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This is usually the time of year when we sign up for beach stickers, handpasses and the like.
In this year of COVID, the Parks & Recreation Department says:
Spring and summer are just around the corner. Our team is hard at work getting things ready to open up our facilities and provide programs!
We plan to provide offerings that we were unfortunately unable to offer last year due to COVID-19. Please anticipate modifications while we follow best practices and state guidelines as we strive to create safe environments for all facility users and program participants.
Keep watching for more information later this month on programs, beach emblems and more! Stay safe!
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Despite the loss of signature fundraisers like the Yankee Doodle Fair, the Westport Woman’s Club held strong to its 114-year tradition of helping local organizations in need.
Last year, the WWC concentrated its donations on groups that offer COVID-related help. They include
- Bridgeport Rescue Mission
- Center for Family Justice
- Circle of Care
- CLASP Homes, Inc.
- Department of Human Services
- Domestic Violence Crisis Center
- ElderHouse
- Family & Children’s Agency, Inc.
- Filling in the Blanks
- Food Rescue Us
- Homes with Hope
- Malta House, Inc.
- Person-to-Person
- Rowan Center
- Town of Westport: Department of Human Services Visiting Nurses & Hospice of Fairfield County Westport Volunteer EMS
Fingers are crossed for a Yankee Doodle Fair this year. But whether there is a full, scaled-down version — or none at all — the Westport Woman’s Club will find a way to make Fairfield County a better place for all.
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Spring is (almost) here. But to ensure that diners feel comfortable outdoors, Rizzuto’s is adding personal igloos.
Much warmer than the Inuit variety, they’ve got personal electric heat and lights.
They should be available this weekend. Let’s hope they’re the least snowy igloos we’ve ever seen.
Rizzuto’s igloos (Photo/Tracy Porosoff)
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Earthplace is the place for all things environmental. And March is the time for Earthplace to spring into new programming.
A few offerings:
- Teen Volunteer Club
- Talking $hit in Westport (recognizing scat! — Tuesday, March 16, 7 p.m.)
- “Restoring Soil to Fight Climate Change” (Zoom seminar — Thursday, March 18, 7 p.m.)
- Family Campfire (Saturday, March 20, 4 p.m.)
- Environmental Book Club (“The Genius of Birds” — Wednesday, March 31, 7 p.m.)
- Nature Trivia (Thursday, April 22, 5 p.m.)
- Science in a Box program (for 2 participants)
- Summer camp registration
Click here for details.
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The “blue light” mystery has been solved.
On Tuesday, “06880” ran a photo of a mysterious sight photographed by Nancy Vener, from Saugatuck Shores. Other readers sent similar photos:
(Photo/Nancy Vener)
Ever-vigilant Wendy Crowther found this statement from NASA’ Keith Koehler:
A 3-stage suborbital sounding rocket was launched in the afternoon on March 3, for the Department of Defense from NASA’s launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The launch was to study ionization in space just beyond the reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.
After flying to an altitude of several hundred miles and about 500 miles offshore, the rocket’s payload released a small quantity of vapor into the near-vacuum of space. There is no danger to public health or the Earth’s environment from the vapor release.
In other words: It’s just vapor. Or so they say …
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MoCA Westport’s spring Exhibition, “Smash,” premiers April 2. It’s devoted exclusively to the videos of contemporary artist Marilyn Minter.
Both grandiose and intimate, in settings throughout the museum’s galleries, Minter’s videos will be exhibited together for the first time in a public institution. Seeped in lush imagery and moving between figuration and abstraction, his works encapsulate feminism, pleasure, voyeurism and notions of beauty, desire and chance.
Her custom-designed AMC Pacer –featuring an interior, surround viewing of her work “Green Pink Caviar,” will also be exhibited for the first time.
Click here for more information.
“Smash,” by Marilyn Minter
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It’s not too early to think about Easter — well, the catering part, anyway.
Mystic Market across from the train station is early out of the box. Their appetizers and platters (artichoke jalapeño dip in a bread bowl, charcutier board…), salads, soups (carrot giner, potato leek), brunch quiche, breads, sides, dinners (roasted pomegranate lamb, potato-encrusted Chilean sea bass, roast beef tenderloin, salmon filet, beef lasagna…) and desserts) must be ordered by April 1.
I’ll take one of everything, please …
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The March/April issue of Westport Magazine is out now. It’s a look at “fresh starts for spring, like salons, skincare, what’s happening, and the local real estate market,
Also featured: outdoor spaces, from batting cages and home farms to a 16-foot firepit, across from a swimming pool’s transparent outer wall.
Westport Magazine is available at Barnes & Noble, Balducci’s, Whole Foods and CVS.
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And finally … on this day in 1963, Patsy Cline was killed in a plane crash in Tennessee. One of the first country music artists to cross over into pop, she was 30 years old.
I knew Charlie Dick Pasty’s husband in Nashville. He was funny as hell! Doo Lynn was one of his running buddies!
Regarding Beach Stickers. For those who read this from out-of-town…
This went out from Westport Parks and Recreation on March 3:
We know that many of you have been inquiring about parking emblems for the upcoming 2021 season. Due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, we are anticipating that our beach parking lots will remain at a reduced capacity again this summer. With this reduction in capacity, the Westport Parks and Recreation Department, will not be selling non-resident parking emblems at this time, nor do we anticipate selling daily passes for this upcoming season.
Please note, this is based on the current conditions and may change as we get closer to the summer, or even perhaps during the summer months, should the COVID-19 situation change and we are able to expand our capacity at our facilities. Should the sale of non-resident parking emblems or daily passes go into effect, we will send you a follow up email to notify you of this change.
I almost always listen to the songs you end your posts with and peruse the comments. I love when a commenter says something like “if you’re listening to Patsy Cline in 2021, you’ve got good taste.” Yup, you do Dan. Thanks.
Those igloo things at Rizzuto’s sure seem like the best set up to harbor and maintain any germs, Covid or otherwise….better to go inside where there’s more room and better circulation of air…would think the tents were a far more intelligent choice.