Plants need rain to thrive.
So it’s appropriate that — despite the weather — today’s (Saturday) Westport Garden Club Plant Sale is still on.
From 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Jesup Green, the sale features over 1,000 homegrown perennials, Connecticut native plants, herbs, tomatoes and Mother’s Day gifts, along with a “fancy bakeshop.” Proceeds support local civic beautification and environmental projects.
Garden Club members will advice on plant selection — and each plant is tagged with care information.
Plus: Sustainable Westport has a booth, Earthplace sponsors a children’s table with nature-inspired activities, and Book Sale Ventures offers garden-related books for sale.
The Westport Garden Club plant sale is on — rain or shine!
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Meanwhile, the Westport Parks & Recreation Tennis Festival scheduled for today has been postponed to June 6.
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The marketplace is tough for young professionals.
A networking mixer can help.
The event (May 28, 6 to 8:30 p.m., Christ & Holy Trinity Church Branson Hall) can help post-high school, and current or graduated college students, build networking skills and learn job search strategies.
It’s hosted by Lisa Cukier and Katie Gervasio, co-founders of the Westport Professionals Network.
For more information and to register, email WPNMixer@gmail.com.
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Dozens of Little League players enjoyed Colony pizza — and a great game — at yesterday’s special Staples baseball days.
Down by 3 runs, the Wreckers scored 5 in the bottom half of the final inning — keyed by a Connor Brill’s 2-run homer — to down Fairfield Ludlowe, 11-9.
The young players chased foul balls — and autographs from their new heroes, after the game.
Little Leaguers line up at Staples. (Hat tip and photo/Beth Cody)
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Among the many great programs at the Westport Weston Family YMCA, the “Knock Parkinson’s Out” program stands near the top. Twice a week, 35 boxers work with 4 trainers and 7 volunteers, to gain strength, balance and confidence, and enjoy connection.
Bob Levy is a stalwart volunteer. Recently, he gave t-shirts to everyone. The Y made a great poster out of the photo. It was unveiled this week, and now hangs on the wall outside the boxing class.
Class members, trainers and volunteers — some wearing the blue t-shirts — pose by the photo outside the boxing room.
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Emmy, Grammy and 6-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald returns to the Westport Country Playhouse May 19, for an encore evening of music
The singer/actor — a National Medal of Arts recipient, and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People — last appeared here in February of 2024.
Click here for tickets, and more information.
Audra McDonald
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State legislature primaries are August 11.
Only voters registered in the Democratic or Republican parties can vote then. The deadline for changing party affiliation is this Monday (May 11). To switch parties, click here, then follow the instructions.
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Every month during the school year, longtime Westporter/Shakespeare scholar/former town poet laureate Diane Lowman visits Chris Cormier’s 3rd grade class at the Edison School in Bridgeport.
She teaches them a Shakespeare play. They love learning about the Bard.
But his plays were written to be seen, not read. So Diane and Chris discused how the students could see them performed.
Last year, Staples Players directors David Roth and Kerry Long, and members of the award-winning high school drama ensemble made it happen, performing scenes from “Macbeth.”
The tradition continued this week. Roth’s acting class presented scenes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
An added bonus: Max Samuels joined them. Earlier this year, the 2011 Players alum visited Edison. This time, he invited the 3rd graders to stand on stage to try their voices at some of the most famous lines from the play (“What fools these mortals be!”).
Afterward, the high schools and youngsters ate pizza and hung out together.
With generous contributions from Westporters, the program will continue for years to come.
Staples and Edison students. Drama teacher David Roth is in the top row, far left. Diane Lowman is in the middle row, far right. (Photo/Kerry Long)
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There’s always something going on at VFW Post 399.
Next Wednesday (May 13, 7 p.m.; doors open at 6), JB’s Deli & Pizza offers a full Italian men’s dinner. The menu includes antipasto, salad, sausage and peppers, penne vodka, chicken Francese, eggplant parm, traditional desserts and wine.
For reservations, call 203-984-9144
Dinner time!
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Westporters who donated to the care of Onyx, the retired Westport Police K-9 dog — and everyone else — will be glad to hear that the operation on her eye was successful.
And her tumor was not cancerous.
We wish Onyx a speedy recovery, and a frisky retirement. (Hat tip: Kevin Smith)
Onyx
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Josh Koskoff was the keynote speaker, at Connecticut Against Gun Violence‘s annual spring gala Wednesday.
The 1984 Staples High School graduate — an attorney who earned national attention by winning lawsuits for Sandy Hook families against Remington Arms — explained the groundbreaking case that bankrupted the gun manufacture.
Senator Richard Blumenthal also spoke, praising CAGV for its grassroots, low-key but very effective advocacy work.
Josh Koskoff
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Candida Massimino Innaco — a Westport native and gifted musician who returned to her home town, and spent her professional life as a music teacher in the school district — died April 28 in Bridgeport. She was 65.
After Hillspoint Elementary, Long Lots Junior High and Staples High School, the Class of 1978 graduate earned a bachelor of arts in music education from the University of Dayton, and a master of music in saxophone performance from Kansas State University.
She played in bands outside of the university too, including Dixieland and the Fred Robinson Big Band.
Candi dedicated over 35 years to music education in the Westport Public Schools, retiring in 2021. She taught concert band at Bedford Middle School, served as assistant band director at Staples, and band director at Saugatuck Elementary School.
She also directed chamber music and provided private instruction at the high school in support of the concert band, jazz ensemble, and chamber groups. Additionally, she pioneered and coordinated the Westport Youth Arts Collaborative.
Teaching in her hometown was especially meaningful to Candi. She believed“You can’t teach the child until you reach the child,” a principle that shaped her approach to music and mentorship.
Outside of her career, Candida was active in fitness and wellness. She participated in Thrive, a nonprofit that provides supportive care to those facing cancer like herself.
She shared resources with others through her initiative, “Candi’s Corner.” She enjoyed cooking, gardening, publishing music, maintaining an active lifestyle, and caring for animals, especially cats.
Candi is survived by her husband, Curtis, and children Christopher, Olivia and Serena.
Friends are invited to a visitation on Tuesday (May 12, 5 to 8 p.m., Spadaccino & Leo P. Gallagher Funeral Home, 315 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe_). A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday, May 13 (10 a.m., St. Lawrence Parish,505 Shelton Ave, Shelton).
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Oncology Fund at Smilow Cancer Center.
Candida Innaco
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Most of our “Westport … Naturally” egret photos show them standing around on spindly legs, looking handsome but stationary. Occasionally they might wade.
But Gabriela Hayes spotted this egret in flight, making the most of a Compo Beach low tide.
The bird’s reflection makes this image twice as cool.
(Photo/Gabriela Hayes)
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And finally … yes, as we noted earlier, today’s Westport Garden Club plant sale is on — rain or shine. So …
(Rain or shine, day and night, “06880” is here for you. And any time — 24/7/365 — you can support our work. Just click here. There will be no sound of silence; instead, you’ll get a nice thank-you email!)
