Staples High School’s many talented actors, musicians and athletes get plenty of press — and well-deserved praise
Plenty of others do equally admirable work, far beyond the spotlight.
Today we salute Natalia Garment, Neha Singh and Jessie Zhang.
The highly motivated, self-starting seniors created SpeakEasy. The student-run organization supports language learners, and increases access to multilingual education.
They promote biliteracy through free tutoring. They’ve hosted a fundraiser at Toquet Hall.
Now they’ve partnered with the Westport Library.
Next month, SpeakEasy offers free beginner Spanish, Mandarin and French classes for students ages 6-9 at the Library.
Group members have earned the Connecticut Seal of Biliteracy, and have experience teaching peers and younger students. Families may sign their child up for individual sessions using this link.
SpeakEasy has also designed a special “Biliteracy Bookshelf,” at the entrnace of the Library’s children’s section. Prior to lessons, families are encouraged to visit the display.
Natalia, Neha and Jessie: You are our Unsung Heroes of the week. Congratulations!
Or — as you already know how to say: Félicitations! ¡Felicidades! Gōngxǐ!
From left: Neha Singh, Jessie Zhang and Natalia Garment, at their Westport Library display.
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Speaking of sports: A familiar Westport face popped up on “Shark Tank.” The episode airs tonight (Wednesday) at 10 p.m. (ABC-TV, and streaming on Hulu).
Kyle Martino — the soccer star who won MLS Rookie of the Year honors, and played with the US national team — vied to win $250,000 for his app. Street FC connects players looking for pick-up soccer games, in cities around the country.
Martino — who was 1999 Gatorade National Player of the Year at Staples — was shown in a photo with his brother (and former teammate) Wes.
And though he described his love for pick-up (unstructured) soccer, Martino did not mention that it was honed while growing up in Westport — the town where he once again lives, and directs Street FC (and many more soccer-related projects) from.
Bitter cold did not deter a small crowd from gathering yesterday on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.
They were part of a nationwide “Free America” protest. It coincided with the first anniversary of President Trump’s second inauguration.
Protest on the Post Road bridge. (Photo/Rowene Weems)
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The Sweet Remains — Greg Naughton’s band, and longtime Fairfield County favorites with their Crosby Stills & Nash/Simon & Garfunkel/Eagles/John Mayer/Jason Mraz-type harmonies and warmth — are this Saturday’s Westport Country Playhouse headliners (January 24, 8 p.m.).
Tickets are selling fast, for the group with over 65 million Spotify streams. Their latest album, “Embers,” was produced by Grammy Award winner Andy Zulla.
Tickets are $40, $45, and $55. To purchase, and for more information, click here.
The new studio celebrates their new 25 Sylvan Road South space with an opening party tomorrow (Thursday, January 22, 5 to 7 p.m.).
The event includes music, cocktails and “good energy.” Children are welcome.
DanceBody “blends functional training with the joy and artistry of dance, to deliver a workout that is as effective as it is empowering.” It focuses on “full-body movement, coordination, strength, and endurance. Classes incorporate aerobic conditioning and resistance training in a “dance-driven, constant progression (that) creates an energizing environment that builds both confidence and community.”
“Community Conversation With Kathryn Turley-Sonne & Rachel Churner” (January 29, 6 p.m.): A panel discussion on the exhibition “Enough Already: Women Artists from the Sara M. + Michelle Vance Waddell Collection,” and the groundbreaking feminist work of Carolee Schneemann featured in it.
“Opening Reception: Art, Jazz & The Blues” (February 26, 6 p.m.; $10). The exhibit explores powerful intersections between visual art and music, drawing from the rich holdings of the Westport Public Art Collections.
The exhibition centers on “Giants of the Blues,” 7 sweepin group portraits by Westport native Eric von Schmidt honoring blues, jazz and folk musicians from the 1920s to the 1960s (currently hung in his alma mater Staples High School’s auditorium foyer).
Complementing von Schmidt’s paintings are 40 works from the WestPAC collection depicting musicians, inspired by musical themes, or exploring the resonances between musical and visual forms.
Among the local and international artists: Ann Chernow, Eric Chiang, James Daugherty, Lisa Daugherty, Stevan Dohanos, Frances Gershwin Godowsky, Joan Miró, Robert Rauschenberg, Barbara Rothenberg, Eric von Schmidt, Larry Silver and Tracy Sugarman.
Not everyone goes out for a romantic dinner on Valentine’s Day.
So Marilyn Zavidow is throwing a Valentine’s Theatre Party, at the Westport Country Playhouse Lucille Lortel Barn.
“Valentines and galentines all” are invited to the February 14 (7 p.m.). “Karma Kabaret.” Chris Coogan plays piano, John Mobilio is on bass, at this :thought-provoking, heart-evoking musical tour de force.”
It’s followed by a “bubbly and chocolate” after-party.
And finally … we welcome DanceBody to Westport (story above) with this similar-sounding song:
(Arts, entertainment, politics, sports: today’s Roundup has it all. It’s what we do at “06880” — and we do it 24/7/365. If you like it, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
No announcement has been made about a new tenant for the 12,230-square foot space.
But if a pre-application meeting request is approved — and that meeting goes well — Westport could welcome a 25,000-square foot Sprouts Farmers Market diagonally across the street.
The Phoenix-based chain — with more than 410 stores in 23 states — is not mentioned specifically, in the pre-app request filed by architect Rick Hoag.
But an artists’ rendering of 1460 Post Road East prominently shows Sprouts’ name.
Artists’ rendering of 1460 Post Road East
Hoag’s letter says that renovations to the existing building would improve the façade, enhance safety within the parking area, and increase landscaping.
BevMax — one of the current anchor tenants — would be relocated to the lower level. The rest of the lower level space would be converted from retail to storage and utility use.
1460 Post Road East, with Julian’s Pizza (left) and BevMax.
If approved, Sprouts would be the third major supermarket in a 1.5-mile stretch of Post Road East. The other 2 are Stop & Shop and Big Y.
A pre-application meeting is a non-binding forum. It allows an applicant to obtain feedback on a proposal from the P&Z, without expending resources associated with filing a formal application. (Hat tip: Peter Gold)
Site plan for 1460 Post Road East, prepared by Langan Engineering.
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The town’s Martin Luther King Day celebration continued last night, at the Westport Country Playhouse.
A free screening of “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality” drew another rapt audience. Trey Ellis — executive producer of the film about the noted civil rights attorney’s struggle to create greater fairness in the criminal justice system — was joined in conversation by TEAM Westport chair Harold Bailey.
Ellis — a novelist, 2-time Emmy- and Peabody-winning filmmaker, playwright, essayist, and professor at Columbia University’s School of the Arts — also led the conversation with his Columbia colleague on Saturday.
Both events were a partnership with the Library, Playhouse, TEAM Westport, the Westport Museum for History & Culture, and the Westport/Weston Clergy Association.
Trey Ellis (left) and Harold Bailey. (Photo copyright DinkinESH Fotografix)
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The Board of Finance is one of Westport’s most important elected groups.
Members scrutinize and pass the town budget, and send it to the Representative Town meeting for final approval. They set the mill rate.
And although their meetings are open to the public — and their phone numbers and email addresses are on the town website — they’re looking for ways to be even more open and transparent.
Which is why they’re offering “office hours.”
Once a month at least one BOF member will be at the Westport Library, for casual conversations with Westport residents.
They’ll listen to concerns, answer questions, and explain how the town plans and oversees its finances.
There are 2 sessions each, on the third Thursday of each month: 10 to 11 a.m., and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The first is this Thursday (January 22).
No appointment is necessary. Just head up to the 2nd floor meeting rooms.
The fiscal year 2024 town (non-educational) budget.
The Joggers Club is warming up for its 6th year of working with young runners/
It’s a fun group — organized by age and level, so everyone runs with friends.
All youngsters in kindergarten through 8th grade are welcome, regardless of experience. They meet every Sunday (April 5 through June 7), from 4 to 5:15 p.m. at the Staples High School track. The cost is $199.
There is a different theme each week., including long runs, games and races. The final session is a track meet and field day (with a free ice cream truck).
Westport’s favorite jazz singer — Melissa Newman — returns to “Jazz at the Post” this Thursday (January 22; shows at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner from 7).
She’s backed by an equally talented band of popular regulars: guitarist Tony Lombardozzi, bassist Phil Bowler and drummer Bobby Leonard. Click here for tickets.
Melissa Newman
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Amid all the white snow last weekend, Jill Grayson spotted one bit of red.
And finally … in honor (sort of) of the Joggers Club’s program for kids (item above):
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After ICE agents killed a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, residents reacted in many ways.
Some protested in the streets. Some delivered food and supplies to immigrants, who are afraid to venture outside.
Josh Resnik went to a Somali restaurant.
The 1988 Staples High School graduate has spent over 3 decades in the Twin Cities, working in the food industry. He knows that the gesture was small.
But it meant an enormous amount to the owner. Her business has suffered as Somali customers fear going out.
Resnik and his son Eli — a high school senior — headed to lunch as a protest unfolded nearby. The owner — in the US for more than 30 years — waved to the protesters. Some later stopped in for a meal.
Somali restaurant owner waves to protestors outside.
Josh and his son also visited a Mexican restaurant. Those owners now keep their doors locked, so ICE agents won’t enter. But diners can knock, and be let in.
Those are 2 small examples of the personal toll the events of the past month have taken on ordinary citizens.
Resnik lives in south Minneapolis, 2 miles from many of the protests.
Daily life, he says, is “weirdly normal for a lot of us. There’s a heavy dose of white privilege.”
But neither he nor anyone else can escape what’s going on.
“There’s an amazing sense of community,” Josh says. ‘People have really come together. They’re not afraid to stand up and speak out. In the darkness it’s very powerful for people to say, ‘This is not who we are.'”
Protestors (left) and ICE agents (right) in Minneapolis.
Immediately after the shooting, schools were closed. When classes resumed, ICE agents chased someone onto a high school campus. A few students and teachers were pepper sprayed.
Remote learning has been offered to students who don’t feel comfortable going to class.
A friend told Josh that one of his Hispanic employees has been pulled over 8 times, because of his dark skin.
It’s not only immigrants. The Black employee of another friend was detained. “This is like 1960s Mississippi,” Josh says.
Between the George Floyd protests in 2020, and this, “We’ve been through a lot here,” Josh notes. “People are shaken.”
Josh believes that President Trump has targeted the city and state.
“He wants violence, to prove the need for ICE. They say ‘if you follow orders, there won’t be a problem.’ But this is so purposefully provocative. The agents arrived here in force, with minimal training.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have urged protestors to be peaceful. “Don’t fall into ICE’s trap,” they say.
Throughout the Twin Cities, people like Josh Resnik continue to do whatever they can, in ways large and small.
On Saturday, Josh and some friends gathered to watch a football game.
Instead of wings, they ate takeout from a Somali restaurant.
Helping Somali immigrants, one meal at a time. (Photos/Josh Resnik)
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The highly motivated, self-starting seniors created SpeakEasy. The student-run organization supports language learners, and increases access to multilingual education.
