Compo Beach clouds last night … (Photo/Lauren Bromberg)
… and the scene at Grace Salmon Park. (Photo/Patricia McMahon)
Just another day at Compo Beach (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
Or not. But some interesting visitors just arrived.
You don’t see many 3-masted schooners off Compo Beach these days.
But Ellen Bowen spotted this beauty a few minutes ago. It dropped anchor right off the jetty.
(Photo/Ellen Bowen)
If it’s yours, let me know. I’d love a tour, up close and personal!
Yesterday’s moon over the Compo Beach neighborhood … (Photo/Betsy P. Kahn)
… and over a lifeguard stand. (Photo/Kathleen Fazio)
You can’t reserve tables in the Compo Beach pavilion.
But — starting immediately — you can reserve that cool little space (formerly storage) recently carved out between the brick pavilion and Joey’s.
In a low-key announcement, Parks and Rec says they’re “excited to offer a new PARTY RENTAL space.”
(Note: they never say exactly where it is — beyond “on east beach and conveniently located next to Joey’s by the Shore.” I’m assuming it’s here:
Staples High School sophomores in the party space next to Joey’s last night. They did not have to rent it.
The email continues:
This picnic area holds a maximum of 60 people, and can be rented out from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. until sunset, or even all day to meet your party needs! This is a great location for your children’s parties or family gatherings! Joey’s will be happy to assist in your catering needs!
There are a few rules:
You must apply no later than 72 hours before the event. Applications are first-come, first-served. The permit fee is $50 (plus a refundable $100 security/clean-up deposit).
Guests without parking stickers must pay the regular daily fees. Businesses and non-profits can rent the space Mondays through Thursdays, and are allowed up to 15 parking waivers.
No alcohol, glass, candles or tiki torches. No amplified music either.
Oh, yeah: “Food and catering trucks are not allowed. Catered food must be purchased from Joey’s by the Shore.”
Joey Romeo can handle all your catering needs.
Does that mean you can’t bring any food in? Picnics? Pizza from Romanacci? What exactly is “catered” food?
It shouldn’t matter. Joey’s is great, easy to work with, and can provide whatever you need.
This is the second specially defined party space at Compo. For years, anyone could rent the clubhouse at Ned Dimes Marina for $275 (though most Westporters don’t know that).
So enjoy your next party at the new space “conveniently located next to Joey’s.”
And if you’ve got a better name for the spot, click “Comments” below.
(Hat tip: Johanna Rossi)
Good moon on the rise, an hour ago at Compo Beach. (Photo/Nico Eisenberger)
Dressed alike for a walk on the beach … (Photo/Jo Shields)
… and another couple greets a new day. (Photo/Karen Como)
It’s all good for tonight’s 6th annual “06880” Compo Beach “blog party.”
We’re set for 6 p.m. at South Beach — the alcohol-is-fine-except-no-glass-bottles end, furthest from the cannons.
Please bring your own food and beverages. If you’d like to bring something extra to share, feel free!
We’ll provide the “06880” community — a chance to meet commenters and lurkers. Each year there are oldtimers, newcomers, politicians and normal human beings. It’s a chance to talk, laugh and trade stories about this wild, wacky and only slightly dysfunctional town we share and love.
Plus, the weather is supposed to be perfect.
See you tonight!
PS: If you’re coming over the William F. Cribari Bridge, allow extra time. You never know when it might be closed.
We’ll be just to the left of this jetty (near the boat and kayak launch). Without the car, though. (Photo/Linda Gramatky Smith)
Compo Beach sure looks and feels a lot different this year than last.
If you haven’t noticed, you’re not paying attention.
Or maybe you can’t get in.
A quick recap: This past winter — in response to Westporters’ rising complaints about overcrowded parking, picnic tables and sand — the Parks and Recreation Commission did some rising itself.
They raised the price of season beach stickers for Weston residents, from $250 to $375. They raised it for all other non-residents even more: from $490 to $775.
Daily passes rose too. They’re now $50 on weekdays, $65 on weekends.
Westporters’ prices rose slightly. A season sticker is now $50 ($25 for seniors).
Parks & Rec also instituted caps on sales. They limited non-resident sticker sales to 350 (from the previous 600). And — perhaps most significantly — there is now a daily cap: No more than 100 non-residents are allowed in each day. Signs on nearby roads indicate when the limit has been reached (sometimes as early as noon).
South Compo Road, just before the Minute Man.
Add in newly remodeled bathrooms on both sides of the bathhouses, and extra grills at South Beach; a new entrance pattern and special parking area for non-residents — leaving prime beachfront spots for Westporters — and the difference is palpable.
Many beachgoers love the “new” Compo. They applaud the space they’ve got, the availability of picnic tables and grills, even the lower decibel level.
Compo Beach isn’t always this empty. But it’s a lot less crowded than it used to be.
Others are less pleased.
They wonder about lost revenue. Though Parks & Rec said that increased fees would pay for better maintenance and the full-time cop, it seems from anecdotal evidence and those daily cap signs that the beach is bringing in a lot less money than it used to.
That probably also affects Joey’s by the Shore. It may have contributed to PAL sitting on a few hundred unsold fireworks tickets this year — thousands of dollars that won’t go to programs and kids.
And smaller crowds means less “life” at the beach. There are fewer languages spoken, fewer games played on the grass, fewer opportunities to share our shore with others.
Plenty of people think that’s great. It’s our beach — paid for by our tax dollars.
Others miss the out-of-town regulars they used to see, and worry we’ve only added to our “elitist” image.
What do you think? Do you love the changes, and think they’re long overdue? Do you think they’re too draconian? Are you conflicted?
Click “Comments” below. And — as always — please keep things civil. Play nice in the sand.
As part of its changes, Parks & Rec posted several signs outlining rules at Compo Beach.
Kids, geese and gulls at Compo Beach (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
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