South Shore residents, it seems, have a special fondness for the Paragon Carousel. The 83-year-old fixture of Paragon Park, filled with ornately carved and painted creatures, was the beneficiary of a recent 1,000-guest event hosted by the nonprofit organization Friends of the Paragon Carousel.
Called "The Ultimate Nantasket Experience," the August 12 event took over the entire Nantasket Beach Resort and had a 1950s theme. Dennis Zaia, the organization's president, oversaw the planning process.
According to Patricia Abbate, who handled the event's publicity, "The '50s room is a theme we use in the summer [events] at the Paragon Carousel, so we wanted to continue with the nostalgia theme. We found that PBD Events has a selection of 1950s soda shop furniture, and we built an experience around it."
In a temporary soda shop on hotel grounds, servers dressed in pink poodle skirts doled out cotton candy, ice cream, popcorn, and hot dogs. The room also housed a karaoke contest, and other spaces hosted cabaret performances, comedians, singers, and local theater troupes. Synchronized swimmers performed in the hotel's pool, and vendors hawked their wares at an outdoor marketplace and beer garden.
More than 100 volunteers, recruited by word of mouth, helped to handle the event's various facets. So-called room captains had special tasks, helping manage everything from the online auction to the synchronized swimmers.
To connect guests to the cause, a temporary Paragon Park museum showcased memorabilia, and local historians were on hand to share tidbits from the park's history. Throughout the evening, trolley rides transported guests from the event to the carousel. Though the sprawling affair was a one-off, "we do anticipate that pieces of this event will become single events in the future," Abbate said.
