FALMOUTH – They came to celebrate their life and times at a legendary Cape Cod beach bar, the Casino By The Sea in Falmouth Heights. (See slideshow below)
Susan Houghton stopped dancing long enough to explain, “I met my husband on the Cape at the Casino in 1968,” Of course she had to attend the Reunion of Summer Past held on Falmouth Harbor Saturday night. (See also, 2-Minute Video, Steve Smith and the Nakeds are “Huge” in Falmouth.)
“When you were 21 and having a good time, the Casino was the place to go,” said Houghton. “It was the happening place.”
Summer!
On Saturday night, to borrow a phrase, summer was here and the time was right for dancing on the lawn.
More than 1,500 attended the rollicking event featuring the music of John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, and Steve Smith and the Nakeds. It was rhythm and blues, and classic rock under a downpour of nostalgia.
According to Gary Gramolini, guitar player with the Beaver Brown Band, the Casino was “a little divey beach bar.” Ah, but what a bar. “It was pandemonium,” he said.
At one point, on stage, Steve Smith declared, “The Casino in Falmouth was the greatest place in the world.”
According to Michelle LeBlanc of Falmouth, “It wasn’t just a bar. I developed so many frienships over the years. It was such a summer time thing. You could be out on a boat and swim in. Or leave the dance floor, go down to beach and go for a swim and then come right back in and keep dancing.” She looked around. “It’s great to feel 24 or 25 again.”
John Gilman – “Everybody calls me ‘Gilly'” – said, “I saw people I haven’t seen in 20 years. This takes me back to when times were fun.”
And Michael Giery, who managed the Casino for ten years, recalled, “There was no such thing as a Friday night. There was no difference from Monday to Friday, and we were packed on weekends from noon on.”
Giery, who now lives in St. Thomas, said that there has long been talk of a reunion.
Billy Flaherty, who worked at the Casino for 20 years, said, “Every single person is over the top excited to revisit those days. It was so overdue. Everybody wanted this to happen.”
One other thing. It rained for half the show. No one seemed to care.
— Brian Tarcy
Do you know if the Reunion of Summer Past featuring Steve Smith and the Nakeds and The John Cafferty Band will be playing again on Falmouth Harbor this summer? I hope so!!!