Today’s official sunrise was 5:25 a.m.
Ten minutes earlier — at 5:15 — Jimmy Izzo sent this photo:
(Photo/Jimmy Izzo)
This group is ready for the fireworks.
And basketball.
An hour later — 6:18 a.m. — Compo was considerably more crowded.
Soundview Drive, during the beach chair drop-off. (Photo/Matt Murray)
(Photo/Matt Murray)
Before 6:30 a.m.. (Photo/Pam Kesselman)
Not parked — just a drop-off.
Those chairs will be joined by many, many others — they already have been, in fact.
The Westport fireworks — sponsored by Melissa and Doug Bernstein, and Westport PAL — don’t start for another 14 or so hours.
But — on the hottest day of the summer so far — Westport’s coolest party of the year is about to begin.
Meanwhile, for the first time this year, Police have restricted parking on Hillspoint Road. The goal is to help move traffic after the show.
Illegally parked cars will be ticketed — and towed to Longshore.
Hillspoint Road, last night. (Photo/Tracy Porosoff)
Wow! I remember when we used to drive over and park by rows in the big lot, sit on the hoods, and beep our horns at the good ones.
I thought you can’t drop off chairs, etc and then leave. Am I wrong?
There’s a new operating system sweeping the nation, it’s called I, Me, Mine.
Never ceases to amaze me how self-absorbed some of the town can get over such an event. Setting up camp so early and then return 8 hrs later expecting everything to be as left. I pity the family who naively arrives a few hours before the fireworks expecting to find a small patch of sand to sit on. No Kings indeed!
As the Democratic Socialists of America (DSAs) sweep across the country, feel free to take whatever chairs, tables and tents as you arrive. All are considered collective goods.
This self-absorbed nonsense has been the standard for the 30 years we’ve been here and each year it gets worse. It’s also not like someone plops down 2 chairs and a blanket and calls it a day, no! These entitled egomaniacs set up rings of 10, 15, 30 plus chairs, banquet tables and lounges, roping off huge areas. What about the folks that paid for season beach passes and just want to use the beach during the day? Sorry, out of luck. And don’t get me started on the traffic! Our favorite and best year of the fireworks was when Compo was not available and they were held at Sherwood Island. There was NO, say it again, NO traffic in or out! What a pleasure. But sorry, I digress. As far as our selfish neighbors, I wish the Town would institute a rule that when the beach closes at 4PM all personal items must be removed from the beach. I would gladly volunteer to walk the beach between 4 & 5 removing all personal items and stacking them in the grass median for pickup. Eventually people would get the message and everyone would have the opportunity to enjoy the Compo fireworks again.
These people would cut your throat for a Pop Tart.