Lyman — Westport’s Ukrainian sister city — was struck by Russian missiles recently.
A video from Ukraine Aid International — the non-profit formed by Westporters Brian and Marshall Mayer, which has delivered over $300,000 donated by Westporters to our friends in that town — shows some of the horrific destruction. Click here to see.
To donate to Ukraine Aid International by credit card, click here; click the “I want to support” box; then select “Westport — Lyman Sister City.” Scroll down on the Donate page for other options: mail, wire transfer and Venmo.
A resident of Lyman — Westport’s sister city — after a Russian air strike.
Meanwhile, Lyman’s police chief asked his counterpart, Westport Chief Foti Koskinas, for help. The town needs 2 EcoFlow batteries to power up their charging stations for the Starlink (provided by Westport), their computers and other important devices.
Ukraine Aid International is providing the funds, using money from last summer’s LymanAID fundraiser.
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There are 2 sides to (nearly) every story.
Wednesday’s Roundup included an email from a reader who slammed me for reckless driving on Thomas Road, in “my” BMW with “06880” plates.
I noted that I don’t have a BMW, and that just because I publish “06880,” it doesn’t mean that’s my license plate.
Yesterday, I heard from Gary Shelton, who has some skin in this game. He wrote:
“I’m the driver of the blue BMW ‘06880,’ and a very aware and careful driver.
“The man who wrote you should learn how to properly walk a dog between himself and the side of the road. He had the dog on a long leash between himself and the middle of the road on a blind corner.
“The ‘heads up display’ in my car says the speed limit on Thomas is 25. I was going 20 mph up the hill approaching that blind curve. He gave me a choice of slamming on my brakes and hitting his dog, or accelerating and going quickly around him.
“Fortunately I have extensive evasive maneuver driver training. I would much rather have hit the other car than his dog. He should have been appreciative of that, but clearly is not a good dog parent.
“The other car simply went on the small shoulder as I was around him and back in my lane before he was at any impact point. Cars can be fixed; lives cannot.
“I hope you add this to your blog as a response. I have been a longtime Westporter, and that has been a longstanding family license plate.”
Blind curve on Thomas Road
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Play ball!
The Staples High School baseball team plays for the state “LL” (extra large schools) state championship tomorrow (Saturday, June 8, 12 p.m., Palmer Field, Middletown).
The #19th-ranked Wreckers face #4 Amity.
Fans are invited to gather at the Staples fieldhouse at 9:15 a.m., to give them a great send-off.
Tickets must be purchased through GoFan. The game will be live-streamed here on game day.
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Club 203 celebrated the end of another great year on Wednesday.
Westport’s social club for adults with disabilities hosted a party at Ned Dimes Marina. It was their biggest turnout ever: 175 guests.
The Super Duper Weenie truck served delicious treats, with kind service. Guests enjoyed games, MoCA art projects like message-in-a-bottle and decorate-your-own kites, and cookies from Big G.
Club 203 volunteers were joined by others from the Westport Rotary Club. Special thanks go to the town’s Department of Human Services and the Commission on People with Disabilities. Selectwomen Jen Tooker and Andrea Moore stopped by to enjoy the event.
Club 203 fun.
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Staples High School students respect and admire Cathy Dancz Schager.
Now the Contemporary World Studies teacher has been recognized as a “US Presidential Scholars Most Influential Teacher,” and through the University of Connecticut Office of Early College Experience Teacher Appreciation Campaign.
Leigh Foran, a senior — also the Class of 2024 valedictorian and a US Presidential Scholar honoree — chose Schager as the teacher who inspired her, and contributed the most to her success as part of the Scholar process.
“I’m so thankful to have had a teacher like Ms. Schager who teaches her students to apply what we learn in the classroom to the real world,” Foran says. “She’s truly encouraged us to become global citizens, which I deeply admire.”
In addition, students participating in UConn’s ECE program nominated Schager for her dedication, passion and commitment to supporting students and creating an incredible UConn course experience.
Cathy Schager
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As the LGBTQ community celebrates Pride Month, many look back at a time when they were less certain of their place in the world.
On June 27 (6:30 p.m., Westport Library), Dr. Alan Downs discusses his book “The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Men’s World.”
Downs is a clinical psychologist. The vent is sponsored by Westport Pride.
Dr. Alan Downs
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Michael Lonsdale has had enough.
Of utility and cable wires, that is.
He sends this photo, from Kings Highway North between Main Street and Canal Street …
(Photo/Michael Lonsdale)
… and writes: “Wiring in Westport is a mess. It depresses me to drive around.
“It’s time for the town to come down on independent vendors who are wiring massive amounts of cable with no protocol. Ridiculous. It is out of control!”
He’s right. Wires are always added — never subtracted.
There’s no incentive for cable or utility companies to remove unused or obsolete wires. It’s easier for them to leave it in place, and move on to the next job.
Of course, they have to return when it all comes tumbling down. But hey …
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There may soon be another place to buy beer here.
The Exxon gas station on Post Road East at Maple Avenue South has applied for a license. Here’s the state-mandated sign in front:
(Photo/Peter Gold)
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Nearly every Westporter of a certain age has a story about Paul Newman, and his Volvos.
(Mine: He picked me up hitchhiking a few times. “Hop in, son!” he’d say.)
“06880” reader Todd Suchotliff sends along a link to a car website called The Autopian.
The story is about the legendary actor and his souped-up Volvo wagons.
It’s an insanely long story, of interest to auto enthusiasts — but also anyone who knows Ian Warburg and the late Michael Brockman, 2 Westporters who feature prominently in the piece.
The article also mentions a “missing” Volvo wagon, of which Suchotliff says, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen bit before around town, and parked at a house on Compo Road South close to Soundview. It’s a Volvo wagon, with an ‘RR’ emblem on its grille.”
Click here for the full story.
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If you’ve ever had an experience where you found yourself coming together with others whose mindsets, approaches, and/or backgrounds were completely different from your own — yet ended up with surprising or inspiring results — you’ll know what this Sunday will be like at the Westport Library.
In “Unexpected Human Pollination” (June 9, 2 to 4 p.m.), artists will share art and true stories about those times. The storytelling ends with a community conversation on the subject.
It’s the first public event of The Hive — the new project of Frederic Chiu and Jeanine Esposito. The mission is to create opportunities to engage, discover connections and build understanding fueled by the arts, dialogue, ideas and transformation.
The HIVE partners delivers programs in “cross-pollinating community gatherings, arts immersions, and transformation workshops.”
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Art is soothing. So is a sound bath.
On June 20 (6:30 to 8 p.m.), Sorelle Gallery hosts a “Sound Bath Meditation” evening.
The evening begins with a look at Sorelle’s coastal exhibit, Summer Crush. Attendees will then relax on yoga mats for a soothing session led by Hummingbird healing Center founder Lisa Pak.
Tickets are $25 each. There is room for 20 guests. Click here to register, and for more details.
Sorelle Gallery’s “Summer Crush” show.
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It’s been a while since our last osprey check-in.
Johanna Keyser Rossi reports that a pair has been hanging around the high tower behind by the police station for a few weeks. Their most recent activity: building a nest.
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
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Do you like our new header (the image at the top of “06880,” on desktops and laptops)?
The photo of Old Mill Beach, and homes on Hillspoint Road and Compo Hill, was taken by Gregg Jacobs.
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There’s no accounting for taste.
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” image might not be your favorite architecture for a home. But purple martins love it.
Every year they flock there, at Sherwood Island State Park.
(Photo/Richard Fogel)
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And finally … Dean Martin was born on this day, in 1917. The singer, TV star and famed Rat Pack member died in 1995, age 78.
Two sides! here here.
Mark Yurkiw has been rather quietly collecting many donations, especially in terms of equipment, for Ukraine. However, he is not mentioned nearly as often as the Lyman aid. It’s not that it matters to Mark, but it is something that’s very important to recognize. I was just over to his house the other day dropping off some crutches I found at the dump. He was getting ready to ship more equipment, Including two electric beds, and is always looking to receive more equipment to send over.
I don’t see why this blog chooses to continue to serve as a public forum for anonymous, unverified whining about how everyone in Westport except, of course, the perfect anonymous letter-writer is a maniac driver or selfish parker or general entitled brat.
It does nothing for the community (public shaming won’t change behavior). It does not engage with the larger problem, which is the abject failure of the town to take any meaningful action on traffic and safety issues. And here, the cloak of anonymity appears to have been misused to paint someone (who was essentially publicly identified by their license plate) in a false light. Which then led to more mindless bickering.
Let’s focus on solutions, not complaining. And let’s look to the people who are actually responsible: the current administration and police department who, despite years of promises and additional funding, have made no meaningful progress on traffic issues and pedestrian safety. If you can find the police chief or first selectwoman (your best bet is to attend a charity gala or ribbon cutting, which appears to consume most of their time), please ask them.
I thought CT had some strange law that gas stations can’t sell alcohol.
LOL – What could go wrong?
you might gas up the car with beer
Copper has only, long-term, kept increasing in value. Vandals routinely strip abandoned old buildings, and sometimes occupied old buildings, of their copper plumbing. (New construction increasingly uses PEX (plastic)). Heck in South Africa, vandals apparently strip live high-voltage electrical infrastructure. Squirrel-running-on-a-primary-wire-to-rest-on-a-transformer comes to mind…
But I digress…
So It’s odd that the successor owners of what used to be the Plain-Old-Telephone-Service (POTS, ie. landlines), and, increasingly cable companies transitioning to all-fiber, prefer to leave their valuable unused eyesore copper wiring literally “on the vine”
I miss Ma Bell.
Regarding utility and cable wires, Michael Lonsdale is not the only resident who has had enough. Almost any of my neighbors and friends feel the same when the subject is brought up. And it’s pretty easy to bring it up, as all you have to do is glance up on any street in town. In all directions you’ll see giant spools of unused cable, box after box of connectors, and the sublimely ridiculous old utility poles left leaning or stranded next to a new pole. There are two issues responsible for this disgraceful mess along our otherwise beautiful streets. The first is the fact that the communications companies serving Westport – Verizon, Optimum and Frontier, use subcontractors for much of their installations, and these subcontractors couldn’t care less about the mess they leave behind. The second responsible party is the Board of Selectwomen, who do nothing to stop these egregious shortcut jobs, despite the fact that the utility companies will do anything required to hold onto and expand their coverage.