Monthly Archives: February 2026

Pic Of The Day #3237

Willowbrook Cemetery (Photo/Claudia Sherwood Servidio)

Roundup: Neil Sedaka, Compo Trees, Sandwich Contest, Wonder Restaurant …

Neil Sedaka — who, the New York Times said, “went from classical music prodigy to precocious songwriter to teenage idol to pop music fixture in a celebrated career that spanned seven decades” — died yesterday in Los Angeles. He was 86.

Obituaries and tributes mention his Brooklyn upbringing (he dated Carole King in high school, and Neil Diamond lived across the street).

But after achieving stardom with hits like “Calendar Girl” — and, more than a decade later, “Laughter in the Rain” — he moved to Westport, in the 1970s.

Sedaka lived in the Old Hill neighborhood for about 20 years. In 1982, he headlined one of the first benefit concerts at the Levitt Pavilion.

Click here for a full obituary. If you’ve got a Neil Sedaka memory from his time here, click “Comments” below.

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Several Westporters have wondered what’s going on at Gray’s Creek. A dozen or so trees have been removed just west of the Minute Man Monument, near the small burial ground of patriots killed in the Battle of Compo Hill.

“06880” reached out to the Parks & Recreation Department, which oversees the site. (It’s not in the right of way, so it’s out of the tree warden’s jurisdiction.)

Parks superintendent Nick Quatrano says that he contracted Knapp Tree, due to concerns for public safety.

The trees include black locust (invasive), black cherry, Norway maple (invasive), and a few too dead for him to identify.

Once all are removed, he’ll replant trees that can better tolerate the salty environment. Among the contenders: black pine, red cedar, thornless honey locust, and white oak.

Gray’s Creek cemetery.

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The Board of Finance will hold its formal budget reviews next month, in the Town Hall auditorium.

They’re set for March 9 (Board of Education) and March 10 (1st Selectman’s town budget).

The meetings will also be broadcast on Optimum Channel 79, and/or livestreamed at www.westportct.gov.

Click here to see 1st Selectman Kevin Christie’s full proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-27.

Click here to see the Board of Education’s full proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-27.

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Westport has voted on its favorite pizzas, burgers, soups and salads.

On this year’s menu: sandwiches.

The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce’s 9th annual event runs throughout March. Over 20 restaurants, delis and markets will compete in 10 categories.

Judging is done by residents, online. Each voter is also entered into a drawing to win a free sandwich, from one of the 10 winners.

The 21 competitors are:  A & S Fine Foods, Calise’s, Clubhouse, Dunkin, Emmy Squared, Garelick & Herbs, Kabab & Hummus House, Kawa Ni, Lyfe Café,  Match Burger Lobster, Nomade, Old Mill Grocery, Organic Market, Outpost Pizza, Pizza Lyfe, Rizzuto’s Lobster Shack, Romanacci, Saugatuck Provisions, Saugatuck Rive Café, The Granola Bar and Zucca Gastrobar.

The 10 categories are: Best Chicken Sandwich, Best Steak Sandwich, Best Vegetarian Sandwich, Best Combo Sandwich, Best Club, Best NY Deli, Best Pressed Sandwich, Best Breakfast Sandwich, Best Wrap Sandwich, and Best Fish/Seafood Sandwich. Each restaurant, deli or market may enter up to 4 categories, but can only win 2 at most.

Starting March 1, residents can visit the venues, enjoy the offerings, then vote here.

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Speaking of food: Ordering delivery is fast and easy.

Unless people at one place want different restaurants.

Starting Thursday, there’s an app for that.

Wonder comes to Westport. It’s at 1300 Post Road East, just east of Turkey Hill Road.

A press release says, “With free delivery, pickup or dine-in options at over 100 locations, Wonder features world-renowned chefs including Bobby Flay, José Andrés, and Marcus Samuelsson, alongside award-winning restaurants like Tejas Barbecue and Di Fara Pizza.”

Customers can combine dishes from a variety of Wonder restaurants in a single order. Menus are developed by Wonder’s culinary team, in collaboration with chefs and restaurant partners. Every dish is “made to order” in local Wonder kitchens.

Westport’s Wonder joins over 100 locations in the Eastern US.

The grand opening on Thursday includes a ribbon-cutting. The first 100 guests enjoy giveaways and food samples.

Click here to learn more about  Wonder.

A variety of Wonder cuisines.

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The Thing — the hot Brooklyn-based rock band, featuring Weston native Jack Bradley on guitar — kicked off VersoFest 2026 last night. A large, enthusiastic and multi-age crowd packed the Trefz Forum for the show.

The bulk of the 5th annual music-media-and-more festival takes place at the end of next month. But the dates did not work, so The Thing kicked off their new tour in late February, at a venue that audiences in the tri-state area have come to know is a bit out of the mainstream, but where loud music thrives: the Westport Library.

Click here for a full schedule of this year’s VersoFest.

The Thing do their thing …

… after local band Fever Dream opens up. (Photos/Susan Garment)

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Congratulations to the Staples High School boys and girls ski teams!

The boys finished 1st in the Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League season for large schools, then placed 3rd in Thursday’s state meet.

The girls took 2nd for both the season, and at the state meet.

It’s not Cortina — but pretty great for Connecticut!

Staples High School boys and girls ski teams.

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TAP Strength’s next “Effortless Effort” talk covers “Effortless Eating.” It’s March 11 (180 Post Road East, 6 p.m.

Nutrition specialist Kevin Knight will offer “a mindful approach to eating your way to your best life.”

TAP founder EJ Zebro will add practical cools to incorporate new habits of movement and mindfulness into your daily life. It’s free, but RSVPs are requested: info@tapstrength.com.

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What do you call a group of hooded mergansers?

A bunch, flock, badelunge, brace, paddling or raft.

Whatever it is: There they were — hanging out at Old Mill, waiting for someone to take their picture for our “Westport … Naturally” feature.

Tracy Porosoff did the honors.

(Photo/Tracy Porosoff)

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And finally … in honor of Westport’s new “Wonder” restaurant (story above):

We wonder if you know how much work it takes to provide daily Roundups — and everything else on “06880.” We wonder  too if you’ll click here, to support our work. It’s no wonder we thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #307

Tired of snow? Tired of shoveling? Tired of winter, generally?

We don’t when spring will arrive. But until it does: Sit down. Brew (another) cup of coffee. And enjoy (another) online art gallery.

But you don’t have to just admire our readers’ work. As always, we invite you to be part of next week’s exhibition. No matter your age; the style or subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we welcome your submissions. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, mixed media, digital, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.

Just email a JPG to 06880blog@gmail.com. And please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.

“Micha” (Patricia McMahon; Available for purchase; click here)

Untitled (Duane Cohen; Available for purchase; click here)

“Bromance” (Mark Yurkiw; Available for purchase; click here)

“Simple and Elegant” —Chapel Altar at First Parish Church UCC, Brunswick, Maine (Bonnie Scott Connolly)

“The Root of the Story” (Conor Culbertson — Grade 8, One River Art student)

Untitled — mixed media collage (June Rose Whittaker — Available for purchase; Click here)

“Color Splash of Water Lilies” (Eric Bosch)

Untitled (Tom Doran — Available for purchase; click here)

“Lots of Snow” (Karen Weingarten)

Photographer Mike Hibbard says, “This 600-pound snow tiger watches and waits! Deer, scrounging fallen bird feeder seeds, are moving closer and closer …”

“Hello Dali” (Martin Ripchick — Available for purchase; click here

“Seamstress” (Lawrence Weisman)

“Studying” — pencil and watercolor (Steve Stein)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Melissa & Doug: Westport’s Newest Hall Of Famers

It’s not Cooperstown.

But for the toy industry, it’s even bigger.

Doug and Melissa Bernstein — longtime Westporters, and founders of the beloved (and hugely popular) children’s brand Melissa & Doug — are the newest members of the Toy Industry Hall of Fame.

They were inducted earlier this month, at the Toy Foundation’s annual Toy of the Year Awards gala in New York.

The honor recognizes the couple’s lasting influence on the toy industry, and their decades-long commitment to creating toys that spark imagination and support meaningful child development through purposeful play.

Melissa and Doug Bernstein, and friends.

A press release about the honor notes: “Throughout their careers, Melissa and Doug approached toymaking with a clear and enduring philosophy: take timeless play patterns and elevate and extend them through innovation. By combining a purposeful focus on learning through play, high-quality materials, original artwork, and realistic details, they reimagined classic toys and introduced new ones that invite deeper engagement and open-ended exploration.”

Their products appeal to parents and educators, becoming staples in homes and classrooms alike.

The founders “are true icons for all of us who are part of the Melissa & Doug family and across our industry,” says Lauren DeFeo Duchene, president of the company.

“Their belief in purposeful play — play sparked by a child’s imagination and fueled by endless possibilities — established a foundation we’re proud to build on today.

“They created a brand shaped by word-of-mouth love and trust from families, educators, and child-development experts. Their legacy reflects a deep respect for childhood, and has made a lasting impact on generations of children.”

In addition to the Hall of Fame festivities, Melissa & Doug — the company, not the people — were nominated in 2 categories: Construction Toy of the Year (for Blockables), and Preschool Toy of the Year (Simmer & Stir Stovetop Play Set).

Pic Of The Day #3236

Peaceable kingdom — Saugatuck-style (Photo/Judy Auber Jahnel)

Ukrainian Resilience, On Playhouse Stage

Westporter Marshall Mayer is executive director of Ukraine Aid International. The non-profit organization delivers humanitarian aid directly to war-torn locations in the eastern part of the nation.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its 5th year, Westport’s sister city of Lyman continues to suffer, just miles from the Russian front. The connection between our towns was facilitated in the early days of the war by UAI’s founders, Mayer and his brother Brian. Marshall sends this report, from Kyiv. 

Four years. That is the headline everywhere this week. Four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But Ukraine has not been at war for 4 years. The world has noticed it for 4 years, but Ukraine has been at war for 12.

On February 20, 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and began its assault on Donetsk and Luhansk. Long before the cameras arrived in Kyiv in 2022, Ukrainians were already fighting and dying for their sovereignty. The invasion did not begin when the world paid attention. It began when Russia decided Ukraine did not have the right to exist as a free nation.

For me, this war became personal in July 2014. A friend was aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 when it was shot down over Donetsk by a Russian-provided missile. Two hundred ninety-eight people were killed. He was one of them. That was not geopolitics. It was personal.

Marshall Mayer in Lyman, Ukraine —  Westport’s sister city.

In 2022, as the world finally woke up, we founded Ukraine Aid International. Our mission was straightforward: focus resources on the communities most devastated by war, particularly those near the front line. In the 4 years since we have worked in towns that rarely make headlines, but endure shelling, blackouts, floods, and rebuilding in constant cycles.

We have lost friends. Volunteer friends. Soldier friends. Civilian friends. Far more than anyone should lose at my age.

And yet what stays with me most is not only loss, but resilience.

In Ukraine, life insists on continuing. A couple on a first date in an underground bar. Office workers eating lunch by the river in summer. A husband waiting at a train station with flowers. Even on the edge of war, people choose love, culture, family and future.

Hope amid devastation, in Lyman, Ukraine.

There is endless talk about negotiations and concessions. But what concession is owed to an army bent on destruction? In years of fighting, Russia has measured gains in feet, not miles. “Three days to Kyiv” failed. Ukraine’s integration with Europe continues. Every day Ukraine survives is a victory.

When this ends, however it ends, Ukraine will emerge stronger than anyone expects. Russia will emerge weakened. Because Russia fights for land. Ukraine fights for love. Love of its children, its language, its history, its dignity.

For Ukraine, there is no plan B.

That energy is why we are still here. We support Ukraine because the moral line is clear. This is a fight between destruction and self-determination. Between domination and dignity.

On Thursday, March 5 at 7:00pm, we invite you to stand with Ukraine in a different way. Join us at the Westport Country Playhouse for “Keys for Resilience,” a benefit concert supporting Connecticut’s sister cities in Ukraine, featuring Ukrainian pianist Ruslan Ramazanov and Ukrainian-American soprano and bandurist Teryn Kuzma.

Ruslan rebuilt his life in the United States after the full-scale invasion, and now performs and teaches in Boston. Teryn, a Connecticut native, brings both her radiant soprano voice and the 55-string Ukrainian bandura to the stage. Together they will perform works by Chopin, Prokofiev, Brahms, Debussy, Gershwin, and Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk.

Click here for tickets to this important evening. Thank you for enabling us to continue our important work on the front lines in Ukraine.

Friday Flashback #492

Last weekend, 75,673 fans packed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was opening day for MLS team LAFC, and they were there to see Lionel Messi — arguably still the world’s greatest soccer player — who plays for Inter Miami.

In 4 months, the World Cup comes to North America. Someone — probably not Messi, now 38 years old — will be hailed as the best soccer player on the planet.

In 1979, Johan Cruyff was the world’s greatest player. His Netherlands team had finished second (to West Germany and Argentina) at the 2 previous World Cups. He had signed a few months earlier with the North American Soccer League’s Los Angeles Aztecs.

And one September Sunday that year, Cruyff came to Greens Farms Academy.

(Photo courtesy of Mike Carey)

It was not a random event. Jan Brouwer — a noted Dutch coach — had been brought to the US by Bart van den Brink and a group of Dutch ex-pats, to spread the gospel of “Total Soccer” (the small nation’s whirling style of play) to our shores.

Van den Brink lived in Westport. He rented a house here for Brouwer.

Greens Farms Academy was filled for that day of exhibition games and clinics. Soccer fans came from across the tri-state region to see Cruyff.

I was just starting my coaching career, and doing some writing for the Total Soccer group, about their work.

After the GFA event I was invited back to van den Brink’s house, less than a mile away off Greens Farms Road.

Johan Cruyff

They arranged an American-style picnic for Cruyff. I spent a couple of hours with him and other Dutch stars for the New York Cosmos.

It was a fun afternoon, for a 20-something soccer coach and fan. He talked easily and openly about his life, his sport, his country and mine.

It was also amazing to watch Cruyff chain-smoke cigarettes. He lit the next one from the one he was still smoking.

And he did it the entire time, until dusk fell and he left.

Johan Cruyff — the world’s greatest soccer player, and the star of a now-forgotten day in Westport soccer history — died in 2016. He was 68.

The cause was lung cancer.

EXTRA TIME: Cruyff was not the only superstar to visit Greens Farms Academy for a soccer event.

The Cosmos — owned by Warner Communications, whose #2 executive, Jay Emmett, lived on nearby Prospect Road — came one spring day, for an exhibition match against the University of Connecticut.

Giorgio Chinaglia — the Cosmos’ mercurial striker — played the entire game wearing sweatpants.

(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)

Roundup: Tons Of Stuff Going On In Town!

MoCA\CT was packed last night, for the opening of its “Art, Jazz + the Blues” exhibition.

The sprawling show explores the intersections between visual art and 2 musical forms deeply rooted in African American traditions.

Westport artists are well represented, with many works drawing from the rich holdings of the Westport Public Art Collections. The centerpiece is “Giants of the Blues,” 7 large pieces by Eric von Schmidt depicting scores of influential artists, from the jazz, blues and folk worlds. It has hung for 20 years in auditorium lobby at Staples High School — von Schmidt’s alma mater — but at MoCA can be seen and appreciated much more grandly.

The exhibition also includes art by high school students, responding to a prompt about music in their lives and culture.

The opening reception featured remarks by von Schmidt’s daughter, and piano entertainment by Westport resident and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s original keyboardist, Mark Naftalin.

A full series of events augments the show. Click here for dates, and more information.

MoCA\CT executive director Robin Jaffee Frank (far left) and others involved in the “Art, Jazz + the Blues” exhibit. One of Eric von Schmidt’s 7 works hangs at the right. (Photo/Dan Woog)

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Also last night: a reception honoring Bill Harmer’s 10 years as executive director of the Westport Library.

Former board of trustees chairs spoke about his work transforming the institution into Connecticut’s only 5-star library. In his remarks, Harmer praised the trustees, his staff, and the community for their collaborative work, and promised even deeper relationships in the future.

The event was held at The Visual Brand studio on Church Lane, where Harmer and other Library officials spent a great deal of time during the Library’s actual physical transformation in the late 2010s.

Bill Harmer, at his 10-year reception. (Photo/Dan Woog)

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At this week’s 3-district Representative Town Meeting (RTM) Zoom session about the Cribari Bridge, attendees urged the town’s legislative body to take action — prior to the state Department of Transportation’s March 19 meeting with residents (6 p.m., Town Hall).

This Tuesday, the RTM may act.

The only agenda item for next month’s meeting (March 3, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium) is “to hold a public discussion to support the Town Administration in its Cribari Bridge discussions with the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation, with the intent to adopt a sense of the meeting resolution.”

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Cohl Katz is a hair stylist and makeup artist to the stars.

Her client list runs, literally, from A (Al Green, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Arnold Schwarzenegger) to Z (Zelda Williams).

With Barbara Bush, Bob Dylan, Cal Ripken, Cindy Crawford, Ellen DeGeneres, Hillary Clinton, Hilary Swank, Jerry Seinfeld, John McEnroe, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mary Tyler Moore, Mel Gibson, Mick Jagger, Muhammad Ali, Nicole Kidman, Ray Charles, Robin Williams, Rod Stewart, Rosie O’Donnell, Sting and Tom Cruise in between.

Now, it can include you.

In your home.

Cohl is offering house calls throughout the area.

Haircuts, hair style, makeup, makeup lessons; for weddings, big moments, perhaps a TV appearance or speech — she’s ready for it all. 

You don’t need a red carpet to welcome Cohl. Just a front door.

Text 917-848-9596 for an appointment, or more information.

Cohl Katz and a client …

… and now Cohl comes to you.

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The Staples High School Counseling Department helps students find the right college.

On March 5, they’re bringing in a big gun to help.

Higher education expert Jeff Selingo will speak on Dream School: Finding The College That’s Right For You” (book signing 5:30 p.m., presentation 6 p.m., followed by Q-and-A).

Selingo’s previous book, “Who Gets In and Why,” explored decision-making by university admissions offices. His latest, “Dream School,” shifts the focus toward student agency. The presentation will encourage families to move beyond selectivity, and evaluate colleges through the lenses of fit, value, and long-term outcomes.

Copies of the book are available for purchase, both at the event and through the registration link. Click here for details, and more information.

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Our Public Works Department did the heavy lifting after Monday’s blizzard.

But there’s still work to be done — including 24 miles of sidewalks.

This was the scene yesterday, on Hillspoint Road.

(Photo) Tracy Porosoff)

They’re doing a great job.

But they sure wouldn’t mind if residents with shovels lent a hand outside their own homes, too.

PS: Speaking of snow removal, Billy Cohen sends great thanks to Westport Police Chief David Farrell, for making sure that mounds of snow have been removed from the main (southbound side) parking lot at the Saugatuck train station. (The Westport Police are in charge of parking lots at the Westport and Greens Farms stations.)

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Speaking of Monday’s snowfall: It kept attendance down on Tuesday, at a morning Westport Library event.

But Allan Siegert was there. And he wants “06880” readers to know what they missed. He writes:

“Can AI ever replicate the magic of human actors on a real set? That is what Westport’s own Stéphanie Szostak, who played fashion editor Jacqueline Follet opposite Meryl Streep in ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ and starred in ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘A Million Little Things,’ asked AI entrepreneur Eline van der Velden.

“Szostak is a working actress who has lived the experience. van der Velden is trying to recreate through AI, and she wanted to know if it’s even possible.

“Szostak said the finished product may look similar, but the process is fundamentally different. On a real set, she said, it’s the happy accidents, the unplanned collaboration, and the raw human energy between actors that create the magic. She said no prompt can engineer that.

“Van der Velden pushed back, saying filming motion capture for Tilly actually feels more raw and free than a traditional set, less choreographed, more like a rehearsal room, where the focus shifts entirely to craft and energy rather than appearance.

“But Van der Velden acknowledged there will always be a place for 100% human productions — just as filmmakers still shoot on film in a digital age.”

Stephanie Szostak, at the Westport Library. (Photo/Allan Siegert)

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Siegert also reports: “Enslaved people in Revolutionary War-era Connecticut faced a choice with no good answer: fight for Patriots who offered no real promise of freedom, or flee to the British side and risk being sold to the brutal Caribbean slave trade if caught.

“That stark dilemma was brought to life yesterday morning by historian Ramin Ganeshram, speaking to the Y’s Men of Westport & Weston.

“Ganeshram — executive director of the Westport Museum for History & Culture, and a George Washington Presidential Library Fellow, noted that enslaved people first arrived in Connecticut in 1639. Many had roots here going back 3 or 4 generations by the time the war began.”

Ramin Ganeshram, at the Y’s Men meeting. (Photo/Ted Horowitz)

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A celebration of the life of Jon Gailmor — the 1966 Staples High School graduate and beloved musician/educator/humanist who died November 30 — is set for May 23, from 1 to 6 p.m.

The setting is appropriate: the statehouse lawn in Montpelier, Vermont. He lived in the Green Mountain State for 40 years, and was named an official state treasure for his work with students, and his love for Vermont.

Jon’s many friends are invited. RSVPs are requested, for planning purposes; click here to respond, and for more information.

Jon Gailmor

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Icicles like these, at Marie Gross’ Kings Highway North home  — today’s “Westport … Naturally” subject — are hanging all over town.

(Photo/Marie Gross)

With the temperature in the low 40s today — and a steamy 49 tomorrow — they’ll melt quickly. Look out below!

As for next week: lots of showers and rain. In other words (sorry, Marie): Gross.

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And finally … Eric von Schmidt was not just a very talented painter. He’s included in MoCA\CT’s “Art, Jazz + The Blues” exhibition as a blues and folk singer too, who made a big impact on a young Bob Dylan.

In fact, Dylan name-checks von Schmidt — and talks at length about him — on “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down,” in his debut album. Click here or below to listen.

(Another day, another Roundup,  full of news, info and photos. If you like this daily dump of stuff — which takes a ton of time to produce! — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

 

Rec Basketball: A Love Note

Lee Shufro moved to Westport in 2020.  He serves on the executive boards of the Westport Youth Commission and Downtown Merchants Association. He is also a Rec Basketball coach. (His last year of organized basketball was the Stamford High School freshman team.)  

As March Madness approaches, Lee shoots the lights out with this paean to his passion. He writes:

Rec basketball holds a place dear to my heart. It is part of the mosaic that makes Westport such a great town.

Westport’s Park & Recreation Department operates the program, under the stewardship of Max Robbins.

Since 2019, he has done it all: promotion, registration, recruitment of commissioners and coaches, securing game officials, procurement of uniforms, creating practice and game schedules, and organizing the end-of-season events.

Fun is an important part of Rec Basketball.

The program includes pre-K and 1st- grade clinics, plus competitive leagues from 2nd grade through high school for boys and girls (though girls have not had a high school league since 2018).

This year there are 1,081 players — about 20% of all eligible students.

The program depends on adult volunteers. 174 have volunteered this year, mostly as coaches and league commissioners. As in other youth sports leagues, parents make the engine run.

I salute all the players’ parents. You schlep to schools for pick-ups and drop-offs.  You go to games intending just to watch, but you are cajoled into sitting at the scorer’s table, keeping track of fouls or maintaining the scoreboard.  Thank you! It truly does take a village.

Parents are part of the Rec Basketball village.

For the kids, it’s more than just a game. Their leagues became a social ecosystem. Post-draft Snapchats flow when kids find out who is on their team (and which one was “stacked”).

During the season they walk the halls, high-fiving a teammate who just scored their first basket or made a clutch free- throw.

Lunch tables buzz with game discussions, analyzed like an NBA finals game 7.

With 5 elementary schools feeding into 2 middle schools, and then into Staples, Rec Basketball serves as a bonding experience where everyone knows each other.

Rec’s formal rules, honed over decades, enshrine fundamental tenets of sportsmanship and equity.

First and most importantly: Everyone plays an equal amount of time. Rather than weed players out, Rec encourages players of all skill levels to participate. From the best players (often on travel teams) to kids who just like to hoop it up in their driveway, everyone plays the same. This rule is sacrosanct.

Playing …

Second: Great pains are taken to ensure the teams are fair. Leagues work together to draft players, so each team (at least on paper) is equal. That’s why we have tryouts – to evenly place players, for balanced rosters. Coaches want fun, fair and even contests.

All league regular season games are played for tournament seeding — which brings us to March Madness.

It’s the culmination of months of practice, and what distinguishes Westport’s league from other towns.

It is more than just a post-season tournament. Parks & Rec creates an entire format of fun games and experiences. From knock-out to 3-point tournaments, there is an activity for everyone.

After each team is eliminated, they get a mini-pizza party in the cafeteria. And of course, a champion is crowned. Queue up the “One Shining Moment” song!

… and warming up. (All photos courtesy of Lee Shufro)

I’ve been a volunteer coach since I moved to Westport in 2020 (my first season was post-Covid). Being a coach is one of the ways I’ve been welcomed to the town.

The season is long, stretching from mid-November tryouts to the championship in early March. Over the years, I’ve spent many hours in gyms rating players.  I’ve huddled with other coaches at Viva Zapata, drafting players with spreadsheets rivaling those found on Wall Street.

I’ve sent countless emails to parents to “remember to bring water to the game,” with play-by-play game stories. It’s been a true labor of love.

If I may speak for all players, coaches and parents: Just like all youth sports, it has been a massive commitment — but well worth it, on and off the court.

Many times I’ve been in a restaurant when a parent says hi, and thanks me for coaching their son years ago. I’ve formed bonds with other coaches, as we post game results and smooth over any issues via text chat. I’ve coached alongside other parents for years, building a rivalry that exists only in my head.

Lastly and most importantly, Rec Basketball has given me a platform to bond with my son.

We’ve been through it all. It’s crazy. but one of my fondest memories of Westport is his 5th  grade team’s run to the Final Four as the last seed.

With March Madness quickly approaching, the Rec season will come to its close.

As my son enters Staples next year, this merry-go-round will eventually stop. We will both graduate Rec Basketball. We will turn the page on another chapter of his childhood.

Goodbye and goodnight, Rec Basketball. I love thee!

(“06880” regularly covers Westport kids’ activities — and their parents’ too. If you appreciate our hyper-local, 24/7/365 focus, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

Pic Of The Day #3235

Icicles on Main Street … (Photo/Mark Mathias)

… and at Nash’s Pond sunrise (Photo/Jayme Martino)