If it’s Thanksgiving, it must be time for the Westport Police Department’s annual Toy Ddrive.
Local union 2080 and the Westport Police Benevolent Association are sponsoring the event. Each year, thousands of toys are distributed to underprivileged children throughout Fairfield County, and at Bridgeport and St. Vincent’s Hospitals.
Westport police officers will accept new, unopened and unwrapped toys at the ASF parking lot (1560 Post Road East) on the first 2 Saturdays and Sundays in December (5, 6, 12 and 13), from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In addition, collection boxes will be set up now through December 14 at:
- Age of Reason, 9 Post Road West
- ASF Sports & Outdoors ,1560 Post Road East
- Awesome Toys and Gifts, 429 Post Road East
- The Toy Post, 180 Post Road East
Questions? Email anowinski@westportct.gov, or call 203-341-6000.
What a great gift for a kid!
Swimming at the Y has been my COVID happy place. Nothing like a pool-ful of chlorine to keep the coronavirus at bay.
No longer. The Westport Weston Family Y announced yesterday that effective immediately, both the lap and warm pools will be shut down indefinitely.
The decision was based on updated guidelines from the governor’s office. Under those rules, only 4 swimmers could be allowed at any time.
The wellness center, gymnastics center, group fitness classes and school-age childcare programs remain open.
The Westport Y pool will look like this for a while.
And finally … c’mon! You didn’t really expect anything different today, did you?
Re 4 people per pool: this mandate from Gov. Lamont lacks common sense or following the science. It makes no mention to the size of pool, natatorium size (ours is HUGE) or number of locker rooms.
If the concern is people congregating in the locker rooms (which we don’t do, and at most there are 3 people at a time in our 5 locker rooms), then close the locker rooms.
Let swimmers have the choice to put a coat over damp bathing suits and walk 5 mins to our cars.
We are operating at a state-mandated lower capacity level since our June reopening. We allow 24 feet of space btw our AquaFitters! We have state-of-the-art air ventilation.
This mandate must get rescinded immediately.
Patty Kondub
Aqua Fitness Coordinator
34 year part-time employee
Westport Weston Family Y
4. people in the Westport YMCA pool is ridiculous!
We are 12 feet apart, in chlorinated water. there is plenty of room in that pool for more than 4 people. I think that we need to explain that we know about social distancing, and are careful. Please don’t take away our pool. I think 4 people might apply to a small home swimming pool.
I am really confused by governor’s directives resulting in the YMCA pool closure.
Why single the pool out?
Since the reopening I have enjoyed the aqua fit classes. It has done wonders for my physical health and my mental health. I felt very safe at the ymca, I felt the measures put in place by the YMCA were very efficient and safe. ( temperature check, questionnaire, one way traffic, mask on until entering the water). I actually never went into the locker rooms, always undressed and dressed on deck as we all did at phase one. To my knowledge nobody who was part of the YMCA pool family got infected.
I am convinced that my visits to the pool actually helped me tremendously adhere to all the other restrictions. I went out of the house daily, I exercised in a safe way ( in a vat of chlorinated water calibrated to kill a bunch of bacteria), and I felt ready to stay and work from home.
Not that I want to make other people unhappy, but why close the pool but keep the other classes and the rest of the facility open to the public? This does not make any sense to me.
I dearly hope these directives will be reviewed and the pool will reopen soon.
Respectfully submitted,
Nathalie Fonteyne
The pool has been a great sanctuary for so many in the Covid Era. Closing it is absolutely insane. Let’s make sense and not just do things in an arbitrary way. We are reasonable people who will follow the rules. Being in a giant chlorine pool is not a danger.
Wendy Bowditch
Member YMCA
This could be a death knell to many Y memberships. If you exclusively use the pool, and the pool is taken away, what is the benefit to maintaining the membership? I had a membership that I paid into for months with no ability to use the pool starting in March. When the pool reopened to the public with 2 people per lane in May, it was difficult to get a reservation and I found myself on the waiting list more often than not. I stopped my membership because I work and the early classes filled up, but I understand that more slots opened up. Now, the governor has taken it all away. The arbitrary nature of his executive order that essentially closed the pool seems to be punitive against the safest venue – bouncing around a vat of chlorinated water.
And, with the partisan bickering over a new stimulus package halting some financial assistance, the governor has just shut down the income of lifeguards, instructors and private lessons. I hope someone can get him to rescind this order.