Here at “06880” headquarters, we like to mix up our Photo Challenges.
Some Sundays, we test you with obscure, arcane or devilishly cropped images.
Other times, they take a bit of work.
Once in a while, the shot is so recognizable, readers think it’s a trick.
Last week was one of those slam dunks.
Diane Lowman’s photo indeed showed the Green’s Farms train station.* Only 1 reader out of 2 dozen got it wrong (the nearby post office). (Click here to see.)
Congratulations, and a blast of the horn to John Maloney, Rob Hauck, Susan Lloyd, John McKinney, Jan Carpenter, Rachel Sara Halperin, Derek Fuchs, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Ivy Gosseen, Sal Liccione, Jack Backiel, Seth Schachter, Beth Berkowitz, Amy Schneider, W. Gibson, Genevieve Stone, Larry Ackerman and John Kelley.
Of course, the quaint railroad stop — with its small wooden waiting area, and almost rural vibe — is a quiet cousin to the bustling Saugatuck depot.
There may be some Westporters — including recent arrivals — who don’t even know it’s there.
Shhhh. It’s our little secret.
I rate this week’s Photo Challenge as mid-tier. Your mileage may vary. But if you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Andrew Bangser)
*Green’s Farms (as it’s rendered here, with an apostrophe) or Greens Farms (without)? That’s a discussion for another day.
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
On November 12 (7 p.m., Bedford Middle School), the Westport Police Department and Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection offer an eye-opening presentation: “Behind the Screen: What Parents Need to Know About Online Safety.”
You’ll learn about networks like 764, which target teenagers through gaming, social media and other online communities.
Do you know what they’re watching?
new juice bar, bowl spot opening downtown
Spilling the tea: Barvida is coming to Westport.
The juice bar — offering (in its words) “organic, plant-based smoothies, cold-pressed juices, superfood bowls, and gourmet toasts, health food with zero compromise on flavor” — will move soon into vacant Post Road East space, on the block anchored by South Moon Under.
“Coming when it’s done,” the storefront says semi-helpfully.
Hill sat for a candid evening of stories, laughs, revelations, and behind-the-curtain moments — with Emmy winner Jeff Hiller
Murray Hill, at the Westport Library. (Photo/DinkinESH Fotografix)
WESTERN CONNECTICUT HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN
Eighteen communities have worked with the Western Connecticut Council of Governments to update the Western Connecticut Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan.
It outlines actions to take to reduce losses of property and life due to natural disasters like floods, severe wind, winter storms, wildfires, droughts, extreme heat events and earthquakes.
A virtual meeting on October 22 (6 p.m., Zoom) will provide information about the plan. Attendees will have a chance to ask questions about their communities.
WestCOG is approaching the completion of its Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update for 2026 and is moving into the public comment process. WestCOG is kicking this process off with a webinar to summarize the content of the plan and collect questions and comments from the public.
How can we mitigate future natural hazards? WestCOG could help. (Photo/Stacie Curran)
CLASSICAL SINGER TO ENTERTAIN AT TUNNEL OF LOVE …
The Tunnel of Love — the walkway between Main Street and Parker Harding Plaza — has some of the best outdoor acoustics in town. (Check out the Staples Orphenians, during the annual “06880” Westport Downtown Association Stroll.)
This Friday (October 23, 11:45 a.m.), Chloe Beth will entertain passersby there, with a special program.
Vocalist Chloë Beth is classically trained. She sings all genres, including opera, jazz, musical theater and pop.
She specializes in classical music. It really wows the crowd.
Especially — as will be the case Friday — when the acoustics are great.
Chloe Beth will sing at the Tunnel of Love, this Friday.
… and moca hosts international piano competition
Speaking of music: MoCA\CT hosts an international event next month.
On November 14, MoCA\CT welcomes 3 outstanding young pianists for the final round of the 54th annual Heida Hermanns International Music Competition.
Selected from an outstanding pool of talent, each finalist performs a 45-minute program, spanning 5 centuries of piano repertoire. Each will also debut a commissioned work by composer Samuel Adams. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Last month, “06880” reported on Alice Ely’s presentation at Wakeman Town Farm.
The monarch butterfly watch conservation specialist helped youngsters release “Petey,” and provided a fascinating peek into the science behind monarch migration.
Before the butterfly took off, Alice attached a tiny radio tag to his back using eyelash adhesive. The transmitter weighs no more than a grain of rice, so it’s light enough for Petey to fly freely.
WTF reports that he’s now made it to Louisiana. He’s on his way to Mexico, where he and millions of other monarchs stay until late winter.
Petey is the first monarch ever released from Connecticut with this type of radio tag.
As temperatures warm and the days get longer, they receive their cue to head north, where they mate and lay eggs on the first milkweed they find — often in Texas.
To follow his journey, download the Project Monarch app, then search for Petey2026. You can track his migration in real time as he flies south.
NOTE: The tiny tags are powered by solar cells, so Petey may occasionally disappear from the radar while his tag recharges.
Petey’s journey south.
SEASONAL FOOD, WARMTH AT LACHAT TOWN FARM
Chef Molly Healey grew up in Westport and Weston. S
Now she’s back home, raising a family. And Molly is eager to give back, in the best way she knows: through food, warmth and gathering.
She’s getting ready to open Hemma Café in Weston Center next year.
Before that, on November 14 (7 p.m.), Weston’s Lachat Town Farm welcomes her for a delicious, seasonal meal.
The Johnson & Wales University graduate will prepare kale and squash salad, fennel orange roasted chicken, roasted eggplant, garlic braised greens, trumpet mushrooms, smashed fried potatoes, fresh buttermilk pancakes and pastries. Spiced cider spritz will be served; guests can bring their own beverages.
Westport resident Pasquale Razzano died peacefully on Wednesday, surrounded by his family. He was 83.
A graduate of Georgetown Law School, Pasquale practiced intellectual property law for over 50 years. He won victories for clients like Rubik’s Cube, Disney, Beatrix Potter and Mars.
He also led bar associations, homeowner groups and country clubs.
Pasquale was a devoted fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. He was also a traveler, a fisherman, a “cowboy born in the wrong state, and a pirate born 200 years too late.”
He loved being on his boat, watching the sunset, drinking
margaritas or martinis, and listening to Jimmy Buffet and Willie Nelson.
He and his wife Maryann — who he met in high school — visited over 35 countries, on 6 continents.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children Elizabeth Razzano (Terry), Pasquale Razzano, Jr., Susan Razzano and Christyann Weltens (Jerrett); grandchildren Rainia Razzano, Michael and Cecilia Weltens, siblings Frank Razzano and Theresa Oliveira, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
A wake will be held at his home, 21 Covlee Drive, on Thursday (October 22, 4 to 7 p.m. A funeral Mass is set for Church of the Assumption on Friday (October 23, 10 a.m.).
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or Parkinson’s Foundation.
“WESTPORT … NATURALLY” & SONG OF THE DAY
This sly guy posed perfectly in Weston, near green grass and colorful flowers, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo feature.
(Photo/Sandy Rothenberg)
And finally … on that note (above):
(From floods and opera singers to juice bars, “06880” keeps you up on all things Westport. If you enjoy learning about our town — or anything else we do — please click here to support us. Thanks!)
Clayton Chalfant — one of Westport’s last World War II veterans, who landed at Omaha Beach, helped establish our town’s sister city relationship with Marigny-le-Lezon, served as grand marshal of our Memorial Day parade, and 2 years ago received the Legion of Honor, France’s highest honorary distinction — died Tuesday. He was 102.
Friends and family will meet at St. Luke Church at 10 a.m. this Friday (October 23). A funeral Mass will follow at 11.
In February of 2024, when Clayton turned 100, “06880” honored him with this story.
In mid-20th century Westport, the name Clayton Chalfant was a familiar one.
A heavy machine gunner who landed at Omaha Beach shortly after D-Day, he helped establish our town’s sister city relationship with Marigny-le-Lezon, a Normandy town he had passed through.
Nearly 80 years later, the two towns’ ties remain strong.
So does Chalfant. Today, he celebrates his 100th birthday.
Two views of Clayton Chalfant.
He’s not a Westport native — but he comes close. Soon after his February 21, 1924 birth in Killingly, Connecticut, his family moved to Westport.
They lived on Compo Road and in an apartment on Main Street (possibly above the original Klein’s store) before settling in a home on Kings Highway.
Chalfant attended Westport schools. He spent his youth playing sports, and hanging out at the Gault sandpit on Imperial Avenue, the YMCA, Compo Beach and Nash’s Pond.
The family survived the Great Depression. His father Russ held multiple jobs to keep the family fed and sheltered. It was not easy.
As a teen Chalfant worked in a Main Street bakery, making doughnuts. Their sweet smell still lingers in his memory.
When World War II broke out, his older brother Jim served as a medic. But Clayton was too young for the draft.
Heavy machine gunner Clayton Chalfant.
He and a few of his Westport pals, including Bob Saxonmeyer, went to the Navy recruitment office. Chalfant was turned away, but his patriotism, sense of honor and duty to serve the nation never waned.
He joined the Army in January, 1943, and headed to basic training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
Assigned to the 486th Anti-aircraft Battalion, his unit landed on Omaha Beach on June 21, 1944. He was a heavy machine gunner on a half-track mobile unit, protecting aircraft.
The amount of precision and detail communicated among forces is astonishing, considering the limited technology available.
Chalfant served in 5 battle campaigns: Normandy, northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe.
He has not been forgotten. The consulate general recently invited him to be France’s guest at the 80th celebration of D-Day this June, in honor of his service to their nation.
Twice in Europe — once at the beginning of his tour, then toward the end — Chalfant had a reunion with his brother. The meetings buoyed their spirits, and strengthened their resolve.
In 2004, as parade grand marshal, Clayton Chalfant proudly delivered Westport’s Memorial Day address. (Photo courtesy of WestportNow.com)
Chalfant enjoyed creative writing. During the war a battalion committee created a yearbook about their experiences. He contributed a futuristic view of the men after the war.
His creative flair later evolved into a long love of painting, sculpting and sketching.
Chalfant attended his first Catholic Mass during the war. He converted to the faith upon his discharge, and received all of his sacraments at Assumption Church.
He is now a parishioner at St. Luke. He considers faith to be paramount in living a joyful and generous life.
Clayton and Mary Chalfant, with then-1st Selectman Jim Marpe.
Also back in Westport, Chalfant started a discussion group of World War II servicemembers.
When Staples French Department chair Charlotte MacLear wanted to form a sister city relationship, it was Chalfant (and gun sergeant Bob Loomis) — both of whom had passed through Marigny, just 25 miles from Utah Beach — who made the connection with that town.
For more than a decade, Westporters sent holiday gifts, clothes and food to Marigny residents.
In return, they created a Westport School Canteen, and named their largest square “Place Westport.”
In June 1994 — as part of the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy — Marigny officials invited 3 Westport middle school students and 2 Westport veterans to stay in the homes of residents. They visited “Westport Gift Shop” and “Pharmacie Westport.”
Nearly half a century earlier, through his brother’s wife Florence, Chalftant had met the love of his life, Mary Speer. On April 10, they’ll celebrate their 76th anniversary. They have 5 children, 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren (so far).
And today, Chalfant celebrates his century birthday today with many of those family members. They are proud to call him husband, dad, grandpa and Pop Pop.
And “06880” is proud to wish “Happy 100th Birthday” to Clayton Chalfant: war hero, longtime Westporter, and — today — our newest centenarian.
(For a story on the Town Hall ceremony for Clayton Chalfant’s Legion of Honor award from France’s consul general, click here.)
For more than 20 years, Paris Looney has helped the most vulnerable people in our community.
As vice president and chief operating officer of Homes with Hope, every day Paris helps people in crisis find a safe place to sleep.
Now her own family needs help.
Six years ago, Paris’ son Don was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease. He has relied on life-sustaining dialysis for many years.
Paris’ youngest daughter Tausha was found to be a 100% compatible match for her brother. A mother of 4 who tutors 2nd-grade children with learning disabilities who come from military families, she lives in Massachusetts.
One day earlier this month, Don and Tausha had surgery at Hartford Hospital. The transplant was successful. Both went home 6 days later, and are doing well.
But the road ahead is long, and expensive. Don will need lifelong medications and ongoing follow-up care. Tausha, still recovering from major surgery, will be out of work and away from her family routine while she heals.
A GoFundMe campaign has set a goal of $20,000. All funds go directly to Paris, and will help cover:
Medical bills, equipment and follow-up care
Income lost by Don and Tausha during recovery
Rent, groceries, utilities and transportation
Repairs to Don’s car, which he needs to drive himself to appointments
A reclining chair and bed wedge for Tausha
Movers and cleaners, since Don must leave his apartment this month and move in with Paris.
Early voting starts Monday (October 19) and continues through Sunday, November 1.
Early voting locations are open 7 days a week throughout the state, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Extended hours (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) are set for Tuesday, October 27 and Thursday, October 29.
Westport’s early voting site is the Town Hall auditorium.
On Election Day (Tuesday, November 3), all regular polling places will be open.
(Photo/Mark Yurkiw)
mad dog russo MEETS THE Y’S MEN
The Y’s Men of Westport and Weston have a robust speakers series.
Most are at their regular meeting place: Saugatuck Church.
This past Thursday, they moved to the Westport Library. They knew this one would draw a huge crowd.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo did not disappoint.
After 40 years in sports broadcasting, he knows his stuff.
Well, maybe not all of it.
Mad Dog predicted that the Dodgers would win the World Series, likely over Cleveland. That won’t happen.
He also said that Major League Baseball would lose at least a month next season to a labor dispute, and that the NBA is headed for an especially strong year, fueled by major-market rivalries and rising young stars.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, at the Westport Library. (Photo/Allan Siegert)
MIGGS BURROUGHS, AT (AND ON) 80
With many Americans living longer*, the New York Times recently asked readers who are getting close to their sell-by date about longevity.
Several hundred responded. One was our own Miggs Burroughs. He is, after all, 80 years old. Though no one (least of all him) can believe it.
The very energetic, creative, talented, still-working-hard, always-willing-to-volunteer artist made the cut.
On Thursday, the Times printed his response:
No matter our age, health or station in life, we are all passengers on the same planet and live through the same 24 hours each day. My father who died at 80, the age I am now, used to say that there is no shame in being the best passenger you can be during the ride.
My mother who lived to 102 held grudges to the day she died. A friend said that her behavior was like setting her own hair on fire, hoping the people who had done her wrong would choke on the smoke. Longevity is no guarantee of enlightenment, but enlightenment never grows old.
20% of gross sales from the 2026 Hope In Bloom Collection will be donated directly to National Breast Cancer Foundation to support early detection, education, and patient support services for those affected by breast cancer.
obituary: peter maloney
Peter Maloney died at his Westport home on Tuesday. He was 77.
Peter fought a long battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, but was determined to live his life to the fullest until the very end. He worked at Bloomberg for 28 years, retiring this past July.
He enjoyed spending time outside: on a golf course, swimming at Compo Beach, or hiking anywhere from Redding, CT to the Catalonia Coast of Spain.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Carol, and children Tim, John and Kate; brothers Edward and Jeffrey Maloney; sisters Maureen Bowen, Mari Maloney and Tara Parsley; 15 in-laws, and 21 nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother James Maloney and sister Barbara Maloney.
A mass will be held at St. Luke Church on Monday (October 19, 11 a.m., with a reception to follow.
Fall continues to inspire, with ever-changing colors. Today’s “Westport … Naturally” images comes from the Lansdowne condos.
(Photo/Lauri Weiser)
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And finally … in honor of Miggs Burroughs, and the New York Times’ celebration of longevity (item above):
NOTE: Neil Young was 26 when he wrote this.
(“06880” readers are old, young, and everything in between. And — no matter what age — all are welcome to click here, to support this 17-year-old, young-at-heart hyper-local blog.)
As they do every week, familiar scenes, abstract ones, and everything in between greet visitors to our online art gallery.
As always, we hope they inspire, entertain and engage every guest.
This is, after all, your gallery. No matter your age; the style or subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we want your submissions. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, mixed media, digital, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.
Just email a JPG to 06880blog@gmail.com. And please include the medium you’re working in.
“The Remarkable Book Shop 1968” (Eric Bosch)
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for purchase; click here)
“Otis” — pencil on paper (Bill Fellah)
“Return of the Sun” — Playhouse Square — photograph (Jerry Kuyper)
“Encaustics” (June Rose Whittaker — Available for purchase; click here)
“August Awakening” (Dorothy Robertshaw — Available for purchase; click here)
“Distorted Path” (Patricia McMahon — Available for purchase; click here)
“Blue Landscape” (Amy Schneider)
“5 Shells” — oil on panel, 10 x 10 (Werner Liepolt)
Photographer Mike Hibbard says, “This African Baobab tree was a seedling 2,500 years ago about the time the mammoth went extinct and StoneHenge was being built. The main trunk is hollow and there are openings to get in – a good place to get in out of the heat or rain, if you don’t mind sharing with snakes and stinging insects.”
“My Uncle Sam at the Rail at Hialeah” (Lawrence Weisman)
Untitled (Martin Ripchick)
“Everything is Just Peachy” — graphite and watercolor (Steve Stein)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery –as it has been for 6 years. But please consider an anniversary donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
The documentary — filmed over 5 years, telling the story of life returning to Ground Zero through the men and women who designed, grew, built and maintain living examples of New York’s resiliency — was followed by a conversation with the producer and director, Scott Elliott.
He did not have far to travel. He’s a Westport resident. Until a recent move from Compo Shopping Center to Norwalk, he worked here too.
On September 11, 2001, Elliott — an Amherst College English and history graduate –was editing his first documentary 20 blocks from the World Trade Center. “The Trees” brought together his interests in gardening, architecture and urban design.
Scott Elliott
He had already worked on his first feature length documentary, “Slumming It: Myth and Culture on the Bowery,” about the history of that neighborhood. It aired on PBS 3 years later, in 2003.
Elliott founded, and serves as creative director, of 590films. Their tagline is “Helping Good People Tell Great Stories.”
His documentary “Into the Gyre,” about plastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, won international film festival awards.
In 2019, married and with their second child on the way, Elliott and his wife started looking at suburbs.
After searching all over the tri-state region, they fell in love with Compo Bach — and everything else about Westport. They knew no one here, but quickly made friends.
Elliott is one of many Westporters doing creative film work, outside of New York. He applies his documentary style to 20 or so corporate clients — many of them non-profits.
He’s worked with the Biden Foundation, The Floating Hospital, Harlem Children’s Zone and New York City public schools. (His roster includes private schools too, like Greens Farms Academy, Hotchkiss and Deerfield.)
He has turned down work from clients whose positions he does not agree with — anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice, for example.
“I questioned whether non-profits would be a good business move,” he says. “They don’t pay like corporate videos do.
“But if you can be successful doing what you love; if your mission aligns; if you’re happy and proud, that sets a good example for your kids.”
(“06880” often profiles interesting Westporters, doing intriguing things. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Today, many Westporters received an email purported to be from an employee at the Planning & Zoning Department.
The subject line is “Following up on invoice GHTF654123, now over 30 days overdue, and requesting prompt payment confirmation or notification of any outstanding issues.”
It reads:
Good morning,
We’re reaching out regarding the invoice below, which is now over 30 days past due. We have not received a response to our previous reminder.
Then comes a link, to “View Document.” It continues:
We kindly ask that this be given prompt attention. Please provide a confirmed payment date at your earliest convenience, or let us know if there are any issues we can help resolve. Thank you.
This is a scam! Do not clink the link! Do not respond!
The Town of Westport will never request payments via calls, texts, emails or apps (Venmo, Zelle, CashApp, etc.). Do not share personal info or send payment.
Questions? Verify with P&Z: 203-341-1030. Report scams to the Westport Police non-emergency line: 203-341-6000.
And remember: Whenever you get a message that sounds a bit suspicious, strange or otherwise off, DO NOT CLICK ANY LINKS. DO NOT RESPOND.
Instead, call or email the sender using a method you KNOW is correct.
Today is Staples High School’s Homecoming football game.
At 5 p.m., the Wreckers host Darien. Even with the threat of rain — and an earlier-than-usual start time — the stands will be packed. That’s the allure of “Friday Night Lights.”
Back in the day — the pre-lights day — Homecoming was a Saturday afternoon affair.
Seniors, juniors and sophomores worked for days, creating paper-mâché floats. Companies like Kowalsky lent their tractor trailers, to haul them around the track.
(The track, of course, was cinder. Today’s more expensive one would be ruined by those behemoths.)
Senior (left) and junior class floats, at the 1969 Homecoming.
Also at halftime: the crowning of Homecoming Queen.
In 1969, students chose Carol Luciano over 5 other seniors: Karen Appy, Patty Crangle, Gay Heirtzler, Jill Manning and Marilyn Briggs.
All the nominees went on to lead notable lives. Carol — the daughter of well-respected police chief Sam Luciano — still lives here.
As for Marilyn Briggs: She modeled while still at Staples, most famously as the Ivory Snow girl. She then earned fame — as Marilyn Chambers — in hardcore films like “Behind the Green Door.”
Some of the Homecoming Queen nominees were Staples cheerleaders. But they were well prepared.
From the 1950s, until 9th graders moved to the high school in 1983, junior high sports were a very big deal.
Bedford, Coleytown and Long Lots Junior Highs fielded teams. Starting with football, basketball and baseball — and then soccer, field hockey, girls basketball, wrestling, softball and track — they competed against each other, and junior highs in towns like Darien and Greenwich. There were cheerleading squads too (even for a time, spectator buses to away games).
For some young teenagers, it was a chance at competition and camaraderie they’d never achieve at Staples. For others, it was an early step on the road to athletic success, and personal fulfillment.
As for Marilyn Briggs: She may not have been Staples’ Homecoming Queen.
But among many other things, in 1966 she was a Long Lots cheerleader.
Long Lots Junior High School cheerleader Marilyn Briggs, and football captain Dave Roodhuyzen.
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
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Elliott is one of many Westporters doing creative film work, outside of New York. He applies his documentary style to 20 or so corporate clients — many of them non-profits.
