For years, the flag flying over Patagonia has looked pretty ratty.
Not as tattered as the one Francis Scott Key saw over Fort McHenry — but close.
These days, a big, new and handsome flag stands proudly downtown.
Just in time for Memorial Day.
Every Saturday is “showtime” at Mitchells.
A steady stream of customers – from Brian Williams, Jack Welch and Jim Calhoun to your basic, everyday Joe Hedge Fund Manager and CEO — drops in. They grab a bagel, schmooze, and buy a suit or three.
Today was extra special. Bill Mitchell — son of founders Ed and Norma, father and uncle of the 3rd generation to run the store — turns 70 tomorrow.
The store was packed with well-wishers (and stocked with champagne and cake).
In the midst of all the A-Listers and heavy hitters, it was easy to overlook one older man.
But Walt Melillo was there too. He’s 90 now, but in 1958 he was the 1st non-family member hired by Ed and Norma.
Bill Mitchell (left) and Walt Melillo.
Walt worked Friday nights and all day Saturdays . His real job was as an elementary school teacher (Saugatuck, then Burr Farms). In fact, both Bill and I were Walt’s students.
Today was a great day for Bill Mitchell. He was especially happy to share it with one of Westport’s most important — but seldom recognized — big, big names: Walt Melillo.
Posted in Local business, Looking back, People
Connecticut has not yet followed Washington and Colorado’s lead. Marijuana is still illegal here.
So the front window of Jonathan Adler‘s Main Street store offers a helpful link to its website.
But the 24-hour site sells no 420.
Pottery, not pot.
What a buzzkill.
Last month, the Board of Education accepted a very generous gift. The New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association is donating a $117,000 playground to Long Lots Elementary School.
As “06880″ reported, the firefighters are paying forward — to communities struck by Hurricane Sandy, and near Newtown — the kindness they were shown after in New Jersey after the storm. Seven years earlier, following Hurricane Katrina, the same firefighters had built playgrounds along the Gulf Coast.
Westport was chosen by relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Dylan Hockley, because of a family connection here.
Westport firefighters and Public Works, Gault Energy, Kowalsky Brothers and AJ Penna Construction are all donating time, labor and materials to prepare the site for the new playground. Sunrise Rotary is contributing funds.
The groundbreaking on June 7 will be a community event. Jake Hockley — Dylan’s brother — will be the “foreman,” and cut a ceremonial ribbon. 26 butterflies — one for every student and educator killed in Newtown — will be released into the air.
In addition to being beautiful, the butterflies symbolize the Butterfly Effect: Something as small as a butterfly flapping its wings can cause change halfway around the world. Dylan’s parents, Nicole and Ian, call Dylan their butterfly. He — and the 25 others who died — can be a catalyst for change, they say.
But the effort does not end there.
The Long Lots PTA has created “Butterfly Effect” t-shirts (left and below) and car magnets (above). Part of the money raised will go to Sandy Ground: Where Angels Play. That’s the umbrella organization coordinating the construction of 26 playgrounds in the tri-state area, of which Long Lots is one.
The rest will go to Dylan’s Wings of Change, a memorial fund created in his memory to provide support for children — like him — with autism, and other special needs.
They’re also selling Sandy Ground bracelets ($5, at Elvira’s, Christie’s Country Store and Wishlist).
Long Lots — and Westport — received a wonderful gift. The New Jersey firefighters and Hockley family say they’re just paying it forward.
Now we’ve got a chance to do the same.
(T-shirts for $10, and “Butterfly Effect” magnets for $5, are for sale at Christie’s Country Store on Saturday, May 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, and at a table near the Westport Y at the Memorial Day parade. Requests can also be sent to goodygirls@mac.com. If you’d just like to donate to the cause, send a check payable to “Long Lots PTA” to Lauren Goodman, Long Lots Elementary School, 13 Hyde Lane, Westport, CT 06880).
I apologize for posting this so late. It’s been a busy day.
The wooden house next to Terrain — in its Curran Cadillac days, before it was spruced up.
But not as busy as the Historic District Commission’s night will be.
Meeting at 7 this evening (Town Hall, Room 201), they’ll comment on an application from Terrain to demolish the 19th century wooden building at the corner of Crescent Road (opposite the firehouse), and replace it with 9 parking spots.
UPDATE: Apparently the request by Terrain has been withdrawn. Tonight is their 1-year anniversary dinner. Maybe it’s bad form to have a private dinner with New York media on the same night as a teardown request?But that’s just a warm-up okay. The agenda also includes:
That’s a lot of work. Afterward, they might want to go out for a beer to relax.
I suggest the Spotted Horse. It’s a nice old building, with lots of ambiance.
Posted in Local business, Local politics, Places, Restaurants
The other day, a longtime friend and fellow Staples grad joked — at least, I think she was joking — that Westport natives like us should be “grandfathered in” for certain privileges.
For example, she said, we should be exempt from the 1-way prohibition on Wright Street — near that gross office building — because it was 2-way all the way, back in the day.
She also said we should still be allowed to call Earthplace “The Nature Center” — because that’s what it always was, and really still is. Plus, whenever we walk into Elvira’s, we should not be surprised by the full shelves and lack of grubbiness.
Before it was Elvira’s, it was The Old Mill Deli. Also known as Kenny’s. Or Grub’s.
I came up with my own grandfather clause: driving both ways down Main Street — like from the pizzeria toward Thompson’s Pharmacy. I mean, Ships. Sorry: Tiffany.
Sure, that would cause a bit more chaos than turning onto Post Road West from Wright Street.
But it is a grandfather-driver-type thing to do.
Yep, there was 2-way traffic on Main Street. Plus a traffic light, Klein’s (now Banana Republic), the Townly Restaurant, and a Mobil station.
If you’re a long-time Westporter, click “Comments” to add your own ways of being grandfathered in.
And if you’re a newcomer, click “Comments” to share ways you might be grandfathered in to Westport, years from now.
Posted in Downtown, Local business, Looking back, Organizations
Tagged Earthplace, Westport Pizzeria, Wright Street
For nearly 10 years, George Russo has gotten up early. Very early.
He leaves Stamford for the Green’s Farms railroad station, arriving at 4:15 a.m. He spends an hour brewing coffee, sorting newspapers, and preparing for the 9 morning trains.
The first one comes at 5:16. A couple of dozen commuters board, well-caffeinated and ready for the morning ride.
George Russo (right) with “loyal customer Joe.”
George loves his job, and his customers. But next Friday (April 26) marks his last day of work.
The town will renovate the Green’s Farms station. George’s lease was up, and put out to bid.
New terms included a 150% increase in rent. He’d have to buy a parking sticker, too.
Despite 180 signatures on a customer-inspired petition, the lease went to a new company called Steam Cafe. They’ll also operate the coffee stand at the eastbound Saugatuck train station.
“It will be sad,” says George. “I don’t want to leave.”
Green’s Farms train station.
He’s an early-morning guy. When the rush is over, at 9 a.m., he leaves.
“I’ve made lots of good friends here,” he says. Customers routinely invite him to play golf at their country clubs, or offer tickets to Yankees and Giants games.
The economics of the coffee concession business are changing, though. When he started, George sold 300 papers a day. Now he’s down to 80.
“Everyone reads the paper on their iPhone or iPad,” he says. If they don’t stop in for a paper, they may not buy coffee either.
George plans to take a few months off, then look for something else to do.
Of course, he’d love to keep doing what he’s done for 10 years.
“I used to do construction,” he says. “But I’m almost 60. I can’t climb ladders like I used to.”
No one minds fair competition.
Unfair competition — well, that’s different.
Nick Yiozanakos and Niki Boulas, Elvira’s owners.
In February, Niki Boulas — owner of Elvira’s Deli near Old Mill Beach — emailed the first selectman’s office.
She said that after Hurricane Sandy, there’s been lots of construction in the area. Recently, she noticed a big impact from food trucks. She wondered what could be done.
Pat Scully replied:
All food trucks are required to have a health permit. Food trucks that park on town-owned property are also required to obtain a town vendor’s permit.
However food trucks on private property are not required to obtain a town permit (just a health permit). There are no local zoning laws regulating food trucks. Therefore if the food trucks you mention are located on private property construction sites, the town does not have any jurisdiction to ban them from operation.
The food permit costs $10. There is an additional fee of $25 for each vehicle used.
Elvira’s, in a festive mood last year. (Photo by Mike Lauterborn/Westport News)
Yet the town’s “Vendor’s Permit/Door-to-Door Solicitors” regulations also say:
Vendors are not allowed to compete directly with established retail operations anywhere in the Town of Westport. For example, ice cream vendors may not operate in the main business areas of Westport or in close proximity to outlying stores which sell ice cream.
While “directly” and “close proximity” are not great legal terms, the food trucks are clearly on town — not private — property. Niki took this photo yesterday, in “close proximity” on Hillspoint Road:
On Friday, Elvira’s placed a petition on their counter. It reads:
As many of you are aware, there have been many food trucks coming into our area from out of town. These trucks have had a significant negative impact on our business.
Their fees to the town are minimal. There is no way for Elvira’s, as a small mom and pop business, to compete with their prices as our overhead costs are greater, and we are a Westport taxpayer.
For over a month now we have been dealing with town officials and our First Selectman, and we have gotten nowhere. As a local business serving the community for the last 16 years, we find this situation to be unfair. Now we need your help by signing our petition to ban or restrict them from our Compo Beach area. Thank you!
Bedford 8th graders Bryce Reiner and Billy Hutchison are big — and loyal — Elvira’s customers.
As of yesterday afternoon — despite 98% of Westport being away for school vacation — nearly 200 customers had signed. The names included some heavy hitters in town.
Elvira’s has many fans. It’s been an anchor of the Old Mill community — during Hurricane Sandy, sure, but before as well.
And long before the invasion of the (perhaps illegal) food trucks.
Posted in Beach, Local business, Local politics, People, Weather
Tagged Elvira's, food trucks, Gordon Joseloff, Hurricane Sandy, Niki Boulas
A new granite sign stands at the entrance to Compo Acres Shopping Center, next to Trader Joe’s:
Now all we need are new sight lines. New traffic patterns.
And new drivers.
Posted in Local business, Places, Westport life
Similar businesses often congregate in the same area.
There are the diamond and garment districts in Manhattan. The food shops of Arthur Avenue.
And the car detailers on Westport’s Post Road, near Bertucci’s.
For years there were 2, separated only by 4 lanes of whizzing traffic. Everyone knows Westport Wash & Wax; it’s a big operation, with a large sign.
For the past 23 years though, Ken Paolini has built a loyal following in the Citgo station across the street. He’s been there ever since he asked then-owner Gloria DeMattia if he could use 1 bay.
Ken Paolini helps the DARE Hummer sparkle, after a rough winter.
He and a couple of employees do it all: full detailing, vacuuming, door jambs, trunks, hand washing. (Occasionally, if there’s no time for the hand wash, they send business across the street.) Ken charges $25 $140 for cars, more for SUVs.
Over the years — relying only on word of mouth — he’s built a great base of customers. He’s loved them, and they return the favor.
But now the station has been sold. The service bays are becoming one more convenience self-serve fast-food store, and Ken will be gone. He’s looking for a new spot, and may end up in Fairfield. (A few customers are scouting locations for him.)
In the meantime, he’s got 4 to 6 months left.
The good news: With the Citgo station closed, he’s using all 3 bays.
Posted in Local business, People
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