hollow Hills Community Library, 55 Vanderbilt Parkway | 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Godspell | Five Towns College Studio Theatre | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Godspell, final show | Same | 3 p.m. |
| Wed., Oct. 28 | Halloween at Heckscher | Heckscher Park, Prime Avenue and Route 25A, Huntington | 4 to 6 p.m., parade lineup at 3:45 p.m. |
The Half Hollow Hills Community Library Fall Festival is at the Dix Hills branch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. It's billed for all ages, and the program covers more ground than a library event usually does:
The festival runs two hours, so it suits families who want costumes, photos and a pumpkin wrapped up before lunch. The library says the event may be photographed or videotaped for its own publicity, and anyone who prefers to stay out of the pictures can tell library staff.
Once the festival ends at 1 p.m., nothing else is scheduled until Godspell at 7:30. That gap is the best time to try Taquero Mucho at 15 E. Deer Park Road. It opened this summer in the storefront that used to be Red Cajun and Grill. Newsday listed its hours as 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, closed Monday, so Saturday falls inside its full-service week.
The truck behind it came first. Owner Max Carballo started the original Taquero Mucho on Fifth Avenue in Bay Shore, near Great South Bay Brewery, three years ago. He told Greater Long Island that he opened it "with the few dollars I had tucked under my pillow." The Dix Hills menu is mostly the truck menu. The bigger kitchen let him add a few dishes, including lobster tails and short ribs.
Newsday's August review names a few dishes worth planning a Saturday around:
The room is casual. Newsday noted the wooden tables were left over from the Vietnamese restaurant that came before it. One dish isn't on yet. Carballo told Greater Long Island that a birria cup o' noodles, made with broth instead of water and loaded with meat, onions and jalapeños, is his winter special. Late October is still a little early for it.
Five Towns College is staging Godspell in its Studio Theatre at 305 North Service Road. Evening shows are Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 22 to 24, at 7:30 p.m., and the run closes with a Sunday matinee on Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. The college describes the show as a set of biblical parables from Matthew and Luke, told through song and storytelling, and it's presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International.
The college's performing arts page lists a no-refund policy for this event. That matters more this week than most, because the Saturday show comes at the end of an already busy day. If the morning festival and an afternoon at Taquero Mucho sound like enough for one day, the Thursday and Friday evening shows or the Sunday matinee spread the week out. Thursday's opening night is the same day this post goes up.
Ralph's Famous Italian Ices and Ice Cream is the week's other summer arrival, and the candy makes it a natural October stop. The shop moved across the street in July to 1740 E. Jericho Turnpike, inside the Dix Hills Commons Shopping Center. According to Newsday, owner Nanci Lotvin moved when the lease at the old location could only go month to month.
"There's not one thing in the store that's not brand new," Lotvin told Newsday. The new shop has a popcorn cart and a candy wall stocked with gummy worms, gummy bears, nonpareils and Swedish candy. That's an easy place to send a kid who came home from the pumpkin patch still in costume. The menu also lists 12 signature sundaes. In August, Newsday reported water and creme ice prices running from $4.50 for a kiddie size to $6.50 for a large.
The hours Newsday published in August were 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Those were summer hours, and a shop built around Italian ice can change its schedule once the weather cools, so call ahead at 631-493-4444 before making a special trip.
The week ends outside Dix Hills, at the Town of Huntington's free Halloween at Heckscher on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Heckscher Park, Prime Avenue and Route 25A. Huntington Now reports a bounce house, trick-or-treating, music, crafts, games and food trucks.
The parade is the part that has changed. It used to march down Wall Street. This year it lines up at the Chapin Stage at 3:45 p.m. and loops around Heckscher Park to the event. Families who remember the old route will want to head to the park, not downtown. Since it's a Wednesday, the 3:45 lineup also runs into after-school pickup and the drive north from Dix Hills, so the timing takes a little planning.
Admission is free, and costumes are encouraged. After that, the next fixed point on the calendar is Halloween itself on Saturday, Oct. 31, and that falls inside the Friday-through-Sunday window Newsday reported in August for Taquero Mucho's consommé de birria.
Knowing that the library, the college and the town each keep their own calendar is the kind of local detail I love sharing with neighbors in Dix Hills and across Long Island. If you have a question about the community, or you're thinking ahead to your next move, Nancy Rosen is always glad to talk. Let's Connect.
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