‘Force’ To Be Reckoned With – Northport Pop-up Co. Puts ‘Fourth’ New Event

By Tom Allegra, The Observer | April 24, 2025

Star Wars is coming to Northport Village. Not to the theater, but to the streets.

In its first ever tribute to the blockbuster saga, which started in 1977 with the original George Lucas film, the burgeoning pop-up event company History Repeatn’– which is primarily comprised of past employees of the Northport Historical Society and was established this past October-will host the “May the Fourth Be With You” event Sunday, May 4 in and around Main Street businesses.

“We’ve been doing a lot of different events, typically about prohibition and history, but this took shape because we wanted to do so something with Star Wars and the [popular Star Wars-themed] date [May 4] was coming up,” said History Repeatn’ founding member John Daniello, of Huntington, who noted that all of the company’s previous events were solely adult-centered affairs. “This is the first time we’re including children. We just hadn’t thought of a way we can do both, and this event offered us an opportunity to do that.”

The adventure begins with the family-friendly Padawan Crawl, which kicks off with an 11am check-in at the courtyard of Trinity Episcopal Church, 130 Main Street. There, families can take photos with Storm Troopers cast by the 501st Legion Empire City Garrison before embarking on a Star Wars-themed scavenger hunt.

Running through 1:30pm, the “Journey to Jedi” gives children the opportunity to explore the village at their own pace while searching for familiar faces from their favorite saga. Mr. Daniello said Main Street storefronts will place Star Wars-themed stuffed animal-type characters inside their windows and throughout their aisles for the kids to find. In addition, Einstein’s Attic, 79 Main Street, has donated gift cards that will be given to winners of the “Chewbacca’s Chances” raffle.

“I love the idea that we thought we wanted to make it for all ages, and I love the idea that we’re going to see kids on a scavenger hunt on Main Street,” said History Repeatn’ founding member Carol Taylor, of Northport, the former Education Coordinator at the Northport Historical Society, during an interview with The Observer inside La Porta restaurant Wednesday, April 23. “Star Wars is a very popular pastime. We didn’t realize how popular a pastime it is for a lot of people, young and old. I’m very excited about that. I’m excited that we partnered with all the local businesses we have so kids can find them on our map, go into a store and find tchotchkes. They don’t have to buy anything in the store, but we’re hoping they do.”

The cost for the Padawan Crawl is a recommended $5 donation per child, as proceeds from the kids’ event and the raffle will go directly to Vets Out Of The Rough, a non-profit organization aimed at supporting and uplifting Long Island veterans through golf lessons and related gatherings.

Choosing the recipient of the fundraising efforts was an easy call for Mr. Daniello, whose History Repeatn’ staff was aided by members of Vets Out Of The Rough during a November event.

“They volunteered serving food and helping clean up during an event for volunteers,” Mr. Daniello said, “and the fact that they came there out of nowhere and were so helpful, we said, “Why don’t we do something where we can help make them money?”

LICs Ice Cream, 74 Main Street, will be serving Star Wars-themed desserts starting Saturday, April 26 and throughout the scavenger hunt. In addition, SweetArts, 105 Main Street, will host a Star Wars-themed craft-painting (cost for arts and crafts is not included with the Padawan Crawl admission).

“We’ve done kids events at the historical society and they’ve gone very well, and Carol is good at entertaining kids. She has the experience behind her,” Mr. Daniello said. “All these other businesses working with us for the Padawan Crawl, they’re all kid-specific. Kids love scavenger hunts, so we think we’re going to do pretty well with this.”

After the morning activities, the celebration continues from 1:30pm to 4pm, with a Star Wars themed pub crawl for those 21 and older. Led by Princess Leia, the “Cantina Crawl,” which costs $30 per participant, will challenge participants to Star Wars trivia as they visit local eateries Sand City Brewery, La Porta Pizza, Feed & Grain and Rockin’ Fish for themed drinks, specials and more. Costumes are strongly encouraged for the adult stroll through Northport Village, which Mr. Daniello is hoping to be a worthy encore to History Repeatn’s sold-out Valentine’s Day murder mystery at The Wine Cellar on Main.

“Communities have a thirst for history, especially prohibition, so that’s what I do. I co-write the murder mysteries that we perform,” Ms. Taylor said. “We come up with the ideas based on what we think the community would like, and then we partner with local businesses like The Wine Cellar, for example… We sold out in two hours, so they were pretty happy.“

Northporters’ immediate interest in the murder-mystery event, Mr. Daniello said, was representative of a community seeking additional forms of entertainment.

“Northport was a town that was changing while I was working at the historical society during COVID, and there weren’t very many new happenings in the Village,” he explained. “Everyone in town would ask about [the historical society’s] next event. But now that we have this new venture in History Repeatn’, our creativity doesn’t have a bound. Something like this ‘May The Fourth Be With You’ event, we’ll see if we can incorporate it into our annual array of events.”

“John and I have worked together in the past with a very good, creative, fun energy. We know how to bring people together, how to bring the community together,” Ms. Taylor said. “That was a very important factor for us.”

Next up for Mr. Daniello, who organized the Northport Historical Society’s first-ever LGBTQ exhibit in June 2023, is an exhibit this June at the Huntington Library called “Pride: Our Story” about the history of the LGBTQ movement in America and the people who made important contributions to it.

History Repeatn’ is a Northport-based pop-up event company that collaborates with local venues to create customized experiences for people of all ages. It is the brainchild of Mr. Daniello, Ms. Taylor, Pete Gallo, also of Northport, and Jessica Driscoll. They aim to create memorable events that foster a sense of community and fun, offering participants opportunities to socialize, make new friends, and learn.