Fire up those fire pits!
With little heat — but plenty of enthusiasm — the Board of Selectwomen voted unanimously yesterday to accept the Parks & Recreation Department’s proposal to add 2 portable fire pits to Compo’s South Beach this summer.
The pits — available for use byWestport residents only, for $150 from 4 to 10 p.m. every day except the fireworks and July 4 — are an added amenity, says Parks & Rec director Erik Barbieri. Several area towns already offer them.
Westport’s Police and Fire Departments fully back the proposal. The fire pits will be monitored by Parks & Rec employees, who will be trained in their use. When the beach closes they’ll be extinguished, and moved to a locked site.
For more details on the Compo fire pits, click here.
A Westport fire pit.
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The Ice Bucket Challenge is back!
First run in 2014 to raise money — over $200 million! — for ALS research, it’s resurfaced in 2025 as a fundraiser for Active Minds, a national youth mental health nonprofit.
Since the first bucket was poured on March 31, it’s collected over $300,000.
It swept through Staples High School. Then I got swept up in it.
Dave Briggs — the TV journalist who contributes great video reels to “06880” — nominated me.
On Tuesday (yeah, I waited a day until it got warm), I took the challenge.
And then I passed on the challenge to 3 other Westporters: 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, 2nd Selectwoman Andrea Moore, and Police Chief Foti Koskinas.
I don’t mess around. Check out the video below (or click here):
(So how is it a fundraiser? If you take the challenge, you should also donate to Active Minds).
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Earth Day was Tuesday.
But you can still celebrate.
Representative Town Meeting (RTM) member Andrew Colabella offers a list of spots around town that could use a bit (or a bit more) of tidying up.
They include:
- Elaine Road
- Greens Farms train station embankment
- Greens Farms corridor
- Sherwood Island Connector corridor
- Merritt Parkway exit 42 Park & Ride
- Longshore parking lot F (coastline)
- Saugatuck train station parking lot 4
- Sipperly Hill Road
- Ford Road
- Bottom of Clapboard Hill at Greens Farms
- Riverside Avenue
Andrew adds: “In addition to these places, anywhere else that needs clean-up is great.
“If you see an area that is unsafe and unreachable due to lack of buffer from the road, or on a blind curve, call the Public Works Department: 203-341-1120.”
Cleaning up Elaine Road (near the Saugatuck River boat launch, animal control headquarters and sewage treatment plant), 2024.
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The auction for A Better Chance of Westport’s Dream Event gala (Saturday, April 26, 6:30 p.m.) is live. All funds support the non-profit’s work, offering educational opportunities and more in Westport to teenage boys from underserved communities. Click here.
A few tickets to the event — which includes excellent food and drinks, inspiring speeches from the scholars, and a chance to meet some very cool present and past ABC folks — are still available. Click here to purchase.
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Congratulations, Jamie Mann!
The 2021 Staples High School graduate — and within-a-month University of Michigan alum — made his Broadway debut last night in “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”
Reviews were mixed, for the “prequel” to the hit Netflix series. Among the critics who raved: Emlyn Travis, of Entertainment Weekly: “Immersive, heartfelt, and exhilarating, ‘First Shadow’ is a must-see spectacle for the Stranger Things obsessive as much as it is for the theater aficionado who wants to see the medium pushed to new heights.”
Jamie Mann with his parents, Jill Johnson Mann and Ben Mann, at Tavern on the Green Tuesday night.
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Westport Police made 2 custodial arrests between April 16 and 23.
A 38-year-old Westport man was charged with voyeurism, after a complaint about a hidden camera placed in a shared bathroom of an apartment. He was released after posting a $50,000 bond.
A 35-year-old Stamford man was charged with failure to respond to a payable violation, after a traffic stop.
Westport Police also issued these citations:
- Driving while texting: 21 citations
- Distracted driving: 4
- Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 4
- Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 4
- Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 4
- Failure to renew registration: 4
- Speeding: 2
- Improper use of markers: 2
- Driving while texting (2nd offense): 1
- Traveling unreasonably fast: 1
- Failure to obey stop sign: 1
- Failure to obey traffic control signal: 1
- Failure to comply with state traffic commission regulations: 1
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Speaking of police: Around 6 p.m. Tuesday, they responded to an electric scooter accident on Cobble Hill Road, off Sylvan Road North.
The teenage scooter operator was taken to Norwalk Hospital, in serious condition.
Scooters are popular, all over Westport. Operators and drivers: Be careful out there!
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Speaking still of the police: A resident called last night to complain of cars racing down Soundview Drive.
That’s a neighborhood problem — along with drivers going the wrong way on the beach exit road.
Within minutes, a patrol car was there. Quickly, the officer nabbed a driver.
The resident asked “06880” to pass along his thanks for the was grateful for the “speedy” response.
Soundview Drive is attractive to nighttime speeders. But you will get nabbed. (Photo/Andrew Colabella)
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Yale University Law School professor Paul Kahn’s recent book, “Democracy in Our America,” focuses on what happens when national politics enters a small Connecticut town.
It’s not about Westport — but it could be.
On Tuesday night, the Democratic Women of Westport hosted Kahn at the Westport Woman’s Club.
A full crowd listened intently to his insights. The event included Jeff Wieser and Velma Heller — present and former RTM moderators — and was led by Board of Finance member Allyson Stollenwerck.
Saving democracy, at the Westport Woman’s Club. (Photo/Andrew Colebella)
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The Westport Rotary Club learned all about the Norwalk Art Space on Tuesday.
Duvian Montoya and AnnaDea Chavez spokek about the non-profit, located in a former West Avenue church, which provides free art education to underserved youth.
It also offers free studio space to adult artists, in exchange for teaching classes to youngsters. Last year, there were over 70 classes.
A gourmet café is run by Bill Taibe, of Whelk, Don Memo and Kawa Ni fame.
For more information, click here.
AnnaDea Chavez and Duvian Montoya, at the Westport Rotary Club.
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Today’s lovely “Westport … Naturally” spring foliage shot comes from Jerry Kuyper, on Rayfield Road:
(Photo/Jerry Kuyper)
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And finally … in honor of both the new Compo Beach fire pits, and the new/old ice bucket challenge (stories above):
(Compo, cops, Broadway — just another day in Westport. But there’s always something different in our “06880” Roundup. If you like this daily dose of town news, please click here to support us. Thanks!)
Dan is it really ice water or is it warmed up a bit?
There were definitely ice cubes in it. Ryan Allen was in charge. He’s as honest as the day is long.
WOW👍🏼
I hope the $150 rental price is a misprint and the real price is $15?
I’d add to the scooter warning: parents, just say no! Insane anyone still lets their children ride on these things given the history.
Richard Johnson (Staples 1964) is exactly on target relative to concerns about kids riding scooters! Not a good idea.
It is $150.
And the danger of young scooter riders is real. Scary stuff.