The Planning & Zoning Commission will discuss 2 interesting pre-applications at its April 24 remote meeting (7 p.m.; click here for the link).
The first is a request by Bluepoint Wellness to discuss converting their medical marijuana dispensary in the BevMax/Julian’s plaza into a “hybrid cannabis retailer.”
That’s a heavy lift. Text amendment #799, adopted in September 2021, prohibits “cannabis establishments” — except for medical marijuana facilities — throughout town.
The second request, submitted by Richard Anderson on behalf of Home Living LLC, is a discussion on a potential text amendment: “how to change the use from a single-family residence into a home for seniors offering in-home services for up to 12 unrelated residents in need of memory care.”
The request for pre-application review says: “Although senior living residences exist in Westport, this is a unique, creative and beneficial project for seniors living in Westport.
“The current senior living options in Westport consist of very large, corporate and institutional-like facilities serving 100 or more senior residents. The subject project will provide real home living and senior services in an intimate and comfortable home setting.”
No further details on the project were submitted.
The waiting area and service desk, at Bluepoint Wellness.
Reminder: The launch party for “Pick of the Pics” — the “06880” book highlighting over 100 of our blog’s best Pics of the Day — is Sunday, April 30 (2 to 4 p.m., Savvy + Grace, 146 Main Street).
Books will be available for purchase at a special price of $20 (regular Amazon price: $24.95).
I’ll sign copies; so will Lyah Muktavaram, my “06880” intern who did 99% of the work on it.
Photographers featured in the book can pick up a free book at the launch party too.
Dr. Regina Caputo — a NASA particles researcher — can help you find it. Or at least explain what’s not there.
She’s the next featured speaker at the Westport Astronomical Society’s free online lecture series. Her “Dark Matters: The Search for the University’s Missing Mass” webinar is this Tuesday (April 18, 8 p.m.).
Sign-ups end soon for the Joggers’ Club’s great Kids Running Camp, for just $125. Spots are filling up fast.
Boys and girls ages kindergarten through 8th grade learn the basics of running from local champions — and they do it with friends, having fun every step of the way.
Youngsters are divided into age groups. Workouts encourage teamwork and self-motivation.
Also included: track meets, ice cream trucks, free running gear and more.
The Running Skills program runs (ho ho) Sundays (April 23 to June 11), from 2 to 3:15 p.m. at the Staples High School track.
The Speedwork program (middle schoolers only) is Thursdays (April 27 to June 8), from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Staples.
For more information, email TheJoggersClub@gmail.com
A new exhibition at Betty Cunningham Gallery in New York includes works by Stanley Lewis.
He lives in Massachusetts. But the work chosen by ArtDaily to illustrate his work is this: of Westport’s Winslow Park. The oil on canvas was painted between 2010 and 2014.
Click here for more information. (Hat tip: Robin Jaffee Frank)
(Got a few pennies left over? Looking for something tax-deductible? “06880” is a non-profit — and we rely on reader support. Please click here to contribute. And thank you!)
The temperature soared to the mid-80s. Schools are on spring break, so nearly everyone who was not in St. Barts or Portugal headed to the beach.
Except employees of Hook’d.
Hook’d has not yet opened for the season. Don’t hold your breath. This photo was from last year, a few days before Memorial Day. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
I got several emails about the beach concessionaire. Amy Schneider’s was typical: “Too bad Joey’s is gone. It would have been open today, unlike the current one which is closed.”
Earlier this week, a reader asked when Hook’d would open. I relayed the question to Parks & Recreation director Jen Fava.
It was not quite as warm Tuesday — just in the 70s — but that did not stop these youngsters from celebrating a week off from school.
(Photo/Sunil Hirani)
Do they know how good they have it?
When I was their age, I sure didn’t.
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One of Westport’s most popular events — Household Hazardous Waste Day — falls on a propitious date this year: Earth Day.
The Department of Public Works’ annual collection is set for Saturday, April 22 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Greens Farms railroad station).
There is no charge for residents of Westport, Norwalk, New Canaan, Darien, Stamford and Greenwich who wish to safely dispose of household hazardous wastes.
Among the wastes accepted at the station: gasoline, kerosene, spray paint, paint strippers, paint thinners, solvents, paints, stains, turpentine, varnishes, wood preservatives, degreasers, fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, bleach, charcoal lighter, cleaning chemicals, drain cleaners, mercury thermometers, moth balls, pet flea shampoos, photo chemicals, rug shampoos, spot removers, art supplies and paints.
The following items are not acceptable: ammunition, flares and commercial hazardous waste.
Before bringing material to the collection site:
Make sure items are clearly labeled. Never mix chemicals! Incompatible products may react, ignite or explode, and mixed waste may become non-recyclable.
Keep products in original labeled container.
Place leaky containers in clear plastic bags.
Tighten lids of all containers. Pack items in sturdy cardboard boxes lined with paper.
Put boxes in the trunk or in the back of the vehicle, away from passengers.
Leave pets and children home.
Keep your windows open. Drive directly to the collection site.
Do not smoke or eat while handling hazardous materials.
REMINDER: Westport residents may also recycle antifreeze, motor oil, batteries of any type, light bulbs and electronics at the transfer station on the Sherwood Island Connector, weekdays between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon.
The next step in the long process following a resident’s complaint about 3 books in the Staples High School library takes place Monday (April 17, 3:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium).
At its last session, the superintendent’s ad hoc review committee took 3 votes. All were 10-0, in favor of retaining “Flamer,” “Gender Queer” and “This is So Gay.” Tara McLaughlin took issue with them, and had previously been given an hour to air her concerns.
On Monday, the committee will review a draft of their recommendation to superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice, and take a final vote on it.
The meeting is open, but residents cannot comment. Public comment may be allowed at a future meeting.
Committee members met at Town Hall, earlier this month. (Photo/Brian McGunigle)
Staples High School freshman midfielder Natalie Chudowsky — a star on the Wreckers’ state champion soccer team, and a New York SC club player — is one of 23 girls chosen to attend the US Under-15 national team’s training camp in Kansas City.
In February, she attended the training camp in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Congratulations, Natalie!
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New Yorker staff writer — and 1985 Staples High School graduate — David Grann has a new book.
After six years of research into the wreck of a British warship off the coast of Chile in 1740 — including his own journey to the inhospitable island where the castaways washed up — “Grann has delivered what will likely endure as the definitive popular account of the demise of the H.M.S. Wager,” the New York Times says.
It adds:
An engrossing survival story, “The Wager” is a knotty tale of moral compromises and betrayal and a metaphysical inquiry into the elusive nature of truth and the power of stories to shape history and our perceptions of reality.
The book, which Doubleday will release on April 18, has drawn enthusiastic early reviews. It is being adapted into a feature film by the director Martin Scorsese and the actor Leonardo DiCaprio — who also teamed up on a forthcoming movie based on Grann’s book “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.”
To read the full Times story — headlined “A Swashbuckling Tale of Mutiny Took Him Where ‘The Soul of Man Dies'” — click here. (Hat tip: Fred Cantor)
David Grann
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Nine new members were sworn in Wednesday, as members of the Westport-Weston Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
All are clergy members in nearby towns. They completed a training course, learning how to render aid in a wide range of emergencies.
.New CERT members hold certificates. Fifth from the left is Sergio Roque, a team member and clergyman who encouraged new members to take the training. To his right is Mike Vincelli, president of Westport-Weston CERT. (Photo/Molly Alger)
Congratulations to the Weston History & Culture Center. They received the Connecticut League of History Organizations Award of Merit for their reinterpretation of the Coley House, the historic Weston Road farmhouse that is their headquarters.
The award calls the project “a true gem, reflecting excellent research, a wonderful balance of micro- and macro-histories, and a thoughtful and creative combination of exhibition and historic room interpretation …. (it) stands out as an example of interpretation of a period rarely covered by historic house museums in Connecticut.”
Rooms on the first floor have been interpreted in the 1941-45 period, when 3 generations of the Coley family occupied the home.
Beginning this Sunday (April 16), the Coley House will be open every Sunday and Thursday, with tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.
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Former 2nd Selectman and Board of Finance chair Avi Kaner will be honored next month, by the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
Kaner — co-owner of New York’s Morton Williams Supermarkets — is set to be feted May 11 (6 p.m., Chelsea Piers). Click here for tickets and more information.
Johanna Keyser Rossi provides today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo, and this background:
“I spotted this bird at the beach, called killdeer. I thought they ate fish, but I looked it up and found they eat bugs, and sometimes seeds. I was a able to zoom in and take pictures.”
With tensions high in Israel, Westport is hosting an important Zoom conversation.
“Israel’s Gravest Crisis Ever: How We Got Here and Can We Get Out?” is set for this Sunday (April 16, 5 p.m.).
Dr. Daniel Gordis — a National Jewish Book Award-winning author, podcaster, and a Jerusalem Post pick as one of the world’s 50 most influential Jews — is the guest.
The Wreckers host St. Andrew’s, of Grahamstown, South Africa. They’re the first high school from that country to tour the US — and they’ve chosen Staples as an opponent.
St. Andrew’s has played rugby for nearly 150 years — about as long as Staples has been a school.
St. Andrew’s rugby team.
The sport has a much younger history here. But the Wreckers are one of the top squads in the country, so the match should be a great one. Match time on Saturday is noon, at Paul Lane Field (football stadium).
It’s the first time Staples rugby has hosted an international squad. In true rugby spirit, St. Andrew’s players are hosted by local families.
Part 2 of the Westport Library’s important cardiac education series is this Monday (April 17, 7 p.m.). The topic is atrial fibrillation.
What is this rhythmic disturbance? Why is it so important?
Dr. Robert Altbaum explains. Dr. Murali Chiravuri discusses the causes, complications, treatments and therapies. Dr. Mitchell Driesman adds insights too.
Afterwards, attendees can be tested quickly for heartbeat irregularities. Sm
Dr. Robert Altbaum
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Johnny Cash is coming to Westport.
Well, not exactly. The Man in Black has been dead nearly 20 years.
But Johnny Folsom 4 — a great tribute band — headlines the next “Supper & Soul” concert. It’s Saturday, May 13, at the Westport Library.
The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event is tons of fun. For $85 a ticket, you get a 3-course dinner at one of 11 downtown restaurants, plus the show.
After the concert, show your ticket at any of the restaurants, and get happy hour pricing on drinks.
Participating restaurants include 190 Main, Arezzo, Basso, Capuli, Casa Me, De Tapas, Don Memo, Nômade, Spotted Horse, Goji and Walrus Alley.
Click here for tickets, and more information. (Concert-only tickets are available too — they’re $35.
Johnny Cash was famous for playing in prisons. This may be his — well, his tribute band’s — first library gig.
The state Department of Transportation is providing Connecticut residents with a free subscription to Transit Royale, an upgrade to the mobile app Transit.
Transit helps public transportation users plan and track their bus and train trips, using schedule information and real-time vehicle location. It is available on iOS and Android.
Connecticut riders can access routes outside of their immediate area without encountering a paywall, and schedule trips in advance
Riders wishing to use the Westport Transit District’s Wheels2U on-demand, door-to-train station service should continue to use the Wheels2UWestport app for that purpose.
However, the Coastal Link service through Westport on the Post Road, all Norwalk Transit District and Greater Bridgeport Transit District fixed route services, CT Transit services in Stamford, and Metro-North New Haven Line services are available in the Transit app.
State Senator Ceci Maher, and State Representatives Jonathan Steinberg and Dominique Johnson, invite their Westport constituents for “coffee and conversation” next Tuesday morning (April 18, 7:30 to 9 a.m.).
They’ve picked a great spot: Mrs. London’s Bakery.
Senator Ceci Maher, Representatives Jonathan Steinberg and Dominique Johnson.
Alison Patton took an Easter walk. She reports: “The buffleheads appear to have moved north; the swans have a nest, and the great egrets have arrived. This morning we saw a bald eagle and 2 osprey fishing over the Saugatuck River.”
She sends today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo: a very close-up shot of one of the great egrets.
And finally … ABBA guitarist Lasse Wellander died Friday, at 70. He played on many of their studio albums beginning in 1974, and toured frequently with them.
He was recently diagnosed with cancer. Click here for more details.
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Yesterday was the opener of the Sunday pickup game at Doubleday Field behind Kings Highway Elementary School. The game has been going on for over 20 years. (Photo/Matthew Mandell)
If anyone can write about youth sports, it’s Tommy Greenwald.
The Westport native captained Staples High School’s 1978 state championship soccer team. His son Joe followed in his footsteps, as a Wrecker soccer captain. Another son, Jack, captained the lacrosse squad and played football. A third son, Charlie, also played youth sports.
Plus, Greenwald is a writer.
Tommy Greenwald
He’s authored several young readers’ series: the “Charlie Joe Jackson” books (named for his kids), Crimebiters (think dogs), and sports stories aimed at 10-12-year-olds like “Game Changer” and “Dinged” (football) and “Rivals” (basketball).
Some of those books took on serious subjects, like injuries.
Now, with “The Ultimate Goal” — the first in a series called “The Good Sports League,” and published officially tomorrow — Greenwald aims at younger (7- to 10-year-old) readers.
He does it with a theme that should not be necessary for kids that age, but sadly is: Sports should be fun.
The quick synopsis: Ben loves soccer. He’s got a great team, with cool pre-game chants and halftime jokes. He and his friends invent dances after they score.
Ben is so good, he’s recruited away from his rec team by a more prestigious travel club. His new team plays well, but they take soccer super-seriously. No chants, no juice-box breaks, no dancing!
They win a lot. But, Ben wonders: Is that all that matters?
Sound familiar?
“This is very personal,” Greenwald says.
“Growing up, my team was a canary in a coal mine. We were one of the first to travel.” (Full disclosure: I coached that team for a couple of years, right after college.)
But, Greenwald adds, “I never remember pressure like kids feel today. They’re thinking about college from Day 1. A game turns into a job. There are premier teams, academy teams, showcase tournaments, identification camps …
“The ‘next prize’ is always in mind. And it starts at younger and younger ages.
“I just had a blast. That was enough.”
Greenwald saw the beginning stages with his own kids (now all out of college).
Now, he says, “the only way to have a carefree attitude is to play at the lowest level.”
“The Ultimate Goal” — a great title, working on several levels — is the first in a series of books about the joy of playing.
This fall, Greenwald will publish one about a softball player who loves to sing and dance. She’s just 10 years old, but already her coach is pressuring her to concentrate on her sport. And wouldn’t you know it: Opening night of the school play and the championship game are the same night! What will she do?
Tommy Greenwald had a happy time as a kid, playing sports.
He hears stories all the time, most recently from a friend’s son who felt pressure to give up lacrosse to concentrate on football.
“People used to look up to 3-sport athletes,” he says. (His wife Cathy Utz’s brother was a 3-sport captain at Staples.) “Then it happened in high school. Now the demand to focus on only one thing happens at a comically young age.”
The lack of fun and pressure to specialize are not the only youth sports issues Greenwald addresses. The third book in his “Good Sports League” series will appear next spring.
It’s about a young baseball player, whose father attacks umpires.
“Sadly, there’s an endless trove of story ideas,” Greenwald notes.
Is there a solution?
“I don’t know,” the author and self-described “lapsed athlete” says.
“It starts with awareness. I fully admit, I was a parent who lost perspective. I got wound up. I was upset if my kid’s team lost.
“Now I’m embarrassed. That was ridiculous. Why was I so wrapped up in what my kid’s team did?
“It’s almost like an addiction, or a cult. That was me?”
However, he adds, “I don’t envy parents. In a town full of A-listers, if your kid has talent, you feel like you owe it to him or her to maximize it — even if they don’t want to do it, or do it on your timetable.”
His job, he concludes, “is not to tell readers (or their parents) what to think. It’s just to encourage them to think, have conversations, ask questions.”
Game on! Play ball!
(For more information, and to order “The Good Sports League: The Ultimate Goal,” click here.)
(“06880” sparks conversations on all aspects of Westport life. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Nearly 100 worshipers greeted the sunrise with a beautiful service at Compo Beach.
Green’s Farms, Saugatuck and Norfield Congregational, and the United Methodist Church of Westport and Weston, joined in the celebration.
(Photo and hat tip/Dale Najarian)
(Photo//Saugatuck Church)
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A few real estate statistics from March:
Unit sales: 18 (down 47% from March 2022)
Median sales price: $2,011,000 (down 19%)
Median sales price per square foot: $509 (up 5%)
Inventory: 93 (down 5%)
Days on market: 105 (up 91%)
56% of the properties sold within 90 days of listing.
And 78% sold for at least 95% of the listing price. (Hat tip: Meredith Cohen)
The most expensive home on the market is this 11,000-square foot, 6-bedroom, 7 1/2-bath property on 3.45 acres on Charcoal Hill Road. It is listed for $12.5 million.
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Good Friday was a great one, for members of the Westport Rotary Club and Bridgeport families striving to become homeowners.
Rotarians participated in a service day with Habitat for Humanity. They hammered, sawed, and helped their neighbors realize dreams.
Westport Rotary Club, with Habitat for Humanity in Bridgeport.
When it comes to road races, no one beats the Pequot Running Club.
Though based in Southport, they’ve got a strong Westport presence.
For 45 years, thousands of participants have whetted their appetites at the Thanksgiving Day 5-Milel Race. Half of the course winds through our town.
Pequot also initiated, and strongly supports, the Laddie Lawrence Scholarship Fund. Named for the longtime (and legendary) Staples High School coach, it has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars to deserving athletes.
Pequot also assists with the Staples track and field program, and Westport Road Runners Summer Series.
The other day, Pequot Running Club stepped out of its lane. They presented a check for over $100,000 to First Serve Bridgeport. The organization provides tennis, educational and growth opportunities to underserved youngsters in Bridgeport.
Congratulations, Pequot — and may you run forever.
Pequot Running Club founder Packer Wilbur presents a check to Charley Briggs, First Serve Bridgeport board member.
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A New York Times story this morning on former President Trump’s lawyers included the man at his immediate left in Tuesday’s historic arraignment, Westporter Joe Tacopina.
A photo caption said that Trump praised Tacopina for his television appearances.
The piece concluded: “(Trump’s) former attorney general, William P. Barr, shook his head at the sight of the defense table on Tuesday.
“Mr. Barr, who sat for an interview with the House select committee investigating Mr. Trump’s efforts to stay in office, explained that lawyers working for Mr. Trump tend to come to one conclusion.
“’Lawyers inevitably are sorry for taking on assignments with him,’ Mr. Barr said on Fox News. ‘They spend a lot of time before grand juries or depositions themselves.’”
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Westport was represented at yesterday’s historic arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building.
Directly next to former President Trump at the proceedings was one of his key attorneys, Joseph Tacopina.
Attorney Joseph Tacopina sat at former President Trump’s left, during yesterday’s arraignment. (Photo/Curtis Means for EPA)
The Westporter — founder and lead trial attorney of Tacopina Seigel & Deoreo — is no stranger to big cases.
His firm’s website says:
Mr. Tacopina is one of the country’s most respected high-stakes trial attorneys, having successfully tried more than 100 cases in his distinguished career. He frequently represents clients in high-stakes civil, criminal and commercial litigation, zealously advancing their interests and often recovering substantial money damages.
In 2011, he was the featured speaker at Staples High School’s baccalaureate ceremony, the night before graduation.
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Last year, New York Times photojournalist Lynsey Addario captured an image that shook the world.
The 1991 Staples High School graduate was in Irpin, Ukraine, shortly after the Russians invaded. She was just a few yards away, when a mortar killed a woman, her 2 children and a friend.
The grim photo was published worldwide. It brought home the viciousness of the Russian attacks, and remains a defining image of the war.
Lynsey Addario’s photograph of the carnage in Irpin.
Addario — a previous Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Award winner — will no doubt earn many honors for that shot. She’s already won one: a George Polk Award for photojournalism.
Established in 1949 by Long Island University to commemorate a CBS correspondent murdered the previous year while covering the Greek civil war, they highlight “investigative and enterprising reporting that gains attention and achieves results.”
Polk Award winners will be honored April 14 at the New York Athletic Club, the day after a seminar on LIU’s Brooklyn campus. “When Covering War Gets Personal” will feature several winners, delving more deeply into their stories.
But Lynsey is not the only Addario woman in the news.
Her sister Lauren — a 1984 Staples grad — plays drums in a band called mineral Hill. They’ve jusd been nominated for an award for original music, by the New Mexico Music Awards.
ZZ Top will perform at the ceremony, next month in Albuquerque.
By day, Lauren teaches media arts and technology, and directs the Cultural Technology Internship Program at New Mexico Highlands University.
Congratulations, Lynsey and Lauren!
Lauren Addario
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April is Autism Acceptance Month. The Westport Police Department is using the event to promote education, and a greater understanding of autism.
They note: “Rates of autism have grown steadily in Westport and nationally, as early diagnosis has become more accessible. Autism touches most of our lives, and is a part of our community. Westport Police are committed to supporting those with autism and their family members, year-round.”
Many officers have bought Autism Acceptance Badges. They’ll wear them on their uniforms throughout April.
Autism Acceptance Month is a good time for a reminder about Westport’s Disability Registry, a combined effort of the Westport Disability Commission, Human Services and Police Department.
The confidential registry provides information to assist police and other emergency workers to address the needs of residents of all abilities. Click here for more information, and to sign up.
In 2021, Westport Police officers showed off their autism badges.
Last week’s “Evening of Africa” at Wakeman Town Farm was a smash.
Attendees raised $37,000, close to the $50,000 Unite needs for its food program in Tanzania this harvest season.
The funds will help purchase maize from over 300 small-scale farmers, providing them with fair prices as well as 2 hermetic bags each, so they can safely store some of their harvest pest-free to use throughout the year.
Money will also increase the fleet, to transport raw maize from remote villages to to United Food Program’s headquarters in Dar es Salaam. There it will be cleaned, processed and packaged as final maize flour products, for retailers, wholesalers and consumers.
Finally, Unite can purchase, retrofit and install and 40-foot container, to serve as extra storage for its grain inventory.
Click here, here and here for videos from the event. Click here to contribute. Click here to commission an oil painting by Unite’s partner artist Maliondo Amini.
By day, the 2nd floor at 11 Riverside Avenue is a normal art gallery (though one with exceptional work, and a great old-building vibe).
Every so often at night, it turns into a salon.
Owner Michael Chait invites very cool people, to lead informal conversations with in a warm, learn-from-each-other atmosphere.
His next one is even more intriguing than usual.
Tim Manners — a Westporter, and author of “Schoolboy: The Untold Journey of a Yankee Hero” will discuss his subject, legendary 1927 “Murderers’ Row” pitcher Waite Hoyt.
It’s an in-depth book, written with the help of Hoyt’s son.
An organist will play baseball-themed music. “Gates open” at 7 p.m. on April 27.
Tickets are $20. Seats are limited. Click here, or Venmo @Michael-Chait. Questions? Call 203-243-1995.
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Over the past year, Jazz at the Post has become a Westport institution.
Now a new musical event debuts at VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399: “First Folk Sunday.”
Starting May 7, and continuing the first Sunday of every month (12:30 to 2:30 p.m.), longtime and very talented Westport singer Suzanne Sheridan will offer music of the 1960s, ’70s, and “good songs from all time.”
Guest artists will join her. Next month, it’s keyboardist Bob Cooper.
There’s a $10 cover. Brunch and a cash bar are available too. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Suzanne Sheridan
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Five whiskeys from around the world will be featured at the Weston History & Culture Center’s April 29 fundraiser (7 p.m.).
Tasting will be led The Academy Drinks CEO Jessica Spector. Also on the menu: appetizers from Old Mill Grocery, specialty cocktails, beer, wine and a silent auction.
Tickets are $100 each. and can be purchased at: Click here to purchase, and for more information.
Amy Scarella is a 1994 Staples High School graduate. Many Westporters know her as the passionate power behind Little Black Dog Rescue.
She was the woman driving around town with an SUV full of howling canines. She fundraised tirelessly to rescue dogs from kill shelters (usually down South), transport them to Connecticut, and address each dog’s many health problems. Then she matched each dog to a loving family. It’s estimated she and her team have saved over 1,000 animals.
A former teacher in the Bronx, Amy also tutored kids.
Her longtime friend Meghan Bell calls her “the friend who showed up at my house to watch my newborn twins so I could take a shower and a nap. And the friend who drove in a snowstorm to Westchester County Medical Center to pick me up when my father had a stroke and I couldn’t put a sentence together, let alone navigate I-95 in the snow.”
Amy moved to Charleston, South Carolina a few years ago to be closer to her family. Recently, she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. Due to its size and location, there was no more room to grow. She needed immediate surgery.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by her friends, to help with medical and rehabilitation expenses. Anyone who knows Amy’s Little Black Dog Rescue work — and those who don’t, but wishes they did — is invited to contribute.
The next step in the handling of a resident’s complaint about material displayed in the Staples High School library is a special meeting on Monday, April 3 (3:30 p.m., Staples library).
An ad hoc committee, appointed by Superintendent of School Thomas Scarice, will follow up on last week’s session. Westport resident Tara McLaughlin seeks the removal of 3 books — sought the removal of “Gender Queer,” “This Book is Gay” and “Flamer” — from the collection.
Monday’s meeting is the next, in a 9-step process. The committee will discuss previous hearings, and “develop an evaluative judgment and recommendation for consideration by the Superintendent of Schools.”
Public comment will not be allowed. It may be permitted at a later meeting.
Want input into Westport’s Historic Preservation Plan?
The Historic District Commission is conducting a survey, to guide them as they adopt one. The goal is to “establish a long-term vision for historic preservation in the community, and create a set of achievable goals and strategies for strengthening the town’s historic preservation program.”
Click here for the survey. To learn more about the Historic District Commission, click here.
This sign on Jesup Road is looking a bit historic.(Photo/Morley Boyd)
The agenda for their April 11 Zoom meeting includes 6 homes “to take such action as the meeting may determine to oppose the issuance of the demolition permit … and require the full 180-day delay.”
Among those on the chopping block: 45 Compo Beach Road.
Located across from Ned Dimes Marina, on the way to the beach entrance and just north of Roosevelt Road, it’s one of the most recognizable houses in town:
Eleven Westport organizations have received arts grants. They come from 3 state sources: General Operation Support, the Connecticut Arts Endowment, and Supporting Arts.
Westport’s total of $183,647 is distributed this way:
American Chamber Orchestra – $5,764
Beechwood Arts, Inc. – $10,000
Fairfield County Chorale – $12,987
JIB Productions (Play With Your Food) – $2,371
Levitt Pavilion, Friends of Westport – $54,909
MoCA Westport, Inc. – $60,782
Music for Youth Westport – $5,954
Suzuki Music School of Westport & Orange – $3,128
Westport Community Theatre – $9,417
Westport Country Playhouse – $12,959
Westport School of Music – $5,376.
MoCA Westport is one of 11 local organizations to receive state arts grants.
You’ll find it in the Westport Library’s Trefz Forum, now through Sunday. It’s part of Verso Fest — the 2nd annual music-and-media festival.
It’s a 1:4 scale model of the Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound. It was created by former Westonite Anthony Coscia.
The “wall” is on display, and will crank tunes (intermittently) throughout VersoFest. There’s even a class about it (and PA systems): tomorrow (Saturday, April 1, 11 a.m.), open to all.
The aim of Coscia’s project is to preserve The Wall’s place in history, and allow people to hear, see, and feel what few were able to experience.
The model features over 500 functioning speakers divided into 8 channels, producing 100 decibels with little to no distortion.
VersoFest kicked off last night, with a concert by Sunflower Bean. A crowd of over 200 people enjoyed the show.
Sunflower Bean, last night at the Westport Library’s VersoFest. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Tonight it’s the (sold-out) Smithereens. Saturday includes panels with Steve Lillywhite and Richard Butler. Among Sunday’s highlights: a vinyl swap, and the documentary “Live from the Astroturf.”
For a schedule and full details of concerts, workshops and more, click here. All concerts are co-produced by the Library and Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce.
Sunflower Bean backstage at VersoFest, flanked byTalking Head and Tom Tom Club’s Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. (Photo/Matthew Mandell)
Matthew Balga — the Whelk chef killed by a car earlier this month, while walking across Riverside Avenue after work — will be remembered on Sunday.
CT Urbanists — a safe streets advocacy group — will place a pair of “ghost shoes” at the site where he was struck.
A group will walk from the Westport train station at 11:30 a.m. to the site. All are welcome.
Similar ceremonies will honor 3 other pedestrians killed this month, in Greenwich, New Haven and Cheshire.
For more information, email jcproctor@gmail.com.
Chef Matthew Balga
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Aspetuck’s next “Lunch and Learn” webinar is all about nighttime.
“Working the Night Shift: Pollination Happens after Dark Too!” (Wednesday, April 5, noon to 1 p.m.) explores how moths, flies, beetles and other dusk and after-dark pollinators play important roles pollinating wild and managed plants, along with the ecology, diversity and importance of these hidden pollinators, and how to support them.
The presenter is Emily May (pollinator conservation specialist, and agricultural lead with the Xerces Society’s Pesticide Program). Click here for more information, and to register.
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This intriguing photo was recently found in an old barn — used for storage by many families — on Bayberry Lane.
Lloyd and Stacy Stableford think the girl (now woman) in the photo might like to have it back. If you know who she is, email sstableford@gmail.com
President Carter, with an unidentified girl.
Also found: something (possibly valuable), with a dedication. The recipient was “Gramp” referred to as “Tia’s 3rd husband”), who had been an attorney and judge in the early and mid 20th century. It hung in his law office and courtroom until he retired in 1961.
The item was embroidered in Japan in 1914 or 1915, and presented around 1920 by a Lt. Cmdr. R.S. Skelton, whose name appears in the 1883 Congressional Record.
The Stablefords’ research did not yield much. If you know anything more about “Gramp,” email sstableford@gmail.com.
“I am absolutely heartbroken over the loss of an Orvis Recon Fly & Reel. It was my personal favorite and a gift from my wife.
It was accidently left on the right-side parking shoulder nearest the water of Ford Road in Westport Wednesday, between 2 and 6 p.m. Reward given to the kind soul who locates and returns it. Please call Mark at 475-731-7400.”
Let’s hope Mark gets his fly and reel back.
And that his wife doesn’t see this. (Hat tip: Mary Beth Murray)
Orvis Recon
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It’s not Westport, but close enough:
With 136 new apartments planned for the Route 1 border in Norwalk — including Renzulli Road becoming a cul-de-sac, and the demolition of 7 houses, plus several businesses — decades-old Sanitary Cleaners is closing next month.
The final day to accept clothing is tomorrow. (Hat tip: Amy Schneider)
George Billis Gallery recently moved from Westport to Fairfield.
Their original New York location — 527 West 23rd Street — is still open.
That’s where Westport artist Sherri Wolfgang has her next exhibit.
The opening reception is Saturday, April 8 (4 to 7 p.m.). The show runs from April 4-29 (Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m.). For more information, call 917-273-8621.
Beginning tomorrow, dogs will begin their 6-month ban from Compo Beach.
That includes Lola — who lives on Soundview Drive, just yards from the shore.
She prepared for her new life by watching workers smooth the sand.
And by posing for today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo.
(Photo/Sunil Hirani)
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And finally … if you want to weigh in on the Historic District Commission’s Preservation Plan (story above), do not listen to the first lines of this song (or watch the images):
(Don’t know much about Westport? Read “06880.” Learn. And then support our work. Please click here. Thank you!)
Westport’s fundraising for our sister city of Lyman, Ukraine continues to pay dividends.
The latest video from Ukraine Aid International shows one of 7 apartment complexes that have been saved, thanks to generous donations from Westporters.
An older resident describes conditions there. They have electricity and water, for which he is grateful.
It’s easy for us here to focus on things that, in the grand scheme of life, are truly minor. Click below, for a reality check.
Aid for our friends in Ukraine is still needed. Click here; under “Designation,” select “Westport – Lyman sister city.” Thank you!
The last time we checked in with Julia Marino, the Olympic snowboarding silver medalist was featured on a new Miggs Burroughs lightbox greeting arrivals at the Westport train station.
She just competed in her final events of the winter, last week in Austria and yesterday in Switzerland.
The Westport native won the FIS Crystal Globe for slopestyle, making her the top rider in this discipline for the entire season.
On Saturday she took gold at the World Cup in Corvatsch. Her winning video is below.
Julia also earned an FIS silver medal as best “Park and Pipe” rider, just 7 points behind the leader. The award includes snowboard athletes from 3 disciplines; slopestyle, big air and half-pipe.
Click here for a story on her Swiss run, and an interview with Julia.
Her mother Elaine was there this weekend, to cheer her on:
Speaking of sports: A familiar scene returned to Compo Beach yesterday morning.
I have no idea how long this touch football game has been going on at Compo. But it’s been a long time.
The players may change. But this image is timeless.
(Photo/Sunil Hirani)
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Following on the heels — or wings — of the Fresh Market osprey, another raptor has returned to Longshore.
Alert “06880” reader Clarence Hayes reports: “They don’t start sitting on the nests until the females arrive and eggs are laid. There should be at least another 5 soon, to fill out the 3 permanent nests around the golf course.”
Osprey at Longshore (Photo/Clarence Hayes)
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This is not the first wild turkey to be featured on “Westport … Naturally.”
The Longshore golf course opens next Tuesday (March 28) — weather permitting.
Head pro Jon Janik and course superintendent Brad Brown have worked hard to make sure everything is ready.
For golf course information, including advanced and same day tee time bookings, click here. Contact the Pro Shop at 203-221-0900 or 203-226-9785.
Westport residents can purchase or renew handpasses by clicking here, or in person weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Parks & Recreation office, near the first tee.
Photos with Farm Animals (April 16 and 24): WTF has teamed up with photographer Ilona Musial for 2 days of outdoor photo shoots with chicks and bunnies. A portion of the proceeds go toward farm educational initiatives and scholarships for underserved populations. For more information and prices, email imusialphotography@gmail.com.
Designing a Native Landscape in Deer Country (April 17, 7 p.m.; $10): Everyone welcome nature. But deer can go overboard in our gardens. Veteran landscape designer Brid Craddock discusses deer-proof plants, and techniques she uses to keep Bambi away from native plants. Click here to register.
Learn About Canning from a Preserving Pro (June 4, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; $125): Can you can? Whether you need a refresher or want to experiment with new flavor trends and foods safely, join master preserver Pam Lillis. Just before summer, she’ll share tips. Take home a berry jam and a stone fruit jam too. Click here to register.
Kids’ Cooking Camp (Ages 7-10; July 10-13, 9 a.m. to noon): The day begins picking organic ingredients. Students explore simple Italian cooking, Asian street food, tapas and more. Class size is limited for best experience. Click here for more information, and to register.
At Wakeman Town Farm, learn to avoid this scene. Photo/Dick Truitt)
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Amy Simon Fine Art’s new show debuts at 123 March 25.
Featured artists include Angela Lane, David Skillicorn and Laura Gurton.
It runs through April 29.
“Curves Too” — acrylic on poplar (Angela Lane)
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It’s still early spring. But it won’t be long until the trees are in bloom, the benches are filled, and this “Westport … Naturally” scene looks quite different.
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They win a lot. But, Ben wonders: Is that all that matters?
