Every year, Westport’s Sunrise Rotary raises nearly $100,000 from 2 events: The Duck Race, and a wine tasting gala.
Eighty percent of the proceeds are donated to organizations that serve the health, hunger, safety and education needs of adults and children from Stamford to New Haven. The other 20% funds disease prevention, health, peace promotion, education and economic development across the globe.
COVID -19 forced the cancellation of both fundraisers.
To partially fill the gap — and provide safe, fun activities that may also attract new members — Sunrise members collaborated with the Remarkable Theater. They showed “School of Rock” on the Imperial Avenue parking lot screen. The famous yellow duck — and a duckling — were there, welcoming movie-goers.
More events are planned. To learn more about membership, email
info@westportsunriserotary.org. To support charitable giving, send a check to
Westport Sunrise Rotary, PO Box 43, Westport, CT 06881-0043.
Nothing is wrong. The convertible’s driver adjusted its hydraulics, for a comfortable viewing spot at the Remarkable Drive-In.
As a Staples High School student, Dylan Diamond made frequent appearances on “06880.”
At 15, he built an app that allowed classmates to view their schedules and grades — then rolled it out nationally, with hundreds of thousands of downloads.
He followed up with apps that helped skiers find buddies on the slope, and let users book everything from babysitters and yardwork to concert tickets.
Now Inc. has taken notice. He and Wharton School classmate Max Baron have gone all-in on Saturn, a calendar app.
Inc. says “they are working to build community around the calendar in high schools, with a big vision fueling them: to own the time layer of the internet.”
To hear Inc.’s podcast — in which the two discuss “why retention is social, how living together has given the co-founders an ‘always on’ mindset, and what they learned from their early work experience at Tesla and Havas” — click here. (Hat tip: John Dodig)
Dylan Diamond, in San Francisco. While still a Staples High School student, he scored a coveted invitation to Facebook’s F8 conference.
How bad are the wildfires out west?
Peter Gold notes that Connecticut has 3.548 million acres. As of Saturday, over 3.2 million acres have burned in California this fire season alone. In addition, 900,000 acres burned in Oregon, and over 600,000 more in Washington.
“It’s hard to imagine an area almost one-and-a-half times the size of Connecticut burned in just 3 states,” he says.
Battling a blaze in California.
Jane Mansbridge is a professor of political leadership and values at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
A recent Harvard Gazette story traces her “jagged trajectory” from her youth in Weston, and years at Staples High School (Class of 1957) to her current role as one of the world’s leading scholars of democratic theory.
She loved growing up in a small town. But, she says, she was bullied in Weston and at Staples for being “bookish and a smart girl.”
Realizing that not everyone liked the kind of person she was, or the values she held may have contributed to her later drive to find out more about people who were not like her, she says.
Click here for the full story. (Hat tip: A. David Wunsch)
Jane Mansbridge (Photo/Stephanie Mitchell for Harvard staff)
The porgies are in! This was the scene yesterday, at Sherwood Island State Park. Of course, fishermen always observe social distance.
(Photo/Roseann Spengler)
And finally … On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key watched a British bombardment of Maryland during the War of 1812. Inspired by the sight of an American flag still flying at daybreak, he wrote a poem. “The Defence of Fort M’Henry” was later set to music. In 1931 “The Star-Spangled Banner” became our national anthem. One of the most famous versions was sung by our wonderful neighbor, Weston’s Jose Feliciano, before Game 5 of the 1968 World Series in Detroit. It was controversial at the time; no one had ever delivered such a non-traditional rendition.
His performance nearly ended his career. But 42 years later — in 2010 — he was invited back to Detroit, to perform it again. This time, the crowd roared.
That car! Still taking up two spaces! 🤣
Thank you Dan and David. The complete interview with Jane Mansbridge covers so much ground and is fascinating.
Very cool story about José Feliciano!
I moved from Westport to Eugene, Oregon and what everyone is seeing on the news does not begin to tell the story of the fires. Hundreds of people have lost their homes and many missing and no place to go. The air quality is so bad I have not been able to go outside for 5 days, not enough firefighters and no end in sight. I don’t scare easily but this is god awful.
The “F” in F. Scott Fitzgerald is for Francis. His full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. Francis Scott Key was a “second cousin thrice removed”.
I am really sorry that I did not respond to this yesterday. There was so much included. I did immediately re post on Facebook. Since I am Staples 1958, It was delightful and insightful to read about Jane Mansbridge. I had to go back and correct my report this morning as I misspelled her last name in my haste to share. Her words and insight are really needed today. Thanks Dan!
I had the privilege of playing guitar with Jose once. He is a great talent and a lovely man.