Monthly Archives: February 2020

Pic Of The Day #1048

Posted on February 29, 2020 | 8 comments

Signs of the times, at CVS: The bad news …

… and the good:

(Photos/Mark Mathias)

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Posted in Environment, Local business, Pic of the Day, Weather

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A Toast (And A Bagel) To Westport’s Maven

Posted on February 29, 2020 | 14 comments

Tomorrow (Sunday, March 1) is Bagel Maven’s last day in business. Owner Alex Perdomo moves on, eager to continue elsewhere.

Friends and customers will honor him today, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Black Duck. All are invited!

Alex Permodo at Bagel Maven.

(Hat tip: Phil Nourie)

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Posted in Local business, People, Restaurants

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Lights! Camera! Action!

Posted on February 29, 2020 | Comments Off on Lights! Camera! Action!

The website of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development includes — among other things — a page aimed at film, TV and digital media.

The tagline boasts: “With attractive locations and top-tier production capabilities, the Nutmeg State is ready for its close-up.”

There’s information on tax incentives, resources — and locations.

“From postcard-perfect New England to a retro-modern utopia, Connecticut gives your production the authenticity audiences want,” the site promises. (I’m not sure what a “retro-modern utopia” is, but I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere.)

Sure enough, a photo gallery shows off our small state’s many attractions: waterfalls, autumn woods, beaches, ballparks, the Capitol, Long Island Sound, covered bridges, charming downtowns, Mystic.

A screenshot of some of the locations available in Connecticut.

A helpful search function allows users to filter by town.

But when you click on “Westport,” all you see is a measly 19 possible locations.

There’s Hummock Island, Wheeler House, Sherwood Island, the Saugatuck River, Main Street, an office building, and a few homes.

It’s pretty lame. It could be any Connecticut town — or many.

The Westport location results.

C’mon, Westport. We can do better!

If you’d like your house or business — or your favorite Westport attraction — to have a star turn on TV, in the movies or “digital media,” click here.

And if you wangle a nice user’s fee out of it, don’t forget where you got the idea!

(Hat tip: Sandra Long)

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Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Media, Organizations

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Pic Of The Day #1047

Posted on February 28, 2020 | 7 comments

Compo Beach clouds, this morning (Photo/Jimmy Izzo)

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Posted in Beach, Pic of the Day

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EJ Zebro Turns Heads At NFL Combine

Posted on February 28, 2020 | 2 comments

A year ago, EJ Zebro was the new kid at the NFL Combine.

As the owner of TAP Strength Lab downtown, the certified movement and performance coach was eager to show that the Optimal Human Motion machines — and methods — he uses can minimize, or even eliminate, pain athletes may feel from injuries. The key feature is limiting joint compression forces.

This week, at the annual event in Indianapolis, Zebro was greeted like an old friend.

The OHM equipment was used this year by the Giants, Jets and Dolphins. Other teams have placed orders. So has an NBA club, NASCAR, and Quinnipiac University (for its nationally ranked men’s ice hockey team).

EJ Zebro (left) and Optimal Human Motion founder Dave Schmidt, with the OHM machine.

TAP Strength Lab has more of this equipment than any place else in the world, Zebro says — including NFL strength and conditioning rooms. He’s also got devices that are not yet on the market.

Zebro is proud of his work with pro football teams. But he’s equally excited about his local clients. They include up-and-coming athletes — and 80-somethings, who he works with on balance issues.

Of course, Zebro uses the OHM machines too. Otherwise, he says, he’d be unable to run around with his Over-40 soccer team.

That’s his World Cup — and Super Bowl — rolled into one.

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Posted in Local business, People, Sports

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Friday Flashback #182

Posted on February 28, 2020 | 34 comments

Tomorrow is Leap Day.

Today’s Friday Flashback honors another kind of leap.

Since its construction in the mid-1950s, the Saugatuck River I-95 bridge — back then, it was called “The Connecticut Turnpike” or “Thruway” — has been the scene of very occasional (and daring) (and stupid) leaps.

Startled drinkers at the Black Duck bar — and before it, Davy Jones’ — have watched teenage and 20-something guys (it’s always males) land in the water nearby.

The Saugatuck River bridge, under construction in 1957. Back then, I-95 was called the Connecticut Turnpike.

“06880” does not recommend this. The jump is spectacularly dangerous. And who in his right mind would even think of standing on the side of the bridge, with traffic whizzing by?

Nevertheless, if you have a story about leaping off this bridge — or any other one in Westport — click “Comments” below.

Feel free to comment too with any non-bridge Leap Year stories of your own.

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Posted in Friday Flashback, Restaurants, Saugatuck, Transportation

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Rob Slosberg Was Lucky Back Then

Posted on February 28, 2020 | 9 comments

It’s easy to complain about life. Usually, it’s something minor.

Then something truly awful happens. We realize how good we had it, just a few days before.

Fifteen years ago Rob Slosberg lost his sister Sydney to drug abuse. He thinks back now to how wonderful it was to hang out with her — having dinner, listening to music, doing simple things together.

It was, the 1982 Staples High School graduate says, “a simpler time, maybe not appreciated as much as it should have been.”

Rob’s day job is creative director at a New York advertising firm. But he started playing guitar when his 2 sons were born. It’s become his passion — and he’s become a recording artist. (His son Justin inherited his dad’s love. After Staples, he headed off to Berklee School of Music.)

Rob Morton

Rob records as Rob Morton. That’s his middle name. He’s not hiding anything — he just wants his artist and ad lives to be separate.

One of his newest songs is “Lucky Back Then.” The idea came as Rob thought about a particular life situation, and thought to himself “I wish I knew I was lucky back then.” It became the first line of the song.

It was not intended as a sad song (though his girlfriend says it makes her cry). The message, Rob says, was to “appreciate what we have while we have it, and live with daily gratitude when possible.”

The ending reinforces that idea beautifully. Before that, Rob sings about all the stages of his life: childhood, adolescence, young parenthood.

His music video reinforces that idea too. Shot entirely in Westport — on Oak Street and Maplewood Avenue; at the Riverwalk by Levitt Pavilion, Compo Beach and Rob’s own house — it includes 4 “Robs.”

The young boy on the bike, the 12-year-old and young dad are professional actors. The 19-year-old is his son Derek.

Rob’s sister Sydney is on the cover. The photo comes from their childhood, on High Point Road.

The full album comes out tomorrow (Saturday, February 29). It includes 8 original tracks, and 2 covers (Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” and the Allman Brothers’ “One Way Out.”)

Rob Slosberg’s many fans will be lucky then.

(“Lucky Back Then” will be available on iTunes, Spotify and all major platforms. For more information, click here.)

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Posted in Entertainment, People, Staples HS

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Pic Of The Day #1046

Posted on February 27, 2020 | 5 comments

Man with a mannequin (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)

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Posted in Downtown, Pic of the Day, Totally random

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Garelick & Herbs: “Filled With Gratitude For 27 Amazing Years”

Posted on February 27, 2020 | 13 comments

Paola and Jason — longtime owners of Garelick & Herbs — send this message to the “06880” community:

We are filled with gratitude for 27 amazing years of business serving the Westport community. We have grown together sharing in many joyful celebrations, milestones and the inevitable sad moments.

Our first store opened 27 years ago at 1799 Post Road East, where we grew (and later outgrew) the location. After 24 years we took a leap of faith to purchase and build an urban, modern-style store, with ample space to continue growing our in-store and catering businesses for years to come.

We also added a secondary commissary bakery and kitchen in the lower level of our existing building. Our new location at 3611 Post Road, Southport is a stop light away from our original store locate (2 stores down from Michaels and Home Goods).

Garelick & Herbs’ interior, in Southport.

As we were building our new Southport store, we were approached by Gault to entertain opening a satellite shop in their tastefully built shopping plaza in Saugatuck. We fell in love with the space and were very excited, as we have always had an affinity for Westport. Many of our loyal customers who live closer to Saugatuck/Norwalk had always wished we were closer to their homes.

Our high hopes were that this location would allow us to accommodate our client base, and also have a store presence in our home town of Westport. However, we soon discovered parking was limited for our needs, as we share approximately 12 spots with 2 other stores in the plaza.

Although there is additional parking in the underground garage behind the building as well as the commuter lot, many people are unaware. Some feel it is inconvenient.

We also found the area to be saturated with restaurants and food shops, limiting reasons other than food to attract more daily traffic in the area.

The Saugatuck location.

On the upside, it is a seasonal area with quaint charm that lends itself to walking, which brought more activity during the summer months.

Lastly, many of our customers who frequent the Saugatuck location also shop in our Southport store regularly. We therefore decided to not renew after our 5-year lease expired.

We will always have an allegiance to Westport, with our dedication to serve our customers, the community, schools and places of worship. We are committed to being an integral part of many happy moments of celebration, wonderful charities and community events.

In the meantime, we have very exciting embellishments in progress at our Southport flagship store.

A “Market Place” with various food vendors consisting of fresh meat, fish, cheese, and florist designer will be partnering with G & H in the coming months. Our concept is to bring together local community-based businesses, while making a one-stop convenient shopping experience.

Our vision and business direction has always been driven by our customers’ needs and requests. We are local, fresh and convenient, with sustainable local businesses collaborating to serve surrounding communities.

We have also expanded our catering and now operate at the Westport Inn, as well as Norwalk (Mora Mora and Wall Street Theater), Fairfield  (Birdcraft Sanctuary) and Bridgeport (Redline Restorations warehouse). Expansion to New York City is on the horizon!

We are humble, hard-working and grateful people who know we could not do all this without the support of amazing customers, dedicated employees and G-d’s/universe light upon us and all the people we serve.

With that, although we are no longer married, we are dedicated to each other, our children and our business. All of which will never falter.

Gratefully,
Paola & Jason

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Posted in Local business, People, Saugatuck

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School District Sends Coronavirus Info

Posted on February 27, 2020 | 2 comments

Earlier today, Westport Public Schools’ interim superintendent of schools David Abbey and supervisor of health services Suzanne Levasseur sent this note to parents:

We want to assure you that we are carefully monitoring the status of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) which continues to evolve internationally. In an effort to obtain the most current information, we participate in a weekly state conference call with the State Department of Public Health to receive information vital to the health and safety of our school community. In addition, we are collaborating on a daily basis with the Westport/Weston Health District and by extension, the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). Fortunately, to date, no cases of 2019-nCoV have been identified in Connecticut.

While the risk of contracting 2019-nCoV remains low in our area, recommendations from health officials may change frequently as new information becomes available. Recently, we have received questions about international travel by families, students, and staff members. At this time, our District continues to follow the Interim US Guidance for Risk Assessment and Public Health Management of Persons with Potential 2019-nCoV Exposure in Travel-Associated or Community Settings issued by the CDC.  Please be assured that if there are health and safety risks to the community, they will be communicated and appropriate measures will be taken.

The District is also updating our operational pandemic plan to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning in the event that schools are closed. To that end, we are exploring alternate procedures for instruction as well as developing plans to guarantee essential office functions remain in place.

The same measures which prevent other respiratory viruses, including influenza from spreading, can prevent 2019-nCoV from spreading. As such, the district is continuing with standard infection control precautions in our schools, including systematically cleaning common touch points. In an effort to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses, please remember to:

  • cover coughs/sneezes;
  • frequently and thoroughly wash hands;
  • routinely clean touched objects and surfaces;
  • keep children home when they have early symptoms indicative of flu (e.g. fever, headache, extreme fatigue, dry cough, sore throat, muscle aches or runny nose with unusual tiredness); and
  • keep children home until they are fully recovered from an illness (e.g., have no fever, vomiting or diarrhea for at least 24 hours, are no longer significantly fatigued or in need of extra sleep, and have significantly reduced respiratory symptoms).
  • If you or your children have had recent international travel and develop flu/ COVID-19 symptoms, contact your healthcare provider and please notify the Supervisor of Health Services.

Additional information can be found on the links below.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices

https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Public-Health-Preparedness/Main-Page/2019-Novel-Coronavirus

We will continue to be vigilant in monitoring this evolving situation and will provide updates as necessary.   Thank you for your support and help with respect to keeping our schools healthy and safe.

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Posted in Education, Environment

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