Last week, 2 posts described her travel adventures with 7 other Westport kids: residents of A Better Chance‘s North Avenue home.

The 7 teenage boys — outstanding students from economically disadvantaged areas across the country — attend Staples. Scores of Westporters augment the program in many ways, from tutoring to driving to offering “host homes” on weekends.

Eileen decided she’d share a prize — winning a weekend stay at the Hilton New York‘s 5-bedroom penthouse — by showing off the city’s many treasures to the ABC kids.

The ABC House students at the 9-11 Memorial.

The 2 days included Alicia Key’s Broadway play “Stick Fly“; a family-style dinner in the theater district, and visits to the 9/11 Memorial, Chinatown and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Also along: a 9-month-old (the houseparents’ younger child), and a 60-plus chaperone. But the itinerary had something for everyone. And staying in the Penthouse — with a library, living room with a baby grand piano, and access to the Executive Lounge — certainly helped.

“Stick Fly” — about an upscale African American family gathering for a weekend on Martha’s Vineyard — discussed family issues like parents playing favorites, children unable to live up to parents’ expectations, girlfriends’ difficulties assimilating and class issues — that “can play out in any family,” Eileen writes.

Because the family is black, the play had special resonance, she notes. The ABC students were treated to a special behind-the-scenes tour afterward.

In Chinatown, with housemother Desisree and her 9-month-old daughter.

The Tenement Museum also resonated with the ABC House teens. The 1863 apartment building was home to nearly 7000 working-class Irish, German, Italian and Jewish immigrants who, Eileen notes, “faced challenges we understand today: making a new life, working for a better future, starting a family with limited means.”

She tells her blog readers:

Every one of our boys’ parents are immigrants — from Africa, Mexico, Jamaica and Trinidad, from other places….What makes this museum so interesting is experiencing the apartments of those who lived here and hearing their stories. The saddest, we agreed, was the young German mother whose husband went to work one day and never returned — just as her great grandson failed to return on the day the Twin Towers fell.

It was a long but exciting weekend. The boys passed on the offer of a movie at night, preferring to hang out in a Penthouse in the middle of Manhattan.

ABC House students relax on the "Stick Fly" set, with Westport program co-founder Lisa Friedland.

What a memorable experience for the A Better Chance students. Westporters embrace these outstanding young men. And — thanks in part to this remarkable program — ABC graduates will one day be in a position to provide similar opportunities to the next generation of bright, curious, talented teenagers lucky enough to be in programs like this.

She notes: “Unfortunately, it seems the manager is a Giants fan — while at least some of his customers like the Pats.”

Enjoy the game. May the best team Patriots win!

Or not.

A January 23 Norwalk Hour story said that the 9,180-square foot property, on 2.73 acres at the corner of Wilton Road and Newtown Turnpike, was “poised to change hands and become the new home of Chabad Lubavitch of Westport.”

The Three Bears was a famed restaurant/inn — with 6 fireplaces — from 1900 until February 2009. It reopened for about 5 seconds as Tiburon restaurant, but the property was soon abandoned. Weeds sprouted on the once-stately site.

The Three Bears, after abandonment.

According to the Hour, John Zervos of DVB Commercial Realty said that Chabad — an Orthodox sect based in Brooklyn, and by some estimates the largest Jewish organization in the world — was “not planning on changing the outside, and the inside works really well for them with the big open spaces of the dining rooms.”

The Hour paraphrased Zervos as saying that while the group had already moved their offices into the new space, they had not yet applied for permits with town officials “to use the space as a religious institution in order to officially close the deal.” (They appear to be leasing, not buying, the building.)

The Three Bears, in its heyday. (Postcard/Cardcow.com)

The story noted that Westport’s Planning and Zoning Department received a complaint on January 4 from a neighbor “regarding activity taking place at the former restaurant.” A January 11 inspection revealed work being done on the premises without permits.

A letter sent January 13 cited violations of zoning regulations, said P&Z director Laurence Bradley. Chabad’s attorney requested a 30-day abeyance for more time to submit paperwork. It was granted, giving the group until February 23 to file its application.

Bradley noted, “they have been working and doing things without a permit. It’s been a restaurant since probably before there was zoning, so if they want it to become a synagogue, they will have to go through an extensive review and public hearings.”

Chabad attorney Ken Gruder told the Hour that the space will be used for an outreach group that includes prayer services, educational programs and religious discussions.

“It’s not a synagogue in the traditional sense, it’s so much more,” Gruder added.

But the story does not end there, with applications simply pending.

Yesterday afternoon, I received an email from a longtime Westporter. Attached was a letter the resident sent a day earlier to Bradley.

The interior of the Three Bears, also from its glory days. (Postcard/Cardcow.com)

It said: “Without proper permits for use of the premises as an office or house of worship, the group appears to already be working in the building, often at night, although the nature of their activities are unclear.” Apparently, there are 6 to 10 cars there each night.

The resident added that an “extremely bright outdoor security light in the parking area” was infringing on neighbors.

The writer expressed concern about traffic, parking and wetland impacts, and noted that the building — currently enjoying a “pre-existing approval for non-conforming use as a restaurant in a residential area” — would need a new P&Z approval process for any change of use.

One more concern: exterior alterations to historic building.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-94), famed Chabad leader.

In the email to me, the resident added more information: Several years ago Chabad was embroiled in a lawsuit in Litchfield, over proposed renovations that would turn a Victorian house in the town’s 1st synagogue. At one point, according to the Register-Citizen newspaper, Chabad filed suit against the town in federal court, alleging anti-Hasidic prejudice.

Right now, Chabad occupies a house on Kings Highway North that faces the medical complex.

Will they apply for permits by February 23? Will there be hearings — and if so, how contentious will they be?

Will Chabad move a mile or so up Wilton Road? Will the site of what was once Westport’s oldest restaurant become our town’s newest synagogue-or-something-like-it?

And why — despite a story last month in a Norwalk paper — is no one talking about this in Westport?

I don’t know if the well-hung sign was for the new Spotted Horse restaurant, or Urban Outfitters next door.

As of early afternoon, the sign had not yet been erected.

But I’m sure it will be impressive.

Size matters.

Soon after arriving in Westport, they started their own version of the long-established, worldwide tradition of celebrating Robert Burns’ birthday: January 25.

Robert Burns

“It was a great excuse to have a party during the post-holiday lull, when everyone is feeling a bit down,” Morag says.

Burns suppers range from a few men sitting around the fire reading poetry — “very boring,” Morag admits — to the other extreme: “full revelry and Scottish dancing.”

Most of the Grassies’ events include dancing, plus lively speeches and performances of poetry and song.

Burns suppers everywhere feature “the ceremonial piping in of the haggis” by a piper and bagpipes; the “Address to a Haggis” (a lively Burns poem about the virtues of haggis-eating), and of course, eating haggis.

Never had haggis? Here’s what you’re missing: a savory pudding of a sheep’s or calf’s offal, suet, oatmeal and seasoning, boiled in a bag.

Mmmmmm good!

The Grassies’ had a smae challenge when they first arrived in the States: it’s illegal to import haggis. (“The logic of this still defeats the intelligent mind,” Morag laments.)

Haggis.

After much sourcing and testing, they found a butcher in Maine who makes an authentic haggis under license from a butcher in Glasgow — the Grassies’ home city.

There are 3 other producers in the US, Morag reports — in New Jersey, Florida and Texas — but “none are a patch in the beans meat haggis from Maine.” Whatever that means.

This was the 5th year for the Grassie Burns supper. Many friends attend, but only 3 have made it to every one. All are from Westport: David and Sherry Jonas, and Roy Marmelo.

Roy’s wife Maite missed one. Jonathan Ewert is another active Westport participant.

What 3 well-dressed Westporters wear to a Scottish dinner.

“The biggest challenge for Neil and me is clearing out the house so we can get all 44 people seated, with room for the piper to move around, and then serve the 5-course dinner,” Morag says.

She cooks it from scratch, with help from friends who “peel potatoes and turnips for the traditional haggis, neeps and tatties course.” Of course.

Contributors this year included Sherry Jonas, with Heather Lyons (a Westporter originally from Glasgow) and Jane Morrison (a Westporter from, of all places, England) preparing shortbread for dessert.

This year’s program promised — right there, between one course of haggis, neeps and tatties, and another of poached Scottish salmon, wild race and salad — “intercourse entertainment.”

I can’t believe I missed that!

Little bits of Burns poetry are interwoven throughout the night. “You’ll be surprised how many you know,” Morag says.

There are speeches about poems like “Immortal Memory” (it tells a little about his 13 children, many of whom were illegitimate and/or called Margaret). Guests also talk about his socializing and death at age 37 (the two are linked).

Poetry, bagpipes, dancing and haggis. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Yet unless you’re a Tisch or a Mara, chances are your connection with your favorite team is a bit removed.

You’ll watch the big game on a big screen in your big, climate-controlled entertainment center.

You might wear NFL-branded logowear, bought at NFL-licensed retailers at NFL-mandated prices.

You may have gone to actual games at the new Xanadu-like stadium, where you paid usurious prices to sit in the stands, or enjoyed the expense account amenities of a corporate suite.

But the chances of actually getting near — let alone saying “Great game!” — to Eli Manning, Osi Umenyiora or even Prince Amukamara are about as good as Tim Tebow dissing God for favoring Tom Brady the other day.

It was not always that way.

Back in the mid-’60s, the Giants — like the rest of the NFL — were far less corporate. Sure, they were bigger than you and me (especially me), but they did actual human-being things.

Like pre-season training at Fairfield University.

That’s right. Every summer from 1961-69, the Giants ran their drills a mile or two up the road. Anyone could wander over and watch, standing almost on the sidelines. You’d mingle with the players and coaches as they walked back to campus, through the woods.

Occasionally you’d see them in town, at restaurants like the Arrow. And local watering holes — the less expensive, the better.

Y.A. Tittle, Frank Gifford, Del Shofner, Sam Huff, Stamford’s own Andy Robustelli — from September through June, they were the “New York Giants.”

But for a few weeks every mid-summer, they were our own.

That was super.

A recent news story caught my eye. According to Destination Development International — a community branding company — in order for a place to be a “true destination,” it must have 10 places that sell food, 10 non-chain specialty shops, and 10 places that stay open after 6 p.m. (“preferably entertainment venues”).

I should mention that I read this story in FairfieldCitizenOnline.com. The piece was written by the president/CEO of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, and it declared — suprise! — that Fairfield’s downtown meets those criteria. With “a definitive yes,” in fact.

Fairfield “has plenty of restaurants with varied cuisines and within walking or easy driving distance of each other,” Patricia Ritchie wrote.

With specialty shops, restaurants and entertainment -- plus trees, plantings and benches -- downtown Fairfield is a 10-10-10 destination.

There are many specialty shops too. (“Friends from Westport often tell me there is a noticeable difference between the two downtowns,” she jabbed, “mainly because Fairfield has more independent boutique shops, as opposed to national retailers.”)

Patricia hemmed and hawed a bit on entertainment (“after all, [it] is in the eye of the beholder.”)

But she tossed out an admirable list of places that “one can consider entertainment,” starting with Sportsplex near the train station (fencing and cheerleading lessons, rock climbing, skating, martial arts, laser tag, and god knows what else).

Fairfield's gazebo -- smack in the middle of downtown -- is pretty cool.

Patricia also cited the Fairfield Theatre Company, with “some of the best bands around.” (Upcoming: Christopher Robin Band, Fishhead Stew, and on February 15: John Mayall.)

The Community Theatre — currently closed — may soon be added back into the mix.

Patricia’s points are well taken. How, then, does Westport’s downtown stack up?

We probably have 10 restaurants, depending on the definition of “downtown,” “selling food” (does Starbucks count?), and “open” (2 new places will arrive this spring on Church Lane, and there’s a vacancy around the corner on Riverside Avenue).

We may reach the “non-chain specialty shop” threshold, again by creative definition of “non-chain” and “specialty.” There’s Sally’s Place, the Liquor Locker — whoops, it’s moving — and, um, of course, well, you know…

As for 10 places that stay open after 6 p.m., offering entertainment: Hah! There’s weekend music on Bobby Q’s roof.

There’s the Y — Westport’s answer to Sportsplex. (For a couple more years, anyway.)

And there is — one day, maybe, perhaps — a movie theater. Like Fairfield, we have a building that’s already served that function for many years. Unlike Fairfield, it is now an upscale hardware store.

Yet Westport does have something Fairfield lacks. It’s not downtown — but it’s showing signs of being a true destination.

It’s called Saugatuck.

The "Slice of Saugatuck" last September brought thousands of folks to Saugatuck.

There are plenty of restaurants — all within stumbling walking distance — and some have live music.

There are a few specialty shops — you don’t see too many kayak chains around — and the promise of pretty cool entertainment. There’s no Sportsplex or Y, but with the new plaza on the river, and 2 more phases of development to come, there’s lots of room for creativity.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the Westport Downtown Merchants Association, it seems Saugatuck — with its 10-10-10 criteria — is the new cool spot to be.

Who knows? Saugatuck may even become the next Fairfield.

Mantello — a very hot director, with 2 Tony Awards among his many credits — has just been announced as director of the world premiere of “Dogfight.” The musical is set for Second Stage Theatre in June.

Justin Paul

“Dogfight”‘s book is by Peter Duchan. The music and lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.  Peter and Justin are Staples grads; Benj is very familiar locally, as a longtime collaborator with Justin.

Set in 1960s San Francisco, “Dogfight” follows Eddie Birdlace, a Marine about to ship out to Vietnam.  He and his friends hold a cruel competition — a “dogfight” – during which each man brings the ugliest date he can find to a party.

“Dogfight” won the 2011 Richards Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre.

Benj and Justin’s current projects include “A Christmas Story” (national tour 2011) and “James and the Giant Peach” (Goodspeed 2010).

Peter Duchan

Peter co-wrote the screenplay for “Breaking Upwards,” released by IFC Films last year. He also co-wrote a short, “Unlocked,” an Official Selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, among others.

As for Joe — the only person with non-Westport connections in this story — he is currently represented on Broadway by “Wicked” and “Other Desert Cities.” He has also directed “Pal Joey,” “9 to 5 the Musical,” “The Odd Couple,” “Glengarry Ross, “Take Me Out, “The Vagina Monologues,” “Love! Valour! Compassion” and “The Santaland Diaries” — among many others.

Now he’s got one more accomplishment: Working with Justin Paul and Peter Duchan.

Well, what about Westport chowder?

Or, as the organizers of this Saturday’s Chowdafest (February 4, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.) call it: chowda.

In just 4 years, the annual event — a fundraiser for the Connecticut Food Bank — has grown from a couple of hundred Westport people at the Unitarian Church to a few thousand (from throughout Fairfield County) at Bedford Middle School.

The format is perfect: a chowder chowda, soup and bisque competition between restaurants. Everyone judges.

Da Pietro's always draws a crowd at Chowdafest.

For $6 ($2 for those under 12) you get a spoon, ballot and pencil. Then — life is hard — you sample over 30 different offerings from 23 restaurants. They cover the coast, from Stamford to Mystic, making it the largest Chowdafest in New England.

But the local guys do fine. Last year’s winners included Mansion Clam House and Southport Brewing Company.

Westport restaurants competing this year include the Boathouse, Blue Lemon, Bobby Q’s, Da Pietro’s, Dunville’s, Mansion, River House and Tavern on Main.

Bobby Q's is a Chowdafest fixture.

There are 3 categories: Classic New England Clam Chowder, Creative Chowder (anything else), and Soup/Bisque. New this year: a blind taste test among chefs, and a “Critics’ Choice” given to the overall favorite.

Because it’s held the day before the Souper Super Bowl, volunteers and servers wear football jerseys, eye black and referee outfits. Sacred Heart University’s marching band provides entertainment.

It’s a great family event. Kids particularly enjoy receiving chef hats, stickers andtemporary tattoos. They take their voting privilege seriously (a good lesson this election year, no?).

“What’s cool is that Sam and Suzy Sixpack — all of us — determine the winner,” says head chowdahead Jim Keenan. “It’s not a panel of people who don’t represent us.”

In just 3 years, the money raised has funded over 30,000 meals.

Hopefully, some of them were chowder chowda based.

(For more information click here, call 203-216-8452, or email chowdafest@optonline.net)

Two years later, Gordon and Dot Hall moved in across the street. Nine years after that, Bernie and Barbara Dorogusker bought a house next door to the Starzyks.

Much has happened since then. Countless families moved in, had kids, raised them, moved away. Decks were built, 2nd floors added. Trees have grown tall (and fallen).

But nearly 50 years later, all 3 families still live on the horseshoe-shaped drive near Hillspoint and Green’s Farms Road, just south of the railroad tracks (and the “Connecticut Turnpike” — I-95 — which was still being debated when the former cow pasture was developed back in 1952-53).

There may be no other place in Westport where 3 neighbors have lived so close together since the Kennedy Administration.

A 1952 ad for "Compo Manor: A Residential Community Situated in Westport, Beauty Spot of Southern Connecticut" shows "The Perfect Three-Bedroom Rancher" model home. It is "Priced at $14,500. Complete."

The Starzyks are the only original owners left. Mike and Galy were living in Bridgeport. With 2 children, they needed more room. Galy’s brother-in-law — Art Reale — told them about a new development, “Compo Manor.” The lots were small — 1/4 acre — but the $14,500 price was perfect.

Better yet, nearly all their neighbors were like the Starzyks: young, and with kids.

In 1955, Gordon and Dot Hall’s daughter was not yet born. Married 2 years, and both teachers — he at Bedford Junior High School, she at the brand-new Coleytown Elementary — they had rented “tiny, ramshackle places” elsewhere in town.

But they saved their pennies — “literally,” Gordon notes — and loved the little ranch house that was for sale. Other tract homes they’d seen — on Reichert Circle, Bauer Place and Tamarack — all faced in the same direction. The 43 Drumlin homes were built with the same 2 or 3 floor plans, but they were angled uniquely. And each setback was different.

The asking price was $20,600. The Halls paid $19,600. On their salaries — he made about $3,000, she $2,900 — that was manageable. But for 4 summers, when they took graduate courses, they rented the house out. The extra cash helped make ends meet.

“There were lots of strollers, and there was lots of sledding,” Dot recalls. “Everyone was very sociable, because (the adults) were all around the same age.”

Gordon and Dot Hall's house in 1957 (left) and 2012 (right). The 3 families that have been neighbors for nearly 50 years share the mailboxes in the photo at right.

Barbara Dorogusker is the “newest” of the 3 neighbors — but she’s got the longest local connection. A 3rd-generation Westporter, she grew up on 6 acres on Sturges Highway. Her grandmother (a former indentured servant in Poland) lived next door. The property included a pond and barn.

After graduating from Staples in 1952, Barbara married a man from New York City. They wanted to buy a house, but without much land. Bernie was a sailor; proximity to the Sound was key.

With $2,000 in the bank, they searched for a while. Finally they saw a place on Drumlin. With a big field in back — off Jennie Lane — they could look at nature, but not have to take care of it.

“It wasn’t our dream house,” Barbara admits. “But every house is a compromise.”

Her parents were “appalled. They thought we  were moving into tomorrow’s slums because the lots were so small.” But, Barbara says, “it was perfect for us.” And Cedar Point Yacht Club was just down the hill, at Compo Beach.

They built a big sunroom, and a deck. They had 2 children. “We wanted them to grow up surrounded by friends,” Barbara says. “They sure did.”

The kids created secret pathways between bushes. An empty school bus would pull up to the foot of Drumlin Road. It drove away filled.

Every summer, the Drumlin Road neighbors have a block party. Last summer's event showed an enormous span of ages -- but plenty of smiles.

Over the years, the road changed. There were many “older couples, divorced people, one-child families,” Gordon says.

Miraculously for Westport, there have been only 2 demolitions — and both were caused by accidents. One house burned; the other had a tree fall on it.

Of course, many homes have been remodeled. They’re a bit larger than they were (Gordon calls them “mini-mansions, not McMansions”). So they’re once more attractive to young couples. “We’re seeing bicycles and strollers again,” says Dot.

But not every house has been sold, re-sold, and re-re-sold.

“Why would we ever want to move?” Barbara asks. “Everyone looks out for each other here. We’ve got one story, which is great.” (She’s 77; Bernie is 85.)

“And with housing prices going to pot, why leave?”

Similarly, after the Starzyks’ kids grew up and moved away, Mike and Galy stayed. “We were comfortable,” she recalls. “There was no reason to leave.”

Sixty years later, they’re still on Drumlin Road.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in this world,” 93-year-old Galy says. “But I have no plans to move.”

Nor do her neighbors. After 49 years together, there’s no place like home.

Mon dieu!

While that’s not the extent of my French ability, it’s close.

It’s all ALM’s fault.

If you didn’t go to school in the 1960s, you missed out didn’t miss anything. ALM was a language instruction method rooted in rote repetition. Wikipedia says it was “discredited as a teaching methodology in 1970,” but those of us who suffered through it then (and after) in Westport have it seared in our brains.

“Où est Sylvie? A la piscine.”

“La neige est belle aujourd-hui.”

And something about mounting a balcony. Plus, of course, Monsieur et Madame Thibault.

Other victims students from that era have similar ridiculous and basically useless sentences embedded in our memories, crowding out anything remotely resembling vocabulary, grammar or the rest of the French language.

Which is not to say that learning French at Long Lots Junior High School was not memorable.

My 8th grade teacher was Carmen Delgado. A large, imposing and very loud woman, she was — as her name implies — not French, French-Canadian or even Cajun, but rather Puerto Rican.

Louis Pasteur, a French scientist who gained fame for inventing a cure for rabbis.

English was probably her 3rd language, which is why she said such things as “Louis Pasteur invented a cure for rabbis.”

At least that is understandable. What were 13-year-olds to make of “Daniel, what is it you are staring at? The moon of Valencia?”

I have obviously remembered at least as much English from Mademoiselle Delgado as I have French.

Also cemented into my cerebrum is a play we produced, “Astérix et Cléopâtre.” Based on what Mademoiselle assured us were very popular French cartoon figures, it probably broke every licensing law in the books. How she had the cojones to charge admission — it was only $1, but back then that was real francs — to watch us mangle the French language is beyond me. Yet that was part of Mademoiselle’s charm.

As it turns out, I have not had many opportunities to show off my lack of French. I have traveled to 5 continents, and over 3 dozen countries, but only one of them was French-speaking. (It was France, of all places). It did not snow there, and I did not need to know that Sylvie was at the pool, but I managed to eat, drink and find the bathroom (salle de bain).

I even was able — thanks to Monsieur et Madame Thibault — to know which door to use.

The snow is beautiful today. Is that Monsieur Thibault on his bicyclette?

Leslye Headland

Leslye Headland — a Class of 1999 alum — caught the eye of Deadline Hollywood. The entertainment blog gave a shout-out to the “Sundance Lucky 13“: a baker’s dozen of actors and directors earning “new or renewed buzz” at the famed film festival.

Writer Brian Brooks said of the writer/director of “Bachelorette“:

Her plays have caused a stir Off-Broadway, all based on the Seven Deadly Sins. She kicked them off with “Cinephilia” (lust), followed by “Bachelorette” (gluttony) now morphed into the film starring Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, and Lizzy Caplan which debuted at Sundance Monday. Her next play, “Assistance” (greed) is set to open in New York soon. Her seven deadly may all make it to the screen.

Congratulations, Leslye, on your theatrical successes. Though it seems you’re also describing the current crop of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination.

She has no idea what she’ll do with herself now. She can’t play golf, read or travel.

Lola is a police dog.

Lola, ready for anything.

She joined the force 11 years ago. A Fairfield family had bought the German shepherd as a pet, but soon realized she was more suited to work. They offered her to the Westport cops, who found her a far better police dog than the one they had.

“She wasn’t a pet. She was very focused,” says Fotios Koskinas, her first handler. (Current police chief Dale Call was also a handler.)

“She’s very achievement-oriented and self-motivated. She loves to accomplish things.”

Among Lola’s many tasks: narcotics detection, tracking criminals and missing persons, evidence recovery, building searches, even protecting officers. (“She’s trained to bite,” notes her most recent handler, Officer Marc Heinmiller.)

Once, she sniffed out 4.7 pounds of marijuana at a motor vehicle stop. She also located a potential suicide victim who had jumped into Fairfield’s Lake Mohegan.

Sometimes, her mere presence was enough to apprehend a perp. “I’ve had drugs handed over to me, and people surrender, just based on her barking,” Heinmiller says. “One guy came running out of the woods as soon as he heard her.”

Lola (with Marc Heinmiller), at work. (Photo/westportct.gov)

For nearly 5 years, Lola went home every night with Koskinas. When he was promoted, Heinmiller spent 3 months getting certified as a handler, then took over.

“She’s definitely a unique dog,” he says. “She knows the difference between criminals and kids — she was always around them with the DARE program — and the difference between work time and home time. She’d protect the squad car and me, but at home we’d play fetch like any other dog.”

With Lola’s retirement, the big challenge now is finding a German shepherd “with the same talent and drive,” Koskinas says. “She’ll be very hard to replace.”

Lola has been retired for just over a week. When Heinmiller heads off to work, she cries. “She’s living the good life,” he says. “But she’s not too happy about it.”

Hopefully, though, “she’ll enjoy being a lazy pet. She’s healthy enough.”

And she’s certainly earned her retirement pay: biscuits and bones.

His 1st reaction was to fight back.

His 2nd was to figure out how.

His 3rd was to apply what he’d learned: that movement like exercise and dance can slow the progression of that torturous disease.

Last night at the Saugatuck Rowing Club, Paul — 88 years young — was the star attraction. A video highlighting his avid, ongoing work was shown. It serves 2 purposes: educating Parkinson’s patients about the benefits of exercise, and raising funds for a foundation Paul started.

Paul Green, hard at work at the Saugatuck Rowing Club.

The non-profit is called Nevah Surrendah to Parkinson’s. The name honors Paul’s always-optimistic attitude — and pays homage to his hero Winston Churchill’s legendary exhortation. (And his accent. Paul also pronounces it “nevah surrendah” — he’s from Boston.)

The site was perfect. Rowing is one of the many activities that keeps Paul’s Parkinson’s in check. The Saugatuck club has been his home away from his Old Mill home for years.

The rowing community is a close and very friendly one. Paul is one of its true idols — and a real favorite. (Particularly with the ladies.)

Last summer, the Saugatuck Rowing Club was the site of another tribute to Paul, and his Nevah Surrendah foundation. Scenes from that event — and a July dance-and-exercise session at the Senior Center — have been incorporated into the compelling  video that premiered last night.

Paul Green, keeping active in the boathouse he loves.

The video begins with scenes of reggae artist Mystic Bowie and Zumba instructor Eddie Calle leading at the Senior Center. The music is infectious; the smiles are heartfelt, and the scenes of older men and women — some with caretakers, others with grandchildren — moving slowly but rhythmically to the sounds of ska are inspiring.

Paul hopes that the video will show others with Parkinson’s — or any movement disorder — how to exercise for improved balance, a positive attitude and a healthy lifestyle.

Interviews with Paul’s neurologist, Dr. Amy Knoor; his physical therapist, Tara Maroney and his chiropractor Dr. Joshua Lander prove that Paul has not only nevah surrendahed — he’s thrived.

And as he’s done for nearly 2 decades, he’s helping others thrive.

“Paul is such an inspiration,” one of the rowers interviewed on the video says. “We think we’re working hard. Then we see him out on the water — with such a smile on his face!”

The same smile he wore all last night, as he greeted and danced his way through a throng of family members, friends and fans.

(Click here for more information on the Nevah Surrendah foundation — and to view the Paul Green video.)

Paul Green and his son Peter.

First selectman Gordon Joseloff said:

“The suicide of the man accused in the Westport murder is a tragedy for all concerned.

Andrew R. Levene

“Not only has the suspect taken the life of a beloved Westport resident and caused immeasurable pain to the Zeevi family and friends here, he has now inflicted the same pain on his own family, also innocents in this tragedy. It is a cowardly confirmation of his guilt.

“The death of the accused murder suspect by his own hands will not diminish the extraordinary efforts demonstrated by Westport police, state and federal authorities, and Spanish police in tracking him down.

“Hours and hours of police work culminating in the arrest should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of committing a similar heinous crime that they will be caught – no matter how difficult and distant the trail.”

The new restaurant in the old Federal-style Sherwood House on Church Lane across from the Y will be “a step above” McHugh’s Southport cafe, the Staples grad says.

The Spotted Horse's new fence and gas lamps, looking east with Christ & Holy Trinity Church in the background.

As workers installed gas lamps today — and put the finishing touches on a handsome, low white fence — Kevin gave a quick tour of the interior.

He pointed with pride to Colonial elements that remain in place or have been restored, as well as the exposed rustic beams.

But a great horseshoe-shaped bar is taking shape too. Hey, it’s the Spotted Horse, right?

People say they feel a “2012 version of Tavern on Main” vibe. It will be “rustic, with a contemporary equestrian theme,” Kevin says.

It will also have — at least at the start — the imprint of Pedro Garzon. The former owner of Manolo — almost next door — will open the restaurant as a consultant.

And the Spotted Horse will have a Continental menu, with no dish over $22.95.

The opening is scheduled for mid-March.

Exposed beams and restored elements highlight the restaurant's interior.

Those were the days!

Well, yeah. In many ways they were — especially around here. We had a real-live Main Street, with actual grocery stores, hardware stores, and merchants who knew your name. Kids romped in the woods free from parental worries.

And Westport was growing rapidly. Every day, it seemed, another family moved in. Many were arts-types: novelists, TV writers, playwrights, admen. They were drawn by the town’s reputations as an “artists’ colony” — and as each one arrived, more followed.

Starting this Sunday (January 29), you can revisit those days. The Westport Historical Society presents 2 exhibits looking back on that golden/scary era.

“Next Stop: Westport, The Inspiration for 1950′s TV & Film Writers” takes its title from “A Stop at Willoughby,” one of “Twilight Zone”‘s most memorable episodes. In it, an ad executive on his way home to suburban Westport repeatedly finds himself in a pastoral town called Willoughby — in 1888.

Westport’s role in “The Twilight Zone” was no coincidence. Rod Serling wrote the episode when he lived in Westport.

Fellow residents included novelist Max Shulman, whose Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys! satirized life in a suburban town when the Army selects it for a missile base. (Which actually happened here; the subsequent film led Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward to move to Westport.)

It was quite a time. There were so many creative types, says Linda Gramatky Smith — the daughter of “Little Toot” creator Hardie Gramatky — that there were regular writer-vs.-artist basketball and softball games.

The Historical Society exhibit features all that, and more — like Sloan Wilson’s novel The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, which was set here (the subsequent movie, starring Gregory Peck, was filmed here), and the final year of “I Love Lucy,” when the Ricardos and Mertzes move to town.

Video of a different kind will be shown at the WHS too. “The Cold War in Our Backyard” — a fascinating, chilling (and at times laughable) film compilation by Lisa Seidenberg, including everything from instructions on removing radiation from food to the still-frightening “Twilight Zone” episode on barbarism in a fallout shelter — will play in a continuous loop. (You can also click here to see it.)

Nearby, images and artifacts will recreate the fears that filled that “golden” era.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Charles Dickens wrote.

He didn’t live in Westport.

But so many other famous writers did. Starting Sunday, the Westport Historical Society shares their stories with the world.

(The exhibit’s opening reception is this Sunday, January 29, 3-5 p.m. Click here for more information, or call 203-222-1424.)

Some times though, the P&Z deals with lesser issues that — in the end — are just as important.

Like signs.

Right now, elected officials are discussing regulations regarding free-standing business signs. You know — the ones advertising Michele’s pie tastings, or 20% off a pedicure in honor of Martin Luther King Day. (I’m making that up. I think).

Signs like these may be legalized -- though in smaller, more "homemade" form -- by the P&Z.

Rules — they must be small, hand-written on erasable boards or chalkboards, placed in an unobstructing spot or hung on the building, stuff like that — go into effect February 17.

For Saugatuck and the downtown area only.

Talks are underway to extend the regulations to the entire commercial district of Westport — up and down the Post Road.

Right now, those signs are illegal. The P&Z wants to bring order to the process — allowing merchants to advertise in a friendly, local way, without letting large, garish signs sprout willy-nilly.

But what about businesses outside the zone? Christie’s needs signs to draw attention to its Sunday farmers’ market. Daybreak Nursery announces items like firewood and holiday wreaths that way. Positano could highlight daily specials.

And what about Wakeman Town Farm, which could use signs to publicize upcoming workshops and its Community Supported Agriculture program?

What, then, about lawyers, chiropractors, marketing consultants — anyone who operates a home business outside of current business zones? Could they set up small, hand-written, free-standing signs too?

Right now the P&Z has no formal requests from any of those businesses. If there are, they will be addressed.

Signs are not a big deal like office buildings or movie theaters. But we do notice them; they do affect our quality of life. Just think of all the political signs we see for months leading up to elections, or the ones announcing upcoming concerts, road races and charity events that cover the little gardens at road intersections.

“06880″ invites comments on this sign issue. Please be civil — and try to stay on topic.

All deserve thanks from grateful Westporters.

But one organization rates an extra-special thank-you: our very own Westport Police Department.

The detectives — and many other members of the force — worked countless hours on this case. They threw themselves into it the moment the shooting occurred. They kept at it, straight through for over a month.

They did it with a relatively new chief, and several other newly promoted leaders. They did it while several other big events demanded their attention. And they did it during the always-stressful Christmas and New Year’s season.

It’s easy to complain about anything and everything. In Westport, pointing fingers is almost an official sport.

But today is a day for all of us, together, to give a full-throated, heartfelt “thank you” to every man and woman serving us every day, on our superb, thorough, and very professional Westport Police Department.

United States Attorney David B. Fein, Westport Police Chief Dale E. Call, Colonel Danny R. Stebbins of the Connecticut State Police, Kimberly K. Mertz, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Marshal Joseph P. Faughnan today announced that ANDREW ROBERT LEVENE, also known as “Robert Thomas,” 41, was arrested yesterday in Spain on federal murder, robbery and firearm charges.

Kuti Zeevi (Photo courtesy of WestportNow.com)

According to a federal criminal complaint filed in the District of Connecticut, it is alleged that on the evening of December 8, 2011,  LEVENE met with the owner of YZ Manufacturers, LLC, (“Y.Z. Jewelers”) in Westport, Conn., pretending he was going to complete the purchase of several large diamonds he had arranged to buy earlier that month.  Instead, LEVENE shot and killed the owner of Y.Z. Jewelers, shot and wounded the owner’s associate, stole approximately $300,000 in diamonds, and later fled the United States to Europe.

“I want to commend the Westport Police, Connecticut State Police, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania, New York and Spain for their expert, coordinated investigation that has led to the apprehension of this defendant,” stated U.S. Attorney Fein.

“We are proud of the efforts of law enforcement officials on the local, state, federal and international level who all contributed to the investigation and apprehension of this suspect,” stated Westport Police Chief Call.  “We hope that it brings some peace of mind to the victims’ families.”

According to court documents, it is alleged that in early December 2011, LEVENE contacted the owner of Y.Z. Jewelers, a diamond dealership located at 431 Post Road East in Westport, and asked the owner to locate several diamonds that were between two and three karats in size and valued between $45,000 and $75,000.  On the evening of December 7, 2011, the owner of Y.Z. Jewelers and an associate met LEVENE at the dealership.  LEVENE examined the diamonds but told the owner he would have to “sleep on it.”

It is further alleged that, on the morning of December 8, 2011, the owner of Y.Z. Jewelers called his associate to inform him that he had scheduled a meeting with LEVENE for later that evening and asked his associate to bring to Westport the diamonds previously viewed, as well as additional diamonds.  When the associate arrived at the dealership that evening, the owner and LEVENE were already in the store.  The owner then showed LEVENE six diamonds with a total value of approximately $300,000.  After looking at the diamonds and conversing for several minutes, LEVENE took out a gun and shot the owner and his associate.  LEVENE then took the diamonds and let himself out of the store.

After LEVENE left the store, the associate placed a 9-1-1 emergency call.  The owner of Y.Z. Jewelers was transported to Norwalk Hospital where he was pronounced dead.  His associate also was transported to Norwalk Hospital for treatment.

On December 11, 2011, LEVENE allegedly flew from Philadelphia to Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

LEVENE was arrested on January 23 by Spanish National Police.

The criminal complaint charges LEVENE with one count of interference with commerce through robbery, one count of federal murder, one count of attempted murder, and one count of causing death through the use of a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Fein stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is being investigated by the Westport Police Department, Connecticut State Police Detectives of the Western District Major Crime Squad, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service.  The investigation has been assisted by the State’s Attorney’s Office for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk, the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New York Police Department, Interpol Spain and Interpol, United States National Central Bureau in Washington, D.C.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Tracy Lee Dayton and Vanessa Richards.

The CEO of Ford should not drive a BMW. The Secretary of Education should not send his kids to private school.

And the head of the Westport Historical Society should not live in a brand-new McMansion.

Susan Wynkoop does more than just walk the talk. She sprints it.

Since 1990 the new president — she takes over from Dorothy Curran this Sunday (January 29) — has lived in a house built around 1683. It’s not only the oldest house in Westport — it’s the only pre-1700 structure in the entire town.

The Wynkoops' home: 187 Long Lots Road. (Photo by Larry Untermeyer)

Though she’s a native Virginian, Susan is not one of those I-always-wanted-to-live-in-the-past people. As a child, she says, “I visited Williamsburg. But there weren’t a lot of pre-Revolutionary houses where I grew up.”

She worked first for Wachovia, then the FBI. (There’s a connection: While she represented the bank at a recruiting fair, an FBI agent at an adjacent booth convinced her to switch careers.)

Serving in the agency’s New York office, she met her future husband, Morgan (aka “Dutch”). After they were married, he inherited his mother’s home — the oldest structure, at 187 Long Lots Road. He asked Susan if she’d like to live there.

The rest is history (ho ho).

Susan, Katherine and "Dutch" Wynkoop.

Over the years, she’s become passionate about preservation. “It’s hard not to let an antique home get in your blood,” she says.

Two years ago, the Wynkoops embarked on the long process of gaining WHS “local landmark” certification for their home. As a result, she says, “it can never be torn down.”

Voluminous research by the Historical Society’s Bob Weingarten revealed that the house was nearly a century older than previously thought. The dating process included examination of wood beams (possibly from ships sailing to America), and the foundation. Susan has “no idea how it survived all these years.”

Her mother-in-law bought the house in 1971, saying, “It’s stood for hundreds of years. It won’t come down now.” It’s so well built, in fact, there are almost no water leaks into the basement.

The original home consisted of 2 rooms downstairs, 2 above them. More rooms and baths were added in the 1800s, but the house has remained essentially the same. The Wynkoops have done some work — “you could see daylight through a few beams,” Susan says; they’ve modernized the upstairs, and re-insulated — but the outside looks the same.

An upstairs bedroom in the Wynkoop home. (Photo by Larry Untermeyer)

Inside, the exposed chestnut beams and original dining room pine flooring look just as they did in 1683.

“It’s not for everyone,” Susan admits. The ceilings are low, the stairs steep. But she wouldn’t live anywhere else.

“It’s been my home for 22 years — longer than anywhere else,” Susan says. “I find it very warm and welcoming. I can’t imagine a new house, where all the lines are straight and everything is perfectly plumb.”

Her involvement with the Westport Historical Society is, however, relatively recent. She’d always been a member, but not until the landmark designation process did she realize how important the organization is.

She went on the 2010 Holiday House tour, met many interesting people, and was drawn in.

Her job as president will involve fundraising and education — including raising awareness of the importance of historical preservation.

Another challenge will be increasing the Historical Society’s membership. There are many new young families in town. The WHS needs to reach them to grow.

Some live in large new homes — built on the sites of torn-down older ones. Susan Wynkoop — owner and proud resident of a 329-year-old home — will gladly invite them in.

Downstairs in the Wynkoop home. (Photo by Larry Untermeyer)

Sarah Koskoff

Salon, for example, says that although the movie starring Melanie Lynskey and Blythe Danner might be “too subtle (and too similar to several other low-key indie romcoms) to make a big splash,” it features “lovely performances and really builds strength as it goes along.”

That’s not what caught our eye, though. It was this paragraph — one worth reading through to the end:

The problem with “Hello I Must Be Going” is that Sarah Koskoff’s screenplay starts out so modestly: You think it’s just going to be a female early-midlife-crisis movie, or an older-woman/younger-guy love story, and, heck, it is both of those things. But to my taste, as the movie goes along it becomes much richer and funnier than that summary suggests, painting a satirical but sympathetic portrait of upper-crust family life in Westport, Conn., a rather toff and beachy New York suburb.

Note to Salon: “Toff” is a noun, not an adjective. Merriam-Webster calls a toff a “dandy or swell.”

Dictionary.com says a toff is “a stylishly dressed, fashionable person, especially one who is or wants to be considered a member of the upper class.”

And this, verbatim from the always-reliable Urban Dictionary:

Wearer of only Ralph Lauren polo shirts, usualy worn inside with loafers and torn up jeans half down their trousers, with 3day old boxers on underneath

Listen to songs like ‘Roxanne by Sting’ or the Top Gun soundtrack.

As for “beachy”:  well, yeah, we’ll cop to that.

Click below for a YouTube interview with director (and husband of Sarah Koskoff) Todd Louiso:

But Allen Raymond was genuinely surprised yesterday afternoon. The Westport Y told the former board president it’s renaming the entry road to Mahackeno — the future site of the Y itself — “Allen Raymond Lane.”

The announcement — and presentation of an actual road sign — came at a party celebrating the trustee emeritus’ 89th birthday.

Allen Raymond: The man, and his sign. (Photo by Scott Smith)

Celebrants noted that the year 1923 marked 2 very special events: the opening of the Y in downtown Westport, and the birth of Allen Raymond.

“For the past 88 years, these 2 ‘local institutions’ have remained steadfast in their commitment and dedication to our community and its residents,” Y officials said. “Allen truly embodies the heart and soul of Westport and the Family Y.”

The Y is only one of Raymond’s many civic commitments. In the 1950s he was instrumental in the town’s purchase of Longshore, and development as a town park. He’s devoted countless hours months years serving the Library, Westport Historical Society and Earthplace, among many other organizations.

But it was the Y that honored him yesterday.

Allen Raymond

Rob Reeves — who also knows Raymond through the Green’s Farms Congregational Church and Rotary — credits him with “getting me up to speed quickly” when Reeves took over as the Y’s CEO.

“Allen told me a lot about the history of Westport, and the Y,” Reeves says. “He brought me around, and introduced me to people the Y has been important to. He was such an important connection.”

But despite Raymond’s fondness for (and many links) to history, he is hardly stuck in the past. “He speaks often about how change is good,” Reeves notes. “He’s not afraid of moving forward.”

Renaming Sunny Lane “Allen Raymond Lane” is perfectly good change, Reeves adds.

“Allen has said that when he was a kid, his goal was to live in Westport.

“He not only did that — he also made Westport better in so many ways.

“We’re honored to be able to give something back to him, in some small way, for all he’s done for the Y, and for Westport.”

Click below for a YouTube video: Y chairman Jim Marpe surprising Allen Raymond with the news of his new lane.

A body was discovered on the I-95 Exit 18 entrance ramp.

And every day, it seems, there are automobile accidents everywhere in town.

This morning around 10:30, a westbound driver on the Post Road near Patagonia suddenly veered across the street, slamming into a car parked in front of Restoration Hardware.

In the words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus:  “Be careful out there.”

Alert “06880″ reader Lisa Shufro sent these photos from downtown:

It’s not just Westport, though. If you Google “yarn bombs” — or check out BuzzFeed, as Lisa did — you’ll see it’s a global phenomenon. The Wall Street bull, city buses, a phone booth near Big Ben — all have been yarn bombed.

“I’m an avid knitter/crocheter, but unfortunately I can’t claim responsibility for these wonderful additions to Westport’s landscape,” Lisa says.

She’d love to know who is responsible — perhaps to trade tips, or simply congratulate her (or him) on a creative project.

As a public service, “06880″ will pass along any information on Westport’s yarn bomber. Anonymity — if requested — is assured.