Zole — the Mexican spot on the Post Road, next to Innovation Luggage and Stanton Miles — is the latest Westport restaurant to close.
Need a fajita?
Go all the way to Border Grill — 1/10 mile west.
Fancy something a bit fancier? Head all the way east — a quarter mile — to Ole Mole.
The site of the former Zole restaurant.
Deer today...
Deer: The prettiest creatures Westporters love to hate.
Soon they (the deer) will have a lot more to worry about than tall fences and repellents.
An organization called Fairfield County Municipal Deer Management Alliance is on their tail. Behind the Bambi-sounding name lies a group with a mission. They may be to the animal world what Americans for Immigration Control is to humans.
The Deer Alliance has collected over 230 signatures — with 100 more on their website. Their petition to the RTM will be discussed on Tuesday.
It reads:
We the undersigned electors of the Town of Westport request the RTM and First Selectman to create a plan for the control of the Town’s deer herd, the current size of which threatens our health, safety, environment and quality of life.
The Alliance is not pro-deer. Their site cites Lyme Disease, vehicle collisions and ravaged backyards. Faced with those facts, deer don’t have a leg to stand on.
The Alliance then refers to a study by “two PhD’s from the Department of Health Policy and Management of New York Medical College” estimating the annual cost of deer to Westport at $8,934,162.
And, the Alliance says, “this is conservative.”
(Wondering where that money goes? It’s hard to tell — there was no direct link to the study — but nosing around the site I found references to “vehicle accidents with deer, landscape losses, tick and deer spray programs, medical expenses due to tick-borne diseases in residents and their pets, special ed costs for schools with Lyme affected kids, stormwater damage abatement due to erosion from loss of the understory.”
Costs that are impossible to estimate include “quality of life issues, lost work days, higher auto and health insurance premiums for individuals and towns, and loss of income from nature centers suffering from environmental degradation with the loss of fragile plant and bird species etc.)”
The Alliance seeks “a safe, humane and effective program to begin to confront the problem.” Assistance and advice is available, they say, “from our State DEP officers and leaders in our sister towns that have already implemented deer management plans. These people are ready, willing and able to help us.”
Then the Alliance moves in for the kill.
...gone tomorrow? (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia)
They note: “This is not a new issue for Westport. The ‘no hunting’ ordinance, unique to our Town in Connecticut, has been debated over and over. But the problem does not go away. If countries in southern Africa can manage their burgeoning elephant populations, surely we can confront our own animal menace here.”
So how do Africans manage their elephants?
According to the Species Survival Commission, methods include “culling, translocation, range expansion, manipulation of water sources, and contraception.”
I’m not sure where we would translocate deer to. We can’t expand their range or manipulate their water. And I can’t even conceive of deer (let alone elephant) condoms.
Which leaves culling.
The Alliance cuts to the chase in a section of its website headed “Deer Population Reduction.”
Links lead readers to articles like “Deer management study points to hunting as solution” and “For Environmental Balance, Pick Up a Rifle.” The rifle article — by Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times — takes a balanced view of the issue. In fact, Kristoff says, “hunting is as natural as bird-watching.” So much for the liberal media.
But Westport is, as we all know, special. Discharging firearms — even bow hunting — is prohibited everywhere in town. According to a police spokesman, the only hunting allowed is waterfowl — and that’s below the high-water line. Plus, you’ve got to approach your prey by boat.
The Alliance seems ready to change — or at least challenge — that. They don’t see this as a hunting-rights issue; to them it’s about safety (Lyme disease, vehicular strikes) and cents (at least $8,934,162 a year).
So what’s ahead: New regulations? Culled Killed herds? Specified times when parents will be warned to keep kids indoors?
Who knows? Only one thing is certain: When the RTM takes this issue up, all sides of the issue will fire away.
Suzy Holliday — longtime physical education instructor at Coleytown Elementary School, Saugatuck El and Bedford Middle School — died suddenly on Monday in Utah, after complications following shoulder surgery. She was 64.
Suzy Holliday
Holliday began her 35-year teaching career in Westport at Coleytown Elementary School in 1968. She then went on to Saugatuck Elementary before moving on to Bedford Middle School. She retired in 2002.
Holliday received Westport’s Teacher of the Year award at the secondary level, and was named Connecticut Physical Education Teacher of the Year.
She is survived by her husband, Bob, a retired teacher and coach; her daughter Kim and her husband, Jim McElderry of Stamford; her son Shane of Newport Beach, Calif.; and grandchildren Grace Ann and Liam James.
A memorial service will take place at 10 a.m. this Tuesday (July 20) at Greenfield Hill Congregational Church, 1045 Old Academy Rd. in Fairfield. A short reception will follow.
It may seem counter-intuitive to post a notice of this event here in cyberspace, but we live in weird world.
So here goes:
The Westport Writers’ Workshop has announced “Writing Hours Unplugged.” Called “a nurturing program for writers who seek a quiet space in a setting conducive to creativity, free of the distractions of the Internet,” it takes place at the Workshop (3 Sylvan Road South) most days of the week, beginning at 8 a.m. (Check email early!)
Writers can unplug when workshops are not in session — including Sundays, the traditional day of rest.
Not a workspace the Westport Writers' Workshop wants to see.
In addition to no whirring computers or chirping cellphones, the facility offers overflowing bookshelves, bright windows and stacks of resources. (Plus a kitchen.)
The lack of internet access includes wireless. Westport Writers’ Workshop founder Jessica Bram says “the single greatest impediment to productive writing is the distraction provided by access to the Internet.”
Of course, there is no such thing as free non-internet access. Writing Hours Unplugged is available only to Workshop members ($150 per year; includes program discounts and free admission to speaker events). Memberships are available to “any writer or would-be writer in the community.”
“06880” likes the theory of unplugging, and writing in glorious, undistracted, quiet, contemplative, sylvan solitude.
But how would we know when The Dude, Jeffxs or any of our other fans readers comments on this post?
(For more information about the Westport Writers’ Workshop and Writing Hours Unplugged, click on www.westportwritersworkshop.com, or call 203-227-3250.)
Frank Howard visited Baseball World — the private camp at Staples High School — today.
At 6-8 and 275 pounds — with a prodigious home run swing — the former LA Dodger, Washington Senator and Texas Ranger is a legend for those of us of a certain vintage.
But his Rookie of the Year season was 1960. His stint as Mets manager was way back in 1983.
Many of the kids in Baseball World were born in this century.
Odds are, they’ve never heard of Frank Howard.
Even Frank Thomas is probably a stretch.
—————————————————-
Tonight, Mike McGovern sent this note to “06880”:
Fortunately Frank Howard the man — not Frank Howard the baseball card — showed up at Baseball World Camp today.
While the kids were not that knowledgeable about his career, Mr. Howard’s enthusiasm, warmth and larger-than-life presence were as impressive as his 500-foot home runs. The lineup of kids waiting for autographs would give Santa Claus a run for his money. But a picture does tell a thousand words, so here you go:
James McGovern, age 8, and Frank Howard, 73.
To the too-long list of grammatically incorrect Westport street signs, add:
The Westport Country Playhouse is located at 25 Powers Court. The Dressing Room restaurant is adjacent: 27 Powers Court.
That’s “Powers” Court — named for (I am told) the Powers family who once owned the land.
Not “Power’s” Court. It’s not named for the actor Tyrone.
Even if he did appear at the Playhouse, back in the day.
Hall & Oates have a long history with Westport.
In 1985 they played the most-famous non-concert ever “held” here. For the town’s 150th birthday celebration, an Inn at Longshore employee “arranged” for the pop stars to perform. Nearly 5,000 people paid $20 a ticket — but the whole thing was a scam. The duo never appeared, the employee vanished — fortunately, most Westporters were in a forgiving mood.
Jeff Southworth — now a Westporter, still involved in music — was the lead guitarist on the mega-hit “Kiss on My List.”
Now Drew McKeon — born the same year “Maneater” reached #1 — has joined the band. He’s replacing their longtime drummer (recovering from sciatica) on upcoming tour and party dates.
Drew McKeon (Photo by Chelsea Dee)
Drew — Staples Class of 2000 — has always been a musician. After graduating from NYU as a religion and history major (don’t ask), he hooked up with fellow Stapleite Justin Paul on projects like “Broadway Boys” and “Altar Boys.”
He did the Warped Tour in 2005 — playing 50 cities in 60 days, with artists like Billy Idol and Fallout Boy — and in St. Bart’s, Jimmy Buffett sat in with Drew’s band.
Versatile local musician Eliot Lewis — formerly of the Average White Band, now with Hall & Oates — recommended Drew. He helped open for the duo last year in Trumbull, so when the regular drummer couldn’t make this tour, Drew was a natural.
There’s a free show this Friday in Hamden, then concerts in Chicago and Iowa (plus private parties).
The singers — and their backup band — are all “first-rate musicians,” Drew says.
“Their live versions are much more nuanced than their recordings. There’s lots of improvisation and extended solos. I thought I knew the songs” — he’d played them at club gigs and weddings for years — “but I really have to get up to speed.”
Drew cleared his schedule to work on the music.
He also headed to the studio to talk to Daryl Hall, as he recorded his new album. They talked about mutual influences like Stevie Wonder.
So what’s Drew’s favorite Hall & Oates song?
“I’m liking ‘Say It Isn’t So,'” he says.
In Drew McKeon’s case, touring with 2 pop legends just happens to be so.
Posted in Entertainment, Longshore, Looking back, People
Tagged Daryl Hall, Drew McKeon, Eliot Lewis, Hall & Oates, Jeff Southworth, Justin Paul
The Connecticut Flame is an intriguing AAU basketball team.
The Under-17 squad calls Stamford home. But players come from as far as the Bronx — as well as suburban towns like Westport and Ridgefield.
Of the 13 young athletes, 10 are inner-city. They’ve got little or no resources, and their parents don’t have the time to be as involved as they’d like.
But all the players have talent and fortitude. They’ve come together as a team, and gone far.
Now they hope to go even farther: Las Vegas.
Connecticut Flame player Dan Scanlan, in action for Staples earlier this year. (Photo by Elaine Rankowitz)
The Flame would like to participate in a national tournament later this month. The exposure to college coaches is crucial to some of the urban youngsters.
Of course, it takes money to get to Vegas — and stay there.
The Flame is gambling they’ll get it.
They’ve held fundraisers — bake sales, car washes, pancake breakfasts — but they’re still $5,000 shy. They need it by next week.
Coach Michael Halley has made it his mission to give his players the chance to strut their stuff in front of college coaches. Westport families are doing all they can to raise funds too.
No contribution is too small, Dave Squires — whose son Dan Scanlan is on the team — says. Checks may be made out to “Connecticut Flame,” and sent to: David Squires, PO Box 1059, Greens Farms, CT 06838. For further information, call Dave at 203-610-3359.
Bill Brown and his cronies were trying to guess the oldest surviving business in town.
Bill guessed Beacon Electronics — but then realized it closed last year after a 60-year run.
Someone suggested Carvel — definitely a cool choice.
Boccanfuso has been around since 1957, though not at the same Post Road East location (near, coincidentally, Carvel).
Bill — who worked at the Westport Food Center on Main Street in the 1960s, which most definitely is not still in business — asked “06880” to name the oldest surviving business in town.
We punted.
What does “oldest surviving business in town” mean?
Is it the place that’s been in one spot the longest? If so, the answer is probably a gas station.
Is it the place that’s been in one spot the longest — with the same owner? That might be Westport Pizzeria or Mario’s?
What about Oscar’s, which is almost where it started in the 1950s — just a few doors down?
While Mitchells is in its 3rd location, it’s still on the Post Road. And it’s on its 3rd generation of owners — that counts for something, right?
Does the Red Barn count? It’s served diners on Wilton Road for over 50 years — but didn’t it close briefly before the Nisticos took over?
Feel free to nominate your own “oldest surviving business in town.” Clink the “Comments” link at the top or bottom of this post — and include your definition of the term.
The Red Barn seems to have been around since before there were cameras. (Drawing by Sascha Maurer/Courtesy of CardCow.com)
Posted in Local business, Looking back
Tagged Boccanfuso, Mario's, Mitchells of Westport, Oscars, Red Barn, Westport business, Westport Pizzeria
Who says environmentalists don’t have senses of humor?
The “WTF” in the shirts modeled above (by Sanders McNair, Petey Menz and Catherine Coughlin) supposedly refers to “Wakeman Town Farm.” On the back is a reminder of the October 2 Harvest Fest, which — like the shirts — is sponsored by Green Village Initiative.
But plenty of young people will laugh when they see the shirts.
“WTF” is a double entendre. If you don’t know what it stands for — ask a kid.
(“WTF” T-shirts, tank tops and caps are available for $10 each, at the Town Farm on Cross Highway, the Farmers’ Market and on Main Street this summer. Proceeds benefit GVI and the Harvest Fest. For more information contact Lisa Marriott: lsmarriott@gmail.com.)
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