Monthly Archives: October 2009

Trick Or Treat!

Posted on October 31, 2009 | Leave a comment

Halloween is a holiday for kids.  Kids of all ages, that is.

This week, Halloween came to Staples.  The child study classes — a superb program that pairs juniors and seniors with tots, to the benefit of all — went trick-or-treating throughout the school (below).  Little kids had fun, and older kids revisited their not-long-ago youth.

Staples High School child-study Halloween

Non-child study students, meanwhile, did their own thing (below).  Four juniors crisscrossed campus during lunchtime, checking for problems.  Mindful of school policies, they toned down their construction-worker language and kept wolf whistles to a minimum — but otherwise they did their job.

They didn’t even have time for candy.

Staples High School Halloween

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Posted in Staples HS, Teenagers

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Don’t Call This Taxi Driver

Posted on October 31, 2009 | 1 Comment

It’s a time-honored tradition:  When you’ve had too much to drink, don’t drive.  Call a cab.

Not so fast.

An alert “06880″ reader spotted this item in Thursday’s Stamford Advocate:

A veteran Westport taxi driver was arrested for drunk driving Thursday morning just before he was to start collecting fares.

Edward McConnell, 69, of 43 Ivy Place, Norwalk, was arrested by Westport police at 7:30 a.m. after he was spotted driving in the wrong lane on Charles Street near the Westport train station, police said.

McConnell was arraigned in state Superior Court in Norwalk where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving under the influence.  He was released on a promise to appear back in court, but Judge Bruce Hudock prohibited him from driving.

McConnell, a 21-year Westport Taxi employee, told police he was on his way to work at the time he was stopped.

During the traffic stop, the police officer said he smelled alcohol on McConnell’s breath and his speech was slow and slurred.  A test put McConnell’s blood-alcohol content at 0.217 — more than double the legal 0.8 legal limit, police said.

The “06880″ reader wrote:

I wonder how many times this guy took me from the Y or downtown or the beach to my house (a decent backroads drive), and he was completely hammered.

With the DUI crackdown going on in Saugatuck recently, it is sad that people make the choice to drive home after a few drinks because they don’t trust the taxi driver’s sobriety.

Calling a cab should be a smart move.  Not a life-threatening one.

Chinese taxi driver

In China, authorities test taxi drivers for sobriety. Is Westport next?


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Posted in Local business, Police

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A Piece Of The Westport Pie

Posted on October 31, 2009 | Leave a comment

The past year notwithstanding, much of Westport is pretty well off.

But of course not everyone shares the same slice of the pie.

Which is why, as Thanksgiving looms, the Conservative Synagogue and Homes With Hope team up to “Share the Pie.”

The annual effort works like this:

Great Cakes provides apple, pecan and pumpkin pies.  Garelick and Herbs/Thyme for Kosher donate kosher/pareve apple and pumpkin pies.  All sell for $20 each.

Proceeds help Homes With Hope (formerly Interfaith Housing) provide permanent affordable housing, casework and support services, emergency shelter, food, meals, and life skills training.  The money also enables the Conservative Synagogue to fund outreach programs.

Individuals and families order pies.  So do local businesses; they give them to their employees as thanks, while at the same time aiding a great cause.  Last year, 1200 pies were order.

Beat that!

(Deadline is 5 p.m. Nov. 17 for kosher pies, noon Nov. 20 for all others.  Order forms are available at the Conservative Synagogue website or at www.sharethepie.net;  the synagogue office at 30 Hillspoint Rd.; by mail at Share the Pie, c/o TCS, 30 Hillspoint Rd., Westport CT 06880; by fax at 203-454-8888, or by phone at 203-454-4673; please include a MasterCard or Visa number and expiration date.  Pies can be picked up on Tues., Nov. 24, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the synagogue parking lot.  Corporate orders of 10 pies or more will be delivered to offices, upon request.  For more information, call 203-454-4673.)
Westport's Share the Pie

Suzanne Haber, co-chair of Share the Pie; her daughter Victoria, and Great Cakes owner Rick Dickinson generously share pies.

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Posted in Local business, Organizations, religion

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A Missing Woman Is Found

Posted on October 30, 2009 | 4 Comments

Many Westporters received reverse-911 calls on their cell or home phones — or both — today.  They said an elderly woman had wandered away from home.

Elaine Clayton got the call too.  Unlike most of us — myself included — who were angry at the intrusion, or wondered why the cops would call about such a thing, Elaine acted.

She had just left her son’s class Halloween party.  She hadn’t planned to go, but at the last minute she did.

Driving home, she noticed a woman walking on the sidewalk.  “Visually, for me, time sort of stopped,” Elaine writes on her Illuminara blog.

She continues:

The sun was on her, and shadows from leafless trees were dancing on her back.  I noticed she wore denim and had white hair.  I especially noticed the light on her hair.  She limped a little.  She was walking at a quick pace but with some effort.  And that was that, a mental picture for me that would get stored away in my artist brain, I guess.

When Elaine got the reverse-911 call, she thought:  “If the person I saw is this missing person, no wonder she was limping.  She’s walked several miles to be all the way over here.”

She called the police.  Ten minutes later, they called back.  Elaine had been right.  The woman was found.  They thanked her for her efforts.

Elaine writes:

I am very visual, being a figurative artist, but if you had asked me to describe all the walkers, bikers, joggers I had passed on the road on the way home, I might not be able to tell you too much.  For some reason, I knew exactly what this woman looked like (from behind at least) and the timing was not only divine in this case, it was a visual blessing.

Something more extraordinary had happened, because while I took visual note of a person walking, I felt compelled to really register her for some reason, all very quickly as we drove by her.  I am pretty sure the policeman on the phone thought I was the oddest lady he’d talked to in a while, the way I was celebrating with shouts of glee.  But all I could think was how the system worked, the woman was found safely well before nightfall, and what a great gift it was!

I would be distraught had it been my own mother.  So I say thanks to the Westport Police, and thanks to whatever angel came through to us today, Vision Angels who work through the sunlight and shadows on a busy street.

What a great story to warm up a chilly autumn night.  Thanks, Elaine, for sharing it.

I hope I remember it the next time I receive one of those perhaps-no-longer-intrusive reverse-911 calls.

Elaine Clayton - "Missing Woman"

Elaine Clayton sketches the missing woman.

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Posted in People, Police, Westport life

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Making Things Measy

Posted on October 30, 2009 | 1 Comment

Choosing a digital camera is one thing.  Selecting a president is entirely different.

Or not.

Staples grads Ev Boyle and Ian Manheimer see a similarity:  The more information you have, the more manageable your choice.

Building on the success of Glassbooth — their wildly successful website that provided tons of personalized information on presidential candidates, from Barack Obama to Bob Barr (!) — the duo recently unveiled Measy.

Measy.com

Operating like Glassbooth, the new site collects, aggregates and analyzes thousands of product details, reviews and consumer needs, helping users decide not the best digital camera, DSLR, netbook or HDTV — but the best one for your particular needs.

Next up:  smartphones and laptops.

One difference:  Glassbooth was non-profit.  Ev and Ian hope Measy will make money.

“It’s all about making complex decisions simple,” Ev says about both sites.  With Measy, he explains, “you don’t have know anything about megapixels.  Just tell us, ‘I want to take pictures of my kid’s soccer games’ or ‘I want to use my computer for games.’”

What sets Measy apart from other product-info websites is the human touch.

“We don’t automate our information,” Ev says. “We draw from trusted sources like CNET and PC Magazine.  Then we research like crazy, and aggregate expert reviews.”

Measy’s target audience, he says, is “everybody.  Well, everybody who doesn’t feel like an expert, or who needs an unbiased source.”  His parents and their friends — particularly women – find it very helpful, he says.

“It’s hard to find unbiased, well-organized sources of information,” Ev says.  “People really dig it.”

Which is more than you can say about the name.  “It combines ‘me’ and ‘easy,’” Ev says.  “Some people really like it.  Some people hate it. 

“But it’s hard to find a name that’s short, and has a domain still available.”

Little in life is easy.  Happily for anyone looking for cameras, netbooks and HDTVs, using Measy is.

(Ev and Ian have enlisted a host of other Westporters to help launch Measy.  Among them:  Alex Jacobs, Alex Wasserman, Rich O’Reilly and Will Cimarosa.)

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Posted in People, Staples HS, technology

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Out Of Africa, Into Staples

Posted on October 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

The lobby of the Staples High School auditorium is not a place you’d expect to hear African drumming.  But for a few days each year that open space resounds with the rhythmic, alluring — even hypnotic — beats, pounded out by enthusiastic and thoroughly engaged Westport teenagers.

The drumming is part of the school’s African Studies curriculum.  Several years ago, at a Yale seminar, instructor Carol Avery was introduced to Baba (“Father”) David Coleman, a drum circle leader.

She invited him to Staples — and every semester he comes back.  Eric Mongirdas and Ashley Gayanilo currently teach the course, and this week Baba worked his magic again.

“Baba’s message is ‘drum for peace,’” Eric says.  “He teaches students to work as one, and feel the music.”  It’s a bit deep, but the teenagers — experienced musicians, and those who have never played an instrument — quickly get into it.  African drumming allows them to express their individuality, at the same time they’re relying on each other.

For many, drumming in a circle means stepping out of their comfort zone.  And for any student or staff member passing by, the pulsating sounds filling the school lobby are inspiring, soothing, and very, very cool.

Staples High School African Studies drumming class

Baba David Coleman teaches a Staples African Studies class how to drum.

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6 Degrees Of Playhouse Separation

Posted on October 29, 2009 | Leave a comment

Once upon a time, Richard Rodgers lived near the Westport Country Playhouse.  He saw “Green Grow the Lilacs” there; soon, that show turned into “Oklahoma!”  (You can read all about it in Westporter Max Wilk’s book “OK!  The Story of Oklahoma!“)

Richard Rodgers’ daughter, Mary Rodgers Guettel, became an apprentice at the Playhouse in 1950.  She later earned fame writing the music for “Once Upon a Mattress.”

James Naughton

James Naughton

Mary Rodgers’ son, Adam Guettel, wrote “Light in the Piazza.”  That musical starred Kelli O’Hara — whose father-in-law is noted actor Jim Naughton, our neighbor in Weston.

What’s the purpose of this “6 Degrees of Westport Country Playhouse Separation”?

All those folks — except of course Richard Rodgers, who is dead — will appear Monday at the Playhouse’s Gala 2009.  The evening includes a salute to Mary Rodgers Guettel.

Part of the proceeds will support the Joanne Woodward Intern and Apprentice Program — a fitting tribute to both the former Playhouse artistic director, and former apprentice Mary Rodgers.

One more “6 Degrees” note:  Stephen Sondheim, another 1950 apprentice, will be there to honor Mary Rodgers Guettel.

Kelli O'Hara

Kelli O'Hara

A musical performance — “An Enchanted Evening:  The Music of Richard Rodgers” — will feature Naughton, O’Hara, Steven Pasquale (who created the role of Fabrizio in — ta da! — Adam Guettel’s “Light in the Piazza,” and others.

Talk about a “community theater”!

(A cocktail reception and silent auction begins at 5:45 p.m., followed by the performance and tributes [7:30 p.m.] and dinner [9 p.m.].  Benefit tickets start at $500.  For tickets or more information, contact Kim Maresca, 203-227-5137, ext. 138; kmaresca@westportplayhouse.org.)

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Posted in Arts, Westport Country Playhouse

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Police Benevolence

Posted on October 28, 2009 | Leave a comment

This month’s greening of Pasacreta Park shined a spotlight on both the Riverside Avenue hideaway and its namesake, a much-loved police captain who died at age 50.

Many volunteers helped turned the park into a place of beauty; many donors’ dollars helped too.  Among the contributors was the Westport Police Benevolent Association.  That’s natural — Eugene Pasacreta was one of their own.

Westport PBAIt’s natural too that the PBA donated $6,000 for the renovation of Luciano Park.  That spot — across from Jasmine Restaurant, adjacent to the railroad station parking lot — is also named for a beloved cop who died too young (former chief Sam Luciano).

But the PBA does much more than hand money to parks named for policemen.  In just the past 3 years, the organization has helped fund:

  • Field of  Dreams
  • The American Cancer Society
  • Disabled American Veterans
  • Camperships through Westport’s Human Services Department
  • Governor’s Horse Guard
  • March of Dimes
  • Mothers Against Drunk Driving
  • Sportsmen of Westport
  • Hole in the Wall Gang
  • St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
  • The Hundred Club of Connecticut (for families of cops killed in the line of duty)
  • Special Olympics
  • Staples Gridiron Club
  • Westport Rotary Club
  • PAL
  • At least a dozen police officers, firefighters and EMTs who were injured or ill (including $5,000 to an officer with a tumor; they then raised an additional $12,000 for her at a fundraiser)

In addition, the PBA:

  • Donated a new bike and helmet for a local teenager
  • Collected donations for veterans in hospitals
  • Collected toys for kids each holiday season
  • Paid for Westport Inn accommodations for a cross-country bike rider
  • Provided Halloween glow sticks to children
  • Helped pay for their own Honor Guard’s new uniforms

There’s more.   But you get the idea.

The Police Benevolent Association is one of Westport’s most consistent, lowest-profile benefactors.  Think of that the next time you get a low-key appeal for funds.

Or they pull you over for yapping on your cell phone.

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Posted in Police

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No More Magic Brownies

Posted on October 27, 2009 | 4 Comments

The perennial downtown Westport ice cream question — “Baskin Robbins or Ben & Jerry’s?” — may soon be moot.  I mean, mooooot.

Ben & Jerry's“06880″ has learned that Ben & Jerry’s — the only place in town to buy an Imagine  Whirled Peace cone — is closing.

“The landlord wanted a 30% hike in rent,” a reader writes.  “My 17-year-old daughter lost her part-time job.”

This is disturbing news on a couple of levels.  Ben & Jerry’s has long been at the forefront of social activism, supporting important causes great and small.

The company has always looked out for its employees, also in ways great and small.

Everyone who worked there always looked like they were having fun.

Must be the Cherry Garcia.

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Posted in Downtown, Local business

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Soup’s On!

Posted on October 27, 2009 | 5 Comments

An “06880″ reader writes:

Now that it’s soup season, I long for Soup’s On — as I do every fall and winter.

Onion soupI spent so much time at that restaurant on Main Street enjoying the onion soup, salad with green goddess dressing and warm rolls — ahhhh yummm!

I hope to prepare this for my family — mostly my daughters who listen to my stories as we walk downtown, and I assure them it was not always like it is now.  There used to be wonderful places to eat and hang out with friends.

I have found no one who can duplicate the taste of this wonderful recipe.  Can you help?  Are there any long-lost contacts to Soup’s On?

“06880″ readers:  Hop to it.  Click the “Comments” tab at the top or bottom of this story.  Let’s bring Soup’s On — or at least Soup’s On’s onion soup — back to life!

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Posted in Downtown, Looking back, Restaurants

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