Bay Ridge’s Ragamuffin Parade hits 60 years on Saturday, with six students as junior marshals

The Ragamuffin Parade returns to Bay Ridge on Saturday, Sept. 26, for its 60th year. Children in costume will once again fill the neighborhood’s streets. Organizers from Ragamuffin Inc. kicked off the anniversary with a brunch at Bay Ridge Manor on Sept. 20.

Allison Greaker, the group’s president, said organizers realized this summer that the event is the biggest children’s costume parade in the United States. “This is the largest and oldest children’s parade,” she said.

How the Ragamuffin Parade began in 1966

The tradition dates to 1966. That year Father McKenna of Our Lady of Angels and neighborhood resident Cliff Scanlon gathered children from several parishes and put on a parade just for fun. Costumes came later. In the early years, kids dressed in their parents’ clothes and looked scruffy, which is where the ragamuffin name comes from.

To honor that start, Our Lady of Angels is this year’s grand marshal. The church founded the event, and Greaker credits it with making the parade what it is today.

Junior marshals and costume prizes for kids

This year the parade also honors younger residents alongside adult leaders. Organizers asked local principals to nominate students in grades 7 through 11 with strong records of community service. Six were chosen, and they will march as junior marshals.

Four neighborhood groups will get recognition as well: Bay Ridge Cares, the Bay Ridge Center, the Guild for Exceptional Children and Coats for the Cold, a program of the El-Rose Foundation. Recruiting marchers starts with paper. Ragamuffin Inc. sends 15,000 flyers across the district, reaching both public and private schools. Any registered child who arrives in costume goes home with a small toy handed out at the finish.

For many families, the parade is a habit that spans generations. Greaker has been part of it for most of her life, first marching as a kid, then helping out in her teens, and today running the organization. Vice President Marianne Fezza has marched as a child, as a parent and now with her grandchildren. Organizers spend 11 months planning the one-day event.