Cheese triers (or cheese corers) were invented in the 19th century. They have one purpose: to see if a wheel of cheese was properly aged.
The tool extracts a small, round sample from the center of a wheel of cheese. After testing, the sample is inserted back into the wheel. A seal forms, so the cheese can continue aging if necessary.
Cheese triers have remained relatively unchanged over the years. They continue to be used today by cheese makers and buyers.
Cheese trier
This was the Westport Historical Society’s most recent mystery object. It’s part of their ongoing “Westport in 100 Objects” exhibit. Every 2 weeks, the WHS displays something new. If you stop in and identify it, you can win something from the gift shop.
Unfortunately, no one knew what a cheese trier. I guess we just gotta “try” harder.
The other day, a woman came into Ryan Meserole’s store.
He owns Quentin Row — formerly Suited.co, a men’s custom clothing shop on Railroad Place — so she wasn’t looking to buy.
In fact, she was crying.
Through her tears, she told Ryan that Sarah Kennedy had been her best friend.
Sarah Kennedy
Sarah was the owner of Cellar Workshop — a much-loved custom jewelry store that previously occupied the space opposite the train station.
The woman was upset that Ryan had changed the interior. It was all she had left to remember Sarah by.
Ryan chatted with her for an hour. As she got ready to leave, he said he had something that might cheer her up.
In the back of the building — where store owners and staff park — a sign said “Reserved for Sarah Kennedy.” Ryan got a screwdriver, took down the sign, and gave it to the woman.
Her tears turned from grief to joy.
Ryan says, “I realized then that I didn’t just lease any old space for a suit shop, in any old town. Westport is filled with legacies. Even though the signs on many buildings have changed, it’s up to local shopkeepers to share the stories of the past. I feel privileged to know and pass on the history of Railroad Place, and of Sara.”
So this week’s Unsung Hero is Ryan Meserole, and the many other local businesspeople like him — men and women who understand that being local storeowners means a lot more than just selling suits and jewelry.
It means you take something from this town. And then you give it back.
Ryan Meserole, with an apt saying on the wall of his store.
On Sunday, the New York Times published a remarkable obituary.
It began:
Selma Wynberg Engel, who escaped a Nazi extermination camp after a prisoner uprising and was among the first to tell the world about the camp’s existence, died on Tuesday in East Haven, Conn. She was 96.
The story told how — as a young Dutch Jew — Selma was among 58 prisoners who braved machine gun fire to escape from Sobibor. Only one other is believed to still be alive.
She and a young man named Chaim were on the run for 2 weeks before a Polish peasant family hid them in a hayloft.
Selma Engel (Photo courtesy of New York Times, via Alexander Perchersky Foundation)
Back in the Netherlands, Selma told Russian reporters about the Sobibor extermination camp. A September 1944 story was the first public description of the place where up to 350,000 were murdered.
Selma and Chaim married in 1945. They faced prejudice in the Netherlands because he was a Polish Jew; more than 100,000 Dutch citizens had been deported to camps there.
The couple moved to Israel in 1951. Six years later they came to the US.
And though the Times does not mention it, their new home was on Wilton Road in Westport. They were sponsored by the owners of Gilbertie’s Nursery.
Chaim got a job at Gristede’s on Main Street, and drove an Arnold bread truck. Selma ironed clothes.
“You can imagine how difficult that was for them,” recalls Selma’s daughter Alida. “They were depressed — especially my mother.”
It was the first time Alida — known then as “Lidy” — and her brother Fred learned about the war. In Israel, their parents never talked about it.
Selma and Chaim Engel with their baby daughter Alida, in the Netherlands in 1946. (Photo courtesy of New York Times)
But, Alida notes, “there were many kind folks — especially those my mother ironed for. They tried to help.”
Still, Alida and her brother were different. “Westport was not used to foreigners,” she says. “They didn’t know what to do with me in the public schools. So they taught me diagraphing and speed reading.”
The Engels went through Bedford Elementary and Junior High in Westport, then Staples. She graduated in 1964; he followed 2 years later.
Yet Alida ended up feeling extremely happy in school, and still has many friends from those days. She made plenty of friends, in part through sports. She played field hockey and ran track for Jinny Parker at Staples High School. Fred played soccer.
Alida Engel (2nd from left, red hair) with dolls at Klein’s Department Store in Westport.
Chaim and Selma eventually bought a card shop in Stamford. They ran it until they purchased a jewelry store with Alida’s ex-husband in Old Saybrook. In 1973 the couple moved to Branford. She lived there almost until her death.
But the story comes full circle. Alida’s niece, Emily Engel Riley, now lives in Westport, with her husband and children.
And speaking of stories: The Times says that although Selma and Chaim told theirs many times,
it was largely unknown in the postwar Netherlands until the last decade, when a team of Dutch historians, including Mr. Van Liempt, visited Mrs. Engel in Connecticut to research a book about her. It was published in 2010 as “Selma, the Woman Who Survived Sobibor” and led to a documentary film of the same name.
Now Selma’s story is known all over the world.
Including her first American hometown: Westport.
(Click here for the full New York Times obituary.)
In June, Westport’s Planning & Zoning Commission voted 4-2 to allow 1 medical marijuana dispensary in Westport.
But that was not the final step on the long road traveled by the applicant, Bluepoint Wellness. Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection still had to approve the application. It was one of 73 submitted to the state.
This afternoon, the DCP announced the approval of 9 new dispensaries. Bluepoint is on the list. The site — the lower level of 1460 Post Road East, in the shopping center with Rio Bravo restaurant — is currently occupied by Coco Spa.
David Lipton — a Westporter, and president of Bluepoint Westport — said the interior will be “tastefully done. The dispensary will reflect the town.” The target date for opening is September 1.
1460 Post Road East: the site of Bluepoint Wellness’ new medical marijuana facility.
Today’s action by the DCP doubles the number of pharmacist-led medical marijuana dispensaries in the state. There are currently 9.
Lipton is also CEO of Advanced Grow Labs, a research and production facility in West Haven. They are a joint venture with Bluepoint Wellness, which already operates a medical marijuana dispensary in Branford.
Lipton calls the Westport approval “very important” for patients in this area of Fairfield County. Today, the closest dispensaries are in Bethel or Milford.
“Right now, that’s a long ride for people who need medical marijuana,” Lipton says. “This means a lot more access for those in the Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Norwalk area.”
There are 30,500 registered medical marijuana patients in Connecticut. The state has certified 31 medical conditions for adults to use the drug, and 8 for patients under 18,
The DCP also approved a medical marijuana dispensary in Stamford today. The other 7 locations are spread throughout the rest of Connecticut.
(For a detailed list of questions and answers about medical marijuana, click here.)
Sue Fine — founder and owner of Soup’s On, the popular Main Street gathering spot — died last month in November. She was 82.
Carole Sue Coulon was born in Boston, and grew up in the Hotel Vendome. She worked there after school and during summers, learning the “people skills, guts and stamina” that helped her when she opened Soup’s On — a “country kitchen” — in 1978.
Sue’s son Peter recalls watching proudly as his mother “moved heaven and earth” to serve grateful customers wonderful dishes, made with fresh, local ingredients.
Peter Fine and his mother Sue
There was always something delicious cooking at home too, he says. Friends often came around for “the food and the fun.”
At the time he craved spaghetti and meatballs — basic food his friends’ mothers made. But as he grew up, he says, “I realized how lucky I was to have someone instill the passion of good food in me.”
His mother was “a courageous and tireless entrepreneur, and a constant body in motion. The outpouring of love and stories that have flown freely since her passing have centered on her indomitable positive spirit, style and grace, along with her trademark ever-present smile and sense of humor.”
Sue Fine
Sue and her late husband David lived in Westport and Weston, and loved New England, particularly Boston and Nantucket. They were original investors and active part ownwers in Nantucket’s famed 21 Federal restaurant. Sue created and operated 21 Federal Specialties, offering takeout food for vacationers.
She also obtained her realtor’s license, and was a resource for anyone wishing to buy or rent on the island.
Sue and David moved to Jupiter Inlet Colony, Florida in 2004.
“Sue was a tenacious believer that hard work, grit and gumption would get you far, and passed those traits on to her children,” her obituary says.
Peter — a restaurateur and real estate consultant — recently opened Milestone in Georgetown, Connecticut. Sue was a proud investor.
Peter Fine and his mother Sue, outside his new restaurant Milestone. The photo was taken last summer.
Sue’s son Bill is president and general manager of WCVB-TV, Channel 5 Boston. Her daughter Kim is a mentor and teacher at Firewood Academy in Homer, Alaska.
Sue is also survived by 7 grandchildren, and her dog Buster.
She will be buried with her husband privately at sea, off the coast of their beloved Nantucket, this summer.
Donations may be made in Sue Fine’s name to The Home for Little Wanderers — an organization she first supported as a child — which provides services for at-risk children in Eastern Massachusetts. Click here, or mail to 10 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135.
When I say “jerky,” odds are you don’t immediately think “Brooklyn.”
Or “Westport.”
You should.
Field Trip — the hot producer of healthy, protein-rich snacks in sticks and bites ranging from beef, chicken, turkey and pork to jalapeño, cracked pepper and everything bagel — has just moved its headquarters here, from New York.
The Field Trip office on Post Road East is directly opposite Design Within Reach.
They’ve just opened a store too. They’re in 50,000 retails outlets nationwide — including Target, Stop & Shop, Walgreens and CVS. Field Trip is also served on Jet Blue and United Airlines.
But this is the only Field Trip store in the world. And they won’t open any more.
Hot jerky just made Westport a whole lot cooler.
The story begins with Matt Levey. Now 37, he grew up partly in Weston. He spent nearly 10 years in finance, but 7 years ago — after loving the jerky sold at Singleton’s, a country store near Okemo Mountain where hunters brought meat to be smoked, then sold as jerky — he and 2 partners quit their jobs.
They pooled their money — all $11,500 of it — and began testing recipes. Field Trip was born.
“New York is filled with people who wanted healthy food, like jerky,” Matt says. “But all they could buy was gas station junk.”
Field Trip offers a wide variety of jerky. It is definitely not junk.
He and his partners rode bikes all over the city. They sold their product — literally — store by store.
Field Trip is big now. So big that they’ve moved from Brooklyn to Westport.
Matt always liked this area. He, his wife and young kids just bought a house in Greens Farms. One of his partners is moving here too.
The new headquarters was not a hard sell for his employees. One commuted 2 1/2 hours from Long Island to Brooklyn. Surprisingly, his drive to Westport is half that. Another found it’s only a few minutes more from Harlem than before.
They’re finding downtown Westport to be fun. And Matt found that the empty storefront next door to his new office — directly across from Design Within Reach (the old post office) — was perfect for a Field Trip storefront.
Matt Levey, in his new Field Trip store.
“This area reminds me of when I was a kid, walking around downtown,” he says. “Little Kitchen had 2 little tables, a couple of doors down from Westport Pizzeria. Klein’s was like a mom-and-pop shop.
“We’re small, but fast growing. And nothing brings out a small town feel like a jerky shop.”
Last week, Matt was busy building a picnic table that will sit in the center. One counter and several walls were filled with jerky products (and Field Trip blankets and t-shirts).
He showed off his many grass-fed beef, gluten-free, no-nitrites, no-corn syrup snacks. There’s parmesan peppercorn, sweet chipotle and maple BBQ pork; mandarin orange, and sea salt and pepper beef, and lots more.
The Field Trip counter: fun, and filled with great-tasting products.
Matt is particularly proud of his everything bagel jerky. It’s a hot new flavor trend — and he’s trademarked the name.
But, Matt notes, the storefront is less about making money than bringing enjoyment to people — and life to downtown.
“This one is for Westport,” he says.
Brooklyn, eat your heart out. And Westport: Eat up!
One of the highlights of the holiday season — far better than fruitcake, much less stressful than holiday parties — is Techno Claus.
That’s “CBS Sunday Morning”‘s annual present to viewers. “Santa” — who for some reason has a New York-ish accent — offers viewers a whimsically rhyming musical look into some of the season’s more intriguing high-ish tech items.
It doesn’t take Einstein to figure out that Techno Claus is really David Pogue.
His clever patter and fun piano playing are no surprise. The nationally known tech writer/journalist/author/TV star majored in music at Yale, then spent his first 10 years after graduation working in New York, with a theatrical agency, and as a conductor and arranger on Broadway.
Pogue is also a longtime Westporter. Yesterday’s gift to viewers had a decidedly local flavor.
Nearly all of the scenes were filmed at his house: inside, in front and out back.
The only other locale was Granola Bar. That was for a segment on a reusable straw. Okay, it’s not exactly high tech — but it is important.
Click below to see Pogue’s Santa’s take on a speaker with scents; a spy camera for pets (it dispenses treats too); a keyboard for phones, and a wallet with tracker.
It’s playing holiday music now though, so it’s on my pre-sets. I have this ridiculous false hope that one day I’ll hear an actual Christmas carol — Luciano Pavarotti belting out “O Holy Night,” say — instead of the squintillionth rendition of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Yet last week, what to my wondering ears did appear but a yuletide song I had never heard before.
It was a Christmas miracle.
This was no longer background music, as I waited impatiently behind an idiot driver who did not know that since 1979, it has been legal in Connecticut to make a right turn on red. This time, I listened closely to the song.
The voice was familiar.
It was Jose Feliciano’s.
When the fresh, beautiful song ended, Danny Lyons said he had just played a “world premiere.”
I had to know more.
I called Jose at his Weston home. He was off on tour somewhere. Hey, this is prime Feliz Navidad season.
But his wonderful wife Susan was happy to tell me the fascinating back story.
It begins 50 years ago, when Rick Jarrard was a staff producer for RCA Records in Los Angeles. He convinced Jose to record “Light My Fire.”
Jose Feliciano and Rick Jarrard
The young singer/guitarist was dubious. It had been a hit for the Doors less than a year before. What could he add?
Plenty, it turned out. It reached #3 in the US, and #1 in the UK, Canada and Brazil.
The duo collaborated on 6 best-selling albums, including one in 1970 of Christmas songs. It was filled with classics like “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night.”
Rick asked Jose to write an original song too. He didn’t think he could.
But he’d just gotten a cuatro — a Puerto Rican stringed instrument. He thought back to his childhood on the island.
So — in the middle of July — Jose wrote “Feliz Navidad.” It’s become one of the best-selling Christmas songs of all time.
A few years ago, Rick wrote “On This Christmas Night.” Jose recorded it in his Weston studio. It’s beautiful, inspirational and sing-along-ish. But it was never released, so Rick just put it on Spotify.
He and Jose basically forgot about it.
Somehow though, the creators and producers of “Hamilton” found it.
And chose it — out of hundreds of contenders — to be their curtain call finale during this holiday season.
Soon, their interpretation will be released on a CD — with music from other Broadway, off-Broadway and traveling productions — called “Carols for a Cure, Volume 20” to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
When they heard the news last month, Jose and Susan were thrilled — not for themselves, but for their longtime friend and collaborator Rick. Susan said she cried for 3 days, with joy.
Then — just before Thanksgiving — Jose did a “Countdown to Christmas Music” promotion for WEBE 108. Susan told program director/midday DJ Danny Lyons how “On This Christmas Night” had dropped from the sky, into “Hamilton” and Equity’s AIDS benefit.
Danny listened to the song. He called it “providential.” His minister’s sermon had just noted that most Christmas songs today completely miss the meaning of Christmas.
Which is how Danny came to play “On This Christmas Night” that day last week. The fact that I heard it on its world radio premiere was — well, providential.
Danny told Jose he’d pass the song on to his programming colleagues around the country. Which means it may join “Feliz Navidad” as another great holiday contribution to the world, from our neighbor Jose Feliciano.
Of course — this being the holiday season — Jose is in great demand.
He’s playing all over the world this month: Palm Springs, New York, England, Vienna (with the Boys’ Choir) and the Vatican (for — of course! — the Pope’s Christmas program).
But Jose always has time for us. He returns home December 23. The next night, he offers his annual gift of music at Assumption Church’s Christmas Eve mass.
Feliz Navidad indeed. And muchas gracias, Jose Feliciano!
(Click here, then scroll down to hear “On This Christmas Night.” The Broadway Cares CD can be bought after shows. It will be available after Christmas on iTunes.)
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