Westporters driving along Riverside Avenue often whiz past the Sylvan Lane corner.
But if you ever stop — perhaps for a row of ducks crossing the street — there, by the gas station, you’ll see a garden.
Nestled among the plants and planters sits a ceramic frog. (Or toad? I’m not sure of the difference.)
It probably comes from Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center, around the corner. It would fit in well there.
That was the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)
Matt Dombrow and (of course) Andrew Colabella were the only 2 readers to answer correctly.
Now, of course, everyone will slow down to check the garden out, when they’re in the area. Well, maybe one or two will.
Hopefully, this is a more recognizable sight. If you know where in Westport you’d see this click “Comments” below.
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
WestportMoms — the wide-ranging, multi-platform site for events, resources and more — is sponsoring 2 great holiday initiatives.
One makes a difference for our neighbors in need. The other helps local businesses.
For 3 years, WestportMoms has partnered with Cesar Batalla Elementary School in Bridgeport, so those students can experience holiday joy.
Those youngsters face unimaginable challenges. This year, school officials have asked for 3 times the number of gifts, to meet everyone’s needs.
By purchasing a gift from the school’s wish list, “06880” readers can directly brighten a child’s holiday. Items will be shipped directly to Cesar Batalla School.
Prices range from $8 to $35, with most in the $15-25 range.
WestportMoms say, “Let’s show them the magic of the season. Select a gift today and involve your kids in choosing!”
Questions? Email info@westportmoms.com.
WestportMoms’ second initiative is their first-ever Elf Scavenger Hunt.
From December today through next Sunday (December 8), you can shop local in Westport and Norwalk — and try to find hidden elves at over 50 stores, restaurants, fitness studios and more.
When you find an elf, you and your kids can “unlock” a special offer, provided by that business.
Click here to see all the participating merchants and more.
Statewide there were 1,077 fledglings, in 726 active nests. Both are records, since the Connecticut Audubon Society began counting 10 years ago.
The CAS’ annual report says this shows that “the local revival of these previously imperiled hawks continues.”
A Burying Hill osprey. (Photo/Daniel Johnson)
There are 20 reported nests in Westport. They are:
Post Road (Fresh Market)
Sherwood Mill Pond
Mill CreekSherwood Island State Park
Gray’s Creek (3 nests)
Merritt Parkway Exit 41
Saugatuck River
Allen’s Salt Marsh
Saugatuck Avenue
Maple Lane
Burying Hill Beach
Cockenoe Island
Greens Farms railroad station (2 nests)
Longshore Club Park (2 nests)
Westport Train Station
Grove Point
Greens Farms Road
The Fresh Market osprey nest. (Photo/Carolyn Doan)
The Connecticut Audubon Society says that despite early challenging weather, including severe winds that damaged or destroyed nests, the rest of the season saw favorable conditions.
This contributed to successful incubation, foraging and feeding, which led to a high number of fledglings.
Connecticut ospreys found plenty of fish to eat, contributing to the successful breeding season.
However, our state’s osprey population may be approaching or exceeding its carrying capacity in some areas, the report warns, leading to increased nesting near human activity.
This, couple with potential threats such as climate change and prey fluctuations, “highlights the need for continued conservation and monitoring efforts.”
(“06880” is your source for local environmental news. Ospreys can’t support our work — but you can. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Two days after they were ordered, the holiday lights to brighten the William F. Cribari Bridge arrived.
An energetic, efficient and very committed group of Westporters made sure that the beloved annual tradition — in danger when the lights were removed, and the long-time sponsor stepped back — continues.
The lights will be hung Sunday night, starting at 10 p.m. (the bridge will be closed during that time).
The gala bridge lighting is set for 5 p.m. Monday. The entire town is invited.
Westport PAL — one of the lights’ sponsors — will have collection boxes for the toy drive they run, with the Westport Police Department. Unwrapped toys can be dropped off at the bridge, and the Bridge at Saugatuck restaurant.
The restaurant will also offer half-priced wine and beer from 5 to 8 p.m.
Westport’s fundraising drive — to send children from our sister city of Lyman, Ukraine to a camp in the mountains, a respite from a third winter of war — has gotten off to a slow start.
Our goal of $56,000 would enable 200 boys and girls to enjoy time together, with teachers and therapists, at Karabin. The sports, crafts, games and movies — along with schoolwork — takes place in a setting far removed from their hometown, a few miles from the Russian front.
Right now, Lyman’s youngster have been evacuated. The therapeutic camp is a chance to enjoy normalcy, with friends and trusted adults.
It costs about $280 to send one child to Karabin, for 10 days.
How about it, Westport? Can we raise $56,000, to ensure that 200 kids in our sister city enjoy time away from the terrors of the past 3 years?
Just click here. Under “Designation,” choose “Westport-Lyman sister city” from the dropdown menu. You can also choose a monthly or one-time donation. If you use the mail or Venmo option, please make a note: “For Westport-Lyman.”
Students from Weston’s sister city of Siversk, at the Karabin camp. Westport is raising funds for children from Lyman, our sister city.
Yesterday was Black Friday. Next week is Cyber Monday.
Today is Small Business Saturday.
There are plenty of local stores to choose from. They’re the heart and soul of our town. Think local!
Meanwhile, next Saturday — December 7 — is another opportunity to support small businesses.
The “06880” Westport Downtown Association Holiday Stroll features over 70 merchants, offering discounts, deals, gifts and freebies. Click here for details.
WEST Boutique on Post Road East is one of many locally owned businesses.
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Here is an update on the Thanksgiving Day house fire, near the Westport border.
At 3:42 p.m., Weston Fire was alerted to a fire at 40 Weston Road. The garage fire spread quickly into the 10,000-square-foot residence. Firefighters’ efforts were thwarted by dangerous fire conditions and structural collapse.
In addition, a vehicle drove over the water supply hose on Weston Road, damaging the line and stopping the flow of water for several minutes.
The 25 or so people inside the home escaped without injury. But the house is uninhabitable, and the heat from the fire melted the plastic on some cars in the driveway, CT Insider reports.
Personnel remained on the scene for over 16 hours, battling the blaze. Mutual aid assistance was provided by several fire departments including Westport, along with the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Weston Public Works Department, Weston Police Department, Westport Police Department and Weston EMS.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Weston Fire Marshal. Preliminary investigation shows it began in the garage, the result of frying a turkey. (Hat tip: Bill Dedman)
Thanksgiving Day house fire in Weston. (Photo and details courtesy of Weston Volunteer Firie Department)
And finally … today is the 100th birthday of satirist Alan Sherman. He had a brief heyday in the early 1960s — including the novelty smash hit below — before dying in 1973, 10 days before his 49th birthday. He had been undergoing treatment for emphysema, asthma, and obesity, and died of respiratory failure.
(Celebrate Small Business Day by supporting this small business: “06880.” Your hyper-local blog relies on readers’ contributions. Please click here — and thank you!)
Lots of drawings this week. Colorful, black-and-white, using different implements, in a variety of styles — they all make our online art gallery as pecial as ever.
No matter 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, digital, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.
Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.
Email a jpeg to 06880blog@gmail.com. And remember: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.
Untitled (Dorothy Robertshaw)
“Roses” (Tom Doran)
“Litchfield County” — digital painting, based on a digital photogaph (Ken Runkel)
“Argentina Roast Lamb: Giving Thanks for the Bounty of the Ranch” (Mike Hibbard)
“Early Racing Class in Eastern Connecticut” (Peter Barlow)
“AI: Peril or Panacea. Is it in the Balance?” — pencil and watercolor (Steve Stein)
“Bored in Class” (Aerin Licthman, age 13)
“Love at First Sight” (Martin Ripchick)
“Matriarch” (Lawrence Weisman)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
Posted onNovember 30, 2024|Comments Off on Bleacher Family Bracelets Support Sports, Cancer Research, Lyman
Leslie and Andrew Ward’s 3 sons grew up in Westport. They played football and basketball for PAL and AAU teams, then at Staples High School. Each continued competing in college.
Every season Leslie and Andrew made bracelets showcasing their uniform numbers or initials, customized for their sport and team colors.
For good luck, they did not take them off all season long.
Some of Bleacher Family’s bracelets, customized by sport, uniform number and school colors.
Family members, friends and fans noticed their bracelets, and asked for ones for their own kids’ teams.
As word spread, the Wards launched a small family-run online business, so people in Westport (and beyond) could order their own personalized/customized bracelets.
To honor a family member who died, the Wards donate a portion of each year’s profits to help fund cancer research.
This year — intrigued by a recent “06880” post about Westport’s efforts to support the children of our Ukrainian sister city, Lyman — they’ve added this worthy cause to their charitable contributions. (Click here to read about our fund drive, to send kids from the war-torn city to a therapeutic camp.)
To use a sports analogy: It’s a grand slam.
You can order a bracelet to support your favorite athlete or team. At the same time, you support a local business — plus cancer research, and the children of Westport’s sister city. Click here to see a great selection of bracelets, plus ordering information.
PS: They make great stocking stuffers!
(Want to support the Lyman project directly? Just click here. Under “Designation,” choose “Westport-Lyman sister city” from the dropdown menu. You can also choose a monthly or one-time donation. If you use the mail or Venmo option, please make a note: “For Westport-Lyman.”)
Comments Off on Bleacher Family Bracelets Support Sports, Cancer Research, Lyman
It was a fascinating look back, to a time of computers in classrooms, but no laptops or cell phones; of hair and clothes styles which are both out of date today, yet also quite familiar; and a school building that no longer exists — except the auditorium, gym, fieldhouse and pool still do.
Here are 3 more videos from that era.
Whether you went to Staples in the ’80s and ’90s, or not; whether you were an adult or teenager then, or not yet born — click on and enjoy!
And if you’ve got some insights into how things have changed — or not — in school since the late last century, click “Comments” below.
(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!)
Hundreds of runners — including 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker — took part in the annual event. They got some exercise, saw some friends, and worked up an appetite for the feasts that followed.
Rain did not deter the Staples football team, either.
Both the offense and defense excelled, in a 27-0 pasting of traditional Thanksgiving Day rival Greenwich at Paul Lane Field. The Cardinals are now 8-2.
The decisive win lifts the Wreckers’ record to 9-1, and gives them the #2 spot in the state “LL” (extra large schools) tournament. Fairfield Prep is #1.
Staples will host #7 Manchester (6-4) in the LL quarterfinals. The game is set for Tuesday (December 3), at a time to be determined.
Nathan Smith intercepts a pass, and scores.
Action from yesteray’s Staples (blue) vs. Greenwich football game. (Photos/Douglas Healey)
Meanwhile, not far away at Wakeman Field, nearly 30 current and former Staples boys soccer players ignored the rain, and enjoyed their annual Turkey Bowl alumni game.
The oldest participant was Dave Wilson. He captained the Wreckers in 1975, then led the Dartmouth College squad too.
Among the players: Dylan Hoke. A Connecticut College freshman, he’ll be playing in the NCAA Division III national semifinals Thursday. The Camels face Washington & Lee, in Las Vegas.
Westport Police and Fire Departments assisted their Weston counterparts yesterday, in battling a fire that desroyed a home near the Broad Street and Weston Road intersection.
Traffic was diverted for several hours, as firefighters from Westport, Weston and Georgetown fought the blaze.
Water was pumped from the pond between West Branch Road and Broad Street. Smoke was smelled as far away as North Avenue, nearly 2 miles away.
(Photo/Sayje Benjamin Photo, via Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Services)
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These 2 hooded mergansers have not headed south yet for the winter. They joined a black duck, paddling around Burying Hill Beach and posing for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.
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