The “Comments” pages of “06880″ have been filled with wild stuff the past year. Crazy drivers, crazy weather, crazy crap going down with senior housing — if I’ve written about it, you’ve commented on it.
Today, let’s play nice.
This post’s “Comments” are devoted to a simple topic: giving thanks
I’ll start it off. I’m thankful that I live in such a beautiful, creative, compassionate, involved and supportive town.
I’m thankful for the thousands of readers who make “06880″ such an interesting labor of love.
And I’m thankful that despite all the craziness that sometimes threatens to drown us, we somehow manage to keep our heads above water, shake ourselves dry, and find our way back to firm, familiar land.
Oh, yeah. I’m also thankful for electricity. It’s on, most of the time.
Now it’s your turn. What are you thankful for? Just click the “Comments” link.
Thank you!
Westport illustrator Stevan Dohanos’ “Saturday Evening Post” cover, 1941 — 71 years ago.
I am thankful for all the wonderful, warm, interesting, intelligent, kind, caring creative and friendly people I have met since moving to Westport almost 9 years ago…
I’m even thankful for those few-and-far-between that I’ve met who possess little of those qualities, as they help make the wonderful ones that much more precious (!)
I’m also thankful that despite the damage our beautiful town – and especially the beach areas – suffered in Hurricane Sandy, we still emerged better than so many other less fortunate towns… we’re still standing and we will recover.
Finally, I am thankful that Dan continues to share his “stream of consciousness” with all of us, and invites us to dive in, making for one wild, wacky and wonderful “collective consciousness,” under the auspices of “06880”… Thanks, Dan !
Happy Thanksgiving to all 🙂
Dan — as former Westporters (we lived there from 1958 to 1971) and loyal readers of 06880, both my brother Charlie and I have agreed that we are thankful for YOU. Although we have been gone for 40 years – we still care about our “hometown.”
As we followed your up-to-the-minute hurricane reporting, Charlie said, “He’s doing the Lord’s work!” I have forwarded your posts to our mayor (on the fellow from the fire department who gave the great briefings), our YMCA leadership, friends and unsuspecting acquaintances.
So, Dan — we are truly thankful for you. Please, know that you are providing a wonderful service to so many and that we are grateful. Happy Thanksgiving!
THANKS, Fran. And I’m glad that we have reconnected too. Have a great day!
I’ll echo Fran Taylor. I lived in Westport just in my Long Lots/Staples years (’62-’66), and have been back to visit only a couple of times. But I consider Westport my hometown, and I follow 06880 avidly. So thanks, Dan, and thanks to all my Westport teachers and friends, no matter where they have roamed, for helping make me the person I am today.
Thankful we (in the collective) are alive, and are secure.
I am thankful for Hillary Clinton and the peace treaty Isn’t she moving to Westport? (If not D.C.?)
Sent from my iPhone
I’m thankful for the health and security of my own family and our great nation. You have to appreciate what you have, while you still have it!
I’m also thankful that Dan works so hard on this blog, to give Westporters a voice to share ideas, unload frustrations, and learn more about our community and its people. My family moved here three years ago and 06880 is a town asset. Sharing local information and providing a community forum is key, and so is detailing the ideas and actions of people in our community who choose to make a difference. Thanks to all of you.
I’m thankful for my family, my health, shelter and food , friends and “06880” 🙂
Dan. Thank you. And a big thank you for all you do for Westport Soccer Association. Not sure if everyone knows how much you care and help.
And another thank you for all that post on 06880. No matter the side or position, your desire to add to the conversation can only help Westport become a better place.
THANKS, Bart — and thank you for taking such an important role in the “06880” conversation. We’re all in this together!
Thankful for family, friends and the time to sit back and enjoy time with them today. Looking forward to being thankful for a Staples win in today’s Staples v. Greenwich game.
I echo the others who have thanked Dan for this forum for the free expression of ideas and opinions about the town we live in.
I’m Thankful for your 06880 blog. I would never know of all the stuff going on in town or about all the talented people, many of whom graduated Staples when my kids were in school there. I am in awe of the amount of work and attention you pay to this town. So, Dan, I am Thankful for YOU!
If any of us contribute 1/10 of what you’ve done, Estelle, we’ll have lived VERY wonderful lives!
It’s nearly impossible to list, in one forum, our blessings for which we are truly grateful. But at this moment, Dan, simply put, we are grateful for YOU. Our community is better for it and we, as a family, are blessed to call you our Friend. You’re a treasure and we love you!
And right back at you and Jose! Feliz Thanksgiving!
I’m thankful for a variety of things–but, for now, I’ll just say I’m thankful to the hardest working man in the blogosphere for doing two of Westport’s best sites: 06880 and Staplessoccer.com. (For those of you who don’t follow Staples soccer, Dan’s website has been praised as being superior to that of many college teams.)
I know 1010’s slogan is “You give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world.”
I would say something comparable applies to 06880 with respect to Westport.
Happy Thanksgiving and regards to all alums at the Turkey Bowl.
I am so thankful today for my son and his friends are alive and well. We had a 70ft white pine snap and fall into our house during the storm. The boys were in that room watching a movie. I had a strange feeling and pulled them out of there only moments before the tree came down and flattened that very room! They would not have survived. I am aware that there are other children who didn’t survive Sandy. I am saddened and sickened for their families loss. We will mention them tonight in our prayers. I hope everyone has the most beautiful day! Happy Thanksgiving.
Also thankful for this blog! I look forward to it and enjoy Dans wit every day!! 🙂
Among many other things Dan, I’m thankful to you for this great blog that you spend so much time on. It’s one of the first things that I read every morning. You continually open my eyes to things that are going on in our community.
My family and I often ask each other “Where does Dan find all these great stories?” — I’m not sure I want to know the answer, but I’m sure glad that you do.
Thank YOU Dan, and happy thanksgiving!
THANKS, Dan! And the answer is: I get the stories from you guys. Keep ’em comin’ — I’m thankful for such an involved, passionate and eye-opening community!
Like Fran/Charlie Taylor and my old Staples football captain Steve Doig, those of us who are long gone from our hometown (early 50s to 1966 but my parents, John and Buzz Allen, spent the rest of their lives in Westport) thank you, Dan, for providing us with an unbroken connection to Westport past and present.
Thank you for posting that wonderful Saturday Evening Post cover by Stevan Dohanos. I just love it.
I am thankful I had the opportunity to live in Westport for my growing up years. It would take a book to explain how amazing it is that my twin, Nancy, and I arrived in Westport. Three other siblings who were not adopted spent three years in an orphanage in Pennsylvania, and had a pretty rough upbringing. They did not have the chance to attend great schools such as the ones in Westport. I am thankful I got to know the Gerry family in junior high school. After I finished college and moved away from Westport, I would visit them every Sunday for many years. Glenn and Weezie’s home was my second home, and it kept me connected to Westport. I cherish the memories of all the holidays we shared, Thanksgiving being one of the best. Glenn had an absolute gift for word crafting, and he would always offer up a prayer of Thanksgiving that often brought tears to my eyes.
I am thankful that I am living in the United States of America, that I have a roof over my head, food to eat, a job, friends, and good health.
Thank you, Dan.
I’m thankful for so many wonderful years (39 so far) in beautiful Westport, where there is never a dull moment, where folks have opinions and feel free to express them. And yet, after vigorous debate, we all remain good friends and neighbors. My sons, Tom & Brian, always talked about what a great guy Dan was, and I’m happy that I’ve gotten to know him through his 06880 blog, and can now totally agree with them.
Dan, U da best ! 🙂
Agree, your blog is on my favorites to visit every morning. Thank you Dan for taking my questions, and finding the answers!
Happy Thanksgiving from afar, Dan, and thank you for being the true Town Crier.
Thankful for the lights at Staples. After gaining home field advantage with today’s win over Greenwich, Staples can now host the state quarter finals, this Tuesday at 6:30 against West Haven.
After perusing older blog entries, I am thankful for a forum that is truly open to many opinions. Some, have poorly tried to cast aspersions at Dan for being somewhat left of center(he readily admits he is). They say he has an agenda, other than promoting the many amazing attributes this town and its inhabitants have or those who were connected to it and have moved but still feel connected by his words. I am thankful that some very different and disagreeable people show there points a view to the masses and get verbally put in their place or shown the light of their ignorance or their brilliance. 06880 epitomizes the who what where when of thankfulness… Dan has created and promoted why the town and the forum of speech is why we should all be thankful….. Happy Thanksgiving 06880 and to Dan
I’m thankful for “Another day above ground.”
I am thankful for family, health and the memories I have of Westport, where my parents grew up and raised me. I am thankful that I can still be there often and usually run into someone I know from the past.
I am thankful for you, Dan, for giving our community the chance to express their gratitude on this important day. Happy Thanksgiving, Dan, to you and yours. I am enjoying mine with the most important people (and animal friends) in my life. 🙂
On this wonderful Friday after Thanksgiving I am grateful to live in a country where, just a day after giving thanks for what they have, people will madly flock to big box stores and other retail outlets to trample, harm and kill each other in rude, aggressively competitive quests to purchase really cheap products likely made by abused children in sweatshops in foreign countries to help greedy American CEOs afford extravagant mansions, swimming pools and private golf courses (while treating their employees like shit) and boost the all-mighty economy which, in the United States, has apparently become more critically important than anything!
You should get help.
No help necessary. He sees with clarity.
It is not his eyes that are deficient. Hate grows elsewhere.