Our first online art gallery of September features only one “fall is coming” work.
There will be more in the weeks ahead, for sure. Foliage, pumpkins, turkeys — bring ’em on!
Along with every other theme. As always, we welcome watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got.
Email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)
Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.
Artist Eric Bosch says, “This piece was inspired by the Westport Community Gardens. It represents the growth of nature, and the wisdom of the Long Lots School Building Committee to do the right thing for our town as a whole.”
Ever since the United Nations moved into its Manhattan headquarters in 1951, the lobby’s rotating art exhibit has been sponsored by member nations.
In October, for what is believed to be the first time, the featured works will be offered by 2 individual artists.
And both are from Westport.
The historic event is the culmination of a multi-year project by Miggs Burroughs and Mark Yurkiw.
Burroughs’ “Signs of Compassion” — 30 lenticular photos, showing local residents using sign language to recite Emily Dickinson’s poem of the same name, and Yurkiw’s accompanying Braille “prayer wheel” mantra, based on those he saw in Bhutan (including a wheelchair-accessible element) — will be displayed on a 102-foot curved wall.
Artist’s rendering of the UN exhibit, including Miggs’ Burroughs’ lenticular photos, and Mark Yurkiw’s Braille prayer wheel (right).
An opening exhibit is set for October 17 (6 p.m.).
Now all that’s left is the fundraising. It’s a great opportunity for “06880” readers to score an invitation to the historic reception.
The $18,000 cost includes producing, printing and mounting the 30 large lenticular images; materials for the “prayer wheel” sculpture, and security for the reception (a UN requirement).
So far, there are $1,000 pledges from former 1st Selectman Jim Marpe (one of the ASL signing models) and his wife Mary Ellen; Bud and Roz Siegel; Christian Trefz; Ann Sheffer and Bill Scheffler; Mike Tewey, and the Westport Library’s restricted artist-in-residence fund (where Burroughs began the project).
All that’s needed is another $12,000. The top 10 donors will be invited to the opening event. (Donation information is at the end of this story.)
Jeanine Esposito signed “without.” She’s one of 30 Westport models in Miggs Burroughs’ “Signs of Compassion.”
The route for the artwork from Westport to the UN was not direct. Yurkiw admired Burroughs’ “signs,” and wanted the organization to showcase it. (Click here for details on that unique piece.)
It took years to find the right people at the UN to help. Then came a search for a letter from a government official. A serendipitous meeting with Congressman Jim Himes’ wife Mary led to a glowing endorsement from Senator Chris Murphy.
More red tape ensued. This will be the first time without sponsorship from a member nation; eventually, UN committees on disabilities and humanitarianism stepped up.
Mark Yurkiw (center, white shirt) meets with UN officials to discuss the upcoming exhibit.
The United Nations works slowly. Yet this fall — at one of its most public places — delegates, staffers and visitors will see Miggs Burroughs and Mark Yurkiw’s stunning art, on full display.
That might not be the end. Yurkiw has visions of taking his and Burroughs’ show on the road: to UN offices in Geneva, the Vatican, perhaps Kyiv.
“Signs of Compassion” will truly be — to use the “06880” tagline — “Where Westport meets the world.”
($12,000 is needed to bring Burroughs and Yurkiw’s exhibition to the UN. Click here to make a tax-deductible contributions can through the project’s partner, the Artists Collective of Westport. When asked “What is this for?,” type “UN Exhibit.”)
A large crowd popped over to the Westport Community Gardens yesterday, for a 20th anniversary pop-up event.
People of all ages wandered through the 100-plus individual plots. They marveled at the wide variety of plants; watched the bees and butterflies; admired the pergola and bocce court; chatted with the gardeners — and picked up plenty of vegetables, herbs and flowers too.
(Photos/Karen Mather)
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Yesterday’s “06880” Roundup highlighted Westport Pride’s promotion of a permanent rainbow crosswalk downtown, at Jesup Road and Taylor Place.
Fundraising efforts had already brought in $18,000. But $14,500 more was needed, for materials, labor and installation.
By nightfall, the entire amount had been pledged.
The outpouring of support — from members of the LGBTQ+ community, and beyond — was very heartening, Pride members say.
The goal is to have the crosswalk completed by National Coming Out Day (October 11).
For more information, or to get involved, email westportctpride@gmail.com.
Dr. Nikki Gorman helped prepare the temporary crosswalk in June. A permanent one will be installed soon.
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MoCA Westport celebrated its “Kaleidoscope: A Journey of Creativity, Self-Expression & Unity” exhibit yesterday, with a packed house.
The show highlighted artists who have been supported by the MoCA Gives Back healing arts program at the museum, as well as summer camp participants.
Club 203 — Westport’s social club for adults with disabilities — was well represented. MoCA has enjoyed a strong partnership in the club’s initial year, and looks forward to strengthening that relationship even more in the months ahead.
MoCA art teacher Agata Tria and Club 203 artist Elizabeth Sonne.
Staples High School 2017 graduate Richard Costello is one of many Westporters running in the New York Marathon November 5.
But the former lacrosse player is not just racing for himself. He’s also raising money for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.
The organization — founded by our late neighbor Paul Newman to provide free, fun opportunities for youngsters facing life-threatening illnesses — is near to Richard’s heart. He volunteered at the Ashford, Connecticut facility several times, and has been awed by the program’s impact on children and their families.
This is Richard’s second marathon. He competed in Philadelphia last fall.
And finally … today marks the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.
It is remembered now for Martin Luther King’s riveting “I Have a Dream” speech.
But there was much more — including powerful musical performances.
Marian Anderson sang, 24 years after her first famous concert at the Lincoln Memorial (after the Daughters of the American Revolution prevented her from singing at Constitution Hall).
I could not find any videos of her, at the March on Washington.
But here are 3 other performances, from 60 years ago today:
(“06880” is your hyper-local blog — and a non-profit. Please click here to support our work, with a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
In many towns, the selection of the next high school choral director would be about as newsworthy as the purchase of new choir robes.
In Westport, it is Big News.
Since George Weigle moved from Bedford Junior High to Staples in 1959, only 3 others have wielded the baton: Alice Lipson (1988-2010), Justin Miller (2010-12), and Luke Rosenberg (2012-2023).
When Rosenberg resigned last spring to accept a similar position at Greenwich High School, townwide arts coordinator Steve Zimmerman had enormous shoes to fill.
Staples’ choral program is a town jewels. From Candlelight and Pops to many smaller concerts, Orphenians and other groups entertain, inspire and mesmerize audiences. Talented vocalists help make Staples Players a nationally renowned theater troupe.
Singing at Staples is a Very Big Deal.
Lauren Pine
This week, Lauren Pine takes over from Rosenberg. She’ll continues the school’s storied musical tradition.
Zimmerman did not have to look far. Pine spent the past 6 years at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.
She knew Rosenberg well. “High school choral directors are a small world,” she says. He offered his full support.
She knew the Staples program well too. She’s seen choral and Players performances in the auditorium that is now her new home.
Pine’s road to Westport began in Syracuse where she was born, and continued in North Carolina, where her parents worked in medicine.
She studied opera and musical theater at Northwestern University. (Meghan Markle was a classmate, though their paths did not cross.)
Pine’s first job was with a New York software company. She taught voice and piano on the side, and loved it much more.
“The teaching bug bit me,” she says. After earning a master’s in education at Hunter College, and student teaching at a performing arts magnet school, Pine realized she wanted to return to the field.
That led to 10 years as a “starving artist” — and barista, bartender, nanny, you name it — in New York.
Six years ago, she and her husband Will — who works in finance for UBS — had their second child. It was time for the suburbs.
They had been in Darien just a few days; their youngest was just 6 months old — and school was opening 2 days later — when the Fairfield Ludlowe job suddenly opened up.
Pine was hired as the choral, musical theater and a cappella director.
It was an excellent fit.
Her decision this summer to leave Ludlowe for Staples was difficult. She did not have a chance to say goodbye, and thank, a great senior class that she loved.
But she was excited by the talent and resources at Staples, and ready for the next step in her career.
She’ll “pick up where Luke left off,” she says. After COVID, there is room to grow the number of singers. She looks forward to building on her a cappella background.
Lauren Pine, with a wall hanging in her new Staples High School choral room.
Rosenberg, she says, “is on speed dial.” He recently showed her “all the hidden treasures” of the choral room, and is only a phone call away if she has questions.
But although she and he share “the same mannerisms and repertory choices,” she will make her own mark, in her own way.
“I don’t develop singers. I develop musicians,” Pine says of her teaching style.
“It’s a lot of theory, a lot of ear training, rather than ‘teaching to the concert.
“At they end of the day, they’ll go off to college, and careers. Maybe later, they’ll pick up music again. I want them to be able to problem-solve, and do something with that music, so they can have it for life.”
The first time most Westporters will see Pine is at the Candlelight Concert. Fairfield Ludlowe produced a similar show.
Lauren Pine will conduct her first “Sing We Noel” processional at this year’s Candlelight Concert. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
Staples’ 82-year tradition is “coveted by the community,” Pine knows. “The scope is huge.”
Her first impressions of Staples are good ones. “They rolled out the red carpet,” she says. “Steve (Zimmerman), the whole staff, the admins have been amazing. This is a well-oiled machine.”
She reached out to current students during the summer. And — in a baptism by fire — the Orphenians she’d never led sang the national anthem before 800 staff members at last week’s opening convocation.
Last week — even before she officially met her students — Lauren Pine led Staples singers in the national anthem, at the Westport Public Schools’ opening convocation. (Photo/DanWoog)
On Lipson’s first day in 1988, she conducted an early run-through of the “Hallelujah Chorus.”
Pine’s first day includes singing, and ice-breakers.
“Singers are vulnerable,” she notes. “I want them to not only trust me, but the feel a comfort level. It’s all about building a community, a safe place to express yourself, and have a social and emotional outlet you might not get in other parts of the day.”
Lauren Pine joins a short list of legendary Staples High School choral directors. From left: Alice Lipson, George Weigle, Luke Rosenberg.
Pine’s husband is also a singer. They met at the New York Choral Society — “it really was ‘eyes across the room'” — and both are now on the board of the Stamford Chorale. (Rosenberg sings there too.)
Her daughter is a dancer. Her son does karate. Both are also musicians.
In their free time, Pine and her family (including a golden retriever) enjoy the outdoors: biking, camping, kayaking and “exploring Connecticut.”
For her own musical interests, she lists 4: opera, musical theater, jazz and pop.
And her favorite artists? “It’s a tie between Ella Fitzgerald, who I named my daughter after, and Kelli O’Hara, who I have seen in almost every Broadway show of hers.”
She first saw O’Hara — now a Westport resident — in “The Light In The Piazza” at Lincoln Center, and fell in love with her voice.
“She gave me hope that someone like me, with a similarly and classically trained voice, could also be a Broadway star.”
Now — following in Staples’ grand, decades-long tradition — Lauren Pine will train the next generation of voices.
Some may become Broadway stars.
All will cherish their Staples vocal experience.
(“06880” covers the “4 A’s” of the Staples High School experience: academics, arts, athletics and activities. If you enjoy our work, please click here to support this blog. Thank you!)
Six budding photographers were honored this week, as winners of the Westport Farmers’ Market’s 7th annual “Young Shoots” contest.
Each received cash from the Drew Friedman Foundation ($100 for first place, $50 for second), and MoCA of Westport art class certificates
The low-key ceremony at Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center — the WFM’s winter home — included an exhibition of dozens of entries.
Badass Bagels — one of the Market’s most popular vendors — provided refreshments.
And the winners are:
Benji Porosoff (ages 15-18): “Radish Roots
Juliette Newshel (ages 10-14): “Colorful Bounty”
Aaron Slomich (ages 5-9): “A Farmer’s Life”
Placing second:
Avery Zakowich (ages 15-18): “Flowers
Quinn Fitts (ages 10-14): “Vibrant Veggies”
Mina Hayley Bell (ages 5-9): “The Classic”
“Young Shoots” winners and runners-up with (from right) head judge Miggs Burroughs, Westport Farmers’ Market director Lori Cochran, and Young Shoots co-chair Anne Burmeister.
Hard to believe, but we still have to repeat this.
An “06880” reader writes: “I have heard of 3 instances in the last day of Westporters having their cars stolen from out of their garages during the day, or while on vacation, with keys or credit cards left in the car.
“Readers should take care and lock their cars.”
Absolutely. Whether you’re parked at home or somewhere else, do not leave valuables in your car. Take your keys and/or fob with you.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Again. And again. And again.
Take it with you!
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The Artists’ Collective of Westport sponsors regular pop-up exhibits.
Each includes a variety of artists, genres and styles. Each is special.
The next one is September 7-10 (2 to 6 p.m., Westport Country Playhouse barn). An opening reception (with food, wine, conversations with artists, and Chris Coogan on piano) is September 6 (6 to 8 p.m.).
There’s an artists’ talk on September 10 (5 p.m.).
Participating artists include Ann Brecher-Bogart, Janine Brown, Randijane Davis, Susan Fehlinger, Susanne Keany, Emily Laux, Mary Jo McGonagle, Toby Michaels, Jay Petrow, Diane Pollack, Kim Porio, Mark Schiff, Kris Toohey and Cynthia Whalen.
Betty Dorfman died peacefully at Meadow Ridge in Redding on Tuesday. She was 101 years old.
Westporters with long memories remember her as part of the family that owned the Connecticut Yankee — a clothing store where ASF Sports is now. But there’s much more to her life.
The Brooklyn native was raised by a father who was left an invalid after World War I, and a strong mother who ensured her children the finest educational opportunities.
Betty graduated from City College of New York with a BA in business administration in 1941. She added an MS in 1945.
She married college sweetheart Arnold Dorfman in 1942. While Arnold served in the US Army during World War II, Betty taught high school. After the war they moved around for Arnold’s retail business, and began to raise daughters Merle and Wendy.
The family moved to Westport in 1955, where they opened their Connecticut Yankee store. Betty worked alongside Arnold there. So did her mother Estelle, who had then moved to Westport as well.
Betty became active in the Temple Israel Sisterhood, and served as president of the Fairfield County chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women.
After the Connecticut Yankee closed, she earned a 6th year professional diploma in education. She joined the University of Bridgeport as associate professor of secretarial studies in 1964.
Her career at UB was long and successful. Betty established and directed the nation’s first university-level word-processing major. She shared her expertise with educators, publishers, and executives from around the country.
Betty was a stickler for the English language. She insisted that all secretarial students learned traditional English grammar and punctuation, and later taught journalistic style and usage to students in the Mass Communications Department.
Upon retirement in 1985, Betty was named associate professor emeritus by the UB Board of Trustees. Arnold suffered a serious stroke the following year, and she spent the next 6 years as caregiver. He died in 1992.
During the next 2 decades Betty was an active member of Y’s Women, including co-chair of Trips and Travel for 10 years. She organized day trips and some European excursions with co-chair Dorothy Coen.
She enjoyed playing bridge and taking classes at the Senior Center. Betty also had a rewarding 10-year relationship with fellow Westporter Max Levinson. They had been couples friends for years. Max’s wife Eve had died a year after Arnold.
Betty moved to independent living at Meadow Ridge in 2012, where she remained active as chair of the Activities Committee. She moved into assisted living/memory care there in 2018.
Betty received wonderful care from Meadow Ridge and from her private part-time aide, Andrea Roudenis.
Betty is survived by daughters Merle Spiegel and Wendy Roberts; granddaughters Kate Rosewood (Rich), Jenn Roberts Ma (Roger), and Amanda Pierson (Gene), and great-grandchildren Vanessa and Fiona Rosewood, Owen Ma, and Robbie and Bennett Pierson.
Her family says, “Betty was beloved for her sharp wit, deep intellectual curiosity, kindness, fierce loyalty to friends and family, and impeccable elegance. She was a true force of nature.”
And finally … in honor of Aidan and Seth Schachter’s flight (story above):
(New York is an amazing place. But Westport has something the Big Apple doesn’t: “06880.” Please click here to support your hyper-local blog. Thank you!)
After a summer of robust art activity, submissions were slim for this week’s online gallery.
Perhaps our artists are out on the water. Nearly half of our works this week show a nautical theme.
Of course, the quality remains high. And the subjects, wide-ranging.
With back to school near, we continue to welcome atercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got. Email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)
Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.
“Sunset Reflected From a Car Window” (Benji Porosoff, age 16)
“Sailing Near Fishers Island with an Easterly Wind” (Peter Barlow)
“Three Masted Galleon in a Manischewitz Bottle.” Steve Stein explains, “I did this with my grandsons one Sunday afternoon. The boat is built outside the flat-sided wine bottle with the masts hinged back and down, to be pulled up by long threads after placement in the bottle. The hardest part is getting the green clay ocean to lie flat.”
Untitled (Werner Liepolt)
“Spud Chef” (Lawrence Weisman)
“Standing Together: Our Past and Future” — Kathmandu, Nepal (Mike Hibbard)
“Poppy” (Ken Runkel)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
A reminder: Tonight (Tuesday, August 22) is the open house “charrette”: a public review and feedback meeting covering additional plans for the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee’s “Master Plan for Downtown Parking and Pedestrian Areas: Reconnecting the Riverfront.”
Particular focus will be on the Parker Harding Plaza design.
The session begins at 7 p.m. (Westport Library) All residents and downtown stakeholders are invited to attend.
Information on the project is available on the DPIC website. Feedback is welcome in its comments section.
DPIC also conducts regular public meetings, typically the 2nd Thursday of each month at 8:30 a.m.
Parker Harding Plaza cut-through road (left), and Saugatuck River. (Drone photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)
Westport Community Gardens continues its 20th anniversary celebration with another pop-up garden stand.
Everyone is invited to explore the Gardens — and adjacent Long Lots Preserve — and pick up very fresh produce, herbs and flowers this Sunday (August 27, 10 a.m. to noon).
Straight from the Community Gardens. (Photo/Karen Mather)
They raised over $4,000 for the great organization (which, many people don’t realize, runs almost entirely on donations).
The feeling of helping a good cause was enough. But the youngsters were rewarded yesterday. President Mike Burns led a personal tour of the facility — and personally thanked the girls.
WVEMS president Mike Burns and EMS member Sammi Henske flank the Rhimes family. (Photo courtesy of Shonda Rhimes)
James Naughton and Carole Schweid entertained a full house last night.
The “Play With Your Food” creator led the actor/director in a discussion on his life on stage and screen — and as a passionate advocate for Connecticut’s Medical Aid in Dying legislation.
Naughton talked about investing in theater (he’s been quite lucky), his work with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and many others, and the joys and frustrations of a life in the arts.
The evening included a screening of the short film “Not the Same Clarence.” The film, featuring Jim and his son Greg Naughton, depicts the realities of caring for a parent with dementia, and its impact on their lives.
The Y’s Men of Westport and Weston sponsored the event.
James Naughton and Carole Schweid. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Speaking of acting: Jodi Stevens and Scott Bryce are expanding SBEstudio — their Weston performing arts school — to Saugatuck Congregational Church.
Jodi (a Broadway veteran and voice, singing and acting coach for over 20 years) and Scott (her Emmy-winning producer/director/actor husband, and a former Staplesl Player) offer new programming too, including a spring 6-week film and TV intensive course.
A grand opening is set for this Sunday (August 27, 2 p.m.).
Musical theater group classes and private lessons are available from ages 4-5 (Broadway Beginnings) all the way to 15-18 (Young Professionals). A new Broadway Babies class, for ages 2-3, is in the works.
The Bryce family has a long history with the Saugatuck Church. Scott’s mother Dorothy was deacon emeritus, a founding member of the Interfaith Council of Westport, Weston, Wilton, and a founder of the Theatre Artists Workshop.
Jodi’s scholarship program for talented students without means will continue, under a new name: The SBEstudio Dorothy Bryce Scholarship Fund.
For more information on the Saugatuck Church and Weston programs, click here, email info@sbestudio.com, or call 203-247-6569.
Scott Bryce and Jodi Stevens (Photo courtesy of Celebrity Parents)
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Agent Orange has killed more than 300,000 US military veterans since our country left Vietnam in 1975.
The toll continues to rise.
In his new book “Agent Orange: A Short Sickening Saga of War,” Staples High School graduate/longtime Westport/prolific author Carl Addison Swanson explores the subject.
Amazon calls it “the tragic story of a Vietnam Veteran who, after 50 years of good health, is stricken with a heart disease connected directly to his exposure to the chemical AGENT ORANGE during the war.”
It is available on Kindle. Click here to order, and for more information.
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The last date of lifeguards at Burying Hill Beach is this Thursday (August 24).
Compo Beach lifeguards continue through September 4.
Beach stickers are required through September 30.
Burying Hill Beach lifeguards’ last day is Thursday. (Photo/Yvonne O’Kane)
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Traffic alert: The Department of Public Works’ annual roadway crack seal program begins this Thursday (August 24).
The work will continue for 2 weeks, on 15 miles of roadway. Be alert for 1-way traffic throughout the project.
MoCA’s fall exhibition — “Purvis Young: This is the Life I See” — features 36 large scale works by the American “outsider artist.”
This is the first time that the works, from the collection of Lynne and Jack Dodick, have been on public view.
The exhibition open September 15, and runs through December 29. A reception is set for September 14 (6 p.m.; free for members, $10 for non-members. Click here to register.) Advance registration is required.
Purvis Young (1943 – 2010) was a self-taught artist who dealt with the plight of the underprivileged and the consequences of racism and daily violence through a highly distinctive visual style. He lived his entire life in the Miami neighborhood of Overtown, once an entertainment destination as well as a Black neighborhood in the segregated South. Click here for more details.
Barry Kresch has spent several months observing nature, up close and personal.
He writes: “A pair of cardinals built a nest in a small tree outside my kitchen window. It was fairly low, so I was able to get some shots into it without disrupting the proceedings.
“I got much of the life cycle: first egg, mom sitting, chicks hatched, dinner is served, junior ready to take wing.
“After they left, I removed the nest. My wife told me they decay and get parasites, so the birds don’t reuse them.
“The same or another nesting pair then repeated the cycle. This time the nest was higher in the tree, not conducive to photos.”
This “life cycle” photo is perfect for our “Westport … Naturally” feature:
And finally … on this day in 2011 Nick Ashford — half of the husband-and-wife songwriting/production team Ashford & Simpson, and a former Westport resident — died of throat cancer. He was 70 years old.
(Reach out and touch … “06880” with your supporting hand. Please click here to make a contribution. Thank you!)
Many of today’s online art gallery submissions are photos.
They’re (as always) gorgeous. As always too, they circle the globe.
But let’s not slack off, all of you who work in other mediums!
Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)
Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.
“Poppy” (Ken Runkel)
“Sailing in My Dreams” (Tom Doran)
“The Whaleship Charles W. Morgan Returns Home” (Peter Barlow)
“Sunflower in a Sunflower” (Linda Doyle)
“Bee All That You Can Be!” Photographer Bonnie Scott Connolly took this image of a cone flower (echinacea) at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
Untitled (June Rose Whittaker)
“Wyoming” (Rowene Weems)
“It Is So Hot The Trees Are Melting” — western US (Mike Hibbard)
Untitled — swan family on the Lieutenant River estuary, Old Lyme (Susan Lloyd)
“The Hat” (Karen Weingarten)
Untitled — artist Eric Bosch explains, “Every 5 years, the Babson side of my family (200+) gathera at the Babson museum in Rockport, Massachusetts. The organizers requested art, so I did this painting for the occasion earlier this month. The Babsons got off the Mayflower and built a stone cooperage to make oak barrels. The center portion of my painting remains to this day.”
“A Brown Sheep.” Artist Steve Stein explains, “Sheep can be domestic or wild. Their colors range from pure white to spotted, piebald and dark chocolate, depending on a gene that controls melanin.”
“Flat Out” (Lawrence Weisman)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
The on-scene investigation of the “untimely death” of a 56-year-old woman — found yesterday at 11 a.m. — was completed at 12:45 this morning by the Westport Police Detective Bureau, assisted by the Connecticut State Police Major Crime unit. The investigation remains active.
The woman was identified as Jennifer Lindstrom, of 3 Oak Ridge Park. Westport Police responded to the residence after a housekeeper found her unresponsive at the bottom of a staircase leading to the basement.
Among the hidden-in-plain-sight treasures of Westport: Frazier Forman Peters houses.
Between 1924 and 1936, the architect designed and built over 40 distinctive stone homes in Westport (and more in surrounding towns).
On November 5 Histoury — a non-profit dedicated to significant buildings — offers a bus tour of 20 Frazier Forman Peters houses. Experts will offer commentary on their designs and histories. Several interior tours will be included.
Tickets are $75 for adults, $49 for students. Click here to purchase. For more information on Frazier Forman Peters, click here.
A Frazier Forman Peters house on Riverview Road with fieldstone facades, slate roof and copper gutters.
Here’s our first Halloween-related story of the year. (No, it is not Dunkin’s pumpkin lineup — although it is already available.)
This is about CLASP‘s “Rockin’ Halloween Bash.” Set for October 20 (Fairfield Theatre Company), it features lite bits from Little Pub, and live music from Band Central — the popular group made up of clients at the organization providing group homes and other services for people with autism and intellectual disabilities.
The 6th annual Westport Library event — the largest literary event in Connecticut — has just secured Stephen Graham Jones as moderator for the keynote conversation with Neil Gaiman.
Tickets are available starting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 22. Click here to order. The event is free, but seats are limited.
In addition, Eric LaRocca will cap a full day of Saturday events with a staged reading of his new play, “Gentle Hacksaw.”
Tickets for LaRocca are $20, and are available now. They include a reception with StoryFest authors, small bites and a cash bar.
From left: Stephen Graham Jones, Neil Gaiman, Eric LaRocca.
A bit earlier than October — Sunday, August 27 — MoCA sponsors “Kaleidoscope,” a 1-day exhibition featuring works from MoCA Gives Back Healing Arts, as well as Camp MoCA Westport participants. Food trucks will be on site.
Oliver Bub is rowing his boat — all the way to Serbia.
Or at least, in the Balkan country.
The Staples High School 2014 Biology Student of the Year is part of the men’s eight team that will represent the US at the World Rowing Championships next month in Belgrade. He was an alternate on last year’s squad.
The 6-6, 205-pound Dartmouth College graduate was Saugatuck Rowing Club’s 2015 Most Valuable Oarsman. He lives now in Oakland, and rows for the California Rowing Club. (Hat tip: Lisa Marriott)
“Monarchs in Motion” — a free September 7 (6 p.m.) event at Earthplace — does not refer to King Charles’ recent ascension to the throne.
It’s about “understanding how insect movement and dispersal ecology informs conservation planning.” Speaker Dr. Kelsey Fisher is an “insect movement ecologist.”
There is space for 100 people. Click here to register, and for more information.
Earlier this month, the Westport Sunrise Rotary Club honored 34 members with Paul Harris Society awards.
They’re presented to Rotarians who give $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation. New fellows include Holly McCarthy, Mike Hibbard, Gail Lavielle, Jeff Cohen, Helen Garten, Anil Nair, Liz Wong, Tim Wetmore, Jacquie Masumian, Karen Klein, Jen Tooker, Bruce Paul, Ron Holtz, Yvonne Senturia and Barbara Levy.
Those honored for donating $2,000 were Tom Ayres, Jane Ross, Linda Bruce, Eileen Flug, George Masumian, Mark Mathias and Carole Rubenstein.
Donors at the $3,000 level were Bill Harmer, Ann Lloyd, Steve Violette, Joe Renzulli and Arnold K. Wolgast.
Sheilan Keenan contributed $4,000; Hal Levy and Rick Jaffe gave $5,000; Bob Galan, $6,000; Brian Strong and Arlo Ellison, $8,000, and — topping the Paul Harris Society list — Eric Zielinski and Martin Burger, at $9,000.
Tessie DeMattia — a chef who worked for over 40 years with her brother Frank DeMace, the founder of Mario’s Place — died Tuesday.
Tessie is survived by her daughter, Linda Voulgarakis (John) of West Haven; son James of Dummerston, Vermont; grandchildren Dawn Blinn, Libby Mazzella, David Aronson, Nikki Voulgarakis and Harry Voulgarakis, and 4 great-grandchildren.
In addition to her husband Liberty Michael DeMattia, she was predeceased by her daughter Sandra Blinn; siblings Dominick, Frank, Michael and Joseph DeMace and Marie Wallacem and granddaughter Jacqueline Perez.
A funeral service will be tomorrow (Friday, August 18, 11 a.m., Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home, Fairfield). Friends may greet her family one hour prior to the service. Interment will follow in Oak Lawn Cemetery.
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