But it can be played outside too — think Washington Square Park.
Or Soundview Drive.
Giant pieces on Jim Hood’s lawn captivate passersby. (Click here to see.)
Matt Murray, Pat Saviano, Karen Como, Beth Berkowitz, Cat Malkin and Andrew Colabella were quick to note the location, as last week’s Photo Challenge.
We’re not sure if anyone ever moves those pieces, in an actual game.
But they’re quite something to see, mate.
Today’s Photo Challenge honors Arbor Day (a few weeks late).
If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Ed Simek)
(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!)
There are many attractions at today’s Dog Festival (Winslow Park, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.): competitions, Police K-9 presentations, an obstacle course, kids’ activities, food trucks and more.
Among the “more”: Cat Malkin offers a live animal communication demo (11 to 11:45 a.m.). The first 12 dogs get one live question answered on the spot.
A reminder: This year the entrance fee is cashless: credit card and Apple Pay only ($10 per person, $30 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children).
Yogi Bear says, “C’mon down to the Dog Festival!”
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Westport’s 2 Rotary Clubs joined others throughout the world yesterday, in their annual “Epic Day of Service.”
Here in town, Westport Rotary installed a peace pole at the Compo Playground along with 53 new donor-engraved pickets.
Rotarians at Compo Beach playground.
Meanwhile, Sunrise Rotarians collected 282 bags of food and personal hygiene items — and $692 in cash and checks — at Stop & Shop for the Homes with Hope pantry. Other members added plantings and mulch at the Gillespie Center homeless shelter, also run by HwH.
Speaking of Homes with Hope: They were surprised — and gratified — last week, when the Bedford Middle School Art Collective stopped by.
The youngsters dropped off a check for $452.88, for the food pantry. They raised the funds with artwork, including tote bags, t-shirts, pins and mini-prints.
Homes with Hope CEO Helen McAlinden gives thanks to the BMS art Collective for “leading by example, and showing what it looks like to give back.”
Bedford Middle School Art Collective, at the food pantry.
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There’s always something going on downtown.
But a free lunchtime concert may be a first.
Christ & Holy Trinity Church invites everyone to their grass courtyard at noon on Friday, May 29.
The band called Picnic on the Fourth of July will play a mix of folk, rock, bluegrass, gospel and jazz.
Bring a lunch, or pick something up from a nearby café or restaurant. See you there — indoors if rain!
Picnic on the Fourth of July band.
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Six Staples High School seniors received Westport PAL scholarships, in a ceremony last week.
The awardees, their intended colleges and majors, are:
Rory Benton (McGill University, physical and health education)
Tristan Benton (University of Colorado, undetermined)
Michael Brennan (Syracuse University, sports media/journalism/communications)
Matty Corrigan (James Madison University, finance)
Chaz Darby (Boston College, business)
Blanka Solowinska (undecided, nursing)
Congratulations to all!
Corporal Craig Bergamo, Westport PAL president (3rd from left) with (from left): Matty Corrigan, Rory Benton, Michael Brennan, Tristan Benton, Blanka Solowinska, Chaz Darby.
Since 2022, local residents have provided over $300,000 in aid — along with vital communications equipment, vehicles and more, to Westport’s sister city, via Ukraine Aid International.
Meanwhile, there’s another help effort underway here too.
Ever since the Russian invasion, Mark Yurkiw — a Westport artist with Ukrainian heritage — has collected medical equipment for the beleaguered nation.
This week, he shipped another 40-foot container overseas.
To help, or for more information, email mark.think3d@gmail.com.
Longtime Westport resident and civic volunteer Elaine Arnow died peacefully at home on Friday. She was 96.
Born to parents who emigrated from Hungary and Russia, she graduated as salutatorian from Norwalk High School.
Music was a lifelong passion. She began playing violin with the Norwalk Symphony while a teenager, and continued performing with them into her 90s.
After Danbury Teachers College, Elaine earned a master’s degree from Columbia University. She was a music teacher in the Westport and Weston public schools, as well as Temple Israel religious school. For many years, she performed in the temple’s High Holiday services ensembles.
Elaine began a second career in real estate, spending more than 40 years with William Raveis.
She was an elected member of Westport’s Board of Assessment Appeals for many terms. She also worked for over 10 years as office administrator in Ernie’s dental practice in Norwalk.
Elaine was active in the Democratic Women of Westport, and earned its 2014 Silver Donkey award. Participating in the Memorial Day parade was another tradition she cherished.
She cherished Westport, Compo Beach, tennis, ping pong, and paddling friends and family around the pond in the canoe.
In her later years Elaine found great joy in her biweekly duets and music appreciation sessions with Jane Jessup, who accompanied her on piano. She remained active at the Westport Senior Center, and at home online in musical memory classes.
Her family thanks the loving care, kindness and wonderful meals provided by her devoted caregivers, Manana and Lela, and their husbands. The family is also deeply grateful to Norma and Arquimedes for years of involvement.
Elaine is survived by her 5 children Sherry (Jeff) of Shavertown, Pennsylvania; Hilary (Mark) of Westport; Jonathan (Linda) of Lexington, Massachusetts; David (Debbie) of Austin, Texas, and Meredith (John) of Asheville, North Carolina; grandchildren Adam, Stefanie, Sam, Jesse, Haley, Alexander, Samantha, Hannah, Thomas, Ansley, Beck, Crawford, Quinn and Wilson; 7 great- grandchildren, and brother Charles Walkoff (Tammy) of Port St. Lucie, Florida. She was predeceased by her husband Ernie, and brother Richard Walkoff.
Michelle Pommier — a 1966 Staples High School graduate and former model who opened the first modeling agency in Miami Beach’s South Beach, then built an agency with over 800 models and clients around the world — died last month. She was 78, and had been diagnosed with cancer.
A Westport native, she attended Bay Path College with plans to become a teacher. But as a freshman, Glamour magazine featured her as a “best-dressed college student.” She began modeling full time.
She signed with Ford Models, and quickly made her mark. She traveled the globe in her 20s and 30s. She appeared on the cover of Town & Country and Harper’s Bazaar, and was featured in Virginia Slims’ “You’ve come a long way, baby” ad campaign.
Michele Pommier, featured in a 1970s ad.
Living in Miami in the late 1970s, Pommier quit modeling to open her own agency. She encouraged art directors from around the world to use Miami Beach — beautiful and cost-effective — as a shooting location. Her models included Christy Turlington, Charlize Theron and Catherin Zeta-Jones.
She is survived by her husband, Peter Diel, son David Diel, daughter Jacqueline Pommier Diel, and sisters Monica Kravitt and Denise Johnson.
Most Westporters hope that construction at Ned Dimes Marina ends soon, so we can enjoy another relaxing summer.
These 2 don’t mind at all.
Lou Weinberg is one of our favorite “Westport … Naturally” photographers. This shot is different than usual. But, as he is fond of saying: “Nature wins!”
The war in Iran has pushed the one in Ukraine off the front page.
But more than 4 years after Russia’s invasion, the largest and deadliest European conflict since World War II still rages.
And Lyman — Westport’s sister city — still suffers terribly.
On Thursday, Mayor Oleksandr Zhuravlov joined “06880” and Ukraine Aid International president Marshall Mayer by Zoom. He offered thanks to Westporters for their support — and a grim update.
“The situation overall is quite difficult,” the mayor said through a translator.
Mayor Zhuravlov, via Zoom. He wears a bulletproof vest.
Nearly 130 kilometers of Russia’s front line — 80 miles — stretches through Lyman, the biggest city by area in the entire country.
Every day, there are attacks — by drones, rockets, artillery and assault brigades.
Anti-drone netting and unmanned systems help. But supply lines have been cut. When aid arrives, it comes via drones and trucks.
Many residents — including all the children — have been evacuated. Only about 1,700 people remain in the city.
Before the invasion, there were 4,500 students. About half go to school online; the other half are in new schools, where they have been resettled.
“The situation is quite challenging,” Mayor Zhuravlov said. “Our lives are on the line every day. People are exhausted from the war, and the constant danger.”
One scene of recent destruction in Lyman …
The ones who remain are unwilling to leave their homes. They are very willing, however, to “stay and fight for their land.”
Those who now live elsewhere say they want to return, to rebuild their city.
The main need, the mayor says, is money. Funds are needed to evacuate those who need it, ,and to pay for buildings, services, living quarters and medical assistance in the “hubs” where many have been resettled.
Also needed: laptops and other office equipment, along with trucks and vans.
… and a second …
Westporters have already donated generously to our sister city. But more is needed. Click here, then choose “Lyman” from the “Support For” menu to give now through Ukraine Aid International. The boots-on-the-ground humanitarian aid organization, which facilitated Westport’s sister city relationship with Lyman, was co-founded by Westport brothers Marshall and Brian Mayer.
… and third.
UAI is also sponsoring a special film documentary fundraiser on Monday (May 18, 7 p.m., Fairfield Theatre Company).
“Second Wiud”follows 4 amputee soldiers and a wounded female sniper, as they climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Their journey of rehabilitation, resilience and human connection redefines trauma through strength, hope, and brotherhood.
I invite local residents to support Wakeman Town Farm’s initiative to rebuild its dilapidated barn, which has fallen into disrepair after decades of deferred maintenance.
The WTF committee has spent years raising $400,000 that will be gifted to the town to rebuild a crumbling and dangerous building.
The committee has also shepherded the project through all the requisite departments, as well as paid for surveys, architectural renderings, septic plans and more.
The Wakeman team is ready to remove the unsafe building, and erect a barn replica that will be safe and functional for generations to come.
Wakeman is paying for the lion’s share of the project, even though the Farm does not own the building or property. The team is essentially reviving a town asset that has long required improvements, creating a safe, functional community barn for storage, as well as a place for local residents, volunteers, staff and students to get out of the elements.
After years of planning, fundraising, and community support, Wakeman Town Farm is approaching the final step in making the barn project a reality.
You can support it in one of two ways:
Attend the Board of Finance meeting on Wednesday, May 20 (7:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium), and speak in support of the project.
Email your support to the Board of Finance (bof@westportct.gov), Westport RTM (RTM-dl@westportct.gov), Parks & Recreation director Erik Barbieri (ebarbieri@westportct.gov).
If you would like your voice included but cannot be there in person, please send us your email and we will gladly read it aloud at the meeting on your behalf:
We’re a week away from the 53rd annual Fine Arts Festival.
Across North America, over 150 artists are preparing to come to Westport, and show their work.
Selected from over 320 applications, and representing 12 categories, they come from 23 states and Canada. 27 are from Connecticut — 6 from right here in 06880.
All 2025 award winners return. Click here for a full list. Meanwhile, a record 52 artists make their Fine Arts Festival debut.
New this year: a very cool art activation. Staples High School art students will paint a BMW in the family area (Sigrid Schultz parking lot).
Two new judges join the panel: art enthusiasts Lonnie Quinn (CBS weatherman) and Louise Crowley.
Longshore Capital Improvement Plan update – Maintenance facility building update.
One possibility for the enclosed dog run at Winslow Park.
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The Levitt Pavilion announced a torrent of new shows this week — both free and ticketed.
The Revivalists rock on August 11. One of the most uplifting live acts in music today, their current tour includes the Grand Ole Opry, part of the FIFA World Cup, Red Rocks Amphitheatre — and a return to the banks of the Saugatuck. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Also booked:
May 29: An album release concert by Amani Burnham (first free show of the ’26 season). The 20-year-old Ethiopian-born, Connecticut-based artist has amassed more than 240,000 followers and nearly 30 million views on social media. Amani and his band will make their Levitt Pavilion debut while celebrating their debut album and set sail as the first free show of the 2026 season! Pretty auspicious!
June 7: Jumaane Smith Jazz Quartet. Lauded by Michael Bublé (with whom he tours). Wynton Marsalis (coming to the Levitt on June 28) was his trumpet teacher at Juilliard.
Hard to believe: This is the 25th anniversary of “Shrek.”
Not hard to believe: The Westport Library is celebrating the milestone.
On Tuesday (May 19, 7 p.m.; $10), co-writer Roger S.H. Schulman takes the audience behind the scenes. He’ll discuss his journey from journalism to Hollywood and the classroom. Click here to register, and for more information.
To learn more about the mechanics of screenwriting, Schulman offers a Verso University workshop on “Writing Compelling Characters.” Click here for details.
The bakery — founded by Westporters Bill and Andrea Pecoriello, which trains and employs people with disabilities (who make great stuff) — is raising money for the Hype 4 Life Foundation, an autism awareness non-profit.
They’ll send 2 winners (and plus-ones) to the Brian Burns Celebrity Softball Game May 30 in Pomona, New York. The football star and current Giants play Brandon Jacobs and Super Bowl XLII and XLVI champions, and other legends. Over 100 current and former NFL players will be on the field, competing in softball, a home run derby and (why not?) dodgeball.
Just in time for Memorial Day: the construction trailer — part of the Soundview parking lot staging area, for the Compo Cove tidal gate renovation project — has been hauled away.
Those parking spaces will be needed soon.
Maybe very soon. Sunday’s high temperature is forecast to be 86.
And finally … Soul singer/guitaristClarence Carter died Wednesday in Atlanta. He was 90, and had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The New York Times said, “Blind from youth and distinguished by his deep, declamatory baritone and lecherous, full-throated laugh, Mr. Carter combined the sermonic fervor of a backwoods preacher and the bawdy humor of a juke joint.” Click here for a full obituary.
(Sure, it’s the weekend. But “06880” keeps pumping out these Roundups like there’s no tomorrow. If you enjoy our 24/7/365 work, please show your support by clicking here. Thank you!)
From a 7-year-old art student to 70-plus-year-old artists, today’s online art gallery has — as usual — something for everyone.
That’s how we roll.
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, who suggests readers download this for free)
“Waiting for the Sun” (Patricia McMahon — Available for purchase; click here)
“A Moon Beam Lit Proposal” — oil on line (Mary Madelyn Attanasio)
“The Transition of Seasons” — collage mix media, assemblage, reversed, pouring and bits of nature (Dorothy Robertshaw — Available for purchase; click here)
“Blueberries” — watercolor (Lucy Johnson)
“How’da Like Them Apples?” — watercolor (Eric Bosch)
“The Beetle” (Katie Costanzo, age 7, One River Art student)
Untitled (Tom Doran — Available for sale; click here)
“Blush on the Horizon” (Nancy Breakstone — Available for purchase; click here)
Photographer Mike Hibbard says: “This group of women and children follow the Masai warriors. The men’s long, iron spears are razor sharp. Lions keep their distance!”
“A Rare Fire Dragon” — watercolor (Steve Stein)
“Ripvanwrinkle” (Martin Ripchick — Available for purchase; click here)
“Gen Z Chic”
(Mark Yurkiw — Available for purchase; click here)
(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!)
Tomorrow (Sunday), over 400 Westporters will gather at Saugatuck Elementary School. Decked out in wacky costumes, and filled with energy, they’re there for the 7th annual Day of Champions.
The color-wars-style family fundraiser benefits Experience Camps for Grieving Children. The nonprofit provides free summer camp to children who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling or primary caregiver.
All 20 teams there show up for someone. All honor someone.
Showing up, having fun, at the Day of Champions. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Here are 3 stories, of Westporters lost just in the psat year.
Team Lucky Stars: Honoring Alyson Luck
Alyson Luck was a joyful, kind, smart, loving mom and wife. To many, she was a confidante, fierce friend and inspiration.
Growing up in Westport she studied art history, earned a graduate degree from Bank Street, and spent over a decade working at New York’s Jewish Museum and Guggenheim.
She came back home, back to the little cape house she grew up in and called her dream.
She became the director of the One River School of Art & Design on the Post Road. It’s a place where people of all ages could make art without pretense, surrounded by community.
Alyson Luck and family.
Alyson was the life of the party and lit up any room she was in. You always knew she was around when you heard her amazing laughter. She loved her family, her kids, her friends, her work and her town.
I called her the Mayor of Westport, because she knew everyone, and everyone knew her. Anyone who knew her would tell you the same thing: She made them feel happy. She’d be so proud we are making it possible for other kids to attend Experience Camps. – Michael, Alyson’s husband.
Alyson died last June at home, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 43.
The Day of Champions team formed in her name is made up of the friends and family who loved her, showing up now in the way that matters most.
Alyson and Michael’s two children will attend Experience Camps this summer. It’s a place designed for exactly this kind of loss, where kids who carry grief get to just be kids for a while. The team fundraising in Alyson’s honor is making that possible for them, and so many others like them.
North Star Team: Honoring Nat Brogadir and Slava Leykind
Nat Brogadir was a wonderful husband, dad, brother, son and friend, who filled every room with energy and warmth. He will forever be remembered with a smile on his face, and a beanie on his head.
Beyond his accomplished professional life, he was deeply rooted in his Jewish identity and his community. Friends and family know him as someone who never shied away from standing up for what he believed in, even as he faced a battle with kidney cancer.
Nat was just 40 years old when he died. He was devoted to his wife Jenny, whom he met at sleepaway camp when they were both 12 years old, and an adoring father to his daughters, Hadley and Kira, the lights of his life.
Nat Brogadir and family.
Nat coached their soccer teams, skied alongside them, and sat proudly in the audience at every dance recital. Friends called him “Camp Nat” because he always led groups of kids and adults in fun activities in the backyard. Day of Champions was one of his favorite events each year.
Nat loved the people in his life fiercely. He had a rare gift for forming deep connections with everyone he met, because of his genuine warmth. As a result, after Nat died his community did not look away.
They showed up. A grassroots campaign — the Beanie Project — was launched in his memory. 1,500 beanies were sold to honor his spirit, give back to a cause important to him, and connect those who were missing him.
We feel Nat’s absence every moment of every day, and the hole left in our family can never truly be filled. But the incredible love and support from our community has carried us through the hardest days and reminded us that we are surrounded by people who continue to honor Nat’s spirit with kindness, laughter, and connection. — Jenny, Nat’s wife
The Day of Champions team honoring Nat is filled with friends who have become family — “framily,” as they like to say. They will show up in red and navy for his favorite football team, the New England Patriots.
Honoring Slava Leykind
Slava Leykind appreciated life fully, and lived it with remarkable grace. To his wife and 3 kids, “superhuman father” is an understatement.
Born in Minsk in 1982, Slava emigrated to Minneapolis with his family as a child. He attended the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and built a career in investment banking, becoming co-head of US consumer investment banking at Canaccord Genuity.
While his family and friends were impressed by his professional accomplishments, what they loved most was his calm demeanor, quick wit, devotion, and the way he showed up for the people in his life.
Slava died in July 2025 at 43, following a Mount Everest-themed endurance event in Jackson Hole.
At his funeral, his oldest daughter Charlotte sang. His friends recalled his playful energy, and the depth of his loyalty. His wife and soulmate for 2 decades, Amy, told stories of his devotion to their children: how he brought love and a sense of calm to the wonderful chaos of a full house.
A close friend put it simply: Relationships aren’t measured in years, but in depth. By that measure, Slava Leykind left a very large life behind.
Slava was and always will be the North Star to our family. Given the central place family held in his heart, he would be especially moved to know that we are helping children whose families have experienced profound loss attend Experience Camps. — Amy, Slava’s wife
The team honoring Slava at the Day of Champions carries that spirit forward, showing up the way he always did: wholeheartedly for the people they love.
What Showing Up Looks Like
Grief has a way of making people feel invisible. The casseroles stop coming. The phone calls taper off. People don’t know what to say, so they say nothing. They mean to reach out, and they don’t.
The friends and families behind all of the Day of Champions teams chose differently. They chose to stay close, to keep saying the names. Saying someone’s name out loud is one of the most powerful things you can do for the people who loved them.
It is how we keep them present. It is how we make clear that just because someone is gone does not mean they are forgotten. They are remembered. They are celebrated. They live on in the people who carry them forward.
Showing up, at the Day of Champions.
Tomorrow, those friends will show up in t-shirts on a field in Westport. They will run relay races and cheer, because that is how you tell someone: We have not forgotten. You are not alone. Your children matter to us.
That is what Experience Camps is built on, too. Founded on the belief that grieving children deserve joy and connection and the chance to be understood, the organization now runs camps across the country. There is one in Kent, Connecticut, opened in part because of fundraising done here in Westport.
How You Can Be Part of It
Tell us about the person who died in your life: Share their name and a favorite memory about them in the comments section.
Spread the word: Childhood grief is more common than many realize. In the United States, 1 in 11 children will lose a parent or sibling before the age of 18. If you know a family that could benefit from Experience Camps, share their website and social media with them.
Donate: The Day of Champions goal is to raise $175,000 for Experience Camps. All 20 teams have fundraising pages, to learn more about who and what they’re honoring. Click here to make a donation that can make life-changing support possible for kids right here in our community.
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
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