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‘Like a vacation day’ | People flock to Connecticut parks, beaches amid record-breaking heat

From taking in cherry blossoms in Wooster Square to flocking to Hammonasset State Beach, people across the state enjoyed being outdoors Thursday.

MADISON, Connecticut — Spring is a time for renewal that brought record-breaking temperatures to Connecticut Thursday. Flowers are in bloom, children are on spring break, and people flocked to parks and beaches across our state. 

After spending February at UConn Health fighting COVID, pneumonia, and blocked lungs, Francine Ruck of Southington couldn’t wait to head to Hammonasset State Beach for the first time this year with her sister. 

“I had COVID, I was in the hospital for 23 days for me this is great,” she said. “After coming out of the hospital and being in gloomy situations, for my sister and I to be here together it’s really, really great.” 

Siblings Carter, Grayson, and Kennedy from Middletown and Burlington were seizing the play.

“It looks like a vacation day,” said Carter, 6.

People were seizing temperatures near 90 degrees across Connecticut.

Bushnell Park, the nation’s first municipal park and its more than 150 varieties of trees and shrubs blooming in the Capital City attracting neighbors from New Hampshire where Gary Gray still has snow.

“This is beautiful. I’m going to put my shorts on when I get to the car,” said Gary Gray.

Spring’s signature cherry blossoms—the very symbol of renewal and optimism are peaking in New Haven’s Wooster Square where crews are gearing up for a festival this weekend.

“These cherry blossoms are just so special and so beautiful, and we are so lucky to have them,” said Sharon Huttner of Branford.

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Even a resident bear who resides in a tree hole behind a West Hartford home is spending more of its time outside. Chris Bonelli lives next door.

“You see people clean up their yards, the flowers are coming out and yeah, the bear’s been down a lot. You get up in the morning it’s a little bit warmer out, the bear has been coming and going,” Bonelli said.\

Samaia Hernandez is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at shernandez@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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