Spectacular weather, a great vibe on a crowded beach, enough food to feed an army (though far better than any mess hall), and a sea of red, white and blue provided a perfect backdrop for last night’s 2-days-early 4th of July fireworks.
Westport PAL, Melissa and Doug Bernstein, Parks & Recreation — and everyone else who helped — threw what is always our town’s best party of the year.
And this one was right up there with the best of the best.
Here are some images from the day. Stay tuned for a second set later today.
Compo Beach, from the air. Can you find yourself? (Drone photo/Charlie Scott)
A small part of the large crowd. (Photo/Amy Saperstein)
Young families already know the drill ,,,
… and so do those who have been here a while.
Relaxing, a bit away from the crowd.
Stacie Curran and Jim Izzo.
Lifeguards had a long day. Downtime was always welcome.
Cornhole was fun too, at Old Mill Beach.
Camp Compo artwork. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Mom and daughter: red, white and blue.
Westport PAL president Corporal Craig Bergamo. flanked by PAL representatives Duke Saltus (left) and Andrew Colabella.
Fairfield Police offered motorcycle assistance. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Hanging out at the beach … (Photo/Nancy Lally)
… and a view of the barge … (Photo/Nancy Lally)
… and the view from the water. (Photo courtesy of Linda Mezzullo)
Cool stuff for sale. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Flags and guns, for sale. (All photos/Dan Woog unless otherwise noted)
The view from Longshore. (Photo/Amy Buckman)
The finale! (Photo/Matt Murray)
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Shouldn’t our RTM members be drinking coffee instead😂😂
You must be a ton of fun at parties.
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What better way to celebrate America’s birthday but with “guns and flags”..,,,
Burning the King of England (not Charles, George) in effigy? No one above the law.
We used to live in country where no one was above the law. No more.
Supreme Court judges used to be respected and admired. Now they take bribes
i have lived in Westport for 50 years – having made lifelong friends along the way, raising our children here, active in the schools and community and enjoying all the fabulous, wonderful things Westport had and has to offer.
When i first began going to Compo on the weekends and several times during the summer i noticed that people would go down early (or the night before?) and leave their beach chairs piled on top of south beach picnic tables despite the signs that clearly read the tables there could not be reserved unless someone was there at all times to claim it. But I also knew if someone else came along and saw these chairs piled up on the tables with no one there, they could take the chairs off and use the table themselves. Only i never saw anyone who did that.
All the years I attended the fireworks on the beach at Compo were delightful and welcoming to all who claimed a golden ticket or walked in. I have done both. When everyone had to leave the beach in the afternoon on fireworks night to return later to be admitted with their tickets, the sand was empty unless they were walk-ins or residents of beachfront property. As time went on those who had a ticket could stand by their cars and did not have to leave to come back later.
Then slowly over the years some discovered they could drop off their chairs and blankets claiming their spots later. Much like the chairs on the picnic tables. Harmless enough.
But this practice has morphed into showing up at 5am leaving not only blankets and chairs but 9×12 rugs and chairs placed in a circle big enough to contain 50 people and then came the tables and tents and chairs with kitchens and bars as well taking up ridiculous amounts of space for themselves and their “party” with no regard to anyone else but themselves and completely filling up the beach with very little or any space left.
I wonder how people can be this entitled in showing such little regard to their fellow Westporters, Those who might like to take just a chair and enjoy the fireworks as well as those who work and cannot get down to “reserve” space for the entire day and even though this has been going on for a long time, today was the epitome of the worst and its most shameful.
There might be some who drive by and do the same who are not Westporters but for the most part i don’t think that is much of a reality. Can it be too much to ask that folks go back to just waiting to actually get to the beach when it’s their turn and not before.
I guess gone are the days of showing up dragging some chairs, a blanket and a box of Stew’s fried chicken.
Being at the Fireworks is truly one of Westport’s treasured Happenings!! I love every single thing there from the entertainment, meeting old friends and watching the people who cover the beach cheering and ooo’ing and ahhhh’ing and clapping over their favorite fireworks and the thunderous applause at the end of the finale.
It should be shared by everyone who wants to be there and not only for those who have taken capture of the entire beach ahead of time.
Can we solve this problem ourselves or do we need more creative minds at Town Hall to come up with a solution?
Or maybe we have to appeal to our greater sense of fairness and think of others who also want to be there and enjoy the great fireworks and realize it’s not their personal backyard party; it’s a party at the beach for 2,000 or more other people, mostly their fellow Westporters.
Maybe you can run this next year just before the fireworks as a gentle reminder …… here’s hoping …….
Ban Early Birds‼️
Let everyone arrive at 5 with food kids chairs coolers and they can race from the parking lot to the beach 🤣
FUBAR😎 Cluster #¥<k beyond recognition.
The current system works fine. 🙏
Behavior of this sort is an ugly display of selfishness, self entitled importance, greed, without any regard to the concept of sharing. The current system works fine for those whose only concern is what is good for I, Me, Mine.
In few words you have summed up the entire gist and sentiment of my comment. Thank you
Thank you. Your comment was spot on.
As Dr. Winston O’Boogie would say, Just gimmie some truth.
😉
Needing to swear at someone in code so lame and disrespectful but there in lies my point.
and maybe it doesn’t
“Westport celebrates with a (gang) bang”
Having lived in Westport for 23 years, and loving fireworks, I have been to that scene once. I will never go back.
I can’t do it anymore either which is sad especially because I love them also