Oyster Festival Food Promenade

State Bank of Long Island Sponsors Food Promenade Again

State Bank of Long Island will again be the principle sponsor of the Food Promenade at the 15th Annual Oyster Festival scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18, in the hamlet of Oyster Bay. The festival is hosted by the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce.

Karen DeVine-Minicozzi, Oyster Festival Chairperson and owner/director of the Francis P. DeVine Funeral Home, Inc. and Thomas Kuehhas, Oyster Festival co-chair and director of the Oyster Bay Historical Society are accepting the check for $10,000 from representatives of State Bank of Long Island: Chairman, President and CEO Thomas Goldrick Jr.; Diane Grochocki, assistant manager, Oyster Bay branch manager and John McWhirk, vice president.

The food promenade is located in the heart of the festival, centered around the bandstand. It is also the heart of the festival in another way: it is where 17 local nonprofit organizations raise funds for the programs they run throughout the course of the year.

"State Bank of Long Island has been exceedingly generous in sponsoring the Food Promenade and helping to make the Oyster Festival, one of the region's most significant fund raisers," said Karen DeVine Minicozzi, Oyster Festival Chair.

"We're extremely proud to again be a part of this terrific festival," said Thomas Goldrick Jr., chairman, president and CEO of State Bank of Long Island.

"The Oyster Festival is more than an important local fund-raising event - it's a unique cultural experience for the greater Long Island community," he said. With the generous donation of $10,000 State Bank of Long Island has once more demonstrated its strong commitment to the people of Long Island.

Oysters are just one of the culinary highlights of the day. Some of the mouth-watering treats the organizations will serve include foods from the sea such as: calamari, clams on the half shell; oysters on the half shell, steamed clams; steamed oysters; crab cakes; fried clams; seafood gumbo; linguine and clams; New England and Manhattan Clam Chowder; Oyster Stew; shrimp cocktail.

It's estimated that some 30,000 oysters are consumed annually at the festival with thousands more consumed as oyster stew and fried oysters.

There will also be chicken sandwiches; bratwurst; sweet potato pie; chocolate covered strawberries; hamburgers; cheeseburgers; pasta fagioli; kielbasa sandwiches; corn on the cob; blooming onion; sausage and pepper heroes; souvlaki, gyros, shish kebobs, spinach pie, baklava, Greek salad, steak sandwiches, apple pie and ice cream, waffles and ice cream and zeppoles.

Be sure and bring you appetite. There are benches and tables for dining set up around the bandstand and in the entertainment tent, for your convenience. We want you to relax and enjoy the day.

The festival hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., each day. Admission and parking are free. To ensure that the experience remains a wholesome family event, no alcoholic beverages will be served at the festival food booths.