Long Beach is known for one of the largest and finest Memorial Day parades in all of New York. The pride of our community is also some of the finest around and the streets are filled with our neighbors who show their support and thanks to those who volunteer their services and in some cases regrettably their lives to keep us all safe. Marching from the West End to City Hall are many community service providers, organizations, schools and our public service and safety providers.
For the Long Beach Auxiliary Police, this is one of our largest events. We not only assisted in traffic and crowd control, but marched in the parade as well.
The start of the fun and exciting summer season in Long Beach kickstarts with the 34th annual City Manager’s Manager’s 10-Mile Trophy Run, “A Salute to Our Veterans,” on Sunday, May 30th at 8:00 a.m.
One of the biggest on-road events on the Long Beach calendar, the City Manager’s Race requires all of the Auxiliary Police resources. The race crosses over 60 intersections as hundreds of runners traverse the City streets and boardwalk.
Great weather brought out many runners and supportive spectators throughout the course. A major event that flowed flawlessly due to the training and services of the Auxiliary Police, Special Police and the Long Beach Police Department.
In light of the several upcoming weekend events, the meeting was held on a Thursday night.
The meeting was a launching pad to prepare for the several big events coming up. There was also an exchange of ideas about upcoming events, trainings and social venues.
Despite the heavy rains the March of Dimes held a successful annual March for Babies on the boardwalk. They estimated that there were 300 or so participants.
The five mile walk began and ended on the Boardwalk at Riverside Boulevard.
To learn about the March for Babies go to:
http://www.marchforbabies.org
There was a nice auxilairy police presence for this event.
The proud Little Leaguers, their family and supporters marched through the streets of Long Beach just in time for a fun and busy playing season. The participants marched along Park Avenue to the Lindell School. It is a fun event in which our local kids get to have the City stop the traffic to recognize them and show them our support. As this is a parade, it required the monitoring and closing of many intersections throughout the event. It is important that we have a strong showing of officers to assist with such an event. After a slow special-event season, this event served as a good refresher for most officers and a valuable training for those who recently got into uniform.
The annual Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York Memorial Service was held on Sunday April 11, 2010 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.
Every year many Auxiliary and Reserve units come from around the United States and even abroad to pay respects to the Auxiliary Police that were killed in the Line of Duty (LOD), killed while coming to the aid of others even when not in uniform and those that died in the last year. Although the Memorial Service is sponsored by the NYC Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association, any Auxiliary or Reserve Officer may be honored.
It was both heart-warming and gratifying to see so many fellow volunteers coming together and looking their finest in full dress uniforms. The many hundreds of participants marched into the Church where the memorial service was held. The services are always beautiful and the families of the fallen or deceased officers are truly taken by the global support.
It is hard to explain just how important and exciting the Memorial Service is. As in the past years, our ride home was under police escort. We had a very impressive showing of our fine Long Beach Auxiliary Police officers.
There was a General Meeting for all uniform and probationary officers. A lot of important information and heads up on upcoming events were discussed. Any officers that missed the meeting should speak with their night supervisor for any updates.
The City 
of Long Beach Recreation Department’s Annual Snowflake Run was held on February 14, 2010.
It started and ended at St. Ignatious Catholic School at West Broadway and New York Avenue (unlike in the past at Lindell School which is under renovations).
The Snowflake Run is always a fun winter event in which the community can be more active in an otherwise very quiet and slow season.
LONG BEACH POLAR BEAR CLUB Super Bowl Sunday Splash is an annual event that started in 1998. All proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since its inception, the Long Beach Polar Bears and their many supporters have been able to grant many wishes.
This year the event was held on Super Bowl Sunday February 7, 2010 and officially took place at Riverside Boulevard at 1:00 PM.
To say that the growth and notoriety of the Long Beach Polar Bears has been amazing is definitely understated. In 2001 they were able to raise $12,000 and grant two wishes. This doubled the next year and has continued to grow exponentially since. In 2008, with an incredibly huge turnout, the Long Beach Polar Bears raised $270,000 and granted 35 wishes. In 2009 The Long Beach Polar Bears broke a Guinness World Record. Officials from Guinness were on hand to asses the number of folks that turned out for this important event.
To learn more about the Polar Bears, to register for future Super Bowl Splashes, to buy apparel or to make a direct donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation, visit: http://www.longbeachpolarbears.org/
Not only do many participants show up, but many many onlookers and cheering supporters show up as well. It is amazing to see many thousands of people convening on the beach on a winter morning.
This is always a major event for the Long Beach Auxiliary Police. Given the many thousands of people that show up, we are counted upon to provide necessary traffic and pedestrian control and well as directing vehicle parking. This is an ALL HANDS event. Given the relatively slow season for special event training, uniformed and especially probationary officers are always urged to get and maintain necessary training by participating in the somewhat rare winter season events.
There were many pedestrians and vehicles on the road. Traffic jammed quickly as thousands of participants and supporters headed to Broadway and Riverside Boulevard. After the event, the traffic conditions continued, but in reverse. Fortunately all who came went home safely.
The “March for a King” started at 11:30AM at Laurelton Boulevard and Park Avenue and headed East on Park Avenue to Riverside Boulevard and then North to the MLK Center on Riverside Boulevard where a celebration honoring Dr. King followed.
Due to traffic control needs, the Auxiliary Police are asked to assist with this event. The LBAPD provides both traffic and pedestrian control to assure that the March will be safely conducted.
