Pic Of The Day #2315

Posted on August 20, 2023 | 1 comment

Grace Salmon Park bike (Photo/Patricia McMahon)

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Photo Challenge #451

Posted on August 20, 2023 | 21 comments

Last week’s Photo Challenge was interesting — both the image, and the answers.

Nearly a dozen readers quickly checked in with the correct response: Bruce McFadden’s shot of big beams and heavy machinery indeed showed the swing turntable underneath the William F. Cribari Bridge over the Saugatuck River, connecting Bridge Street and Saugatuck Avenue. (Click here to see.)

But then several others all said it was the underside of the I-95 Saugatuck River bridge, or perhaps another on the same highway.

Fortunately, the I-95 span does not swing open. Imagine the traffic jams if it did!

Congratulations to Morley Boyd, Alfred Herman, Jonathan McClure, Tom Risch, Jim McKay, Diane Silfen, Ken Runkel, Abby Gordon-Tolan, Seth Schachter, Craig Clark, Ann Bacharach, Micheal Simso, Ralph Balducci, Andrew Colabella, Matt McGrath and Howard Potter. You know your undersides of bridge machinery!

Here’s a nice late-summer one challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this peaceful scene, click “Comments” below.

(Photo/Patti Brill)

(Here’s a challenge: Please support your hyper-local blog. Click here to donate. And thank you!)

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Roundup: Board Of Ed, 190 Main, Lemonade …

Posted on August 20, 2023 | 9 comments

This November’s Board of Education election is very important. In the next 2 years, members may vote on everything from new buildings and redistricting to students’ access to library materials.

To help Westporters understand more about the BOE, the League of Women Voters of Westport will host 3 current members. The trio will discuss how the BOE operates.

Chair Lee Goldstein, secretary Neil Phillips and member Dorie Hordon are panelists for the September 6 event (7 p.m., Westport Library).

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190 Main appears closed.

There is no sign on the door of the restaurant, located in the same mini-plaza as Joe’s Pizza and Le Rouge Chocolatier. Tables remain on the patio. The answering machine still describes its hours of operation.

But inside, furniture is piled high, ready for removal. Fans of the small spot, with an eclectic menu, will be heartbroken.

(Photo and hat tip/Sal Liccione)

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For veterans, September 11 is a solemn day.

This year, it’s especially important.

Catch a Lift — the national organization that helps post-9/11 combat-injured veterans recover and rehabilitate, physically and mentally, through physical fitness, motivation and support — will hold its 2nd annual Connecticut golf and pickleball outing.

The event, at the Patterson Club in Fairfield (10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.), also includes cocktails, dinner, raffles, and the chance to hear inspirational accounts from veterans about their journeys.

Click here to register, and for more details.

Catch a Lift veterans, at a previous event in Westport.

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There are lemonade stands.

And then are super-lemonade stands.

Emerson, Beckett, Aja and Jada Rhimes set up a stand at a busy intersection near their home. They wanted to raise funds for Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Services.

“They help so many people. And they do it through donations. We wanted to help,” the girls said.

Did they ever!

Before running out of cups and lemonade, they raised $1,817. Their proud mother matched it.

An anonymous donor, impressed, added another $500.

So that’s $4,134 for WVEMS, from one lemonade stand.

Well done, girls!

A very successful lemonade stand. (Photo/Shonda Rhimes)

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Labor Day is (ugh) sooner than you think.

Time to get back to business — in more ways than one.

The Westport Business Networking International chapter’s Quarterly Visitor’s Day is September 7 (United Methodist Church, 7 a.m.).

Westport BNI has 50 members, with only one per category. Current open classifications include printer, salon/spa, restaurant, security systems, HVAC, photographer, travel agent, caterer, florist, event planner, home inspector, moving company,  electrician, dentist, personal trainer, auto repair, cleaning service, physical therapy, cosmetics/skincare and promotional products.

Meetings are held weekly. Email debralommascout@gmail.com or cara.mocarski@welcomewagon.com to sign up for Visitor’s Day. For more information, click here.

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The home at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Treadwell Avenue — across from the VFW — draws plenty of admiring stares.

There are 3 reasons: It’s handsome. It’s historic. And there’s plenty of time to look, at what can be a very long light.

Recently, there’s another reason: renovation work.

It looks dangerous. Kudos to the workers who navigate that steep roof, and the rickety-looking ladder laid horizontally across.

(Photo/Pat Auber)

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Dan Vener’s “Westport … Naturally” photo of a Burritt’s Cove swan is great.

But his comment is even better: “She only has 4 months left to find 6 buddies.”

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And finally … when you saw the photo of the workmen on the house at Treadwell Avenue, you must have known this was coming:

(“06880” does not have a lemonade stand. But we do encourage donations, to help us continue our work. Please click here. Thank you!)

 

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Posted in Education, Local business, Local politics, Real estate, Restaurants

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Illegal Mill Pond Crabbing, Clamming Continue

Posted on August 20, 2023 | 38 comments

Jamie Walsh is chair of Westport’s Shellfish Commission.

He’s concerned about the crabbing and other activities in Sherwood Mill Pond — which, since “06880” first reported on it last month, has become even more intensive. He writes:

On Friday night Barry Lytton, vice chair of the Westport Shellfish Commission and Jonathan Goldstein, owner and operator of Sherwood Island Oysters, discovered 40 to 50 individuals in the Mill Pond both crabbing and poaching large quantities of shellfish.

I also passed by, and was taken aback by the density of individuals with nets and buckets. These are restricted beds, leased for commercial shell fishing only as of right to Sherwood Island Oysters.

Barry was there for several hours. He says, “about 40 were strictly crabbing, but 10 or so were clamming and doing plenty of it. I saw 2 groups with about 200 to 400 clams each. I tried to tell them they could get sick, and called both the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and police, with no response. DEEP dispatch said they’d send somebody, but hadn’t for 2 hours.”

One bucket of clams — among money — at Sherwood Mill Pond Friday night. (Photo/Barry Lytton)

Aside from the light pollution and disruption to the neighbors who live around the pond, shellfish resources are being poached illegally.

It seems difficult for our police to enforce, as this activity occurs at night, they are not always familiar with the regulations, and many times a language barrier exists.

DEEP conservation officers are spread very thin, and do not have the budget for enforcement.

Sherwood Mill Pond crabbers and clammers, July 2023.

We have discussed this issue recently with Colin Kelly, Westport director of conservation. He is looking into enforcement options available to us. We need to protect our resources, and this area is strictly prohibited.

Westport has wonderful open recreational shellfishing beds located in the triangle off Cockenoe. Those areas are not restricted.

Allowing this illegal activity to continue only encourages permissive illegal behavior. This is something our commission plans to address immediately.

Click below for a video of Friday night’s activity. It was filmed by Barry Lytton; the voice is Jonathan Goldstein’s, owner of Sherwood Island Oysters.

(“06880” reports often on the environment — including our beaches and Sherwood Mill Pond. Please click here to help us continue our work. Thank you!)

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Posted in Beach, Environment, Police

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Pic Of The Day #2314

Posted on August 19, 2023 | 2 comments

It’s massive. It’s disruptive. But this shot makes the I-95 Saugatuck Avenue Bridge renovation project look almost majestic. (Photo/Dave Stone)

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Posted in Pic of the Day, Saugatuck, Transportation

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Roundup: Elvira’s, Club 203, Rhone …

Posted on August 19, 2023 | 3 comments

Elvira’s is gone. The popular store has been replaced by the equally popular Old Mill Grocery & Deli.

But Elvira’s pizza will soon be back.

Harry Yiovanakos is following in his family’s footsteps. Elvira’s Pizza will open just over the border on Norwalk’s Belden Avenue.

“06880” will let readers know as soon as the first pie comes out of the oven.

Elvira’s Pizza opens soon. (Photo and hat tip/Andrew Colabella)

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Club 203 — Westport’s social group for adults with disabilities — returns for another year soon.

And the lineup of activities is bigger and better than ever:

  • September 20: Reconnect and renew friendships at Toquet Hall
  • October 12: Halloween Bingo & Barbeque at the Senior center
  • November 15: “Get Your Turkey On” at Earthplace
  • December 4: Holiday bash at MoCA
  • January 15: Splash and celebrate 2024 at the Westport Weston Family YMCA
  • February TBD: Valentines at the Westport Country Playhouse
  • March TBD: Celebrate the luck of the Irish at VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399
  • April TBD: Rock on at the Westport Library
  • May TBD: Bowling event
  • June 5: Beach bash at Compo.

Sign up for all events for $100; individual events are $15 each. Click here for more information, and to register.

Questions? Email club203ct@gmail.com, or call 203-418-7672.

EJ Zebro (far right) and friends have fun at Jesup Green in April.

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Rhone — Main Street’s new men’s store — celebrates its grand opening next Saturday (August 26), with a full day of activities.

C0-founders Nate and Ben Checketts will host:

  • 10 a.m. to noon : Ribbon-cutting with the Westport Downtown Association; bagels and coffee from Popup Bagels and GG & Joe.
  • Noon to 2 p.m.: Ice bath with Edge Theory Labs; first 30 customers receive a free pair of Rhone swim trunks.
  • 2-4 p.m.: Recovery with Restore Hyper Wellness; juices and snacks from Green & Tonic.
  • 4-6 p.m.: Drinks from Two Roads Brewing and Athletic Brewing Co.

Customers get 20% off their purchase, plus a free pair of Essentials boxer briefs or trunks with all purchases over $350.

Plus: It’s the final day of Connecticut’s Tax-Free Week..

Rhone is ready for business.

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The Levitt Pavilion’s summer series continued last night, with DJ Rekha playing Bollywood tunes.

Tonight’s show features Bill & the Showmen. Tomorrow, it’s the always popular Frank Mastrone & Friends. Click here for more information.

Bollywood night at the Levitt. (Photo/Sarathi Roy)

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Speaking of music: Yesterday’s “06880” preview of CLASP‘s “Rockin’ Halloween Bash” (October 20, Fairfield Theatre Company) — a benefit for the organization providing group homes and other services for people with autism and intellectual disabilities — included incorrect information about the music.

CLASP now says that the danceable, great rock from artists like Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, Journey, Led Zeppelin, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and more will be provided by Stephanie Harrison (powerhouse leader of the band Fake ID), Anthony Gadaleta, Crispin Cioe (Westport saxophonist who toured with the Stones), Pat Marafiote, Marcos Torres Jr. (Cosmic Jibaros), and Rob Fried, Band Central founder.

The pre-party starts in the FTC gallery at 6:30 p.m., with light bites. Click here for tickets, and other information.

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MDSolarSciences is a Westport sunscreen and skincare brand.

On Tuesday (August 22), CEO Renee Plato and employees will travel around Fairfield County, to donate sunscreens to lifeguards, fire and police departments, and others. They’ll also offer advice and tips on sunscreen application techniques, and the role sun protection plays in maintaining healthy skin.

The event begins in Westport.

MDSolarSciences says: Sunscreen is important!

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On Wednesday, members and guests of the Y’s Men of Westport & Weston toured Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza and Prospect Park. It was part of the group’s New York historic walking tour series.

Warren Jahn led the informative and fun event.

Y’s Men at Prospect Park. (Photo/Dave Matlow)

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Tomorrow (Sunday, August 20, 2 p.m.), high school sophomore and Connecticut Entomological Society member Lukas Keras leads a bug walk in Sherwood Island State Park’s West Woods.

Lukas looks forward to inspiring visitors to love the natural world as much as he does. Entrance to the state park is free for vehicles with Connecticut license plates.

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Michael Chait provides both a stunning photo, and an appropriate caption, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature:

“The cruelty of Mother Nature. One life ends and one continues, high above the Saugatuck River.”

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Jerry Moss — the “M” in A&M records, the label behind the Carpenters, the Police, Janet Jackson, Peter Frampton and (the “A” in the name) Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass — died this week in Los Angeles. He was 88.

Click here for a full obituary.

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(Here’s our usual potpourri o’ stuff. To help keep it coming, please click here. Thank you!)

 

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Posted in Entertainment, Environment, Local business, Restaurants

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Online Art Gallery #175

Posted on August 19, 2023 | 4 comments

Many of today’s online art gallery submissions are photos.

They’re (as always) gorgeous. As always too, they circle the globe.

But let’s not slack off, all of you who work in other mediums!

Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.

“Poppy” (Ken Runkel)

“Sailing in My Dreams” (Tom Doran)

“The Whaleship Charles W. Morgan Returns Home” (Peter Barlow)

“Sunflower in a Sunflower” (Linda Doyle)

“Bee All That You Can Be!” Photographer Bonnie Scott Connolly took this image of a cone flower (echinacea) at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Untitled (June Rose Whittaker)

“Wyoming” (Rowene Weems)

“It Is So Hot The Trees Are Melting” — western US (Mike Hibbard)

Untitled — swan family on the Lieutenant River estuary, Old Lyme (Susan Lloyd)

“The Hat” (Karen Weingarten)

Untitled — artist Eric Bosch explains, “Every 5 years, the Babson side of  my family (200+) gathera at the Babson museum in Rockport, Massachusetts.  The organizers requested art, so I did this painting for the  occasion earlier this month. The Babsons got off the Mayflower and built a stone cooperage to make oak barrels. The center portion of my painting remains to this day.”

“A Brown Sheep.” Artist Steve Stein explains, “Sheep can be domestic or wild. Their colors range from pure white to spotted, piebald and dark chocolate, depending on a gene that controls melanin.”

 

“Flat Out” (Lawrence Weisman)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

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Famed New York Club “Runs” New YMCA Program

Posted on August 19, 2023 | 2 comments

New York Road Runners may be the most famous running club in the world.

They sponsor the mammoth New York City Marathon — and dozens of other races, nearly every weekend throughout the year.

Their 77,000 members include 42 from Westport. CEO Rob Simmelkjaer is a Westporter; so is director of safety and medical logistics Nicole Donovan.

Rob Simmelkjaer (Photo/Benjamin Norris for New York Times)

But since its founding in 1958, NYRR has never done anything in Connecticut.

Next month, that changes.

The club has partnered with the Westport Weston Family YMCA to offer group training.

The program — begun in New York in 2016 — offers coaching, camaraderie and inspiration to runners of all levels.

The Tuesday and Thursday sessions begin September 12, and run through November 2. (NOTE: Though all ability levels are welcome, this is not for slackers. The hour-long program begins at 6:30 a.m. at the Y or near Longshore.)

One group is for runners at a 7:15 mile or faster past; the other is slower.

Each workout begins with a warm-up, and covers running technique, and workouts like intervals or tempo runs. They end with strength and flexibility.

Roberto Mandje

Roberto Mandje — a 2004 1,500-meter Olympic runner and a 7-year Road Runner training veteran — will lead the sessions.

Fleet Feet owner Dave Wright, Fleet Feet coach Jenny Day, and Ironman competitor Sarah Caputo assists Mandje.

Simmelkjaer is excited about the partnership. He’s been a Y member since he moved to Westport 10 years ago. (He sometimes runs the half-mile there, from his home.)

“I see a lot of Westport folks at the finish line of our Road Runner races,” he says. “I know people here run with us after work in New York too.

“There’s a strong running culture in Westport, thanks to Fleet Feet and people like Laddie Lawrence.

“We see people running all over town. But a lot of them run by themselves. Running with others makes a big difference. You tend to be more motivated and accountable.

“It’s very exciting for me to bring New York Road Runners here to Westport.”

(For registration and more information about the New York Road Runners group training at the Westport Y, click here.)

(If you like “06880”‘s work, you don’t have to run anywhere. Just click here to support your hyper-local blog. Thank you!)

 

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Posted in Sports, YMCA

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Pics Of The Day #2313

Posted on August 18, 2023 | 3 comments

Standup paddleboarder off Compo Beach … (Photo/JD Dworkow)

… and a golden hour view from the pavilion. (Photo/Patricia McMahon)

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Friday Flashback #361

Posted on August 18, 2023 | 15 comments

As the Westport Inn bites the dust, and a new college football season looms, longtime “06880” reader and amateur historian Fred Cantor suggests a confluence of those 2 events for our Friday Flashback.

Fred found this fascinating ad from the October 3, 1960 Yale Daily News:

At that time the Yale football team attracted large crowds — including folks who drove up from the tri-state area.

Owners of Westport’s then brand-new “motor hotel” figured they could snag some of the traffic, on the way to and from New Haven.

Back view of the New Englander Motor Hotel. In the front, the Post Road is not visible; beyond it is an artist’s rendition of Long Island Sound, actually a couple of miles south.

The copywriter was right about both bowling (the Backiels’ Westport Lanes was a few hundred yards down the Post Road; it’s now the site of the Bevmax shopping center) and skating (a rink was nearby in the opposite direction, though it was hardly “beautiful”; it remains today, as the indoor Westport Tennis Club, behind the new Tacombi restaurant).

I’m pretty sure though that the lounge was not “famous.”

And — even allowing for less traffic then than now on the “Connecticut Turnpike” (I-95) — there’s no way to make it from Westport to the Yale Bowl in 20 minutes.

As for “Dine well!”: Westport had its share of restaurants.

Among them, right next door to the New Englander was Bob Charpentier’s Bantam:

What a menu: Steaks. Chops. Lobster. And frogs [sic] legs!

Bantam Restaurant.

A few years later, Bantam became Chubby Lane’s — Westport’s first $1 hamburger place.

Bob Charpentier opened a butcher shop across the street. He supplied the great meat for those great Chubby’s burgers.

Charpentier’s Butcher Shop is now Border Grille.

And the Bantam/Chubby Lane’s/Ocean House (and other restaurants)?

Today it’s the site of Willows Pediatrics.

(If you enjoy our Friday Flashback feature, please consider a contribution to “06880.” Any amount — in 1960 or 2023 dollars — is welcome! Just click here. Thank you!)

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