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NOTE: Our “0*6*Art*Art*0” art gallery is closed for summer vacation. It will reopen next week!
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Westport Urgent Care‘s air conditioning unit has been in urgent need of a part for a while. It’s still on back order.
What was merely an inconvenience earlier became — well, urgent — this sweltering week. With latex gloves sticking to doctors and nurses’ hands, dangerous heat levels, and ill patients being exposed to even more danger in the waiting area, the health care center tried to adapt.
Yesterday, the walk-in clinic closed early. A sign cited “equipment failure,” and apologized for “inconvience.”
There was no notice on the website, or voice message, whether Urgent Care will be open today. It usually opens at 9 a.m. on Saturdays.
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Then there’s this heat-related postponement: Today’s Car Cruise has been rescheduled for next Saturday (August 21, 4 to 8 p.m., Saugatuck train station parking lot #1).
The sponsoring Westport Police Benevolent Association decided it was just too hot.
Cars of all years, makes and models are welcome. The fee to enter and display is $20. Funds benefit charities like the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Special Olympics, and Veterans and Families of Fallen Officers.
The first 100 cars to arrive get a gift bag. The family-friendly event includes music, food, trophies and raffle prizes.
Westport PBA car rally
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Speaking of cars: This was spotted a couple of days ago, by Ned Dimes Marina at Compo Beach. I guess he (and you know it’s a guy) wanted to park as close to his boat as possible.
(Photo/Michael Lonsdale)
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Still on: Wednesday’s (August 18, 2 p.m., Jesup Green) rally to end a message about the importance of supportive housing for Connecticut’s most vulnerable residents.
As the housing market is at a fever pitch, a coalition of groups — including Homes With Hope, the Westport Housing Authority and The Partnership for Open Communities — are working on funding initiatives.
Vulnerable residents include homeless people, the housing insecure, domestic violence survivors, youth, and families struggling to stay in our community.
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Yesterday’s “06880 Roundup” about an upcoming Mikey’s Way event included outdated information. The spread of the COVID Delta variant raised concerns about an in-person gathering.
The “Beacon of Hope” fundraiser — to help provide electronics for youngsters undergoing treatment for life-threatening illnesses — will be all virtual this year. A live auction begins October 13.
. Click here for more information.
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Like ’em or hate ’em, you can’t deny: The New England Patriots are generous.
Every year, the Kraft family owners’ foundation honors community volunteers. This week, at Gillette Stadium, 26 volunteers were cited — and donations made in their name to charitable causes.
Among them: Westporter Amy Katz, and — to the tune of $10,000 — Pink Aid.
In 2011, she founded the organization to help underserved women undergoing breast cancer treatments. It has provided more than $6.5 million in assistance, to over 10,000 women.
Katz also launched a mentorship program, and established Norwalk Hospital’s Community Mammogram Program for underinsured women.
The Kraft Family Foundation received more than 250 applications this year from nonprofit organizations. Congratulations, Amy — and thank you, Pink Aid and the Krafts! (Hat tip: Jean Lepore)
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Congrats too to Tallula Stvan. The June Staples High School graduate heads off to the University of Connecticut as winner of the Westport Woman’s Club’s Leah Scherzer Scholarship.
Tallula’s activities included the school newspaper Inklings, and a community service project. Her award — part of the WWC’s $31,000 given in student aid this year — is named for the Woman’s Clubs most active member.
Tallula Stvan
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And more kudos: rising Staples High School sophomore Leigh Foran just had a paper published in The Pre-Collegiate Global Health Review. It’s called “A Disease Called Poverty: The Sickness Dismantling Global Health Equity.”
PGHR — a Johns Hopkins University student- and faculty-led publication — is the first international, peer-reviewed journal that features articles on global health topics written by high school students. Leigh’s article underwent a rigorous review process.
In it, she discusses the inequitable correlation between poverty and illness, including how poor people are disproportionately more devastated by preventable diseases. She comments on the role of non-governmental organizations in adding to this problem, and what can be done to find a solution.
Click here to read Leigh’s piece.
Leigh Foran
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The Westport Garden Club sure gets around.
This week’s #FridayFlowers grace the front entrance of Earthplace. It’s appropriate. The arrangement was created by club member Becky Newman, who in her spare time directs the center’s nature programs.
#FridayFlowers at Earthplace.
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Which leads us, naturally, to today’s “Westport … Naturally” beautiful butterfly photo:
(Photo/Mikayla Doyle)
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And finally … it’s too hot to do much during the day. But tonight, head outside. Look up. You’ll see the Perseid meteor shower. If you’re lucky — and away from too much light pollution — you’ll see one of nature’s true wonders.
And you can’t beat the price.
notice the trailer hitch probably had a boat trailer attached