Two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey highlights the next Westport Country Playhouse Script in Hand play reading.
“The Pancake Club” — a new comedy directed by Playhouse artistic director Mark Shanahan — is set for January 12 (7 p.m.).
Ivey plays Brenda, a waitress at a small-town diner where a group of senior men regularly meet. As Brenda struggles with the sudden death of her oldest friend, members squabble over the eulogy, the widow refuses to grieve, a mysterious stranger threatens the town’s equilibrium, and Brenda’s only daughter teeters on the brink of a meltdown. Brenda wonders: Does anybody ever truly grow up?
Click here for tickets, and more information.
Judith Ivey
==================================================
The Historic District Commission meets January 13 (7 p.m., Zoom).
The agenda includes a vote on the partial demolition, renovation and addition to the main home, and demolition of a detached garage, with a new garage constructed, at 296 Main Street.
The HDC will also vote on whether to oppose demolition permits, and require the full 180-day delay, for these properties:
- 19 Turkey Hill Road North
- 11 Dogwood Lane
- 10 Mary jane Lane
- 10 Twin Falls Lane
- 5 Over Rock Lane
- 17 Adams Farm Road
- 9 Berkeley Road.
They will vote too on whether to rescind adoption of the motion to oppose the issuance of a demolition permit for 11 Beachside Commons, which was adopted December 9.
11 Beachside Commons
==================================================
Up | Next Teens — the county-wide teen volunteer organization founded by Addison Moore, when the recently elected Representative Town Meeting member was a Staples High School student (just a few years ago) — partnered with Big Y to host a holiday food drive.
They collected a few hundred pounds of food, pantry staples, and essential items like diapers, laundry detergent, dish soap and personal care products, for Homes with Hope’s Gillespie Center.
==================================================
Peter “PJ” Boehm Jr. died Saturday at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport.
He graduated in May from the University of Miami Herbert Business School, with a double major in finance and economics. He was a 2021 graduate of Fairfield Ludlowe High School.
His obituary describes PJ as “fun-loving, generous, deeply kind and endlessly curious. With confidence and authenticity, he treated everyone with warmth and humility. His boundless energy infected his wide circle of friends.”
He loved boating with his father Peter, traveling with his mother Mary Kate, and his yellow lab Bella.
PJ is also survived by grandmother, Marilyn Klemish; uncles William Klemish Jr. (Lori), John Klemish (partner Dani Fernandez) and Michael Klemish (Sue), and aunts Christine Walker (John), JoAnnBoehm, and Jacquelyn Steedle.
Friends may call Friday (January 2, 4 to 7 p.m., Harding Funeral Home). A funeral Mass will be held on Saturday (January 3, 11 a.m.).
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Connecticut Humane Society.
PJ Boehm
================================================
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” image shows Booler’s Point, in the fog.
I’ve lived in Westport my whole life, and never heard of “Booler’s Point.”
According to photographer Michael Tomashefsky — who found it on Google Maps — that’s the spit of land jutting into the Saugatuck River, between Grace Salmon Park and the Levitt Pavilion.
Here’s what it looks like, in Monday’s fog. And if anyone knows who Booler was, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Michael Tomashefsky)
==================================================
And finally … Diana Ross rings in 2026 tonight, at Times Square. Other performers include Ciara, LE SSERAFIM, Little Big Town and Maren Morris.
Beginning in 1929 though, and continuing for half a century, Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians’ “Auld Lang Syne” was the way millions of Americans — live, and first listening to radio, then watching on TV — celebrated New Year’s Eve.
The intro to Lombardo’s 1947 Decca Records version is still played in Times Square, immediately following the ball drop.
So — for auld lang syne’s (time gone by) sake — we present:
(Happy New Year! Whatever your plans, you’ve still got a few hours to donate to “06880” — and take a tax deduction for 2025 too. Please click here. And then celebrate!)
Perhaps “Booler” was a bulldozer operator. As almost all that land on the west side of Imperial Ave. from the Women’s Club to Judy Sterling’s home is landfill. aka known as garbage dump. including where the Library sits, The Leavitt Pavilion and the adding parking lots..