City Of West Haven: Day 2 Of Centennial Savin Rock Festival Underway

Press release from the City of West Haven:

July 31, 2021

PHOTO — Local party rock band Shameless is headlining the Centennial Savin Rock Festival in West Haven’s Old Grove Park at 8 tonight. (Publicity Photo)

WEST HAVEN, July 31, 2021 — Local party rock band Shameless is headlining the Centennial Savin Rock Festival in Old Grove Park at 8 tonight.

The two-day festival, presented by the City of West Haven Centennial Celebration Committee, is part of a six-month series of free events commemorating the community’s 100th anniversary and its incorporation by the General Assembly as Connecticut’s youngest municipality.

Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, the committee’s honorary chairwoman, said the Centennial Savin Rock Festival will showcase West Haven’s past 100 years and the “sights, sounds, smells and tastes” that made the 20th-century Savin Rock Park “the playground of New England.”

In its second day, the festival, which pays homage to the legacy of “the Rock,” is open until 10 p.m.

Along with live music, it features a midway of games and rides — and, of course, boatloads of seafood and other mouthwatering dishes.

Marenna Amusements is offering wristbands for unlimited rides for $25.

A craft fair is taking place until 7 p.m. in the 151-year-old Grove, and a dozen food trucks on nearby Palace Street are serving up burgers, hot dogs, cheesesteak, fried dough, gyros, kebabs, and sausage and peppers. Dessert trucks are offering cannoli, cupcakes and ice cream.

Resident-only parking for vehicles displaying a valid, affixed beach sticker is available in the lots on Oak Street and Altschuler Boulevard. Free overflow parking for residents and nonresidents is available in the grass lot on Oak Street, across from the Surfside public housing complex.

Brian Smith, a former co-host of WPLR’s “Smith and Barber the Morning Show,” is serving as the “ringmaster” of ceremonies for a fourth time.

At 3 p.m., members of the West Haven Fire Department will demonstrate the Jaws of Life tool during an extrication by prying open parts of a vehicle to free those trapped inside. Members of the West Shore Fire Department will demonstrate their amphibious rescue boat.

Rubber City, powered by a horn section in the vein of Chicago and Tower of Power, will perform at 4 p.m., followed by local party funk band Covergirl at 6 p.m. and Shameless two hours later.

“Shameless is excited and honored to be closing out this year’s Savin Rock Festival,” the band said in a statement. “The festival has always been a highlight of summer in southern Connecticut. We are thrilled to see it return for the West Haven Centennial Celebration and just as excited to join in on the fun.

“The boys in the band can’t wait to get a little Shameless with West Haven on July 31!”

Watch the Shameless promotional video on YouTube.

The Centennial Savin Rock Festival joins other events observing West Haven’s secession from Orange a century ago. The rural and residential sections of Orange separated in 1921 when the residential part, West Haven, became the state’s youngest town.

The committee’s hospitality table is selling centennial coins, lapel pins and lawn signs.

Each person who buys a $10 lawn sign will get entered into a raffle for a chance to push a “start button” to help launch this year’s fireworks. The winner and up to three guests will also dine on burgers and hot dogs under the Savin Rock Fireworks Committee’s hospitality tent before and during the display.

The 2021 fireworks, billed as “They Will Be Heard on the 3rd,” will launch off Bradley Point Park at 8 p.m. Sept. 3, with a rain date of Sept. 4.

All merchandise proceeds generated by the centennial committee will offset expenses and support the $50,000 centennial budget approved by the City Council, said committee Chairwoman Beth A. Sabo, the city’s commissioner of human resources.

Local vendor JOD Designs, a veteran-owned screen printing company, is selling centennial and Savin Rock T-shirts.

West Haven’s flagship festival was established in 1982 by the Chamber of Commerce — initially under the direction of Brian M. Stone, David Gesler and Michael Shiner and thereafter by John L. Perrone and his wife, Mary Perrone — to bring organizations, clubs, businesses and families together for a summer festival that celebrates life in one of America’s oldest coastal communities.

From the dawn of the Savin Rock House hotel in 1838, the Rock had long been a resort hub until it was officially incorporated as an amusement park by the Savin Rock Park Co. on Memorial Day 1925, when it opened to 300,000 visitors and 66,000 automobiles in one spectacular day.

For the next four decades, the popular seaside park captured the hearts and imaginations of “Rock rats” of all ages. “The Coney Island of Connecticut” shuttered Sept. 21, 1966, to pave the way for the Savin Rock Urban Renewal Project.

For a complete list of centennial events, see the Schedule. For centennial merchandise, visit the official Online Store.

The store, hosted by West Haven vendor West Shore Associates, sells such centennial-branded merchandise as long- and short-sleeved T-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, stainless steel tumblers, stemless wine glasses, insulated beverage bottles, ceramic mugs, retro sunglasses, canvas and cotton tote bags, eco-performance face masks, and pigment-dyed twill and mesh trucker caps.

A portion of the vendors’ merchandise proceeds will support the centennial account, Sabo said.

Local party rock band Shameless is headlining the Centennial Savin Rock Festival in West Haven’s Old Grove Park at 8 tonight. (Publicity Photo)

Rubber City, powered by a horn section in the vein of Chicago and Tower of Power, is performing at 4 p.m. (Publicity Photo)

Local party funk band Covergirl is playing at 6 p.m. (Publicity Photo)

This press release was produced by the City of West Haven. The views expressed here are the author’s own.