Locals soak in summer

The sunny skies and warm temperatures prompted many residents to hit area beaches on the first day of summer Tuesday.Two seniors at Fisherman’s Beach in Swampscott spent part of the afternoon enjoying the sun.”It’s our first time at the beach this year,” said Mary Cullin of Swampscott. Cullin and her best friend Kay McManus, mother of former Lynn mayor Pat McManus, say they have been coming to Fisherman’s Beach their whole lives.”I love the pier and the clean water,” said Cullin. “And I love the boats.”Cullin recalled a time before there was a pier at the beach.”My son Phillip loved watching them put the pier in, so I used to stand here for hours,” said Cullin.Nearby, Cheryl Correnti of Lynn spent part of the afternoon at the beach with her kids.”The kids graduated from kindergarten today,” she said. “They got an ice cream at Red Rock and now they’re at the beach.”Correnti’s daughter, first-grader Ava Correnti, says her favorite summer pastime is “going to the beach” so she can build sandcastles.Tim Serino and Tyler McGregor headed to Long Beach in Nahant with their families after finishing the fifth grade.The boys spoke about their love for crab hunting and swimming in the surf and shared their plans for the summer.McGregor, Serino and their friend Stefan Carpenter, all from Peabody, seemed most excited about a trip to Monkey Trunks, a rope and zip-lining park. “It’s super fun,” said Carpenter.Twelve year-old Carpenter says he will also be helping out at Open Heart, a camp for kids with heart problems. “I help out with finding new activities the kids could do,” he said.Some beach-goers enjoyed the sun, but didn’t brave the water.”I don’t go in the water until the end of August,” Carole Fistori of Medford said, laughing.Fistori and her beach buddy, Janine Vendola, applauded the cleanliness of Long Beach, but had issues with other parts of the beach experience.”The parking lot was full from 11 until after one,” said Vendola.One area family enjoyed the beach while they could before all their summer activities began.Jill Patz of Peabody and her friends have their summer schedules packed with their children’s camps, lessons and summer trips.The obligations include dance competitions across the country, baseball teams, surf lessons and more.”She’s got dance, he’s got a baseball game, and then we’re going to go home to grill and have a fire,” she said about her children’s plans for today.