Roundup: Summer Camps, Charcuterie, Charlie Capalbo …

Westport Parks & Recreation Department spring and summer program offerings are now online. There are 2 registration dates.

Registration is now open for Camp Compo and RECing Crew.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, March 6) for all other spring and summer programs.

If a program is full, names can be added to the waitlist. There is no charge at that time.

Parents should click here to access their account.

Log into your profile and choose “Manage Family Member” on the bottom right. This brings you to the “My Family Members” page. Click on the first name in the column. In “Family Member Information,” verify date of birth, and make sure that children’s grades are correct (it is the grade going into as of September 2024). Hit “Save” at the bottom. Complete the process for every family member.

For address changes, email recreation@westportct.gov. For problems, including inability to log in to your account, email recreation@westportct.gov or call 203-341-5152. Office hours are weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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Registration is also open for the Westport Library’s summer learning camps: Camp Explore and Summer Learning Clubs.

Both fill up quickly.

Camp Explore returns for its 4th year of free STEAM exploration. Workshops begin June 25, and run through late July.

This year’s courses include Coding LightLego with Josh Burker (for students entering grades 7-9), Sculpture with Iyaba Ibo Mandingo (grades 6-8), and Bats Langley’s Impressionist Picnic (grades 6-8).

Summer Learning Clubs integrate math, literacy and STEAM activities into a thematic approach. Each class blends inquiry, design, research, writing, and the arts.

Taught by certified teachers, the program melds traditional academic activities into a project-based learning experience and student-driven study. The Library offers 3 sessions for students entering 1st through 8th grades.

Starting June 25 and running until August 14, weekly sessions include plant science, collage and mosaic, poetry, environmental sciences, paper and print making, music, and edible science.

In addition to Camp Explore and the Summer Learning Clubs, the Children’s Library’s early literacy programming will continue throughout the summer. For details, click here.

Camp Explore and the Summer Learning Clubs are sponsored by Roz and Bud Siegel.

Painter, poet, writer, actor, playwright and arts educator Iyaba Ibo Mondingo will teacher sculpture this summer.

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Staples High School Class of 2016 graduate Gillian Rozynek is the Queen of Charcuterie.

During a college semester in Madrid, she was intrigued by the combination of meats, cheeses and sides — and the way people ate them communally, and on the go.

When the pandemic struck, Gillian spent the summer of 2020 participating in Boston College’s summer accelerator program.

She launched Kured as a build-your-own charcuterie delivery startup in Boston. Now there’s a second location, in Greenwich Village.

Yesterday, Kellyu Clarkson interviewed Gillian on her NBC show. She described Kured as “the Chipotle of Charcuterie” — and announced that Pilot Pen was giving Gillian $1,000.

Click here for Gillian’s fun segment. (Hat tip: Julie Whamond)

Screen shot of Gillian Rozynek, on the Kelly Clarkson Show.

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This week won’t be beach weather.

But it will be here before we know it.

Our Public Works and Parks & Recreation Departments are ahead of the game. Sand grooming has already begun.

Making Compo look great is harder and more complicated than it seems. First comes the sifting.

Thanks to all who make it happen!

(Photo/Ed Simek)

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Charlie Capalbo’s battle with lymphoma and leukemia inspired countless people, locally and across the nation.

The 2017 graduate of Fairfield Ludlowe High School — and grandson of noted Westport writer Ina Chadwick — was a 3-time recipient of cells from his brother Will. The procedure helped Charlie live a few extra years, before he died in 2022.

To help cancer research — and because Charlie was a passionate hockey goalie — his friends and family have a special “Capalbo Strong” Night this Saturday (March 9, 7 p.m., Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport), when the Bridgeport Islanders host the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Tickets are just $24.24. Each ticket includes a donation to the Jimmy Fund via Capalbo Strong; free parking; an Islanders hat, and a 15% concessions discount.

There’s also a National Marrow Donor Program drive. Everyone ages 18 to 35 is encouraged to visit the Harbor Club at the arena, to register with NMDP.

How important is bone marrow registration? Last year, as an Albertus Magnus College senior, Will Capalbo ran a drive with his lacrosse team. Out of 65 registrations, they’ve already had 3 matches and 2 donations.

Click here for tickets, and more information.

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C-SPAN’s Student Cam contest is looking for the best student documentary in the country. The 15 finalists include one produced at Weston High School.

Nate Colman and Jonah Rothlein’s film “Innocents Held Hostage” tells the story of Morad Tahbaz, a Weston resident held captive in an Iranian prison for 6 years.

The film explores Morad’s harrowing experience, and examines the strained relations between the US and Iran. It includes interviews with New York Times journalist Michael Shear, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Congressman Jim Himes, and Tahbaz.

Through March 10, the film is part of a “fan favorite vote.” Click below to see the full 14-minute documentary.

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“06880” readers know Ken Runkel from his spectacular photos in our Saturday morning online art gallery.

This Thursday (March 7, 5 to 8 p.m.), you can enjoying them in sizes much larger than a computer or phone screen.

Serendipity Labs (55 Post Road West) hosts an art reception for his new exhibit, with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. It’s free; register by email at concierge.westport@serendipitylabs.com.

“Spy Balloons” (Ken Runkel)

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Young piano wizard Caelan Cardello first played Jazz at the Post last year. He blew everyone away.

This Thursday he and 2 other young musicians — bassist Mikey Migliore and drummer Aaron Seeber — join veteran saxophonist Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” Wall, to kick off March (Jazz) Madness.

There are 2 shows at VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399: 7:30 and 8:45 p.m. Dinner service begins at 7. The music cover charge is $20 ($15 for students and veterans). Reservations are highly recommended: JazzatthePost@gmail.com.

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The other day, “06880” ran a photo of a license plate propped up against the flag pole at the Westport post office.

It’s gone now. Randi Mondshine reclaimed it, and put it back on her car.

I’d like to say “06880” is responsible for the happy ending. But we’re not: when the plate went missing, she realized it must have been knocked off when she parked in a snow bank in the lot.

However, “06880” does figure into the story. The day she retrieved it, Randi was reading our “Roundup.”

There was a photo of her license plate, propped against a tree.

She thanks the Good Samaritan who found it, and placed it in a spot where it could easily be seen. By the owner, and a blogger.

(Photo/Dan Woog)

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On Sunday, the “06880” Roundup included a photo of a plastic bin filled with tennis balls.

Vuori put them by the drinking fountain at Winslow Park, for dogs to snag and play with.

The idea was a winner. Just a day later, they were nearly all gone.

Soon — as Vuori’s sign recommends — the bin itself will be ready for re-use.

(Photo/Mark Mathias)

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Are you ready for Solar Cycle 25, and NASA’s Heliophysics Big Year/

The Westport Astronomical Society is.

Their free online lecture series continues March 19 (8 p.m.), with Dr. Lisa Upton of the Southwest Research Institute.

She’ll discuss how the solar cycle compares to the prediction she shared with the WAS in 2021, and what we can expect from the sun over the next few years.

Click here for the Zoom link. Click here for the YouTube livestream.

Our sun.

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On a gray day, Gray’s Creek at low tide is a great subject for our “Westport … Naturally” feature:

(Photo/Tracy Porosoff)

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And finally … in honor of the upcoming Westport Astronomical Society event, I wanted to post a “sun” song.

I could have chosen a squintillion. “Here Comes the Sun”? “House of the Rising Sun”? “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore”?

Nah.

I had to go with the simplest title: “The Sun.”

But wait! There’s more!

This song — which 99% of “06880” readers have never heard of — is by a Yonkers-based band called The Chain Reaction.

Staples High School concert-goers from the 1960s know where this is heading.

In 1966, they opened for the Yardbirds — with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck — in our own auditorium.

But wait! There’s more!

The Chain Reaction’s lead singer was Steve Tallarico. He later changed it to Steve Tyler. Yep, that Steve Tyler — the Aerosmith guy.

But wait! There’s even more!

That Yardbirds gig at Staples was a pivotal moment in young Steve’s career. It inspired him to have a career in music.

In 1995, he told that story when Aerosmith inducted Led Zeppelin in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

It’s played on an endless loop there ever since. Listen below:

And now, without further ado: The Chain Reaction’s “The Sun.” Co-written by a very young Steve Tallarico.

(“06880” is where Westport meets the world — and Steve Tyler. If you enjoy our musical selections (or anything else on this hyper-local blog), please click here to support our work. Thank you!)