That “For Lease” sign was for real.
Patagonia’s last day of business is December 24.
A sign on the door of the clothing and outdoor gear retailer smack in the middle of downtown says: “Thank you, Westport, for letting us be a part of the neighborhood for the last 18 years. It’s been an honor to call this community home.”
Patagonia products can still be found at their wholesale partner, ASF Sports & Outdoors.
Meanwhile, we could make the snarky remark that the valuable property could be replaced by a bank.
Except that’s what it was, for its first 8 or so decades of existence. (Hat tip: Sal Liccione)
Only 23 shopping days until it’s “Pata-gone-ia.”
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Looking for a good read (or holiday gift)?
Westport’s own Jo Ann Miller and Carl Addison Swanson’s “A Marathon of Changes” was called “a very interesting and motivating book for the new year,” by BookList.
Jo Ann — daughter of famed fighter pilot Thomas H. Miller. and goddaughter of astronaut John Glenn (who wrote the foreward) — grew up amid constant change, and in the shadow of the Marine Corps.
After emerging as a beautiful young career woman, the stress of work and life took its toll on her personality as well as her body. Faced with obesity, draining work demands and horrid tragic events in her past, she decided to change her life.
The culmination was the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon. The book follows her through each mile, as she reflects on the demands of the race as well as the remembrances of her past.
The book deals with the loneliness of obesity, the challenge of gastric bypass surgery, the tragedy of life and death, the intimate anger of rape, and finally the joy of financial freedom and newfound love. Click here to purchase.
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The death yesterday of Sandra Day O’Connor brought tributes to the first female Supreme Court justice from around the country.
Westporter Howard Matson remembered a dinner he hosted for her 9 years ago, at New York’s Union League Club.
“She was very gracious,” he told “06880.”
“She spoke at length about her years after leaving the Supreme Court. Her favorite project was a curriculum developed to teach civics online to students. Justice O’Connor felt that there was a profound lack of understanding of the American government structure.”
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Howard Matson.
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Before you know it, Christmas will be here.
And the kids will be out of school.
MoCA Westport can help!
Their winter recess Art Camp for Kids runs December 18-22 and 26-29.
Morning sessions (9;30 to 11:30 a.m.) are for nursery schoolers and kindergartners. Participants must be “fully potty trained.”
Full-day sessions (9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) are for kindergartners through 2nd graders.
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One of the first compelling events of the new year is January 10.
Chabad of Westport sponsors an evening of hope and inspiration (7:30 p.m.). Esther Basch — the Honey Girl of Auschwitz — will tell her gripping story of survival and resilience. At 95, she is one of the world’s few remaining Auschwitz survivors.
Esther was transported to the death camp on her 16th birthday in a cattle car. she later faced a death march to the Salzwedel concentration Camp, where she was liberated by American soldiers in April 1945.
Despite the horrors she experienced, Esther’s unshakable faith and universal love for humankind helped her survive, then motivated her to share her story globally.
The event is part of Chabad’s new “Critical Conversation Series,” addressing contemporary Jewish and timely issues.
To reserve a seat, click here. For more information, email mendel@chabadofwestport.com.
Esther Basch
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No, it’s not a decoy.
Johanna Keyser Rossi spotted today’s “Westport … Naturally” star — a hooded merganser — on Thursday, during her Saugatuck River walk:
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
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And finally … On this date in 1942, a Manhattan Project team led by Enrico Fermi initiated the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
(Only 23 shopping days left at Patagonia. But you can make a donation to “06880′ any time. Just click here. Thank you!)
Sandra Day O’Connor was an outstanding judge. I imagine we may find out what her thoughts were on Supreme Court judges relationship with billionaires and accepting large sums of money that they had no right to accept. The Supreme Court is corrupt
I know my wife would love to attend that January 10th event with Esther telling her story. My wife visited Auschwitz around 50 years ago when she was in Poland.
During the depression, My father, Russell Kuhner worked at the bank where Patagonia is now. The funny part is that in the midst of the depression my grandmother went to have her fortune told. The fortune teller looked into her Cristal ball and said to my grandmother , “I see that very soon your son will be walking on money.” A week later he got a job as a teller at the Westport Bank and Trust Company. This is an absolutely true story.
Back in the midst of the depression, my grandmother went to have her fortune told. The fortune tell looked into her crystal ball and said, “I see that pretty soon your son will be walking on money.” A week later, my father, Russell Kuhner, got a job as a teller at the Westport Bank and Trust Company.
I knew a Bill Deegan back 60 years ago and his father ran the Westport Bank and Trust Co. It was a relief when they opened a branch on North Morningside Dr. I remember there was a young female bank teller, who lived in my grandfather’s farm house at 41 Old Road. I think her mother rented the house and didn’t own it. I can’t remember her name though.
I do believe Westport Bank & Trust, under the guidance of Nonnie Andersen’s (’66) father, arranged the financing for the purchase of Longshore in the spring of ’60. Indeed, the Jo Ann Miller story is one incredible saga.