Luckey Castle Lives On

Short Beach Days — -three days of hilarity for kids of all ages — -came to an end on a special note when the award for the best float of the 66th annual parade went to the family and friends of Tom Luckey, a whimsical artist and architect who lived and worked in Short Beach for many years.

Luckey died last month. In his honor, friends and family produced the Thomas Walker Luckey Memorial Castle, one of about 20 floats that weaved along Short Beach Road yesterday morning. Click here to read a tribute by a daughter, Owen Luckey.

The parade started at 11 a.m. and attracted scores of Short Beach families who lined the route. The famous Stony Creek Fife and Drum Corp was on hand as were other marching bands. 

While Labor Day parades typically attract a town’s elected officials and those running for office, and in the past they all have walked this route, this year marked a change.

“In keeping with the ​‘neighborhood party’ philosophy and desires of the majority of residents, there will be no outside organizations or politics allowed during Short Beach Days at any of the event locations or at any of the activities,” a note in the program said. The impact of this decision remains to be seen. 

The most humorous display of Short Beach artistry was awarded to a group of Short Beach women, long involved in the enterprise. They came to the parade as the Short Beach Shore Bird Gallery. Short Beach is known as the nesting place of the Short Beach Parrots. Legend has it that a truck filled with parrots went belly up on I‑95 and the birds flew off to Short Beach and nearby Foote Memorial Park where they took up residence. 

The Granite Bay Gang was awash with color. The people, the float, the road were all covered in various sticky hues. They described themselves as ​“Color Me Granite Bay” and they were voted the most imaginative. 

As the floats passed by they encountered an enthusiastic audience.

Delaney the dog adopted the spirit of the day.

The float deemed ​“most skillfully constructed” was something to behold and was awarded to Jade Bocciarelli. 

The best ​“Community Pride” float went to Brian Doste and his group for the Short Beach Trolley. What was neat about the trolley was that this one was actually moving.

Not so for the real trolleys, which were supposed to deliver free rides back and forth between East Haven and Short Beach between 4 and 7 p.m. Sunday. The trolleys suffered serious damage during Hurricane Irene on year ago and their museum is being restored. Folks arriving for the trolley ride across the marsh were met with a hand written sign saying sorry, the trolleys had encountered ​“mechanical difficulty.”

On Sunday afternoon, Family Day games began at 1 p.m.

SACK RACES

The sack races required agility and a sense of humor. There were four different categories, ranging from the very young to adults. Partners were required. It helped if partners were close in height. They stood side by side and then one inserted a left and the other a right leg (making one leg) into a sack. Then the three-leg race began as contestants attempted to walk, hop, hobble, fall, get up, hobble, walk, turn around, repeat and get to the finish line.

Here the youngest group of entrants get ready — -with the help of their parents. They would come to understand, as the teens that followed them showed, that it helps to stand close to your partner. 

The final race was for adults. Alieta and Joe Lynch of Short Beach had one of those couple’s moments before the race began. 

Along the way they might have had second thoughts.

But heading back to the finish line they quickly saw they weren’t the only ones to take a tumble.

There was lunch for everyone at Pardee Park, with volunteers pitching in to make and serve the food. We found Alex Palluzzi,Jr., the town’s recreation director, eating lunch. Turns out he lives in Short Beach and he loves Short Beach days. So do his kids, now college age. Lunch for Short Beach days is also a big fundraiser.

The Palluzzi family moved to Short Beach when their kids were young and they quickly found that this was a community for kids. They remembered their first Short Beach Days. With it came new neighbors, parties and a sharing of life. It soon became clear that everyone watched over everyone else’s kids and those kids in Short Beach have many sets of parents.

SAND SCULPTURES

They all participated in the annual Sand Sculpture Contest, which began Saturday at 9 a.m. at Johnson Beach. Many of the sculptures adopted this year’s Hawaii theme.

The beach where the sand sculptures were created is a few hops from Tom Luckey’s old home. He would have gotten a kick out of it.
Besides sand, the artists used seaweed and clam shells to decorate their designs as they worked under a 10:15 a.m. deadline. 

It was a hot day. ​“How are we doing?” asked Peggy Carpenter, (pictured with bullhorn) the overseer of the event as the deadline approached. She later told the group that choosing the winners of the sand sculpture contests was the toughest judging of the weekend. Here she and the other judges, Greg Carpenter, Warren Gould and Cindi Serenbetz. 

The best in show went to the Ho-Hsia family for their sculpture “ Catching Hawaiian (Sting) Rays in Short Beach. 3838.

One funniest awards went to the Reed Family and Friends for SpongeBob in Hawaii. 

The most original designed in the family category went to the Doug Hanlon family for their Hawaiian Land Shark. 

The most creative in the family category went to the Spencer family for their Olympic Games sculpture.

The most original in another category went to the Ward Family for Short Beach Hungry Hippo.

About two hours after the 20 sculptures made their debut, the tide came in and took them all to sea. 

(Putting on Short Beach Days takes months. Some volunteers have done it for the last twenty years. Credit goes to the coordinator of the event, Sean Kelly and his family, especially in preparing Pardee Park, Warren Gould, another coordinator and Ginger Charlotte, an ​“unofficial” coordinator. Kate Marsland oversees the popular Lip Sync contest, Liz Gallagher orders and organizes all the prizes, Peg Carpenter oversees the Sand Sculpture, Alieta Lynch and her committee sell the ads and put together the program, Short Beach Hose, Hook & Ladder Co. 4 organize and run the athletic events on Saturday and the Riverside Fire Department in East Haven oversees Sunday Family Day, along with help from the Murray, Norden and Johnson families and Judy Dube and a large committee of judges.) 

Matt Kelsey produced the Vimeo (above) showing the creation of the Luckey Memorial Castle. 

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