Many Senior Center members have problems using computers.
They ask their more savvy technical friends or their grandchildren to help — but not all issues can be resolved that way.
I had a problem recently with my PC operating system. The audio input didn’t work, although I had the appropriate hardware.
I spent hours trying to fix this problem using internet searches, but couldn’t solve it.
I read about the Senior Center “Tech Help” program, so I schedules a meeting with one of the students. They are available to help with issues from signing in, password reset and downloading and uploading files, to hardware and software problems.
The students are seniors Apurv Sharma, Connor Ng and Mikhail Mikhalchuk.
(Photos/Bob Weingarten)
All volunteer their time. There is no cost to the service, which is available to all members on Thursdays and Friday afternoons.
No one should be embarrassed to ask for help.
I retired from IBM after 30 years working in software: designing, coding, analyzing large systems operating and application systems. I ended my career there as director of the IBM Japan Software Development Center with 350 employees.
After leaving IBM I spent an additional 3 years in Tokyo creating, organizing, developing, outfitting and operating an internet host and management company. So I have considerable experience in software and hardware — but mostly high0end systems and applications software, not PC0based.
Connor solved my problem of not being able to obtain audio support on my PC, although I had the hardware, within 10 minutes. I was very impressed with his assistance and knowledge and I highly recommend others to use this Tech Help service.
Connor also assisted Senior Center member Marie Coppola, with her technical issue. She calls it “a great program for young people helping older people.”
Senior Center director Wendy Petty adds, “We are very fortunate to have these wonderful Staples High School students volunteer their time. They are incredibly knowledgeable, and offer their dedicated support with so much kindness and patience.”
Congratulations and thanks to this week’s Unsung Heroes: Connor, Apurv and Mikhail, and all previous “Tech Help” volunteers. Your intergenerational work is greatly appreciated, and very inspiring!
Do you know an Unsung Hero? Email nominations to 06880blog@gmail.com.
(Unsung Heroes is a weekly “06880” feature. If you’re inspired by them — or by this blog — please consider a contribution to help keep local journalism alive. Just click here. Thank you!)
Tickets are going fast for Saturday’s Westoberfest. We’ll drink to that!
The event (2 to 5 p.m., off Elm Street includes beer tasting from dozens of craft breweries; live music; food by Walrus Alley, Kneads Bakery, Lobstercraft and Little Pub; a children’s area run by the Artists’ Collective of Westport and MoCA; a street magician, bubbles and face painting; pumpkin and apple giveaways; food trucks, and vendors like Savvy + Grace.
Take-home tasting glasses with koozies are courtesy of Lux Bond & Green.
It’s all sponsored by the Westport Downtown Association. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Speaking of downtown: The Downtown Plan Implementation Committee holds a public meeting tomorrow (Thursday, October 12, 8:30 a.m., Town Hall Room 201).
Remote and in-person comments from the public will be received as time is available, or via email: DPIC-comments@westportct.gov.
The agenda includes a review of the parking lots design master plan, pedestrian access, sustainability and maintenance.
If you wonder why the state Department of Transportation is temporarily closing I-95 Exit 17, during the bridge rehabilitation project, check out yesterday’s scene:
(Photo/Jared McGill)
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This Sunday (October 15, 9 a.m.), the Board of Finance and the Long Lots School Building Committee will make a site visit to the elementary school.
BOF chair Lee Caney told “06880” that the tour will give members of his committee “the opportunity to review the Long Lots property, so we will have a better understanding of the terrain when we begin to discuss the funding of the project.”
No funding request has yet been made. But the BOF is one of the bodies that will be involved during the approval process for the $100 million project.
The finance board makes regular site tours before voting on appropriations, Caney added.
Miggs Burroughs and Mark Yurkiw have finished installing their “Signs of Compassion” exhibit at the United Nations.
The work depicts Burroughs’ “Signs of Compassion” — 30 lenticular photos, showing local residents using sign language to recite Emily Dickinson’s poem of the same name — and Yurkiw’s accompanying Braille “prayer wheel” mantra, based on those he saw in Bhutan (including a wheelchair-accessible element).
It takes up the entire 100-foot wall in the UN lobby.
Ever since the United Nations moved into its Manhattan headquarters in 1951, the lobby’s rotating art exhibit has been sponsored by member nations. For what is believed to be the first time, the featured works are offered by individual artists.
This is also the first time that Connecticut artists are featured at the UN.
“Signs of Compassion” is open to the public now through November 20, weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Miggs Burroughs’ “Signs of Compassion,” in the UN lobby. Mark Yurkiw’s “prayer wheel” mantra is also displayed nearby.
Students of the Month “help make Staples a welcoming place for their peers and teachers alike. They are the ‘glue’ of the Staples community: the type of kind, cheerful, hard-working, trustworthy students that keep the high school together, making it the special place that it is.”
Congratulations to Joshua, and fellow senior Juan Nieves; juniors Mia Ferrigno and Evan Wallitt; sophomores Adam Turner and Addison Welling, and freshmen Autumn Kaye and Jaxsyn Liebert.
Staples’ October Students of the Month (from left): Joshua Jordan, Juan Nieves, Mia Ferrigno, Addison Welling, Adam Turner, Evan Wallitt, Autumn Kaye. Missing: Jaxsyn Liebert.
Seniors may request the “We Do Walkway” list through the same phone and email above.
Kids! Help seniors with shoveling (and raking). It’s fun (and profitable).
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Speaking of teenagers: Tomorrow, the Teen Awareness Group welcomes the International Save A Life Tour to Staples High.
The safe-driving program includes driving simulators. Students “get behind the wheel” to see the effects of impaired and distracted driving.
Sounds like a program that would benefit some adult drivers, too.
Distracted driving simulator.
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Longtime Westporters Suzanne Sheridan and Rozanne Gates will be (very deservedly) celebrated by the Triangle Community Center.
Fairfield County’s LGBTQ organization has named the music/photography/ activist couple its “Community” honorees. The award will be presented at TCC’s Visionary Gala October 21 (6:30 p.m., The Water’s Edge at Giovanni’s, Darien).
The event includes a DJ, food and cocktails, and silent and live auctions. Click here for tickets and more information.
Suzanne and Rozanne were instrumental in creating Fairfield County’s first Pride Festival in 2002, and urging the General Assembly to pass civil union legislation in 2005. As soon as the law was passed, they became the first Westport couple to be civilly united. They married legally in 2010.
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For the third year, Rach’s Hope Family Fun Walk will raise funds for food, transportation and lodging for people with loved ones in intensive care units.
Recent recipients include a Massachusetts family with a youngster suffering from a traumatic brain injury, a family whose child was critically injured at the Michigan State shooting, and a Fairfield County family with a child in critical care.
The event is October 22 (3 p.m., Compo Beach Ned Dimes Marina).
Rach’s Hope honors the 2015 Staples High School graduate who died from a rare illness at 21 years old, while at Cornell University.
The “Family Fun Walk” for everyone includes Rachel’s family. Her grandfather Michael Isenberg pledged to walk 1,000 miles yearly for Rach’s Hope. Participants will join him in walking the last mile, to fulfill his pledge.
They’ll also receive Rach’s Hope swag, hear music from Fairfield-based Ellis Island Band, and enjoy gourmet pizza and drinks from Pizza Pie Wagon and Greens Farms Spirit Shop.
To purchase tickets, donate or learn more about Rach’s Hope, click here. You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Republicans and Democrats can agree on one thing: If their kids are interested in cheer, they should to to the the Staples High School cheer team’s Election Day clinic (November 7, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The clinic — a fundraiser for the squad — sold out last year. The fee ($75 before November 1, $85 after) includes lunch and a t-shirt. Click here to register, and for more information.
The 84-year-old artist moved from Riverdale to the age-restricted co-op on Bridge Street in 2017, after her husband died. Her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren live nearby.
Kate’s apartment is beautiful. Her neighbors are wonderful.
Just one thing: There is not enough room to display all her art.
Kate O’Toole, in her apartment at The Saugatuck.
Kate is a professional artist. She studied painting and design at Carnegie Mellon University, then got her master’s at Brooklyn College.
Her husband Robert Rabinowitz taught at Carnegie Mellon and New York University, and did theater. He co-wrote the book for, and designed, “Beatlemania.”
Kate and Robert frequently exhibited at New York galleries.
One of Kate O’Toole’s works …
When she downsized to Westport, Kate put 50 years of the couple’s paintings and other works into storage.
That was 6 years ago. It’s getting expensive. And, she realizes, a Norwalk storage unit is not the place for art.
Slowly, she is bringing pieces to her Westport apartment. She’s trying to see what fits, and what she must get rid of.
It is, Kate says, “a daunting challenge.”
… and another.
Her neighbors at The Saugatuck have encouraged her to donate some pieces to the co-op. A few of the bigger ones are now displayed in the common room and hallways.
But she does not know what to do with others. Hundreds of her husband’s pastels are in portfolios. Many of hers are in rolls. All are hard to frame.
Every day she opens more boxes, to see what she has.
And, she wonders, “What am I going to do with them all?”
She ran a gallery in New York. She knows how hard it is to sell unframed works.
One of Robert Rabinowitz’s works …
It is a difficult, emotional challenge. Perhaps, I suggested, “06880” could help.
I don’t live in the art world. But many of our readers do.
So here’s the ask: If you know how or where Kate O’Toole can find a home for some or all of her and her husband’s works, click “Comments” below.
Be creative — just like she is. All ideas are welcome.
Let’s prove that Westport is still the artists’ town we claim it is.
(Hat tip: Ilene Strizver)
(“06880” covers the art scene — and everything else Westport-related. To support our local journalism, please make a tax-deductible contribution by clicking here. Thank you!)
A wrong location was posted yesterday for this week’s candidate debates. Here’s the correct info:
Planning & Zoning Commission candidates take the Town Hall auditorium stage tomorrow (Wednesday, October 11, 7 p.m.). They’re followed by a double-header on Thursday, October 12: the Board of Education at 7 p.m., Board of Finance at 8:15.
Questions must be submitted in advance. They will not be taken from the floor. Email: lwvwestportct@yahoo.com.
The debates are sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Westport.
An overflow crowd of 1,000 — including Governor Ned Lamont and Senator Richard Blumenthal, local officials and many clergy — packed Temple Israel last night, for a “We Stand With Israel” solidarity gathering.
Representatives from nearly 2 dozen area synagogues and other organizations hosted the event, which was organized in just 48 hours by the Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (bottom center), at last night’s “We Stand With Israel” gathering.
Religious leaders and others, at Temple Israel. (Photos/Allison Wachstein)
Westporters Arthur and Lisa Hayes are in Paris this week.
On a boat in the Seine yesterday night, they saw from a distance that the Eiffel Tower was not lit in white, as usual. One half seemed to be dark; the other was very dark blue.
As they got closer, they all understood. The tour boat grew very quiet, as they passed by.
In this week’s timely “Westport … What’s Happening” podcast, 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker discusses a recent study on the growing lack of civility in small towns, and her own public comments on the issue.
The podcasts are sponsored by the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston. Click below to listen:
Owner/chef Federico Perandin will appear on Guy Fieri’s legendary “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” Food Network show. The episode airs this Friday (October 13, 9 p.m.).
Westport’s own David Briggs will conduct an Instagram interview tonight (Tuesday, October 10, 7:30 p.m., @westportlibrary) with Rhone co-founder and CEO Nate Checketts. They’ll talk about how the men’s wellness brand — which opened on Main Street this summer — is committed to men’s mental health issues.
From left: ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky and Nate Checketts at Rhone’s Westport store.
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Longtime Westporter Marty Yellen offered a presentation on aging — and a cancer treatment update — at yesterday’s Y’s Women meeting.
Yellen was an engineer on the Hubble Space Telescope. He then earned a doctorate in medical biology engineering. He works now with Yale scientists, biologists and engineers on diseases that come with aging, researching techniques and treatments to alleviate them.
Yellen warned the large audience to stay away from beef (particularly grilling), processed meats that can stand at room temperature like salami, and animal fats.
He suggested instead lamb, chicken, fish, plenty of fiber and vegetables, nuts, yogurt, beans — and most importantly, virgin olive oil rather than butter.
Daily exercise daily — for example, 30 minutes of walking — is especially important.
“You are your own doctor,” Yellen said. “Take care of your body, eat right, exercise daily — and don’t smoke!”
Speaking of health: The 29th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Fairfield County event is always a celebration of courage and hope
Over 5,000 participants will gather this Sunday (October 15, 9 a.m. to noon), at Sherwood Island State Park.
Over 3 decades, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer’s 3- to 5-mile walks have provided a supportive community for survivors, caregivers and families. The event funds breast cancer research, programs and services.
From Azerbaijan to Westport: Amina Figarova has moved from her upbringing behind the Iron Curtain to become a celebrated jazz pianist and composer.
On Thursday (October 12, VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399) she makes her “Jazz at the Post” debut. Rudy Royston, Boots Maleson, Bart Platteau and Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” Wall join her for two shows: 7:30 and 8:45 p.m. Dinner starts at 7.
Reservations are highly recommended: JazzatthePost@gmail.com.
Their first-ever dance performance this Saturday (October 14, 7 p.m.) features the East Coast Contemporary Ballet Company, in collaboration with Alturas Duo and Yale University’s Calllisto Quartet.
“Strings and Asymmetry” offers a fusion of styles, instruments and artistic
expressions.
Tickets include admission to the current exhibit. For details and tickets, click here or call (203) 222-7070.
And finally … on this day in 1845, the Naval School opened with 50 students in Annapolis, Maryland.
Today it’s known as the United States Naval Academy. Its enrollment is about 4,450.
(Another Roundup filled with political, entertainment, restaurant and health news — and another reminder that “06880” relies entirely on reader support. Please click here to help. Thank you!)
Posted onOctober 10, 2023|Comments Off on New Addition To “Historic Homes Of 06880” Tour
There’s new news about next month’s tour of some of Westport’s oldest homes.
The Nathaniel Fitch house has just been added to “Historic Homes of 06880.” The first-ever “06880”-sponsored event is Sunday, November 5 (2 to 5 p.m.).
The 1707 Finch house at 6 Old Hill Road replaces the the 1683 house on Long Lots Road, now unavailable. When the Angotti family bought it in 1996 — nearly 300 years later — it was sagging and dilapidated.
Rather than tearing it down, they embarked on a 2-year restoration project using authentic building material methods, without a single nail or screw.
6 Old Hill Road
The other 3 properties on the tour are equally interesting, each in a different, special way.
There’s 29 North Avenue — the tiny house on the left heading north toward Staples High School, now lovingly renovated by Annette Norton, drawing appreciative looks from all who pass by (and chronicled last spring on “06880”).
29 North Avenue
Two other homes are close by, on Cross Highway. #39 is the much admired, very visible and extensively remodeled home near the corner of Weston Road that recently won a Historic District Commission Preservation Award.
39 Cross Highway
Further up Cross Highway is a barn that stood when the British marched by on their way to Danbury, and is now a handsome/funky/very cool artists’ studio.
Cross Highway barn
“06880” often celebrates Westport’s rich history. We honor homeowners who preserve the past, while enhancing their neighborhoods by giving new life to old properties.
“06880” tells stories. As you explore all 4 houses, you’ll learn the stories behind each one.
Homeowners, and members of “06880”‘s board of directors, will point out cool aspects of each home. We’ll answer questions. You’ll get a brochure explaining the 4 houses too.
Our friends at KMS Team at Compass are sponsoring the “Historic Homes of ‘06880’ tour.”
Tickets are $60 each, $100 for 2. Proceeds help fund “06880”‘s work — which, as always, chronicles Westport’s past, present and future.
Click here for tickets. It’s our “Donate” page. Please note “Historic Homes of ‘06880’” with your order.
Comments Off on New Addition To “Historic Homes Of 06880” Tour
Richard Rauh died today at his Westport home, where he was in hospice care due to a number of ailments. He was 98 years old.
Dick, as he was known to all, lived in Westport for many decades. He earned fame in retirement for his botanical watercolors — highlights of a Westport Library show earlier this year.
Dick Rauh
Most recently, he was part of the film “Below Surface.” The documentary about the Westport Weston Family YMCA’s Aquafit program includes an interview, in which Dick describes how much he got from the program.
An avid Y member, he was 96 when he was filmed, in and out of the water.
He attended primary school in his native Brooklyn, then the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan.
Dick served in the Navy as a communications officer. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Hobart College, and studied at the Art Students League.
He then began a long career as an animator, artist and eventually art director in the New York film industry.
Dick was the art director and part owner of the Optical House, a motion picture effects and editing business where he worked with Woody Allen, Brian DePalma and many others. He worked on many films and television ads, and did pro bono work for public television shows like “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company.”
In his earlier years he was president of the New York screen cartoonist union. After becoming an employer he continued to work with the union, helping set up an annuity for members.
As president of the animation community organization ASIFA East, he judged at festivals all over the world.
After retiring, Dick attended a flower drawing course at the New York Botanical Gardens. Inspired, he earned a doctorate in botany from Lehman College.
One of Dick Rauh’s many botanical watercolors.
His love of the beauty and science of plants led him to create and teach a course in plant morphology at the NYBG. He also served as president of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and the American Society of Botanical Artists.
His botanical paintings are in permanent collections at the Hunt in Pittsburgh and London’s Lindley Library, and has won a golden award at the Royal Horticultural Society in London. Dick’s retrospective art exhibition at the Westport Library drew crowds of friends and admirers.
Dick continued teaching online until just a few weeks before his death. He said that of all his accomplishments, teaching was the most important and most gratifying.
Dick was predeceased in 2018 by his wife of 66 years, Harriette Lyford. He is survived by his daughter Helen, sons Daniel and David, grandchildren Marshall, Dustin, Joshua Rauh, and Andrew and Chester Glenn, stepdaughter Sarah Cotner, and great-grandchildren Reece and Ivy.
A funeral service will be held on Wednesday (October 11, 1 p.m., Temple Israel). Burial will take be private. For more information and to share condolences, click here.
The Small Car Company’s annual Air-Cooled Charity Car Show on Veterans Green.
The event raised funds and awareness for 2 non-profits: Northeast Community Cycles (which provides bikes free of charge to underprivileged children) and the Bikeport Co-Op (a program where youth earn bikes by attending bike safety and maintenance courses, and performing volunteer hours with local organizations).
The show featured dozens of vintage Porsches, Volkswagens, Corvairs and other rare and special air-cooled cars and motorcycles from around the tri-state area.
Among the air-cooled vehicles on display at Veterans Green. (Photo/Sarathi Roy)
Meanwhile, adjacent to the Artists Collective of Westport trunk show in the Taylor parking lot, Earthplace naturalist Rachel Grella showed off a ball python, on Jesup Green. Its audience had a variety of reactions.
For this week’s 3 candidate debates, questions must be submitted in advance. They will not be taken from the floor. Questions should be emailed to lwvwestportct@yahoo.com.
Planning & Zoning Commission candidates take the Town Hall auditorium stage Wednesday (October 11, 7 p.m.). They’re followed by a double-header on Thursday, October 12: the Board of Education at 7 p.m., Board of Finance at 8:15.
The debates are sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Westport.
A reminder: Beginning next Monday (October 15), gas-powered leaf blowers are allowed every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., except holidays.
Property owners are responsible for informing landscapers who work on their property.
Homeowners doing their own yard work have extended hours: weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; weekends and holidays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Beginning May 15, no gas-powered leaf blowers will be allowed through October 15, except in specific situations (for example a health or safety emergency, or storm cleanup).
Property owners should inform landscapers now, so they can plan to buy any necessary equipment before May 15. (Hat tip: Kristin Schneeman)
Lauren Bullock recently resigned, after teaching for 16 years in the Westport Public Schools.
But she had another career too. She wrote, directed and produced a short film, “Tough Love.” It’s been nominated for Excellence in Directing and Outstanding Lead Actress awards by the 2023 Pitch to Screen Festival.
“A young, attractive bartender is crazed by a traumatic childhood after the death of her father. Constantly questioning her self-worth and duplicity, Lana struggles to find love as she seeks affection from strangers. She is burdened by the remnants of patriarchy, religion, and bad choices as she is faced with her own reflection. Lana must look in the mirror and confront her past in order to move on.”
It’s available for public viewing online for 4 days only (October 12-16); click here for details. It then moves to the big screen, at Manhattan’s Dolby Theater, on October 20.
Half of the film was shot in and around Westport last spring. A few local actors were in the cast.
Winners of festival awards will be determined by viewers’ votes.
Click here for the Bullock Productions website. Click below for the “Tough Love” trailer.
A Senior Center audience of over 120 attendees was entertained yesterday by the Gramercy Brass Orchestra.
The invitation came from Senior Center board member Molly Alger. She was on the Gramercy Board for 20 years, before moving from New York to Westport.
Her son Jason was a student at the United Nations International School, where orchestra leader/trumpeter John Henry Lambert taught — and took private lessons from him too.
Gramercy Brass Orchestra at the Senior Center. Leader John Henry Lambert is at far right. (Photo and hat tip/Dave Matlow)
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo comes from Canal Road, on Saugatuck Shores. Humans have made their mark there — but it’s still filled with natural wonders.
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