“Caroling Crawl” — a Saugatuck tradition — continues this Saturday (December 21, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.).
Staples High School’s elite a cappella group the Orphenians will entertain diners at several restaurants, in the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event.
They’ll start at the Saugatuck Rowing Club’s Boathouse, then make their rounds at other restaurants around Riverside Avenue, Railroad Place and the rest of the neighborhood, ending at the Little Pub at Dunville’s.
Add that to the list of specials on Saturday’s menu!
Staples Orphenians’ Caroling Crawl.
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Speaking of Christmas in Saugatuck: Startup Westport — the public/private partnershp for tech entrepreneurs and innovators — chose a perfect location for their holiday party.
Nearly 150 people gathered at Content Studio — Chirag Shah and Jay Norris’ Saugatuck Avenue production studio/meeting/media location — to celebrate the season.
Startup Westport events are always high-energy, with plenty of creative men and women sharing ideas and networking.
Throw in food, drinks, and a DJ, and it was one of the organization’s best events in their very busy 2 years.
Some of the many attendees enjoying yesterday’s Startup Westport holidy party, at Content Studio.
Startup Westport co-founder Jay Norris and his wife Crystal. They celebrated both the party, and her birthday.
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A memorial service for Dick Fincher — the Tree Board chair, Earthplace and Staples Tuition Grants board member, and church vestryman, who died October 31 at 86 — will be held Saturday, December 28, at 11;30 a.m. at Christ & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.
A reception will follow. The public is invited to attend.
Dick Fincher
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16 teams of Staples High School students and Westport Police officers hurled balls at each other Monday, in the annual Westport Youth Commission dodgeball tournament.
The event — held in the Staples fieldhouse — has 2 important rules. Each team must include 1 cop. And no aiming at heads.
Otherwise, is a night for ducking, diving, and of course dodging.
Staples’ Teen Awareness Group co-sponsored the tourney. Entry fees help fund their projects.
The Dodge-a-Cop champs! From left: James Penny, Anthony Armentano, Charles Clark, Casey Bag, Nicholas Weil, Officer Mike Davis. (Photo/Andrew Colabella)
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Over the summer, herbicide was applied to the Jesup Road median, near Westport Pride’s rainbow crosswalk.
The strip between Westport Book Shop and Jesup Green started to look a bit ratty.
Two local businesses rode to the rescue.
SCA Crowley donated a cleanup crew, and mulched the site.
Then Tuliptree Site Design of Norwalk reseeded the pollinator pathway.
Next spring, the colors of the blooms will rival that of the crosswalk nearby.
Mike Mushak of Tuliptree Site Design tends to the Jesup Road median.
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The New Orleans Museum of Art’s current exhibit “Show & Tell: A Brief History of Photography and Text,” explores t marriage of photos and words.
It includes a work by Larry Silver, the Westport-based, internationlly known photographer.
His image of the Grand Central Terminal waiting room was taken in 1952.
(Photo/copyright Larry Silver)
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Margery Fisher — a longtime Coleytown Middle School librarian, children’s book author and the wife of noted illustrated Leonard Everett Fisher — died peacefully at home on Friday. She was 94.
After majoring in mathematics and earning Phi Beta Kappa honors at Mount Holyoke College, Margery was recruited by IBM to teach at their school in New York City.
She soon became a system service representative, one of the very few women in the IBM business machine program and pioneering computer path.
While at IBM she met and married her husband of 71 years. She and Leonard moved to New Haven. IBM transferred Margery to its office there. For the next several years she serviced IBM’s growing business machine products, from industrial computers installed in hardware stores and grocery stores to the United States Navy’s first atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus.
Margery left IBM prior to the birth of their children. After moving to Westport she earned a master’s degree in library science at Southern Connecticut State University.
She served as Coleytown Middle School’s librarian for 25 years, retiring in 1995.
Margery was the author of 2 children’s books, for which her husband provided the illustrations: “But Not Our Daddy” and “One and One.”
Margery continued her interest in children’s literature after retiring. She joined the Bank Street College Book Committee, creating, editing and publishing world-wide yearly lists of the best in North American children’s literature.
Margery and Leonard lived in Westport for more than 68 years. They traveled the world together from England (33 times) to the Panama Canal, Italy, Russia, Egypt, China, Hawaii, Normandy and Maine.
Margery is survived by her children Julie Fisher (Robert Aldoroty), Susan Fisher Plotner, and James Fisher (Pamela Viglielmo); grandchildren Lauren, Michael, Samuel, Jordan, Gregory and Danielle, and her sister Betty Meskin Pincus.
Donations in Margery and Leonard’s name can be made to the “Margery & Leonard Everett Fisher Endowment for Children’s Books in the Arts,” c/o Westport Library, 20 Jesup Road, Westport, CT 06880.
Margery Fisher
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Longtime Westport arts community member and philanthropist Gary Cosgrave died peacefully on Monday. He was 82.
A graduate of Mamaroneck (New York) High School, Gary did not go to college because he suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia. Nevertheless, he achieved remarkable business success.
After the passing of his father, Paul, Gary took over the family business, PROGroup, and as chair and CEO turned it into a conglomerate of 5 businesses: Pro Hardware. Garden Master and Farm Mart, as well an advertising agency and distribution business.
For over 25 years Gary was an active member of Vistage, a worldwide business advisor group. After selling his business in 2011, Gary continued to mentor business executives and entrepreneurs, and was on the board of Soluxe Inc., parent company of Solomon Community Solar LLC.
Gary served for many years on the boards of the Westport Country Playhouse and MoCA CT. In 2012 he was honored by the Westport Art Center for his success as chair in stabilizing the group’s finances and developing a new strategic vision.
He was a major donor to the Southport School, an independent day school for cerebrodiverse children dealing with challenges like dyslexia, and to Seeds for Peace and Operation Smile.
An accomplished sailor and scuba diver, Gary threw himself into underwater photography. He built an impressive portfolio of stunning images that he published as books, sold and displayed widely. He co-authored a book, “Stop, Think and Dream: Be the Difference That Makes a Difference (Teens for Planet Earth),” empowering New York City teenagers.
Gary survived by his fiancé Dina Upton of Westport; son Terry Cosgrave of Colorado Springs, and grandchildren Michaela Patry, Lily Cosgrave, Isabell and Ella Rosenberg. He was preceded in death by his wife Ruby, daughter Tracey, and brothers Jack and Victor.
Gary’s ashes will be interred at his family plot at Lakeview Cemetery in New Canaan on February 8 (10:30 a.m.), followed by a celebration of his life at Rive Bistro (11:30 a.m.).
Memorial donations may be made in Gary’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Gary Cosgrave
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Claudia Sherwood Servidio — one of our very talented “Westport … Naturally” contributors — finds beauty everywhere.
She shot this image yesterday, at rainy Sherwood Island State Park:
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And finally … Robert Moses — the urban planner responsible for the construction of hundreds of highways, bridges, tunnels, playgrounds, beaches — and a World’s Fair — in and around New York, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, was born on this day in 1888. He died in 1981.
(Holy Moses! If you appreciate “06880”‘s daily coverage of all things Westport, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Coleytown was so lucky to have Marge. A wonderful friend who will forever be missed.
Robert Moses was responsible for the low bridges on the New York City area parkways, extended to the Merritt Parkway. They were designed to prevent busses from using the parkways–“protecting” the suburbs from lower income/Black people from having easy access to the suburbs.