Last night was — once again — Westport’s Best Party of the Year.
Ten thousand of so people crammed Compo Beach for several hours of parties, picnics, strolling, socializing, and — no matter what our individual political bents — celebrating our town and country the way it’s been done for nearly 250 years.
But those fireworks don’t just fall from the sky. (Metaphorically, at least.)
It takes a town-wide effort to put on that show.
Who, exactly, spent months making sure that last night went off with a bang?
Westport PAL: For more than half a century, they’ve organized the event. The small volunteer organization punches far above its weight. This is their major fundraiser of the year, enabling them to help thousands of youngsters with athletic programs and scholarships — and the entire town, with the Longshore skating rink. (If you enjoyed the fireworks, but did not purchase a beach ticket, you can still contribute. Just click here.)
Melissa and Doug Bernstein: The longtime Westporters are known both for their eponymous toy company, and their staunch support of many groups and activities in town. Their financial contribution relieves the PAL of many expenses, so they can direct even more of the proceeds back to kids.
Westport Parks & Recreation Department: From distributing tickets, directing traffic into and out of the beach, providing guest services and lifeguards at the event, offering all kinds of unseen logistical support — and, crucially, picking up prodigious amounts of trash all day long, then through the night after the show so that Compo looks pristine when the sun rose this morning — Parks & Rec plays a huge (and largely unappreciated) role.
That trash does not pick itself up. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Westport Police Department: Getting hundreds of cars into and out of the beach — on 2 access roads — is no small feat. Our police do it brilliantly. Throughout the event, they make sure that thousands of people feel (and are) safe.
Westport Fire Department: In countless ways — seen and unseen — the Fire Department helps the event run smoothly. And despite all the precautions, these are fireworks we’re talking about. It’s great to have these professional men and women on the scene.
Westport Emergency Medical Services: What can go wrong when thousands of people gather in one spot (and party hard)? Plenty. EMS is on the scene, with personnel, ambulances, and their always reassuring, very professional presence.
Community Emergency Response Team: These often-overlooked volunteers provide extra helping hands whenever and wherever they’re needed. They’re trained in disaster assistance. But CERT is one more reason last night turned out so well.
Town of Westport: From the Selectwoman’s office to Public Works — and I’m sure many other departments — we would not have fireworks without Town Hall. There are plenty of moving parts to a party like this one, and a ton of employees work behind the scenes to make sure all those parts keep moving.
Doug Bernstein (5th from left) handed Police Chief Foti Koskinas the ceremonial first fireworks ticket. Also part of the townwide effort (from left): Parks & Rec operations director Carmen Roda, 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, PAL president Craig Bergamo, Melissa Bernstein, Parks & Rec interim director Rick Giunta and Lieut. Matthew Gouveia. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Sure, it’s easy to complain. All the good spots were reserved by 8 a.m.! There was trash piled next to the garbage cans! It took 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot!
But who cares?
We had a glorious Independence Day celebration — and it’s not even July 4th yet.
Hundreds of people worked hard to make yesterday great. We owe them our profound thanks.
It was definitely a blast.
(Unsung Hero is a weekly “06880” feature. To nominate a hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)
Parks & Recreation Department operations director Carm Roda, checking in at yesterday’s fireworks. (Photo/Dan Woog)
“The trash does not pick itself up” – the trash didn’t arrive there by itself either, so how hard is it for the selfish entitled people who brought the soon to be trash in to take it back out?
All of our tax dollars go to pay the overtime for Parks and Rec to clean up.
I thought easiest and quickest in and out in the past 30
years. Traffic and parking control brilliantly executed.
All and all magic last night! Thank you
Dan, I rarely disagree with you, but I will this time. The Compo Beach 06880 get-together is by far, the best in Westport! However, I’m sure last night was a close second.
Congratulation Town of Westport, Westport Parks and Recreation, and Westport Police for an outstanding Fire Works event.
A huge shout out to Westport PAL and Doug and Melissa Bernstein for their continued support of this fundraising event.
Westport wins when work together.
Lots of memories – The PAL Fireworks started before I joined the WPD in 1959. PAL back when the Fireworks show began was all cops. You had to be a full time police officer to belong. Just about everyone participated, from ranking officers to rookie patrolmen like yours truly. I am not sure just who came up with the idea, but PAL active cops at that time included Chief Sam Luciano, Captains Lou Rosenau and Al Brown, Joe McAleenan, Bill Smith, Joe Renzulli, Joe Buccieri, Carmen DeMattio, Eugene Pasacreta, to name just a few..
The only cops not working the Fireworks, were the ones on duty and those of us assigned to traffic duty were all volunteers. Later on civilians joined the uniformed cops with so many dedicated volunteers, PJ Romano, Mickey Eletto, Bill Krause, Buck Iannacone, Bob and Gloria Hudson, to name just a few. The Fireworks were then and still are the biggest fundraiser to run the many PAL programs benefiting Westports youngsters throughout every year. All donations are appreciated.
My first fireworks show followed the midnight to eight shift when Brendan McLaughlin murdered his father, drove to the PD, shot and wounded Don Bennette and Ande Chapo and then engaged in a gun battle with Skip Stanton, Chet Cornell, Ande, Don, and yours truly just outside the entrance to the building.
Don Bennette and I stood side by side exchanging shots with McLaughlin. Skip and Ande who was also wounded were also firing. I missed.Don scored, even though he himself was wounded, hitting McLaughlin before he ran back inside and collapsed on the floor. Don and I are the only survivors of that night. Don resides in Arizona now.
The PAL Fireworks always brings many great memories of my friends and colleagues. One other thing. After the shooting, making reports, etc., I headed home but couldn’t get to sleep. I had to be at the fireworks at 5:00 pm. We all did. I was also due to report in for the next 12-8 shift at midnight. By the time the Fireworks were over, I was exhausted not having slept since the day before. I ended up talking Tony Fiore into covering my shift, but had to pay him back a few nights later. Moving and Old age has eliminated my participation in PAL since the turn of the century but I do miss it.