The Salisbury Beach of today bears little resemblance to the one that was home to carnival games, rides, and concert halls during its height into the 1980s. But the past lives on in the hearts of a community that forged lifelong memories of the strip bordering the Atlantic, where the ocean and the sky seem to blend in the distant horizon.

A snapshot of a time that shaped so many who grew up in town has been recreated at Seaglass Restaurant and Lounge in the form of a 300-plus-pound gingerbread display created by bartender James “Hollywood Jim” Shalkoski. But it was the memories of those who experienced the old Salisbury Beach firsthand, gathered in the restaurant’s pavilion on Nov. 29 for the lighting ceremony of the Salisbury Beach Past and Present Fantasy Gingerbread House, which made the past come alive.