Courtney Luciana Photo.
Jose Resto was fishing alone on the breakwater at Lighthouse Point Park at 8 a.m. Sunday. He was the first one out of approximately 20 people to show up by noon for the park’s official reopening in honor of celebrating Memorial Day weekend.
“I’ve been here about an hour now,” said Resto (pictured above). “I come here every summer. It’s overcast so maybe when the weather breaks and the sun comes out and it gets a little warmer then more people will come out.”
It wasn’t just Resto’s first day out: This weekend Lighthouse Park is opening, with restrictions, as part of New Haven’s gradual emergence from the Covid-19 lockdown. After Saturday’s rainy weather, Sunday was the season’s first sunny beach day.
The rules included limiting admission to 100 cars; requiring people to gather in groups of no more than five; asking visitors to remain 15 feet away from each other and to have masks ready to wear if they get closer. No cookouts; the splash pad, picnic shelters, and playscape are closed. (Seven state parks, including Hamden’s Sleeping Giant, reached capacity.)
By mid-afternoon, Lighthouse did hit the 100 car limit. Parks department deputy Bill Dixon reported that the beach averaged 200 to 300 people (including walk-ins) at a time during the peak. Not everyone wore masks, but people generally kept their distance from each other, remained chill, and obeyed the rules, Dixon reported. A few people ventured into the water.
Within an hour after Resto arrived, the Shrader family showed up. They moved here from Colorado in January and now live 15 minutes from the beach. Mom Kelly Shrader said that she has been paying close attention to the news and checking out websites to stay updated on guidelines set by Mayor Justin Elicker.
“We have the masks with us in case we wandered and if we were in a more crowded area,” she said. “Based on the guidelines where they wanted groups to stay 15 feet apart from each other, we figured there’s no reason to wear them continuously. I feel like the guidelines are fair and at least it gets you out to enjoy the outdoors a little bit.”
At 11 a.m. there still wasn’t anyone swimming out in the water. Younger children ran across the shoreline to get their feet wet.
Like most people, sisters Evelyn and Natalyn Valentin (pictured) made sure to keep their distance from others. Sunday their family came to Lighthouse Point Park beach from Massachusetts because of childhood memories.
“I just needed to get out because I was stuck in the house,” said Evelyn. “We used to come here when we were little from Massachusetts. So that’s why we came today. Yes, we care about the masks and we’ve got them.”
While Mayor Elicker set guidelines for visitors to wear masks only if six feet distancing isn’t possible, there were plenty of groups and couples wearing them constantly. Wenlan Amo and Hengzhe Ding said they felt uncomfortable that more people weren’t mirroring their example to wear their masks at all times.
“I think us wearing the masks will at least keep ourselves protected,” said Ding. “It’s not comfortable to wear a mask. But we are tired of staying at home.”
Amo is a Yale student studying public health. “I feel uncomfortable,” said Amo. “I expect everyone to wear the mask at all times.”
The Driscoll family made sure to separate themselves from the small crowds that had started to pop up by noon. Karen and Connor Driscoll drove from Norwalk along with their daughter to celebrate their anniversary weekend. Connor said that in previous years, the picnic tables would usually be filled.
“I think it’s probably not that busy because of corona,” said Karen. “People are just not going out as much and are probably just staying home. We would be home if it wasn’t our anniversary weekend. But we come here every year, on this weekend, so we didn’t want to miss it.”
Harry Broderick (pictured), who served in the armed forces from 1955 to 1958, said he has been an active walker at the park throughout the entire year.
“I live on Townsend Avenue. I know that in the past they’ve usually had police cars on the corner of my street to let the cars come down here because it was so backed up,” said Broderick. “I was surprised to see only six or seven cars when I came in.”
For Broderick, this weekend means more than restrictions.
“Hopefully people remember what it’s supposed to be about,” said Broderick. “It’s not just a holiday.”