Roundup: Startup Westport, Winslow Park, Dave Brubeck …

Startup Westport — the public/private partnership working to turn Westport into a tech entrepreneurs’ innovation hub — drew a sold-out crowd to the Library on Thursday.

Dan Bikel — a Westporter and key member of Meta’s AI team — offered fascinating insights into the future of generative artificial intelligence.

Future Startup Westport events include focuses on women and minorities in tech. Click here to be added to their mailing list.

From left: Stefano Pacifico, Jay Norris, Dan Bikel and Cliff Sirlin. All helped found Startup Westport.

==================================================

Everyone loves Winslow Park.

Not everyone takes care of it.

A week from tomorrow (Sunday, January 21, 11 a.m.), RTM member Andrew Colabella will lead a clean-up.

It’s one of many he’s organized around town. The property is large, but many hands will help.

Wear gloves. Dress warmly. Meet in the parking lot behind the Westport Country Playhouse. And thank you!

Volunteers will clean up after slobs like this, at Winslow Park. (Photo/Mark Mathias)

==================================================

The Westport Library kicks off 2024 with 3 new art installations. They run through mid-March.

“How Beautiful, the Universe: Astrophotography by members of the Westport Astronomical Society” (Sheffer Gallery) includes 25 powerful cosmic images.

“Zen Meditations” by sculptor Lucy Krupenye, who specializes in found objects, is featured in the South Gallery. An artist reception and talk is set for January 31.

“Awakenings” — a series of nature photos by Terry Tannen — includes a reception on  February 12.

Astrophotography is a special art.

=================================================

 Dave Brubeck — a longtime area resident who earned a Kennedy Center Honor, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, before his death in 2012 a day before his 92nd birthday — lives on.

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet is set for a special fundraising event March 9, (Westport Library). Proceeds support the Library’s vast array of free programs and offerings.

 

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet is led by Chris (bass and trombone) and Dan Brubeck (drums), sons of the jazz legend. They recorded their first record in 1966. Rounding out the group is guitarist Mike DeMicco and pianist Chuck Lamb.


They have performed across North America and Europe, including Newport, Detroit, Montreal, The Hollywood Bowl, and Monterey Jazz festivals.

 

General admission tickets are $75. VIP tickets ($125) include a pre-event reception with the Brubeck family and gifts, including a vinyl LP exclusive pressing of “Time OutTakes,” featuring previously unreleased takes from the original Brubeck masterpiece “Time Out” — the first jazz album to sell 1 million copies.

 Click here for tickets, and more information.

Brubeck Brothers Quartet

==================================================

The buzz has begun for “Fashionably Westport.”

The annual runway show (and much more) — set for March 28 (7 p.m., Westport Library) benefits Homes with Hope’s Project Return.

The Westport Downtown Association — longtime sponsors of the event — have signed 2 high profile names.

Westporter Dave Briggs — former anchor at CNN, NBC Sports, Fox News and Turner Sports — will emcee.

The runway director is Carey Price, of Westport’s popular Cove Collection.

Tickets and further information will be announced soon.

==================================================

Louis Weinberg describes today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo:

‘The red squirrel stores food for the winter in large underground caches. It is particularly fond of the black walnuts prevalent in the Long Lots Preserve. Additionally, it taps sugar maple trees for the syrup. It is a wily veteran of mixed hardwood-conifer forests.”

(Photo/Louis Weinberg)

==================================================

And finally … on this date in 1888, the National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, DC.

(If you enjoy “06880” as part of your world, please consider a tax-deductible donation. Just click here. Thank you — you’re wonderful!)

3 responses to “Roundup: Startup Westport, Winslow Park, Dave Brubeck …

  1. Install cameras at Winslow for safety and to catch poopsters‼️ Time for Big Brother 🐶

  2. I walk in Winslow Park almost every day and I do not have a dog. There are occasional poop bags around but not that many!! I agree that even one or two every couple of days is wrong, but give me a break….the place is hardly the garbage tip painted by the complaints!

  3. It appears to me that most issues arise from dog walkers handling more than 10 dogs simultaneously. Keeping an eye on so many dogs scattering in various directions is impossible.

    During my visit today, I observed two different walkers handling about two dozen dogs in total. Over the course of 90 minutes, I didn’t notice either of them using a single poop bag.

    It’s disappointing because it’s difficult to avoid stepping in the dog waste….