Participants in Pirates Day in Lynn Woods sing during their walk on Saturday. (Photo by Scott Eisen)
By Leah Dearborn
LYNN — Aaaargh, matey, a good time was had by all during Saturday’s annual Pirates Day in Lynn Woods hosted by the Friends of Lynn Woods.
This year’s family-friendly adventure was oriented around the theme of “pirates” waiting in the woods for the visitors.
Dressed in their own eye patches and bandanas, more than 800 visitors took advantage of good fall mid-afternoon weather to walk about a mile in from the woods’ Pennybrook Road entranice. Groups of costumed actors enacted a total of nine skits along the way.
“We moved to Amesbury from Lynn but we drive down every year for this,” said parent Allison Hallissuey as she walked along the designated route.
Woods Ranger Dan Small emphasized that Pirates Day is not a fundraiser. Instead, it’s meant to get people to take a walk in the woods.
“Lynn Woods is still recovering from a bad reputation. It’s not deserved anymore,” said Small, who added that the old cars and appliances that once littered the reservation have long since been cleaned up. “Pirates Day is the best thing we ever did as far as getting people up here again.”
Saturday’s pirate participants were recruited in part by Small from people who frequent the woods, including runners and those who asked if they could help out with Pirates Day. The Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at Lynn English High School and Peabody Veterans Memorial High School students also participated.
Many of the volunteers, like North Shore Community College graduate Alisha Raby Cefalo, were veterans who returned from previous years to don pirate garb once again.
“I wanted to help the woods,” said Raby Cefalo. “And they said the biggest help would be to be a pirate.”
Pirates Day ties into the legends surrounding a pirate ship that appeared in Lynn Harbor in 1658.
According to the Friends of Lynn Woods website, three of the pirates on the ship were captured by British soldiers. The final buccaneer, named Thomas Veal, escaped into the woods and lived there in a cave for some time.
Although many adventurers have searched for Veal’s supposed buried pirate treasure in the woods, none have ever been successful.