Greene, NY (WBNG Binghamton) - One area village has been celebrating the unofficial end of summer for 91 years.
Action News Reporter Brennan Smith shows us how the Village of Greene entertains a crowd of 10,000 plus.
"It's a tradition to anybody who's grown up in Greene. All of our alumni and class reunions are this weekend because residents grow up and come back to Labor Day, Labor day's a big thing," said Mayor of Greene, Marcia Miller.
And it is a big thing.
The annual parade and Festivities at Ball Flatts brings an entire community together.
It attracts more than 10,000 people from all over.
"It's really nice to come back here. We don't get this in Alaska, the smells, you miss the smells and the tractors," said Becky Whaley from Nikolaevsk, Alaska.
"Every year we come up here to visit my mother-in-law, she lives in Greene, and the kids wait all weekend to come and see the parade and the cars and come to the fair for all of the great rides and the food," said Eileen Grister of Hicksville.
Ahh, the food.
Hundreds of volunteers from the community set up stands and offered snacks to the crowd.
To feed a crowd of 10,000 you're going to need a lot of food. This 90 foot-long char pit has been going since 4:30 Monday morning.
It is used to grill 3-thousand chicken breasts.
"We have crews come on every couple hours and they're all volunteer crews of 8, 10, 12 guys. Some of them, three generations, have been cooking chicken."
Generations of people enjoy the food, live entertainment, rides, games, and even car show.
"It's a family tradition to come down here and play some games, ride some rides, eat some good food," said Breven Gilmore of Greene.
"Obviously it's the last big thing of the summer, so we try to go out with a bang. We really do," said Byron Miller, President of the Greene Labor Day Association.
And that bang will start at 8:45 tonight when the celebration wraps up with fireworks.
In Greene, Brennan Smith, WBNG-TV Action news.
Organizers have been planning the Labor Day Picnic since January.
They say their goal is to make it bigger and better each year.
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