The Texaco sign that stood proudly — if a bit faded — for decades near Sunny Daes is gone.
But a proud lion carved into the side of an adjacent building — for many years, Da Pietro’s restaurant — is still there.
That was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)
Edward Cribari, Jonathan McClure, Dave Eason, Amy Schneider, Sal Liccione, Clark Thiemann, Robert Mitchell, Beth Berkowitz Nell Mullen and Laurie all knew the Riverside Avenue answer.
This week, we move from a lion to a rooster. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Judith Katz)
(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!)
Looking for a way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday?
How about a patriotic picnic at a very appropriate place: VFW Post 366.
They’re joining with American Legion Post 63 for a gala picnic.
It’s next Sunday (June 28, 12 noon to 4 p.m.). There’s (of course) burgers and dogs, music, community spirt — and it’s a chance to support our veterans.
Happy birthday, America! And thanks, VFW and American Legion!
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As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms education, higher education, and the workplace, parents wonder: How should my child use AI? What skills will matter most in the future? How can AI support learning without becoming a shortcut around it?
Some answers may come tomorrow (Monday, 7 p.m., Westport Library). Westport Public Schools host a special parent seminar featuring Casey Cuny, the 2024 California Teacher of the Year.
“Raising AI-Ready Students: Learning, College, and Careers in a Changing World” will explore how artificial intelligence is already reshaping how students learn, study, and prepare for their futures, and how parents can help guide them toward thoughtful and responsible use of these powerful tools.
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice says, “Whether you are excited about AI, concerned about it, or simply trying to understand it better, this evening will provide practical insights and a framework for helping your child navigate a rapidly changing world with judgment, integrity, and confidence.”
With jUNe Day just around the corner — it’s next Saturday, June 27 — local artists Mark Yurkiw and Miggs Burroughs want to be sure Westporters are in the know. They created this GIF:
To recap: For the 61st year in a row, the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut and the town will host up to 300 UN guests.
They’ll be greeted by flags of many of the 193 UN member countries, on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.
The public is invited to the 10:30 a.m. opening ceremony on Jesup Green. The rest of the day includes the Sunrise Rotary Club Duck Race; soccer match; tennis and golf at Longshore; nature walk and visit to Earthplace; tour of Wakeman Town Farm, and free access to Compo Beach and Longshore.
To volunteer, contact Andrea Dostal 203-526-3275; Andreasusa@yahoo.com). For more information on the event, call Bill Hass: 203-454-7685.
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The Yankee Doodle Fair was blessed with a third straight day of much-more-than-just-“fair” weather.
The century-old annual rite of very late spring/early summer drew another packed crowd to the Westport Woman’s Club grounds, on Imperial Avenue.
Ava Bierman shares a ride (and fun!) with her dad Bryan …
The 4-day run ends today (1 to 5 p.m.). A special Sensory Hour (noon to 1 p.m.) welcomes people in the neurodiverse and special education communities, with reduced crowds, lower noise levels and a more comfortable atmosphere.
PS: The weather will be great again today: mostly sunny, with a high of 81.
(“06880” works the day shift. The night shift, too. We’re here for you, 24/7/365. Please click here to support our work — and be here for us. Thank you!)
“06880” recently profiled Westport teenagers working hard at businesses they created: a concierge car service, window washing and grill cleaning.
Ryan Tzou has a different clientele.
Growing up in Westport, the 2025 Staples High School graduate felt very insecure about his skinny body.
Ryan Tzou in 2023 …
Then he discovered fitness content on social media.
Aesthetic influencers like David Laid and Jon Skywalker inspired him. “They showed me it was possible to have a crazy transformation from skinny to jacked,” Ryan says.
He spent “hundreds of hours” researching scientific studies, and watching YouTube videos. He learned everything he could about optimizing muscle hypertrophy while staying lean.
Ryan spent years tracking his macronutrients (calories, protein, fats, carbs, etc.), and training almost every day.
… and 2026.
During 4 years of lifting and eating well he put on 50 pounds of lean muscle. while “keeping a 6-pack completely naturally.” He used no peptides or performance-enhancing drugs. Those pose “very severe health risks despite their recent popularity surge,” Ryan says.
Adding that weight the right way “completely changed my self-esteem and sense of discipline,” he says.
To share what he learned — and inspire younger teens who felt the way he once did — Ryan went on Instagram. He’s got 20,000 followers.
A different 2026 angle.
He also launched an online 1-on-1 fitness coaching business.
Clients receive:
Direct access via his personal phone number, so they can text any time with questions or concerns
Weekly check-ins and video calls
A fully customized training program, built around individual schedules and goals
A personalized meal plan aligned with each person’s fitness goal
Regular progress photo reviews (front, side, and back), so Ryan can make ongoing adjustments to your training and nutrition.
A client’s 2-month transformation — from May to June of this year.
Clients also get “a coach who keeps you accountable, and actually cares about your progress,” Ryan says with confidence.
It’s confidence he’s earned — and that he wants everyone else to develop too.
(For a free consultation, DM Ryan via Instagram, @ryan_tzou; click here. For a 1:1 coaching application, click here.)
“06880” culture correspondent Robin Moyer Chung writes:
On Tuesday night, the Westport Library received a Mark Award. They’re one of only 3 Fairfield County arts institutions honored this year for excellence.
To be precise, the Mark was for VersoFest.
Douglas Laustsen, executive director of the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County — the group that awards the Marks — says, “I’m just in awe of what they’ve built here: showcasing international talent alongside local artists who are doing excellent work day in and day out throughout Fairfield County.”
Westport Library director Bill Harmer, accepting the Mark Award.
Why is this significant?
Because a program like VersoFest is unprecedented in US libraries.
Library executive director Bill Harmer says the Mark Award “recognizes not only a festival, but a vision for the future of public libraries.”
VersoFest, created and hosted by the Library, is a multi-day festival of renowned musicians, writers, filmmakers, technologists, students, local creators and more. It includes rock concerts, book readings, musical performances, lectures, and just about anything involving the arts.
This year’s VersoFest included Wyclef Jean — and a packed Trefz Forum. (Photo/Kerry Long)
The festival is 4 years old, but the idea dates back more than a quarter century. In the early 2000s Harmer created a Rock & Roll Library Tour, putting indie rock band The High Strung on the road performing in public libraries across the country.
Over several years, The High Strung played more than 250 concerts in libraries in 48 states (and Cuba).
Through the tour’s success, Harmer realized that libraries could go far beyond books, DVDs and quiet spaces. They could be active participants in creating and shaping cultural life.
He says, “Years later, after arriving in Westport and helping lead the Library’s transformation project, we suddenly had the infrastructure to explore that question.”
And they did, creating the Trefz Forum, Verso Studios and Verso Records.
They now had a world-class performance venue, professional production studios, and a community willing to embrace experimentation.
Throw in internationally recognized creative talent, business leaders and exceptional local artists and you’ve got VersoFest.
Laustsen sums it up: “They are bringing the best of the best in culture to Westport, and placing it alongside the best of the best.”
Missed the recent Staples Pops Concert at Levitt Pavilion?
Were you there, and want to hear — and see — every performance again?
The Music Department has just posted a full video of the superb show.
The choral, orchestral and jazz groups — and several small ensembles — are all there. They sound (and look) great.
Click here for the entire evening. And if you only want a few numbers, there’s a link for each.
But we recommend the whole thing.
A night to remember. (Photo/Dan Woog)
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Speaking of the Levitt Pavilion: Chris Pierce returned last night with his full band. It was a moving night of folk, blues and Americana songs and stories, celebrating Juneteenth.
The set included songs from his new album, Songs for the Heavy Hearted,” to be released this August. This fall he’ll also perform at FarmAid.
There are 2 shows this weekend: Lucius with Wild & Company tonight (Saturday, 6:30 p.m.), and Dark Star Orchestra tomorrow (Sunday, 5 p.m.).
Also last night: Another large crowd enjoyed great weather at the Yankee Doodle Fair.
The 100-plus-years annual event — a major fundraiser for the Westport Woman’s Club — continues at their Imperial Road headquarters today (Saturday, 1 to 10 p.m.) and tomorrow (Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.).
A Sensory Hour tomorrow (Sunday, noon to 1 p.m.) is reserved for people in the neurodiverse and special education communities. It’s an opportunity for reduced crowds, lower noise levels and a more comfortable atmosphere, with their families, caregivers and support networks.
An enthusiastic crowd recently celebrated the opening of “Between Universes,” at the University of Bridgeport’s Peter Schelfhaudt Gallery.
Westport artist Eric Chiang collaborated on the show. The theme is “connecting and integrating the universes we have — one in the outside that we all live in, and the other in the inside that we sometimes sense we have and is particularly our very own.”
A special string quintet piece from the Greater Bridgeport Symphony anchored the opening reception. The exhibit runs through August 31.
The 3rd annual Westport Country Playhouse Golf Tournament teed up at Birchwood Country Club this week.
The winning team included (photo below, from left) Westporters Justin Brunwasser and Jonathan Levy, Glenn Levinson of Fairfield and Stamford’s Hudson Fetzer.
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Back in the 1980s, Mort Sherman was an assistant superintendent of Westport Schools.
He became a superintendent in other districts, including Alexandria, Virginia.
Now retired, he and his daughter Sara have written a book.
But it’s not about education.
Called “Resonant Minds: The Transformative Power of Music, One Note at a Time,” Amazon says it “invites readers to reimagine music as a dynamic, interactive force that reshapes how we live, learn, and connect. By blending personal stories-recalling childhood car rides where ‘Ode to Joy’ was joyfully reinvented with animal noises and made-up words-with cutting-edge research and practical insights, the father/daughter writing team … help us understand how to use music intentionally.”
TAP Strength founder Dr. EJ Zebro and Westporter Dr. Bena Kallick, founder of the Institute for Habits of Mind, recently used Sherman’s book as a springboard for a Psychology Today article called “Body Awareness: Listening for the Resonance.” Click here to read.
Sara Sherman and Dr. Morton Sherman
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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo is a great metaphor for … well, probably many things.
Feel free to interpret this scene at the Library Riverwalk however you wish.
Lavender, scarlet — and a slice of pizza — highlight this week’s online art gallery.
All are — as always — welcome. 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.
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for purchase — click here)
“Mad World” — multi-media 24″ x 18″ (V. Andriotis — Available for purchase; click here)
“Lovely Lavender Lupines” (Bonnie Scott Connolly)
“Scarlet Fracture” (Nancy Breakstone — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Tom Doran — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (June Rose Whittaker — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Holly Tashian)
“Time Has Come Today” (Patricia McMahon — Available for purchase; click here)
“Duck and Cluck” — crochet (Rebecca Stein Richards)
Untitled (Martin Ripchick — Available for purchase; click here)
“Great Blue Heron” — pencil and watercolor (Steve Stein)
“Break Dancer” (Lawrence Weisman)
(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!)
One commenter said, “These people aren’t Christian.”
Another wrote that reading rooms “promote dangerous medical misinformation.”
A third reader — citing “4 major measles outbreaks between 1985 and 1994” — said that the Christian Scientists who did not treat children “should have been charged with murder and executed.”
Those words shocked and upset one long-time reader. Asking for anonymity, due to the “nastiness” of the comments, the reader writes:
I spent my childhood in the Westport Christian Science branch church, although I no longer attend any church. I choose to stay out of all organized religion at this time in my life.
We were part of the Westport church before it became the large and beautiful building it is today. We were there when it was the old army barracks building, and I loved that building as a church. The Sunday school was beautiful. And the sanctuary cozy and loving.
Westport’s First Church of Christ, Scientist …
The members were some of the most loving, caring, successful members of the church and Westport society. We had famous artists, musicians, actors, broadcasters, Madison Avenue men, realtors, lawyers and beautiful families. It was a wonderful atmosphere to grow up in.
To paint this broad brush of all Christian Scientists as some of the comments did? And in such a way that isn’t totally accurate, especially about most Christian Scientists?
Most people I’ve stayed in touch with received the COVID vaccine, and most are willing to vaccinate their children. As I understand it, they desire to obey the laws of land. Most do.
And many members of the church will go to doctors if need be. I know many Christian Scientists who have had surgery and received medical care if necessary. It is an individual choice, and many choose medical help from time to time.
… and the new reading room.
What I’m addressing mostly is the hate and nastiness of the comments on this post. Anyone is entitled to their opinion, but the cruel and nasty comments aren’t true of most Christian Scientists. It is like commenting on a whole race of people, and saying that a whole race of people are like the actions of a few.
Never paint a whole group with the actions of a few of a group. And people grow, and churches grow and learn.
My experiences with the medical world have been excellent. We have found many doctors and nurses willing to pray with their patients. I’ve seen a circle of nurses holding hands and praying with a patient.
Healing prayer and medicine aren’t as separate as depicted by some of the commenters. The gap is closing. I’m sorry if that is offensive to some. But it is what I’ve witnessed personally, as I pray every day.
I could say a lot more but I felt I had to speak to the most unkind and un-Christian comments. I will not even debate the “not Christian: debate. I guess the Lutherans started by Martin Luther would have issues too, as their church was started by a man.
Mostly, we need to give each other some room and some grace in this world. I hope the commenters can reflect on the hatred and judgment that came across in their writing. Talking about executing people??
It’s very easy to explode behind a keyboard, and it’s not what we all need now to lift up our world.
(Our “06880” Opinion pages are open to all. Please send submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com. To support this hyper-local blog, please click here.)
But xince this weekend the Yankee Doodle Fair entertains thousands of kids of all ages (mostly kids) (and their parents) — as it has since 1907 — we figure it’s a good time to give it another ride.
Pam Ehrenburg — Pam Blackburn, as she was known in her Yankee Doodle-going days — unearthed several fascinating old photos. All were taken by her father, famed magazine photographer George Barkentin.
They show the fair on what appears to be Jesup Green — or perhaps the topography of the sponsoring Westport Woman’s Club was different 60-plus yeas ago. (Pam believes the images were taken in 1952.)
Some of the fashions are different. But in many ways, the Yankee Doodle Fair is timeless too.
This looks like Jesup Green — with National Hall (then Fairfield Furniture) in the background, across the river.
A classic merry-go-round.
This is noted writer Parke Cummings. He may have walked over from his home on the corner of South Compo and Bridge Street. He owned a tennis court — still there — that was open to anyone who wanted to play or learn.
Marjorie Teuscher and her son Phil. Her husband — a doctor — owned real estate downtown, including the building that is now Nômade. Phil — all grown up — still lives in Westport. And he still owns that Main Street property.
Pam Blackburn — who sent these photos from her father, George — is shown here with her sister Perii and their mom, Jessica Patton Barkentin.
(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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