Fireworks cruise will honor John Romanelli

Cross Sound Ferry is holding its 23rd annual fireworks benefit cruise Saturday night, but this year the usually festive affair will carry a tinge of sadness.

This year’s event is being held in memory of John Romanelli, the former Southold councilman who died Jan. 3 after being badly burned in a fire days earlier at his Southold company, Burt’s Reliable fuel oil service. Some of the funds raised will be donated in his name to Eastern Long Island Hospital.

“It’s almost sold out,” Stan Mikus, Cross Sound’s marketing director.  “It’s a popular East End community event and we’ve raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.”

He said this year’s cruise could raise close to $14,000. Most of the money will go toward scholarships for graduating seniors from Mattituck, Greenport and Southold High Schools.

The ferry John H. will leave Orient at 7 p.m. Saturday and sail to New London for what is advertised as “one of the largest fireworks displays in the country.”

Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased from the ferry’s Orient ticket office, the Mattituck and Cutchogue branches of the Suffolk County National Bank, Harbourfront Deli in Greenport and The Candyman  in Orient.

Call Cross Sound Ferry at 323-2525 or visit www.longislandferry.com