Roundup: Coach Of The Week, Library Art …

Congratulations to Matty Jacowleff!

The New York Giants and Gatorade have selected the Staples football team’s first-year coach as High School Coach of the Week.

The Wreckers are now 4-0, after pummeling Darien on the road last Saturday, 31-6. It was Staples’ first victory over the Blue Wave in 13 years.

The honor comes with a $2,000 check from the Giants Foundation and Gatorade for the football program. Jacowleff will also receive a certificate signed by Giants head coach Brian Daboll, and be honored at a dinner following the season, and a 2026 pre-season game.

Staples football head coach Matty Jacowleff.

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The art featured this fall in the Westport Library aligns with StoryFest — the multimedia homage to storytelling.

The exhibits — on display now through December 16, include:

“Every Picture Tells a Story: Photographs from the Westport Public Art Collections (opening reception October 15 at 6 pm; presentation by photographer Arthur Nager at 7): Portraits, landscape studies, and historical, documentary, and abstract imagery in black and white and color.

The exhibit features renowned photographers Philippe Halsman, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Eliot Porter and Lucia Nebel White, and Westport photographers Larry Silver, David Kalman, Spencer Platt, Lynsey Addario and more.

Larry Morse’s “Black Men Reading” (opening reception October 29 at 6 p.m.; conversation between Morse and Westport artist Miggs Burroughs at 7).

The idea for this series began in 2020, inspired by daily subway commutes where Morse observed fellow passengers, including the occasional sight of Black men with books in hand. Those moments transcended timely happenings, and spoke to deep-rooted aspects of identity, dignity, and representation.

“Art of the Album: Modern Blues” showcases a selection of LPs featuring Westport resident and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Mark Naftalin’s performances on keyboard, including with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. From Mother Earth’s “Living With the Animals” to Brewer & Shipley’s “Tarkio,” these albums capture the cultural time when vinyl packaging were both a canvas and a keepsake.

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Staples High School Class of 1973 graduate Bob Gill died peacefully in February in Honolulu. He was 69.

An Eagle Scout, Bob earned a gymnastics scholarship — and a bachelor arts in education — at Arizona State University.

Bob in the Los Angeles and Honolulu public schools. The North Shore, with its culture and surfing challenge, became his home.

He was also an actor, model and house painter.

Bob is survived by his siblings Jeffrey, Steven (Sally) and Kirsten Bartie (Steve). He was predeceased by his parents Robert and Olivia, and brother Gary.

A memorial will be held this Sunday (October 12, 11:45 a.m., Willowbrook Cemetery).

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Connecticut Humane Society.

Bob Gill

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Longtime Westporter Jo Ann Arciola died peacefully at her home on Wednesday, surrounded by her family, after a brief illness. She was 78.

The Boston native found her professional home at Resnick Advisories, where she spent more than 20 years. She was noted for her dedication, integrity and kindness.

Jo Ann was an avid reader, traveler and cook. Her family says, “her kitchen was a place of warmth, laughter, and love.”

Jo Ann is survived by her husband of 58 years, Sam Arciola, Jr.; son Sam Arciola III (Kelly); grandsons Sam Arciola IV and Dominic Arciola; brothers-in-law Carmen Arciola of Florida and Jay Westerhold of Virginia; many nieces and nephews, and her dog Romeo. She was predeceased by her brother Edward Austin, sister Eleanor Westerhold, and Joseph Arciola.

A memorial service is set for Thursday (October 16, 11 a.m., Assumption Cemetery, 73 Greens Farms Road).

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Tunnel To Towers Foundation. Condolences may be left online at http://www.hardingfuneral.org.

Jo Ann Arciola

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This is our first “Westport … Naturally” photo of the season to focus on fall stuff.

It will not be the last.

(Photo/Richard Fogel)

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And finally … in honor of Mark Naftalin, and the album cover exhibit at the Westport Library (story above):

(“06880” is Westport’s hyper-local blog — your source for news, events, photos, and everything else about our town. We rely on reader support. Please click here — and thank you!)