Category Archives: Westport life

“06880” Turns 17. Thank You, Readers!

Posted on March 2, 2026 | 11 comments

This week, “06880” turns 17 years old.

Whether you remember that first post or discovered us yesterday, we hope you enjoy our 5 a.m. lead story; the morning Roundup and evening Pic of the Day; features like Unsung Heroes, Friday Flashback, online art gallery and Photo Challenge, plus breaking news and much more, throughout the day.

“06880” is your 24/7/365 hyper-local, full-service blog. We haven’t missed a day since we began, way back in 2009.

Here’s an important question: How much do you pay for this service?

From the beginning, “06880” has followed the NPR model. We rely on your support, at whatever level you feel comfortable. (Click here to skip the rest of this appeal, and contribute directly.)

Some readers pay $50, $100 or $365 a year. A few pay more.

Some contribute $10, $20 or $30 a month.

Several “06880” readers donate through personal foundations. Others give matching grants, through their employers.

The vast majority of readers, though, give nothing.

They read “06880” every day. They love it. But for whatever reason — forgetfulness, not realizing our funding model, the thrill of getting something for nothing — they don’t contribute to Westport’s most popular source of news, events, features, profiles, history, and bad parking jobs.

Reader support allows “06880” to survive and thrive. It pays for internet hosting, computer software and IT help, insurance, freelancers — and the salary of the founder and executive editor, yours truly.

I’m 17. Well, my blog is, anyway. (Photo/Pam Einarsen)

“06880” is a labor of love. For 17 years I’ve researched, written, edited, taken and cropped photos, monitored the comments section, and answered your emails.

Along the way I’ve posted over 20,200 stories. I’ve publicized your organizations and fundraisers; helped you through blizzards and hurricanes; written about you and your kids; made you smile, cry, think and act.

With “06880”‘s growth, this is now my full-time, 8- to 10-hour-a-day, 7 days a week job.

So whether you’re a loyal supporter (thank you so much!), an occasional contributor (ditto!), or one who (ahem) prefers to spend all your money elsewhere — thanks for reading this far.

This is our annual fundraising appeal. Now just read a little bit further, to learn how to contribute to your favorite — and several times daily — hyper-local blog.

As a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, we offer tax-deductibility to the extent allowed by law. In addition to individual contributions, we can accept corporate matching funds, and foundation grants.

You can donate by PayPal or credit card: click here. It’s easy, safe — and you don’t even need a PayPal account. 

Checks can be mailed to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881.

We’re also on Venmo: @blog06880

You can even scan this QR code:

Whichever method you choose: Thank you!

And tomorrow we go back to our regular programming.

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Posted in Categories, Media, Westport life

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RTM: Committee Could Advocate For Cribari Bridge

Posted on February 25, 2026 | 2 comments

Representative Town Meeting (RTM) members spoke — and listened — last night, in a Zoom session focused on one topic: the Cribari Bridge.

The session was organized by RTM rep Matthew Mandell, in response to concerns about the future of the 143-year-old span — the oldest swing bridge of its kind in the country.

As a March 19 meeting (6 p.m., Town Hall auditorium) with the state Department of Transportation looms, members from RTM Districts 1, 4 and 9 — all encompassing or close to Saugatuck and Greens Farms – hoped to gain input and find consensus on possible action.

They discussed — and the public reinforced — concerns about traffic, safety, and a process many feel is already preordained by the state Department of Transportation.

In the end, support was strong for a committee — appointed by 1st Selectman Kevin Christie, and including RTM members — to give clear guidance to DOT, regarding the town’s wishes and demands.

Christie said he would discuss the idea with others. A sense of the meeting resolution may be voted on Tuesday, when the RTM meets next.

Last night’s meeting drew, at one point, 140 people. Matthew Mandell — the District 1 representative who organized the session — said the goal was for the town to plan how to work with DOT on a solution that’s good for “the residents and the state.”

“The RTM must champion residents’ efforts, no matter how it’s built,” Jennifer Johnson (District 9) said. She, like many others, noted the importance of not allowing Route 136  and Greens Farms Road to become a “truck route.”

Cribari Bridge (Photo/Whitmal Cooper)

Fellow District 9 rep Kristin Schneeman cited 2 distinct areas to examine: the engineering and design of the bridge, and the policy that drives discussion of its rehabilitation or replacement.

District 9 member Nancy Kail pressed for the involvement of Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and Representative Jim Himes.

With much of the discussion revolving around Bridge Street, 2 speakers pointed to the bridge’s impact on other parts of town.

Lou Mall — an RTM member whose District 2 includes the often-gridlocked Riverside Avenue/Post Road West/Wilton Road intersection — said that whatever happens at Bridge Street will “squeeze the balloon,” with traffic affecting other parts of town.

Robbie Guimond, who lives on Riverside Avenue and owns a marina there, asked, “Why is the RTM so insistent on protecting one part of Westport — Bridge Street — at the expense of another?”

Town residents expressed frustration with the town’s previous dealings with DOT.

“They’re running roughshod over us,” said Valerie Seiling Jacobs, co-chair of Save Westport Now. “We know the answers they’ll give us on March 19. They’re not going to collaborate with us — they’ve made that clear.”

One example: DOT “did not require contractors to have any experience in historic renovation” when they sent information on possible bids.

“How many times do we have to ask questions, and get hit over the head?” Jacobs asked. “The DOT has said that the bridge will be built to (its) code. We need a strategy, and a solution, before the 19th.”

Nearly everyone agreed that something must — and will — be done to the Cribari Bridge. The issues were twofold: What will it be? And what role will Westport have in the process?

“Safety and careful planning are not conflicting goals,” said Werner Liepolt, a Bridge Street resident who has been active in the issue for years.

Westporter Ray Broady looked at the decade-long debate about the future of the Cribari Bridge, and the many proposals, arguments and counter-arguments that keep cropping up.

“This is Whac-a-Mole,” he said.

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Posted in Local politics, Saugatuck, Transportation, Westport life

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Skip Gilbert: Winter Olympics Offer Lessons For Youth Sports

Posted on February 25, 2026 | 2 comments

Skip Gilbert knows his way around sports.

The former Westporter — now a Weston resident — worked with the US Tennis Association, USA Triathlon, USA Swimming and US Soccer. He was chair of the National Governing Bodies Council, and managing director of operations, marketing and development for the US Anti-Doping Agency.

Skip Gilbert

Most recently, Gilbert was CEO of US Youth Soccer.

That’s especially fitting: He was a University of Vermont goalkeeper star, played with the professional Tampa Bay Rowdies, and trained with Sheffield United, and clubs in Holland and Hong Kong.

This month, Gilbert avidly watched the Winter Olympics. He had 2 perspectives: industry insider, and sports fan.

He wrote some thoughts for a soccer publication. But his insights speak to perhaps the most burning issue in all youth sports, here and across the country: At what age should children start to specialize? How young is too young — and what will happen if they don’t choose one sport early in life? 

Gilbert said:

What did the Winter Olympics tell us about youth soccer in the US?

Plenty.

First, let me congratulate my former national governing body colleagues in putting together an impressive collection of world-class athletes to propel Team USA to its most successful Winter Games in history.

They were incredible to watch, and I could not have been prouder, absorbing every minute of every telecast.

Both the US men’s and women’s hockey teams won gold medals — both with 2-1 overtime wins against Canada.

Of all the great content delivered by NBC over the past few weeks, the most impactful regarding youth soccer was a segment by Mary Carillo, outlining the philosophy of youth development by one European country for kids under 12.

Their focus is for those kids to learn the chosen sport(s) with the goal of having fun. No pressure, no champions, no imagined expectations for parents to embrace.

Many will say that culture can’t succeed in the US.

I strongly disagree. For years, well before my recent role in youth soccer, I’ve been a strong advocate for multi-sport training for kids under 12 — and a firm believer that the only term kids under 12 should use is “player.”

No “elite.” No “travel.” Just “player.”

I also emphatically support the American Development Model (ADM) for coaching, designed by a sport national governing body and the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

For kids under 12, the goal is to learn the game, have fun, and pursue a path that will allow them to love, play and enjoy the game throughout their entire life.

From there, those with the “it” factor will have the path to follow, courtesy of the ADM. Those that don’t will not need to quit the sport. They will have an alternate path to follow.

If you are skeptical, let me end with 2 questions.

What national governing body wrote the ADM with the USOPC? USA Hockey — and they have gold medals for both the women’s and men’s teams.

As for the European country? It’s Norway: population 5.5 million (the same as Minnesota; the US population is 342 million). Their performance this month produced the most gold medals — and most total medals — in Winter Olympic history.

The Winter Olympics told us clearly that youth soccer in the US has something to learn.

Many other sports can heed those lessons too.

(“06880” regularly covers sports, kids, the joys and pressures of life in Westport, and much more. If you enjoy the broad scope of this hyper-local blog, please click here to support us. Thank you!)

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Posted in Children, Sports, Westport life

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“Students Speak”: Looking Back And Ahead, Pressure All Around

Posted on February 24, 2026 | 10 comments

“Students Speak” is a regular feature of “06880.” We offer this space to Westport teenagers, to talk about anything important in their lives.

Sienna Tzou is a sophomore at Staples High School. She has lived in Westport since 2013.

She is a member of the Pre-med and Asian Students clubs, and co-president of Staples Writers’ Room. She competes regionally in bouldering and lead climbing, and has worked as a barista at Retreat Sweets and a CIT at Rock Climb Fairfield. Sienna tutors young students each week at the Westport Library. She enjoys reading, writing, and watching horror movies. Sienna writes:

It’s getting closer to the time when I have to know what I want to do with my life.

In the underappreciated years of middle school I tried much harder than any of my peers, likely even more than a handful of them combined. I outdid every part of my life that I could get my hands on.

Sienna Tzou

I participated in multiple sports, after-school clubs, and 3 early morning music ensembles. I studied SAT vocabulary daily, wrote notes of analysis on the books I read in my free time, made lists of target and safety universities I’d apply to, and loathed if even a shred of space wasn’t filled in my calendar.

I was always told that middle school didn’t matter, but I was relentless in earning straight A’s anyway. I felt the need to succeed in every subject, including the ones I struggled in. The last thing I’d want to do on a Friday evening became the only thing I did on Friday evenings.

I kept tearing away at my brittle and depleted supply of youthful vitality, rocking back and forth and rocketing off the seesaw of my emotions.

I wasn’t just bitten down; I was sawed down to the quick by everything that did not matter. The only person I was competing with was myself, but I was regrettably up against the most vile and ruthless competitor yet, no match for a middle-school kid.

Now that I look back, I don’t thank my previous self nor do any fond memories refract the occasional creep-ups of those times. If I take a look at the list of target schools I spent hours researching to devise, it would almost look like I was kidding myself.

Reality was just code for something unwarranted and extraterrestrial that existed in another dimension as a kid of 13 years.

This immense pressure has grown and developed, and thankfully subdued upon my entry to high school. It has still, nevertheless, attached the roots of its existence into my skull, thus being incurable.

Most kids from here come from parents who passed on the traits of ambition to succeed. From the looks of it, to fail would mean shaming the generations that had preceded us, breaking off the end of the chain. We simply don’t feel like we can afford being the weakest link.

Away from school: Sienna Tzou pursues one of her passions, at Rock Climb Fairfield.

This doesn’t apply for absolutely every teenager in Westport, but as soon as someone announces they’ll be taking 4 AP classes next year, a gang of teens will crowd the counselors’ suite to take 5. Most seek to be well-rounded, but does that leave any room for uniquely sharp edges?

Given that it’s the time of year for course selection, I’ve seen my peers compile AP after AP because it will “look good for resumes” or because they “can’t take fewer APs” than Academic Rival #12.

An abundantly resource-rich environment for personal growth and the cultivation of youthful learning has unfolded into a landscape of deadly competitive aptitude.

I can’t speak for everyone at Staples, but from observation from the span of my time in high school so far, taking the learning to heart without the side thought of a grade or credit is an endangered species.

From many accounts, students have locked themselves in their rooms from when they got home to after their entire family was asleep, drank multiple servings of caffeine when they felt at risk of falling asleep, and quit activities they genuinely enjoyed to pursue a grade in a class that wasn’t relevant to their interests.

What’s a grave eye opener is that up until we’ve turned 18 and rounded the corner to be sent off to face the world on our own, we are living in the smallest capsule of time in our lives.

The average person in the US lives for roughly 78 years. Sleep consumes 1/3 of their life, while 1/7 of their waking life is spent on social media. Gen Z spends increased hours on their phones, more than the average adult. Most Americans spend 60% of their lives working, the majority of them not finding joy in their role but only working the job for the sake of their paycheck.

A decade later: Where are they now?

How heavily we focus on our academics now paves the way to undergraduate university to grad school to careers to the rest of our lives. This is the age-old proverb we are spoonfed as soon as our conscious mind can comprehend this.

It’s not wrong, but our generation is accustomed to nothing else, and we therefore expect ourselves to be versions of perfection, some not even existent.

I’m at the juncture where I have to choose how I want to lead my life. I regret how extreme middle school was for me, but I know that what I’m pursuing will last me for the rest of the years I live

(“Students Speak” is open to all students who live or attend school in Westport. You can write on any topic relevant to your life. Send questions or submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com.)

(“06880” is your hyper-local blog. We exist for — and are supported by — our readers. Contributions are welcome! Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation. Thank you!)

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Posted in Education, Teenagers, Westport life

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[OPINION] Bridge Street Historic District: Myth vs. Fact

Posted on February 20, 2026 | 10 comments

Werner Liepolt lives in the Bridge Street Historic District.

He has watched with interest as the District has become part of the discussion around the future of the Cribari Bridge. He writes:

Myth 1: “Historic district status means nothing can be changed.”

Fact: National Register listing does not stop projects. It simply requires that federally involved projects evaluate impacts on historic character and consider alternatives before decisions are finalized.

Myth 2: “This is just one neighborhood trying to protect itself.”

Fact: Federal law requires special review when a project may affect a recognized historic district. The issue isn’t favoritism — it’s whether required federal review standards are being followed properly.

Myth 3: “Historic protections only apply to buildings, not traffic.”

Fact: Under federal review (NEPA and Section 106), agencies must consider indirect effects — including traffic patterns, noise, vibration, and setting — if they could affect a historic district’s character.

Historic District: The 1886 Orlando Allen House, at 24 Bridge Street.

Myth 4: “The bridge is old, so replacement is inevitable.”

Fact: Federal law requires agencies to evaluate a reasonable range of alternatives, including rehabilitation, before deciding on replacement — especially for historic resources.

Myth 5: “Historic designation blocks safety improvements.”

Fact: Safety improvements can absolutely happen. The requirement is simply that agencies evaluate options carefully and transparently before selecting an approach.

Myth 6: “If traffic is a problem everywhere, the historic district shouldn’t matter.”

Fact: Many areas face traffic concerns, but federally recognized historic districts trigger specific legal review requirements that don’t apply in the same way elsewhere.

18 Bridge Street

Myth 7: “This is about stopping progress.”

Fact: The goal is not to stop change, but to ensure that decisions are made with full information and proper public process, as required under federal law.

Myth 8: “Bridge Street National District is no different than other neighborhoods.”

Fact: It has been recognized nationally, and what happens fall under federal regulations.

(“06880” Opinion pages are open to all. Email submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com)

10 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Real estate, Westport life

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“06880” Podcast: Marina Drasnin

Posted on February 10, 2026 | 1 comment

Marina Drasnin is a different kind of “06880” podcast guest.

She’s not in town government. She does not lead an interesting business, non-profit or organization.

What Marina is is a very excited new resident of Westport. She’s been here just a year, but she loves everything about this town.

She sees it through fresh eyes, and offers an intriguing perspective. The other day we chatted about Westport — what brought her here (spoiler alert: It involved the LA wildfires), what she expected, what she found, and much more.

Click here or below to see this place through very special eyes: Marina Drasnin’s.

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Posted in Westport life

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“06880” And AI: A Deeper Dive Into Our Westport World

Posted on February 10, 2026 | 17 comments

Since our first post in 2009, “06880” has published over 20,100 stories.

Thanks to our “Search the Archives” box, you could find any of them. “Cribari Bridge,” “Community Gardens,” “Remarkable Book Shop” — type in keywords (don’t forget the quotation marks!), and you’d get every reference, from most recent to oldest.

Then your work really began. You had to click on each story individually. The search engine did not distinguish between, say, a story about a Cribari Bridge Department of Transportation hearing, holiday lights there, or a photo of it.

And you couldn’t search the Comments section — that rich repository of over 180,000 opinions (plus bombast and bile).

But “Search” is so yesterday.

Now it’s 2026. AI is taking over the world.

Today, “06880” introduces a new way to explore our blog.

It’s as hyper-local as we are. And as revolutionary as any AI search engine on any blog like this, anywhere.

We call it “the ‘06880’ Widget.” It’s the product (of course!) of a Westport business.

With it, you can take a deep dive into not just what “06880” has written about, but how those stories tie together. How readers responded to them. And what it all means for you, your life here, and what’s ahead.

The “‘06880’ widget” floats in the upper right hand corner of every page. (NOTE: It’s not yet available via a button on the app. That’s coming soon.)

The arrow points to our new “06880” AI widget.

Click on the box, and type in a request:

  • “Tell me about last year’s real estate trends.”
  • “What do readers think about the Community Gardens?”
  • “What should newcomers know about Westport?”
  • “What events are happening on Saturday, February 14, 2026?”
  • “What was the restaurant before The Bridge at Saugatuck?”

You’ll see 3 dots. AI plows through 17 years of “06880” posts — and only “06880” — to deliver, within seconds, a comprehensive reply.

i asked our AI widget what readers think about the Community Gardens. This is the start of the reply.

Many responses include clickable links, bringing you to a relevant story.

AI is not perfect, of course. It hiccups. And — as with any AI engine — the quality of the response relates directly to the clarity and specificity of the prompt.

The more you use it, the better you understand how to frame your request.

For example, “What is the best Italian restaurant?” is not a good question. “What readers say about Westport’s Italian restaurants?” is better.

Boy, is this a cool tool!

“06880” readers love Tutti’s, owned by Pasquale and Maria Funicello (above). The “‘06880 widget’ knows what those readers say.

The “‘06880’ widget” was developed by ThoughtPartnr. The Westport-based startup creates practical, easy-to-use AI tools for local businesses and community organizations.

While big tech companies build AI for Fortune 500 firms, ThoughtPartnr leverages its proprietary local language model to create AI for “Main Streets”: Chambers of Commerce, stores, libraries, Y’s and other community institutions.

The ThoughtPartnr widget is already available on the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce website. More local partners are coming soon.

The company was founded by Westport resident Jay Norris, with fellow residents Anil Nair and Matt Snow.

From left: Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce director Matthew Mandell, with ThoughtPartnr’s Jay Norris, Anil Nair and Matt Snow. (Photos/Dan Woog)

ThoughtPartnr’s team — including Michael Salzinger — insert code into the site’s HTML. The widget scans the site every day to stay current. 

For a Chamber of Commerce, the AI widget can answer questions like, “What stores specialize in home decor?” For a Y it might be, “Are there swim programs for 4-year-olds?”

For “06880” meanwhile, there is 17 years’ worth of stories and comments to analyze, summarize and offer up, to anyone who wants to know.

If you have questions about this story, don’t email “06880.”

Just ask our widget.

(Our new widget is just one more feature, for our ever-helpful, always-evolving “06880.” To help support all that we do, please click here.)

17 Comments

Posted in technology, Westport life

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[OPINION] TEAM Westport: “A Force For Ideological Divisiveness, Bullying”

Posted on January 9, 2026 | 72 comments

TEAM Westport is a town committee. Its mission is to “make the Town of Westport increasingly welcoming with respect to race, ethnicity, religion and LGBTQIA+.” The acronym stands for “Together Effectively Achieving Multiculturalism.” 

Last month, Philip Gallo resigned from TEAM Westport. He writes:

We moved here in 2023. We didn’t think being a gay couple, my husband Latino and Native American, would be relevant. It hasn’t been.

Neighbors introduced us to the town’s Republican Party. A life-long Democrat, I strayed from the party’s far-left direction — open borders, anti-police, taxes, identity politics — so we shifted parties.

I heard TEAM Westport was a committee to make the town more welcoming, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and they needed non-Dems, given Connecticut rules.

While “multiculturalism” was in the acronym, and I never thought all cultures are equal, enjoying Western culture (that gave me and my husband the right to marry with a family), I would give it a go.

I came out in the 1980s, the first openly gay attorney at Cleary Gottlieb, an early out employee at Goldman Sachs, benefactor of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

Heck, I rang the NYSE closing bell for Pride month. I thought TEAM would welcome me. I mistakenly believed they’d want people with different viewpoints, welcome discussion about bias, and be even-handed in addressing controversial topics.

No, TEAM expected ideological conformity, a focus on racial essentialism, grievance, and left-wing ideology, cloaked in liberal elitism.

I invited the chair to my home, he couldn’t make it, I never got a reciprocal invite.

I got lectured by affluent white female liberals (AWFLs) about privilege. I witnessed town leaders come to TEAM. Why?  It seemed like a Star Chamber, everyone said they were against discrimination, though there seemed little of it.

When the teen book essay contest was discussed, I read many winning contributions. Someone who wasn’t white wrote about how hard it was to be “different,” or was white and how much privilege they had.

TEAM Westport 2025 teen essay winners, with town, school, TEAM and Westport Library officials. (Photo/Dan Woog)

Coming from a blue-collar background, where my father didn’t finish high school and I worked my butt off during college and law school, I saw everyone in Westport as having privilege.

The chair attended an Ivy League school and an elite boarding school. The winners went off to elite colleges.

I said the essay prompt elicited these responses, why did the judges rate them, it seemed hypocritical. We should engender discussion, but also gratitude. How would Bridgeport kids view it?

I asked to be on the essay sub-committee, but was given the cold shoulder.  Obviously, giving space for grievance would make the town a better place.

The book club was similar.  I suggested reading conservative authors, some black and gay! Books were about the racial wealth gap, focusing on discrimination rather than other causes and failing to compare successful minorities with whites, I mentioned this to angry stares.

We celebrated the Indigenous producer of a “documentary” about Canadian schools, which looked like a hit job on the Catholic church, everyone loved it.

TEAM was asked to support the ADL’s “No Place for Hate” program in schools. I researched it. This wasn’t just about eliminating hate, fine, it was about enforcing ideological conformity.

Groups right of center were “hate groups,” Turning Point USA was “extremist,” it took the Kirk assassination to scrub the list.

Like many gay people, I question gender ideology suggesting you can’t tell boys from girls at birth, supporting gender treatments for minors. The ADL materials indicate these questions were signs of bias and bullying, other materials include the pyramid of privilege, focusing on the oppressed.

We’ve seen the outpouring of this conformist, academic thinking on college campuses post-10/7.

Ironically, I got bullied when I raised my objections, with sneers and snide remarks. I found repugnant the chair sending a letter on behalf of TEAM to the state describing the insidious effects of discrimination here, that he had to send his kids to Exeter and Choate, without noting the elitism, which was rich!

Again, I got lectured by rich white ladies saying TEAM was better before the committee included people like me.

Last month I questioned DEI.  I think diversity can be cool, but “equity” got added, everyone was afraid to say it meant reverse and specifically anti-white discrimination, and with inclusion, traditional views weren’t welcome.

Time for a reboot, it’s a broken-down brand, half the country hates it, constitutionally suspect, overly focused on race, divisive, how about MERIT (merit, excellence, respect, innovation, teamwork)?

One regular attendee exclaimed “F… you!” twice, I stood up facing the new selectman to ask the guy be removed, the chair said nothing to him. My views, unwelcome, I guess foul language was.

The committee mandate was to make the town more welcoming regardless of race, ethnicity, sexuality, not DEI?  No, “DEI” was its mandate. After the George Floyd killing, many towns approved whatever DEI language was put in front of it. I still believe it is time for a refresh.

I see ridiculous Saturday protests on the bridge, I’m called “fascist” for showing my thumb’s down. These thoughts, unwelcome at TEAM, regardless of my personal story.

Anti-Trump protest on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge. (Photo/Dan Woog)

Also unwelcome, self-reflection on the elitism of the surroundings and the expectation of liberal conformity.

Westport is great, I’m grateful to be here. TEAM, the least welcoming part of Westport.

Rich liberals love it, but it’s a force for ideological divisiveness and bullying. I resigned, I’ll hang out with my neighbors, at least they’re nice.

Respectfully,
Phil Gallo

(“06880” invited TEAM Westport chair Harold Bailey to reply. He declined to comment.)

72 Comments

Posted in Local politics, Westport life

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Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2026 | 10 comments

For several years, “06880” rang in the new year with an iconic photo: The “blue marble” image of Earth, suspended in space.

Taken by Apollo 17 astronauts in December 1972, for half a century it symbolized the beauty and fragility of our planet, and the interconnectedness of us all.

Three years ago, I went intergalactic.

In the years since the James Webb Space Telescope beamed its first pictures back to us, the world has been mesmerized.

We thought we knew how vast and amazing the universe is.

Now, we realize, we don’t know the half — or the hundredth, or squintillionth — of it.

Gazing at photos like the one above, we realize how insignificant we truly are. Our planet is just one grain of sand, on an obscure beach, in an out-of-the-way location.

We really don’t matter at all.

Except to us.

Take a look at that photo again.

That landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region in the Carina Nebula. For the first time, we see stars being born.

We look billions of light years into the past. That’s crazy stuff.

So — back here on Earth, in our tiny ZIP code in our small state in our big country in our average-sized planet — we have to wonder: What actually matters?

Is it whether our new athletic field is grass or turf? Is it whether we build a parking deck downtown? Is it the inconvenience of traffic on our roads, or a neighbor who chops down most of his trees?

The answer is: Yes.

These things matter.

They matter because they are part of our lives here in Westport. Sure, the universe seems endless; we still can’t really conceive of the fourth dimension, and our universe itself may be part of another, “living” life form.

In other words, the Westport — and the world — we know may just be atoms in an infinitely more complex something-or-other.

But all that’s for another day (or time).

Meanwhile, we look for the answers to life out there. Right now though, it’s our own lives to lead, right here in “06880.”

Let’s lead them well.

And so … bringing us back to what we know best … here’s that beautiful blue marble, once more.

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Posted in Westport life

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Helping Grieving Family, Friends Through Holidays

Posted on December 17, 2025 | 3 comments

Jeff Kimball says, “The holidays are filled with joy, lights and laughter. But they’re also a time when people tend to suffer in silence, in the shadows of all the excitement.”

He should know. A longtime Westport resident, he has spent over 20 years supporting children and adults who are sick or grieving, in positions like CEO and executive director at Circle of Care, Experience Camps and United Way of Fairfield County. He is now president of Empower Healing Center, which he co-founded.

Jeff Kimball

“I know what it’s like, having dealt with grief professionally and personally,” Jeff notes.

“I lost my wife to cancer at age 38 when my girls were 3 and 5, and both of my parents, my best friend and my 9-year-old niece, all in a handful of years.

“I have since spent my time giving back to help people who are suffering and need support.

“I know people have the best of intentions and want to help those who are grieving. But many don’t know what to do or say, so they pull away at a time when support is needed most.

“This leaves people feeling even more isolated. I thought it might be helpful to provide some tips — non-therapeutic advice — to let people know what kind of support those of us who are grieving need, especially during the holidays.

Jeff’s Empower Healing Center offers practical tips. They include:

  • Lean in. Presence matters more than perfection.
  • Don’t try to fix it. As Paul McCartney said, “Let it be.”
  • Say a loved one’s name.
  • Include them — but give options.
  • If you’re tasked with helping people, be specific. Making more demands of someone grieving can feel overwhelming.

  • Understand that joy and grief can coexist. Grief is a moment. Grieving is a journey.
  • Respect boundaries.
  • What you might want in this moment might not be what someone else needs.
  • Remember: Grief lasts longer than a season.
  • Random acts of kindness are transformative.

For more details on each tip, click here. 

“I’m so proud to live in such a supportive, loving community,” Jeff says.

“I want those who are grieving to know you are never alone, that the hurt you feel will one day be met with loving, warm memories, and that there are many people here in town who love and support you. Don’t ever give up!”

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