Beachcombers Swarm Madison Center (The Video)

The annual Beachcomber Night was a big success Thursday night.

While the final count is not yet in, organizers said the turnout seemed larger than ever. Madison welcomed visitors from Naugatuck, Essex, East Haven, Clinton and even Texas. Well, the woman from Texas just moved to Killingworth, but once from Texas always from Texas, as she'll tell you.

And there were lots of people from Madison enjoying some of the best of what their hometown had to offer. In addition to shopping, there were several musicians, free drinks, free food, firefighter hats for the little kids, and shopping bingo.

In order to be eligible to win, shoppers had to explore all of the downtown shopping area, including Wall Street, Station Square, and Boston Post Road. Several shoppers said they thought that was a great idea, as they had no idea that a boardwalk connected the Boston Post Road shopping area with Station Square.

Several merchants said participants were not only browsing, but buying. And nearby Hammonasset Beach State Park benefited as well. Proceeds from the evening will go towards Friends of Hammonasset.

Organizers were concerned early on about a threat of rain, but even that held off and shoppers were treated to balmy summer evening, a special treat since summer will soon come to a close.