When Karen Solicito was walking into Stop & Shop today, she heard Eastern European music. She thought the store was supporting Ukraine.
On her way out, she spotted the source: a young musician, playing in the parking lot. He had a tip jar, and a sign with his Venmo: @London-Radu.
Every little bit helps.
(Photo/Karen Solicito)
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For the past few days, Westporters have watched citizens around the globe rally in support of Ukraine.
We get our own chance this Saturday.
The Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge — the go-to site for local political activity — is the site March 5, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The theme is “Stand With Ukraine.”
The event’s organizers — DefenDemocracy CT — say: “Represent. Bring signs. Be safe.”
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Westport’s Mexican dining scene — already hot, with everything from “mama y papa” (Border Grille, Cuatro Hermanos) and fast-casual (Salsa Fresca) to upscale (Mexica) and of course old standbys (Viva Zapata, Bartaco) — gets another player soon.
Mexicue moves into the 2nd floor of 38 Main Street. The newly designed space was formerly occupied — in a much different configuration — by Bobby Q’s and Onion Alley.
Founder Thomas Kelly — who does not sound as if he’s from south of the border — writes on Mexicue’s website that he began by mixing a street food sensibility with fine dining. His experimenting, mixing and combining has led to Mexicues in New York City (Chelsea, NoMad, Midtown), Stamford and Washington, DC. Besides Westport, another is in the works in Bethesda, Maryland.
Target date for opening is early May.
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Westport artist Mark Yurkiw’s parents emigrated to the US from Ukraine, in 1949. They had spent years in displaced persons’ tent camps.
As a teenager during World War II, Mark’s mother was enslaved .For almost 50 years, the United Nations paid slave labor reparations to her.
Mark was born in New York, but his first language is Ukrainian. He has followed the news from his parents’ homeland closely, and fearfully. He knows its history well.
Mark says: “To get a sense of what Ukraine has endured, watch the film Mr. Jones. It is a true story about a British reporter trying to warn the world about what is now referred to the Holodomor during the early 1930s, when Stalin starved Ukraine and untold millions died.
“The rise and acceptance of the ruling authoritarians around the world is the most frightening aspect of our times. What is happening now in Ukraine will affect the whole world for years to come.”
Mark Yurkiw, with a patriotic t-shirt.
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WestportMoms reports that in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, BevMax has taken Russian vodka off its shelves. Instead, the chain is encouraging customers to buy vodka from Ukraine.
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Today’s New York Times features a compelling photo from 1988 Staples High School graduate Tyler Hicks. It shows civilian volunteers sorting empty bottles in a parking lot in Dnipro, Ukraine. They’ll be used for Molotov cocktails.
(Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)
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Following CDC guidelines, superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice announced yesterday that students are no longer required to wear masks on school buses or vans. Anyone wishing to continue wearing them may do so.
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Pass the Torch is a popular sports podcast. Each episode examines the life journeys of athletes and sports personalities.
The most recent one highlights David Lloyd. The 1979 Staples High School graduate and SportsCenter host has been at ESPN for 25 years.
Click here for his insights into his career, including the long road from Westport to Bristol. (Hat tip: Tommy Greenwald)
David Lloyd
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Speaking of sports: With spring almost here*, the Joggers Club is warming up some great program.
The Kids Running Camp for kindergarten through 8th grade runs (ho ho) Sundays, April 3 through May 29 (Staples high School track, 2 to 3:15 p.m.). It’s $40 for members, $99 for non-members.
The Minute Man 10K Build-Up Series is Saturdays throughout April (Compo Beach, 8 a.m.); free for members.
Track Night (every Wednesday, Norwalk High School, 6:15 p.m.) and Fun Run (every Saturday, Compo Beach, 8 a.m.)) are both free for members.
Click here for more information, and membership ($50 per year; includes a free Brooks technical running shirt). Instagram: @TheJoggersClub.CT.
*Please, dear God.
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“What is a healthy fat?” “Should I do a juice cleanse?” “How can I improve my diet?” “Are all carbs bad”?
Dietician and wellness expert Katie Andrews answers those questions and more tomorrow (March 1, 7 p.m., TAP Strength Lab, 180 Post Road East). She’ll cover the basics of healthy nutrition, from macro and micronutrient needs, to how to manage a healthy diet.
It’s free; please RSVP to nancy@tapstrength.com. The first 30 people to respond get a free ready-to-eat chef-crafter meal from Azuluna.
Katie Andrews
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Because of an online glitch and snow that prevented hand delivery of essays difficult, TEAM Westport has extended the deadline for its Teen Diversity Contest to Wednesday, March 2.
Click here for full details, and an application form.
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Fulvio Vladimir Dobrich — a longtime Westporter, and husband of civic volunteer Maggie Mudd — died earlier this month in a sailing accident off the British Virgin Islands. He was 74.
His family writes: “Fulvio was a larger-than-life figure, a successful multi-lingual international financier who was energetic and ever-curious, with a strong grasp of world history and politics.
“He felt most at peace roaming the world on his beloved S/Y Istria.
“Youthful, adventurous and endowed with a passionate and enduring zest for life and risk unusual for a man of his age, he influenced the lives of many, showing them extraordinary generosity, warmth, moral support and always a guiding sense of greater possibility.
“Everybody could count on Fulvio for help. His devoted friends are spread across the globe.
“A teen emigrant who left a poor Istrian village in Croatia with his family to escape Communism, Fulvio became an ardent New Yorker, intensely proud of his public school education in Hell’s Kitchen and at City College, where he was a devoted alumnus.
“He served on the Advisory Council and the Board of Visitors of CCNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, and was a member of City College’s 21st Century Foundation board.
“He also created the Fulvio V. Dobrich New American Scholarship Fund. He instituted a similar program for first generation students at Wake Forest University.
“An anti-snob, he held an abiding compassion for the many worthy deprived of privilege or opportunity.”
In addition to Maggie Mudd, his wife of 27 years, he is survived by their sons, Jack Dobrich of New York and Andrew Dobrich of Los Angeles, and his daughter from an earlier marriage, Erin Dobrich of Westport.
In addition, a celebration of Fulvio’s life will be held at City College, New York, at a date to be determined.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Colin Powell School at CCNY.
Fulvio Dobrich
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No, Jo Shields Sherman admits, it’s not the best photograph.
But her shot of “the first robin” on North Avenue is a great “Westport … Naturally” reminder that spring is not too far away.
(Photo/Jo Shields Sherman)
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And finally … yesterday we noted the death of Sally Kellerman, “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the original “MASH” movie.
On this day in 1983, the final TV episode of “M*A*S*H” aired. Almost 106 million viewers tuned in. Nearly 40 years later, that’s still the record for highest viewership of a season finale.
Anyone who saw that emotionally stunning 2-hour show recognizes the key role Mozart’s “Quintet for Clarinet and Strings” played in that memorable broadcast.
And if you haven’t seen it — or want to watch it again — click below. War is indeed hell.
Today, the masks come off.
Since August 2020, Westport schools have been under a mask mandate. For 18 months, everyone — students, staff, custodians, cafeteria workers, the few visitors allowed in — has spent every minute inside with half their face covered.
Seniors in high school, kindergarteners, principals — it did not matter how old or young you were. If you were in school, you wore a mask.
Students watching lessons at home via Zoom saw their teachers covered (and heard their voices muffled). Chorus members sang and actors acted with masks. Indoor athletes practiced and played with masks (though this winter, they were generally worn around the neck).
Masks at this year’s Candlelight Concert. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Today, teachers will see this year’s students’ faces for the first time. And vice versa.
It will be different. Odd. For some it will be liberating. For others, scary.
It’s a major step on the road back to normalcy — or at least, to the Before Times. It’s a significant indicator that although COVID is still with us, we’re now figuring out how to live with it, rather than be ruled by it.
We’ve come a long way from just 6 weeks ago, when Omicron stunned us with its sudden surge. Just as the experts predicted though, it ebbed as quickly as it flowed.
A new variant no doubt awaits. It may be more or less transmissible than others. It may target a different population. It may affect people in different ways, or be a more or less lethal version of what we’ve seen.
We may go back to masks, temporarily. Some people will continue to wear them, everywhere or in certain places. But I can’t imagine we’ll go back to another 18 months of masks in schools.
Just as we won’t go back to washing our hands like OCD sufferers, for 2 “Happy Birthday” stanzas at a time. Nor will we once again quarantine our food outdoors for 48 hours, after wiping down every piece of fruit, carton of milk and box of cereal.
Still, we’ll take some lessons from the 18 months of masks. We’ve learned that they prevent more than COVID. It’s been a long time since I’ve had even a cold, and this flu season has been a breeze. The next time something is “going around,” we’ll see masks again — and no one will think twice about them.
Another lesson: We can do this. If you had told me in March of 2020 that 2 years later we’d still be battling COVID — and that, despite a vaccine developed in record time, huge swaths of Americans refused to take it — I’d have said, “No way can we hang in that long.”
But hang in we did. We had to. The coronavirus hung around too. We had no choice.
So now we look ahead. Restaurants are filling back up. The newcomers who flooded into Westport over the past 2 years — families that loved discovering their new community, even during a lockdown — are starting to see just how great this place really is.
The biggest party in town — the 4th of July fireworks — is back on. (Actually, they’re June 30th. That’s just 4 days fewer to wait.)
Fireworks return on June 30th. (Photo/David Squires)
But back to the start of this story: the kids.
There may be collateral damage from the past 18 months. The youngest children — those who have never known a mask-free school — may carry this with them forever.
I think about everyone who grew up in the Depression. For the rest of their lives — no matter how well-off and secure they were — they ate everything on their plate. And they turned off every light when they left a room, to “save the electric.”
But I also know that kids are resilient. They’re adaptable. They’re flexible.
And they’ve complained far less about masks than adults.
There may be some strange moments today, when the masks come off in school. Soon enough though, it will be back to normal.
Or whatever passes for the New Normal these days.
Posted in Children, Education, Staples HS
Tagged COVID, mask man, Westport Public Schools
Old Mill Beach and Compo Cove, from Hillspoint Road (Photo/June Rose Whittaker)
When I posted last week’s Photo Challenge, I thought it would stump most readers. Once I revealed the answer, I figured, they’d say: “Aha! You tricked me.”
It took about 12 seconds for me to realize you guys don’t fall for my tricks.
Or John Videler’s. The talented photographer sent along a drone shot, of the entrance road to Longshore (click here to see). I figured it looked too abstract to figure out.
I figured wrong.
Matthew Mandell, Matt Murray, Fred Cantor, Phil Kann, Paul Lowenstein, Andrew Colabella, Elaine Marino, Sandra Calise, Tim Plunkett, Charles Rosoff, Seth Schachter, Molly Alger, Nancy Axthelm, Adam Starr, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Richard Ellis, Susan Raboy, Todd Ehrlich, Bobbie Herman, Arthur Hayes, Ann Bacharach, Kenneth Gilbertie, Martin Gitlin, Nicola Sharian, Mary Ann Batsell, Seth Braunstein, Derek Fuchs and Lynn Wilson all responded quickly and correctly.
Several of them included the official name: Julian Brodie Road. He’s one of the Westporters who, in 1960, helped engineer the town’s purchase of the failing Longshore Country Club, as perhaps the country’s first “municipal country club.”
The entire process — from conception to RTM approval of the $1.9 million price — took a lightning-quick 18 days. If the town had not acted, the owners would have sold the land to a private developer. He would have built 180 homes, and Longshore would be lost forever.
The exit road is named for Herb Baldwin. He was the town’s 1st selectman, and also played a major role in the town’s purchase. Click here for one of several “06880” stories about that epic chapter in Westport history.
Now it’s time to turn the page, to this week’s Photo Challenge. I think this one is really tough.
Surprise me. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Susan Iseman)
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Hundreds of cities and towns around the world are rallying in support of Ukraine.
Weston is one of them.
First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor inviting everyone to join her tomorrow (Monday, February 28, 5:30 p.m.), on the front steps of Weston Town Hall.
She says: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is devastating, infuriating, and heartbreaking. I assure you all that you are not alone in feelings of despair. One thing we can do is come together for the sake of unity and peace. As such, please join me to express in solidarity our support for the Ukrainian people, and pray for the safety of those whose homeland is under attack. I’ll be there with my candle. Feel free to bring one of your own.”
The Weston rally will show Ukrainians that they are not alone. (Photo/Tyler Hicks for The New York Times)
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Nic + Zoe — one of the first stores to open in Bedford Square — closed Friday.
A manager for the women’s clothing store was packing up yesterday. She said, “We’re sad to be leaving. We’ll miss everyone.”
Ten other locations remain open, as does online shopping.
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It’s clear from a quick look around any part of town: the babies are here.
Which means there are plenty of new moms. Which means there are plenty of people looking for a group.
The Westport Library is strolling (ho ho) over to help. On Friday (March 4, 10 a.m.) and again April 1, they’ll host meetings of the new MOMBAS: Moms Offering Moms Baby Activity Support.
It’s the brainchild of longtime Westporter Sooo-z Mastropietro. The mother of 3 became a birth doula during the pandemic to provide essential support for pregnant women, who really needed it.
It’s an opportunity to exchange resources, birth stories, and talk. Sooo-z says, “Whether it’s your first or fifth, having the support of people in a similar point in life can be rewarding, informative and empowering.”
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Eight years ago, “06880” highlighted Clay Garner.
The lifelong Westporter and recent Greens Farms Academy graduate was unknown here.
But hundreds of millions of Chinese people knew — and loved — him. Using the stage name of 高山 (“Tall Mountain”), he was a recording sensation there.
Singing his own songs — a combination of traditional styles, R&B and pop — in both English and Mandarin — he was all over the Chinese versions of YouTube and Facebook. He has a huge following on Weibo (the Chinese Twitter), and appeared regularly on Beijing TV and China Radio International.
Because of strict government control of websites, “Tall Mountain” made no money from his fame. “It’s my contribution to international relations,” he said.
At that point, Clay was a freshman at Stanford University. Today — 5 years after graduation from there — he is …
… the chief innovation officer for San Jose, California.
The other day, he was a guest on the “Think Civic” podcast. Click here for a transcript of his insights into a wide range of topics, from how technology helped his city respond to the pandemic, to his advice to young people on the importance of local government.
Clay Garner
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Yesterday’s “06880” Roundup included a reference to Sam Waterston, the “Law & Order” Manhattan DA who was also filmed in Westport for “Gatsby in Connecticut” — the documentary about F. Scott and Fitzgerald’s 1920 summer her.
Jeanne Reed notes that the film was not Waterston’s only connection here.
Turns out Sam Waterston was married to Barbara Rutledge-Johns. Known as “Barby” Johns, she and her younger sister Sandy (Alexandra) both attended Bedford Junior High School in the 1950s.
They are not Staples High graduates, though. Both went off to the Mary A. Burnham School in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Sam Waterston
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Registration is open for Challenger baseball. Focusing on fun and building life-long friendships, it’s Little League’s adaptive program for people with physical and intellectual challenges. Those born between September 1, 1997 and August 31, 2017 are eligible. Out-of-towners are eligible, if their community does not have its own Challenger program.
Through generous donations, Challenger is completely free. To register, click here. For more information, email commissioner Beth Cody: westportball@aol.com.
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Stop the presses (or the pixels): “Westport … Naturally” offers what may be the first hint of spring. The photo is from Thursday morning — the day before our latest snowstorm — in Bob Weingarten’s yard.
(Photo/Bob Weingarten)
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And finally … Sally Kellerman died Thursday in Los Angeles, of heart failure. She was 84.
Kellerman was Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan, in the 1970 “MASH” movie directed by Robert Altman. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe award, and an Oscar nomination.
Loretta Swit is better known for her portrayal as the lusty head nurse in all 11 years of the TV series that followed. But Kellerman was the original. Click here for a full obituary.
Many Americans became aware of Ukraine only recently. We’d heard the name for years — usually as “the Ukraine” — but knew little about its remarkable history, culture or people.
We’re learning quickly. Just as Ken Bernhard did, a few years ago.
A former state legislator (now running again), and a volunteer working hands-on with a long list of local and international organizations, his day job is attorney.
Ken Bernhard
In 2005 he was invited to join the Center for International Legal Studies. One of the non-profit’s goals is to spread understanding of legal principles around the globe.
After a week-long course at its Salzburg, Austria headquarters, Bernhard headed off every year to a new country. Latvia, India, Mongolia — wherever he was, he explored the land, taught, and learned.
Three years ago, Bernhard traveled to Ukraine. After a 12-hour train ride from Kyiv (the country is nearly as large as Texas), he was warmly welcomed in Berdyansk, on the Sea of Azov, a northern extension of the Black Sea.
He knew little about Ukraine before he went. But he was captivated by the museums and architecture of Kyiv, and the friendliness of the people he met everywhere.
His Berdyansk University law students were “terrific,” Bernhard says. “They were very engaged. They had a real desire to become effective advocates for the rule of law.”
Berdyansk University
They acknowledged their nation’s “endemic corruption,” he says. And they had “a palpable desire” to change it. Their enthusiasm inspired him.
“We don’t fully appreciate in this country what we have,” Bernhard notes. “Our concerns here are minor, compared to what people endure there, and in other places around the world.”
When he returned to Westport, Bernhard — a Sunrise Rotary Club member — wanted to do more. At his urging, the Sunrise Rotary and noontime Rotary Club joined in raising funds to construct a moot courtroom in Berdyansk. It was another way for students to learn courtroom skills.
Ken Bernhard (left) with students in Berdyansk, Ukraine. They hold a Connecticut state flag.
The news from Ukraine has become very personal. He fears for the professor he worked most closely with, and who became a good friend, along with his former students.
Bernhard — who helped found The Syria Fund, a non-profit providing education, medical supplies, household goods and food to families living in dire, desperate areas — draws parallels between that nation, Ukraine, and other trouble spots around the world.
“People are the same all over. They worry about putting food on the table, getting their car repaired, educating their kids. They are normal, productive people, wanting to live a decent life.
“Suddenly they are uprooted. I can’t imagine having to grab luggage and flee, before a missile strikes. Americans don’t have any sense of what that’s like.”
Ukrainians, Bernhard says, “had worthy aspirations, which they thought were achievable. The last few days have quashed that.”
He waits for the next update from his professor friend in Berdyansk. And he worries about the 40 million people who want to live free and in peace, in a land now under siege.
A bombed-out apartment building in Kyiv. (Photo/Lynsey Addario for The New York Times)
Church Lane (Photo/Susan Leone)
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Ukraine update:
Ken Bernhard’s friend and colleague from that embattled nation sent him this report yesterday:
Ken, this is all so violent and surreal. At the moment it is hard to get thoughts together.
Kiev is in big danger. But heavy fighting is all over eastern part. A group of enemy armored vehicles is somewhere close to (where we are in) Berdyansk now. Moving in the direction of Mariupol to block it from 2 sides. I am personally disappointed about Western sanctions and their little impact on Putin. They can not even agree on cutting Russia from SWIFT.
Also yesterday, more of Staples High School Class of 1988 graduate Tyler Hicks were published by the New York Times.
This was the most harrowing. It shows a Russian soldier lying dead, next to a Russian vehicle in Kharkiv, Ukraine:
(Photo/Tyler Hicks for The New York Times)
Meanwhile, Staples 1991 graduate Lynsey Addario took this photo, showing destruction at an apartment building after Russian bombing in Kyiv, Ukraine:
(Photo/Lynsey Addario for The New York Times)
(Hat tips: Tommy Greenwald, John Nathan, John Hartwell and Beth Cody)
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Installation of beams at the Cavalry Road Bridge replacement project, between Crooked Mile and Rebel Roads, will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. this coming Wednesday through Friday (March 2-4).
The contractor will use local roads to access the site to deliver the oversized crane and bridge beams, resulting in additional detours and possible delays in the area, including Red Coat Road and Hermit Lane.
Cavalry Road bridge (Photo courtesy of Weston Today)
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Fred Cantor doesn’t miss a Westport reference — or a chance to tie loose ends together. The longtime Westport report:
“Near the beginning of Thursday’s return of the flagship franchise, ‘Law & Order,’ a suspect told police his alibi: ‘I was at home in Westport.’”
“Where did that line come from? Possibly the show’s executive producer, Peter Jankowski, who is also president of Dick Wolf Entertainment, and who grew up in Westport. Dick co-wrote the show.
“In the same show Sam Waterston, seen in the recent documentary ‘Gatsby in Connecticut’ — he was filmed inside the South Compo cottage the Fitzgeralds spent the summer in back in 1920 — returned to his role as the Manhattan DA.”
Sam Waterston, Manhattan DA.
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Westport piano teacher Nadine Cherna has been selected for a Steinway Top Teacher Award. She was cited for “care and commitment.”
Steinway & Sons president Gavin English added, “The young people who develop their craft under your guiding hand will be the artists who fill our future with music.” (Hat tip: Roger Kaufman)
A Steinway piano.
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Here’s a first for “Westport … Naturally”: mushrooms. Claudia Sherwood Servidio spotted these great ones at the indoor Westport Farmers’ Market:
(Photo/Claudia Sherwood Servidio)
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And finally … Sandy Nelson, who had improbable hit records as a drummer, died earlier this month in Las Vegas. He was 83, and had suffered a stroke in 2017. Click here for a full obituary.
Posted in Arts, Media, Politics
Tagged "Law and Order", Cavalry Road, Ken Bernhard, Lynsey Addario, Nadine Cherna, New York Times, Peter Jankowski, Tyler Hicks
The real world is not far from the minds of this week’s online gallery artists.
Brian Whelan paints for peace, Kathryn O’Reardon offers a thought-provoking acrylic work, and Eric Bosch provides a timely title to a photo taken in Westport. In a non-political vein, Amy Schneider takes note of several solar eruptions, 93 million miles away.
Whatever your muse, we appreciate your submissions. This gallery is open to all readers. Whatever your age and level of experience — professional or amateur, young or old. In every medium. On every topic.
All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to dwoog@optonline.net. Share your work with the world!
“May Peace Prevail in Ukraine” (Brian Whelan)
“The Missing Peace?” — acrylic on canvas (Kathryn O’Reardon)
“Solar Eruptions,” Artist Amy Schneider notes, “NASA reported several solar eruptions this month.”
Untitled. Rowene Weeks took this photo behind the Westport Library.
“Stuck in the Wall” (Karen Weingarten)
“Multi-tasking” (Lawrence Weisman)
“Putin: War is Wrong” (Eric Bosch)
Comments Off on 0*6*Art*Art*0 — Week 99 Gallery
Posted in Arts, Beach, Politics
Tagged Amy Schneider, Brian Whelan, Eric Bosch, Karen Weingarten, Lawrence Weisman, Rowene Weems
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