Summer in the village: Heat gets beat

MATTAPOISETT — It’s hot in the Tri-Town — hot enough that Terri Carando, a Mattapoisett resident who had just returned Thursday from South Carolina, said it felt cooler there. 

Carando was one of many spending Friday, June 21 in Mattapoisett Village beating the heat. The temperature was hovering above 80 degrees By midday.

She came to the town beach with her daughter Caitlyn Fleurent and grandkids Noah and Liam Fleurent.

Liam, 4, swam in the ocean while Noah, 2, sat in a beach chair next to Fleurent.

Liam also caught hermit crabs; about five of them collected in a plastic red bucket settled in the wet sand.

“They’re huge,” Carando said.

It was low-tide and the family was enjoying the beach, according to Carando.

“The water is pretty warm,” she said. “I’m surprised.”

Another beach patron felt differently about the temperature of the water, though it didn’t seem to impact the level of enjoyment.

“It’s a little cold, but it feels good,” Emma Bilhete, 8, said.

Also spending the balmy summer day at the town beach in Mattapoisett were Sarah Chase, her daughter Gillian Bonnell, 11, and nephew Waylon Kolsky, 7.

Chase is a teacher, so the whole trio is on summer break and wanted to get out of the house. Gillian and Waylon said they enjoyed swimming and catching hermit crabs.

“I think it’s fun,” Waylon said.

Gillian had also earlier buried Waylon in the sand “like a mermaid,” she said.

Towards the back of the sandy area, Cedar Gregoire sat on a wooden bench in the shade with a book and a guitar.

With no air conditioning in his apartment, visiting the beach was a “good way to pass the time.” Gregoire said.

“I come here pretty often,” he said. “Just a good vibe, good people.”

A few blocks west of the beach, the town wharf also served as an exhibit to summer heat reprieves in Mattapoisett.

Several people visited the Seaport Slip for food and ice cream.

Teal Galligan, a worker at the ice cream shop, said it typically gets pretty busy on hotter days.

This sweltering Friday was no different; turnout had been steady, she said.

“The community is very nice down here,” Galligan said. “Usually get a lot of families and kids.”

Galligan was safe from the heat too as she served out favorite flavors like chocolate peanut butter and moose tracks from the shack on the wharf.

“It’s actually pretty nice,” she said. “We have an A/C in here.”