Festival makes for a cool day at the beach

SALISBURY — Hooded sweat shirts were definitely the order of the weekend, but the second annual Sand and Sea Festival still drew a crowd of faithful fans who love Salisbury Beach and enjoyed the events organizers worked a year to present.

A gray sky, cool, windy weather and a healthy ocean mist didn't live up to the perfect summer days last year's inaugural festival enjoyed, but nothing diluted the spirits of the festival patrons or its producers, the Salisbury Beach Partnership.

"What better place to spend this kind of a day than at a festival," Partnership Director Kathy Aiello said Saturday. "We don't need sun to have the fun. That's the motto of the day."

Despite the weather, organizers' work over the past year paid a big dividend, Partnership President and Salisbury businessman Wayne Capolupo said.

"Notwithstanding the weather, we're still going to have thousands of people come to Salisbury Beach because of the festival," said Capolupo. "They're going to see Salisbury Beach in a state of revival. That makes it all worthwhile."
Visitors made the most of the day.

Haverhill's Mary Connolly went to the festival Saturday with her son Chad and his friend Desiree Michaud.
"We're camping at Salisbury Beach State Reservation, and you know, it is cold, but I said, 'We're going to the festival anyway,'" Connolly said. "The kids went on all the rides. They're having a blast."

Brian and Wendy Evans of Grafton were also camping at the reservation this weekend and decided to take in the festival. Along the Broadway mall, the couple sat down and enjoyed a Salisbury Beach tradition. Their fingers might have been cold, but Wendy Evans had only one word to describe her Salisbury Beach pizza experience: "Excellent."

Many came dressed for the weather to enjoy the bumper cars and roller coaster carnival rides that made a popular debut at the festival this year. The rides were only temporary, but they were a hit with both the young and the young at heart. Though smaller in stature than the big rides of yesteryear, the carnival ride offerings at Pirates Fun Park were a hit, and the stiff winds off the ocean kept flags waving as music from the bandstand filled the air.

The tented vendors along Broadway's mall, local food stalls and stores were open and busy — hooded sweat shirts were big sellers — with hearty shoppers coming out with bags full of purchases. Connolly and both children took the opportunity to bring home sand art souvenirs they made at the Kids' Fair tent.

The ocean may not have been inviting, but the Toyota/Sea Doo Regional Championship, drawing racers from as far away as New York and New Jersey, went on as planned.

"This is considered one of the best races on the circuit because of the festival," said New York Sea Doo racer Joe Pierpoint. "This is nowhere near the coldest we've ever raced, but it isn't the nicest either. The people here in Salisbury have been very nice. I'd come back."

The ocean was the draw for Toyota/Sea Doo circuit husband-and-wife team April and Jared Murray from Long Island, N.Y.
"I love this site; the ocean's great," April Murray said. "I was here last year and really liked it, so we came back. We'll be back again. It's great here. We'll go back to our trailer (after the race), get warm, then come back and enjoy the center tonight."
Toyota/Sea Doo circuit riders raced over the weekend, but local favorites took to the Sea Doos on Friday for the Sand and Sea Festival's first Corporate Challenge. Mark Welch, the president of the Institution for Savings, one of the festival's largest sponsors, won the Corporate Challenge as he rode against racers from Comcast, another sponsor.

Usually seen in suit jacket, tie and tasseled loafers, Welch's uncharacteristic Sea Doo win didn't surprise Capolupo.
"Mark's aggressive in everything he does," Capolupo said.

Choppy seas prevented the fireworks display from being mounted on the ocean barge this weekend, Aiello said. But, she added, "the largest fireworks display north of Boston" will simply be added to the pyrotechnics planned for the Partnership's Merrimack River Maritime Festival on Saturday, July 19.

Those disappointed to miss the fireworks last weekend have to wait only until Saturday night, when the Salisbury Beach Chamber of Commerce offers its Fourth of July bash, which will include sand sculpting and, hopefully, better weather.

The Daily News
By Angeljean Chiaramida/Staff writer
Published: June 30, 2008