The storm that blew through Westport yesterday evening brought little rain, but strong winds.
They were brief — but enough to bring down tree limbs, and cause power outages in scattered neighborhoods.
They also produced a nice rainbow. “06880” readers all around town sent images. This one, by Theresa Anovick, captured it best:
(Photo/Theresa Anovick)
Meanwhile, Eric Bosch snapped this dramatic post-rain view …
(Photo/Eric Bosch)
… and a few yards away, so did Richard Abramowitz:
(Photo/Richard Abramowitz)
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Scott Smith is one of many Westport gardeners and environmentalists who has observed something troubling outdoors. He writes:
“Where are the bees? The butterflies?
“The sunflowers in my garden are 10 feet tall. The purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, milkweed and other native flowers and bushes are blooming (at least the ones the deer don’t nibble).
“Yet I find our pollinator friends are few and far between. At least in my yard.
“It’s been a good summer for fireflies, the wasps are out and about, and with the recent rains the mosquitoes are ascendant. But where are the pollinators?
“I’ve not sprayed pesticides or any chemicals on my property for years, nor do most of my neighbors. So let me ask my fellow 06880 gardeners and backyard apiarists: Can you send some bees and butterflies my way?”
Scott Smith’s garden is beautiful — but bee- and butterfly-less.
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Westport resident Jay Norris and chef/restaurateur/TV personality Marcus Samuelsson are breaking bread together.
The noted entrepreneurs have partnered to offer performance-based leases to minority-owned food businesses.
Norris is CEO of Guesst Software. Crain’s New York Business says the company — which facilitates short-term retail leases in dozens of the country’s leading malls — will now give “artisanal, mom-and-pop restaurants access to ‘A+’ locations–without the upfront cost or standard 15-year lease.”
For example, UrbanSpace — which runs food halls through New York City — will commit 10 spaces at their Bryant Park holiday market to qualified minority-owned businesses who set up leases through Guesst. Norris says that allows them to “explore the world” beyond their own neighborhoods.
Samuelsson told Crain’s that large restaurants like his usually sign 15-year leases. His partnership with Norris allows landlords to be flexible and patient with rents.
Norris plan to launch a “women’s merchant movement” in the fourth quarter. His goal is to “give a voice to voiceless minority business owners,” no matter who or where they are.
To read the full Crain’s story (behind a paywall), click here.
Jay Norris (left) and Marcus Samuelsson,
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For several years, Saugatuck Shores residents have worried about speeding on their narrow streets.
After pursuing conventional means of trying to control the problem did not help, residents began a friendly “slow down” sign campaign.
Two slogans were chosen. Two young children — 4-year- old Valery Kolotnikova and 5-year-old Anya Jain — contributed artwork.
Miggs Burroughs — Westport’s very talented, very generous graphic artist — pulled together the text and illustrations.
The result: beautiful bespoke signs that appear to be helping.
To order a sign, email Liz Milwe: lizmilwe@gmail.com
Valery and Anya, and their sign.
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A sobering opinion piece in today’s New York Times, exploring the sad state of public swimming lessons and pools in the United States — leading to 11 drowning deaths a day across the country — does mention several bright spots.
Including Westport.
The final 2 paragraphs of Mara Gay’s piece, “When It Comes to Swimming, ‘Why Have Americans Been Left on Their Own?'” read:
Coral Gables, Fla., has a colossal, stone-ringed public pool known as the Venetian, complete with waterfalls and grottoes. Austin, Texas, boasts a three-acre public pool fed by underground springs. Ann Arbor, Mich., has public pools with giant water slides. In 1960 the elegant Connecticut shore town of Westport bought the deed to a country club. Residents there swim in a public pool that sits beside the shimmering waters of the Long Island Sound.
Every American deserves the chance to swim somewhere just as nice.
(Hat tip: Robin Jaffee Frank)
Longshore pool (Photo/Pamela Einarsen)
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Tom Kretsch provides today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo, with this comment:
:A little touch of color on our beautiful river, the Saugatuck. A river runs through us, and little treasures abound.”
(Photo/Tom Kretsch)
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And finally … on this date in 1975, Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from the parking lot of a Detroit-area restaurant. He was never seen again.
(“06880” is your hyper-local blog — and a non-profit. Please click here to support us with a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Scott: We have plenty of bees and butterflies in our garden. I’ll send some over …the monarchs are attracted to milkweed and coneflower, among other plants. My only complaint is the Japanese beetles that have all but destroyed my roses.
Great year for my gardens. Plenty of bees and butterflies!
Hi Scott.
The Westport Community Gardens and the Long Lots Preserve have an abundance of pollinators and we are happy to lend them out. Come by the property (next to Long Lots Elementary School on Hyde Lane) and see what people are planting. The biodiversity of plants and pollinators is fantastic! Sometimes the pollinators are difficult to see as is the case with native bees. There are 2,000 species of native bees in North America, 300 of which live in Connecticut. Most of them are very small. You may have these visitors to your garden without knowing!
I had one of the “slow down enjoy the view signs on my lawn, sadly it was stolen. I’m hoping it was just some teenage prankster and not a disgruntled neighbor who wants to speed past my house on Harbor Rd.