starting off spooky season on the right foot

By Isabella Morhaim

The leaf piles are growing and the opportunities to experience a fun-filled fall from Oyster Bay to Bayville are endless. Mill Neck Apple Festival is still offering the Oyster Bay community drive-thru apple picking due to COVID-19. Bayville Scream Park brings the fun to life with an ease of mask regulations to those fully vaccinated. To top it all off, after a long fall-filled day, the Jericho Cider Mill offers a variety of fall treats, available to the public year-round. 
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The Mill Neck Apple Festival continues its tradition on Long Island, which began in 1957, while also supporting the Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf by raising money for donations. Supporting this school not only helps children experiencing deafness, but adults, too. This year’s festival greatly benefits those with disabilities; it is meant to empower, celebrate, and embrace those who are affected by a disability. Due to COVID-19, purchases at the festival will be brought to your vehicle's window. At the drive-thru, the public has the opportunity to choose from up to twelve varieties of apples and fruit pies. For the past sixty-three years, volunteers, alongside sponsors, friends, and families, have been supporting the apple festival. However, you can still help out without attending the two-day festival. Mill Neck Manor’s greatest priority is collecting money as a non-profit organization, in order to increase the amount of services to help adults and children who are deaf. Even if you can’t go to the festival, you can still help by donating!

Across the Bayville Bridge, the best way to spend fall is obviously at Bayville Scream Park. With six terrifying attractions all in one place, there is no better place to be. Along with the attractions are six restaurants with their own scary themes. Birthdays and celebrations are all welcomed, even for younger children who still want to experience the fun. Saturdays and Sundays are made especially for children and are aptly named “Kids Not so Scary Days.” Among the many activities available are Halloween arts and crafts, a pumpkin patch, character meet-and-greets, storytelling, and hermit crab races. 

To bring the day to a close, look no further than the Jericho Cider Mill. Open year- long the Cider Mill brings fall right to your stomach. Offering thirteen different pies and a delicious baked goods selection, the Cider Mill has been serving the community their hundred-year-old pie recipes since 1820. However, you have to hurry, because fall is the Cider Mill’s best selling season. Lines form down Route 106 as soon as doors open at 10 a.m. Monday to Sunday. 
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​Long Island is filled with fun activities for all ages! From getting a nice scream to having some delicious cider, Long Island has it all!