Is Westport best defined by the place we go to swim, sun, stroll, sail, skate, grill, play basketball and pickleball and play with our kids — or by the warm, walkable neighborhood with restaurants, local businesses, a train station and historic bridge that was the center of population and commerce long before we had a downtown?
We’ll know on Monday.
Thanks to all who participated in “Westport Madness.”
And you did it all without office pools, and putting down any cash.
(Kudos to Staples High School sophomore Luca Caniato, who created and handled the back end of this contest brilliantly.)
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Eighty years ago today — on March 31, 1943 — Oklahoma! debuted on Broadway.
But the road to the St. James Theatre began 50 miles away, in Westport.
In 1940, a production of Lynn Riggs’ play Green Grow the Lilacs incorporated turn-of-the-century folk songs, and a scene with a square dance. Theatre Guild producer Theresa Helburn suggested to Lawrence Langner and his wife Armina Marshall — founders of both the Playhouse and Guild — that it would make a good musical.
The original poster has a story behind it. John Ford agreed to direct the show but was detained by film commitments. Substitute director John Haggott followed ideas he and Ford put together earlier in Hollywood.
The trio invited Richard Rodgers — who lived just a few miles away, in Fairfield — to see a performance. Inspired, he wrote a show with those elements with his lyricist partner, Oscar Hammerstein.
Three years later the Guild produced Oklahoma! on Broadway — with a grateful nod to Lilacs.
Over the years, Oklahoma!‘s bond with Westport tightened even more. At just 17, dancer Bambi Linn made her Broadway debut in the show. She was Dream Laurey, the dancer in the dream in which Laurey tries to decide between Curly and Jud.
Bambi Linn — whose Broadway career flourished after Oklahoma! — moved to Westport in the early 1960s. She and her husband, Joe de Jesus, taught generations of young Westporters to dance.
Bambi Linn, as Dream Laurey in “Oklahoma!” on Broadway.
Oklahoma! was revolutionary. It’s considered one of the first shows in modern musical theater. Up to then, songs did not really move plots forward. They were sung to entertain.
Oklahoma! told its story through music — and, thanks in part to Bambi Linn, dance.
There’s one final Westport-Oklahoma! connection. Richard Rodgers’ grandson — composer/lyricist Adam Guettel (The Light in the Piazza) — married actress Haley Bond. Before graduating from Staples in 2003 (where she was known as Haley Petersen) she was an actor herself, with Players.
The high school troupe has (of course!) produced Oklahoma!. Theystaged it 4 times: in 1973, 1989, 1995 and 2012.
Players is known for their near-Broadway quality work.
Which, in Oklahoma!‘s case makes a ton of sense, given its birthplace — or at least, conception — right here in Westport.
Amy Scarella is a 1994 Staples High School graduate. Many Westporters know her as the passionate power behind Little Black Dog Rescue.
She was the woman driving around town with an SUV full of howling canines. She fundraised tirelessly to rescue dogs from kill shelters (usually down South), transport them to Connecticut, and address each dog’s many health problems. Then she matched each dog to a loving family. It’s estimated she and her team have saved over 1,000 animals.
A former teacher in the Bronx, Amy also tutored kids.
Her longtime friend Meghan Bell calls her “the friend who showed up at my house to watch my newborn twins so I could take a shower and a nap. And the friend who drove in a snowstorm to Westchester County Medical Center to pick me up when my father had a stroke and I couldn’t put a sentence together, let alone navigate I-95 in the snow.”
Amy moved to Charleston, South Carolina a few years ago to be closer to her family. Recently, she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. Due to its size and location, there was no more room to grow. She needed immediate surgery.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by her friends, to help with medical and rehabilitation expenses. Anyone who knows Amy’s Little Black Dog Rescue work — and those who don’t, but wishes they did — is invited to contribute.
The next step in the handling of a resident’s complaint about material displayed in the Staples High School library is a special meeting on Monday, April 3 (3:30 p.m., Staples library).
An ad hoc committee, appointed by Superintendent of School Thomas Scarice, will follow up on last week’s session. Westport resident Tara McLaughlin seeks the removal of 3 books — sought the removal of “Gender Queer,” “This Book is Gay” and “Flamer” — from the collection.
Monday’s meeting is the next, in a 9-step process. The committee will discuss previous hearings, and “develop an evaluative judgment and recommendation for consideration by the Superintendent of Schools.”
Public comment will not be allowed. It may be permitted at a later meeting.
Want input into Westport’s Historic Preservation Plan?
The Historic District Commission is conducting a survey, to guide them as they adopt one. The goal is to “establish a long-term vision for historic preservation in the community, and create a set of achievable goals and strategies for strengthening the town’s historic preservation program.”
Click here for the survey. To learn more about the Historic District Commission, click here.
This sign on Jesup Road is looking a bit historic.(Photo/Morley Boyd)
The agenda for their April 11 Zoom meeting includes 6 homes “to take such action as the meeting may determine to oppose the issuance of the demolition permit … and require the full 180-day delay.”
Among those on the chopping block: 45 Compo Beach Road.
Located across from Ned Dimes Marina, on the way to the beach entrance and just north of Roosevelt Road, it’s one of the most recognizable houses in town:
Eleven Westport organizations have received arts grants. They come from 3 state sources: General Operation Support, the Connecticut Arts Endowment, and Supporting Arts.
Westport’s total of $183,647 is distributed this way:
American Chamber Orchestra – $5,764
Beechwood Arts, Inc. – $10,000
Fairfield County Chorale – $12,987
JIB Productions (Play With Your Food) – $2,371
Levitt Pavilion, Friends of Westport – $54,909
MoCA Westport, Inc. – $60,782
Music for Youth Westport – $5,954
Suzuki Music School of Westport & Orange – $3,128
Westport Community Theatre – $9,417
Westport Country Playhouse – $12,959
Westport School of Music – $5,376.
MoCA Westport is one of 11 local organizations to receive state arts grants.
You’ll find it in the Westport Library’s Trefz Forum, now through Sunday. It’s part of Verso Fest — the 2nd annual music-and-media festival.
It’s a 1:4 scale model of the Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound. It was created by former Westonite Anthony Coscia.
The “wall” is on display, and will crank tunes (intermittently) throughout VersoFest. There’s even a class about it (and PA systems): tomorrow (Saturday, April 1, 11 a.m.), open to all.
The aim of Coscia’s project is to preserve The Wall’s place in history, and allow people to hear, see, and feel what few were able to experience.
The model features over 500 functioning speakers divided into 8 channels, producing 100 decibels with little to no distortion.
VersoFest kicked off last night, with a concert by Sunflower Bean. A crowd of over 200 people enjoyed the show.
Sunflower Bean, last night at the Westport Library’s VersoFest. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Tonight it’s the (sold-out) Smithereens. Saturday includes panels with Steve Lillywhite and Richard Butler. Among Sunday’s highlights: a vinyl swap, and the documentary “Live from the Astroturf.”
For a schedule and full details of concerts, workshops and more, click here. All concerts are co-produced by the Library and Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce.
Sunflower Bean backstage at VersoFest, flanked byTalking Head and Tom Tom Club’s Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. (Photo/Matthew Mandell)
Matthew Balga — the Whelk chef killed by a car earlier this month, while walking across Riverside Avenue after work — will be remembered on Sunday.
CT Urbanists — a safe streets advocacy group — will place a pair of “ghost shoes” at the site where he was struck.
A group will walk from the Westport train station at 11:30 a.m. to the site. All are welcome.
Similar ceremonies will honor 3 other pedestrians killed this month, in Greenwich, New Haven and Cheshire.
For more information, email jcproctor@gmail.com.
Chef Matthew Balga
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Aspetuck’s next “Lunch and Learn” webinar is all about nighttime.
“Working the Night Shift: Pollination Happens after Dark Too!” (Wednesday, April 5, noon to 1 p.m.) explores how moths, flies, beetles and other dusk and after-dark pollinators play important roles pollinating wild and managed plants, along with the ecology, diversity and importance of these hidden pollinators, and how to support them.
The presenter is Emily May (pollinator conservation specialist, and agricultural lead with the Xerces Society’s Pesticide Program). Click here for more information, and to register.
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This intriguing photo was recently found in an old barn — used for storage by many families — on Bayberry Lane.
Lloyd and Stacy Stableford think the girl (now woman) in the photo might like to have it back. If you know who she is, email sstableford@gmail.com
President Carter, with an unidentified girl.
Also found: something (possibly valuable), with a dedication. The recipient was “Gramp” referred to as “Tia’s 3rd husband”), who had been an attorney and judge in the early and mid 20th century. It hung in his law office and courtroom until he retired in 1961.
The item was embroidered in Japan in 1914 or 1915, and presented around 1920 by a Lt. Cmdr. R.S. Skelton, whose name appears in the 1883 Congressional Record.
The Stablefords’ research did not yield much. If you know anything more about “Gramp,” email sstableford@gmail.com.
“I am absolutely heartbroken over the loss of an Orvis Recon Fly & Reel. It was my personal favorite and a gift from my wife.
It was accidently left on the right-side parking shoulder nearest the water of Ford Road in Westport Wednesday, between 2 and 6 p.m. Reward given to the kind soul who locates and returns it. Please call Mark at 475-731-7400.”
Let’s hope Mark gets his fly and reel back.
And that his wife doesn’t see this. (Hat tip: Mary Beth Murray)
Orvis Recon
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It’s not Westport, but close enough:
With 136 new apartments planned for the Route 1 border in Norwalk — including Renzulli Road becoming a cul-de-sac, and the demolition of 7 houses, plus several businesses — decades-old Sanitary Cleaners is closing next month.
The final day to accept clothing is tomorrow. (Hat tip: Amy Schneider)
George Billis Gallery recently moved from Westport to Fairfield.
Their original New York location — 527 West 23rd Street — is still open.
That’s where Westport artist Sherri Wolfgang has her next exhibit.
The opening reception is Saturday, April 8 (4 to 7 p.m.). The show runs from April 4-29 (Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m.). For more information, call 917-273-8621.
Beginning tomorrow, dogs will begin their 6-month ban from Compo Beach.
That includes Lola — who lives on Soundview Drive, just yards from the shore.
She prepared for her new life by watching workers smooth the sand.
And by posing for today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo.
(Photo/Sunil Hirani)
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And finally … if you want to weigh in on the Historic District Commission’s Preservation Plan (story above), do not listen to the first lines of this song (or watch the images):
(Don’t know much about Westport? Read “06880.” Learn. And then support our work. Please click here. Thank you!)
The 2012 Staples High School graduate, and Chapman University marketing major, created multi-media campaigns. He knew the business world.
But he knew very little about beauty.
He was a typical guy.
Living back in Westport during COVID, shopping downtown for a pimple product, he saw tons of items.
None were simple.
Jonathan Wormser
“I wondered why no one made a product for me,” he recalls. “Someone who just wants to cover up a zit or make bags under the eyes look better, without going through 9 different steps.”
He called his best friend, who was more into skincare. Wormser’s question — why were there aisles and aisles of options, but nothing with him in mind — resonated.
Now someone does make those products.
The company is called Good Weird. It’s a new, gender-less, easy-to-use approach.
Wormser is the co-founder, and chief creative officer.
Good Weird is aimed at “beauty outsiders” or the “cosmetically curious,” Wormser says. They’re Gen Z-ers and millennials who want beauty products, but don’t need to show them of.
Gen-Z’s approach to sexuality is different than those before it, Wormser notes. However, the beauty industry is still very gender-oriented.
Good Weird aims to change that.
Products like a “Back From Vacay Bronzer,” “Balmy Weather Moisture Stick” and “Gold Brew Under Eye” — “vegan, cruelty free, Leaping Bunny certified, paraben free, and noncomedogenic” — help users put their “best face forward.”
Easily.
Some of Good Weird’s products.
A pre-seed round brought the company to this week’s launch. A group of high-powered influencers will introduce Good Weird, on several key social media platforms.
The goal is to get into at least one big box retailer within a year. Conversations have already begun with smaller outlets.
When his father — noted architect Peter Wormser — was ill, Jon promised him he’d start his own company.
“That’s my fire,” he says. “I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do.”
For Good Weird, the beauty aisle finally looks great.
(To learn more, click here for Good Weird’s website.)
Good Weird offers a “gender-less” approach.
(“06880” often celebrates the achievements of Staples graduates. You can help us do that; please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
March is not yet over. But the month has already set a record.
Not a good one.
The Conservation Department recorded the most number of violations in the last 2 years. Seven notices of violation were issued for clear-cutting, illegal fill, or dumping in or near Westport wetlands and watercourses.
Conservation director Colin Kelly says his staff “would obviously prefer to change this trend, but (we need) help from town residents.
After centuries of using wetlands as landfills and watercourses as sewers, the importance of these valuable natural resources and the vital role they play in our ecosystem has come to light in recent decades. Although wetlands and watercourses are now afforded the much needed protection they deserve, it is easy to leave them underappreciated and undervalued, and sometimes, overlooked.
Wetlands are valuable to us, but like any system, they can be overwhelmed. Our wetlands and watercourses provide a range of valuable functions to everyday life, including flood control, pollution filtration, and wildlife habitat. This is the reason we establish buffers around our wetlands and watercourses. Buffers are vegetated zones located between natural resources and adjacent areas subject to human alteration. There is a 20-foot protected buffer around wetlands and watercourses that limits the unpermitted cutting of vegetation or dumping of debris.
If there are wetlands or watercourses on your property, please respect these common resources. A permit must be obtained through the Westport Conservation Department if you want to remove any trees in a wetland. However, it is encouraged and advisable to add, rather than remove, vegetation.
If you are able, add to the vegetated buffer between your home, driveway or lawn and the wetland or watercourse. The best mix of buffer vegetation includes a mix of native trees, shrubs, and ground cover.
Even if there is no wetland or watercourse on or adjacent to your property, you can still help improve the quality of Westport’s environment through your landscaping. It is advisable to leave mature trees standing and plant additional trees in your yard.
Some of the benefits trees provide to Westport include supplying oxygen, increasing property values, muffling noise, hiding unsightly views, providing food and shelter for wildlife, preventing erosion, and filtering pollutants thereby improving air and water quality.
Questions? Contact the Westport Conservation Department at 203-341-1170. If requested, they will send someone to meet you in your yard.
A pond near the Partrick Wetlands. (Photo/Scott Smith)
The United Methodist Church’s Easter Egg hunt this Saturday (April 1, 2 to 3:30 p.m.) is at “Rabbit Hill.”
That’s not some cute name they dreamed up for the event.
The church sits on property owned earlier by Robert Lawson. As every child knows (or should), he was the author of the book “Rabbit Hill.”
There will be eggs with treats, crafts, face-painting and snacks. It’s the Methodist Church’s gift to families — but they encourage people to give back by bringing donations of cash or non-perishable food items, for local pantries.
All families are welcome — but children only 10 and under, please!
One of Robert Lawson’s many “Rabbit Hill” illustrations.
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Melissa Joan Hart moved from Westport to Nashville.
On Monday, she helped lead kindergartners to safety following a shooting at a private school near her new home. Her children attend another school nearby.
“We moved here from Connecticut where we were in school a little ways down from Sandy Hook, so this is our second experience with a school shooting with our kids being in close proximity,” she said. “Luckily we are all okay.”
Click here to read the full New York Post story. (Hat tip: Tom Greenwald)
Westport Police made 1 custodial arrest between March 23 and 29.
An officer on patrol initiated a traffic stop on Post Rd East near the Fairfield town line. The officer determined that the operator had an active re-arrest warrant from another jurisdiction. He was taken into custody.
The Westport Police system does not report citations issued.
The Westport Weston Family YMCA is branching out into video.
They’re creating a series of shorts, highlighting their impact. The first 2 feature the Water Rats swim team.
Competitive director and head coach Ellen Johnston and assistant senior coach Omar Cruz discuss the team, its 70-year history — one of the first 2 in the state! — and how it fits in with the Y’s core values:
The other video features 2 swimmers, and parents. They talk about learning life skills, achieving goals, building friendships — and the Y’s values:
Among Governor Lamont’s 20 nominees for the Connecticut Superior Court yesterday: Westporter Yamini Menon.
She now works as an assistant state’s attorney in the Civil litigation Bureau of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. Previously, she spent 18 years with the Division of Criminal Justice. She has handled criminal trials, habeas corpus trials, habeas corpus appeals, and juvenile delinquency matters. She also served as a legal aid attorney with Connecticut Legal Services. (Hat tip: Sal Liccione)
But while owners Sandra and Kleber Siguenza try to evict 2 people they call “squatters” from the premises –following a Probate Court decision affirming their ownership of the property — the restaurant lives on in Westport.
At least, its sign does.
Anyone walking to Compo Cove by the Sherwood Mill Pond pedestrian bridge can this familiar bit of history, on the side of a house at Old Mill Beach.
(Photo/Jeff Jacobs)
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Staples High School Class of 2009 graduate (and Savannah College of Art & Design BFA) David Silverstein is a multi-disciplinary artist, designer and art director based in New York.
His work ranges from paintings on canvas and sculpture, large scale murals and hand-painted furniture to traditional branding, apparel graphics and print design.
An exhibition of his work opens at the Saturdays gallery today (Thursday, March 30 — confusing, no)? It’s 6 p.m., at 31 Crosby Street in Soho.
For a sample of David’s work, click here. (Hat tip: Dana Kuyper)
Art by David Silverstein.
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Ellen Wentworth’s Highland Road back yard is getting green
This beautiful bird adds a bit of red, in today’s gorgeous “Westport … Naturally” image.
Photo/Ellen Wentworth)
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And finally … on this day in 1867, Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska from Russia. The cost to the US was $7.2 million — about 2 cents an acre.
It was derided as “Seward’s Folly” — until gold was discovered there in 1898. Alaska became our 49th state in 1959, and is prized now for its beauty (and natural resources).
(“06880” ties together Westporters, wherever they currently live. If you feel connected to our town, please support its hyper-local blog. Click here — and thank you!)
A writer and teacher who has lived in Westport for almost 50 years, he recently retired after 4 decades as a Fairfield University professor. His courses focused on local Colonial history.
He’s done quite a bit of, um, digging, The small Greens Farms beach is beloved by many. Like others throughout town, they’ve often wondered about its name.
Burying Hill (top-center), and beach of the same name. (Drone photos/Brandon Malin)
First, some background.
In 1637, a band of Pequots — burned out of their Groton home — were chased by English settlers to a swamp between what is now the Southport Dunkin Donuts and Equinox. (A small memorial commemorates the Great Swamp Fight, the last battle of the Pequot War.)
They were burned and hacked to pieces in what Liftig calls the continent’s “first intentional genocide.” (A leader, John Underhill, is the man for whom Underhill Parkway is named.)
With the area safe for colonists, Thomas Newton, John Green and Henry Gray obtained a land grant to settle the area in 1648. Daniel Frost and Francis Andrews joined them soon. Andrews came from upstate; he, with Thomas Hooker and others, had founded Hartford in 1635.
The group were known as the Bankside Farmers (for Bankside, England, where some of the 5 came from). The area was later named for one of those 5: Greens Farms.*
An early map of Green’s Farms. The Bankside Farmers’ lands ae shown on Long Island Sound, next to “Burial Hill.”
Andrews hired a servant: 12-year-old Simon Couch. A few years later the boy married Andrews’ daughter Mary. He worked as a tailor, ran a horse saloon, and bought Andrews’ widow’s farm. At his death in 1688, age 53, Simon Couch was a wealthy man.
He also bought Forest Point, a “beautiful hill overlooking the sea.” It became a cemetery — perhaps for Andrews, along with Couch himself, his family, and some of their slaves. (It is unclear whether those slaves were Blacks or indigenous people.)
Liftig cites an excerpt from the book “History of Fairfield.” Simon Couch was
buried in land belonging to him at Forest Point, looking out upon the Sound, which he had set apart as a family burial place and which was long known as the Couch Burial Hill.
This spot could be pointed out until within the last few years [date of publication unknown], but now almost every trace of the tombs & graves have been obliterated.
Liftig believes Andrews — one of the founders of Hartford — is also there: buried below where the beach toilets are now located.
Bathrooms and lifeguard offices, at the top of Burying Hill. (Photos/David Squires)
Simon Couch, meanwhile, is listed on Find A Grave as occupying “Plot #1.”
When Green’s Farms Congregational Church established its first cemetery (at the current corner of Greens Farms Road and the Sherwood Island Connector) in the early 1700s, subsequent Couches were buried there. (One stone honors “Thomas Couch lost at sea, taken by French or pirates.”)
The family grew quite wealthy, from the triangle trade. One branch moved to North Carolina. Another Captain Thomas Couch married into the Boone family, and moved to Kentucky.
Liftig has found that the Couches — and Daniel Boone — are related to his daughters Anya and Dorothy.
Liftig himself grew up in Avon, Connecticut. He joined the Peace Corps, met a “pretty Kentucky girl,” and married her. They moved to Westport.
Delving into the history of his town, he was stunned to find that his wife’s ancestors lived here.
He was even more surprised to learn of the Couch connection to Burying Hill Beach. His daughter Dorothy had a summer Parks & Recreation job, working at the front gate.
The entrance to Burying Hill now floods often. (Photo/Sally Fisk)
Parks & Rec administers the beach because in 1893, the town of Westport purchased the property for a picnic area. Ten years later, they added the swale nearby (called “Ye Olde Battleground”) — between the “burial hill” and what later became the Bedford (and later Harvey Weinstein) homes.
The Couches later married into the Bedford and Jesup families, Liftig says.
But when he inquired about the possibility of a plaque memorializing the bodies buried in the hill — including, possibly, a founder of Hartford — he was told there is no proof.
Cars should not drive on Burying Hill. It is a historic burial ground. (Photo/Rusty Ford)
Yet an old Westport Historical Society publication, “Buried in Our Past,” says:
We can surmise that the Couches shared the hill with some of the early settlers — the Greens, Andrews [sic], Frosts and Grays.
In his book “Greens Farms,” George Penfield Jennings, states he remembers seeing many gravestones on the hill, but by the time the State Legislature established the area as a town park in 1893, only one broken marker remained.
Now that marker is gone. Burying Hill has the distinction of being the first park on the Connecticut shoreline recognized by the State.
Neither Parks & Rec, the Westport Historical Commission nor the Westport Museum for History & Culture confirms Liftig’s findings.
But he is convinced: The burials in Burying Hill Beach are real.
And historic.
(Dr. Robert Liftig can be contacted directly: boblif@aol.com)
*Should there an apostrophe, making it Green’s Farms? That’s been a question ever since.
(There’s plenty of history in Westport’s hills and beaches. “06880” unearths it all. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
She does not serve — directly, anyway — Westport residents.
But when she steps down next month as president and CEO of Mercy Learning Center, Ferreira’s impact on our town will have been profound.
Jane Ferreira, at Mercy Learning Center.
In her 21 years of service to MLC, she transformed the lives of tens of thousands of people. The Bridgeport non-profit offers literacy and life skills training for women with low incomes
Coming from 40 different countries, they study English, math, science, health, civics, computers, and employment and life skills.
They are supported by an early childhood education program; social services including case management, mental health counseling, health and financial screenings; job and counseling advice, and enrichment opportunities.
Mercy Learning Center clients earn high school equivalency diplomas; learn job skills, and get help finding work; receive assistance applying for college, job training programs and scholarships, and prepare for US citizenship exams.
The Bridgeport building buzzes with activity. The women who study, learn and are supported there are hard-working, committed, and driven to succeed.
In a county filled with organizations doing great work, MLC stands at the top of any list.
But Ferreira’s impact extends far beyond the countless people she has helped.
Jane Ferreira
Mercy Learning Center’s success is due in part to a large corps of volunteers. Men and women teach classes, offer expertise, act as role models, provide friendships, and donate generously too.
Ferreira’s work has affected them too. They have gotten a close look, and gained important insights, about a world just a few minutes away from Westport. Their horizons have been broadened, and their own lives enriched, through the center that Ferreira has dedicated more than 2 decades of her life to.
In an email announcing her retirement, she wrote:
It has been an honor and privilege to serve the women and children of Mercy Learning Center. I treasure the relationships that I have made with so many beautiful, gifted, and unique women and their families.
It has been a tremendous experience working with so many generous donors and dedicated volunteers over the years. Your dedication and support have been incredible and most appreciated. You have made MLC a remarkable place.
I leave with great confidence knowing that Mercy Learning Center is structurally sound, programmatically and financially, to move forward with a new leader. Please know that I will carry the mission of Mercy Learning Center forever in my heart, to “Educate a woman… Educate a family!” I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this critical mission and to have worked with you.
Thank you, Jane Ferreira, for your service to Mercy Learning Center. You have made Bridgeport — and Westport — better places, by far.
(Do you know an Unsung Hero? Send nominations to 06880blog@gmail.com.)
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They are supported by an early childhood education program; social services including case management, mental health counseling, health and financial screenings; job and counseling advice, and enrichment opportunities.
