Posted onJuly 11, 2026|Comments Off on Online Art Gallery #326
A couple of leftover 4th of July works — and some fun summer-themed art — highlight this week’s online gallery.
As we welcome several first-time artists, we invite you to join us too. No matter your age; the style or subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we want 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.
“Summer Snack” (Pamela Kesselman)
Untitled (Steven Parton)
“Old Glory Belongs to All of US” — watercolor and pencil (Steve Stein)
“Taking a Break From the Heat” (Mark Yurkiw)
“The American Dream” — oil on canvas diptych, 20 x 80 (Shelley Lowenstein)
“After the Hunt” — gouache on Whitman board (Norm Siegel)
“Sunflowers” — crochet (Rebecca Stein Richards)
“Heart Mountain Dream” — photograph (Rowene Weems Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (June Rose Whittaker — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled — double exposure (Melissa Goldsmith)
Untitled (Kathleen Burke — Available for purchase; click here)
“Mad World” — media original, 24 x 18 (V. Andriotis — Available for purchase; click here)
“Nonchalant City” — digital creation (Tom Doran — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for purchase; click here)
“Happy Hundredth” (Martin Ripchick — Available for purchase; click here)
“Hangin’ at the Playground” (Lawrence Weisman)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery –as it has been for 6 years. But please consider an anniversary donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
MoCA\CT appreciates Robin Chung’s thoughtful engagement with “Looking for History,” and the recognition of the exhibition’s complexity and ambition. It’s unfortunate that she found it “stressful.” However, that might be a result of her missing the larger point of the show.
Ellen Harvey’s “The Disappointed Tourist” is not a critique of nostalgia as something exclusionary or manipulative. Rather, it is grounded in the idea that nostalgia can be a shared, unifying human experience — one that connects people through collective memory, loss and longing. By inviting contributions from individuals across diverse backgrounds, the project expands whose memories are preserved and honored, emphasizing inclusion rather than division.
In the story, after a quote from Ms. Harvey, Ms. Chung notes, “The happy memories of a privileged few is [sic] harmful when propagandized to a larger society.”
Ellen Harvey, with her work …
Ms. Harvey responds: “I’d ask that it be made clear that this is her interpretation. I would never make such a sweeping generalization.” Ms. Harvey emphasizes that “The Disappointed Tourist” isn’t a polemic show, but one that celebrates everyone, and is intended to bring people with different histories and opinions together.
We would also like to note that while Ellen Harvey was born in England, as Ms. Chung pointed out, she is an American citizen whose practice deeply engages with American and international cultural narratives that also happen to be universal human experiences that defy borders and boundaries. Her perspective is both personal and participatory, shaped by years of dialogue with communities across the world.
Beyond questioning Harvey’s citizenship, Ms. Chung further queries, “Should it matter that Shaefer grew up in Europe?” In reality, Mr. Shaefer’s formative years abroad resulted from his father’s dedicated service as a United States Army Officer stationed in Europe.
Rick Shaefer’s charcoal drawings on synthetic vellum are not “canvas monuments to industry and power” as suggested by Ms. Chung, but instead allegorical depictions critical of impenetrable barriers that prioritize self-glorification and ambition over endeavors to achieve unity. Unfortunately, the medium is not the only error the writer makes in her interpretation of Shaefer’s work.
… and Rick Shaefer, with his. (Photos/Hanyue Wang)
“Without polemics, the beauty of Mr. Shaefer’s intricate line work invites viewers to contemplate the distance between our founding ideals and our current reality–and how the choices made today will shape our future,” explains Robin Jaffee Frank, executive director of MoCA\CT.
“Looking for History” is intended to spark nuanced conversations, and we welcome a range of interpretations. That’s the nature of great art.
At the same time, we believe it is important to recognize the exhibition’s underlying commitment to broadening representation, supporting the integrity of the artists, and fostering shared understanding.
(“06880” regularly reports on Westport’s cultural scene — and much, much more. If you enjoy our coverage, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Longtime Westport resident Ina Chadwick is a journalist and playwright. She also founded The A Chronicles, which stages theatrical events around the topic of reproductive rights. Ina writes:
In 1968, at 23, I was raising 3 babies under 3 in suburban New Rochelle, looking for meaning beyond housework, commuter husbands and disposable diapers.
I was also a poet, still hoping to change the world using my Smith Corona typewriter after the children were asleep.
In that upscale neighborhood, without any obvious survival struggles, I hungered for purpose. I joined a consciousness raising group where a few liberal women gathered to discussed daily life, marriage and work, to find shared struggles.
At one touchy-feely gathering, the strong advice was simple: “Don’t let any man control you—and if he does, leave.”
I left that group after disagreeing about “leaving,” without making sure you had a plan. After all, in 1968 married women couldn’t get a checking account on their own.
Perhaps I learned I was a pragmatist, rather than a seeker of ideological clarity?
Looking back from 2026, I see that moment as an early sign of the escalating alienation between men and women.
A New York news story about Ina Chadwick …
The gap between feminist slogans and women’s actual lives became further clear to me when I began to do volunteer work at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. I interviewed new mothers for Dr. Christopher Tietze’s World Population Council’s Intrauterine Device contraception research, and also spent time chaperoning male doctors examining women in the antepartum clinic.
One afternoon, a tired looking, middle-aged woman with a thick Irish brogue brought her Down syndrome 12-year-old daughter to the clinic. When the doctor confirmed the girl was 4 months pregnant, the mother said, “This can’t be. She goes everywhere with her father, the building superintendent.” I still remember the silence when the recognition of reality settled in.
When she asked about “that operation” for her young, innocent daughter, the doctor warned her about the law. I followed her to the elevator and gave her the name of a doctor on Central Park West — knowledge I had, I knew, because of my privilege.
She desperately needed to know what I knew. Many of the upper-middle class girls I knew were savvy enough in how to activate networks for the illegal procedure. Several had used abortionists, and reported about their experiences. I drove one friend to her procedure. Another friend picked her up when it was over.
That afternoon stayed with me. It turned reproductive rights from an abstract political argument into a matter of immediate danger, secrecy and access.
… and another.
Months later, I crafted with other women a data-credible survey to take door to door in New Rochelle to reveal religious and political beliefs, as well as income levels.
We tallied the results, and were able to go back with a petition to show that their senator wasn’t representing their beliefs, just his own. I was no longer arguing theory; I was arguing from what I had seen.
Our local senator had labeled us “angry feminists.” He was vocally anti-abortion, an issue that was high on the list that year of what might be constitutionally wrong for women. He was out of sync with his constituents.
During that year, the 1969 New York legislative battles and the subsequent successful push to legalize abortion in the state as well as birth control, safe pregnancies and safe abortions, our data prevailed and was presented.
In 1978 I moved to Westport. My poetry was well underway, and I had let my Planned Parenthood membership lapse. I moved from poetry into journalism, editorial work, and eventually playwriting.
By this time Roe v. Wade had been law for 5 years, and my crusader work felt complete.
Ina Chadwick
I, like many of us, assumed Roe was settled law. I was wrong. For years I mistook legal victory for permanence. As reproductive rights were quietly eroded, I wasn’t paying attention.
Lost in my own entitlement, I almost forgot the next generation. Am I still a poet, still an artist? Could I make art and trouble again, as reproductive rights were undermined by funding cuts, state-by-state restrictions, and misinformation aimed at vulnerable girls?
Fortunately, the old impulse to agitate found a new form: theater. My door-to-door activism became a platform for The A Chronicles: bold theatrical events about reproductive rights, meant to disrupt stale narratives and spark conversation.
Our work was discovered and embraced by Reproductive Equity Now. They are bringing our bold, carefully curated, professionally produced 10-minute plays to the Westport Country Playhouse’s Lucille Lortel Rehearsal Barn on Sunday July12.
Each of the 4 short plays reveals a different aspect of reproductive health care. “R Rated: Reproductive Rights and Resistance On Stage” is directed by Keria Naughton.
The performances will be followed by an open conversation exploring reproductive rights, bodily autonomy, and the realities facing today’s patients and providers. (Click here for tickets, and more information.)
We are confident the program will appeal to Westport’s greater sense of fairness. We are privileged to have local talent — including Keira Naughton and Max Samuels — to help keep us from sliding backward
The work must continue — not only in the political realm, but rendered and shared in stories that remind us what was won, what was lost, and whom we are still responsible to protect.
Staples Players’ fall 2013 production of “A Chorus Line” was a singular sensation.
David Roth and Kerry Long directed 2 casts. Jim Honeycutt — the former video teacher who filmed and created this highlight reel — notes where each begins. Click here or below to see this remarkable, superbly choreographed production.
Here’s a 2026 update on several cast members:
Michelle Pauker (Diana) is a singer and actor. She has appeared in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Idaho Shakespeare Festival), “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (Great Lakes Theatre Company), and “Into The Woods (Forestburgh Playhouse). On Sunday, her band Back to the Garden 1969 performed at the Levitt Pavilion.
Clay Singer (Al) has extensive theater credits including “Masquerade” (New York), “Fiddler On the Roof” (St. Louis), “Perchik” (Westport), “The Band’s Visit” (North American tour), “Into the Woods” (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), “Next to Normal” (Vero Beach, Florida), “Man of La Mancha” (Westport), “Romeo and Juliet” and “Ragtime” and “The Full Monty” (both Pittsburgh).
Cara McNiff(Sheila) graduated from Elon University with a degree in musical theater. She is still involved in theater. as a regional booking manager.
Sylvie Lexow (Lizzie – Zach’s Assistant) is a senior marketing operations and program manager.
Will Haskell(Mark) served in the Connecticut State Senate from 2019 to 2023. He then attended law school.
Joe Badion (Paul) is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. He teaches upper school music at the Town School in New York.
Caroline Didelot (Judy) appeared in “Kinky Boots” at Baldwin Wallace University, “42nd Street” at New London Barn Playhouse, and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” for Prime Video.
Julia Mandelbaum (Lois) has performed in a number of shows since leaving Staples.
Caroline Rossi(now McCluskey) (Judy Turner) is working in public relations and marketing. She lives in New York City with her husband.
Posted onJuly 7, 2026|Comments Off on Roundup: Outage Update; Sunset Yoga; Theater, Art, Music, Sports …
Eversource is slowly returning power to our towns.
As of 7:30 a.m. today — 58 hours after storms ripped through the area — 110 Westport customers remain without electricity. That’s 0.9% of all customers here.
There are many ways for Westporters to enjoy Sunday evenings at Compo Beach.
Some people wind down from the weekend, and pause before work begins again, with cookouts. Others walk, fish, or watch the sunset.
Now there’s another choice: yoga.
Alexa Moro — a 2018 Staples graduate, who captained both her high school and Villanova lacrosse teams — was introduced to the practice for physical recovery, as teenager. In college, she realized it changed her mental outlook too.
After working as an accountant and financial analyst, she pivoted to teaching full-time. Saltwater Yoga was born.
Her Compo “Sunday Sunset Sessions” begin at 6 p.m. near the cannons, and run through August 16. They’re beginner-friendly, and include open-level yoga, sound, and an optional saltwater plunge.
They begin as the sun starts to set. “We build some heat, then cool down,” Alexa says.
“What started as my personal search for a little bit of space in my fast-paced life and mind slowly became something I realized is worth sharing.”
A new partnership between the Westport Country Playhouse and The Clubhouse promises an evening of mystery, interactive fun and theatrical intrigue.
The “Pick Your Poison” collaboration is set for tomorrow (Wednesday, July 8, 6 p.m.) at The Clubhouse (1620 Post Road East).
Inspired by the Playhouse’s upcoming production of “Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” the event immerses guests in the world of the Queen of Crime.
Local student actors will perform scenes from the stage adaptation of the classic whodunit. Attendees can test their detective skills by solving a series of fast-paced, 30-second mysteries.
Guests will also receive discounted tickets and concession vouchers for the “Ackroyd,” show (running July 14 through August 1 at the Playhouse).
Keeping with the theme, guests can “Pick Your Poison” from a selection of beverages and food, available for purchase at The Clubhouse.
Admission is free, but space is limited. Advance reservations are required; click here.
Rick Shaefer’s exhibit “Colossi” — part of MoCA\CT’s new show “Looking for History” — is earning raves.
On Thursday (July 9, 6 p.m.), the artist offers personal insights and behind-the-scenes perspectives.
He’ll guide visitors through the works on view, sharing the inspirations, historical references and creative processes that shape his practice.
It’s $25 general admission, $15 for seniors and students, free for MoCA members. Click here to register.
Rick Shaefer, with his work.
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Another artist here this Thursday: Joel Mesler (July 9, 7:30 p.m., Chabad of Westport).
Known for colorful, expressive paintings and playful use of language, he’ll share stories about works that blend humor, memory, hope and Jewish identity.
Try the VFW. Crossfire Hurricane — the Rolling Stones tribute band named for the “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” lyrics — bring their energy and electricity to Post 399 this Friday (July 10).
Doors open at 6 p.m.; the show kicks off at 7. A light bar food menu is available, with drink specials.
Speaking of the VFW: Vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis — who has performed with Stevie Wonder and recorded with Natalie Merchant — returns to Jazz at the Post this Thursday, for an encore performance (July 9, shows at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner at 7).
She’s joined by her husband, trombonist Steve Davis, and pianist Jeb Patton, bassist Phil Bowler, drummer Jason Tiemann and saxophonist Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” Wall. Click here for tickets, and more information.
This summer, young basketball players looking to reach the top level can learn from 2 slightly older athletes who are already there.
Sam Clachko and Mason Tobias — recently Staples High graduates, who led the Wreckers to the FCIAC championship, and a legendary state tournament final that went to 3 overtimes — are running a week-long camp next month.
From August 3 to 7 (9 a.m. to noon, Staples High School fieldhouse), they’ll work with rising 2nd through 8th graders. Groups will be split by age.
They’ll teach “what it takes to become Staples varsity captains” — while providing an enjoyable, memorable experience.
Jan Winston of Westport died Sunday at home, after a long battle with multiple myeloma. He recently celebrated his 90th birthday and 64th wedding anniversary.
Born to Russian and Romanian immigrants, he grew up in South Orange, New Jersey and made life-long friends.
He graduated from Princeton University, where he worked at the campus radio station and earned a political science degree.
Jan had a 35-year career at IBM, in Boca Raton, Florida, Atlanta and Somers, New York. In the early 1980s he helped lead the planning and development of the first personal computer, the IBM PC. His last role at IBM, in the mid-1990s, was leading the speech and pen technology business.
In retirement Jan embraced exercise. He worked out with a trainer for over 30 years. He returned to an executive role, serving as board chair for Inrad, an optics technology company, and for more than two decades as president of the board at Lansdowne condominiums, where he lived for more than 40 years.
Jan is survived by his wife Gail; 3 children Karen Winston (Bruce Nohe), Lauren MacNeill (Neil), and Andrew Winston (Christine); grandchildren Daniel Norman (Maddie Anthony), Julia Norman (Kyle Solomon), Joshua Winston, Jacob Winston and Benjamin MacNeill; nieces Robin and Alyse Winston, and childhood friends Walter, Lenny, Howard and Marty. He was pre-deceased by his brother Donald and niece Mona Winston.
A funeral is set for today (Tuesday, July 7, 11 a.m., Abraham L. Green & Son Funeral Home, 88 Beach Road, Fairfield. Interment follows at Willowbrook Cemetery.
“06880” culture correspondent Robin Moyer Chung writes:
MoCA\CT’s 250th anniversary exhibit, “Looking for History,” is thought-provoking, masterful — and kind of stressful.
The Newtown Turnpike museum chose 3 accomplished artists for the show: Michael Borders, Ellen Harvey and Rick Shaefer. (Should it matter that Harvey is British, and Shaefer grew up in Europe?) Borders’ exhibit arrives August 13.
According to the website, the exhibit “challenges the traditional American narrative. Rather than a purely celebratory look at the American past, this show is a striking reflection on memory, loss, and community identity.”
I agree: It’s more striking than celebratory.
Rick Shaefer at MoCA\CT, with one of his works. (Photo/Hanyue Wang)
It’s also an interesting exercise in opposing dialogues about toxic nostalgia.
According to Harvey, “nostalgia can be flattened and used to manipulate people.” The happy memories of a privileged few is harmful when propagandized to a larger society.
In Harvey’s “The Disappointed Tourist” exhibit, over 300 of her vintage postcard-like paintings are pieced together like a quilt. Each pays homage to someone’s favorite place that no longer exists.
These are not simply happy recollections. They are deliberate antidotes to toxic nostalgia.
Harvey believes that “nostalgia belongs to everyone,” and everyone deserves a special memory of their own.
While she embraces the positivity of nostalgia, Shaefer’s adjoining exhibit, “Colossi,” forces us to confront the toxic underbelly.
With political overtones, frenzied lines and sly wit, “Colossi” is thrilling in its scope and detail. The brutalist images mix cultures, temporalities, historic tropes and deities.
“The New Colossus” depicts a group of white older men (using likenesses of titans Walt Disney, Robert Moses and Albert Speer) consulting specs for an enormous wall amid a mass of construction equipment, airplanes, and swirling … angels?
Rick Shaefer’s “The New Colossus.”
MoCA\CT executive director Robin Jaffee Frank says, “So you’ve got to ask yourself: What’s the purpose of the wall? Who are we walling in? Who are we walling out?” It seems the answer to the latter is everybody but white men.
Alongside Shaefer’s canvas monuments to industry and power are massive drawings of refugees, seething with urgency and trepidation. These desperate and doomed figures will certainly be denied entrance to the titan’s wall. and the privileged narrative within.
Yes, it was fun locating Harvey’s Westport paintings: The Remarkable Book Shop, Cedar Brook Café, Bloodroot and Allen’s Clam House. I got a kick out of someone pointing out Shaefer’s own image in one of his works.
But I’m a fun seeker. And that’s not always the point.
Ellen Harvey’s “Remarkable Book Shop.”
(Robin Moyer Chung covers culture for “06880.” If you enjoy her work — or anything else on this hyper-local blog — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Compo will never be as crowded as it is for the fireworks.
But don’t count out today.
Between the actual July 4th holiday and the heat, Westport’s flagship beach will see plenty of action.
By 8:30 this morning, South Beach — the area with grills and tables — was already nearly full.
(Photo/Karen Como)
Remember: Unlike the fireworks, there is no reserving spots. You can’t put your stuff down on a picnic table, then head home for a few hours and expect it to be yours when you return.
Play fair! Think of others! It says “No Reserving Tables” right there ON the tables!
Meanwhile, today’s temperature is expected to be a little better than yesterday, with a high of “only” 94.
Tomorrow, it drops to 84.
And on Monday — are you sitting down? — the high is forecast to be just a frigid 79.
Just in time for America’s birthday, the Westport Library’s Verso Studios has produced a song tribute: “Hey Hey Hey Happy 250th Birthday USA.”
The uplifting, non-political tune’s lyrics, music and vibe were all created by Verso Studios advisory board member Les Dinkin. He worked with studio producer Travis Bell to polish the song, through dozens of iterations.
They used Verso’s free media resources, including AI toolkits. Click here to listen.
The cover of the Library’s semiquincentennial record.
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Pete Ratkiewich’s long tenure as Public Works director was supposed to end yesterday.
But the job is 24/7/365. In his final hours, he had to deal with an important issue: Both transfer station compactors went down, with electrical problems.
That could have been disastrous. The July 4 holiday weekend brings major trash.
The situation was so dire, one refuse company emailed its customers that because the town could not work on repairs until Monday — and did not know how long it would take — that the company would not pick up trash on Monday, and would adjust its schedule accordingly.
No worries!
At 6:55 a.m. today, Ratkiewich emailed “06880”: “We did have to close early yesterday. We were able to get one compactor working again by the end of the day, so we will be open again on Monday.”
That’s one more reason to thank you for your service, Pete. Thanks too to everyone at Public Works.
Now everyone can go back to celebrating America’s birthday.
And making trash. (Hat tip: Seth Schachter)
Back in action! (Photo/David Meth)
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It’s bad enough that FIFA has stripped stadiums of the names of all corporations that are not official World Cup sponsors.
MetLife is (through the finals there July 19) “New York New Jersey Stadium.” Levi’s is “San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.” Gillette is “Boston Stadium” — though it’s 30 miles from Foxboro.
But that pales in comparison to the new sign on the old Carvel.
But this season, the Staples Football Wall of Fame welcomes new members.
The Gridiron Club is seeking nominations for the prestigious honor. The deadline is July 31. The ceremony takes place September 10, at halftime of the home opener against Westhill.
To be considered, players must have graduated at least 10 years ago. Areas of distinction include on-field excellence, post-high school athletic achievement, program impact and legacy, current program involvement, and character and integrity.
Coaches, staff or community members who significantly impacted the Wreckers’ success and culture can also be nominated.
To make nominations, or for more information, email Gridiron Club board member Doug Pardon: DP@brigadecapital.com.
And finally … there are so many patriotic songs we could pick from.
This — from Phil Ochs — is one of my favorites.
And its words are as insightful and important as they were 60 years ago.
(America draws its strength from its people. “06880” relies on our readers. If you value local media, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Posted onJuly 4, 2026|Comments Off on Online Art Gallery #325
Happy 4th of July!
Sure, it’s America’s birthday. But our online art gallery is open.
And there are plenty of patriotic-themed works. Before your barbecues and other festivities, feel free to wander through and enjoy.
We invite you to join us as artists, too. No matter your age; the style or subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we want 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.
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for purchase; click here)
“Westport in July” — oil on linen (Cindy Wagner; on view at Westport Library; Available for purchase — click here)
“Went to Melissa & Doug’s PAL Fireworks” — watercolor (Steve Stein)
Untitled (Dorothy Robertshaw — Available for purchase; click here)
“Ondee” — signed/numbered serigraph, 22×17, ornately framed 38×32 (Erte — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Tom Doran — Available for purchase; click here)
“Flamingos From a Different Perspective?” (Mike Hibbard)
“Scold” (Lawrence Weisman)
“The Many Faces of Our Laila” — pencil on paper (Bill Fellah)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery –as it has been for 6 years. But please consider an anniversary donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
The Clubhouse has been Westport’s go-to spot, for many World Cup matches.
For something different for today’s Argentina-Cape Verde game (Friday, 6 p.m.), consider a watch party in Stamford — hosted by Congressman Jim Himes.
The Round of 32 event is at Third Place by Half Full Brewery. Fans of both teams — and the USA — are welcome. So are all Democrats, Republicans, independents — and everyone else.
What do freedom, faith, hope and responsibility mean, as America celebrates its 250th anniversary?
Weston’s Norfield Congregational Church invites everyone to participate in a 4-week sermon series exploring those questions.
“A New Birth of Freedom: America at 250 — Beautiful. Broken. Beloved. Becoming” begins this Sunday (July 5, 10 a.m.). Through scripture, reflection and honest conversation, the series examines how people of faith can engage the nation’s milestone with gratitude, humility, courage and hope.
Senior minister Rev. Dr. Bernard Wilson says, “This is not a partisan series. It is a Gospel series. We are not gathering around a flag, but around Christ’s table. Our goal is to explore what faithful citizenship and Christian hope look like in a complex and changing world.”
The series will be complemented by special musical offerings from American composers and hymn writers. For more information, click here.
Also in the spirit of our semiquincentennial: The Westport Garden Club invites the community to a free “American Spirit 250” event.
The patriotic exhibition — a gift to the the town — showcases the talents of club members through horticulture and floral design, and educational displays.
The National Garden Club Small Standard Flower Show is set for the Westport Library on July 11 (noon to 5 p.m.) and July 12 (1 to 3 p.m.).
The Westport Garden Club began celebrating America 250 in April, placing floral displays placed town. They’ll continue the effort on patriotic dates through the rest of the year.
Westport Garden Club members Louise Demakis, Janet Wolgast and Joanne Heller.
As always, the Parks & Recreation Department did a spectacular job — not just with last night’s fireworks, but the cleanup that followed too.
Working through the night, after 10,000 guests left, they made sure that Compo Beach was pristine for the holiday weekend.
Meanwhile, the dozens of very important port-a-potties were trucked away. They too will be cleaned, and ready for whatever comes next.
(Photo/Amy Schneider)
PS: More props to Parks & Rec, for keeping the bathrooms by the lifeguard shack open. In years past, they were inexplicably closed during the biggest night of the year.
Local artist Tammy Winser is this month’s Westport Book Shop artist exhibitor.
Her whimsical “So They Say” collection combines acrylic and collage, celebrating animals with human expressions and personalities. Winser’s thought-provoking works capture the humor and absurdity of everyday life.
An artist reception is set for July 16 (6 p.m.). The exhibit will be open during business hours throughout July, with all work available for purchase.
Meanwhile, the Book Shop’s Short Story Club meets July 22 (6 p.m.).
This month’s discussion focuses on stories by American writers, about conversations:
“Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut,” by J.D. Salinger
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” by Raymond Carver
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank,” by Nathan Englander
Space is limited. To register, call 203-349-5141, or email RSVP@westportbooksaleventures.org.
Tammy Winser
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The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) is seeking candidates to fill the District 7 vacancy created by the death of Jack Klinge.
No political party affiliation is required. as Westport’s RTM is a nonpartisan legislative body. Interested District 7 representatives can submit a resume and brief statement of intent to town clerk Jeffrey Dunkerton (jdunkerton@westportct.gov) by July 20.
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