‘Last big hurrah’: York and Ogunquit beaches to close out summer season with big events

Sandcastles, bonfires and shave ice will be on hand this Labor Day weekend, as Southern Maine ramps up for the summer’s final holiday bash.

“The last big hurrah,” said Jodie Nielsen, who opened Hawaiian Jim’s shave ice with her husband at York Beach 34 years ago. She said Labor Day brings one of the last big weekends for families to come to York looking for sun, surf and shave ice served out of the Hawaiian Jim’s window at 15 Railroad Ave.

York’s Beach Bonfire returns for its 20th year Saturday by the Long Sands Beach bath house, raising money for the York Community Services Association (YCSA). The bonfire was originally started after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by Walter and Jennifer Woods of Graystone Builders of Maine to raise money for the New York City Fire Department.

The Woods decided to take a break from running the event and have turned it over to the York Parks and Recreation Department to run it for the first time this year. The Bonfire will run from 6 to 10 p.m. and offer hot dogs, hamburgers and raffles for YCSA.

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Sunday will see the return of the annual Ogunquit sandcastle contest put on by the town Parks and Recreation Department from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The event will include prizes and T-shirts. At about the same time, sand artist Sebastian Privitera will demonstrate how he uses a rake to make elaborate designs on the beach from 9 a.m. to noon. Classes will be available for up to six people per half hour with Privitera.

Maine Street Bar will host its Mr. Gay Ogunquit event Sunday on the beach and at its restaurant and Night Club, crowning contestants in a number of categories including “Best Basket,” “Best Arms” and overall best. The event has been going on for the last 20 years.

“This weekend is one of the best weekends for business for Ogunquit,” said Juliana Gomez, marketing manager for the Front Porch and CREW.

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Summer 2022 a success for most

Business owners gave mixed reviews about the 2022 summer, some saying they saw higher numbers than ever, others saying their revenue was down from a busy season last year.

Joe Lipton, who owns several hotels including the Stones Throw at Long Sands Beach, said he had the most successful summer of any season since he began owning restaurants and hotels at York Beach in 2003. His rooms were 80% booked by March and April, a benchmark normally met in May.

“We had a record-breaking year over any years we’ve been in business,” Lipton said. He speculated the booming year is a result of the public being more ready than ever to get outside. COVID-19 guidelines from the CDC were made more lenient this year than they have been since the pandemic began.

“It’s really just pent-up demand,” Lipton said. “Between COVID and a couple of other things, I think people were wanting to feel like they were alive again.”

On the other side of the Nubble peninsula at Short Sands Beach, business owners said the season was overall successful and enjoyed the return of guests who had been keeping away from York since the pandemic started. This summer also saw the return of Canadian tourists, who were kept out of the country until recently by a travel ban between their country and the United States.

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“Obviously, it got a little bit better this year,” said Jimmy Asprogiannis, who owns the Inn on the Blues hotel and restaurant. At Whispering Sands Gift Shop, a business that has been at Short Sands Beach for 70 years, owner Ann Thomson said she is ready to forget about the last two summers – including 2021 when she said the beach was still “crazy” busy.

“We try, to be honest with you, to just cut those two years out and base everything on 2019,” said Thomson. Last year, she said, seemed busy because it was mostly locals staying close to home and enjoying their local vacation destinations like York. This summer, she said, there were more travelers returning from places around New England and New York for vacation.

Some business owners projected higher numbers than they actually got this year, even if the season was a good one for their restaurant or hotel. Laura Dolce, director of the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce, said revenue was down from last year for some businesses who thought 2022 would see the numbers go higher. Others said they saw the same number of people visit, but that they spent less money.

“They’re very good numbers,” Dolce said. “Maybe they’re just a little off spectacular.”

Dolce said that could have also been due to travel patterns having been interrupted by the pandemic, as many people who vacation in the Kennebunks also enjoy destinations in Europe, which had been temporarily closed off for travel.

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Staffing still a concern

While the summer rolls on to its final weeks, business owners say staffing remains a problem, especially with many student workers returning to class Tuesday.

“Half our staff is back at school,” said Asprogiannis of his restaurant at Inn on the Blues. “We’re still in the middle of summer.”

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Jose Perez, who owns Sweet Josie’s Candy Shoppe with his wife Kathy, said his staffing troubles were exacerbated two weeks ago when high school sports returned, and students had less time to work. He said a recent local outbreak of COVID-19 also depleted his staff this summer as his workers were quarantined. Those factors have resulted in Josie’s only being open from noon to 7 p.m. in a summer he sees as busy as ever with traffic.

“This is the most normal summer,” Perez said. “It’s almost like not being prepared for normal.”

Thomson, the gift shop owner, said she was also understaffed, but fortunate that her sister and nieces help stock items so she could focus on running the store. She said her biggest concern will be what happens after this summer when the nation begins to feel more of the impact of inflation. This season, people still were ready to spend their money.

“People were still on vacation and buying whatever they wanted,” Thomson said. “Can they do it again next year?”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York and Ogunquit, Maine beaches to close out summer season with big events