Spotted lanternflies are back!
So is the effort to eradicate them.
Pam Docters reports: “Almost all the trees at Sherwood Island have this trap on them. It catches the spotted lanternfly nymph as it walks up the tree during the day.
“Apparently it traps only the bad guys, and has less harmful impact on other beneficial insects, like ladybugs etc.”
(Photo/Pam Docters)
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There are many mah jongg players in Westport.
Local writer Marsha Temlock is hoping that they — and others elsewhere, and plenty of people who don’t know the game at all — read her new book.
“Tuesday’s Mah Jongg is More Than a Game” will be published tomorrow.
It’s about a group of players who deal with widowhood, health issues, family dynamics, aging, modern dating, and how well the women deal with all that and more.
Press materials ask: “Will these friends, with ties both old and new, strengthen their bonds as they support each other through life’s challenges? Or will the group fracture, leaving them scattered like mah jongg tiles from an overturned table?”
Click here to order, and for more information.
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Tuesday’s Westport Rotary Club speakers brought an extra treat.
Rob and Bridget Schulten — co-founders of Fifth State Distillery in Bridgeport — talked about their small-award winning business.
It’s the first distillery in Fairfield County since Prohibition. And it distributes only in Connecticut.
They make their spirits from scratch, and only use state-grown corn. They specialize in flavored alcohol and cocktails, including a celery vodka for Bloody Marys.
That’s all nice. But then Bridget passed out samples of 2 of their 14 products.
Perhaps the most spirited Westport Rotary Club meeting in their 100 years?
That’s the spirit! Rotary Club members enjoy Bridget Schulten’s presentation. (Photo/Dave Matlow)
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Hope Alswang, a talented arts administrator who grew up in Westport, died last month in Providence. She was 77, and suffered from pancreatic cancer.
She was especially noted for her transformation of the Norton Museum in Florida.
Her father, Ralph Alswang, designed sets for many Broadway shows. Click here for a full obituary. (Hat tip: Russell Gontar)
Hope Alswang (Photo courtesy of Norton Museum, via NY Times)
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Johanna Keyser Rossi offers the ba=k story to today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo:
“This baby bunny was in the parking lot behind the Westport Library, near the bushes. He is loaded with ticks.
“At times I see teenagers go down the embankment and under the bridge, or climb up the hill from the Riverwalk to Levitt Pavilion.
“In the past when I’ve heard ‘watch out for ticks,’ I’ve thought about myself. But this is an eye-opener to always be vigilant.”
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
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And finally … this was day in 1804 when Vice President Aaron Burr fatally wounded former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey.
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For Mah Jongg players there is a wonderful documentary available to stream: Mah Jong– The Tiles that bind
While not in Fairfield County, Hartford was once home to Heublein, one of the leading distilleries in the country, making Smirnoff Vodka among other offerings. As an undergraduate at Northeastern University, my “co-op” job was at their advertising agency. “Smirnoff leaves you breathless” was their tag line as vodka did not leave “alcohol breath.”