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The Great Lawn at Saugatuck Church hosts lots of events. Social justice rallies, blessings of animals, plant sales — you name it, it’s there at one of Westport’s most visible and handsome sites.
Yesterday, it was an Easter egg hunt. Hundreds of youngsters raced around, finding thousands of eggs.
The afternoon was organized by WestportMoms — the multi-platform social media group, not a generic bunch of mothers — with volunteer support by Boy Scout Troop 36.
Great hunt, on the great lawn. (Photo/Craig Patton)
Want Mark Mathias’ video version? Click below:
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Speaking of Easter:
For 15 years, 1971 Staples High School graduate Jalna Jaeger has decorated a tree on her property (3 East Avenue in Norwalk, not far from Stew Leonard’s).
It’s an homage to Ostereierbaum — the German tradition of filling trees and bushes with Easter eggs. It’s always colorful and fun.
This year, it sends a message.
Most of Jalna’s eggs are blue and yellow: the colors of Ukraine.
Many Americans are doing what they can to show support for that embattled nation. But Jalna’s Ostereierbaum tree may be the only one like it anywhere.
Jalna Jaeger’s Easter egg tree. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
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As Russian troops retreat in parts of Ukraine, the horrors of their occupation are only now beginning to be known.
One of the world’s first looks at what the invaders did — and left behind — comes today in the New York Times. A story headlined “‘This is True Barbarity’: Life and Death Under Russian Occupation” describes the past month in Trostyanets, a strategically located town that soldiers finally fled a few days ago.
“A monthlong Russian occupation reduced much of the town to rubble, a decimated landscape of mangled tank hulks, snapped trees and rattled but resilient survivors,” the Times says.
The piece is accompanied by more than a dozen photos from Tyler Hicks. The Pulitzer Prize winner graduated from Staples High School in 1988. Click here for the full story and photos.
Svitlana Grebinyk’s home was left in disarray after being inhabited by Russian soldiers during the occupation of Trostyanets. (Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)
Entire blocks of homes were destroyed in Trostyanets, after Russian occupation. (Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)
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There was plenty of action yesterday at Sherwood Island State Park.
Michele Sorensen — Friends of Sherwood Island’s next president — organized volunteers to plant beach grass. It helps revitalize the dunes, and prevents erosion.
They’ll return over the next few weeks. But they need others. Click here to help, via Signup Genius.
Restoring dunes at Sherwood Island. (Photo/Ilene Mirkine)
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How’s this for a warm-and-fuzzy, pooch-friendly photo?
(Photo/Roseann Spengler)
Unfortunately it was taken at Compo yesterday — the day after dogs were prohibited from all town beaches.
Hopefully the woman was unaware of the rule, not flouting it.
She and her buddy can return October 1.
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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” image features a strong, handsome eagle. They’re hard to photograph well. But Steve Halstead nailed it.
(Photo/Steve Halstead)
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And finally … on this date in 1865, Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.
Just over 100 years later the Band included that pivotal moment, in Virgil Caine’s lament — though he puts the date as “May the 10th”:
The project grew from 1 site and 27 kids, to a network of 7 summer camps in 5 states serving more than 1,000 children, plus year-round programs. Because death and grief touch youngsters in all socioeconomic brackets, the entire week is free.
All those talented, experienced men and women have worked on — or are currently involved with — the middle school’s theater program.
