But 1) the honor might be outdated, and 2) not many people ever notice the sign. (Click here to see.)
Morley Boyd, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Robert Mitchell and Sal Liccione were the 4 who did, when we posted last week’s “Photo Challenge.”
And no one offered up a back story about it.
So it’s on to this week’s puzzler.
If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Amy Schneider)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
We’re just 2 days away from the 53rd annual Fine Arts Festival.
Across North America, over 150 artists will head to Westport. (Six already live here — they’re hometown favorites.)
Selected from more than 320 applications, and representing 12 categories, they come from 23 states and Canada.
All 2025 award winners return (click here for a full list). Meanwhile, a record 52 artists make their Fine Arts Festival debut.
New this year: Staples High School art students will paint a BMW in the family area (Sigrid Schultz parking lot). There are lots of other kids’ activities there too.
Plus, of course, music and food.
Two new judges join the panel: art enthusiasts Lonnie Quinn (CBS weatherman) and Louise Crowley.
Also downtown, coming soon: an interesting reshuffling of space.
After more than 25 years in Westport, Brooks Brothers will vacate its space in what used to be called Brooks Corner, at the corner of Main and Elm Streets.
But they’re not closing. In fact, they’re moving a few yards away, to bigger digs.
Brooks Brothers’ new location is 44 Main Street. For decades, it was Klein’s department store. For a couple of decades after that, it was Banana Republic. For a few minutes most recently, it was Oka furniture.
(Before Klein’s expanded north from its smaller beginning, the space belonged to the Townly restaurant. During Banana Republic’s renovation, they discovered a long-lost painting, depicting life — in Westport? — during that era. They preserved it. Hopefully, Brooks Brothers will too.)
The move is planned for late October or early November — in time for the holidays.
The new space will be 1,000 square feet larger. It will include new women’s casual and everyday wear, in addition to the current inventory.
DOWNTOWN TRIVIA: Brooks Corner (now called much more generically “Main & Elm”) was not named for Brooks Brothers.
It’s a tribute to B.V. Brooks and his family. The real estate developer created the small shopping plaza in the 1960s — years before Brooks Brothers arrived in Westport.
Of course, the clothing company has a much longer history than that. They were founded in New York City in 1818 — 17 years before Westport was incorporated.
That makes them the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in the United States.
There will be no Democratic primary in the 26th State Senate district race.
Weston 1st selectwoman Sam Nestor is assured of a clear path to the November ballot. State Representative Lucy Dathan of New Canaan had explored a bid after Nestor outpolled her nearly 2 to 1 at the nominating convention, but decided against it.
Nestor’s Republican opponent for the seat being vacated by Ceci Mahar will be Westporter Alma Sarelli.
Last month, Dr. Matthias Becker led a powerful Westport Library conversation about decoding bias and hate.
Next Thursday (May 28, 6 p.m.), the noted linguist returns for a follow-up discussion.
The evening includes screenings of video shorts about the subject, created by local teens — and an announcement of the winners of the “Decode Hate Video Challenge Awards.”
Parents, teens, and all community members are invited to learn — and to celebrate the next generation, using creativity to tackle an enormous social problem.
The Brubecks are one of the jazz world’s leading family.
They’re also local. Their roots in Wilton date back decades.
So it was fitting on Tuesday night for for Dave Brubeck’s son Chris to bring his trio, Triple Play, to MoCA\CT, for an intimate, high-octane performance. A full house enjoyed the warm, playful and intimate show.
Arts supporters and blues lovers joined together in the gallery space where the current exhibition, “Art, Jazz + the Blues,” has drawn raves.
Chris Brubeck (left) and his trio, in the MoCA\CT gallery. Two of Westport artist Eric von Schmidt’s majestic paintings, telling the stories of America’s jazz, blues and folk music history, hang on the wall. All 7 of his works are part of the show. (Photo/Roger Young)
The Pierrepont School junior will perform there in November, with Pierrepont dance faculty members Jamal Jackson and Emily Pacilio.
They’ll be in “Timaeus and The Teacher,” an opera written by former Pierrepont teacher Tammy Nguyen.
It will cost $100,000 to produce the piece. Tax-deductible donations can be made through the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University. Designate a gift to the “Venice Biennale Project Fund,” or email Joshua Lubin-Levy, director and chief curator: jlubinlevy@wesleyan.edu.
Questions? Email Lisa Manimala: lisamanimala@gmail.com.
And finally … in honor of yesterday’s wonderful (if fleeting) weather:
(“06880” delivers hot fun — and news, features, photos, and much more — all summer long. Plus spring, fall and winter too. We rely on reader support to do it all. Please click here to help. Thank you!)
There are many attractions at today’s Dog Festival (Winslow Park, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.): competitions, Police K-9 presentations, an obstacle course, kids’ activities, food trucks and more.
Among the “more”: Cat Malkin offers a live animal communication demo (11 to 11:45 a.m.). The first 12 dogs get one live question answered on the spot.
A reminder: This year the entrance fee is cashless: credit card and Apple Pay only ($10 per person, $30 for a family of 2 adults and 2 children).
Yogi Bear says, “C’mon down to the Dog Festival!”
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Westport’s 2 Rotary Clubs joined others throughout the world yesterday, in their annual “Epic Day of Service.”
Here in town, Westport Rotary installed a peace pole at the Compo Playground along with 53 new donor-engraved pickets.
Rotarians at Compo Beach playground.
Meanwhile, Sunrise Rotarians collected 282 bags of food and personal hygiene items — and $692 in cash and checks — at Stop & Shop for the Homes with Hope pantry. Other members added plantings and mulch at the Gillespie Center homeless shelter, also run by HwH.
Speaking of Homes with Hope: They were surprised — and gratified — last week, when the Bedford Middle School Art Collective stopped by.
The youngsters dropped off a check for $452.88, for the food pantry. They raised the funds with artwork, including tote bags, t-shirts, pins and mini-prints.
Homes with Hope CEO Helen McAlinden gives thanks to the BMS art Collective for “leading by example, and showing what it looks like to give back.”
Bedford Middle School Art Collective, at the food pantry.
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There’s always something going on downtown.
But a free lunchtime concert may be a first.
Christ & Holy Trinity Church invites everyone to their grass courtyard at noon on Friday, May 29.
The band called Picnic on the Fourth of July will play a mix of folk, rock, bluegrass, gospel and jazz.
Bring a lunch, or pick something up from a nearby café or restaurant. See you there — indoors if rain!
Picnic on the Fourth of July band.
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Six Staples High School seniors received Westport PAL scholarships, in a ceremony last week.
The awardees, their intended colleges and majors, are:
Rory Benton (McGill University, physical and health education)
Tristan Benton (University of Colorado, undetermined)
Michael Brennan (Syracuse University, sports media/journalism/communications)
Matty Corrigan (James Madison University, finance)
Chaz Darby (Boston College, business)
Blanka Solowinska (undecided, nursing)
Congratulations to all!
Corporal Craig Bergamo, Westport PAL president (3rd from left) with (from left): Matty Corrigan, Rory Benton, Michael Brennan, Tristan Benton, Blanka Solowinska, Chaz Darby.
Since 2022, local residents have provided over $300,000 in aid — along with vital communications equipment, vehicles and more, to Westport’s sister city, via Ukraine Aid International.
Meanwhile, there’s another help effort underway here too.
Ever since the Russian invasion, Mark Yurkiw — a Westport artist with Ukrainian heritage — has collected medical equipment for the beleaguered nation.
This week, he shipped another 40-foot container overseas.
To help, or for more information, email mark.think3d@gmail.com.
Longtime Westport resident and civic volunteer Elaine Arnow died peacefully at home on Friday. She was 96.
Born to parents who emigrated from Hungary and Russia, she graduated as salutatorian from Norwalk High School.
Music was a lifelong passion. She began playing violin with the Norwalk Symphony while a teenager, and continued performing with them into her 90s.
After Danbury Teachers College, Elaine earned a master’s degree from Columbia University. She was a music teacher in the Westport and Weston public schools, as well as Temple Israel religious school. For many years, she performed in the temple’s High Holiday services ensembles.
Elaine began a second career in real estate, spending more than 40 years with William Raveis.
She was an elected member of Westport’s Board of Assessment Appeals for many terms. She also worked for over 10 years as office administrator in Ernie’s dental practice in Norwalk.
Elaine was active in the Democratic Women of Westport, and earned its 2014 Silver Donkey award. Participating in the Memorial Day parade was another tradition she cherished.
She cherished Westport, Compo Beach, tennis, ping pong, and paddling friends and family around the pond in the canoe.
In her later years Elaine found great joy in her biweekly duets and music appreciation sessions with Jane Jessup, who accompanied her on piano. She remained active at the Westport Senior Center, and at home online in musical memory classes.
Her family thanks the loving care, kindness and wonderful meals provided by her devoted caregivers, Manana and Lela, and their husbands. The family is also deeply grateful to Norma and Arquimedes for years of involvement.
Elaine is survived by her 5 children Sherry (Jeff) of Shavertown, Pennsylvania; Hilary (Mark) of Westport; Jonathan (Linda) of Lexington, Massachusetts; David (Debbie) of Austin, Texas, and Meredith (John) of Asheville, North Carolina; grandchildren Adam, Stefanie, Sam, Jesse, Haley, Alexander, Samantha, Hannah, Thomas, Ansley, Beck, Crawford, Quinn and Wilson; 7 great- grandchildren, and brother Charles Walkoff (Tammy) of Port St. Lucie, Florida. She was predeceased by her husband Ernie, and brother Richard Walkoff.
Michelle Pommier — a 1966 Staples High School graduate and former model who opened the first modeling agency in Miami Beach’s South Beach, then built an agency with over 800 models and clients around the world — died last month. She was 78, and had been diagnosed with cancer.
A Westport native, she attended Bay Path College with plans to become a teacher. But as a freshman, Glamour magazine featured her as a “best-dressed college student.” She began modeling full time.
She signed with Ford Models, and quickly made her mark. She traveled the globe in her 20s and 30s. She appeared on the cover of Town & Country and Harper’s Bazaar, and was featured in Virginia Slims’ “You’ve come a long way, baby” ad campaign.
Michele Pommier, featured in a 1970s ad.
Living in Miami in the late 1970s, Pommier quit modeling to open her own agency. She encouraged art directors from around the world to use Miami Beach — beautiful and cost-effective — as a shooting location. Her models included Christy Turlington, Charlize Theron and Catherin Zeta-Jones.
She is survived by her husband, Peter Diel, son David Diel, daughter Jacqueline Pommier Diel, and sisters Monica Kravitt and Denise Johnson.
Most Westporters hope that construction at Ned Dimes Marina ends soon, so we can enjoy another relaxing summer.
These 2 don’t mind at all.
Lou Weinberg is one of our favorite “Westport … Naturally” photographers. This shot is different than usual. But, as he is fond of saying: “Nature wins!”
Michael Tomashefsky has lived in Westport for 32 years. He spent a career in trade magazine advertising, focusing on development media for Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
He has also had side hustles in standup comedy, writing for a rock ‘n’ roll magazine, and landscape photography. Since retiring 2 years ago, he has given landscape and travel presentations of his photos at senior centers and senior communities throughout the area.
Westport never ceases to provide Michael with photography inspiration, included the Parker Harding Plaza footbridge. He writes:
It sits there day after day, year after year, forlorn, neglected, nearly forgotten and overshadowed by the controversy surrounding its larger brother, the Cribari Bridge.
The Parker Harding footbridge … (Photo/John Maloney)
Lord knows, Westport faces many pressing issues — including the future status of that Cribari Bridge, the lack of affordable housing, not enough bike lanes and sidewalks, anemic downtown parking, a disturbing lack of Albanian restaurants, and absolutely no master plan for dealing with a Martian attack.
I would like to raise our collective consciousness by adding to this list the head-scratching demise of the footbridge behind Parker Harding.
The artfully designed wooden plank walkway that juts out into the Saugatuck River has been closed for several years, presumably because it became unsafe.
Prior to that it offered splendid all-season views of the surrounding wetlands, the river, and downtown Westport. It was a haven for photographers, birders, lovers making out and folks simply looking to enjoy the views.
It was one of many attributes that made Westport a special place to live.
Unfortunately, those of us who used to revel in the footbridge’s many delights must continue to stew in season after season of our discontent. It is a classic case of anti-footbridgeloverism.
… with its “Do Not Enter” sign. (Photo/Michael Tomashefsky)
The Public Works Department has advised me that the footbridge is officially on the property of Gorham Island, and repairs are under their jurisdiction.
The agency that manages the property confirmed this, and advised me they would do a cost analysis re making repairs in the next couple of months.
As private money, corporate bureaucracy and state regulations would be involved as well, I doubt we’ll see an open footbridge any time soon.
But heck — if the citizens of Westport could stop the building of a nuclear power plant on Cockenoe Island, surely, we can get the Parker Harding footbridge open.
Citizens unite!
(“06880″‘s Opinion pages are open to all. Email submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com. To support this hyper-local blog, please click here.)
Our image of the town — what it is, and should be — is formed by our first experiences here.
Mine dates back to the 1960s, when I was in elementary and junior high school.
Those who arrived later — by birth, as kids or teenagers, or adults — have a different idea of “Westport.”
A woman recently lamented how much has changed. She misses the mom-and-pop shops on Main Street, and the small-town vibe.
She moved here in 2010.
That was a dozen years after the New York Times published a story headlined “Is Heart and Soul Gone From Main Street?”
In 1998, the New York Times had a stand-alone Connecticut section. This Page 1 photo shows Main Street, with Oscar’s Deli (center) and then-closed Remarkable Book Shop (right). The inset is Klein’s.
Nearly 3 decades ago — on December 27, 1998 — Leslie Chess Feller explored the changing nature of our town. She began:
Little shops, once the backbone of Main Street in Westport, have almost disappeared. One of the last is Klein’s, founded by a Hungarian-born entrepreneur named Henry Klein who took pride in greeting every customer by name, which has for 61 years sold books, stationery and office supplies. Mr. Klein worked until the day before his death in 1990, at the age of 90.
But in January the store will be subletting ground-floor retail space to the Banana Republic chain, one of many that have displaced family-owned Mom-and-Pop stores by being willing to pay higher rents.
Spoiler alert: Banana Republic is gone now too. So is Oka, the furniture store that took its place. The upper part of Klein’s — where you could buy office supplies and typewriters (kids: ask your parents what those were) — has been repurposed as Sushi Jin.
Banana Republic replaced Klein’s.
Robert Hertzel — vice president of Klein’s, and president of what was then called the Downtown Merchants Association — said, ‘We have turned into a regional shopping center. But that’s not a bad thing.”
Klein’s, in the 1962 Staples High School yearbook.
The piece continues:
Another holdover is Jack Swezey’s jewelry store, currently run by his son David. ”We opened here in 1956 when everybody knew everybody and each store was one of a kind,” said Mr. Swezey. ”Business is good, but sometimes I feel like a loner,” he added, looking out his shop’s window, now facing Williams-Sonoma, Brooks Brothers and Crabtree & Evelyn. ‘
‘Today’s Main Street has become an outdoor mall,” he said. ”I’m one of the few individual merchants left and that’s because we own the building.”
Swezey — where an enormous model train set entertained passersby every Christmas — is today the site of Brochu Walker.
Swezey Jewelers
Williams-Sonoma is still here, but in a location (Bedford Square) that did not exist in 1998. Brooks Brothers is still here — though next year, Sephora takes over. Crabtree & Evelyn sold its last loofah in 2009.
Plumed Serpent owner Fred Tow talked about his move to Playhouse Square, after 25 years on Main Street. (The bridal gown boutique has since moved again, across the Post Road.)
”When I opened in 1971, Ann Taylor was the only corporate store,” Mr. Tow said, ”and my monthly rent was $325.” By 1996, the chain stores had moved in and his rent jumped to $5,700 a month. Mr. Tow said that customers now have to go to Kent and New Preston for the look of old-fashioned Connecticut.
”In terms of both merchandise and decor,” he said, ”unless they see the sign, shoppers can’t tell whether they’re in J. Crew or the Gap. It all seems the same. There’s this corporate coldness, a lack of personal connection. People don’t realize what’s been lost.”
The 3-story Gap replaced a failed vertical mall — which was built on the site of a furniture store that burned down in the mid-1970s.
The piece continued with reminiscences from Howard Munce. The artist — then 83 years old, who first came to town in 1935 (and died 10 years ago, at 100), remembered Greenberg’s (“where you could buy anything from buttons and thread to underwear and Girl Scout uniforms,”) Charles Market, and the Ben Franklin 5-and-10 (kids: ask your grandparents).
In Howard Munce’s day, Welch’s was one of 3 hardware stores on Main Street. Traffic was 2-way all the way to the Post Road, too.
Feller continue:
In the last three decades, however, Main Street has morphed into a sort of Rodeo Drive East. Dubbed the ”Golden Half Mile” by the newspaper columnist John Capsis, who died in 1997, Main Street’s chain stores and boutiques are staffed by people who commute from other towns. As they talk on cell phones, the drivers of S.U.V.’s, BMW’s, Jeeps and Jaguars fight for parking spots. Tourists clutch shopping bags sporting logos while undercover police officers pursue what they say are organized gangs of shoplifters.
The story continues, bopping down Main Street’s favorite side road, Memory Lane.
Feller writes about the Remarkable Book Shop, which closed in 1994. Remarkably, after Talbots it was replaced by Westport Local Market, now Eleish Van Breems — both local, one of which even had the word in its name.
The Remarkable Book Shop. Too bad this does not show its vibrant pink color.
Leann Enos, an actress and theatrical director who moved to Main Street when she was a child, and whose father owned Walker’s Frame Shop, said, ”To me, it feels as if Main Street has lost its heart and soul. Now everything is about spending money.”
Anne Rowlands — a Westport native, and vice president of the Westport Chamber of Commerce — said she could no longer afford to shop on Main Street.
”It’s gotten so expensive and, to be honest, it feels kind of faceless to me,” she explained — not exactly a Chamber of Commerce-type comment. “It’s rare to find someone you know.”
Downtown shopper Linda Stern said, ”At first, I missed the mom-and-pop stores. But now it’s very exciting; there’s an energy to the street.”
Meanwhile, Predrag Vicvara, a Fairfield resident who had lived in Croatia, said, ”You find different nationalities here. It seems a little bit European to me. I like it. It’s nicer than the mall.”
Main Street: a bit of Europe?
Sharon Rosen — who moved to Westport 5 years earlier, and “considers Main Street an asset despite the chain stores” — had the last word.
”It’s convenient,” she said. ”I understand it was very quaint and lovely here once.”
That was the view 28 years ago — near the end of the 20th century.
Folks rued the demise of mom-and-pop stores then. They still do, 30 years later — even if they arrived after 1998, and believe there were plenty of quaint mom-and-pops when they came.
Downtown Westport was evolving 3 decades ago. It was when my parents moved here in 1956. It continues to evolve today.
What’s “your” Westport? When did you come to town? What’s changed? What hasn’t?
And how will your comment look when we look back on it 28 years from now, in 2054?
(“06880” often explores the changing face of Westport. If you enjoy stories like this — or anything else on our hyper-local blog — please click here to support our work. Thanks! PS: See you on Main Street!)
What better Friday Flashback than a photo with 2 Westport icons: Ships, and Bill Cribari.
(Photo courtesy of Regina Kiska)
The downtown restaurant — now Tiffany — was a favorite meeting place. Lunch, dinner, before or after the movies (a few steps away) — Ships was where parents took kids, teenagers took dates, and everyone celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and everything else.
Officer Cribari is best known for his wizard-like hand gestures, and ballet-like footwork, as he kept traffic moving near and over the Saugatuck bridge that now bears his name.
But he was equally adept at the Post Road/Main Street intersection, as this image shows.
He was always smiling. He knew everyone.
And everyone knew — and loved — both Bill Cribari, and Ships.
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
While Westport’s attention is focused on the Cribari Bridge — and the traffic issues that already plague Saugatuck — an “06880” reader urges us not to forget about the “worst intersection” in town (and perhaps the state).
That is, of course, the cluster**** that is Riverside Avenue, Wilton Road and Post Road West. The reader writes:
Below is a 5 p.m. Google Maps screenshot of “live” traffic on the Tuesday of school vacation last week.
Wilton Road at top; Riverside Avenue at bottom; Post Road West cutting through.
I can only imagine how red the lines will be now that schools are back in session, and everyone rushes to get home from school, work and play.
A quick AI search on “06880” turns up several suggestions, offered in the past:
Traffic Officers: Some suggest assigning police officers or traffic agents to direct traffic, especially during peak hours. This has been noted to significantly improve traffic flow at similar problematic intersections, such as the Cribari Bridge. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)
Traffic Light Timing and Configuration: Many readers suggest altering the timing of traffic lights to allow for better flow. One idea is to have green lights for only one direction at a time (e.g., green for northbound Wilton Road traffic only, then green for Post Road West traffic only; then green only for the other 3 streets, moving counter-clockwise one at a time. That would prevent backups caused by cars waiting to turn while opposing traffic is also trying to move. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)
Road Widening and Lane Adjustments: Past opportunities were missed to widen the road or create turning lanes by acquiring properties at the intersection corners. While difficult now, widening the road, particularly at the intersection of Wilton Road and the Post Road, could create a much-needed right turning lane. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)
Many of these suggestions involve state roads, which means changes require the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s planning, funding, and approval. (Click here for a previous “06880” story.)
In the mid-2010s, David Waldman proposed a creative solution: move the building at the corner northwest corner of Wilton Road and the Post Road — at that point, it was a liquor store — to create a turning lane.
Town officials turned him down.
Now, in 2026, the state is looking to acquire 77 square feet with eminent domain at the same location, according to recent media reports.
The Department of Transportation would install Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks ramps, and a pedestrian push button there.
Aerial view of the intersection — without, remarkably, any traffic.
But instead of incremental tweaks to lights and sidewalks, why don’t we take time — and perhaps one of the Cribari Bridge Committees — to engage with DOT and the town, for a holistic look at the intersection for more permanent solutions?
It may be expensive to buy and/or move buildings (including, perhaps, the one at the foot of Post Road West on the eastbound side, where traffic turns sharply onto Riverside Avenue). That’s another solution proposed in the past.
But unless we build another bridge, in addition to the Cribari Bridge changes or bore a tunnel under the Saugatuck River, the traffic problems will continue to get worse in Westport.
Who is interested in shaping another solution to make Westport safer and faster?
(“06880” regularly covers transportation, local politics, real estate — and, like today, their “intersection.” If you appreciate stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
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