As our town (and the rest of the nation) debates the impact of smartphones on kids, the Westport Public Schools take a lead role.
In partnership with Westport Together, the district is hosting Dr. Delaney Ruston. A Fulbright Scholar, physician and filmmaker, she created the 2016 documentary “Screenagers.“
The event — “Parenting Screenagers: Tips for Success” — is set for Monday, September 23 (7 p.m., Bedford Middle School auditorium). Ruston will share tools that help parents manage screen time issues.
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice says, “the community is well aware of my convictions about the negative impact that smartphones and social media have had on our children, from elementary through high school.
“I strongly encourage you to make every effort to attend. I will be there, alongside our families and school community.”
Click here to register.
Dr. Delaney Ruston
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Huge congratulations to Bill Taibe and Massimo Tullio. Their Kawa Ni restaurant has just earned a Michelin star.
Well, not the Bridge Square restaurant. This one goes to Kawa Ni Denver, the Rocky Mountain outpost of his Japanese and pan-Asian restaurant.
But the Colorado Kawa Ni is — as local diners who have been there know — very similar to the original one here.
Félicitations, Bill and Massimo. And おめでとう! (Hat tip: Dave Briggs)
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Speaking of food and drink: It’s called a Beer Garden, but Wakeman Town Farm’s Sunday, October 13 event (noon to 4 p.m.) is fun for the whole family.
The day includes live music by Hitch and the Giddy-Up + Rob Morton, lawn games, bubbles, animal encounters, and pumpkin crafts.
Among the lunch options: Pizza by Tony Pizza Napolitano, treats from Food Truck Refinery, and ice cream from Saugatuck Sweets and LANDTECH!
Adults enjoy local beers from Greens Farms Spirits, and spirits by 5th State Distillery.
Tickets are $10 for adults; kids go free. Food, beverage and craft purchases are a la carte. Proceeds benefit Wakeman Town Farm educational programs. Click here to purchase, and for more information.
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As everyone some people only astronomers know, this Saturday is International Observe the Moon Night.
The annual worldwide event encourages observation and appreciation of (duh) the Moon.
Thanks to the Westport Astronomical Society, you can do it in their great observatory (182 Bayberry Lane, 8 p.m.).
If skies are clear, they’ll open the dome and use their telescopes to look at features on the waxing gibbous moon.
The WAS says: “The giant satellite has been Earth’s constant companion for an estimated 4.5 billion years, and viewed by every human that’s ever walked the Earth.
“It’s one of the solar system’s most remarkable objects, and quite likely a major reason that life even exists on our planet. The moon is an incredible body that has fascinated and puzzled our ancestors from the very first time we looked up.
“Don’t know your Mare from a Mons? Can’t tell a Sinus from a Vallis? A Crater from an Oceanus? Saturday is the night to find out. We’ll point out the Apollo landing sites as well as craters, the ‘oceans’ of the Moon, and features like the Straight Wall. See you for some lunacy at 8 p.m.”
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Westport chefs are on the menu at Harvesting Hope.
The benefit for Bridgeport Rescue Mission (September 19, 6 p.m., Aitoro Appliances, 401 Westport Avenue, Norwalk) — a night of delicious food tasting and philanthropy.
Among the 8 celebrity chefs cooking for guests: Bill Taibe (owner of Don Memo, The Whelk and Kawa Ni), and Matt Storch of Match Burger Lobster.
Extra course: A special presentation by Michel Nischan. The leader in sustainable food practices and 4-time James Beard Award winner is also a founder of the Westport Farmers Market.
Click here for tickets, and more information.
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Staples High School Class of 1961 graduate Michael Friedman brought his rock ‘n’ roll photos from 1969 to ’73 — of the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, The Band and so many others — to yesterday’s Westport Rotary Club meeting.
Friedman — a producer and manager in the music business from the ’60s through the ’80s — described the long, strange trip his negatives took, from the heyday of rock to their discovery by his wife in 2017.
They’ve now been published in a book called “Exposed: The Lost Negatives and Untold Stories of Michael Friedman.”
Friedman told the Rotarians about many of the performers he represented, including the Stones, Joplin, Band, Tina Turner, Rita Coolidge and his “hero and inspiration,” Kris Kristofferson.
Michael Friedman, at yesterday’s Westport Rotary Club. (Photo/Dave Matlow)
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Weston resident Hilary Gibson died Saturday, in Weston. She was 66.
After graduating from WC Mepham High School on Long Island in 1975, she earned a BA from Tufts University in 1979, and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1982.
Hilary worked in financial services as a chief of staff at Marine Midland, Lehman Brothers, CS First Boston and Credit Suisse Private Banking until 1998, when she retired.
She and her husband moved to Atlanta, and focused attention on their son Ted.
Hilary was an avid long distance bike rider, hiker and sailor. She trekked in the Himalayas, sailed in the Caribbean, and skiing in the East and West.
After living in the Netherlands while her husband was with ING, Hilary and the family returned to Westport in 2004. Among other activities, she was head of education at the Westport Historical Society.
Hilary is survived by her husband Weston; son of New York City; cousins RuthAnn Stafford of Boseman, Montana, and Toby Meshberg, of Fairfield, and brother, Zachary Wechsler of Torrance, California.
Funeral services will be held tomorrow (Thursday, September 12, 1 p.m., Temple Shalom, Norwalk. Burial will follow at Willowbrook Cemetery in Westport.
Shiva will be observed at the home of William Gibson in Weston tomorrow after the internment, until 8 p.m. For more information, to join a livestream, or to share a condolence message, click here.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Hilary’s memory.
The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Dr. James Harding, and the entire staff at MSK-Westchester.
Hilary Gibson
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Patti Brill calls today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo — taken near her Saugatuck Shores home — “Breakfast.”
We call it an image that looks almost like a painting.
Bon appétit!
(Photo/Patti Brill)
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And finally … in honor of both International Observe the Moon Night, and Harvesting Hope (stories above):
(You rely on “06880” to tell you what’s going on in Westport. We rely on our readers’ support to keep doing it. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Congratulations to Massimo Tullio as well, the other owner of Kawa Ni!
Thank you Dan for updating the article and recognizing Massimo! It’s well deserved.