New road signs appeared recently on Greens Farms Road:
The little yellow rectangle reminds everyone — if they can read it — that there must be 3 feet of space between drivers and bicyclists.
Alert reader Lawrence Zlatkin — who took the photo, and sent it in — asks, “Will Westport drivers heed its warning?”
That’s a good question.
An equally good one: Will bikers?
Westport’s dining scene has exploded over the past year.
It’s tough to get to all the new places — while also staying true to old favorites.
So here’s some food for thought.
The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce’s “Restaurant Week” starts this Sunday (October 1). Actually, it’s 2 weeks — all the way through October 15.
Throughout the event, 26 restaurants — from Saugatuck to Southport — offer prix fixe meals. They range from $15 to $25 for lunch, $25 to $35 for dinner, $15 and up for brunch.
This is a perfect chance to try out 3 new spots: Amis in Bedford Square, Bistro du Soleil by the train station and The ‘Port in National Hall.
In June, 1st Selectman Jim Marpe (with scissors) joined Munoz del Castillo family members and friends too open Bistro du Soleil. It’s a great new restaurant on Riverside Avenue, just steps from the train station.
Then you can go visit an older one you’ve always wanted to try.
And after that, hit up an old standby.
That still leaves plenty of time to visit other participants.
On October 16, you can head to the Y.
The ‘Port is a family favorite — with a great riverfront deck.
Participating restaurants:
For more details, click here.
Comments Off on Westporters Feast on Restaurant Week(s)
Posted in Categories
Three years ago, Jeremiah Montell weighed 320 pounds. He took 15 different medications. He made 3 suicide attempts.
Montell had recently retired as a Navy petty officer 2nd class, due to injuries sustained in combat. He’d deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq — after serving in both places earlier, as a Marine.
Fortunately, he learned about Catch a Lift. The organization provides gym memberships and home equipment, fitness programs and motivational peer support to post 9/11 combat-wounded military personnel, aiding in their physical and mental recovery.
Montell joined a gym in Austin, Texas. He recovered so well that he got himself certified as a personal trainer — so he could help others.
When Catch a Lift officials asked him to share his story, he became a public speaker. Now he too is a board member.
Jeremiah Montell working out in one activity …
That’s just the bare outline of Montell’s amazing story. On Saturday, November 11 (7 to 11 p.m., Birchwood Country Club) he’ll share it with Westport.
The 3rd annual event promises to be the best one yet. It’s a chance to meet inspiring veterans, eat, drink and dance.
This will be Montell’s 3rd visit here. Westport has a special place in his heart. It was one of the first places he spoke. And his reception here has been uplifting.
“I’ve gotten so much from so many people there — professionals in the fitness industry, and private citizens,” he says.
“They turn out. They want to hear our stories. And they want to help.”
Montell calls Westport “a beautiful town. But it’s a town of real people. I know they’re busy. But they take time to come, and ask thoughtful questions. They really understand we’re going through physical and mental things. They want to be a part of my life. I’m really fortunate to have that little town on my side.”
… and another.
2016 was a milestone year for Catch a Lift. The organization raised $1 million — of which 91% goes to help veterans.
“These great men and women need our support,” says Westporter Adam Vengrow, a national board member who is instrumental in every local event.
“We’re fighting suicide, PTSD, alcohol and drug abuse, severe weight gain, physical injuries including multiple limb losses and severe burns, plus much more. Together, we make a difference right here.”
Local businesses, gyms, the Westport Police Department, first responders, VFW and many others continue to help. But over 500 veterans are on Catch a Lift’s wait list.
In addition to ticket sales for the Veterans Day event, Vengrow seeks auction donations and program ads. Click here for more information.
“Twice a year, we bring veterans from all over the country to Westport,” he notes.
“We open our doors, we thank them for their service, we offer a hug. They leave with a lasting thought that Westport is unlike any other place in the country.
In the middle of town, he adds, “our bridge is filled with American flags. There are peaceful protesters from left and right at various times there. But everyone comes together in patriotism, and support for the men and women who protect us, in the hope of an even brighter future for our country and the generations behind us. I love Westport!”
In fact, Adam Vengrow loves Westport almost as much as Jeremiah Montell.
Sunset at Compo Beach’s Ned Dimes Marina (Photo/Sandra Long)
If you’ve been in Westport for any length of time, you’ve probably heard — and met — Jo Fuchs Luscombe.
She’s been involved in every aspect of life here — politics, education, community service. If it needs doing, Jo has done it.
But how many people know her back story?
A Dallas native, she was just a year old when her father — an oilman — moved the family to Venezuela. Jo grew up speaking Spanish — and gaining an important, real-world view of life.
She went to boarding school and college in Texas, headed to Katherine Gibbs secretarial school, got married at 19 and had a child at 20.
Jo Fuchs Luscombe
Her husband was in oil too, so they headed to Libya. Jo learned Italian there, and was once more immersed in a very different culture.
In 1969, the family moved back to the US. Her boys were 13 and 10.
In her mid-30s, Jo and her husband divorced. Encouraged by Rev. Dana Forrest Kennedy, she threw herself into every aspect Christ & Holy Trinity Church. She became president of the Women’s Guild, served on the vestry, and ran fundraisers.
She got interested too in the Westport Historical Society. Jo was a driving force behind the acquisition and restoration of Wheeler House — owned at the time by her church — as the organization’s headquarters.
In 1980, Jo was asked to fill out an unexpired term on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Public speaking did not come easily. But — as with everything else in her life — she worked to master it.
She won a full term on her own, then was appointed to the vacant post of 3rd selectman.
In 1986, Jo headed up her friend and fellow Westporter Julie Belaga’s campaign for governor.
Jo’s next step was the state House of Representatives. She served 5 terms — from 1987 to ’97 — and rose to Republican minority whip.
Retirement from state politics did not slow her down. As a member of Westport’s School Building Committee, she helped oversee 5 major construction and renovation projects (including the new Staples High School).
Jo Fuchs Luscombe (Photo courtesy of Westport Woman’s Club)
Remarriage did not slow her down either. Jo has been president of the Westport Woman’s Club (where she helped run major events like the art show), and is active in Westport Rotary, Greens Farms Garden club, and countless others.
As a longtime Westport Family YMCA board member, she helped shepherd the new building on its long, torturous journey from downtown to Mahackeno.
Her husband John says there is one reason she accomplishes so much: “She doesn’t sleep.”
There’s one more thing: Jo Fuchs Luscombe is one of the nicest, most always-smiling people you’ll ever meet.
Congratulations, Jo. And thanks from all of us, for all you’ve done in so many ways.
(Hat tip: Bobbie Herman)
The Westport Public Schools want students to think creatively and innovatively; to approach problems in ways no one else conceives of. That’s an important part of education — and crucial for success in the 21st century.
To do that, teachers must model that type of thinking.
And to give everyone extra encouragement, the district is putting its money where its mouth is.
Literally.
A $50,000 Innovation Fund is available to all students, faculty and staff. The goal is to encourage exciting ideas, foster new ways of thinking, and nurture an ongoing culture of creativity.
It’s not a new concept — districts like Wilton, Trumbull, Chappaqua and Scarsdale — have similar funds. But they’re usually run by third parties, such as foundations.
But, according to director of elementary education Julie Droller and technology director Natalie Carrignan, the Westport district wanted to select the best ideas itself. Board of Education member Mark Mathias was an early proponent of the fund. Superintendent of schools Colleen Palmer was also a strong advocate.
“We’re looking for solutions to problems that we otherwise would not have the equipment, time or resources for,” Droller says. “We know there are lots of great ideas out there.”
Just a couple of weeks after the fund was created, applications are pouring in.
Proposals include new ways of using technology, novel activities and requests for physical devices.
Drones are fun. They can also be educational.
One example: enhancement to the middle school STEM curriculum by using drones and coding software to solve real-world challenges.
Another: Teachers using technology to help them reflect on how they’re doing in the classroom. It’s similar, Carrignan says, to coaches who use game film to analyze performances.
The Innovation Fund is available to anyone in the district. One 3rd grade parent asked for more information, for her child.
A committee meets this week to review the first batch of requests. To learn more, click here.
A horde of herons egrets descend on Sherwood Mill Pond. (Photo/Nicola Sharian)
Last week, Facing Addiction rang the closing New York Stock Exchange bell.
It was a big moment for the national resource and advocacy group, working to solve America’s public health crisis. With Wall Street paying attention, organization officials hope, corporate America may follow.
Westporter Jim Hood — Facing Addiction’s co-founder and CEO — at the New York Stock Exchange.
Jim Hood — Facing Addiction’s co-founder and CEO — is a longtime Westporter. He helped start the non-profit after his 20-year-old son Austin died of an accidental drug overdose.
The ceremony was a public event. But Jim made it very personal too.
On the stock exchange wall, he left this achingly simple note:
Posted in Economy, Organizations, People
Tagged Austin Hood, Facing Addiction, Jim Hood, New York Stock Exchange
They don’t call them the Great Lakes for nothing. They’re big.
But Liz Fry is a great long distance swimmer. Earlier this month, the longtime Westporter became one of the few people in history — and the 2nd-oldest — to swim solo across Lake Ontario.
She wore just a swimsuit and goggles. She started at midnight, and finished 15 hours and 46 minutes later.
But the 32.1-mile swim from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Toronto was just one more walk in the park for Fry. She has already completed the “Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming”: the English Channel, California’s Catalina Channel and circumnavigating Manhattan Island.
Twice.
Liz Fry, moments after completing her Lake Ontario swim.
On her Lake Ontario conquest, her coaches — riding in a boat in front of her — fueled her with water bottles and cookies.
She told the Canadian Press, “My only sense of feeling comes in the form of cookies. At some point I need something crunchy because you’re basically on fluids the whole time. I really just zone out and enjoy my environment.”
Fry — who in her other life is a financial services consultant — trained for the event in a pool and Long Island Sound. She said the swim was one of her hardest. She also called it “fun and challenging and cold and bumpy and all those things.”
I call it “great.”
(Hat tip: Debbie Masso)
Brick sidewalks and granite curbs — similar to the new look on Main Street — are coming soon to Post Road East.
To store owners on the south side, they can’t come soon enough.
The project — which includes an expanded sewer line — is underway, from Tiffany to the former Max’s Art Supplies.
Last week, stores like Dovecote, Joie and Fig Linens had limited accessibility.
Now they’ve been told the state won’t allow plywood bridges, until the work is done. That could take 2 weeks.
The plywood bridges, last week.
Meanwhile, those shops — some of them locally owned mom-and-pops, with only front entrances — are suffering.
The sidewalk and curb will look great — when they’re finally finished. Then, hopefully, Westporters will do more than admire them.
They’ll use them to patronize the stores that sacrificed while they were installed.
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!)