One final reminder: The 3rd annual Soundview Summer Stroll is today.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Compo Beach exit road is closed to traffic. In place of cars, it comes alive with music, food, face painting, other kids’ activities, and more.
Four musical acts — Westport favorites Drew Angus and Ethan Walmark, Weston’s Owen Daniel and the legendary DNR band — will set up halfway down Soundview.
On one side, Earthplace will run the kids’ zone. On the other, Old Mill Grocery by Romanacci offers food.
All around, nearly 2 dozen non-profit groups will have tables. They’ll run games and contests, and offer giveaways.
The Soundview Summer Stroll is a gift to the town from “06880” and the Compo Beach Improvement Association, with great help from the Parks & Recreation Department.
See you today from 10 to 2, on the beach exit road!
See you at the Soundview Summer Stroll! (Photo/Benji Porosoff)
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Surfing for Daisy rocked the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce Night at the Levitt Pavilion last week.
The annual event is both a social gather for Chamber members, and an incubator for rising local bands. Notable prior acts include Goose, Eggy and Moonrise Cartel.
Surfing for Daisy is an Asbury Park, New Jersey-based indie folk-rock act. Up next this week for them: Lollapalooza.
Surfing for Daisy: From the Levitt to Lollapalooza. (Photo/Matthew Mandell)
Then last night Desert Highway — an Eagles tribute band — brought that peaceful easy feeling to the banks of the river.
Desert Highway take it easy. (Photo/Lauri Weiser)
(Photo/Pam Docters)
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We reported earlier on the Staples High School Class of 1976 reunion.
In addition to their parties, kayaking and Staples tour, several 50th reunion-goers enjoyed an early morning private tour of the Westport Country Playhouse.
Along with the usual history and “how we put on a show” details, they had a special chance to check out the set and backstage of the current show, “Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.”
Tour leader and Playhouse archivist Bruce Miller took them down memory lane. Highlights from ’76 included movies (“Rocky,” “Taxi Driver”), Broadway shows (“Godspell,” “Oh! Calcutta!”) — and who was at the Playhouse that summer (Richard Kiley, Eva Marie Saint, Theodore Bikel).
The grads agreed: Arts a crucial part of a community. And they were thankful that those efforts were so evident in Westport, as they grew up a half century ago.
Class of 1976, on the Westport Country Playhouse stage.
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All around town, kids (still) set up lemonade stands.
Some also sell cookies.
An intrepid gang on Compo Beach Road had both yesterday.
Along with something I’ve never seen at any other stand: dancing.
For $1, they’d do a jig.
All joined in — enthusiastically, and well.
And there was not a smartphone, iPad or other device in sight.
Gettin’ jiggy on Compo Beach Road. (Photo/Dan Woog)
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As the sign says, dogs are not allowed at the Westport Farmers’ Market.
We’re not sure whether this guy is obeying the sign, trolling it — or preparing to pee on it.
(Photo/Sam Levenson)
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Staples High School Class of 1957 graduate Anna Frances “Fran” Pollak died Tuesday. She was 87.
The Brooklyn native moved to Westport at a very young age. After Berkeley Secretarial School in New York, she worked at Perkin Elmer Corporation in Norwalk, holding top secret security clearance with NASA’s space program.
Later, as an executive secretary at AMF in Stamford, she met her husband of 52 years, Philip.
While raising 3 children, Fran served as the Bridgeport Post arts calendar editor.
Fran loved books, and spent 37 years working for Mews International Literary Agency with Sidney Kramer, owner of the Remarkable Book Shop. She screened and circulated manuscripts, earning a spot in the Literary Marketplace Directory.
Fran and Phil traveled the world. But she was happiest gardening in her backyard, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art or reading at Old Mill Beach.
Fran is survived by her children Philip Pollak, John Pollak and Linda (Louie) Wins; granddaughters Holly (Evan) Arsineau and Chelsea (Brandon) Lorah; great-grandson Leighton Lorah; sisters Palma (Bruno) Manes and Antoinette (Paul) Wrubel, and many nieces and nephews.
A service is set for Saturday, August 1 (10 a.m., Assumption Church). In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service.
Fran Pollak
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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” image is both beautiful and artistic. Patricia McMahon calls it “The Reflecting Swan.”
(Photo/Patricia McMahon)
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And finally … speaking of Staples’ Class of 1976 (as we were above), the top song of that year on Billboard was …
(You can write a silly love song to “06880.” Or you can click here, to make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work. Either way, we love you. Yeah, yeah, yeah!)
