Think about the last time you bought a car. How many women were part of the sales team?
What about the time before that — and all the others? If you’re like me, the answer is “zero.”
(A 2012 survey ranked “car salespeople” as the least honest professionals — just below “members of Congress.)
Of course this is a stock photo. No scene like this has ever been seen at a car dealership anywhere, at any time.
Kristen Ledenko is happy to sell you a car. But you don’t have to walk into a male-dominated dealership to find her.
The Westport mom is a “car concierge.” She does all the time-consuming work: sourcing the right vehicle, financing, even delivering it right to your driveway.
And she doesn’t try to upsell rust-proofing, VIN etching for windows, or nitrogen fill for tires.
Growing up in Glen Head on Long Island’s North Shore, Kristen was fascinated by cars. Their luxurious lines, their variety, the way they impacted our lives — to her, a car was and still is “more than a great set of rims, the technology package and ventilated seats.” It’s part of your life, and the world you live in.
So at CW Post College, she majored in … elementary education. Then she added a master’s in literacy.
Kristen Ledenko
Her career as a teacher taught Kristen how to interact with many different personalities: students, colleagues, parents.
Of course, that’s part of a car salesman’s talents too. But in addition to listening to assess what a potential client really needs (and wants) in a vehicle, Kristen is adept at explaining complex information and terms — not obfuscating it.
Her road to becoming a car concierge began 15 years ago. She was introduced to an auto broker. For the first time, instead of visiting multiple dealerships to narrow the search and pricing, she and her husband let Icon Auto Leasing do all the grunt work.
After referring friends, relatives and colleagues to the company, she contacted the CEO. She offered to expand into Connecticut, where she and her husband lived. Kristen Icon Auto was born.
Like every industry, automobile sales have been impacted by COVID. Before the pandemic, she could deliver the car of your choice the next day. Now, the 1,400 microchips that control everything from airbags and tire pressure to digital displays are in short supply.
Kristen is up to the challenge.
“I love researching cars. I love negotiating and searching for the ‘impossible’ one,” she says.
“I take the stress away. I modernize the whole process.”
After determining what a client is looking for — buy or lease, mileage, options, how it will be used — Kristen searches her dealer network. She provides options for payments and terms.
Once a decision is made, she takes care of the credit and delivery — even the lease return. An employee drives the new car to the client’s home or office, where the final paperwork is completed.
Most car sales are completely transactional: You grit your teeth, haggle, get the keys and wonder how badly you’ve been had by some guy you’ll never see again.
Kristen Ledenko wants to drive repeat traffic to her online dealership.
Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center turns a century old this year. Today, they threw a birthday party. And everyone’s invited.
Mystic Bowie played a free concert.
Mystic Bowie, in action. (Photo/Patricia McMahon)
He’s just about finished his set. But vendors selling crafts and (of course) sustainable products, a petting zoo, cornhole, food trucks — and a great, community-wide, fun-in-the-sun vibe — continue on Sylvan Road South until 5 p.m. today (Saturday).
Chilling on Gilbertie’s lawn.
Congratulations, Gilbertie’s. And don’t wait 100 more years for the next one.
Why not celebrate your 101st?
Carrie Gilbertie spent a year planning the 100th anniversary party. Today she relaxed and enjoyed it all.
The cost of a Westport beach sticker for out-of-towners — $775 — has been the subject of heated debate, everywhere from the pages of “06880” to the halls of the State Capitol.
This past wee, radio listeners around the state heard about it.
“Ethan & Lou” discussed it on their i95 show. in typical 2-radio-host-trying-to-engage-listeners style.
The station put a variation of the riff on their website too. In the context of complaints about Connecticut’s “rocky (not sandy)” beaches, they mentioned both the expense of Compo, and the many rules posted on the town website. (Hey, guys: The rules are posted at the beach, too.)
The website complains: “No Alcohol!? Can’t bring my dog? Can’t listen to music? No hooch, no pooch and no Scooch? Sounds un-American.”
Of course, alcohol is permitted on South Beach (unlike most state beaches). The “music” ban refers to “amplified music, including bands and DJs” (though they seem to be okay, upon request to Parks & Rec). As for “Scooch” — well, at least it rhymes.
Click here for the full story — including a link to the “Ethan & Lou” segment.
There are definitely lots of rules at Compo Beach.
“06880” has posted photos previously of 1 or 2 plastic poop bags left in otherwise pristine parks, or on people’s lawns and driveways.
But this image — sent by David Brant, executive director of Aspetuck Land Trust which oversees (among many other properties) Haskins Preserve — seems almost perverse. The sign about dog waste — and that there is no “Poop Fairy” — are literally inches away.
Is it a “Candid Camera” stunt? Part of an elaborate psychology experiment?
Or are Westporters just dumping on us?
Whatever the reason: It’s not funny.
Whoever you are: Shame on you.
And just remember: Whatever goes around, comes around.
The Staples High School baseball team plays in the state “LL” (extra large schools) quarterfinals today (Trumbull High School, 2 p.m.).
But win or lose, they’re already champions.
On Thursday — the day after their 2nd-round upset of higher-ranked Amity-Woodbridge — the Wreckers collected thousands of dollars of cleats, bats and other equipment.
They donated it to Bluefish Travel Baseball, a program in Bridgeport.
The 2022 Staples High School varsity baseball team. (Photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)
But Tom Feeley — who recounted the tale — had misremembered the name of the soldier, whom he met and befriended at VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399.
Tom called him “Mike Brody.” His name was actually Samuel Meyer Brody.
And — because this is “06880,” where “Westport meets the world” — there is another local tie. Sam Brody was longtime resident and RTM member Dick Lowenstein’s 3rd cousin.
Here is a photo of Sam (left) and Dick at the Senior Center. Sam died the next year, at 96. Click here for a full obituary.
Lifelong Westporter and former firefighter Stanley Prackup died on Wednesday. He was 87.
One of 8 children, he graduated from Staples High School in 1953. He played baseball there, and was a sharpshooter in its Rifle Club.
Stanley enlisted in the Navy after high school, and served on the USS Valcour and Intrepid. He was awarded the Navy Good Conduct Medal.
After the navy he attended the University of Connecticut.
He was a postal carrier for several years before joining the Westport Fire Department. He served as a firefighter for 20 years, until 1988. He also owned his own landscaping business.
Stanley and his wife Joan built a home here, and lived in it for over 40 years. Devoted to his religion, he was happiest in his garden, and spending time with family and friends.
He was predeceased by his brothers, Frank, Michael and George, and sisters Rose, Barbara and Alice.
Stanley is survived by his wife of 58 years, Joan Prackup; daughters Brenda Prackup, Linda Prackup-Desautels and Sandra Prackup; grandson Luke Desautels; sister Virginia Fiordelisi, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
A memorial mass will be held Monday (June 6, 10 a.m., St Luke Church), followed by interment at Assumption Cemetery on Greens Farms Road. Click here for a livestream of the service.
David Fiore sends today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo, noting: “As seen from our kitchen window at breakfast. A chippy enjoying the view, having his own breakfast on our weeping cherry tree berries.”
Posted onJune 4, 2022|Comments Off on Online Art Gallery #113
A boat, a self-portrait, a flag.
Those are the 3 compelling subjects of today’s online art gallery.
It was a slow week for submissions. Perhaps the holiday took precedence. Maybe the nice weather. Or the demands of daily life.
Whatever the reason: Get back to the drawing board! (Or lens, sculpture studio or wherever.)
We need your submissions — whatever the subject. All readers are encouraged to participate, whatever your age, level of experience (professional or amateur, young or old).
All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and (yes) needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world!
“Golden Lion” — acrylic on Masonite. Artist Peter Barlow says this staysail ketch was owned by Westporter Millard Smith in the 1950s.
Each month, a different Westporter gives an invocation before the RTM meeting.
Most are earnest, but unmemorable. (Trust me, I know: I’ve given one myself.)
Last month, Jessica Bram departed from the usual aren’t-we-all-lucky-to-live-in-Westport platitudes. Instead — peaking directly to her colleagues — the RTM member confronted important issues head-on.
I asked Jessica if I could post her words here, so au audience greater than a few dozen legislators and local policy wonks could see — and reflect — on them. Here’s her invocation:
I moved to Westport over 24 years ago. A single mother when I arrived, I didn’t know a soul here. I raised 3 sons who now have successful lives because they went through our extraordinary Westport Public Schools – that school system that we are here to talk about tonight.
Jessica Bram
(Incidentally, I will mention that one of my sons married his Staples High School girlfriend— he went to Bedford, she to Coleytown— and they just had their second child.)
When Coleytown Middle School was shut down, I remember saying – because our school system is so critical in this town—that this was the single worst thing that ever happened to Westport in my 24-year memory.
To lose an entire middle school … to be forced to cram one entire school population in with another! Remember what a crisis that was? The worst that could ever happen.
Then came COVID.
And instead of being upset because our kids were in crowded classrooms after Coleytown moved in with Bedford (remember we were upset because so many had to have lunch so early?), now there was COVID. And now all our kids had to stay home from school.
Our whole town changed. Businesses failed, people lost jobs, restaurants shut down. Perhaps worst of all, we couldn’t be together.
Two years later, here we are, at our RTM meeting, still on Zoom.
Yes, we disagree on so many things. We all have opinions here (as you know I have opinions on everything, you’ve all heard them).
But let’s think about what our differences are about, and the values that they reflect.
We argued about using ARPA funds for beach repair. But wasn’t that about protecting the environment? Being responsible stewards of our shoreline, our town’s greatest asset?
Yes, we fight about gas-powered blowers. But isn’t that because each of us wants to hold so tightly on to the Westport that we all came here for, the homes and lives we built for our families, regardless of whether that’s quiet afternoons or beautiful lawns?
Yes, we have argued for and against offering public transportation. But what a gift we received from that conflict! That gift of having received over 100 heartfelt emails — each one different, each expressive, none of them boiler plate.
I learned so much that I didn’t know about … what it’s like to have an infant at home and only one car… what it’s like to be a worn-out commuter. So because of that conflict we got to know so much about our neighbors’ lives, in personal, truthful ways.
The Wheels2U debate elicited many personal emails and phone calls.
We argue vehemently about P&Z issues such as affordable housing, 8-30g, and the zoning problems that that legislation causes. But although we may vehemently disagree about zoning issues, we do respect our town bodies that allow our disagreements to be spoken aloud and acted on in orderly, non-combative ways.
One thing I do know is that regardless of how we feel about 8-30-g, we all do care about, and have compassion for, families, either struggling or wealthy families, who all want to have safe, affordable homes where we can raise our children.
And don’t we all support our organizations such as Homes with Hope, that are working so hard to end homelessness — whether we offer that support philanthropically, or by cooking and serving lasagna in our newly renovated Gillespie Center?
Let me point out that we are, after all, a town that has a youth center, and homeless shelter, a block away from a Tiffany’s. All of which says something about what we in Westport care about. Not just the homeless shelter. But Tiffany’s too, because it does speak of the lives we unapologetically want for our children.
The Gillespie Center is a few feet away from Tiffany. (Photo/June Rose Whittaker)
Yes, some of us cling furiously to our causes and our pet issues and our political affiliations.
Yes, we may disagree on so many things.
Yes, our RTM meetings can at times stretch agonizingly long into the night.
But let’s remember who we are.
With all our disagreements, in all those exhausting, contentious, boring RTM meetings, we are all doing it just to make things right.
Let’s think about the values and principles that we share at the heart of it all – our families, our first responders, our overworked teachers. And yes, even our noisy neighbors.
Let’s remind ourselves – and applaud ourselves for — living in a town not of things and real estate, but of principles. That what we’re here for – especially those of us on the RTM — are principles of honesty and fairness —and what’s really important in our troubled world.
Because that’s who we are.
And know that in the end, we care for, respect, and yes, even a little bit, love each other.
RTM members march in the 2018 Memorial Day parade.
Recent Friday Flashbacks have featured long-lived and well-loved restaurants: Allen’s Clam House and the Clam Box.
Here’s one that was Italian — not seafood — and that closed more recently than those 2 favorites.
But there are enough newcomers in town who never knew it — and enough time (7 years) has (unfortunately) passed for those who did — for it to be the subject of a fond look back.
So, let’s honor …
Mario’s (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
For the uninitiate, Mario’s was the Railroad Place place. Commuters rolled off the train, and up to its bar. Families went there, to celebrate any occasion worth celebrating.
Servers, busboys, bartenders, cooks — all worked there for decades. And when they stopped working, they came back as customers.
If you never knew Mario’s: You missed a memorable slice of Westport life.
If you did now Mario’s: Click “Comments,” to share your memories.
Dinner was packed, before Mario’s closed.
FUN FACT: Legend has it that the now-famous phrases “March Madness” and “The Road to …” were born at Mario’s.
The story is that CBS had just bought the rights to the NCAA basketball tournament. Announcer — and Weston resident — Brent Musburger and a couple of executives (and Westporters) were sitting at the restaurant, wondering how to market the event.
“This March is going to be madness!” one said. Bingo!
The “road” idea came soon — perhaps one or two drinks later.
Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center’s may be 100 years old. But they’re sure young at heart.
Tomorrow (Saturday, June 4, noon to 5 p.m.), the century-old Sylvan Road South shop/greenhouse hosts a town-wide party.
The highlight is a free concert with reggae artists Mystic Bowie’s Talking Dreads, plus Kalel Wale.
Surrounding the field will be family games and activities, food trucks, vendors and a petting zoo.
“It’s not every day a business turns 100,” says Matthew Mandell, executive director of the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce. “This is going to be quite the party.”
Bring lawn chairs for the show; park along Riverside Avenue, or at Kings Highway or Saugatuck Elementary School.
Staples High School’s High Honors Dinner is always one of the highlights of the year.
Held a couple of weeks before graduation, it’s a celebration of the diversity interests and achievements of the senior class.
Students with GPAs in the top 4% are invited. Each selects one teacher to introduce him or her. They speak for a minute; then the student gives thanks.
Educators last night came from the English, Social Studies, Science, World Language, Drama and Athletic Departments. They lauded their students’ intellectual curiosity, passion and drive, concern for classmates, and senses of humor.
Students, in turn, praised their teachers for their mentorship, accessibility at all hours of the day and night, passion and drive, unique styles, senses of humor, and friendship.
It was a warm, wonderful evening. It affirmed for many educators that “this is why I teach.” And for the parents and friends in the room, it was a fitting reminder that a Westport education takes place in many places, in many ways.
Students honored were Emma Alcyone, Natalie Bandura, Greg Beal, Zach Bishop, Michael Brody, Oliver Clachko, Sabrina Didner, Erin Durkin, Matt Genser, Sasha Maskoff, Aidan Mermagen, Gabriella Messenger, Tessa Moore, Luke Morelli, Chloe Nevas, Emma Nordberg, Talia Perkiins, Finn Popken, Ishan Prasad, Jessica Qi, Ally Schwartz and Julian Weng.
They selected educators Ann Neary, Dominick Messina, Robert Shamberg, Joe Barahona, Will Jones, Suzanne Kammerman, Meghan Scheck, Chi-Ann Lin, Noreen McGoldrick, Sam Goldberg, Chris Fray, Enia Noonan, David Roth, Bethann Camillo, Jack McFarland, David Scrofani andn Brendan Giolitto.
High Honors honoree Aidan Mermagen hears praise from chemistry teacher Will Jones.
Westport’s newest sports rehab and physical therapy service opened this week in Westport.
HSS Sports Rehab — a collaboration between Stamford Health and the Hospital for Special Surgery — has taken over the old Boat Locker space, in the strip mall with Layla’s Falafel and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Therapists at HSS Sports Rehab – Westport treat patients of all ages and all levels of activity, “from weekend warriors to elite athletes.” They’re open weekdays by appointment only. Call 203-276-4763 for an appointment, or fax a physical therapy referral to 203-276-4764.
Two Staples High School teams are in the quarterfinals of their state tournaments. Both games are tomorrow (Saturday, June 4).
The baseball team — ranked #15 in LL (extra large schools) — upset #2 Amity-Woodbridge 8-2 Wednesday. Junior Hiro Wyatt’s grand slam was his third of the season — a school record. Next up: #10 Trumbull (2 p.m., away.)
The 14-2 Staples boys lacrosse team hosts Fairfield Ludlowe at 3 p.m.
Congratulations too to Jesse McCray. He’s just been named FCIAC Girls Outdoor Coach of the Year.
Stuart Losen, a 57-year resident of Westport, psychologist, educator, ardent Democrat and passionate Giants football and Yankee baseball fan, died suddenly last week. He was 92.
He was raised in the Bronx, where he learned to run fast or box, “as the situation required,” his family says. He was a proud graduate of The Bronx High School of Science and City College, where he met his wife Joyce. They were married for nearly 70 years.
His obituary reads: “Warm and loving, with an endearing and extremely humorous side, Stu loved to make his children and grandchildren laugh with his silly antics, embellished or made-up recollections (“Stu facts”) and unique expressions. However, he also displayed shark-like qualities when it came to shooting pool.
“Throughout his life Stu was passionate about drumming and singing. As a young man he led the Mel Stuart Band as a Crosby-esque crooner. An avid storyteller, he told many tales about playing the Catskills, and Lake George. He was known for showing off his Gene Krupa paradiddles, recounting his lessons from Babatunde Olatunji and pulling out his Local 802 Musicians’ union card. He would sit in with bands at every opportunity, from calypso groups in the Caribbean to busking on the streets of Cambridge.”
He served in the army during and after the Korean War as a psychologist at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, where he worked with returning American servicemen who had undergone “brainwashing” as prisoners of war. He later earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Buffalo in 1959.
Among the earliest to bring psychological services to Connecticut public schools, beginning in 1960, he initiated and developed programs first as a clinical psychologist in North Haven and for the bulk of his public-school career as director of special services for the New Canaan schools.
Stu published numerous articles, co-authored 2 professional books and 2 memoirs, and frequently appeared as an expert witness. served as the president of the Connecticut Psychological Association. He was an adjunct professor at Yale University, Southern Connecticut State College and Fairfield University.
In his private practice in Westport Stu has helped countless individuals, couples and families. Many maintained contact for years, writing to him of their life successes.
Following his professional retirement, Stu taught courses on comparative religion at the Lifetime Learning Institute at Norwalk Community College and participated in the writer’s workshop at the Westport Senior Center. An activist at heart, Stu supported many liberal causes.
Stu is survived by his wife Joyce; daughter Laurie (Joseph) Hutcheson; son Daniel (Sarah Novogrodsky) Losen; grandchildren Anna and Molly Burgess. Ave and Meredith Hutcheson, Samuel and Leonard Losen; brother-in-law Mel Garskof; nieces Hillary Garskof Strome and Allison Garskof and grandniece, Jessica Strome.
A celebration of Stu’s life will be held in person and livestreamed at the Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home in Fairfield today (Friday, june 3, 2 p.m.).
Contributions can be made to the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance, PO Box 200, White Horse Beach, MA 02381 or the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA, “UC Regents” to: UCLA Civil Rights Project, 8370 Math Sciences, Box 951521, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
You’re never too young — or old — to learn how to tie-dye.
For the 2nd summer in a row, 3 Staples students — soon-to-graduate seniors Theo Vergakis, Nick Prior and Jack Foster — offer interactive tie-dyeing sessions.
They supply 100% cotton t-shirts, a large selection of dyes, and all the tools.
You supply the group of 3 to 15 kids (or adults). The cost of $25 per person includes all materials.
And finally … Alan White, a drummer who worked with John Lennon and George Harrison before he was 21, then gained more fame for his long work with the band Yes, died last week near Seattle, after a brief illness. He was 72.
In April, “06880” reported on Westport native Brian Mayer’s work in Poland.
iThe New York tech executive was there, helping deliver supplies for Ukrainian refugees, and the army.
He’s still at it. Here’s his latest report:
I’m writing to you from one of the countless border crossing lines I’ve waited on in the last 2 weeks. I’m on my way to pick up several more suitcases of specialty medicine from Sauveteurs Sans Frontières. Then I’ll take it back to Ukraine for onward delivery to the east. I’ve gotten pretty good at these crossings, and it helps to have priority access when laden with humanitarian aid. My record cross time so far is 28 minutes. But you don’t want to hear about border logistics.
Stalin said that one death is a tragedy, and a million deaths is a statistic. I thought about this the other day when driving through Ivano-Frankivsk. Traffic ground to a halt for a funeral procession: A hearse was led by a priest and a coterie of singing babushkas, with a young widow draped in black and two dozen family and friends in tow. It was simple but mournful, routine in any other place. But this isn’t any other place.
This scene is repeated thousands of times in every town and small village, every day across Ukraine right now. Wives are becoming widows and children are becoming orphans. People are going back to work to find desks of coworkers empty; so many poker nights are now short a player. And all for the sake of a completely unnecessary war, and a 19th century imperial fantasy in the deranged head of one wrinkly old crackpot in Moscow.
I realized talking to my new friends here that the initial anger and shock that we all felt in the first couple weeks of this war has faded into the background. Anger and frustration are not productive emotions. You learn quickly that it doesn’t help make queues go faster or prices go down or gas become available or goods reach their intended destinations quicker.
Everything on the ground is harder than it should be, but you suffer it because you must, and there is no other option. You push forward because your anger has yielded to something more powerful and more useful: a desire to win, at all costs. A recent column said it best: Putin has to lose. There is no other option.
This is why so few expats I’ve worked with on the border have been able to stay away, even as some have taken much needed breaks back home in Europe or Canada or wherever they are from.
Many have pushed harder and deeper into Ukraine, taking on more and more dangerous missions, following the urgency: families that need evacuation, orphanages that need resettlement, soldiers that need medical care, children that need cancer treatment, villages and towns that need food, soap, toothbrushes, underwear and medicine, all before the Russians close in and martial law is imposed.
Brian Mayer
I am thankful I have a day job, which keeps me grounded and in a routine. After all, I have to be at a high speed WiFi connection at 4 p.m. Ukraine time every day. If I didn’t, I could see myself being pulled further east, as the demands from the front lines are impossible to ignore. ‘
Many of my new friends here quit their day jobs as receptionists and roofers and bricklayers and students and are now routinely dodging rocket strikes while shuttling crucial supplies across the pockmarked landscape. One of my new driver friends told me their joke: “In the UK, you drive on the left. In Europe, you drive on the right. In the Ukraine, you drive on the part of the road that’s still there.”
I’m closely watching how this war is affecting the expats here. There are no psychological services available for volunteers and aid workers, and certainly nothing to prepare many in civilian life for talking to rape victims or seeing corpses or having friends murdered.
When a volunteer Irish soldier showed me a picture of his mates and a Ukrainian family they rescued, then told me “10 minutes later everyone in this photo was dead,” and proceeded to tell me in excruciating detail what it was like to wear the same pair of underwear for two weeks and fight in the trenches with no food, because humanitarian groups consider feeding soldiers to be outside their purview — you don’t really have an outlet for hearing these sorts of stories, let alone experiencing them firsthand.
This is also the reason why everyone’s anger is pointed not at the Russians — after all, we are united in our common purpose against them and, as discussed, this anger is not productive — but at the governments and NGOs on our side that don’t seem to understand the reality on the ground. The governments continue to make humanitarian border crossings a nightmare, holding up trucks for days, especially the empty trucks going back to Poland to pick up more supplies.
Fuel price caps and various other regulations have worsened diesel shortages, and this whole supply effort runs on diesel. NGOs talk about donations going to “humanitarian purposes only” as if it is possible to separate civilian needs from the war effort. Humanitarian aid is useless if the Russians have cut off supply lines. Medicine is useless if the recipients are killed. Most importantly, soldiers are people too, and they need to eat and brush their teeth and have clean socks and underwear. Where is the help for them? And how can we possibly be expected to win this war without it?
I am also shocked by the failure of last mile logistics from NGOs here. I’ve now been at the warehouses of at least 4 major internatonal NGOs in Poland, all with the same general pattern: a supply drop of hundreds of pallets of humanitarian aid in a warehouse given to a project manager with absolutely no budget or even a plan for getting the supplies into Ukraine.
These poor project managers, many of them first timers, are being asked to move hundreds of pallets without trucks or forklifts or money or local contacts or translators, and many of them are even forbidden from crossing the border. How are these goods supposed to make it into Ukraine, let alone to the front lines where they are needed the most?
The truth is, that task is left to the volunteer drivers working here who are risking their lives every day to bring supplies to the front. They will receive no parade back home, no medals or recognition for their work, and certainly no accolades from the Ukrainian government. They’re paying for their own gas and lodging.
Aid convoys have been bombed and volunteers have been killed, and they will receive no military honors or benefits for their families back home. And many of these volunteers are expats who don’t need to be here. They are here because they see this war for what it is: a fight for our civilization and our values. And though diesel fuels their cars, it is duty that drives them to the front.
That is why we need your help more than ever, to cover food, medicine, and most importantly, diesel!
We just established our US aid umbrella, Ukraine Aid International, which means we can now take tax deductible contributions. Please Venmo @ukraineaidinternational or send tax deductible contributions to: Ukraine Aid International, 88 Partrick Road, Westport, CT 06880.
Thank you for all your support. (Hat tip: Nancy Diamond)
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
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After determining what a client is looking for — buy or lease, mileage, options, how it will be used — Kristen searches her dealer network. She provides options for payments and terms.
Two years later, here we are, at our RTM meeting, still on Zoom.
