Tonight’s “Art About Town” street festival — featuring music, food and fun — has been postponed to next Thursday (May 30, 5:30-8:30 p.m.).
We don’t know what the weather will be like then, but it’s got to be better than today.
Two years ago during “Art About Town,” clay sculptor Peter Rubino created Beethoven — as the “5th Symphony” played in the background.
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Posted in Arts, Downtown, Organizations
Tagged Art About Town, Westport Downtown Merchants Association
For Monday’s “06880” post, I asked the 4 candidates currently running for 1st selectman to name 5 Westporters they admire.
Three included Allen Raymond.
Allen Raymond, circa 1963.
That’s a no-brainer. The 90-year-old former publisher (and town historian) has not just lived on Compo Cove since 1922. He’s served on more boards, advised more town leaders, brokered more good and smart deals, and contributed more to every facet of life — educational, recreational, spiritual — than anyone since the Bedfords.
And they were an entire family.
But it’s not just the 1st selectman candidates and me who revere Allen Raymond. Here’s an email I got from another admirer:
“I noted the frequent mention of Allen Raymond as a person the selectman candidates would ask for guidance.
“Why?
“Certainly, Allen has been a successful figure in town for many years. He is generous with both his time and his money. He has sat on almost every guiding committee we have, from church to Y to kitchen cabinet.
“He has already been honored by many organizations – including the Y’s renaming of Sunny Lane to Allen Raymond Lane.
Allen Raymond: The man, and his sign.
“One more honor is coming up. On Wednesday, June 5 the Westport Rotary honors him at their annual Golf and Tennis Fundraiser at Longshore.
“But I think the real reason that people want to speak to him is because they want to know how he and others managed to get things done. How to get the purchase of Longshore done – without lawsuits and squabbling.
“How to get organizations like the Westport Historical Society and Earthplace to be sustainable, contributing, active town resources. How to draw people into a church to celebrate its history, as well as its present contributions and mission.
“I think the Rotary honor is a good reason for potential politicians, as well as friends and neighbors, to come together one more time to ask for Allen’s advice, and celebrate his ability to get things done.
Posted in Organizations, People, YMCA
Tagged Allen Raymond, Earthplace, Westport Historical Society, Westport Rotary
Finding a good birthday gift is hard.
It’s especially tough for someone who’s turning 80 years old. By that time in life, you’ve pretty much gotten everything.
But this 80-year-old was Bill Klemish. He lives in Florida now, but still remembers the 1950 Staples football team. He was captain, and they were undefeated.
A quick note to Dan DeVito — president of the Staples Gridiron Club — was all it took. Dan sent a Wreckers sweatshirt, and a nice note.
Bev Breault (Staples Class of 1952) presents Bill Klemish with his Staples football sweatshirt.
The guests at Bill’s party — held at his daughter Marilyn’s home near Sarasota — could certainly relate to Staples. Their names read like a Who’s Who of Westport: Marge Santella, Bev Breault, Carole Maddock, Ann and Don Rully, Barbara Allen Yamnicky, Bunny Maier, Jack Lauterbach, Bob Duffy, John Hastings; Bill, John Michael and Mary Kate Klemish, Florence Dohanos, Linda Gilchrist, Jenny Walton, Bill and Mary Ann Stirling, Althea D’Aiuto, Jessie Huberty and Ardela Whortley.
Ray Maddock was there too. He and Bill have a lot more in common that Staples football. They’ve been friends since kindergarten in Westport — 75 short years ago.
Posted in Looking back, People, Sports, Staples HS
Tagged Bev Breault, Bill Klemish, Staples Gridiron Club
“06880” reader Amy Scarella writes:
There is an amazing 13-year-old friend here in Westport. Phoebe is battling leukemia, and is scheduled for a bone marrow transplant next week. That’s great news. Her only sibling, Hallie, beat the 1-in-4 odds of being a match, and is courageously giving her sister another chance at life. Hallie is 12. Though the girls are very different, they are incredibly close. Both attend Bedford Middle School.
When Phoebe learned she had bone cancer of the leg 2 years ago — on her mom Ellen’s birthday — the town of Westport rallied around the Spear family to help in any way possible.Through Caringbridge.org Phoebe developed a world-wide fan base. She made connections with other kids with cancer all over the country, as well as on the pediatric oncology floor at Sloan-Kettering.
When Phoebe went for her 2-year check up in April, everyone noted how great she looked and how happy she was. After chemo, 2 surgeries, 2 attempts at physical therapy and all of the side effects, Phoebe was on her way back to normal (as normal as can be when you have a lung screening each month).
But as Phoebe and Ellen pulled off Exit 18, a doctor asked them to return. On Monday morning they found out Phoebe had secondary cancer — this time in her blood. It is very rare in people under 70.
Phoebe (left) and Hallie Spear.
Phoebe spent her 14th birthday the other day receiving chemo, fighting off nausea and sleepiness. She’ll receive her bone marrow next week. Her hair is once again gone.
Phoebe is extremely intelligent. She knows how to read her monitor, and understands the terminology used for her condition. She doesn’t complain. She is more concerned about why cancer exists, and would rather discuss her experience from an academic perspective than an emotional one.
This trying time has been made more difficult because Phoebe is not producing platelets. She receives them intravenously, for 5 hours a day. These platelets come from donations made at Sloan by friends, family and perfect strangers. Donors must have a decent iron count,and cannot be pregnant. Any blood type works, and anything Phoebe does not use will go to another patient.
A bone marrow transplant requires a lot of platelets. So I ask anyone who is able to consider donating (she will need platelets for a month). I did it a few weeks ago and am going back Thursday afternoon (I’m happy to drive in with anyone interested). They even have free cookies!
Thank you for reading this. Please forward it to anyone who might step up. The Spear family is so grateful. Phoebe sent me an e-card thanking me for my donation. No child should ever write that note.
This morning, Police Chief Dale Call was on duty at the Westport train station. He and a number of officers — many with high rank — made sure traffic flowed smoothly, and that buses bringing riders from points east had room to move.
Westport Police Chief Dale Call, on closed-to-passenger-cars Railroad Place this morning.
A few minutes ago, passengers arriving from Grand Central and points west spent a 2nd day boarding shuttle buses that would drop them at stations all the way to New Haven.
Those are scenes we figured would be repeated all week — if not far into the future — following Friday’s train derailment and wreck a few miles from here.
But Metro-North has announced that limited train service to New Haven begins at 3 p.m. today — right about now.
And the 1st train from New Haven to Grand Central leaves at 4:23 p.m. today.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), regular service resumes up and down the line.
That’s astonishing. In less than 4 days, Metro-North crews have completely cleaned up the huge mess from a mammoth train crash.
The next time there’s a hurricane, windstorm or other natural disaster, we’re hiring those guys.
For years, the flag flying over Patagonia has looked pretty ratty.
Not as tattered as the one Francis Scott Key saw over Fort McHenry — but close.
These days, a big, new and handsome flag stands proudly downtown.
Just in time for Memorial Day.
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Posted in Downtown, Local business
Tagged American flag, Patagonia
To the long list of natural disasters afflicting Westport — hurricanes, deer, drivers with no brains — add one more: bamboo.
The imported plant is incredibly invasive. Its stems are dense. Its leaves grow 35 feet or more. It spreads underground, overpowering sidewalks, fences and stone walls.
Caryn Rickel of the Institute of Invasive Bamboo Research (!) told the Connecticut Post, yellow grove bamboo is “the worst alien invader that the USA has ever encountered.”
Bamboo grows on a West Ambler Road property line — and behind the house too.
Westporter Priscilla Weadon calls it “the fastest-growing grass on the planet.”
She should know. An Ambler Road neighbor planted bamboo a few years back. Now it’s everywhere — defying even “really powerful chemicals.”
Priscilla’s lawn is covered in new bamboo. She says it grew over 4 feet in a matter of days.
Priscilla says bamboo runs the length of a pond on North Turkey Hill. It’s on Turkey Hill South and Green’s Farms Road. Behind the shopping center next to Mitchells.
More bamboo — on South Turkey Hill, near the intersection with Green’s Farms Road.
The Post story notes that Westport is “home to several astonishing mini-forests of yellow groove bamboo. If your only experiences with the plant are the torches at your neighbor’s tiki party, you’re in for a jaw-dropping experience.”
In many states, Priscilla says, “you cannot sell your home if there is bamboo growing in or bordering” your property. She strongly backs a bill working its way through the Connecticut legislature, providing protection and monetary damages to homeowners for the removal of bamboo. (It must be dug up, sifted through, and the rhizomes — fast-growing underground stems — incinerated.)
Right now, bamboo is not on the list of the state’s invasive species. The Post says that’s because it is not attacking natural habitats — only siding, roofs and the like — and its effect on native plants and animals is negligible.
This bamboo — behind Party Harty and Westport Hardware — grows through asphalt.
The problem, the Post says, is with people who plant bamboo. Some apparently grow it just to get revenge on a neighbor. (The more neighborly reason is to create a privacy screen.)
There’s no word on how Westport’s bamboo infestation began.
Or — to Priscilla Weadon’s dismay — how and when it will end.
Posted in Environment, People, Places, Politics
Tagged bamboo, Institute of Invasive Bamboo Research, Priscilla Weadon
Two months ago, “06880” reported that America’s oldest oyster boat might become an oyster bar in the Saugatuck River.
Now, there’s a very real chance it might turn into scrap wood.
Jean Paul Vellotti — a Westporter trying to save the Laurel — just sent this email:
I’ll get right to the point: We have 48 hours to save the Laurel or she will be crushed.
I’ve lost my docking spot. There are few docks available. One is at Captain’s Cove in Bridgeport. The summer dock fee there might be about $5,000. That’s money I don’t have.
The Laurel.
I had just found a great space for the Laurel Oyster Bar in Sono, complete with a dock and parking. We had contacted the owners this morning before the bad news, and they are getting back to us.
Maybe someone who wants to invest in the business can come forward. It’s pretty hard to have an oyster bar on an oyster boat without the oyster boat.
I really hate to see her crushed, which is a real possibility. Aside from getting a huge bill that will take me years to pay, we would lose the oldest oyster boat in America. We have to try to keep her floating. Even if we can save her for the summer and donate her to Mystic, our job will be done.
If you have any ideas — or can help — email vellotti@aol.com.
A memorial service for Tracy Sugarman — the Westport illustrator, social justice activist, D-Day veteran and all-around good guy who died in January at 91, a month after publishing his 1st novel — is set for this Sunday (May 26), 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Church.
Tracy Sugarman
Tracy will be remembered as an artist, author, civil rights activist, documentary filmmaker, and brother, father and grandfather. Among the speakers: Charles McLaurin, the Mississippi civil rights leader who was a close friend.
Two days earlier — on Friday, May 24 (5-7 p.m.), the Westport Historical Society opens a summer-long exhibit. It explores Tracy Sugarman’s life and work, as a “citizen-artist.”
It’s appropriate that both events take place on Memorial Day weekend. Two years ago, Tracy — as proud of his military service as he was of his social activism — served as grand marshal of our parade.
Posted in Organizations, People, religion
This morning, hundreds of Staples seniors begin internships.
For the next month they’ll work at law firms, advertising agencies, research labs, non-profits, stores and more, from here to New York.
It’s a great taste of the real world, just before graduation and whatever lies ahead beyond high school.
But talk about bad timing!
Nothing can prepare a teenager for the real world like commuting — on one of the most chaotic days in Fairfield County transportation history.
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Posted in Staples HS, Teenagers, Westport life
Tagged commuting, Metro North
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