Jay Walshon moved to Westport in 1985. He spent his career in emergency medicine, including chair and director of Milford Hospital for 35 years. His 2 children are Staples High School graduates.
Though Jay has never sought political office, he frequently attends and speaks at public meetings.
He believes that an informed electorate is beneficial to Westport’s future. He is intrigued that there is a third party (Independent) candidate in this year’s election.
Curious as to the impact that candidacy might have, he did some research. Jay writes:
This is the 5th time since 1997 in which a third party candidate is running for first selectman. It might be instructive to review Westport’s political party registrations, along with all the first selectman races since 1997, to see if there are any trends or patterns.
Date on registered voters, from 1997-2021. For the 2017 and ’21 elections only, the numbers in parentheses show the number of eligible voters who actually cast ballots.
Here is a summary of the prior 7 first selectman races:
1997: Diane Farrell (D) defeated Joe Arcudi (R), 61% to 39%.
2001: Diane Farrell (D) defeated John Izzo (R) and John Kluchnick (Ind) 70% to 29% and 1%.
Diane Goss Farrell
2005: Gordon Joseloff (D) defeated John Izzo (R) 59% to 41%.
2009: Gordon Joseloff (D) defeated Gavin Anderson (R) 46% and John Izzo (Ind) 52% to 46% and 2%.
2013: Jim Marpe (R) 55% defeated Helen Garten (D) 55% to 45%.
Jim Marpe (Photo/Ted Horowitz)
2017: Jim Marpe (R) defeated Melissa Kane (D) and John Suggs (Ind) 49.5% to 45% and 5%. TJ Elgin (Ind) got 0.3%.
2021: Jen Tooker (R) defeated Jonathan Steinberg (D) and TJ Elgin (Ind) 50% to 49.2% and 0.8%.
Since 1997, the percentage of Republican registrations has diminished markedly, while the number of Democratic, unaffiliated and other registrations have markedly increased.
Voter turnout also varies.
In 2017 and 2021, Republican and Democrat turnout was around 50%, while unaffiliated and other was around 33%.
In 1997, despite Republicans far outnumbering Democrats, Diane Farrell handily beat Republican incumbent Joe Arcudi.
Joe Arcudi
In 2001 Farrell easily beat Republican John Izzo and independent John Kluchnick. The independent vote was inconsequential.
In 2013 the opposite of 1997 occurred. Republican Jim Marpe defeated Helen Garten.
The most recent 2 elections were interesting – and very close.
In 2017, out of 17,867 potential votes and 8,510 votes cast, Republican Jim Marpe beat Democrat Melissa Kane by 455 votes. The 2 independent candidates got 462 votes.
In 2021, Republican Jen Tooker defeated Democrat Jonathan Steinberg by 69 votes. The third party candidate received 64.
In 2001 and 2009, third party candidates had negligible impacts upon clear-cut elections. However, in the most recent 2 cycles they were impactful, and possibly determinative.
This year, the third party candidate has run a more competitive — and well-funded — race than any previous one.
The impact in 2025 will be known the night of November 4.
The good news: The decade-long Post Road project may be coming to end.
The bad news: Starting this weekend, and continuing for a week (or more), US 1 will be more difficult to navigate than ever.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation begins its “final paving and milling phase” tomorrow (Sunday).
Work will start at the Sherwood Island Connector, and continue west through Westport toward Norwalk.
Expect lane closures, alternating traffic and reduced speeds.
Manhole covers and catch basin tops will be temporarily raised. Be alert!
And, DOT says: “Be patient. This long-awaited final phase will deliver smoother roads and improved drainage once complete.” (Hat tip: Andrew Colabella)
A walk in the park, compared to what’s coming down the pike this week. (Photo/Jerri Graham)
It’s late notice, but important: Today (Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Westport is participating in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
Westport Police and the Drug Enforcement Agency are collecting tablets, capsules, patches and other solid forms of old, unwanted and expired prescription drugs. The collection site is the Senior Center.
They will NOT accept syringes, sharps or illicit drugs. Liquid products like cough syrup should remain sealed in original containers. For more information, click here.
================================================
Through the first 5 days of early voting, 4.54 % of eligible Westport voters have cast ballots.
The breakdown:
Democrats: 531 of 7,952 eligible voters (6.68%)
Republicans: 123 of 3,338 eligible voters (3.68%)
Unaffiliated: 204 of 7,581 eligible voters (2.69%)
Early voting continues this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
The early voting schedule next week, also at Town Hall:
Monday, October 27 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday, October 28 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, October 29 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday, October 30 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday, October 31 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, November 1 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, November 2 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
=================================================
Westporters may know Tom Greenwald as a young adult author, and youth sports expert.
But the 1979 Staples High School graduate is also co-founder of SpotCo. The ad agency — specializing in theater clients — has created some of Broadway’s classic (and most successful) campaigns, including “Hamilton,” “Hadestown” and “Rent.”
(You think those shows just sold themselves?!)
Now Greenwald is co-host of a podcast. “The Show Must Go on Sale!” launched yesterday.
The cleverly named podcast (these guys are good!) is the first ever dedicated specifically to Broadway advertising and marketing. Producers, general managers, press agents, ad execs and more will chat about the ups, downs, fun and frustrations of convincing audiences to buy a ticket (+3 = Family Pack!) to a live performance.
“I’ve been doing this for close to 30 years, which makes me somewhat qualified to understand how fantastic and futile, magical and maddening it is to sell Broadway shows for a living,” Greenwald says.
“I can’t wait to talk to all sorts of absurdly optimistic theater people to see if they feel the same way.”
“The Show Must Go on Sale!” is available at all the usual podcast platforms. Click here or below for the first episode.
Speaking of entertainment: George Barrett has lived many lives.
The 1973 Staples High School graduate has been a teacher, athlete and Fortune 100 CEO.
The former Orphenian is also a very talented singer/songwriter, who grew up in a home filled with classical, folk, rock, blues and jazz.
After honing his skills as a session singer and performer in Greenwich Village, Barrett took a detour into the top ranks of the healthcare industry.
But his life took a significant turn in 2022, when he reconnected with musician/ composer/producer/Grammy-winning 1971 Staples grad Brian Keane. They’ve collaborated on 2 albums. The second, “Rearrange Things” (released this fall) was recorded largely in Connecticut, as Barrett reconnected with Westport.
On November 16 (2 p.m.), Barrett and Keane take to the Westport Library stage. They’ll chat about their unique life journeys and unexpected reunion — hosted by “06880”‘s Dan Woog, who has known both for over 50 years — followed by a special performance by Barrett, his band, and Keane.
In the days of voting machines, once we cranked the lever we were pretty sure our ballot was counted.
With the (relatively) new “tabulators,” there’s always a bit of unease. The machine swallowed up my ballot. Did I fill in the circles correctly? Are there any stray marks? How do I know it didn’t get shredded, or fall into the innards?
A steady drumbeat of “election doubters” has sowed distrust nationwide.
This year, Connecticut’s tabulators have a new twist. It should reassure electors that their vote will indeed be counted.
These gizmos have a screen that gives confirmation your vote was registered.
And if you did screw up, the screen tells you that too.
Don’t believe me? Click here, for an instructional video.
We open today’s online art gallery with a tribute to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
We continue with some fall-themed works. And we end, as usual, with a series of intriguing drawings.
That’s our gallery in a nutshell: art with themes, and without. A variety of mediums. Surprises, and old favorites.
As always, no matter how young (or old) you are; what style or subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we welcome your submissions. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, mixed media, digital, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.
Please email a JPG to 06880blog@gmail.com. And please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.
“Pink Aid” — Artist Dorothy Robertshaw is “honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month with an acrylic impasto canvas of hope” (Available for purchase — click here)
Untitled (John Maloney)
“Autumn Leaves Near the Sound Between Compo and Old Mill” (Judith Katz)
“Branching Out” (Patricia McMahon — Available for purchase;click here)
“October 18 Sunset Compo” (Michael Chait)
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for purchase; click here)
“Southport Harbor in Winter” (Kathleen Burke — Available for purchase; click here)
Artist Eric Bosch says, “Like so many of us, I enjoy Edward Hopper’s paintings, having studied many of them at various museums. Here’s a copy I did of his famous ‘Rooms For Tourists.'”
“Just a ‘walk in the park!'” – Hike to the top of Casa Grande for lunch; Big Bend National Park, Texas (Mike Hibbard)
“Sir Ian McKellen” — pencil on paper (Bill Fellah — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Martin Ripchick — Available for purchase; click here)
“The Impatient Ghost” — watercolor (Steve Stein)
“Bad Smell” (Lawrence Weisman)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
For 46 years, Rick Benson has lived at the top of Compo Hill
For the last 11 of those years, he has watched as 233 Hillspoint Road — the property at the bottom, diagonally across from Old Mill Grocery — has been the scene of a long-running drama.
Positano restaurant closed, and was demolished. A new home was planned. Construction stalled. It sat for years, a blue Tyvek-swathed eyesore.
233 Hillspoint Road, in February 2024. (Photo/Totney Benson)
Last year, building began again. Soon, it stopped again.
Soon, Benson will be able to see the finished product.
In early November, he’ll be the new owner of 223 Hillspoint.
“When I find a problem I can solve, I try to do it,” Benson told “06880” yesterday, by phone. He’s in France, celebrating his 78th birthday.
Just before he left, he learned that a foreclosure auction — postponed from September — would be held this past Thursday. He quickly got ready.
There was one other bidder: the lenders, looking to recoup their investment.
Benson had a different motivation: to end “this 11-year nightmare.”
Construction halted again, this past July.
He’s motivated by more than neighborly interest. He’s been a builder since 1981. He’s constructed over 60 homes in Westport, and many condos.
He knows his way around a building site. And architectural plans.
What he’s acquired is a partially completed exterior: the view that’s visible to the hundreds of people passing by every day.
Inside, there’s almost nothing: some frames, temporary stairs, virtually no mechanicals.
“Basically, we’re starting from scratch,” Benson said.
To make things as painless as possible for neighbors — and get the completed home on the market by spring — Benson will make very few changes.
(He does hope to replace the windows on the beach side, which don’t open, with ones that do.)
The view from Old Mill Beach.
“I watched the decay and slow progress for a decade,” Benson noted. “I want this to be a complement to the neighborhood.”
There is “some market risk,” he admitted. But he is confident it will sell.
In the meantime, he said, “if anyone wants to make an offer, we’re happy to talk.”
Plans for the finished product.
(“06880 regularly reports on real estate, our beaches — and, occasionally, their intersection. If you appreciate stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have been embraced by many Westporters.
But in neighborhoods with dense housing — like Compo Beach — there can be unintended consequences.
David Johnson and Holly Jaffe live near the beach. They sent this letter — signed by 17 neighbors — to “06880.”
On Monday (October 27), the Planning & Zoning Commission needs to review a zoning permit issued last Friday by the Zoning Board of Appeals. It allows for an ADU on a postage stamp lot in the Compo Beach area.
[NOTE FROM “06880”: This item is not on Monday’s P&Z agenda. The November 3 meeting has been canceled. The Building Department may soon issue a building permit, for work to begin.]
It claims to adhere to the new regulation that an ADU be set back 10 feet from the primary dwelling.
According to Westport regulations, there should be no obstruction in the setback. Stairs and other means of egress are allowed.
However, they may only be 20% of the setback. The stairs and compressor platforms intrude over 5 feet into the 10-foot setback.
That is over 50% of the setback.
The Norwalk Avenue home (top, 2nd from left), showing where the ADU would be situated. (Drone photo/John Videler)
Were this to be allowed it would set a disturbing precedent for the entire town, not only the densely populated Compo Beach area.
Setbacks in our town are there for reasons: To ensure public safety.
To preserve health and welfare
To maintain neighborhood character, by creating open space between buildings and property lines
These regulations help provide adequate light and air, prevent overcrowding, facilitate public services, and protect against fire and other dangers.
This particular 26-foot high ADU “tower” affects at least 7 houses on Norwalk Avenue. And 7 houses on Westport Avenue.
Stairs and air conditioning compressors in the setback. The ADU would be built in the grassy area. (Photo/David Johnson)
Eighteen neighbors have signed petitions against this zoning permit. More are coming.
We wholeheartedly believe in the intent of the new ADU legislation, to provide alternative housing options for a myriad of folks in town here.
Please don’t misunderstand. But it can’t be the Wild West. It’s got to be soberly and appropriately reviewed, using common sense.
We hope that in their last meeting prior to the election, the Planning & Zoning Commission will consider the unexpected impact of this regulation.
Last night, 60 Westporters protested the United Nations’ appearance in town in the person of Undersecretary-General Christian Saunders.
It was the third time in 2 years that we have protested the UN’s appearance, and it’s important that the town understand why we do it.
Whatever good work the UN does in attacking poverty and providing elegant meeting rooms for debate, it is also a deeply anti-Semitic organization, and it has been at least since 1975, when it declared Zionism is racism — when it declared that the world’s one Jewish nation, built from the ashes of the Holocaust, had no right to exist as a Jewish state.
These photos are from last night’s protest at the Imperial Avenue parking lot, near the Westport Library.
The UN, its agencies and courts, demonize Israel. They have attempted to isolate it, to strangle it, to boycott it, to force it into actions they dictate. And they might well have succeeded without US vetoes.
More recently, through the actions of UNRWA, the UN bears some direct responsibility for the butchery of October 7. (Mr. Saunders, it must be noted, was Acting Commissioner of UNRWA in 2020.)
UNRWA encouraged the self-destructive beliefs of Gazans that they were still refugees who would eventually return to live inside Israel, and educated its young with textbooks that demonized Israel and Jews. The result has been a generation of radicalized young Gazans intent not on building their own country but on destroying their neighbor — Israel.
Further, by pouring money and aid into Gaza, UNRWA in effect left Hamas to build tunnels and buy weapons to further its murderous aims. Hamas leaders are actually on record saying it is not their job to protect Gazans — it is the job of the UN.
UNRWA and the UN also turned a blind eye for weeks or months to the savagery of October 7 and particularly the violence done to women. (Mr. Saunders is currently special coordinator on improving the United Nations response to sexual exploitation and abuse).
We ask Westporters to see the UN for what it is. The UN (as per UN Watch) passed 140 resolutions against Israel in the 7 years before October 7, and only 68 condemning other nations in total — including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and other such states. The town would never invite an institution that similarly demonized any other group for racial, ethnic, gender preference or identity — so it must not invite the UN.
Some, such as the International Hospitality Committee, also known as the United Nations Association, Southwest CT Chapter, who bring the UN to Westport twice each year, argue that the institution is simply a forum that should not be blamed for the actions of its member states.
Do they really mean to tell us that the UN, meant to stand for a better, inclusive future, should not be blamed for both failing and for intensifying the abuses heaped on Israel? Who would ever make excuses for, say, a PTA whose member parents demanded use of racist textbooks?
To ask the question is to laugh without reply. The UN, more than a forum, is the world’s largest hotbed of antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-Zionist rhetoric.
A video preceding Mr. Saunders’ speech illustrated some of the good work the UN does in impoverished regions. We demand that the respect and dignity the UN accords others must be given Israel.
Inside the Westport Library. (All photos courtesy of #EndJewHatred)
If the UN can’t pass that very low bar of decency, it must not be welcomed here. It shouldn’t be welcome anywhere, really, but especially not in a town where so many know firsthand from their families of the abuse Jewish people have faced in many corners of the world.
Please note that we do not seek to squelch legitimate criticism of the policies of Israel’s government. Israelis do it themselves — it’s practically a national sport.
People are entitled to their opinions. But the UN, an international forum, is not entitled to repeatedly denounce Israel alone in a world filled with nations that richly do deserve a denunciation they never receive.
The UN demonizes Israel. Unless and until it finds a way to reform itself, to rid itself of its antisemitic poison, the town of Westport and its people should not welcome it back. Surely we can find other ways to celebrate international community without inviting an organization who raises its voice loudly day after day in denunciation of the world’s one Jewish State.
We were respectfully silent yesterday in our protest, but I’m going to end with a shout to the United Nations: Treat Israel and world Jewry with the respect and dignity you treat everyone else. If you can’t bring yourself to do that — we don’t want you here. Stay home.
(The “06880” opinion pages are open to all. Please send submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com)
Toquet Hall is Westport’s teen center. The entrance is hidden in plain sight: tucked in the alley between Post Road East and Jesup Road.
Toquet Hall was also the site of 2 recent election events: a Westport Youth Commission-sponsored 1st selectman candidates debate (adults were welcome too), and a League of Women Voters “Meet the Board of Education Candidates” session.
But who was Toquet (pronounced “Toe-kay”)?
Benjamin H. Toquet was born in Paris in 1834, and came to America in 1845. He served in the Civil War, then returned to Westport.
His son, Benjamin Louis Toquet, was born in 1864.
Toward the end of the 19th century the younger Toquet — now a respected businessman — built an opera house on Post Road property inherited by his wife, Nellie Bradley. The first town meeting was held there on April 2, 1892.
For the next 17 years, all town meetings and assemblies were held there.
The original Toquet Hall (left). Check out the horse and buggy, watering trough, hoop-skirted woman and trolley. Those were the days! (Photo courtesy of Christopher Maroc)
The older Toquet died in 1913, a successful entrepreneur. He headed the Toquet Motor Company, which developed carburetors for Fords.
B. Lewis Toquet had a daughter, Vivienne. His family — and his father — lived at 10 Avery Place. As of 1946, he was still living there.
In 2025, Toquet Hall plays a different role in town.
Rock bands play there. Hip hop artists, comedians and magicians perform. Teenagers put on plays. Political candidates meet voters.
The only thing missing is opera.
(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!)
Wakeman Town Farm’s annual Pie Sale begins next month. Proceeds support Earth Animal’s Mitten Project, aiding CT Food Share.
Orders can be placed for fresh-baked 9-inch Oronoque Farms pies: apple, apple crumb, blueberry, blueberry crumb, cherry, cherry crumb, and pumpkin (the latter is unbaked and frozen). Pies are $25 each.
Orders can include “a la mode,” with pints of Madagascar vanilla or bourbon brown sugar ice cream from Lindsay’s Handmade Ice Cream. Pints are $10 each.
Speaking of food: PopUp Bagels is going bicoastal.
The innovative baker — born as a lark in Westport during COVID — has already expanded to 4 Connecticut, 8 New York and 3 Massachusetts locations, plus 1 each in Tampa and Charlotte.
Next up: San Diego.
Specifically, La Jolla.
PopUp’s tagline is “Not famous, but known.” They may soon have to change it to “Not everywhere, but close.”
“06880” reader Elliot Weiler spotted this sight, on a recent visit to La Jolla. “06880”‘s tagline is right: “Where Westport meets the world.”
Speaking still of food: Atlantic Retail is advertising a “rare big box opportunity on Route 1 in Westport, CT.”
The subject line in an email to realtors describes the 1385 Post Road property as “NEW Listing: Former Balducci Space Available.”
Photos show the store, with its 12,233 square feet on the ground floor, and more on the second and lower levels.
But Balducci’s is not “former.”
Nor, according to a manager who answered the phone, are they closing. “I’d be one of the first to know,” he says.
“06880” has learned that Balducci’s has a 10-year lease.
Stay tuned.
=================================================
The Staples High School boys soccer team lost only 2 matches, this season.
Last night at Fairfield Warde, they avenged one. Brendan Allen’s goal, and air-tight defense, helped the Wreckers beat Stamford 1-0, in the FCIAC (league) semifinal.
That vaults them into Monday’s final. They’ll face Greenwich: the only other squad to edge them this year. Kickoff is 6 p.m. October 27, at Fairfield Warde.
Staples is shooting for its 28th FCIAC title — by far the most in the league. But it would be their first since 2010, which was capped a string of 3 straight. They made the finals the next year too, but fell to Trumbull.
The Staples girls soccer team, meanwhile, has a semifinal of their own. They face Greenwich tonight (Friday) at Fairfield Ludlowe. Game time is 5 p.m.
Staples boys soccer celebrates their win. (Photo/John Walker)
Through the first 4 days of early voting, 3.6 % of eligible Westport voters have cast ballots.
The breakdown:
Democrats: 413 of 7,952 eligible voters (5.19%)
Republicans: 91 of 3,338 eligible voters (2.73%)
Unaffiliated: 175 of 7,582 eligible voters (2.31%)
Early voting continues this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
The early voting schedule next week, also at Town Hall:
Monday, October 27 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday, October 28 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, October 29 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday, October 30 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday, October 31 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, November 1 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, November 2 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A new documentary about World War II journalist Sigrid Schultz — a longtime Westport resident, is nearing completion.
“Eyes on Evil” chronicles Schultz’s remarkable career covering the rise and fall of Nazi Germany — from the liberated exuberance of Weimar Berlin to Hitler’s ascent and the devastating aftermath.
It includes the years during the war when Schultz returned to the US and settled in Westport, after being injured in a British bombing raid on Berlin. She launched a nationwide lecture tour to warn Americans about the growing threat of Hitler’s regime.
In 1945 she was among a small group of reporters to cover the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
The film is directed by Vanessa Johnston, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and former Reuters producer based in Washington. She made several trips to Westport, including an interview with historian John Suggs.
… and Vanessa Johnston and John Suggs, at the plaque honoring Sigrid Schultz off Elm Street. Schultz lived near there.
=================================================
Today’s great Halloween lawn decoration comes from Bradley Street:
(Photo/Celia Campbell-Mohn)
That’s in the Compo Beach neighborhood. So you know there will be plenty of kids (and parents) passing by, a week from today.
=================================================
Speaking of Halloween: Tomorrow (Saturday, 2 p.m.), the Westport Library hosts its Pinkalicious Party.
After Victoria Kann reads from her best-selling “Pinkalicious” book, youngsters are invited to join a costume parade around the Library, and trick or treat for Pinkalicious treats on Jesup Green. Click here to register.
Pinkalicious, at the Library.
=================================================
Westporters know Frank Murgalo as “Santa Claus” at our annual Holiday Stroll (Shhhh … don’t tell the kids!)
He’s also a Marine Corps veteran, who donates time and energy to many excellent causes.
Now — at 82 — he’s written a memoir.
“My Mid-Life Crisis at 82: A Life of Mischief, Mayhem and Making It Work…” chronicles his wild, adventurous life. He navigated diverse careers, pulled off international hoaxes, and discovered that “success lies in the outrageous ride rather than the finish line.”
Murgalo has been an auditor, fishmonger, actor and stand-up comedian. He writes about stopping Super Bowl XVII, being tackled by the FBI, and outwitting the State Department. Beneath the humor is an inspiring message of resilience, risk and laughter.
On November 1 (8 p.m.), the “activist duo” Emma’s Revolution brings their music to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport,
Known for “fearless, truth-telling lyrics and melodies you cannot resist singing,” their performances span folk to jazz, and funk to rock. Emma’s Revolution has been described as “beauty, power and ferocity all mixed together with love and hope.”
“The A Chronicles 10-Minute Play Festival” — “bold, funny and fearless short dramas” by 9 playwrights, selected from over 350 submissions — runs for 2 performances on November 2 (2 and 7 p.m., at MoCA CT).
The A Chronicles stages live theatrical events around reproductive rights—”amplifying voices, disrupting narratives to fuel real conversations.”
Theatre Artists Workshop’s 42n annual Fall Festival of New Works — 9 original short plays — includes performances by Westporters including Melody James, Susan Jacobson and Linde Gibb.
Dates are November 1 (7:30 p.m.) and November 2 (2 p.m.), at Powerhouse Theatre Performing Arts Center in New Canaan.
And finally … of course, based on the photo above:
(You don’t need a wizard to know that “06880” relies on reader support. And that if you enjoy your hyper-local blog — which we know you do! — you can click here to contibute. Thank you!)
“When you call us, a real human being will pick up the phone. Quickly.”
That’s one promise from Westport Pharmacy. The town’s newest drug store — and a bit more — opened earlier this month, in the Fortuna’s shopping plaza on Post Road East at Turkey Hill Road South..
It replaces a COVID testing center. For many years before that, it was a bank.
That means there’s a drive-through window. Westport Pharmacy owner Kenneth Lee hopes to use it for customers picking up prescriptions.
That would be one other way his new venture distinguishes itself. No other pharmacy here offers that convenience. It appeals to people who feel sick, Lee says, parents with little kids in the car, and many others.
Many other municipalities allow drive-through drugstore windows, including Norwalk. Westport limits them to banks. (Starbucks was grandfathered in; its previous incarnations include Carrol’s, Burger King and Arby’s restaurants.)
Lee hopes to add two words — “and pharmacies” — to Westport’s current zoning regulations, through a text amendment. He hopes he will not have to undertake additional measures, like a costly and time-consuming survey.
This is the owner’s third pharmacy. His two others are thriving, in Weston and Black Rock.
Kenneth Lee, in his Westport Pharmacy.
Westport seemed like a logical next step. There are several drugstores already. But, Lee — a licensed pharmacist — says that big chains like CVS and Walgreens can seem impersonal.
Two other independent stores — Colonial Druggists and Achorn Pharmacy — concentrate on medical supplies and skincare products, respectively.
Besides prescriptions, vaccinations, consultations, and the usual items like pain relievers, first aid products, shampoo, eye drops and condoms, Westport Pharmacy separates itself by offering “06880”-themed gifts, children’s toys and puzzles, wiffle ball bats and greeting cards. All are curated by Lee’s wife Susan.
The new store also delivers — drugs, and everything else.
Westport-themed gifts, and more.
Early reviews have been good, pharmacist Erica Bernardes say. “People are excited. They like the cute items. They say Westport needs a place like this.”
“We want to be the newer, better, fresher option,” Lee adds. “We want the front-end experience to be very personalized. We’re not the new guys. We have experience, and a formula that works.”
As for the competition: “It’s to our advantage to be near CVS and Walgreens. Customers can see the difference.”
(Westport Pharmacy takes all major insurance plans. They’re open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Click here for their website.)
(“06880” regularly covers Westport’s business scene — new, old, and everything in between. If you appreciate stories like these, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
Date on registered voters, from 1997-2021. For the 2017 and ’21 elections only, the numbers in parentheses show the number of eligible voters who actually cast ballots.
