Love conquers all, at VFW Post 399!
The nor’easter washed out Jan Pucci and Lew Pennell’s outdoor wedding, at Sherwood Island State Park.
But the VFW — Westport’s great veterans’ club and multi-purpose community center — happily hosted the couple’s big event Saturday.
It was a very appropriate venue.
Jan is an avid member of the Westport Weston Family YMCA’s popular Aqua Fitness classes — taught by VFW senior vice president Patty Kondub, and Auxiliary president Joan Evon.
And Lew is a Navy veteran.
Making this a true Westport affair: Andrew Colabella — American Legion Post 63 leader, Representative Town Meeting member and a justice of the peace — served as the officiant.
“06880” joins the VFW in wishing clear skies and smooth sailing to the newlyweds.
Newlyweds Lew Pennell and Jan Pucci, with officiant Andrew Colabella.
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Speaking of the nor’easter: Eversource made good progress last night, addressing outages.
At 6 a.m. today, 49 Westport customers remained without power. That’s 0.38% of the town.
Weston reported only 9 outages (0.23%).
Statewide, 2,728 customers still had no electricity. That’s 0.21%.
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United Nations Day is October 24. Westport has always hosted an event that day, honoring the founding of that international body.
This year, the date is October 6 (7 p.m.; reception at 6 p.m.). That’s when a high-level diplomat comes to the Westport Library.
The UN Secretary-General’s representative in Washington, William Davis, will speak “The United Nations’ Path Forward in a World in Crisis.” The public is invited to attend and admission is free. Click here to register.
The event is part of the Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen Memorial Lecture Series, sponsored by the United Nations Association of Southwestern CT (unaswct.org) in cooperation with The Westport Library.
Davis represents the UN Secretary-General and Secretariat to US policymakers, civil society, the news media and broader public. He has a deep understanding of the complex relationship between the US and the United Nations system.
Throughout his career, Davis has championed international cooperation and public engagement with the multilateral system, forging trusted relationships across governments, international organizations, academia, civil society and the media.
William Davis
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Good news from Westport’s sister city of Lyman.
Ukrainian troops have pushed back about 9 kilometers against Russian invaders.
They’ve taken 200 square kilometers in the last 10 days, in the Donetsk oblast (province).
Of course, the town still needs our help.
To donate to Ukraine Aid International — the boots-on-the-ground non-profit co-founded by Westporters Marshall and Brian Mayer — click here. Click the “I want to support” box; then select “Support for the City of Lyman.” Scroll down on that page for other donation options (mail, wire transfer and Venmo.)
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Year after year, more and more parents pick up their elementary school students. Fewer and fewer ride the bus.
The numbers grew especially rapidly after both COVID, and the change to a later school start time.
It’s impossible, many parents say, for youngsters who take the bus to get home in time for their after-school activities.
We don’t know how Susan Garment got home, when she was a Westport kid. But she’s an adult now, and was struck by the daily afternoon scene on Post Road West, near Kings Highway School.
Not far away, this was this scene on Sylvan Road North, at Pierrepont School.
(Photos/Susan Garment)
Of course, every parent has to drive their kid there and back (or carpool).
The private school does not offer bus service.
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We’ve posted plenty of storm shots recently.
Ginormous waves, impassable roads, flooded yards — you name it, we saw it.
Here’s one more image from the weekend, as our “Westport … Naturally” featured photo.
You can’t really tell there’s a nor’easter.
But nature’s creatures gonna do what they do best: figure stuff out.
(Photo/Richard Fogel)
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And finally … well, it wasn’t Sherwood Island.
It wasn’t a chapel either.
But Jan Lucci and Lew Pennell pulled off a great wedding on Saturday, despite plenty of, um, headwinds.
Congrats!
(And finally … as we start a new week, with hopefully a lot less weather to report, we’d like to remind you: We’ve been working like dogs to cover this stuff. Please click here to support us. Thank you!)
