By:Laura Lane
Despite some crummy weather, the sun still managed to shine on those gathered at Casino Beach on Saturday for the first Island Park Beach Reunion. The purpose of the event was to celebrate the bygone days of the 1940s, 50s and 60s, when everyone knew each other and the beach was the place to be. Although it was hard to get an exact head count (people tended to come and go), it was easy to spot what appeared to be some of the happiest people ever assembled.
Island Park was a real Peyton Place years ago, Jeanie Scully said. As people hugged each other and reminisced, Scully claimed to have seen more than one grown man cry.
Clustered under the gazebo, people ate, drank and listened for hours to the music of the 40s, 50s and 60s provided by Mike Zeppetella. When he took a deserved break, a few residents sang a song that one had written about the old days. Then, the tapes were brought out.
Island Park was a nice town to grow up in, Eleanor Laukaitis, one of the organizers, said. There was no summer camp back then. The beach was our summer camp from morning till night, Terry Brennan, another organizer, added. Up until 1954, we were a very small community.
The idea to have the reunion occurred to Laukaitis and Brennan while attending their 40th high school reunion at Oceanside High, where kids from Island Park attended until late 1960s. Now they go to West Hempstead High School. Terry and I were in the same class in school. We had such a good time at the reunion, we thought we should have a beach reunion.
Laukaitis, a 54-year resident, knew that several people still lived in Island Park and felt that it would be easy to contact the others. Holding meetings at each others homes, a committee was formed who put everything into place for the August 11 beach reunion. They decided to charge $5 a person to cover the cost of the rental of the gazebo and a deejay. Those who attended were told to bring their own food and drink. If any money was left, a plan was in place to buy pizzas for everyone. By 5 p.m., several pizza boxes had already been emptied.
Island Park is a family, Brennan said. Everyone knows and cares about each other. A lot of famous people were from here and they never forgot where they came from.
A few of those people came to see their old friends on Saturday. Alfonse D'Amato and brother Armand stayed for a long time, as did Ray Kelly, the former Head of US Customs under the Clinton Administration and one-time NYC Police Commissioner. Kelly had been a lifeguard as a teenager at the beach. Surrounded by a group at all times, he appeared to enjoy the walk that everyone seemed to be taking down memory lane.
In the old days, Casino Beach had been the location for many evening activities including outdoor movies, and dancing on the beach. In the 40s and 50s people were more cohesive and there was more camaraderie, Mickey Hastava, an organizer said. We hung together.
Pete Ruocco could remember back even further. In 1938 we came from the Bronx and when we saw that horses led carts that picked up the garbage we thought, where did our father bring us to live!
Eileen McDermott sat silently at a table placed at the entrance to collect the $5. She had the best view of the reunion and was not only impressed by the amount of people that came, but also the experiences that seemed to unfold all around her. The best part for me is seeing all of the reunions, she said, her own eyes becoming a bit misty.
As groups of men reminisced fondly about hours spent in JB's Bar and women recalled the St. Patty's Day Annual Dance, a sigh of longing enveloped the air and everyone returned once more to the fond memories of their youth. It was a time from long ago, when doors were always kept unlocked, and Casino Beach was always 100 percent filled to capacity on any given lazy Sunday afternoon.
