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ARDSLEY, N.Y. Downtown Ardsley was filled with the sounds of music and laughter, and the smell of cotton candy and pizza Sunday as residents gathered to celebrate Ardsley Day. The event featured several musical performances, free food from local restaurants, face painting, a rock wall, bumpers cars and more.
Several local vendors set up booths along Center Street to give samples and sell goods to people at the event. The crowd remained steady throughout the day and people were still enjoying the downtown area well beyond the scheduled 5 p.m. end of the event. We gave out 750 units of cotton candy this year, said Andrew Cerrone, owner of Century 21 Cerrone Realtors in Ardsley. We were out by 4 p.m. and last year we only gave out 650 units. The real estate business has been participating in Ardsley day for years, originally selling popcorn before making the switch to cotton candy, which seemed like more fun than popcorn, said Valarie Cerrone Nelson, a member of the business.
Cotton candy wasnt the only big hit of the day. A short way down the street, the photo booth was filled with children, teens and parents all day, walking away with handfuls of photo strips. Weve been to the photo booth like three times and the cotton candy stand four times, said Arianna Speechly, 16, of Irvington. Although it was Speechlys first time at Ardsley Day, she was there with her friend Katie Brennan, 14, an Ardsley resident who has been coming to the event for several years. Brennan said she likes the event because almost everything is free. While younger kids were drawn to inflatable slides, obstacle courses, face painting and balloon artists, older children and teens were drawn to the rock wall and bungee jumping attractions across from Legion Park. We went so high up, said Molly Phelan, an 11-year-old Ardsley resident. I got butterflies in my stomach. Phelan and her friends also spent time at the raffle table where attendees could spin a wheel with various local sports teams on it, and if the wheel landed on their team, they walked away with a free water bottle. There was free everything here, said Gianna Strazza, a 10-year-old Ardsley resident, who won three water bottles. It was so much fun, Im definitely coming back next year.
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