Last night, the Westport Historical Society celebrated 2 new exhibits.
“Larry Silver/Westport Visions” is a fascinating look at our town, through 40 years of remarkable photos. Larry has focused a keen eye on Longshore, downtown, the railroad station — you name it, he’s captured it in a special way.
“Compo Beach Showers” (Photo/Larry Silver, courtesy of Bruce Silverstein Gallery)
His most remarked-on shot last night may have been the “Dragon Lady”: the striking woman who for years strode up and down Compo in heels. If you didn’t know her, don’t call yourself a Westporter.
Equally intriguing is the 2nd exhibit, in the smaller Mollie Donovan Gallery. “Faces in the Crowd” consists of a few dozen group shots from long (and longer) ago. Class shots, Little League teams, parties — if there was a gathering in Westport, it might be on the wall.
Here’s one, of teenage Hi-Y Club members at the YMCA:
And another of a crazy party in the barn at 57 Kings Highway North, owned by Ann Sheffer’s grandparents:
But what’s really fun is the interactivity. Each photo has a number; each number has a small notebook. If you recognize someone in any of the photos — Ed Hall, say, or Harold von Schmidt or Dan Woog — you can write where that person is in the photo, and add something about the scene.
Yeah, me. I’m in the WHS exhibit, in the photo below. Go, Apaches!
(The Westport Historical Society is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturday 12-4 p.m.)