Tyler Hicks captures daily life for American soldiers in Afghanistan. (Photo by Tyler Hicks/The New York Times)

It’s common for Westporters to see Tyler Hicks’ photo credit in the New York Times.  The Staples graduate — and Pulitzer Prize winner — travels the globe, shooting searing, thought-provoking, even action-compelling images in every hot spot from Iraq to New Orleans.

Now he’s on the other side of the view finder.

The Times’ “Lens” blog — which combines the best photos and videos with intriguing back stories — has focused on Hicks’ most recent work in Afghanistan. Headlined “Into the Maw at Marja,” it’s a harrowing look at the ground and air war in that vicious land.

The story begins:

“Using one another as pillows, like a family huddled together for warmth in a house without heat, most of the Marines were catching a little sleep before their mission was to begin. But one sat wide awake at the edge of their huddle.

“Tyler Hicks caught this quiet moment.

“Another Marine gazed at a snapshot of himself and his wife. The picture’s tattered edge conveyed how well traveled it was. And how often it was so lovingly examined.

“Mr. Hicks was there.

“Along with members of Company K, Third Battalion, Sixth Marines, Mr. Hicks, a staff photographer for The Times, was preparing to go into battle.

I have to carry cameras, lenses, a laptop, satellite transmitter, chargers, batteries and cables. I bring duplicates of some chargers in case one shorts out because if I can’t charge, then I can’t file my pictures. A sleeping bag, enough clothes to stay relatively warm, three days of food and water. I also wear body armor, a helmet, protective goggles and some first aid gear — pressure bandages and tourniquets, mostly. Things begin to get heavy.

It’s harrowing stuff.  Click here to read more — and to view some never-before-seen photos of a war Westporters don’t often think about.

But one that Afghans, soldiers — and Tyler Hicks — live every day.

Most Westporters know Bruce Kasanoff as a former Planning and Zoning commissioner with a low tolerance for long meetings.  But he’s calm — and passionate — about dogs.

Which leads us — and, in less than 6 months of existence, 150,000 visitors from over 100 countries — to DrawTheDog.com. 

The website is a co-production of Bruce and Jim George, an ex-Disney animator who lives in California.  Readers send in stories of “real life dogs and their real life antics.”

Six days a week, Jim draws a cartoon based on 1 of those crazy dog antics.  He includes the dog’s name and town. 

Sometimes this makes readers mad — say it’s a cartoon about a dog digging through garbage, but it’s a different dog than yours.  Bruce and Jim didn’t steal that story.  As they say on their website, lots of dogs dig through garbage.

As can be expected — what with Winslow Park and Compo Beach (November through March only!) — Westport figured prominently in the genesis of the site.  Whenever he dog-romped here, Bruce craved doing something canine-ish.

His profession is marketing strategy, with a sideline in speaking and an expertise in personalization.  “But truth be told,” Bruce says, “I’d rather play with dogs.”

One would think a marketer would be marketing the hell out of DrawTheDog, but one would be wrong.  The site promotes itself.  Bruce did get talked into forming a Facebook group.  A good thing he listened — within a month, it had over 2,300 members.

Major media outlets, including the New York Post, and Dog Fancy and Modern Dog magazines — have mentioned the site.

Bruce is often surprised by which cartoons generate the most comments.  Anything about dogs sleeping in their owners’ beds is huge, because the dogs of half the visitors do exactly that.

Greyhound and Great Dane owners are the most passionate readers, in terms of promoting the site with friends.  Pitbull owners come close, Bruce says, “because they are so grateful for anything that shows the loving side of this misunderstood breed.”

DrawTheDog has featured 1 Westport pooch so far:  Saba, a Vizsla whose owner videotaped her playing with a deer in the back yard.  The Post picked up the story, and interviewed owner Elizabeth Vagnoni.  Who says journalism is a dying craft?

We’re betting Saba is not the last Westport dog that Krasnoff and George highlight.  Between Winslow Park and Compo, we’ve got enough “real life dogs and their real life antics” to last a dog’s age.

Bruce Kasanoff's dog bed.

(Photo by Maureen Cummings)

In just over a decade, SpinOdyssey has become one of this area’s largest and most popular fund raisers. 

Last year’s event raised $250,000 for breast cancer research.

This year’s total:  $381,000.

That’s great news for the American Cancer Society — and for everyone seeking signs that the Great Recession is ending.

It’s been a while since Col. Patrick A. Powers was.

But this is both the 50th anniversary of the town’s purchase of Longshore, and the season to think about movies, so let’s glance back at the colonel. 

He was the founder of Longshore Country Club in 1929,  as well as a pioneer in both “talking pictures.” He even contributed in a small way to the creation of Mickey Mouse.

Who knew?

Thanks to Brian O’Leary — the Longshore 50th committee’s ace researcher — for tracking down Powers, then finding this information on Wikipedia.

Powers partnered with Joseph A. Schubert, Sr. and sold phonographs from 1900-07. In 1907, they formed the Buffalo Film Exchange, which purchased films from producers and rented them to nickelodeons.

In 1910, Powers left Buffalo for New York City. He founded the Powers Motion Picture Company that merged with … others in 1912 to create Universal Pictures. He served as treasurer of the Universal Motion Picture Company.

Between the 1922 reorganization of Film Booking Office of America and October 1923, Powers, as one of the company’s new American investors, was effectively in command….In 1928, Joseph P. Kennedy and RCA head David Sarnoff merged FBO and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater circuit to form RKO Radio Pictures….

Without Col. Powers, would Walt Disney ever have created Mickey Mouse?

In 1928, Powers sold Walt Disney a Cinephone system so that he could make sound cartoons such as Mickey Mouse’s Steamboat Willie (1928). Unable to find a distributor for the sound cartoons, Disney began releasing his cartoons through Powers’ company Celebrity Pictures.

After two years of successful Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons, Walt Disney confronted Powers in 1930 about money due to Disney from the distribution deal. Powers responded by signing Disney’s head animator Ub Iwerks to an exclusive deal to create his own animation studio.

In his lifetime, Powers produced nearly 300 movies, most of them early silent films produced at Universal before 1913 or one-reel animated shorts. However, he is credited as a producer on Erich von Stroheim’s The Wedding March (1928)….

The New York Times obituary of 1 August 1948 notes that Powers, at the time of his death, was president of the Powers Film Products Company of Rochester, New York. He also had homes in both New York City and Westport, Connecticut….

In real life Jahari Dodd left California 4 years ago, also to find himself.  He ended up in Westport, as an ABC Scholar.

Now he’s directing “Telemachus Clay” — a Staples Players studio production that debuts this weekend at Toquet Hall.

Jahari Dodd

“A young person’s journey spoke to me,” Jahari said of his reaction when Players director David Roth showed him the script.  The colorful cast of characters; the play’s ’60s sensibility; the funky yet linear story; the concept of no set, no real makeup, minimal costumes — all impelled Jahari to stage the show.

Toquet — where people sit in chairs and couches — is a perfect venue for “Telemachus.”  “When you walk in, you know it’s not your average show,” says Jahari.  “It’s like a place where audiences would watch this play in the 1960s.

“All the action goes out to the audience,” Jahari explains.  “The actors are part of the crowd.  Characters run out the back, and come from the fly.  Everyone in the audience should feel a Telemachus-like connection, because all of us should go on a journey to find ourselves.”

As a director, Jahari’s biggest challenge has been to get his actors as loose and fun as the show is.  “It’s hard to pull a spiritual experience out of a high school kid,” he notes.  “But the cast has gone out of their comfort zone.  And I think the audience will feel as free and loose as the cast.”

Glenn Leo and Rachel Samuels rehearse. (Photo by Jillian Bosshardt)

Glenn Leo, as Telemachus, “embodies the young man who’s searching, but knows he lost,” Jahari says.

Jahari is excited to have Whitney Andrews play The Prophet.  Though written for a male, the role seems perfect for her.  “My mother is a pastor, very open and exuberant,” Jahari says.  “I saw the same free-flowing child of the ’60s in Whitney.  The audience will really be drawn to her.”

Jahari — who in addition to directing has been a dancer, TV star and all-around goodwill ambassador for Staples — graduates in June.  “Telemachus Clay,” he says, is “the best way for me to give back to a theater program that’s given so much to me.”

Four years ago, Jahari Dodd came East.  Here he has found a home, resounding success — and himself.

(“Telemachus Clay” will be performed at Toquet Hall, 58 Post Road East — access through the alley to Jesup Road — this Friday [March 12] at 8 p.m., and Saturday [March 13] at 6 and 8:30 p.m.  Tickets are available at the door, and for Staples students during lunch periods this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)

And learn all about it at the same time.

(From left): Volunteer Jon Wormser, and interns Annie Harnick, Erica Mayer, Matt Wormser and A.J. Kieffer, examine a horseshoe crab.

Mike Rowinsky — whose main job is teaching biology at Greens Farms Academy — is the center’s naturalist at the center.  He’s looking for high school students and 2010 graduates to serve as interns this summer.

Working with Mike, interns create and lead a variety of activities such as arts and crafts projects and trail tours.  They also conduct research for displays, help set up exhibits, care for animals, and act as educational docents to the public.

Interns should be friendly, have a strong interest in nature and environmental issues, and be willing to take initiative.  Small stipends are available.

(For a downloadable application form, click here.  For more information call Liz Milwe: 203-984-8981.)

What will you pay -- or get -- for this Westport home? A lot less than 4 years ago.

A local realtor — hoping to separate reality from rumor — recently ran some numbers.

She examined all Westport sales of single-family homes in the $500,000-$2 million range — the majority of Westport properties.  She used median prices rather than averages, because a few sales at either the high or low end can skew the average.  She found:

2006 — 305 homes sold
Median listing price:  $1,299,000
Median selling price:  $1,255,000
Difference between listing and selling prices:  96.6%

2009 — 183 homes sold
Median listing price:  $988,000
Median selling price:  $940,000
Difference between listing and selling prices:  95%
Difference between 2006 and 2009:  Down 26% in sales dollars, down 40% in volume

January 1-February 28,2010 — 27 homes sold
Median listing price:  $1,158,000
Median selling price:  $1,075,000
Difference between listing and selling prices:  92.8%

January 1-February 28,2010 — 27 homes under contract
Median listing price:  $988,000

What’s it all mean?

“To me, the lower median prices at the beginning of this year are because the tax rebate is getting the low-end and first-time buyers to buy,” she says.  “And it shows that if houses are priced right, they go fairly quickly.”

Homes in higher ranges usually start selling in March.  In fact, she says, March is traditionally the strongest sales month — followed by April and May.

A typical comparative sale, she says, is a “charming Currier and Ives” home on Anchor Lane off North Compo, across from Winslow Park.  In 2005 it was listed at $1,195,000, and sold fast — at the listing price.

This year the same home came on the market at $949,900.  Again it sold quickly — again at the listing price.

“If the price is right, you’ll sell,” the realtor says.

“But people still have a hard time realizing they’re not going to get what their neighbors got 5 years ago.”

She adds:  “On the one hand, that’s sad.

“On the other, maybe it will mean we’ll get more younger buyers coming in.  For a while, Westport was one of the fastest-growing graying markets around.”

Honest.

Of course, as anyone who has lived here for more than 3 days knows, weather in Westport does not proceed linearly.

Or logically.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

Winter will not go down without a fight.

No, it’s not Bigfoot.  It’s just a few of the dozens of craters, cracks, ruts, holes and other chassis-jarring surprises lurking up and down North Avenue.

Well, hey, it’s winter — what do you expect?

Well, hey — no.  Adjacent roads — Long Lots and Cross Highway, for example — are in much better shape.

Maybe it’s an older surface?

Nice try.  North Avenue was resurfaced in, um, the summer of 2009.

So do roads come with warranties, like cars and microwaves?

Now you’re talkin’.

When Westport offered its 1st CERT — Community Emergency Response Team — class in 2003, she realized she could gain those skills right here.

An important — but little-known — volunteer organization that’s a division of the Police Department, CERT supports local emergency service agencies in disaster, crisis and emergency response.  CERT also promotes safety education, emergency and disaster preparedness.

CERT does not perform functions normally done by police, fire or EMS personnel.  They are simply — and vitally — extra helping hands.

During a big rainstorm a few years ago, CERT volunteers stood near some of the 59 closed roads, warning drivers of downed trees and power lines.   Kris — stationed at the corner of the Post Road and Bulkeley — used her 35 years’ knowledge of Westport streets to give alternate directions.

“At the end of my shift I felt wet, cold and happy,” she says.  “I felt I had been able to help people in a practical way.”

Luckily, Kris says, most of the helping so far has come in small ways:  helping attendees at a crowded flu clinic or First Night; finding parking at the 4th of July fireworks.

A few CERT volunteers march in the Memorial Day parade.  The others are working, keeping parade and pedestrian traffic apart.

CERT has not yet faced a true disaster — but they are ready.  Regular training includes opening up and managing an emergency shelter.  They’ve been part of an anti-terrorism exercise at the University of Bridgeport — simulating a terrorist and hostage situation — with police, SWAT teams and emergency responders from several towns.

They also trained with Metro-North in a scenario involving a train wreck and the shutdown of I-95, and did 2 exercises at the Senior Center (1 simulated running an emergency shelter during a coastal storm; the other involved search, rescue and treatment of victims of a plane crash).

CERT volunteers train in a variety of ways.

CERT volunteers range in age from 20s to 70s.  There are engineers, teachers, artists, writers, builders, medical professionals, real estate agents, business executives, and a veterarian, psychologist and librarian.

The next time you see a Westporter wearing a bright yellow vest, ask him or her about CERT.  Or for help.  Or directions to the nearest bathroom.

In any event, that’s what CERT is there for.

(CERT offers new training series regularly — the next is set for fall.  Basic sessions include radio use, light search and rescue, triage, CPR, first aid, water safety, fire suppression and use of fire extinguishers.

(New members are welcome.  Click here for more information; call 203-226-0780; email info@WestportCERT.org, or follow the Twitter feed @WestportCERT.)

The first post described what this blog would be:  open-ended conversations with a Westport angle, no matter how tenuous.  I invited comments, feedback, tips — anything.

No one responded.

Things picked up soon — my 2nd post, on a Staples PTA’s “Risky Behaviors” panel — drew 3 comments.  “06880″ was off to the races.

Time flies when you’re having fun.  Exactly 1 year later, my blog and I celebrate our 1st anniversary.

Thinking of a gift?  That’s sweet.  Ironically, the traditionally 1st-year gift is paper.

But I’d prefer money.

Feel free to donate as much as you wish to "06880."

For the past year, “06880″ has offered up approximately 650 posts — nearly 2 a day.  Some have been international in scope — the ones on porn star Marilyn Chambers, “Paranormal Activity” star Micah Sloat and supermodel twins and “Amazing Race” stars Derek and Drew Riker still draw viewers, months later — while others are intensely local:  drivers who leave the Robeks parking lot by going directly over the curb onto the Post Road.  Arby’s taking advantage when Westport eased up on its sign regulations.  Edyo Keehan’s tireless work on behalf of Westport’s World War II veterans.

And it’s all been free.  A public service, if you will.

In honor of my anniversary, I’m making an NPR-style plea.  If you like what you hear read, please consider supporting “06880.”

Am I worth $1 a month?  $1 a week?  Perhaps (my choice!) $1 a day.

Unlike Channel 13, you won’t get a Peter, Paul and Mary DVD.  Or a tote bag.  Donations are not even tax-deductible.

What you will get is the chance to help me recover a bit of the cost of registering domains, keeping “06880″ ad-free, and spending an hour or 2 each day interviewing, writing, responding to comments, and scouring the web for appropriate (and occasionally inappropriate) photos and graphics.

Thanks for a great year.  I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, whether anyone sends an anniversary gift or not.

But it would be nice.

(Checks may be made out and sent to:  Dan Woog, 301 Post Road East, Westport, CT 06880.  Put “06880″ on the memo line.  It won’t do anything for the IRS, but it may help you remember at tax time why you sent me some money.)

Staples’ boys ski team — shown above, hoisting coach Jon Shepro — finished the season as state class “S” champions, with a 17-4 record.  At today’s state meet, with teams from all divisions, the Wreckers finished 3rd overall.

The girls finished 2nd in class “S” for the entire season, but did not place in today’s race.

Some people were worried, or curious.  Others were annoyed at the intrusion.

Linda Gramatky Smith was alert.  And then she was satisfied.

Here’s the longtime resident’s story:

I love the new emergency alert system that Westport started in the last six months, and today I got personally involved.  I’m helping plan our Staples 50th reunion for September, and the brother of a deceased classmate called unexpectedly from San Francisco.  We spoke for a long time, and I stood in the kitchen making my lunch.

As we talked about our neighborhood, I gazed outside.  Absentmindedly I watched an elderly gentleman trudge by on Roseville, going south towards the Post Road.  I think I noticed him because cars speed by on Roseville, and only the heartiest joggers brave the traffic.  This man wasn’t fragile, but he wasn’t jogging.

Soon after I hung up, the phone rang again.  It was a Code Red alert.  A man with Alzheimer’s, the police recording said, had been downtown, around Town Hall, and disappeared.

As I heard the description — 80s, salt and pepper hair, brown pants and jacket — I immediately thought of the man I’d seen walking by.  I picked up the phone to call the police.

I told the woman who answered that I was afraid the man might have walked too far away, but she said a cruiser would be sent immediately. Imagine my delight when another call came in 15 minutes later, telling town residents that the gentleman had been found!  He had walked on back roads from downtown — a long distance.

I’m not sure if I was the one who gave the info that the police needed to find this man, but it brought back memories of when my mom lived with us.  She had dementia for the last couple of years.  I feel so happy that our town has this wonderful system in place — and that today instead of having my eyes fixed on the computer screen upstairs, I was fortunate enough to look out as a man walked by our house.

The soon-to-be-former Inn at National Hall. (Photo by Anthony Karge/Westport News)

Can’t Westporters — a creative bunch, for sure – mine the  handsome 3-story 137-year-old building’s past for an appropriate remodel?

Back in 1884 National Hall served as the 1st home of Staples High School.  Of course, just 4 years ago we dedicated an $84 million renovation, so odds are we won’t be moving back downtown any time soon.

At one time the top floor was used as a basketball court.  Rumor has it that the YMCA is dissatisfied with its current digs, just a skyhook away from National Hall.  If they haven’t made plans to move anywhere, maybe the Inn could serve as a new Y.  On 2nd thought, it is a bit cramped.

For many years, National Hall housed a furniture store.  Age of Reason — right across the street — wanted to expand there recently, but Antares never returned phone calls.  Returning to retail remains another option.

Because the building is on the National Register of Historic Places, it can’t be torn down as easily as your basic split-level.  But that designation — and local politics — also constrict possible uses of the property.

So I guess there are no other options for…wait!  I’ve got it!

One of National Hall’s most noted incarnations was as the home of Horace Staples’ Westport Bank & Trust Company.  What a perfect location for a bank — and just what Westport needs!

On second thought — nah.  No one would ever think of opening a new bank around here.

Right?

Now I’ve found one.

John Vester

The story starts years ago, when John Vester was a boy in Ohio.  He loved watching “Wide World of Sports” — which, spanning the globe, every February found sledding events.  One day Jim McKay – a Westporter, though that has nothing to do with this story — turned to the camera after another dismal US performance and said:  “Kids!  America needs you!”

John’s father — an Army colonel and college professor — could not buy him a $5,000 bobsled.  But a luge cost 1/10 that amount, and John was hooked.

He made the national luge team, and for 5 years trained for the Olympics.  He traveled to Lake Placid, Austria, Germany and Eastern Europe.  Just before Calgary in 1988 he tore his rotator cuff — a bad injury, because shoulders are a key component of luge — and at 25 realized he had to move on with his life.

He entered grad school at Yale, and got a real job.  Today he’s a partner/prinicipal at Ernst & Young.  For the last 10 years he’s been a Westporter.

But John never lost his love for winter sports.

Several years ago he did what many former lugers do:  He took up bobsled.  He performed well prior to the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, but then he separated both shoulders — and, soon after, broke a rib and suffered a concussion.

His wife put her foot down — “nicely,” he says — and his athletic dream died.

Not.

In the fall of 2002 he joined the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation’s new board — as usual, our Olympic performance sucked, and changes were needed — and tried to put together the best pushers, drivers, coaches and sleds for the 2006 Torino games.

Despite much hard work, a variety of factors caused the board to resign — en masse — just before the Olympics.  Once again, the US team failed to medal.

In the aftermath of that sporting disaster, a small non-profit was formed.  John was asked to join the 4-person board.  That tiny group — with just 1 paid executive director, and 1 designer-manufacturer — got right to work.

“We had a single-minded focus,” John says.  “We wanted to make the best sled possible.  The Germans have a massive government machine behind them, but we thought we could do it.”

Slowly, they did.  Last year, Americans won World Cups and world championships.

The US 4-man bobsled team. (Photo courtesy of www.owc.cn)

Last month, at Whistler — despite what John circumspectly calls “emergencies” (click here) — the US earned the 4-man gold.  It was America’s 1st since 1948.

John calls the accomplishment “very satisfying.  At 47 years old, I don’t care that the medal was not around my neck.  Being 1 of a few key people who made it happen was enough.”

Early the next morning, John flew home.  His real job beckoned.  Now — with the perspective of a few days — he looks ahead.

“Our job is to retain that capability to win,” he says.  “I hope we’ve demonstrated that our approach to winning  works.  Now we have to keep doing it.”

He is unsure if he’ll be part of the US bobsled effort 4 years from now, in Sochi.  But he’s not sitting back and basking in Olympic glory.

John also coaches a Westport Little League team.  Their season starts soon.  They’re going for gold.

A sign on the front and back entrances says it has “merged” with Little Kitchen — its slightly pricier cousin across the street, in the Compo Shopping Center.

However, a much larger sign notes that a new liquor license application has been filed for the property.  The new permittee’s name is Prasad Chirnomula.

A new restaurant will open soon.

In Westport, it always does.

The organization — which offers a safe ride home to Westport youngsters most Saturday nights — has become an important part of local life.  Students are proud of what they’ve accomplished — and adult volunteers like Julie Mombello share in their satisfaction.

The Westport mother got involved with Safe Rides after hearing Alex Dulin — the local group’s founder, and at the time just a junior in high school — speak to both the Westport Youth Commission and Staples PTA.  Julie’s involvement grew rapidly.  These days she does everything from helping create the new web site to overseeing the calendar to updating paperwork.

With her youngest child entering Staples next year, Julie looks forward to continued involvement.  She likes watching students take action — and she believes strongly in Safe Rides’ mission.

It is not — as critics charge — an invitation to teenage drinking.  It is an acknowledgment that — all over the country — some young people do drink, and in our community we’ll do what we can to avoid tragic consequences.

“In an ideal world all teens would wait until they were legal to drink,” Julie says.  “Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.  People who say that juniors and seniors are not going to drink are burying their heads in the sand.  We don’t want to make it easier for teens to drink.  We do want to give them a chance to make a good decision if and when they make a mistake.

“If they end up drinking at a party and are afraid to call home, we want them to have a safe alternative to getting behind the wheel.  Not only does Safe Rides keep kids off the roads, but it makes Westport safer for everyone.  We consider Safe Rides a way of giving back to the community.”

Julie Mombello

In the beginning of November, SafeRides added a 3rd car.  “We didn’t want people waiting so long that out of frustration they either got behind the wheel of a car, or got into a car with someone who shouldn’t be driving,” Julie says.

The main users of Safe Rides are youngsters who drank too much, and those looking for rides when their “designated driver” drank.  But there are other users too — like teenage baby sitters who don’t want to be driven home by parents who have had too much to drink.

One girl called Safe Rides when a date ended badly.  In the car, she cried.

Of course, some people try to scam Safe Rides.  “We’ve said no to kids at the diner,” Julie notes.  “They had money and were too cheap to call a cab.  We hate to say no, but we don’t want a car out on one of these trips when someone might really need a ride.  We don’t want to be a taxi service.”

Safe Rides began a blacklist when it was discovered that someone gave a false home address, and was actually dropped off at a party.  Users can be blacklisted for party hopping, extremely rude behavior, using the program every weekend, and leaving before a ride arrives.

However, Julie says, “people who are willing to give back and volunteer for a couple of Saturday nights can be ‘un-blacklisted.’  Once they see how the program runs, they might be less likely to abuse the system.”

The biggest challenge, Julie says, is recruiting student volunteers.  While many adults — some of whom do not even have children involved in the program — stay up past 2 a.m. to make Westport roads safer, Safe Rides is looking to bolster its roster of 83 teens.

The more volunteers, the less arduous the commitment.  And the safer Westport will be for everyone.

(Students and adults interested in the next training session should email Julie Mombello:  mombo50@att.net.)

Nick Cion, Annie Harnick, Lexa Koenig, Kat Krieger and Lena Ziskin — all seniors at Staples — won that school’s inaugural Spectacular Student Challenge.

By figuring out which of 3 different strategies — actually, a combination of all 3 — would make Westport greener, they earned the praise of judges, plus the satisfaction of knowing their 12 hours of work could help create a more environmentally friendly town.

Oh yeah.  They also won $5,000.

Lexa Koenig and Lena Ziskin look snug -- but their laptops get a workout midway through the Challenge.

Despite having to plow through a PhD-level question — then research, analyze, synthesize and present their findings in a time frame that would stress a post-doc — the winners took a balanced approach to their task.

They enjoyed a sitdown lunch from Tengda, and also spent a few minutes in the fieldhouse, cheering Staples’ indoor track team at their championship meet.  “We didn’t fry our brains,” Nick says, counterintuitively.

But they must have done something right.

“We saw the importance of innovation, but we also knew we needed a plan that was catchy, accessible, and would appeal to the public at large,” he adds, explaining his group’s success.

They concluded that a 3-pronged strategy is needed.  Solar panels at Staples and Bedford, and carbon reduction would help a bit; so would community-supported agriculture.  But household changes are necessary too.

The group seized on a Brazilian initiative — peeing in the shower to reduce flushes — and estimated that if every Westporter did that once a day, we’d save 11 million gallons of water a year.  That got the judges’ notice (as well as anyone who pees).

After earning finalist status, the team practiced their presentation for a full day.  Other groups were math oriented, but Team 102 focused on communication skills.

“We wanted a presentation that we would want to hear,” Nick says.  “We didn’t talk about numbers; we talked about why all this was important.”

Lunch from Tengda was great -- but a few hours later Team 102 wanted to make sure they had dinner too.

Going into the final presentation, the group had no idea what to expect.  They were eager to see how other teams — some of them veterans of the similar, but math-heavy, Moody’s Mega-Challenge — did.  When the night was over, they felt they’d done well — and were glad their tack was different.

Last Friday, Nick was awakened at 10:20 a.m. — hey, it was a snow day — with word from Kat that their group had won.  He was thrilled, then promptly fell back asleep.

On Monday, Team 102 will accept congratulations — and a fake check — at the Board of Education meeting.

As for the carryover effect of the contest, Nick says:  “I’m already following the household tips we came up with.  It’s amazing how easy it is.”  (Yes, all of them.)

And — for Team 102 — how lucrative.

Hope Boone, Jessica Rae Patton and Marianne Goodell rehearse their monologues.

Next Sunday (March 7) at 1 and 5 p.m., “The Vagina Monologues” will be performed at the Westport Country Playhouse.  The performances’ primary beneficiary is the Domestic Violence Crisis Center.  Also benefitting:  V-Day’s City of Joy, a campaign to end the rape and torture of women and girls in Congo.

“V-Day Westport 2010″ involves women from all walks of life.  Some are actors or activists.  Others are 1st-time performers.  All hope to end violence against females, locally and globally.

“The Vagina Monologues” was 1st performed Off-Broadway in 1998.  Diving into the mystery, humor, pain, power, wisdom, outrage and excitement of women’s experiences, it has been called “spellbinding, funny and almost unbearably moving…a work of art…a poem and a polemic, a performance and balm and a benediction.”

V-Day — named one of Worth Magazine’s “100 Best Charities,” and one of Marie Claire Magazine’s “Top 10 Charities” — has raised over $70 million in just 12 years.  V-Day Westport is part of over 4200 similar benefits around the world.

(“The Vagina Monologues” is directed by Jill Jaysen of Center Stage Theatre Company.  Click here for tickets, or call 203-227-4177.  For more information on V-Day Westport, email vdaywestporttvm@gmail.com; check out the Facebook “VDay Westport” page, or Twitter @vdaywestport.)

Jill Jaysen rehearses her cast.

Westporters responded immediately, and generously.  Within days, scores of residents dropped off toiletries, dried fruit, white socks, DVDs — and much more — at Jane Horton’s house.  She boxed them up and shipped them off.

Many other residents mailed goods (and goodies) on their own.  All told, over 50 large boxes were sent.

Sgt. Calvin Wauchope

Wauchope returned to the US in December, after 7 months in Helmand Province.  He was 15 miles outside of Marja — the hot spot in today’s news — locating enemy mortar fire using radio frequencies.

The experience, he says, was like nothing he’d ever had before — not even in 2 tours of Iraq.

“Southern Afghanistan society is very tribal and inclusive,” the Staples grad reports.  “It was hands down the most interesting and gratifying experience I’ve ever had.”

Wauchope is re-adjusting to civilian life.  He is applying to colleges in the New York area for next fall.  He will study political science, so he’s looking for work — even an internship — this spring and summer in town politics, or possibly the VA.

Meanwhile, he is trying to help a former Staples friend — and fellow military man.

Cpl. Greg Jacobs has been in Afghanistan since January.  As an infantryman, his days are particularly strenuous and stressful.

Wauchope — who was “blown away” by the support of Westporters last year — hopes to replicate that experience for Jacobs.

Wauchope suggests:

• Dry noodles (Ramen, Cup Noodles)
  Pre-packaged tuna packets
  Beef jerky, dried fruit
  Chewing tobacco (Skoal, Grizzly — “some habits are a necessity over there”)
  Candy
  Energy drinks
  Chips, pretzels and any dry food
  Canned soups (Campbell’s, Progresso, Chef Boyardee)
  Drink packets (Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, Propel, Gatorade)
  Toiletries (baby wipes, body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant)
  Socks (boot length)
  Magazines, books, DVDs, CDs (old or new, classics or a mixtape)

“You don’t have to follow this exactly,” Wauchope notes.  Some of the best packages he received were from families who added their own favorites.  And, he says, “letters or pictures are a great addition.”

NOTE:  The donation site has changed.  Donations can now be dropped off at Jane Horton’s home:  134 Roseville Rd.  There is a trunk on the front porch.  She asks that drop-offs be made at “a reasonable hour.”  For more information, call Wauchope at 203-451-2617 or email wauchope.calvin@gmail.com.  Because shipping is expensive, please consider adding a contribution to defray those costs.

You can also send supplies directly to Jacobs and his unit:
CPL Jacobs, Gregory C
3/6 H+S Co.  Scout Sniper Platoon
Unit 73290
FPO-AE 09510-3290

Ever since the Big Bang, it seems, the small store next to Volvo of Westport has been “going out of business.”

First they offered 50% off.

Then 70%.

Now customers get an 80% discount.

I’m holding out for 100.

It shows cars creeping north, from the Y past Klein’s and Oscar’s.  In 1960, Main Street traffic flowed both ways.

But I’m sure the rest of the Westport Historical Society show — which opens next Saturday (March 6) with a party from 1-4 p.m. — is both accurate and compelling.

Main Street, from the 1962 Staples yearbook. Klein's is now Banana Republic (and more than 1 floor); the Townly Restaurant just beyond it burned down, and the Mobil station in the distance is Vineyard Vines. Note the stoplight and 2-way traffic.

Susan Malloy — a long-time resident and philanthropist — has created a lively 4-color map.  It depicts a downtown Westport filled with locally owned shops and restaurants.  The map is spiced with quotes from people who remember that time fondly.

Susan will be at Saturday’s party.  Guests — which the WHS hopes will include newcomers as well as old fogeys timers — can chat about yesterday and today, and put their thoughts down in a special book.

In the meantime, to get the recollection juices flowing, here are a few names from the map:

Shilepsky’s Clothing
Country Gal
Rico Beauty Salon
Townley Restaurant
Tracy’s Menswear
Hartman’s Hardware
Oakes Automotive Service
Barnum Travel
Melody House Music
Dress Box
Westlake Restaurant
Swerdling’s Bakery
Welch’s Hardware
Westport Food Center
Greenberg’s Department Store
Economy Liquors
Ben Franklin Store
Pickwick Gift Shop
Isabel Eland Shop
Dorain’s Drugs
Town & Country Shoes
Charles Food Shop
Linen Closet
Bill’s Smoke Shop
Westport Hardware
Country Bazaar
Gristede Brothers Grocers

See you Saturday — right across from the Dress Box.

The much-loved Remarkable Book Shop (now Talbots). This shot is from after the 1960s -- the adjacent Record Hunter (left side of building) has already closed, and the cars look relatively modern.

Four Brothers Pizza — part of a small local chain — is moving east.  It will take over the spot near Fresh Market recently vacated by Mike’s Pizza, the very brief successor to Martha’s Pizza, which replaced some other place that replaced something before that.

But the Four Brothers spot near Dunville’s will remain a restaurant.  The new place will be…Mexican.

No word on whether it will be called “Cuatro Hermanos.”

I hadn’t thought about Blockbuster in years — in today’s world there’s Netflix (the old-fashioned mail way, plus its streaming service), Hulu, and 5  new technologies that were announced just last night — but the news made me think about my old (very old) friend on the Post Road.  It shrunk to half its size last year, ceding the east end to a big-and-tall clothing store (not my cup of tea).

I couldn’t imagine Blockbuster’s business model working in Westport anymore.  Particularly when the library offers DVDs for the fairly low price of free.

I called the Westport store.  A chirpy voice answered — a ringing phone was probably the most excitement she’d had all day.

“Blockbuster is shutting lots of stores,” I said.  “Is Westport one of them?”

“We’re fine,” she replied.

“Well, how’s business?” I asked.

“Do you need something?” she countered.

“Like someone else I can talk to there?” I said.  I was thinking like, you know, a manager.

“Like a DVD?” she wondered.

No.  I did not need a DVD.

And I don’t know anyone else in Westport who still needs anything from Blockbuster.

Which is why I’m not sure business really is fine, over at the local “video rental store.”