The fourth annual Belmont Stakes Festival at Garden City will be held Friday June 7 from 6-10 p.m. along Seventh Street and Franklin Avenue. The parade will step off at 7 p.m. from Village Parking Field 9E, south on Franklin Avenue and west on Seventh Street to the Village Green. A brief ceremony will follow the parade at the gazebo on the Village Green where I will have the opportunity to express gratitude to the NYRA for helping to spearhead last fall's benefit at the St. Paul's Field House. The benefit raised more than $850,000 for the Garden City Family Relief Fund, established to aid Garden City families affected by the tragic events of Sept. 11.

Special recognition will be given to NYRA President Terry Meyocks to express appreciation for NYRA's continued involvement and support of the Garden City community. This exciting family event will include street performers, antique and vintage cars, musical entertainment in addition to the return of the Budweiser Clydesdales, the Nassau County Pipe Band and the Garden City High School and Middle School bands. Six bands will be entertaining on Seventh Street throughout the evening. Make it a part of your family's weekend plans.

The Clydesdale Team will prepare for the parade at the village hall employee parking field- west of Fire Headquarters on Stewart Avenue. The public is invited to observe.

In order to accommodate the event as safely as possible, Seventh Street will be cleared of parked vehicles starting at 4 p.m. and will be closed to all traffic at that time. Parking fields to the rear of the stores (7S and 7N) will remain open.

It has been the village's pleasure to have worked closely with the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, the Garden City Hotel and the New York Racing Association on this event. We are all looking forward to June 7 and the Belmont Festival at Garden City, our newest annual event.

Recreation personnel are busy effecting finishing touches in getting the Garden City Swimming Pool ready for the opening of its 46th season, scheduled for noon on Saturday, June 8. I am confident that residents will be delighted with the results.

If residents have any questions with regard to filing for an application or procedures, please call the Garden City Pool at 483-1714 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The Town of Hempstead Sanitation Department will conduct its monthly S.T.O.P. (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants) program next Sunday, June 9. The program, which is being held at various locations throughout the Town of Hempstead, will make hazardous waste facilities accessible to as many residents as possible.

Sunday's program will be held at Bay Park, located on First Avenue in East Rockaway. The hours of operation will be 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Under the S.T.O.P. program, residents are able to take polluting materials to the facility and have them disposed of by a registered, professional disposal company, free of charge. The facilities will not accept the following materials: ammunition, explosives, radioactives, infectious waste, gas cylinders and barbecue tanks.