Westport’s Rotary and Sunrise Rotary are joining other clubs in Connecticut to help another Rotary group in western North Carolina, as it aids victims of Hurricane Helen.
They’re asking “06880” readers to help too.
Two members of the East Hampton Rotary Club have donated a 50-foot semi-truck, and a 26-foot box truck, to transport collected materials.
The collection is set for Tuesday (October 8, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Westport Stop & Shop).
Items needed include:
Canned or packaged food with a long shelf life (especially cases of ramen, pasta and rice)
Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels and plates, plastic utensils, feminine hygiene products)
All types of batteries
Pet food and cat litter
Shelf-stable milk
Bug spray
Baby food, diapers, formula
Hand-held can openers
Disinfectant spray
Over-the-counter meds
First aid supplies
Sports drinks
Water (low priority)
Other items that are not available at Stop & Shop, but still needed, are:
Tools and equipment
Heavy-duty extension cords
Small generators
Gas & diesel fuel (many residents are using their own equipment to push through roads, and are running out)
Bar and chain oil for chainsaws
2-cycle fuel mix for chainsaws
Chains and sharpeners
Other essentials
Car batteries
Propane
Hay
Starlinks
Cots, tents, sleeping bags
Medical Supplies
Tourniquets
Medical scissors
First aid kits
Once items are collected Tuesday at Stop & Shop, the trucks will be driven directly to Asheville, then distributed by the Rotary Club there.
North Carolina needs help. Westport’s Rotary Clubs are answering the call — with help from the rest of the town.
In “06880” terms, if you know Longshore, you know there’s a statue of a dog near the pool.
If you don’t go to our town-owned country club — or at least don’t go near the water — you’d never know the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge.
Seth Schachter, Andrew Colabella, Brian Taylor and Jonathan McClure all know, and knew. Click here to see what they see.
Today’s challenge is appropriate for the season. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Ed Simek)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Jude Siegel grew up in Westport. Her father owned Westport Pharmacy downtown, across from the Library on Post Road East. Jude is a 1964 Staples High School graduate.
Since 1973, she has lived in Oregon — first on farms in the Willamette Valley, now in Portland.
She has long taught nature and bird journaling — a combination of drawing, watercolor and writing — to children and adults.
“This time of year,” she says, “I get homesick for the land, beaches and beauty of Connecticut.”
Of course, it is beautiful in Oregon too. Jude captures that beauty every year, in a bird calendar she draws and produces.
The cover of Jude Siegel’s 2025 calendar …
“Birds bring such joy to our daily lives,” she notes. “It gives me peace to draw and paint them. I like the idea that they then go out on the calendar pages to people all over, and grace their lives as well.
This year’s calendar is now available for purchase. They’re $30 each, plus $4 per calendar for shipping. Send a cash or check to: Jude Siegel, 7900 SW Landau Street #4, Portland, OR 97223.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the people and animals in North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene. The ordering deadline is a week before Thanksgiving.
… and one of the months.
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The weather outdoors was gorgeous. There are always a ton of things happening on Saturday mornings.
But a large crowd filled the Westport Library, for the town’s annual Volunteer Fair.
(Photo/Molly Alger)
A combination this year of adult and youth opportunities, it was a chance for non-profits across a wide range of activities to show what they do, answer questions — and sign up a new crop of volunteers.
Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service booth. (Photo/Jonathan Alloy)
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Speaking of the Library: They’ve got a display of Halloween-themed books and DVDs, on the Riverwalk level.
(Photo/Dick Lowenstein)
No, they’re not horror fiction, or tales of the occult.
They just happen to all have orange covers.
I will refrain from making a joke about “The Art of the Deal.”
Trick or treat!
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A soccer net — this one at Long Lots Elementary School — ensnared another animal this weekend.
A deer was exhausted after an evening of trying to free himself. He dragged the net over 10 feet attempting to dislodge his antlers.
The young buck was lucky: Westport Animal Control Officer Peter Reid and Police Officer Dominique Carr freed him.
If you see the animal, you’ll notice he still has a bit of net entangled in an antler. Deer shed their antlers in December or January, but it may fall off before then. (Hat tip: Julie Loparo)
Animal Control Officer Peter Reid at work. (Photo/Police Officer Dominique Carr)
Amazon One Medical — one of Westport’s newest healthcare providers — hosts an open house this Wednesday (October 9, noon to 1 p.m.), at its Bedford Square office.
Primary care providers will be on hand to answer questions. Tours of the new facility will be available.
We all know the Wild West. It was a couple of thousand miles away, a couple of centuries ago.
But what about the “Galactic Wild West”?
On October 15 (8 p.m., Zoom and livestream), Dr. Cara Battersby — associate professor of physics at the University of Connecticut — saddles up to explore the extreme center of our Milky Way Galaxy.
It’s a chaotic region, filled with dense gas, stars, and a supermassive black hole. She’ll discuss “what we know, some what we don’t, and the questions that drive us forward.”
Dr. Cara Battersby
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Bob Weingarten calls this Center Street tree “the most imaginative Halloween decoration” he’s seen:
It’s a different kind of “Westport … Naturally” image.
Or should we say, “Westport … Supernaturally”?
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And finally … on this date in 1927, “The Jazz Singer” — the first full-length “talkie” (sound) movie premiered. The site was Warner Bros.’ flagship New York City theater.
Wikipedia notes: “In keeping with the film’s theme of a conflict within a Jewish family, the film premiered after sunset on the eve of the Yom Kippur holiday.”
Among the many notable performances in the movie: Al Jolson’s performance of “Mammy.” Though he wore blackface, as other entertainers in the era did, he was known as a strong advocate for racial justice, particularly on Broadway.
(If you think there’s a lot going on in Westport: You’re right. You can read about all of it right here, on “06880.” You can also help us keep covering it, by clicking here to support our work. Thank you!)
They’re big and small, artistic and generic. Some stand upright; others are packed in sturdy concrete.
In a variety of fonts, they identify addresses: the full road, or just the number.
Saugatuck Shores (Photo/Patricia McMahon)
What they don’t show is who lives there.
No names. That may be why FedEx, Amazon and Uber Eats manage to screw up so many orders.
It wasn’t always like that.
I’m not sure when the practice of putting names on mailboxes (and lawns, and next to the front door) ended. (I can guess why: security and privacy.)
But that’s part of Westport life that disappeared a while ago, right underneath our eyes, without anyone noticing.
It’s not the only one.
Who remembers the cannonballs embedded in the grass near the Compo Beach cannons, or the anchor across from Ned Dimes Marina?
For newer residents, the palm tree by the kayak launch is just a f(r)ond memory.
(Photo/Jaime Bairaktaris)
“Station cars” were once the financially prudent, low-key way dads got to the train station. Today’s parking lot is a Range Rover convention.
The Westport News is gone, pretty much. It still publishes online, and some folks get it in their mail or on their driveway (whether they want it or not).
But the local newspaper — the one whose crusading saved us from a nuclear plant on Cockenoe Island, and which covered local meetings, sports, education, arts, police and much more with actual journalists — is now as irrelevant as an AAA road map.
And you can’t buy a copy anywhere in town, even if you wanted one.
Also gone:
Leaf-burning in the fall. Apparently it releases toxic particles that can cause severe lung damage. That seems serious. But losing the quintessential smell of autumn — which no one under 40 remembers — is serious too.
Autumn ritual, back in the day.
Teachers and coaches once gave kids rides home. Today, that’s a fire-able offense.
Speaking of fires: A fire horn sounded every Saturday at noon, and summoned volunteers whenever there was a blaze. If you knew the code, you could head over and see the blaze yourself. And the code could be found …
… in phone books. They disappeared around the time of rotary phones. Along with …
… knowing your friends’ phone numbers. Kids today don’t even know their parents’ numbers. Which is okay, because …
… most tweens and teens (and 20somethings) refuse to talk on the phone. Or to anyone face to face, for that matter. They’ll text someone sitting right next to them. I wish I were kidding, but I’m not.
(Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
Gone too:
24/7/365 hours of operation at the diner. Isn’t that actually the definition of a diner?
The large cone on top of Carvel.
And the sign on Easton Road, noting the distance to Upper Stepney. Crucial information for everyone in the Coleytown area, heading up there.
Though in Upper Stepney, as in Westport, no one puts their name on their mailbox anymore.
(What else vanished from Westport, without any noticing? Click “Comments” below.)
(Longtime residents and newcomers agree: “06880” has its pulse on the town. But we rely on reader support to do it. Please click here, to make a tax-deductible contribution.
When Jen Fava resigned as Parks & Recreation Department director this spring, deputy director Rick Giunta — a native Westporter — took over as interim director. The transition was smooth and productive.
Giunta tells “06880”: “It has been both an honor and a privilege to serve as the interim director over the past 5 months. However, due to personal reasons, I have chosen to step back into my role of deputy director.
“I’ll continue to support the department to the best of my ability, as the search for a permanent director continues. I’m looking forward to working with and supporting the future leadership of the department as we move forward.”
A new director has not yet been named.
Rick Giunta
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Westport 10 — the town’s networking and social organization for Black men and their families — met yesterday, at Jay Norris and Chirag Shah’s Content Studio in Saugatuck.
Guests includes State Representative Jonathan Steinberg, and Police Chief Foti Koskinas.
Westport 10 — whose numbers are far more than that — has an active fall planned.
Among the activities: a meeting with merchants through the Westport Downtown Association (October 23), Halloween masquerade ball (October 30), holiday party and more.
At yesterday’s Westport 10 meeting (from left): Ted Parker, Adam Moore, Trey Ellis, Gene Massie, Jay Norris, Chirag Shah, CD Glin, Rene Hart, Anil Nair, Police Chief Foti Koskinas.
“Westport Uncorked” — the Sunrise Rotary Club wine tasting event (with great food, and non-alcoholic beverages) that has become one of our town’s most popular events, returns to The Inn at Longshore on October 24 (6 to 9 p.m.).
Attendees can taste 100 wines, curated by The Fine Wine Company of Westport. (Well, there will be 100 wines available, anyway.)
Fine Wine Company experts will be on hand to answer questions. Any of the wines can be ordered for delivery.
Every dollar raised goes to charities supported by Westport Sunrise Rotary. Tickets are limited. Click here to purchase, and for more information.
In other Sunrise Rotary news, the club hosted 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker yesterday morning.
She asked members what issues they were most interested in hearing updates about. Among them: affordable housing, traffic, downtown plan, schools, handicapped access, Longshore upgrades, the Community Gardens and Long Lots Preserve, Cribari Bridge, Saugatuck River dredging, and road and sidewalk construction in town.
1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, at the Sunrise Rotary Club.
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The Westport Library has launched its 2024-25 annual appeal. The fundraising goal of $325,000 would secure full funding for the Library’s operations, and allow it to continue to provide the vast majority of programming for free or low cost.
The town of Westport funds 77% of the Library’s operating budget. The remaining 23% is raised through special events and private donations, like those provided during the annual appeal.
The Library welcomes 350,000 visitors a year. The theme for this year’s appeal is “Invest in Lifelong Learning.”
Click here to donate to the appeal, and for more information.
The 1st anniversary of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel will be honored with a community gathering tomorrow (Sunday, October 6, 12 to 3 p.m., Compo Beach).
The event includes words and songs (1:30 p.m.). 101 chairs will represent the hostages still held in Gaza.
The public is invited.
These chairs at Compo Beach represented the hostages held last November, a month after the Hamas attack. (Photo/Mia Bomback)
Long time resident Jo Ann Miller has put away her paint brushes and is pounding away at the keyboard.
Her initial novella. “Terrorist Vengeance,” is doing so well that she is out with another short story. “Eulogy” describes the passing of a wannabe billionaire who is hardly praised by his 4 wives and 4 children at his funeral.
“Funny, witty and a super read,” praises the Houston Chronicle. It will be available on Amazon soon.
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Today (Saturday, 11 a.m to 1 p.m.), the Westport Weston Family YMCA celebrates its 10th anniversary of the Bedford Family Center at its Mahackeno site.
The family event includes bounce houses, crafts, live entertainment with a magician, refreshments including birthday cake, and giveaways.
Now that the presidential and vice presidential debates are over, you can watch another one, live and in person, right here at Town Hall.
On Thursday (October 10, 7 p.m),, Westport’s League of Women Voters hosts candidates for State Senate District 26, and State Representative District 136.
Questions can be sent in advance to lwvwestportct@yahoo.com.
The debate is co-sponsored by the PTA Council, Westport Sunshine Rotary Club, Y’s Men, Y’s Women and Westport Rotary Club.
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The Joggers Club has moved back to Compo Beach.
All members are welcome; no beach sticker is needed.
The group meets every Saturday at 8 a.m. Weekly runs can be found on their Strava, Facebook and Instagram pages.
Dues are $50 a year. New members get a free Lululemon shirt ($68 retail). Click here for more information.
Longtime Westport resident Barbara Macieski died peacefully at home on Wednesday. She was 89.
The Bronx native earned a degree in history at the University of Bridgeport, where she met her future husband Ford Macieski.
They were great dance partners. Barbara was also known for her excellent taste in shows to stream and books to read.
Barbara had a career in commercial lending, but her true joy were her 6 children, 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
Her family says, “She guided us, nurtured us, healed us, admonished us, and cheered with us our individual and collective good fortune. A confidante, a therapist, a financial advisor, and an ear to hear our trials and tribulations. We all checked in with her daily.”
Barbara was predeceased by her husband Ford and daughter Katy. She is survived by her children Lisa Mann (Russ), Robert, Daniel (Karen), Joanne Carpenter (husband Rick) and Jessica Aysseh (Alex); grandchildren Katy Mann (Ben Bien-Kahn), Samuel Macieski, Kevin Carpenter (Maggie Rogers), Benjamin Macieski, Becky Wiezik (Don), Maggie DelPresto (Jeff), Ellie Mann, Maddy Mann, Coco Aysseh and Lilly Aysseh, and great-grandchildren Ford Wiezik, Leo Mann, Theo DelPresto and Ford Carpenter.
Memorial contributions may be made to LIV IT UP, which provides support services and programming for neuro-diverse adults.
Barbara Macieski (4th from left), with her children.
And finally … in honor of Westport Sunrise Rotary’s “Uncorked” fundraiser October 24 at The Inn at Longshore (story above):
(If you think there’s nothing to do in Westport, you’re not reading “06880.” If you ARE reading this hyper-local blog — which of course you’re doing now — please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
Happy autumn! Happy Jewish New Year! Happy Saturday, and another edition of our online art gallery.
No matter what subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we welcome your submissions. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, digital, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.
Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.
Email a jpeg to 06880blog@gmail.com. And remember: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.
“Cornetto Ischitano — Fatto a Mano” — pastel (Werner Liepolt)
Untitled — oil on aluminum impasto style (Dorothy Robertshaw)
Untitled (Duane Cohen)
“Towards Compo Cove” — part of artist Jason Pritchard’s current solo exhibition “Riverbanks to Shorelines: The Art of Waters’ Path” at the Green’s Farms Congregational Church gallery.
Untitled — watercolor on paper (Kathleen Burke)
“Elysian Light of Autumn” — digital painting (Ken Runkel)
“The Art of Determination” — Photographer Linda Doyle says, “This sunflower grew out of the brick chimney off our front porch. It’s still there!”
“Just the World” (Tom Doran)
“Simple Abstraction with Reality” (Peter Barlow)
“Crispy Critters (Guinea Pigs)” — popular street food in Cusco, Peru (Mike Hibbard)
“Praying for a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year — Rosh Hashanah 5785” (Steve Stein)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
Posted onOctober 5, 2024|Comments Off on Playhouse Inspires Middle School Performers
Since surviving last year’s near-death experience, the Westport Country Playhouse has reached out to many new audience,
Among them: much younger people.
They did it with a concert of Taylor Swift songs, then a “Pinkalicious” show and book signing.
The outreach continues, with a new education program. “Playhouse Playmakers” begins October 13, and runs through November 24. It ends with a special performance created by the 15 middle school students — complete with their own writing, acting and production.
This will not be a haphazard, “let’s put on a show”-type show.
One co-director, Evette Marie White, is an actor, poet, playwright and educator. She has performed around the world, and also taught talented youngsters.
The other co-director, Stacie Morgain Lewis, is well known to Westporters. A resident since 2017, she is an actor, singer songwriter and teacher. Her Broadway credits include “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Wicked,” “Urinetown” and “Titanic.”
She also wrote the children’s album “Harmoize with Ben Cohn,” the conductor and musical director of “Dear Evan Hansen.”
Lewis then created Harmonize Kidz, an arts enrichment program that uses music to teach social-emotional learning to elementary students.
Stacie Morgain Lewis, in action with kids.
She has known Mark Shanahan for many years — both as a friend, and someone who directed her. When he was hired as Playhouse artistic director, Lewis was “over the moon. There is no better person for that position.”
Lewis is excited to be working with Shanahan again.
She says that the “Playhouse Playmakers” program is particularly important these days.
“Kids are so caught up in phones and screens,” Lewis explains. “This is a no-phone zone, where they learn to collaborate, discuss, argue and play.”
Middle school is a time when youngsters suddenly become more self-conscious, she notes. Playing theater games, they learn “it’s okay to feel awkward.”
Westport has a rich theater, music and arts education legacy, Lewis says. (It’s one of the reasons she and her husband looked only at this town, when they were moving from New York.)
When developing “Playhouse Playmakers,” she adds, “We didn’t want to compete with people and programs that have been here for years. We tried to find a niche. Creating plays and feeling like ‘artists in development’ was something we thought we could do, and do well.”
Lewis understands the importance of both arts education, and the Westport Country Playhouse, to the town.
She has memories of the theater from her years growing up in Monroe, and recalls how excited New York actors were when they got a gig there.
Now, she and White will impart that love for this theater — and stages everywhere — to the next generation of budding actors.
(The $575 fee for “Playhouse Playmakers” includes all 6 sessions, technical rehearsal, materials, and 4 tickets to the performance. Five scholarships are available, each covering the full cost of classes and transportation reimbursement. For registration and more information, click here. For questions about the program or scholarships, email educationteam@westportplayhouse.org.)
(“06880” often covers theater news, and highlights young people. Today, they intersect. If you enjoy our work, please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Comments Off on Playhouse Inspires Middle School Performers
This month’s Connecticut Magazine cover story highlights 20 movies filmed in our state.
Though a number — well-known and lesser — have been shot here, the story mentioned only 3: “The Stepford Wives,” “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit,” and “The Last House on the Left.”
“06880” has looked back at both before. (For examples, click here and here.)
But indefatigable amateur historian Fred Cantor has unearthed another interesting connection.
Next week marks the 69th anniversary of a Westport Town Crier story about the filming of “Gray Flannel Suit,” and the excitement it generated.
The October 13, 1955 piece begins:
Untold loads of washing went un-done, and hundreds of breakfast dishes languished in the sink this week, as Westport women flocked to the railroad station to double as squealing movie fans and rabid autograph hunters.
The center of attraction was Gregory Peck who came to town Tuesday in a blue worsted suit to film location shots for 20th Century Fox’s “Man in the Grey [sic] Flannel Suit,” accompanied by a crew of 150 technicians and “background people,” imported from Hollywood and New York.
The star, and the extras.
Do you remember when Hollywood came to Westport — for “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit,” or any other movie?
We want your story! Click “Comments” below.
(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!)
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Two members of the East Hampton Rotary Club have donated a 50-foot semi-truck, and a 26-foot box truck, to transport collected materials.
When developing “Playhouse Playmakers,” she adds, “We didn’t want to compete with people and programs that have been here for years. We tried to find a niche. Creating plays and feeling like ‘artists in development’ was something we thought we could do, and do well.”
