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.)

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)

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.

His wife — Dorothea Cooke Gramatky — was also an artist, though less known.

His daughter, Linda Gramatky Smith, and her husband Ken have kept her parents’ work alive, both internationally and here in their home town.

"Green's Farms Station," 1948.

Now the Gramatkys’ work is benefiting the Westport Historical Society too.

For a limited time before the holidays, giclée prints by Hardie and Dorothea ordered at the Historical Society or through www.californiawatercolor.com will generate 30% back to the WHS.

(NOTE: If you’re like me, here’s the answer: A giclée is a high-tech, high-quality process that exactly replicates the color and texture of original watercolor artwork. Examples — printed on heavy Provence watercolor paper — are on display in the WHS gift shop.)

Though Hardie is best known for his children’s books, he painted stunning watercolors of Westport landscapes. (Andrew Wyeth called him one of America’s 20 greatest watercolorists.)

"Schlaet Point," 1948.

38 local scenes are available.  So are hundreds of other subjects by Hardie, Dorothea and other leading artists. All generate the 30% donation to the Historical Society.

(To order online, click here; at checkout, enter the code “WHS” — oh yeah, you also get a 10% discount. You can also order at the Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place.)

"Turkey Hill Sleigh Ride," 1955.

No one knew what the 2nd half of the 20th century would bring — but the town had already begun moving toward something different, modern and new.

A group of women wanted to influence the future.  They were smart and energetic — and, despite their many responsibilities as housewives and mothers, they found time to work for Westport.

That year — sitting around a tea set in Mrs. Wolcott Street’s Myrtle Avenue home — they formed a chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Over the next 6 decades, the organization grew — in numbers and influence.  The LWV helped determine the structure of the nascent Representative Town Meeting (RTM); later, the League made sure there was open space on the Post Road, and led the crusade to “green” it.  Look at the Post Road today in Westport — compared to neighboring Norwalk — and you’ll see the lasting effect the LWV has had on our town.

League of Women Voters members, 1966.

Two years ago John Hartwell — an LWV member (it’s not just for men anymore!), who was taking video production classes at Norwalk Community College — was asked to tape a coffee celebrating the Westport chapter’s 60th anniversary.  Four former LWV presidents were scheduled to speak.

A detached retina forced John to cancel.  To make amends, he promised to interview the 4 ex-presidents in their homes.

The stories he heard — and the careers the LWV launched — amazed and inspired him.

Julie Belaga

For example, after her League presidency, Julie Belaga served in the Connecticut Legislature, ran for governor, served as New England director of the EPA, and was appointed by President Clinton to the Export-Import Bank.

Jackie Heneage went on to serve 2 terms as first selectman — the 1st woman ever elected to the post.

Pat Porio had a long career after her service as president.

By the time John interviewed the 4th woman — 5-time LWV president Lisa Shufro — he realized there were many more voices to be heard.  He vowed to direct a video — and asked Lisa to produce it.

Sixteen more interviews followed.  There were visits to the house where the League was founded.  Hours and hours of footage — and hundreds and hundreds of stories — had to be edited down to the final 43-minute product.

Two themes emerge from “A League of Their Own.”  One is how the LWV empowered so many women.  For example, Martha Aasen went on to become the national organization’s official observer at the UN; she then worked full-time there.

Ann Gill was a major force on Westport’s Planning and Zoning Commission for years.  The list goes on and on.

From left: Marty Hauhuth, Ann Gill, Barbara Butler, Mary Jenkins, Jacqueline Heneage -- LWV members, and accomplished women all.

The 2nd major theme is the impact the LWV had on Westport.

The video debuted at the League’s annual meeting in June.  It was shown at the Westport Library in September, and Senior Center earlier this month.

Always, the feedback was the same:  Wow!

Women interviewed for the film were impressed how well their stories were told.  Other viewers remarked how much they learned about the League — and Westport.

Seeing and hearing about women who have gained so much from the LWV — and in turn have given so much back, to their town and country — brought tears to the eyes of some.

You can watch the film now:  click here.

Or you can go to the Westport Historical Society this Sunday (October 30), for a showing.  Afterward, 2 of the League’s living legends — Jackie Heneage, and Selma Miriam (a leading proponent of Project Concern, and the founder and longtime owner of Bridgeport’s Bloodroot restaurant and bookstore) — will talk, and answer questions.

The video’s title is a pun on the League of Women’s Voters — and the 1992 film about women’s professional baseball — but it aptly describes the role of this organization in the life of our town.

For 6 decades, Westport’s LWV has been in a league of its own.

A screenshot from "A League of Its Own."

Called “Frazier Forman Peters:  At Home With Stone,” it honors the man who is arguably Westport’s most famous architect.

Frazier Forman Peters

Peters — also a builder, teacher and writer — was born in 1895 to a New York Episcopalian clergy family.  He graduated from Columbia University as a chemical engineer, but quickly grew disgruntled with the industry,

He came to Westport in 1919, hoping to work the land as a farmer.  The rocky soil intrigued him, and he soon found his calling as a designer and builder of stone houses.

Peters’ homes can be found from Virginia to Maine — but most are in Connecticut.  Between 1924 and 1936 he designed and built over 36 stone houses Westport.  His designs are revered for their unique fieldstone wall construction method, as well as their spatial organization and sensitive placement in relation to the natural environment.

Susan Farewell wrote:

Were Frazier Peters to build houses today, he’d be receiving all sorts of accolades for being an architect on the leading edge of environmentally-conscious, energy-efficient, sustainable design and construction.

The thick fieldstone walls (as much as 16 inches) typical of a Peters stone house make them energy-efficient; the stones effectively hold the heat in winter and keep the interiors cools in summer….

He segregated rooms by giving each one a separate identity, and through the use of step-downs, varied building materials, and interesting transitions. He was also taken by how beautifully European stone structures aged and compared them to American-built frame houses that “droop and pout if they are not continually groomed and manicured.”

Another important component of Peters’ designs was the marriage of the house and its surroundings. He wrote a great deal about this and was especially enamored with the brooks, hillsides, and woods of Connecticut.

Adam Stolpen — who lives in a Frazier Peters house — adds:  “He was our first ‘green architect.  And he was completely self-taught.

“These are definitely not cookie-cutter McMansions.  They are homes meant to be lived in.  And each one has a bit of whimsy.”

A Frazier Forman Peters house on Charcoal Hill. (Photo by Alan Goldfinger/Westport News)

The exhibit includes photographs of his houses; artifacts, and a model of stone construction method and materials.

But it would not have come about had it not been for a modern Westporter with an affinity for history — and a connection to Frazier Peters homes.

A few years ago, longtime town volunteer Mollie Donovan wanted a plaque for her son’s family.  Dan and Nicole Donovan had just bought a Peters house near Charcoal Hill — one of Peters’ favorite areas.

Most homes with a historic plaque are at least 100 years old.  But Bob Weingarten — the WHS member in charge of authorizing plaques — realized that the style, beauty, and placement of the Donovans’ house warranted one.

His interest in Peters was piqued.  He searched for other houses.  Each time he found — and verified — one, he sent a note to the WHS (and Mollie).

After a dozen, she decided Peters should be honored too — with an exhibit.

Frazier Forman Peters died in 1963.  Mollie Donovan passed away last April.

But — thanks to both of them — an intriguing, informative exhibition lives on.

So do Frazier Peters’ houses.  According to Bob Weingarten, of the 36 houses he’s found that were designed and built by Peters, only 1 has been demolished.

In today’s Westport, that might be Frazier Peters’ most enduring legacy of all.

(The Westport Historical Society exhibition runs through December 31.  Click here for details.)

Another Frazier Forman Peters house view. (Photo by Alan Goldfinger/Westport News)

Some of TV’s most famous personalities — Harry Reasoner, Phil Donahue, Jim Nantz — lived in Westport.

And some of the most famous Westporters — like former Governor John Davis Lodge — appeared on television as early as 1937 (the BBC, in England).

Those facts — and many, many more — form the basis for TV Neighbors:  Westport and Weston Television Personalities, a new book by Tom DeLong.

The research was intriguing — a natural follow-up to “Stars in Our Eyes,” DeLong’s much-acclaimed earlier volume on the many actors and actresses who lived in Westport and Weston.

Using material amassed for a 2003 Westport Historical Society exhibition on Westport’s relationship with television, DeLong went to work.  His notes were mostly done, the chapters all outlined — when suddenly last July DeLong suffered a stroke and died.

His good friend Wally Woods — who had worked with DeLong on WHS exhibits since 1997 — and Woods’ wife Denise vowed to finish the book for DeLong.

The Woodses dove into crates and boxes of files and photos.  They deciphered DeLong’s notes to himself.  They organized the material.

Tom DeLong (left), Wally Woods, and vintage televisions at the Westport Historical Society's 2003 exhibit.

Wally wrote; Denise scanned photos.  Together, they indexed hundreds of personalities.

The result has just been published — a handsome and intriguing tribute to our town’s television history, and a memorial to its late author.  Woods is proud to have completed it, and devastated that he had to.

The book includes every television category that Westporters have contributed to:  dramas, comedies, soaps, sports, sitcoms, variety shows, quiz shows and more.

Lodge — and people like Victor Keppler (future founder of the Famous Photographers School, but in 1947 host of Dumont’s “Photographic Horizons” show), and actress Eva Le Gallienne (who did live classic plays on TV) — are featured in a special “Pioneers” chapter.

The book is filled with big names and little tidbits.  For example, in the 1940s stage actress Dorothy Bryce was Arlene Francis’ television hand model.

Lucy Ricardo reads a poster to Ethel Mertz in "Westport." It says: "Yankee Doodle Day Celebration -- Statue Dedication at Jessup (sic) Green."

In “I Love Lucy”‘s final season, the Ricardos and Mertzes “moved” from New York to Westport.  In one memorable episode Lucy destroyed the Minuteman statue, right before the “Yankee Doodle Day” celebration.

As for “Bewitched,” Elizabeth Montgomery and her family lived at “1164 Morning Glory Circle” in Westport.  If that sounds like a pseudo-local address with a California house number — hey, the series was filmed on a Hollywood lot.

Famous names cascade off the pages:  newscasters Doug Edwards, Pauline Frederick, Robert Hager, John MacVane, John Siegenthaler — and Gordon Joseloff.

Sportscasters Win Elliot, Sal Marchiano, Jim McKay and Brent Musburger.

Actors and actresses better know for movies and Broadway — Bette Davis, Michael Douglas, Mia Farrow, June Havoc, James Naughton, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward — also appeared in key roles during TV’s dramatic heyday.

And who can forget Rod Serling?  He wrote the seminal “Patterns” and “Requiem for a Heavyweight” dramas while living on High Point Road — and some of the best-remembered “Twilight Zone” episodes too.  Westport worked its way into more than one of those stories.

Westport today is filled with big TV screens.  A 55-inch screen is the new normal; 108-inch, 150-inch, even more ginormous sets are not rare.

Back in the day, Westport was filled with big TV stars.  Thanks to Wally and Denise Woods, Tom DeLong has lived long enough to honor them.

(The Westport Historical Society will host a book event on Thursday, August 4 [5-7 p.m.], and is selling TV Neighbors for $22 their Remarkable Gift Shop.  It’s also available for $19.95, plus $5 shipping for the 1st book and $1 for each additional book, from BearManor Media, PO Box 1129, Duncan, OK 73534; tel. 580-252-3547; email benohmart@gmail.com)

Westporters.com — the original Staples alumni site, which over the past decade morphed into much more — has unveiled an interactive database.  It’s the gold standard for Westport history.

And trivia.

Westport Historical Society, eat your heart out.

It starts just where you’d expect:  19,000 BCE (“Glacial ice melts, creating the spillway that formed the Saugatuck River”).

The next 13,000 years were pretty dull — kind of like the 1970s — but in 6000 BCE there was “evidence of prehistoric human activity in the Green’s Farms and Old Hill areas of Westport.”  (They probably were not yet called by those names).

An early Westport family amuses themselves. Back in the day there was no beach, no Black Duck, no Netflix -- amazing!

By 1000, Native Americans began growing corn, beans, pumpkins, squash and tobacco — in other words, everything sold at today’s Farmer’s Market, except for the devil’s weed.

The Pequot Indians prospered until 1637, when they were defeated by colonial troops in the Great Swamp War (near what is now the Southport line).

In 1648, the 5 “Bankside Farmers” acquired land from the Indians of Machamux in the area around present-day Beachside Avenue and Sherwood Island.  Westporters.com does not mention whether the Bankside Farmers promptly established 5 banks on the site.  I’m betting yes.

In 1654 Mary Staples  was accused by Roger Ludlowe of being a witch.  Her husband, Thomas Staples, sued for defamation, winning 10 pounds.  That established both the Westport sport of lawsuit-filing, and the Staples-Ludlowe rivalry that lives on in high school sports today.

The timeline picks up steam in the 1800s.  In 1846 Westporters vigorously 0pposed a railroad line.  After a bitter battle, the town failed to block construction of the tracks.  It’s a good thing no one fights anything in Westport today!

The 1st telephone was installed here in 1882, at Osborn’s general store downtown.  Just in case you were wondering.

Well, at least you could see what was around you when you pulled out of parking spots.

It was followed, in 1899, by the 1st automobiles.  Local blacksmith J. Nelson Bulkley proudly displayed his Stanley Steamer.  Interestingly, there was a blacksmith here through the 1960s — far after steam-powered buggies disappeared.

In 1902, Daniel Bradley challenged the ownership and public use of Compo Beach in Bridgeport court.  He lost, but ended up with a street named after him.  At the beach.

The Board of Finance was created in 1917, after the town “unexpectedly ran out of money.”  Look for something similar to happen on a national scale sometime this summer.

Also in 1917, Westport voters defeated a proposed local alcohol prohibition ordinance, 355-256.  Two years later, the national 18th Amendment passed.  From Saugatuck to the Penguin, and throughout the rest of town, no one heard the news.

The 1st traffic signals were installed here in 1929.  As with Prohibition, no one noticed — then or now.

A 1943 “Art Attack on the Axis” exhibition at the library raised $151,000.  In today’s money, that’s enough to fill your tank with gas for an entire 15 weeks.

Westporters.com notes various other events — our 1st condos in 1977, on the site of the old Rippe’s Farm; the new library, which opened in 1986 on the site of the old dump; the May 20, 2011 purchase of the post office building — but the historical dates tabs are only part of the database.

Click on “Businesses,” and you’ll find everything from the 1st general store in Saugatuck (opened in 1798), through Allen’s Clam and Lobster House (1890), Embalmers’ Supply Company (1891) and Remarkable Book Shop (1962) to the demolition of the Main Street Mobil gas station in 1986 (think Vineyard Vines).

The much-loved Remarkable Book Shop. Or, as we call it today, Talbots. (Photo/Westporters.com)

The “Churches & Temples” tab covers includes famous events like the moving of the Saugatuck Congregational building across and down the Post Road in 1950, to less well-known moments (the 1st record of Catholic services here was 1853 — “a small gathering at the Universalist Church”).

Are disasters your thing?  We’ve had our share, from the British torching of 15 homes and 11 barns in 1779, to the 1895 destruction by fire of the Tidal Mill (sounds like an Onion headline), and more.

The “People” tab includes famous names like Jesup, Nash, Coley, Sherwood and Winslow.  “Organizations” covers everything from the PTA (established 1897) and the Fairfield County Hunt Club (1923), through Little League (1952 — actually 1951, according to LL officials) and the World Affairs Center (1961).  It’s an eclectic list, befitting our town.

There are databases for politics, population, publications and schools as well.

It’s all searchable — and you can also access it through an all-encompassing PDF file.

“06880″ welcomes the Westporters.com history file.  Use it often, and well.

Though I don’t think it will stop people from emailing me questions like, “Do you remember the names of all the restaurants across from the place that used to be Toys R Us?…”

Back in the day, Westport was a farming community.  And by “the day,” I mean not only the early Puritan settlers, but the Indians we snagged the land from.

The Westport Historical Society has partnered with Wakeman Town Farm and the Westport Farmers’ Market to honor our agrarian tradition.  “Back to the Roots” includes not only the 4-part WHS exhibit on display across from Town Hall, but a summer-long series of programs and field trips.

Barns, stone walls, fresh food — they’re all part of “Roots.”

So are these fun facts:

• “Long Lots” got its name from the shape of early farming plots.
• Westport’s incorporation in 1835 resulted in large part from our successful maritime exportation of fish and produce to New York, Boston and beyond.
• Onion farmers used nutrient-rich seaweed as fertilizer.  During the Civil War, Westport was the leading onion supplier to the Union army.
• After 2 blights, onion growers switched to apples and cidering.  However, shellfishing continued, and Lloyd Nash developed a major ice harvesting business, revolutionizing local food preservation.

If you’re downtown for today’s parade, check out the Historical Society exhibit.  You’re sure to look at this afternoon’s cookout with fresh eyes.

(Special “Back to Our Roots” programs for food and farm lovers of all ages will run every Saturday at Wakeman Town Farm, Thursdays at the Farmer’s Market, and at various times at the Historical Society.  Click here for details.

Several years ago, Wendy helped restore the house.  She also did historical research, and provided website content.

The photo below, from Memorial Day around 1966,  shows a marching group — Machamux — as it approaches the house.

Wendy writes:

I’m not sure whether the Machamux group was a precursor to the Y’s Indian Guides and Princesses that used to meet out at Camp Mahackeno, or whether it was its own dad/son association.

I don’t think the Machamux group would get a passing grade in Westport anymore.  The feathers, tom-toms and totem poles were probably not routine gear for Westport’s native Americans.  Of course the last of the Connecticut Pequots were massacred by English colonists up in the Southport swamps.  And the Bankside Farmers purchased what is now Green’s Farms from the local native tribe who called the same land “Machamux.”

In his 1933 “Greens Farms” book, George Penfield Jennings writes, “On their own responsibility they decided at once, ‘with Yankee knack for a good bargain,’ to purchase the land from the Indians.”

Ah, Yankee ingenuity and a good bargain.  It makes me wonder if the “Indians” thought they got a good deal.  Whether it was a good deal or a bad one then, I’m sure they’d regret that deal now.

It wouldn’t be all bad to help Westport kids know that Westport once had inhabitants that looked and lived nothing like today’s residents.  Today we would be sure to portray the facts accurately and not proliferate stereotypes.

And, circling back to the photos and Memorial Day,  Wendy says, “It’s always fun to be reminded that the more things change, the more they remain the same.  The parade still marches past those same houses on Memorial Day, and people still line the streets to cheer on their kids or their favorite clubs, politicians and civic groups.”

The photo below shows Esta’s family in front of their home — the McLaury house.  Wendy is absolutely right.

Wendy concludes:

I head down to the parade every year because of the old-fashioned, hometown feel of it.  It’s one of Westport’s big gatherings.  It’s a day to remember our fallen heroes (which many unfortunately tend to forget), and a day to celebrate the start of summer with games and barbecues.

These photos reflect the past, but aren’t too far off from what still happens today.  It’s why I love that parade.  Hanging out on the sidewalks with people I know, and don’t, and cheering on the passing soccer teams and fire engines, makes me feel proud somehow.

It also makes me feel a little bit like a dork, except that the streets are lined with my homeys, parade dorks like me, clapping for their faves.  It’s a great way to express some gratitude and “feel the love,” especially in a town that is so often creating or fighting about change.

She moved to Staples (now Saugatuck Elementary) in 1948.

Vivien Testa

Ten years after that, she was part of the new high school campus on North Avenue.  (In fact — having minored in architecture — she helped design the place.  She has an enormous slide collection from that time, which she will donate to the Westport Library.)

Vivien Testa chaired the art department through the 1970s.

Today she celebrates her 99th birthday.

She is as sharp as  when she ruled the 4 Building.

“I do a lot of reading,” she says.  “People come to visit.  Other than that, I sit in my chair.”

Does she have a birthday message for her many fans and former students?

“Tell them I enjoyed them all,” she says.  “And they’re welcome to visit any time.”

—————————————————–

Several years ago, while writing my book Staples High School: 120 Years of A+ Education, I found an interview Vivien Testa had recorded for the Westport Historical Society oral history project.  Here is an excerpt:

My family spent summers in Westport, so I knew the town in 1936 when I came to teach art at Bedford Junior High School.  It was the Depression, and my father said I was taking a job away from a man who needed one.

In 1936 the school had a place in the life of the community.  Teachers knew what they were expected to do and not do.  For example, teachers were not supposed to smoke.  But the faculty played basketball against the youngsters, and put on plays for them.  There was a feeling we were all growing and learning together.

When Mrs. Holden, the arts supervisor, left in 1948, I took over.  We had a lovely art room in the building on Riverside Avenue.  It was good size, and well lit.  There were 15 to 20 students in a class, and I taught 4 or 5 classes a day. Westport was growing as an arts colony.

I still carried nearly a full teaching load, but I was given one or two afternoons a week to supervise.  There were three townwide directors in art, music and physical education.  Those were considered special subjects, and the principals were not trained in them.  But the Board of Education members and superintendent really knew teachers.  They came into the classroom all the time.

Pop Amundsen was the custodian, and his wife ran the cafeteria.  They set the tone for Staples.  If they saw youngsters doing anything out of line, they let them know.  Students respected them just as much as the principal.

Everything was in apple pie order.  No one dared mark a desk.  We were a small family.  Education at that time was a family business.  Teachers and students and parents all felt responsible for what was happening.  There was no closing eyes to what was going on.  Everyone respected what was happening.

We got help from a lot of places.  The Westport Women’s Club had a $350 art competition, and when Famous Artists School came in they gave scholarships.  Al Dorne [a founder of Famous Schools] always helped.  He’d produce booklets for new teachers or students. He underwrote hundreds of dollars.

I was involved in the plans for the North Avenue building.  I worked with the architects, Sherwood, Mills and Smith.  I minored in architecture, so I was able to lay out my ideas about what I wanted to have.  It worked nicely for me, except when they cut this, that and the other thing, and we ended up with just a mishmash.  That was kind of too bad.  But it was still better than you would find in many places.

The "new" Staples, circa 1959. The auditorium (center left) and gym (largest building in the rear) are the only original structures that remain today.

There were many bugs in the building that had to be taken care of.  A 3rd art room was cut out of the original plan, and a wing in the auditorium was cut.  We had to put all the crafts stuff – kilns, etc. – in 2 rooms designed for 2-D stuff.  Then when they added Building 9 a few years later, they added a 3-D room, and extended the stage.

Before they did that, a ballet company came to use the stage.  The stage had only been planned for lectures and assemblies, not theater – there was no room for stage sets.  As you face the stage, there was a brick wall on the right, and a passageway and electric panel on the left.  A handsome male dancer ran right into the brick wall.  Performers had to dress in the art rooms, too.  It was quite a mess.

There was one boys’ and one girls’ bathroom – none for the faculty.  I learned a great deal about youth by using that bathroom.  But we always took an interest in keeping our building beautiful, because art is beauty.

It should be one of the first.

At least, while Larry Untermeyer’s “Zoom in on Westport” photo exhibit is up.

Last summer and fall, Larry was a frequent flyer in Chuck Tanner’s Cessna 182.  The result:  stunning aerial photos of town, now hanging on the wall just around the corner from the auditorium.

Larry captured Westport in all our verdant and leafy glory.  The beach, Longshore, downtown, Staples — it’s all there, from a perspective you’ve never seen before.

Larry’s photos show how amazing our town is.  How small downtown is.  How much open space remains.  Who knew?

The photos hung, until recently, at the Westport Historical Society.  At Town Hall, they’re even more accessible.

Unless, that is, all those realtors and home buyers won’t let you near.

Amazing how rural the town was back then.  This reminded me that a long time ago, a local photographer told me he had old movies of Westport.  They included film shot from a car driving up and down the Post Road.  I can’t remember who he was (I think his studio was on South Compo, a block or two from the Post Road).

Have you ever heard of such movies?  Is there anything like that at the Westport Historical Society?  Perhaps you could ask your readers.  Someone must know about these.  Or have their own.

Someone must know.  And many Westporters must have movies, from the days when we actually filmed (rather than “videotaped”) our lives.

So the question becomes:  What next?  How can we (or who should) collect, organize and make available what must be a treasure trove of Westport film?

“06880″ readers are a passionate, creative and (in a good way) obsessive bunch.  Click “Comments” if you’ve got a good idea about this project.

The Fine Arts Theatre is gone -- but it must live on in some old movies taken around town.

But what does that mean?  What actually happened in an “artists’ colony”?

For one thing, illustrators shared stories, ideas — and drinks — on the train home from New York, where they worked day jobs in advertising, PR, publishing and magazines.

For another, there were some wild parties, involving artists, artists’ hangers-on, alcohol, swimming pools and whatnot.  I’ve heard plenty of stories, from plenty of sources.

But living in an artists’ colony was serious work too. There were regular “sketch classes” — not classes, really, but gatherings of artists and artist-wannabes, who gathered to draw or paint from live models.

These gatherings took place in studios, basements, or anywhere else large enough for a model stand, easels and chairs, lights, and random props.

After 30 minutes of drawing, the models took breaks.  That’s when the artists walked around, critiqued each other’s work, and schmoozed.

Remington Schuyler — a Boy’s Life magazine illustrator – held a sketch class in his Westport home.

John Steuart Curry's famous -- and controversial -- John Brown mural, for the Kansas statehouse.

In 1932, weekly sketch classes met at Edward C. Nash’s home (now Nash’s Corner).  Among the regular attendees:  John Steuart Curry, Robert Lambdin and Rose O’Neill.  (She created the Kewpie doll.)

Bob Baxter and Ann Toulmin-Rothe held a sketch class in the mill building on  Richmondville Avenue.

Robert Fawcett — one of the 10 Famous Artists’ founding members — ran classes in the company building on Wilton Road (now Save the Children).

But sketch classes have not gone the way of Famous Artists School.  (I know, it still exists — but it’s a shell of its former self, and long gone from Westport.)

Howard Munce — the 95-year-old, sharp-as-an-illustrator’s-pen living legend of Westport’s artists’ colony days — still attends a sketch class at Elizabeth Gaynor’s house in Southport.  It’s a cross-section of old Westport artists, others from the area, and younger folks with whom the veterans happily share their knowledge and humor.

Howard Munce (Photo by Kristen Rasich Fox)

Now, the Westport Historical Society honors all that with “The Sketch  Class:  A Westport Tradition.”  The exhibit chronicles the history and significance of Westport’s sketch classes , and features a great group of artists of all ages.

It opens on Sunday (Jan. 30), and runs through April 30.  It kicks off with a free, open reception this Sunday, 3-5 p.m.

The exhibit is curated by Howard Munce himself.  So in addition to learning about sketch classes, if you go to Sunday’s reception you’ll learn all about Westport’s “artists’ colony” past — from a man who was there then, and still creates art today.

(For more information on the Westport Historical Society’s “Sketch Class” exhibit, click here or call 203-222-1424.)

We took off from Sikorsky Airport.  Banking over Bridgeport and flying west, a remarkable thing happened:  I “saw” the border separating the city from Fairfield.  Because of suburban zoning regulations, the demarcation — in foliage, home sizes and density — was as clear from the air as if a line was drawn on a map.

A couple of minutes later, approaching Westport, the same thing happened.  This time was even more dramatic.  2,000 feet in the sky, I felt as if I was seeing a map.

Google Maps has brought satellite views to laptops and cellphones.  But I’ve never forgotten the images of that flight.

Westport, looking east over the Post Road bridge. Note the small size of downtown; the surprising amount of foliage -- and the proximity of the Saugatuck/King's Highway School athletic complex (lower right) to downtown.

I thought about that experience recently, when I read about the Westport Historical Society’s upcoming exhibits:  “Zoom in on Westport” and “Putting Westport on the Map.”  Opening this Sunday (Oct. 3, 3-5 p.m.), they combine 2 fascinating elements of Westport life:  aerial views, and the changing map of our town.

“Zoom In” features bird’s-eye photos taken by photographer Larry Untermeyer.  If they’re anything like what I saw on my flight, they’ll open your eyes to a Westport far different from the one you thought you knew.

Compo Beach, for example, does not lie directly opposite Long Island; it juts out at a sharp angle.  And the Post Road, that straight shot through town from Fairfield to Norwalk?  It twists and turns every few yards.

The Sherwood Mill Pond covers more area than we imagine -- and its contours are more irregular than we think.

The 2nd exhibit includes maps from long before Westport’s official incorporation, and a “humorous” town map from 1921.

The WHS’ iconic 1878 map — listing every downtown harness maker, coal merchant and dry goods purveyor, plus the homes of Westporters with names like Jessup, Gorham and Treadwell — will no doubt be displayed too.  It provides a perspective on this place you’ll never get from a book or news clippings.

You may not get to fly over Westport soon.  But the Westport Historical Society will provide a grounding in our town’s history you won’t forget.

(The Westport Historical Society’s exhibits run through January 8.  For more information click here or email info@westporthistory.org.)

News of the Westport Historical Society’s Sept. 25 The British Are Coming! bus tour — commemorating our Revolutionary War claim to fame — brought to mind a pet peeve of his:

The lopsided, cluttered sign at the corner of Post Road East and South Compo.

As any bicyclist or jogger knows, Compo Beach is not “one mile south” of the street sign.  The British might have wished it were so — they marched all the way north from there to Danbury where they demolished an ammunition depot; burned 19 houses, 22 stores and barns; destroyed food, clothing, medical equipment, tents, candles and a printing press, then trooped all the way back to their boats moored off Compo — but it is definitely more than a mile.

Which brings to mind an important question:  If something as simple as that distance can be wrong, how accurate is everything else on all those historical markers?

You could do far worse than click on the Longshore 50th anniversary website.

Hosted by the Westport Historical Society, it’s a fascinating — and extremely professional — romp through more than a century of Longshore life.  Long before it was a town park — even before it was a thriving club — the land between Compo and the river hummed with activity.

That’s George Lawrence (above).  His father — Alexander Lawrence — was a wealthy New Yorker who in 1868 purchased 68 acres of farmland on what is now Longshore.  Alexander made his money important fruit and statuary.  As the Longshore 50th site notes, George is standing on “the fruits of his father’s labor.”

This is the “Longshore Lookout Tower” — but growing up in the 1960s, we always called it “the lighthouse.”  If you’re walking through the pavilion toward the pool, the tower would be on your left.  It was torn down sometime in the ’60s or early ’70s.  Why?  Who knows?

Here’s the Inn at Longshore, looking barren and bleak.  Perhaps this picture was taken during the time the inn nearly went bankrupt.

Those photos — and many more — are on the Longshore 50th website.  You’ll also find maps, and video interviews with sailing school managers past and present, golf superintendent Don Rackliffe, former town officials like Jackie Heneage, Ted Diamond and Bill Steffen, and more.

There are audio interviews with folks like 97-year-old Pat Lucci, who played golf with Bob Hope and Bert Lahr.  (The “Cowardly Lion” was Longshore Beach & Country Club champ in 1935).

And there are newspaper clippings and maps, along with a blog and calendar of events.

Plenty of website for things like 50th anniversary celebrations are half-hearted, lifeless and littered with dead links.

This one is dynamic, fresh, handsome — and always new.

Just like Longshore itself.

Every Westporter worth his salt knows the Minuteman statue.

It’s how we give directions to the beach.  We put ski caps on its head, and flowers in its musket.

It commemorates Westport’s most historic only wartime exploits: 2 Revolutionary War battles.

It’s as much a part of this place as stone walls and Long Island Sound.

So it may surprise you to learn that the Minuteman statue is just 100 years young.

Tomorrow (Thursday, June 17) at 4 p.m. the Westport Historical Society is sponsoring a centennial celebration of H. Daniel Webster’s statue.  It takes place at Compo Beach.

Which makes today a perfect time to look back, and learn exactly what the Minuteman commemorates.

As Woody Klein recounts in his book Westport, Connecticut:  The Story of a New England Town’s Rise to Prominence, on April 25, 1777 a fleet of British warships anchored off Compo Beach.  The Redcoats were headed to Danbury, a colonial supply center.

The landing of 1,850 men was virtually uncontested.  A group of 18 men gathered behind a stone wall near the corner of Compo and Post Roads.  They killed a British major and wounded 3 others.

But the British pressed north.  In Danbury they demolished an ammunition depot; burned 19 houses, 22 stores and barns; and destroyed food, clothing, medical equipment, tents, candles and a printing press.

On the way back, the colonists offered more resistance.  In Ridgefield General Benedict Arnold — before he became a bad guy — rallied the local militia, and had his horse shot out from under him.

The next day, a Tory named Deliverance Bennett warned the British about an ambush planned here, on Old Hill.  They doubled back, crossing the Saugatuck River at Ford Road.

Benedict Arnold rushed to intercept the redcoats near the Kings Highway Bridge.  He led a charge — but none of his 200 militiamen followed.

“Arnold then rushed to the foot of Compo Hill where a full-scale battle was fought,” Klein wrote, “forcing the British to fight their way back to their ships in the harbor.”  The colonial troops, led by Colonel John Lamb, forced the British into a shoulder-to-shoulder charge, with fixed bayonets.  The maneuver demoralized the colonial forces, and the British made it to their ships.

The British lost 300 men, while more than 100 Connecticut militiamen were killed.  According to Klein, the British later claimed the resistance they met was more severe than what they faced at Lexington and Concord.

Two years later — on July 6, 1779 — the British returned to the area, with up to 3,000 men.  At Green’s Farms they torched 15 homes, 11 barns, several stores and the second Green’s Farms meetinghouse.  (Deacon Ebenezer Jesup and his wife Abigail did manage to save the Green’s Farms Congregational Church’s silver Communion set, by lowering it down a well.)

Which brings us back to the Minuteman statue.  Symbolizing the Connecticut Militia under the leadership of Colonel Lamb, it was sculpted by Webster from a composite of militia descendants.  Former first selectman Lewis P. Wakeman reportedly also sat as a model.

The dedication took place in 1910 — 9 years after two cannons were placed at Compo Beach, on the exact spot where the British landed.

So why does the Minuteman face away from the beach?

He’s looking north, toward Compo Hill — where the final, most successful battle took place.

The Minuteman statue in 1912 -- 2 years after its dedication.

Daniel Nash

Thanks to the wonders of the Westport Historical Society, Daniel Nash returned this afternoon to the Saugatuck Congregational Church.

In an amazing coincidence, Nash — who was instrumental in persuading the Connecticut General Assembly to create a new entity out of the existing towns of Fairfield, Norwalk and Weston — reappeared on the exact 175th anniversary of the May 28, 1835 date Westport was founded.

A crowd of history-minded 21st-century Westporters was astonished to see other founding Westport fathers as well, including Horace Staples and the very 1st 1st selectman.

Many in the crowd remarked on the incredible resemblance of Daniel Nash to Craig Matheson, who 50 years ago created the Staples Players drama troupe.

After Nash, Staples and others spoke — and fellow Westporters described town highlights from the past 175 years — refreshments were served.  Great Cakes — which only seems like it’s been here forever — donated the cake.

But the Westport Historical Society is taking note of the decade-long Kids’ Wall at the Longshore pool.  If something that’s only as old as the millennium can be honored by historians, it’s good enough for “06880.”

Today (May 28), the WHS unveils an exhibit paying tribute to the “dedication, tenacity and spirit of a passionate group who fought Town Hall to bring the project to fruition.”

Okay, so it wasn’t the Minutemen trying (unsuccessfully) to beat back the British at Compo Beach.  It’s still a good story.

The 6-foot high, 44-foot long Kids’ Arts Wall, decorated with 32,000 hand-placed tiles, was first proposed in 1998 by Westport artist/teacher Katherine Ross.

“There were very few activities for middle schoolers at the time,” she recalls.  “There were no arcades, no bowling alley, no movie theaters.”  (Not like today!)

“They were being kicked out of downtown stores for loitering.  We wanted to show these kids they had a creative voice.”

She and fellow artist Miggs Burroughs envisioned a spot near the library.  But the P and Z, other politicians and some Westporters feared — well, everything:  Visual clutter.  Skateboarders atop the wall.  Amplification of sound from the Levitt Pavilion.  Headlights reflecting against the wall, causing accidents.  The list was more dire than the plagues at a Passover seder.

Finally, Steve and Toni Rubin suggested the Longshore pool.  Bingo!

Middle school students submitted 1400 drawings.  Using a variety of media — and little treasures like quarters, beads, even notes about water safety — the wall was built and decorated in 3 months.

What Burroughs believes to be “the largest piece of children’s art in Connecticut” was unveiled on May 28, 2000.

Ten years later, the WHS exhibit will include an actual-size photo replica of the wall, newspaper clippings and interactive mosaic art opportunities.  The event is a focus of the WHS Time Travelers Camp sessions, which take place during the summer.  It will serve as a springboard for a study of the sea.

Middle schoolers who participated in the project are especially invited to today’s exhibit.  Of course, they may recall it as ancient history.

After all, they’re now in their early 20s.

(The Westport Historical Society exhibit begins with a reception today [May 28], from 5-7 p.m.  It also honors the 50th anniversary of the town’s purchase of Longshore.  Earlier today — 3 p.m. at Saugatuck Congregational Church — town officials and noted citizens celebrate the 175th anniversary of Westport’s charter, with a unique ceremony [and a birthday cake].  For more information, click here or call 203-222-1424.)

As a child he lived in a South Compo Road home designed by Peters, arguably Westport’s most famous architect.

Today he lives in another Peters house on Spring Hill Road.  Neighboring homes are also Peters-built.

Adam Stolpen's Frazier Peters house. (Photo by Douglas Healey/The New York Times)

This Saturday (April 24), Stolpen will host Laura Blau.  Peters’ granddaughter — and an architect in her own right — she and Stolpen will ride around Westport, looking at the handsome stone homes created in the 1920s and ’30s by her grandfather.

Her visit comes at a propitious time.  The Westport Historical Society is considering a 2011 exhibit devoted to Peters.  Under the direction of Bob Weingarten, the WHS is also identifying Westport homes designed and built by the legendary architect.

They’ve found 25 so far.  Ten more are being investigated.  They’re on the lookout for others.

Though Weingarten will be away when Blau visits, she’ll have a full itinerary.  And she’ll enjoy seeing — first hand — the mark her grandfather made on Westport.

Writer Susan Farewell wrote about Peters:

Were Frazier Peters to build houses today, he’d be receiving all sorts of accolades for being an architect on the leading edge of environmentally-conscious, energy-efficient, sustainable design and construction.

The thick fieldstone walls (as much as 16 inches) typical of a Peters stone house make them energy-efficient; the stones effectively hold the heat in winter and keep the interiors cools in summer….

He segregated rooms by giving each one a separate identity, and through the use of step-downs, varied building materials, and interesting transitions. He was also taken by how beautifully European stone structures aged and compared them to American-built frame houses that “droop and pout if they are not continually groomed and manicured.”

Another important component of Peters’ designs was the marriage of the house and its surroundings. He wrote a great deal about this and was especially enamored with the brooks, hillsides, and woods of Connecticut.

Stolpen has a copy of Peters’ final — and unpublished — book.  Decades ago, the architect wrote about urban planning.  “He was our first ‘green architect,’” Stolpen says.  “And he was completely self-taught.

“These are definitely not cookie-cutter McMansions.  They are homes meant to be lived in.  And each one has a bit of whimsy.”

The rear of Adam Stolpen's house. (Photo by Douglas Healey/The New York Times)

Blau — who co-founded BluPath Design, a Philadelphia firm specializing in environmentally sensitive spaces — has been to Westport before.  Stolpen drove her around.

“We just looked at the homes,” she recalls.  “One or two people were in their yards.  We introduced ourselves, and chatted.”  For the 1st time she understood the depth, breadth and impact of her grandfather’s work.

This weekend, she hopes to get inside more properties.  She also plans to meet WHS volunteers who are considering next year’s Peter’s exhibit.

Blau, her husband and son will stay in Stolpen’s guest house.  Of course it’s a Frazier Peters structure — built elegantly to house masons, as they worked on other Peters homes that still stand proudly, all around town.

(If you think you live in a Frazier Peters house — and the WHS does not know about it — email Bob Weingarten: rwmailbox@aol.com.  If you’d like Blau and Stolpen to see your house when she is in town, call Stolpen at 203-227-8758.)

The go-to place for information about the 50th anniverary of Westport’s purchase of Longshore, it takes some drilling to get to — or just click here.

The site includes information on the 169-acre park, and the year-long celebration that begins soon.  There is a donation form to help defray expenses.

Contact info is also available for anyone wishing to contribute memories, photos, movies or other memorabilia.

The calendar of events includes upcoming Westport Historical Society and Westport Public Library Longshore exhibitions; the Rotary Club’s golf and tennis outing honoring Herb Baldwin, the former first selectman and key mover in the 1960 purchase; and Longshore Sailing School’s own 50-year reunion. 

If that doesn’t wet whet your appetite, the 50th anniversary committee meets tomorrow (Thursday, April 8, 7 p.m., Town Hall Room 201).  The public is invited to attend.

Longshore, back in the day

We’ve still got a few barbers in Westport — though many have morphed into “stylists” — but who has the time to sit around for an hour and yak?

Hold your horses.  A few months ago, 6 long-time Westporters did just that.  They gathered in Tommy Ghianuly’s Compo Barber Shop.  For several hours they talked about this town in the 1950s.

Normally such a gabfest would have less staying power than clipped hair on the floor.  But the oldtimers’ session was recorded for posterity — and arranged by — filmmaker Chuck Tannen.  Now it — and those memories of long-ago Westport — will live forever.

“The End of an Era — Westport in the 1950s” was Chuck’s idea.  He solidified it, appropriately enough, while Tommy was cutting his hair.

Chuck spent his career in journalism.  A year and a half ago he got interested in film.  He took courses at NYU and in San Francisco.  When he heard the Westport Historical Society needed help converting a series of interviews onto DVDs, he swung into action.

One of those DVDs included 3 very interesting residents — Ed See, Leo Nevas and Allen Raymond – talking about our town back in the day.  By the time Chuck delivered his work to the WHS, Ed and Leo had died.

Not longer after, Chuck was telling Tommy — his barber forever, whose walls are plastered with photos of old Westport — that the town’s collective memory was fading fast.  An idea took hold:  invite people to Compo Barbers, to talk about town life in the ’50s.

Which is how First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, former Staples sports star Vince De Pierro, artists Tracy Sugarman and Howard Munce, former disc jockey Ed Baer, and George Marks — who joined the police force in 1947 — came to Tommy’s one Sunday.

They talked.  A 6-man crew recorded them.  Now — 5 months later — the finished product is ready to be shown.

“It’s a reminiscence,” Chuck says.  “Anecdotes about a small town that was friendly and tight.”

The men discuss everything from why artists were attracted to Westport, to the Y’s role as a town center, to the joys of hanging out on Main Street.

“It was the end of an era — a time of innocence,” Chuck explains.  “The war was over.  People wanted to get on with their lives.  It was a quiet period, before all the upheavals of the ’60s.”

Life was not always as pleasant as it seemed.  There was anti-Semitism — particularly in housing.  That came up during the filming — along with the story of how the “Gentleman’s Agreement” was broken.

The 40-minute film premieres at the Westport Library on Tuesday, April 6 (2 p.m.) and Wednesday, April 7 (7 p.m.).  Discussions will follow.  Some of the “stars” will be at both showings.

And after those 2 screenings?  Chuck hopes his film will be shown at the Senior Center; in schools — and to any other audience that remembers, or wishes they knew, what life here was like back then.

But when it comes to describing this town to potential buyers, many of them are like Sam Cooke.  You know — “don’t know much about history.”

The Westport Historical Society has ridden to the rescue.

Literally.

Last week, they sponsored 2 “Westport for Dummies” tours.  Like other WHS tours of the past 3 years — on foot and by kayak, as well as aboard bus — the idea was to introduce Westporters to areas of town they see every day, but don’t really know.

Last week’s tours drew nearly 50 dummies people each.  Realtors were the main target — history, after all, can be as much a selling point as schools, the beach, and his-and-her closets the size of Latin American countries — but anyone was welcome.

The guides were Westport’s best:  town historian Allen Raymond; former police chief and RTM member Ron Malone, and 11th-generation Westporter Peter Jennings.

Ron Malone, Peter Jennings and Allen Raymond -- with over 2 centuries worth of Westport life between them -- prepare for their tour. (Photo by Larry Untermeyer)

The route closely followed one designed in the 1960s by Bessie Jennings — the woman who taught generations of 3rd graders the same history the realtors are learning now.

Highlights ranged from the cannons at Compo  — which were not there in 1777; if they had been, maybe our ancestors would not have waved like matadors as the British landed and marched through before pillaging Danbury — to Parker Harding Plaza.

Why a municipal parking lot?

As the dummies people on tour found out, it’s historically significant.  Until 1955, the Saugatuck River lapped against the backs of Main Street stores.  The lot — sometimes snidely called “Harder Parking” — is all landfill.

The newest old stop on the tour was the Inn at National Hall.  Built by Horace Staples in the mid-1800s, site of graduations, dances, plays, concerts, basketball games, a bank and a furniture store, it faded into history earlier this month when the award-winning hotel was peremptorily shut by its owner.

The tour also included Beachside Avenue — not because it is lined with bajillion-dollar homes every realtor would kill to sell, but because it’s where the Bankside Farmers (some of our earliest forebears) settled in 1648.

Like any good tour, this one ended with giveaways.  Attendees received maps and highlight sheets.

So the next time dummies realtors show Westport off to newcomers, they’ll swing by Burying Hill Beach and say authoritatively, “The name is quite meaningful.  At one time, this was actually an Indian burial mound.”

Then again – mindful of  beachgoers barbecuing blissfully atop the hill — maybe not.

Ignorance is bliss.

Many folks who left long ago — even those who lived here only briefly — still consider themselves Westporters.  A large number are avid “06880″ fans.

One — a woman named Brenda — emailed me last weekend.  She said:

I really enjoy this blog.

I spent my young years in Westport in the 1960′s, and have nostalgia for those days.  I really miss it and dream about it.  It seems so changed, but somehow the same in some ways.

A view any Westporter can relate to.

I grew up off of Main Street and then on Bridge Street.  It was almost magical, even though they seemed like plain ordinary neighborhoods.  The spooky abandoned houses on our street, the embalming fluid factory at the end of our road gave us kids major nightmares!  And the beach, Big Top hamburgers, all of it is etched in my memory.

The book signings at The Remarkable Bookshop, Rico’s Hair Salon on Main, Carrols, the Carousel toy shop — I really wish I had stayed in Westport for my teen to college years.  I visited several times when I lived in NYC in my 20′s.  It was changing then, but still so much the same.

I would love to move back with my husband, but does it in any way resemble the Westport in our day?  The magic in my mind of Westport is perhaps unrealistic from all of the comments I’ve read about how much it has changed.

Thanks for all of these memories.

Brenda is not the 1st person to ask such a question.  It’s a great one — and not easy to answer.  Here’s my attempt, in an email back to her:

Thanks, Brenda — much appreciated.  We definitely grew up in a magical time, and you’ve nailed many important memories, places and events.

Remember Westport Bank & Trust? It's now Patagonia.

So is Westport the same?  Yes and no.  Some nice old homes have been torn down.  Places like Welch’s Hardware, Remarkable and Selective Eye — the stores that made downtown so memorable and homey — are long gone; the chains that replaced them have sucked the soul out of Main Street.

Kids don’t ride their bikes all over town; they don’t walk to school; they don’t play running bases at the end of cul-de-sacs.

BUT — you hoped this was coming — many newcomers are as involved in Westport as our parents were.  They are intelligent, creative, hard-working, and just as dedicated to making this a true community as previous generations.  They’re doing good things for others, and having a great time in the process.

Our school system is in tremendous shape.  I know Staples best — and with a dynamic principal, an outstanding staff, superb facilities and a remarkable student body, this could be the “best” Staples has ever been (however you measure such a thing).  That’s really saying something.  From everything I see and hear the middle schools and elementary schools are also highly regarded, and in excellent shape.

Despite being overbuilt (and over-banked), Westport remains an incredibly beautiful town. As Longshore celebrates its 50th anniversary as a municipal park; Compo retains its grace and allure; trees grow, leaves turn and snow falls — this really is a special place.

You didn’t say where you live now.  But if you’re close by, I hope you can get to the Westport Historical Society on Saturday, March 6.  From 1-4 p.m. there’s a party celebrating a very cool map and exhibit of “Main Street Memories.”  It’s dedicated to the downtown of the 1960s.  You’ll enjoy looking back — but you can also see Westport’s present, and envision our future.

I hope that helps.  Thanks again for writing.  I’d love to see you on March 6 — and, soon after, as a neighbor.

That’s my 2 cents.  But I’m just one guy.  I invite other Westporters — wherever in the world you live — to toss in your own thoughts.  Click the “Comments” tab at the top or bottom of this post.

Let’s give Brenda a piece of our Westport minds.