Roundup: Julia Marino, Beach Digs, Beach Dogs …

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A bigger crowd will honor Olympic medalist Julia Marino tomorrow than was on hand when she actually won it.

Spectators were not allowed on the Chinese mountain where the Westport native snagged her snowboard slopestyle silver. Her parents, sister and friends watched from half a world away, on Vivid-Tek’s big screen.

They — and many more fans — will fill the Trefz Forum tomorrow, for the town’s celebration.

But if you haven’t already registered, don’t try getting in. All the (free) tickets were gone in a few hours.

You can still see it, though. The 7 p.m. event will be livestreamed. Click here for the link.

Hey — if watching Julia win an Olympic medal on a screen was good enough for her family, doing the same for her celebration should be okay for you.

Julia Marino, on the Olympic podium. Tomorrow she’ll stand on the Library stage.

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Fashionably Westport — the Downtown Association’s great benefit for Project Return, the Homes with Hope program for homeless women — kicked off last night with a runway event at the Westport Library.

Fashionably Westport continues today (Friday, April 1) with activities and promotions at downtown and Playhouse Square retailers and salons

Participating merchants include Middlemarch, WEST, Noya Jewelry Design, FRED, Marine Layer, Splash of Pink, Southern Tide, Cotelac, Barbour, Stephen Kempson London, Express Edit, Winged Monkey, Fleet Feet, The Plumed Serpent, Bobbles & Lace, Brochu Walker, 7 For All Mankind, Splendid, Scout and Molly’s, Great Stuff, Pure Salon and Artistex.

Looking fashionable last night at the Library (from left): Homes with Hope CEO Helen McAlinden, RTM member Sal Liccione, frequent food drive volunteer Anna Rycenga, Police Chief Foti Koskinas, 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Westport Downtown Association president Maxx Crowley.

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Some of Westport’s most historic, unique — and breathtaking — homes are for sale.

And they’re all next to each other, on one of Westport’s most historic and unique sites: Compo Mill Cove.

#44 — a 1917 bungalow — is the gray house, most visible (and most painted and photographed) from Old Mill Beach. The oldest one on the Cove, with original framing and fireplace intact, it’s accessible via a footpath and teak boardwalk, just beyond 2 wooden bridges.

Incredibly, it never floods. Even Superstorm Sandy did no damage. The price was recently reduced to $3.295 million.

Fun at 44 Compo Mill Cove.

Also on the market: #42 (the cottage rebuilt in 2006 by Michael Greenberg), and #48 Compo Mill Cove. Like #44, they’re owned by Robin Tauck, and feature natural plantings. Together, they’re on hundreds of feet of private beachfront.

42 Compo Mill Cove, aka “The Pirate Shack.”

There’s an open house for all 3 Sunday (April 3, 1 to 3 p.m.). Park in the Old Mill lot, and walk over the bridges.

PS: Though not owned by Robin, #46 is far sale too. That means all of the Cove point is for sale.

Buy one of these spectacular homes.

Or all 4!

44 Compo Mill Cove is the gray house on the right side of this photo. Other homes nearby are also for sale.

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April 1 is noteworthy for 2 things:

  • April Fool’s Day
  • The start of the 6-month dog ban at Westport beaches.

A couple of alert readers/avid dog owners captured the final day of Fido and Fifi’s freedom yesterday, at Compo.

Frank, Oggy, Utah and Winston (Photo/Nicola Sharian)

(Photo/Collette Winn)

See you October 1!

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Pause + Purpose — the new mindfulness studio, across from the Library on Jesup Road — calls its sessions “Pause for a Cause.”

From tomorrow through Monday (April 2-4), that cause is Ukraine. All proceeds from meditations hosted by the studio staff will go to World Central Kitchen, to help feed the Ukrainian people.

Click here to book a session. Click here to learn more about Pause + Purpose.

Inside Pause + Purpose.

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An “06880” reader sends this cautionary tale:

The other day, an older woman was shopping at HomeGoods, near Southport. She returned to her car — close to the store — and put her bags in the car.

A “normal-looking person” said, “Hey, be careful backing out. Your rear tire is flat.”

She got out to look. When she turned back around, he had already grabbed her purse and vanished.

Be careful out there.

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Some “Westport … Naturally” photos can sit for a while before I use them.

Not this one.

Soon, the branches will fill out. In a couple of weeks — fingers crossed — this image of Owenoke Park, looking toward Compo Beach, will seem very dated.

Fingers crossed, anyway.

(Photo/Jonathan Prager)

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And finally … in honor of today:

5 responses to “Roundup: Julia Marino, Beach Digs, Beach Dogs …

  1. Helen Ranholm

    Nice picture of the pups. Now they will have to find some shady spot to play together in.

  2. It ain’t coincidence that put all these Compo Cove houses for sale at the same time..it’s global warming and smart owners ahead of the curve, waiting for stupid folks in denial to scoop ’em up. Good luck.

    • joshua stein

      Yup! As I said in another post a few weeks ago, at some point we as tax payers have to stop subsidizing all the repeat repairs to neighborhoods and houses on shorelines. Instead of money being spent to rebuild or for issues that are easily predicted, I think some consideration should be given to payouts to return land to nature, the land becomes unbuildable, or strict restrictions be attached to the deeds or something. Maybe some sort of restrictions so current owners can repair/replace, but subsequent land owners know what they are getting into. Perhaps even a special shoreline tax where money gets put into funds to pay for the repairs/resiliency upgrades? Building on shorelines and flood prone areas is a well-known risk that buyers should be well aware of and they by themselves should have to absorb that risk. Building up high is not enough. Roads, access, utilities get disrupted and can lead to first responders being put in harms way. Why we keep subsidizing them, either through flood insurance, FEMA, emergency declarations, is a great question… but I guess we as tax payers subsidize plenty of other risky things that are well foreseen, so I guess it can go either way… My point is this neighborhood is one of the riskiest areas to live in with no road, houses right on the water, some not raised, in an area that is already susceptible to flooding. No way I’d want to live there as a responsible person unless I had money to burn and it was just a weekend house.

  3. Jack Backiel

    As a person who sold a condo in January 2019, 16 feet from the beach, and 140 feet from the ocean, on Palm Beach island, I can relate.

  4. Jonathan Prager

    Today we celebrate Julia Marino, and her magnificent performance and noble sense of camaraderie. If you’d like to reprise the competition in which, when it counted, she brought home the silver medal with one of the best runs of her career, click here –

    https://jonathansawarenessoftheworld.medium.com/westport-cts-julia-marino-takes-home-first-united-states-medal-at-the-2022-winter-olympics-887612ee3a0f.

    There are loads of really cool high flying pictures!!!