CraftWestport — the annual Westport Young Woman’s League fundraiser that traditionally kicks off the holiday season — returns to the Staples High School fieldhouse this year, with new dates.
Over 165 artists and makers will show their wares on December 6 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and December 7 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
Called “the longest-running indoor fine craft festival in Connecticut,” it includes handmade works in jewelry, fashion, home decor, ceramics, furniture, photography and art. Click here for details.
================================================
Staples juniors Jonah Bomback, Peter Klopfer and Asher Vengrow — passionate athletes and young entrepreneurs — have combined their love for trading cards with a desire to make a difference.
Their business, Cardz Against Cancer, is about more than buying, selling and collecting sports cards. The boys donate 50% of all proceeds to the fight against childhood cancers, through Yale Smilow Cancer Hospital.
Since launching in August, they have raised $500 from card sales, and several thousand dollars through a direct donation link on their website.
Last weekend, the trio participated in the Northeast Sports Card Expo at Chelsea Piers in Stamford. They are available for private events too.
Purchases and donations can be made through their website.
From left: Peter Klopfer, Asher Vengrow, Jonah Bomback.
==================================================
Calling all theater kids!
The curtain rises on the Westport Country Playhouse children’s education program, Playhouse Playmakers, on October 12.
The 6-week program is for grades 6-8. Students will create an original play — including writing, acting, rehearsing — and production, culminating with a performance on the Playhouse stage for family and friends.
Playhouse Playmakers runs 7 Sundays, through November 23 (1 to 4 p.m.).
The fee of $575 including technical rehearsal, materials, and 4 tickets to the performance. Scholarships are available, including transportation reimbursement.
Click here for details and registration. For questions or scholarship information, email mmeath@westportplayhouse.org.
Youngsters get a chance to star on the famed Playhouse stage.
==================================================
The Staples boys varsity golf team set a record on Thursday, shooting 5 under par.
Charlie Curran, Philip Sullivan, Chris Taylor and Gus Palmer each contributed to a combined score of 135.
The team remains undefeated, and at the top of the FCIAC league. Individually, both Palmer and Sullivan are ranked top 10 in the FCIAC. Palmer is. Sullivan 7th.
From left: Jordan Benaderet, Philip Sullivan, Gus Palmer, Chris Taylor, Lukas Snow, Charlie Curran.
==================================================
The recent death of Robert Redford has brought a flood of memories of his friendship with Paul Newman.
Bill Dedman sends along a 2015 interview with Redford. At the 2:34 mark, he tells a long, funny tale about the practical jokes he and Newman played on each other, when both lived in Westport. Click here or below to see.
==================================================
Preparations are complete for this afternoon’s LobsterFest.
The annual Westport Rotary Club fun/funky/crustacean-filled fundraiser takes place at Compo Beach, from 3 to 7 p.m.
If you haven’t bought (or clawed) a ticket: You’re out of luck. The event sells out nearly instantly every year.
See you this afternoon — or in 2026!
Those lobsters (and all the trimmings) don’t fall out of the sky. (Photo/DinkinESH Fotografix)
===================================================
The history of agriculture, manufacturing and textile production in this area during the 19th and early 20th centuries is on display in a new interactive exhibit, “Weston at Work,” at the Weston History & Culture Center.
Children can card wool, weave on a loom, use a rope and pulley to raise a hay bale, and more. The exhibit includes hands-on activities, rare tools, farming implements, a working loom and historic images.
It highlights the many people — including immigrants, African Americans, women and children who helped put Weston to work.
The opening is October 5 (1 to 4 p.m.). Admission is free; donations are welcome.
“Weston at Work” is then open every Thursday (1 to 4 p.m.) and Sundays, November 2 and December 7 (1 to 4 p.m.). $5 for adults, $3 for children 5 – 17, free for members and children 4 and under.
=================================================
Another bobcat sighting. This one was Thursday, in the Old Road area:
(Photo/Robert Steven Williams)
==================================================
On Wednesday, noted constitutional scholar and Yale professor Akhil Reed Amar spoke to a packed Westport Library crowd about his new book “Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution.”
After his remarks, he chatted with Staples We the People teacher Suzanne Kammerman. The professor was impressed to hear the school placed 8th in the nation at last year’s competition last year.
Kammerman hopes to have Amar speak to her class later this year.
Suzanne Kammerman and Professor Akhil Reed Amar. (Hat tip and photo/Danielle Dobin)
=================================================
Speaking of Staples: The Institution Saint Joseph in Le Havre, France has invited the high school to the Normandy International Youth Leadership Summit in November. Delegates are high performing students interested in world affairs.
Josephine Caricato, Ignacy Nieweglowski and Jori Altman will join peers from around the world, in the international event.
From left: Josephine Caricato, Ignacy Nieweglowski, Jori Altman.
==================================================
The Westport Tree Board’s “Oaktober” event — featuring oak tubeling handouts, kids’ activities and more — has been rescheduled.
The new date is Saturday, O(ak)tober 11, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Jesup Green.
Westport Tree Board member Ed Picard offers an oak sapling to Dylan Rosen, at the 2022 Oaktoberfest. (Photo/Frank Rosen)
==================================================
Wells Preston — a member of Staples High School’s Class of 2004 — died last month. He was 40 years old.
His love of the outdoors began at Camp Keewaydin in Canada. In high school he honed his skills on NOLS trips in the Cascade Range. He returned as an adult, to summit its highest peaks.
Wells learned to sail at Longshore Sailing School, then raced at Tabor Academy. He later taught sailing and kiteboarding.
He studied creative writing, literature and religion at Eckerd College. He taught English at a St. Petersburg, Florida high school, where he met his future wife Christine Lupo.
They moved to Seattle in 2010, lured by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Four years later they relocated to Portland.
They roamed far and wide in a camper van, from Alberta to Baja Mexico. They traveled over 30,000 miles in 2 years, visiting every national park west of the Rockies.
His family says, “In his photos -– as in the stories he shared of hiking, climbing, skiing, fishing, kiteboarding, and simply breathing the air in these majestic places –- Wells made you feel his reverence for nature and the spirituality it stirred in him.”
He was also an excellent cook.
Wells is survived by his wife Chrissy; sisters Regan and Lilly; brothers-in-law Jordan, Nik and James; sisters-in-law Meghan and Sally, and 6 nieces.
A memorial service will be held November 16 (10 a.m., Tampa Bay Watch). Donations may be made in his name to the National Parks Conservation Association or the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Wells Preston
================================================
Just a few yards from downtown, Deadman Brook is a haven for wildlife.
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo shows one small slice — at its most natural.
(Photo/Janine Scotti)
==================================================
And finally … on this date in 1973, Jim Croce and 5 other people were killed when their light aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff in Louisiana.
(Where else but “06880” can you read about upcoming events and Westport’s youth, and remember Robert Redford and Jim Croce — all in one place. So please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
With a demanding job, 2 kids and a dog, finding time to craft a novel is not easy. Writing on her days off (Wednesdays), weekends and vacations, she finishes a rough draft in just over a year. She spends the next year revising and polishing her words.
Meanwhile, the author is gearing up for a busy October. She’ll be at the Westport Library’s StoryFest on the 18th, hosts a release party later, and is set for a signing at New Canaan’s Elm Street Books on October 25 (2 to 4 p.m.).
