Currents of Time
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The team (left to right): Harold “Skip” Briggs, Jr., Dawn Filliatreault Wood, Candace Furtado, Kimberly DeAngelis, Christopher Ricci.
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our constitution — hasn’t changed in the
near-century Charles Trefes’s family has
owned the Atlantic Beach Park and its
cluster of businesses, including the Windjammer,
Dusty’s Dairy Bar, a snack shack,
an arcade and a carousel.
Trefes, an imposing figure who’d be
unrecognizable without his blue mirror
sunglasses, leads the way to the carousel
building — the quietest spot in the place
and, by all measures, a major source of pride
for him. (Case in point: He has a dedicated
“foot guy” tasked with reconstructing
horse hooves damaged by wild riders.)
The merry-go-round — once open-air
— was the main attraction in the early
years after Trefes’s grandparents bought
the place in 1921. They cemented their
legacy as a playground for the everyman,
selling hot dogs and carousel rides for
pennies to tourists fresh off the Norwich
rail line. The park itself has evolved over
time — the Windjammer building was
once a roller-skating rink, and it has the
flooring to prove it — but that’s what it
takes to stay in business for three generations,
Trefes says.
“We’re the second-oldest continuously
owned family amusement park in the
country,” he says, proud to have nailed
the epithet on the first try. While major
storms have threatened or demolished
businesses around him, Trefes’s has stood
strong. After the hurricane of 1938, his
grandfather had the forethought to rebuild
with steel frames.
Which is why the latest threat to the
beachside village — an invisible virus with
tangible economic implications — is all
the more distressing for Trefes. This year
marks Atlantic Beach Park’s ninety-ninth
in business, and it’s his fourth year as sole
owner. His fifteen-year-old daughter, a
pro at greasing the carousel, is waiting in
the wings.
“Hope for the best, prepare for the
worst,” Trefes likes to say. But there was
no preparing for this.
FIRE, FLU, FLOOD: LIKE MOST
places with long histories,
Misquamicut has withstood
it all.
Native American communities used
Misquamicut — which translates to
“place of the red fish” — as summer fishing
88 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JULY 2020