Carnival Conquered Snow but Temporarily Defeated by Wind

McKinley School's carnival, the largest fundraiser held by the school's PTA, was canceled Saturday due to high winds, but the popular springtime event will return on Sunday under hopefully clear skies.

Police officers stationed at Jennings Beach's guard shack about 1 p.m. Saturday turned away potential carnival goers as the wind picked up and snapped flags high above rides owned by Stewart Amusement.

"The wind is just really bad down there right now, and the rain is going to come in tonight," Jill Kellerman, president-elect of McKinley's PTA, said Saturday afternoon. "It's kind of a bummer. We just go with the flow. You can't control Mother Nature."

Kellerman said the annual carnival, which runs from Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon, usually has at least one day of bad weather, but McKinley's PTA always hopes it's not on a Saturday, which is when carnival hours are longest. The carnival on Saturday had been scheduled to run from 1 to 10 p.m.

Wes Greenop, a member of McKinley PTA's executive board, said wristband day will be held on Sunday. Carnival-goers who buy a wristband for $20 will be able to ride all the rides they want from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Greenop and Kellerman said they hope some of the potential carnival goers who couldn't come Saturday return on Sunday to have a good time and support McKinley School. "Hopefully, we can encourage people to come tomorrow, support our school and be a part of the community," Kellerman said.

Greenop said the annual four-day carnival accounts for 60 percent to 70 percent of the PTA's budget. Proceeds help to fund scholarships, teacher grants, cultural arts events, author visits and field trips, Kellerman said.

Greenop said attendance was good on Thursday evening and that turnout on Friday was "very, very good."

McKinley's carnival survived potential cancelation due to the high piles of snow that town Department of Public Works' crews and private contractors dumped in the Jennings Beach parking lot. Joseph Palmieri, co-owner of Connecticut Tank Removal, went down to the Jennings Beach parking lot about a month ago with a payloader and broke up snow and ice piles to speed up melting, Jill Kellerman said.

Kellerman said her husband, Rob Kellerman, is co-owner of Connecticut Tank Removal. "That was my favor I called in to them," Kellerman said.

Greenop and Kellerman said they heard the weather's supposed to be nice on Sunday, so the carnival hopefully will attract a big crowd.

"We may not make up the whole thing," Greenop said of revenue lost on Saturday, "but we can make up a good chunk of it."

Moving the annual carnival to May isn't possible because McKinley's PTA has to fit into the schedule of Stewart Amusement, Greenop said.