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Spring is in the air. And there’s no better place to smell it — and enjoy the outdoors — than Wakeman Town Farm.
Westport’s sustainable jewel is back open. Visiting hours begin today (Saturday, April 10, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.), including the popular Meet the Farmer program.
Everyone 13 and older is welcome for a walk around the gardens and grounds. (All COVID rules are in effect.) For more information, click here.
Wakeman Town Farm is open once again.
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Speaking of the environment: The Parks and Recreation Department sponsors “Clean Up Westport Day” on Saturday, April 24.
Over 50 local organizations and groups will help. Individuals and families can show up at the Parks Advisory Committee’s sites — Riverside and Grace Salmon Parks — or any street or public space.
Formal groups should call Parks & Rec (203-341-5091) before April 16, to let them know the time and location of their cleanup efforts. After the event, the town will collect bagged garbage and debris from each site.
Free trash bags are available outside the Parks & Rec office (opposite the Longshore golf course pro shop) between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on April 16 b8:30am and 4:30pm. Bags are limited to 6 per organization, and must be requested by April 15.
Cleaning up Grace Salmon Park.
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“Westport’s Suffragists — Our Neighbors, Our Crusaders: The 19th Amendment Turns 100” was the Westport Library’s best exhibit that no one visited.
Well, hardly anyone. It opened last year just days before COVID shut the town down.
But the Connecticut League of History Organizations knows about it. And they’ve awarded the Library an Award of Merit for it.
The awards committee was impressed with “how the exhibit fit nicely into a larger series of public programs and showcased the lives of local women in their fight for suffrage.”
Fortunately, the exhibit is online (click here). It explores the careers and political triumphs of suffragists who made Westport home. It also honors over 50 Westport women — many forgotten — who left their parlors for the streets, to fight for voting rights.
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The Remarkable Theater drive-in is back in action. Last year , the Imperial Avenue lot also served as the stage for the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce’s Supper & Soul Series. Next month, they return there.
Dark Desert Eagles — an Eagles tribute band — have been booked for Friday and Saturday nights, May 14 and 15. The Chamber urges attendees to get takeout from local restaurants and markets, and bring it to the concert.
Tickets for each show are $150 per car (5 person maximum). They go on sale this Monday, April 12 (10 a.m.). Click here to order.
Dark Desert Eagles
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Yesterday’s Roundup highlighted the mattress recycling program at Earthplace on May 8 (8:30 to 11:30 a.m.).
Not everyone has a mattress to get rid of. But you should still head to Earthplace that day.
Particularly if you’d like free compost. Bring a bucket, and Sustainable Westport will fill it. It’s open to all Westport residents, as a thank-you for making the food scrap recycling program such a success.
Sustainable Westport is collecting nearly 10 tons of food scraps a month from the transfer station (a free service for residents), and from the 2 licensed food scrap haulers (a paid curbside service). Over 500 Westport families are composting in some form.
Intrigued, but don’t know how to begin? Volunteers will sell food scrap recycling starter kits (with a countertop pail, compostable gags and 6-gallon transportation container) during the May 8 Earthplace event. (They’re free for income-eligible folks).
If you’re not into mattress recycling or food scraps — come anyway. It’s a family-friendly outing, with guided trail tours and animal feeding.
PS: Bring natural corks, used magic markers, mascara wands and batteries for recycling.
For more information click here, or email admin@sustainablewestport.org.
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Mark your calendar for these Sherwood Island State Park events. They’re presented by the Friends of Sherwood Island. That’s what friends are for!
Early Bird Earth Day (Saturday, April 17, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.): Kites and model airplanes; disc golf; information tables and more.
How to Grow Raspberries & Blueberries (April 18, 2 to 4 p.m., Nature Center). Mini-lesson — and 6 plants will be given away.
One Tree Planted Grant (April 23 and 24): 125 native trees and shrubs will be planted these days. Help is needed! Email michelemsorensen@gmail.com
Growing Potatoes (May 9, 2 to 4 p.m., Nature Center). Bring a potato with eyes to plant.
Plant corn, beans and squash (May 30, 2 to 4 p.m., Nature Center). Take home free seeds!
Connecticut Trails Day (June 5, all day). Kayak and walking tours, hikes.
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Judith Katz has just 2 words for this magnolia tree in her backyard at Harvest Commons: “At last!”
(Photo/Judith Katz)
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Long-time Westporter Sarah Kennedy takes after her great-aunt: Henrietta Cholmeley-Jones, a noted artist and supervisor of Westport’s WPA art project.
During the COVID lockdown, Sarah painted this acrylic of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
“They are inspirations to me,” Sarah says. “Anyone who keeps smiling and doing their duty at their age, I admire.”
After the news of Prince Philip’s death yesterday, at 99, she shares her work with the “06880” community.
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And finally … DMX — described by the New York Times as a “snarling yet soulful rapper … who had a string of No. 1 albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s but whose personal struggles eventually rivaled his lyrical prowess,” died yesterday in White Plains. He was 50.
My grandmother was a suffragist. Thank you for using that word, rather than the term “suffragette,” which was meant to be insulting and coined by a British newspaper, the Daily Mail.
My grandmother, an immigrant, taught me that voting was a duty, rather than a privilege, emphasizing how many people had given their lives for the right to vote. Don’t throw yours away!
Thanks, Dan, for the update on Wakeman Town Farms. We’d love the idea but it’s not clear (after clicking more info) if visits and walk-arounds are available only on Saturdays.
Hi Ray
We are having Open Hours only on Saturdays. We have lots of great programs for kids and adults coming up this Spring and Summer. There are also fun volunteer opportunities. Check out our website:
http://www.wakemantownfarm.org
Hope to see you at the farm!
It is facinating to read all the names of the suffragists. so many names that are a part of Westport’s history. Thank you.