A man with a big heart needs a new one.
And one of Westport’s most big-hearted restaurants is helping.
Jimmy Nuzzo — known to many as “DJ Jimmy Jams” — was born with a congenital heart defect. After open-heart surgery at age 7, he lived a healthy life for years. He owns Dance to the Music Entertainment, and is a loving husband and father.
Now he needs a new heart — and liver.
Jimmy Nuzzo (3rd from left), with his family.
On Sunday, August 28 (4 to 7 p.m.), Tutti’s on Riverside Avenue is offering a $25 penne with meatball dinner — large enough to feed 2 people. It’s to-go (and cash) only. 100% of the proceeds go to help Jimmy.
Mangia!
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Speaking of dining (though a different cuisine):
Chabad of Westport hosts “Kugel with a Twist” (September 7, 7 p.m.).
The Nosher editor Shannon Sarna Goldberg and Connecticut food blogger Liz Arronson Rueven will chat about modern takes on Jewish comfort food.
It’s free, and open to the community. However, attendees are asked to bring one kosher item (dried fruit, raisins, dates, nuts, tomato/spaghetti sauce, cereals, oatmeal, jelly, canned tuna, ketch, mustard, mayo, vegetable/corn oil) to stock Chabad’s mobile kosher food pantry, to arrive this fall.
Anyone donating $180 to held fight food insecurity will receive a signed copy of Sarna’s “Modern Jewish Comfort Food.”
Click here to register, and for more details.
Eat!
Kugel
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Longtime Westporters Carl Addison Swanson and his editor Jo Ann Miller have just published their 54th book,
It details Swanson’s experiences — some fictional — during his 1969 Vietnam tour. tour.
“365 Days and a Wake-up” is “not your normal war novel with blood, guts and gore,” Swanson says.
“I was watching ‘M*A*S*H,’ the movie, on late night TV, and remembered some of the humorous things, amidst the insanity, of events which occurred. I attempted to capture them.”
Swanson, known for his fast-paced, plot-driven narratives as well as his prolific publications, owns a Bermuda publishing house, and is a senior editor at a national magazine.
“365 Days” is available Labor Day. The hardback version follows in mid-October. Click here to order. Click here for Swanson’s website.
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Paul Newman has been in the news lately.
The actor/car racer/philanthropist died in 2008, but his life in Westport with Joanne Woodward is featured in the CNN/HBO film “The Last Movie Stars.”
Arthur Klausner sends along a recent Tweet that “stars” Newman’s friend, Robert Redford. In the clip from 1980, the former Weston resident recalls a long-running practical joke the two men played on each other, involving melted-own automobiles and their homes.
https://twitter.com/MichaelWarbur17/status/1560174346978615296
Arthur wonders how long the “garden sculpture” remained at Newman’s North Avenue home.
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The Levitt Pavilion has just added a new ticketed show.
Orebolo — featuring Rick Mitarotonda, Peter Anspach and Jeff Arevalo of Goose — take the stage on September 7 (7 p.m.).
The trio has built a national following nationwide. Formed during the initial COVID surge, they shared a home. They learned new covers, and explored Goose’s deep catalog acoustically.
Tickets are $15 (members) and $18 (non-members, plus a $2 facility fee). Member pre-sale is active now; public tickets are available Monday (August 22) at noon. Click here to order, and for more information.
Orebolo
In other Levitt news, an opening band has been added to this Sunday’s (August 21, 6:30 p.m.) Allison Russell ticketed show.
She hand-picked Bailen, after opening with them at the Edmonton Folk Fest. Children under 12 are free (with an adult in the BYO-lawn chair section).
As for Allison: she released a new single yesterday, featuring Brandi Carlile:
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Also this weekend: a pair of Friends of Sherwood Island State Park programs.
Tomorrow (August 20, 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.), 2 interns with a big net will set up on the beach across from the Nature Center. They’ll show how many creatures they can pull out of Long Island Sound.
On Sunday (August 21, 2 to 3:30 p.m.), butterfly expert Michele Sorensen will lead a walk. She’ll start at the Nature Center porch, then explore nearby gardens and dunes for a variety of species. Buckeyes, swallowtails, sulphurs, fritillaries, monarchs, skippers and pearl crescents are all possible. It’s suitable for ages 5 and up.
Click here for more information.
Monarch butterfly (Photo/Tammy Barry)
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Native Westporter and Pepperidge Farm manager Agnes “Aggie” Veno died peacefully last week, with her family by her side. She was 67.
Aggie was passionate about arts and crafts, and participated in craft fairs throughout Fairfield County. She was especially good at crocheting. She was also an excellent cook and baker, who enjoyed gatherings with her extended family.
She was an avid volunteer at St. Luke Church too.
She is survived by her mother Marie, sister Joann (Steve) Porch, godson Nicholas Vena, Jr., and many cousins, including Sadye Bella Bustillo, who had a special place in her heart. In addition to her father Andrew, she was predeceased by her brother, Andrew J. Veno, Jr.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held today (Friday, August 19, 10 a.m., St. Luke Church). Interment will follow at Assumption Cemetery in Greens Farms.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. To send an online condolence, click here.
Aggie Veno
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One more rainbow photo from last night — this one perfect for “Westport … Naturally.”
Koda lives on Soundview Drive. But he’s a frequent visitor to Old Mill Grocery, around the corner.
(Photo/Karalyn Hood)
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And finally … in honor of last night’s beauty, enjoyed by Koda (and many “06880” photographers):
(To share a pot of gold — or just a few pennies — with “06880,” please click here. Support for this blog is greatly appreciated!)
FYI: re Addison post: EXPERIENCES can not be fictional…fiction is the opposite, by definition, of experience.
Baloney. For one, it is the subtitle and secondly, if you read the Foreword, you will see that much of the book is semi-autobiographical. That said, definitions regarding anything literary went out the window in the 70’s. Get your MFA Katz instead of trolling this blog attempting to boost your ego.