City Of West Haven: The Pop Rocks Headlining Centennial Kickoff June 24

Press release from the City of West Haven:

June 22, 2021

WEST HAVEN, June 22, 2021 — The West Haven Centennial Celebration will officially kick off Thursday, June 24 — 100 years to the day of West Haven’s incorporation by the General Assembly as Connecticut’s youngest town.

The opening ceremony is set for 6:30 p.m. in Old Grove Park and will feature remarks by Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and her executive assistant, Louis P. Esposito Jr., the master of ceremonies, as well as appearances by former West Haven mayors and other dignitaries.

At 7 p.m., The Pop Rocks, “Connecticut’s ultimate ’80s experience,” will perform a two-hour show as part of the West Haven Centennial Concert Series.

The five-piece band, sporting the era-defining fashion that was all the rage, will play an array of the best pop and rock from the decade of decadence, including “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Footloose” and “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

The star-studded event is presented by the City of West Haven Centennial Celebration Committee.

The committee’s hospitality tent in the Grove will sell centennial coins, lapel pins and lawn signs, said Chairwoman Beth A. Sabo, the city’s commissioner of human resources.

According to Sabo, 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, she said.

All merchandise proceeds generated by the centennial committee will offset expenses and support the $50,000 centennial budget approved by the City Council, Sabo said.

Local vendor JOD Designs, a veteran-owned screen printing company, will sell centennial T-shirts in the Grove as well.

To coincide with the kickoff, the West Haven Child Development Center and the West Haven Community House will start distributing centennial diaper bags to the first 100 West Haven babies born on or after June 24 through the city clerk’s office at City Hall, 355 Main St. Call the office for details at 203-937-3535.

While June 24 marks West Haven’s incorporation, the committee earlier this month commenced the community’s 100th anniversary festivities with a West Haven Historical Society exhibit, “From Village to Town,” followed by the West Haven Centennial Boat Parade and a Juneteenth event, called West Haven Celebrates Juneteenth.

Rossi, the committee’s honorary chairwoman, recently announced a six-month series of free concerts, historical exhibits and fireworks — headlined by the long-awaited return of the Savin Rock Festival in the Grove on Friday and Saturday, July 30-31 — to commemorate West Haven’s 1921 birth.

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.” Details are forthcoming.

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

The display, moved from July 3 to Labor Day weekend to safely accommodate the many throngs expected, is sponsored by the centennial committee and the fireworks committee.

Before the fireworks, people of all ages can shake, rattle and roll to funk and rock music performed by the Kathy Thompson Band on a portable stage in front of Savin Rock from 6-8 p.m.

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.

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