Some of our Unsung Heroes are obscure. Some are little known.
Everyone knows this week’s hero. But he seldom gets the chops he deserves.
For 28 years, Joey Romeo has run the Compo Beach concession stand. He’s the longtime Longshore concessionaire too.
That’s a lot of years, and a lot of customers.
Make that, a lot of very happy customers.
Joey Romeo, in a typical pose.
From food to beach umbrellas to Westport t-shirts, Joey’s by the Shore has it all.
The grill/ice cream stand/souvenir shop is a friendly, happy place. It’s often packed, but it never feels unwelcome. Parents who normally hold their kids’ hands when they walk in their own back yard feel comfortable sending them alone to Joey’s.
They don’t even have to handle money. At Joey’s, you can run a tab.
Joey comes by his burger chops naturally. His father ran the food concessions at Cummings Beach and Cole Island in Stamford; his uncle spent many years as the concessionaire at Greenwich’s Tod’s Point.
Growing up, Joey worked at the beaches — and loved it.
He became the 1st tenant after the town of Westport renovated the old bathhouses, and moved the concession stand to its present location. So far, he’s the only one.
Joey Romeo, by the shore.
He loves the water. He loves what he does. And he loves his customers.
He listens to them, too.
Lobster rolls, fish and chips, Boar’s Head cold cuts — those and many more selections resulted directly from requests.
To serve those customers, Joey’s now opens early and closes late (9 p.m.) each summer. He fires up the grill in March, and is there on weekends through November — sometimes beyond.
Thanks, Joey, for being there for all of us. The beach — and Longshore — would not be the same without you!
(To nominate an unsung hero, email dwoog@optonline.net)
Evan Stein is 43 years old. His family has lived in Westport for 44 years. He and 4 siblings went all through the Westport school system.
He graduated from Staples High School in 1992. At Harvard University — as the internet dawned — Evan and his friend Darin McKeever started StaplesAlumni.org. It faded away after 8 years — but still draws visitors to its pictures and stories.
The extended Stein family. Evan’s parents Steve and Linda are in the center.
After earning his MD and Ph.D at NYU, Evan married Jennifer Sherinsky. Daniel was born at 25 weeks. He died 4 weeks later. Evan documented his son’s short life on a blog.
Eighteen months later, Joshua was born. He was “awesome — perfect,” his proud dad says. He knew the English alphabet at 15 months, the Hebrew alphabet shortly after. He memorized phone numbers. He loved license plates, and wanted to know the floor you lived on so that 2 weeks later he could push the button for your floor.
He loved to stand by the computer and type. He got very excited when a computer game he was playing made a noise. Evan created a blog for him, and posted about him constantly on Facebook.
Even as a toddler, Josh Stein loved computers.
On frequent trips to Westport, Josh visited Earthplace, played at Mahackeno and swam at Compo.
In June 2010, Evan finished his fellowship. He and his son spent the summer wandering around New York and Westport. That fall — when Evan began work as a neuroradiologist — Josh started pre-school.
Two weeks in, Evan and Jennifer got a call to see the director.
She and the school psychologist thought Josh needed extra services to maintain his focus in class. He could not sit still, or keep his hands to himself. He could not do what the other kids were doing.
Evan and Jennifer Stein, with Josh (right) and Sam.
Evan shrugged off their concerns, but made an appointment at the NYU Child Study Center. During 3 days of testing. Evan thought Josh performed incredibly. “I couldn’t believe the questions he seemed to be answering — and he wasn’t even 3 yet!” his dad marvels.
“But it turns out those tests are kind of a trick,” Evan reports. “The questions and answers are important — but the doctor is watching other stuff.
“How well does he respond to his name? (Not at all). How well does he look in people’s eyes? (Not at all). Does he follow your gaze to see what you’re looking at? (Nope). Does he like to do the same task repetitively? (Yep.) How does he play with a car? Does he pretend it’s a race car? (No.) Does he spin the wheels. giggle or rock? (Yep.)”
That December, Josh was diagnosed with autism.
Evan was devastated. He and Jennifer wondered what would happen next.
The Steins thought about moving back to Westport. Evan called people he or his parents knew here with autistic children. Everyone was supportive and helpful.
Josh at Compo Beach.
They heard many stories about children being successfully mainstreamed in Westport’s schools. It seemed very inviting.
But every expert the parents talked to said that would not work for Josh. After a year in pre-school with a special education teacher by his side, then a year in a special education class with only 12 students, 2 teachers and a para-professional assigned to him, it was clear he needed a specialized school with an extremely low student-teacher ratio, and with very specific and directed teaching techniques.
The Steins pursued a program offering Applied Behavioral Analysis. There aren’t many available — and even fewer that don’t charge $150,000 a year.
In the summer of 2012, the Steins got ready to sink every penny they had into getting Josh the right school and after-school support.
“We’ve been very fortunate that Josh found a spot there,” Evan says. “They’ve kept him on track with his academics, while also teaching him how to care for himself and act appropriately in the community.”
Every month, Josh’s teacher comes to the Steins’ home. She shows Evan and Jennifer the most effective parenting techniques.
Josh still comes to Westport almost every weekend. Like every kid in town he loves the beach, Earthplace, Stew Leonard’s and Shake Shack. He likes to walk behind the Levitt Pavilion, and check out the Main Street tunnel.
However, Evan says, NYCLI is in jeopardy. After 24 years, the lease is running out. The convent that owns the building plans to sell it. If the school can’t buy it themselves, the future is uncertain.
Evan set up a GoFundMe page, to help raise the $600,000 down payment. Westporter Celia Behar and her Lil’ Mamas blog have helped spread the word.
Evan hopes his Westport friends — and strangers — will respond. He’s also looking for creative solutions. If anyone knows real estate investors or financiers, you can contact him directly: steine01@gmail.com.
After a lifetime in Westport, he is sure his hometown can help.
As America goes gaga over the upcoming solar eclipse — it’s August 21, if you’ve lived under a rock — here’s a reminder that “06880” is not only where “Westport meets the world.”
It’s also where Westport meets the universe.
An exceptionally alert reader spotted this item for sale on eBay:
Yes, once upon a time the “Solar-Scope Solar Eclipse Eye Protector” (and souvenir guide) was manufactured right here in Westport.
You must remember that famous company, Solar-Scope, right?
The reverse side described what would happen on August 31, 1932:
So if you want your very own Westport-produced Solar Eclipse Eye Protector — from 1932, but presumably still useful in 2017 — click here.
It’s demanding, but healthful. It teaches discipline, teamwork and goal-setting. It instills self-confidence, self-control and pride. Plus, nothing beats being out on the water at 5 a.m., in a driving rain.
But rowing also has a stigma: It’s expensive, and elitist.
For the past 4 years, Saugatuck Rowing Club has defied that stigma. The Riverside Avenue facility throws open its doors — and provides a place in its boats — to a special group of teenagers.
And the kids have given back as much as they’ve gotten.
Thanks to a partnership with Greens Farms Academy’s Horizons program — a national project that provides underserved children with academic, social, emotional learning and enrichment programs — SRC welcomes more than a dozen 8th graders for 6 weeks each summer.
Three afternoons a week, the Bridgeport children clamber off buses and into the sprawling clubhouse. Very quickly, it becomes their home.
“Our mission is twofold,” says Diana Kuen, a beginner/intermediate SRC coach who oversees the program.
“We want to introduce them to a sport would never otherwise have a chance to experience. And it’s our responsibility to chip away at the socioeconomic barriers that exist in our own backyard.”
They start like many beginners. Some are terrified of the river. None ever touched an oar.
Under Kuen’s direction, they row on an ergometer. When they’re ready, they step into a boat and onto the water. Figuratively — and literally — they jump into the deep end.
Diana Kuen, and a Horizons rower.
Kuen and co-coach Bridge Murphy watch closely. They figure out which kids will work best where, and who is comfortable going out alone.
The new rowers are like boys and girls everywhere. They’re quick learners. They want to succeed. They love to compete.
And they sure have fun.
“These kids bring joy and levity with them every day,” Kuen says. “They are genuine, authentic and happy.
“Each afternoon is filled with laughter, pride and a sense of purpose. When they step into the club, they light everyone up.”
Another day, with Horizons rowers on the Saugatuck River.
None of that comes easily. The coaches demand that these youngsters — just like any new rowers — step out of their comfort zones.
One girl was terrified. The first victory was getting her out on a launch, with the coaches. Gradually, she eased into a boat.
At the end of 6 weeks, Kuen says, “she was an outstanding rower.”
One boy was so successful at rowing with 7 teammates that he asked if he could scull alone. Once he pushed off from the dock however, he froze.
Kuen swam out to get him. “We tell them we will never let anything bad happen. We will do whatever we can to help.”
Every day throughout the Horizons program, the coaches and kids talk.
“They’re great communicators,” Kuen says. “They understand that this is about so much more than rowing.”
On the final day, each 8th grader spoke from their hearts about what the program meant. Kuen and Murphy listened, with tears in their eyes.
That final session ended with a pizza party. An SRC member — someone who’d witnessed the kids’ transformation, and appreciated the can-do attitude they brought every day — bought ice cream cakes for everyone.
On the way out, SRC general manager Suzanne Pullen overheard 2 girls talking.
“I’ll miss this place so much,” one said.
But not as much as the Saugatuck Rowing Club will miss them.
Matt Storch, and his new logo. (Collage courtesy of CTBites.com)
According to CT Bites, the new restaurant features fresh seafood from Norm Bloom and Son, and “Northeast pasture-raised and humanely-handled beef, ground daily at Fleishers.”
The menu includes lobster rolls, whole lobsters, a variety of burgers, local Copps Island oysters, Fleishers hot dogs, onion rings, donut milk shakes, wine and beer.
Storch’s “Match Burger” is be available in regular and mini versions — plus one that’s butter-dipped.
Fans of the butcher shop and restaurant can walk easily back and forth. Match Burger and Lobster will offer both table service and takeout.
John Suggs has announced his candidacy for Westport’s top spot. The independent — running against Republican incumbent Jim Marpe and Democratic challenger Melissa Kane — plans a 3-pronged platform.
Suggs stresses “advocacy, common sense solutions and a nonpartisan approach.”
As a Representative Town Meeting member for 10 years, Suggs cites his leadership roles on school safety, open space and protecting neighborhoods.
A 25-year professional in asset management analysis, public policy and community development, Suggs currently works in forensic genetic genealogy. His Family Orchard business helps adult adoptees search for and reunite with their birth families.
John Suggs
Suggs says he is running as an independent because “I want to represent all of Westport — not merely the interests of any single party or constituency. In times of toxic, partisan politics, where politicians will say just about anything, true or untrue, to gain an advantage, I will always tell you the truth.”
He wants Westporters to “roll up our sleeves and work harder, smarter, better to reduce traffic congestion, sustain the quality of our schools, revitalize downtown and fill empty storefronts, and preserve our property values.”
Suggs says that local elected officials cost Westport taxpayers money as they “endlessly study our problems with exorbitant fees paid to outside consultants.”
He pledges to “place a moratorium on expensive studies, roll back onerous traffic control measures that aren’t working, refurbish (not replace) the Compo Beach pavilion, and restore (not destroy) the Cribari Bridge in Saugatuck.”
Suggs was born and raised in California. With a BA in political science from Loyola Marymount University, an MS in management and systems from New York University and an MBA from Fordham University, he has served as a public policy director, affordable housing advocate, history teacher and Jesuit seminarian.
He and his wife moved to Westport in 2003 with newborn twins, in large part for the schools. Suggs is an active Assumption Church parishioner, and volunteered as a Little League baseball and basketball coach. For 5 years, the Suggses have been a host family for A Better Chance scholars.
“Despite my long record of working on behalf of the town, I am starting the race as the underdog, going up against both established political parties,” Suggs tells “06880.”
“But having talked — and more importantly, listened — one on one to so many people these past few months, I know that my message to Westporters that we must not allow ourselves to get dragged down into the finger-pointing and blame game of toxic partisan politics by both parties resonates deeply for people across the entire political spectrum.”
He adds, “These next few years will be full of difficult challenges for all Westporters, at the state and federal level.” He urges residents to “put aside partisan bickering and pull together as one community, using our common sense to find our own best solutions to navigate through.”
Among the “common sense solutions” Suggs advocates is “fine-tuning traffic controls to mitigate traffic backups.” Adding 3 seconds to a green arrow helps clear 7 more cars from congested intersections, he says.He’d also restore right turn on red at downtown intersections.
Suggs wants to “adaptively reuse valuable town-owned assets” rather than build new ones. He believes “perfectly sound empty buildings” could be converted to new uses like municipal offices, homes for non-profits and senior housing.
“Let’s listen to our residents when they resoundingly no (or yes),” Suggs says. From railroad parking and replacing the Compo pavilion to funding schools, “local politicians should never presume” to tell Westporters what to believe. The 1st selectman should be “an honest broker to ensure all Westporters have a say, and are satisfied that decisions are being made fairly and honestly.”
Josh Suggs wants to save the William F. Cribari Bridge over the Saugatuck River.
He describes his past advocacy efforts as leading the campaign to “save the Cribari Bridge, and protect Saugatuck and Greens Farms from 18-wheelers”; fighting to restore “critical education funding” to the budget; organzing an effort to preserve nearly 6 acres of endangered land as a state archaeological preserve; being an early and strong proponent of a blighted property ordinance; helping revise guidelines that are now “free and fair to both proponents and opponents of future sanitary sewer extensions,” and leading the campaign to stop construction of a driveway from the Barnes & Noble shopping center onto South Morningside Drive, opposite Greens Farms Elementary School.
Recently, Suggs says, partisan politics has seeped down from national and state levels, “influencing substantive policy decison in our so-called nonpartisan RTM.”
He concludes, “I’ve always been true to my convictions. I’ve entered this race not just to win, but to represent the whole community, encouraging greater civic involvement that will lead to a better Westport.”
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