Stewart Manor Residents Mark Independence Day With Water Balloon Melee
STEWART MANOR, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- With all of the parades taking place on this holiday, there's one on Long Island that stands out.
As CBS2's Jessica Layton explained, it's not known for its marching bands, but for its pure soaking wet fun.
Brilliant sunshine made for perfect marching weather in Stewart Manor in Nassau County. It looked like your typical 4th of July parade until one girl stepped forward and took aim on the passing fire trucks with a water gun.
And with that, it was nothing short of water balloon and Super Soaker fun as citizens young and old alike took mischievous delight in scoring direct hits.
There was nowhere to hide on many floats, even helmets couldn't stop the watery onslaught that has become a holiday tradition.
"Every 4th of July, every fire department comes out and they have water balloon fight, kids love it, I love it," Lauren Keghlian said.
Entire families joined the watery battle, and many spent hours filling their coolers to the brim with lots of water balloon ammo.
"You gotta fill em up, tie em up, put em inside the cooler and you're ready to go. Some people bright hundreds," Scott McCool said.
No matter how far back one stood in the crowds that lined more than a dozen blocks along the route, it was near impossible to stay dry -- although some tried.
"I took the baby for a walk, but they still got me, they got me in the end," Irene Hanlon said.
The youngest of combatants took great pride in how accurately they fired their liquid missiles.
"I saved my ammo for the trucks with people on them," one girl said.
"I hit all of them," another added.
Abigail McCool, 4, is now a veteran of the water fight, but was frustrated with her performance.
"I did it last year, and I still didn't ever hit a truck," she admitted.
The under siege firefighters did their best to defend themselves, and could take at least some satisfaction in a direct hit on a CBS2 camera.