Posted onNovember 7, 2022|Comments Off on “Westport … What’s Happening?” Jen Tooker & Foti Koskinas, Part 2
The previous “Westport … What’s Happening?” podcast — with 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker interviewing Police Chief Foti Koskinas — came on the heels of a Staples High School lockdown.
In this second part of the series, Chief Foti talks about the Westport Police Department’s neighborhood meetings, traffic (reasons and resources) and manpower.
“Westport … What’s Happening?” is a service of the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston. Click below to listen.
Comments Off on “Westport … What’s Happening?” Jen Tooker & Foti Koskinas, Part 2
For the past 2 elections, Mark Yurkiw’s artwork (below) offered a reminder on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge of upcoming votes.
Tomorrow is Election Day. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. To find out where you vote, click here.
Connecticut voters will cast ballots for state legislators, governor and US senator. There’s also a referendum question: Should the state constitution be amended, to give the General Assembly the option to allow early voting?
A “yes” vote on this one seems like a non-partisan no-brainer. Right now, only 4 states — Connecticut, New Hampshire, Alabama and Mississippi — do not permit voting before Election Day.
Veterans Day is a quasi-holiday. There are a few official closures, but mostly it’s business as usual. Veterans Day.
But if you can, make time this Friday (November 11) for the annual Town Hall ceremony.
The Community Band plays patriotic songs at 10:30 a.m. At 11 a.m. — the time the armistice ending World War I took effect — the program honoring all veterans begins.
Veterans of Foreign War Post 399, American Legion Post 63, town officials, veterans and a Staples High School student speaker will all take part.
Proud veterans at the 2018 ceremony. (Photo copyright/Ted Horowitz)
Four Westport Police Department members were promoted last week to new ranks.
Congratulations to Sergeants Daniel Paz and Howard Simpson, Lieutenant Serenity Dobson and Captain David Wolf.
And thanks, of course, for your service.
The Westport Police Department promotion ceremony. From left: Sgt. Daniel Paz, Sgt. Howard Simpson, Lt. Serenity Dobson, Capt. David Wolf, Deputy Chief Samuel Arciola, First Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Chief Foti Koskinas, Captain Eric Woods. (Photo and hat tip: Andrew Colabella)
Friends and admirers of Arline Gertzoff are invited to a ceremony honoring her life this Saturday (November 12, 2:30 p.m., Town Hall).
The longtime jUNe Day hospitality chair, poll worker, RTM member, Democratic Town Committee activist and proud Staples High School graduate died in September, of esophageal cancer. She was 76.
He was well-known in the Westport hospitality family, and a consummate professional. He served for many years at Mario’s, DeRosa’s, Viva Zapata and the Inn at Longshore, among others.
A friend says: “His wry sense of humor, kindness and cheeky smile were just a few of the things we loved about him. Many were lucky enough to know him well and call him a dear friend, but Willie was really a friend to all he met.”
At his request, there will be no funeral. Instead, friends are invited to celebrate his life on Sunday (November 13, Black Duck Café, noon to 4 p.m.).
Light food will be served, with a cash bar. Friends can bring pictures or stories to share.Digital photos for a slide show can be emailed to williepics2022@gmail.com.
Westporters know her as Julie DeLoyd. To her music fans, she is simply Julie Loyd.
By either name, she’s ready to record her 7th album — the first full-length one since 2008.
A lot has happened in that time, and she has 10 songs to share about it. The album goes back to her acoustic roots, with guitar, banjo, cello, upright bass, accordion and more.
“It’s earthy and honest,” Julie says. “I’m sharing stories from own family, about my friends, about love, about ambition. It’s an album that I couldn’t have written 15 years ago.
She’s funding much of it herself. But she’s started a $10,000 Kickstarter project to help cover studio and producer time, musicians, traveling to Nashville, graphic design and manufacture, and publicity.
Click here for more information, and to contribute.
Ann Chernow has been an important part of Westport’s arts scene for decades.
But she’s not just ours. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, DeJong Musem, National University of Taiwan, el Aviv Museum Coupozoulos Museum in Athens and many others.
Now she’s got a new website. Click here to see her work. Click below for an intriguing interview, with Miggs Burroughs.
Felice Pagliuso — well known to generations of Compo Barber Shop customers — died Thursday, surrounded by hsis family. The Norwalk resident was 73.
He was born in Calabria, and emigrated from Italy in 1971 with his wife. They began their new life in the US, and started a family.
Felice spent 47 years at Compo Barber Shop. When it closed, he moved nearby to Westport Hair &Co. He took great pride in his work, and earned rewards for his men’s hair styling.
Felice’s happiest role in life was being a grandfather. He found joy in family dinners, walks by the beach and playing Italian cards. He loved classical music and enjoyed going to Italian concerts.
Felice is survived by his wife of 52 years, Palma Torcasio Pagliuso; daughter Giovanna Pagliuso (Alex) Apazidis and son Antonio Pagliuso (fiancée Chrisavgi Sourgoutsis); grandsons Nikolaos and Anthony Felice Apazidis; brother Francesco Pagliuso, and several nieces and nephews. Felice was pre-deceased by his brother Antonio, sister Caterina and nephew Gianfranco Pagliuso.
Calling hours are today (Monday, November 7, 4 to 8 p.m., Raymond Funeral Home. 5 East Wall Street, Norwalk). A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated tomorrow (Tuesday, November 8, 10 a.m. at St. Philip Church, 1 Father Conlin Place Norwalk. Entombment will follow in St. John’s Cemetery.
It sounds like a Zen koan: If you go to Pierrepont School worrying about getting into a top college, you won’t engage with your education in ways that will get you into a top college.
That’s the magic — and surprise — of the very small, virtually unknown K-12 Westport institution.
It’s hidden in plain sight. The Mediterranean mansion (and former offices of Lindblad Travel) is tucked high on the Sylvan Road North hill at the Post Road West traffic light.
But for a certain type of student (and parents and teachers), it is a model for what education can and should be.
Pierrepont School, on Sylvan Road North. the entrance faces Post Road West.
Founded in 2001, Pierrepont has long kept a low profile. In a town dominated by outstanding public schools, and equally outstanding private Greens Farms Academy, Pierrepont does not “compete” for students. Their main marketing method is word of mouth.
A certain kind of student, Pierrepont figures, will find them.
A biology student draws a detailed neuron.
Those students are willing to dive way deep into subjects that interest them — and those they are totally unfamiliar with. They’re okay with the “process” of learning, rather than the “product.” (That is very important. Pierrepont does not give grades, class ranks or other “honors.” And there are no AP classes.)
Pierrepont students enjoy preparing well for class, and speaking up in discussions and debates. (Also important — with 6 or 7 students sitting around a classroom table, there’s no place to hide).
They are students who are okay without having sports teams to play on, or big musicals to act in. Instead they’ll create a dance performance, or collaborate on a computer science project with someone in Nigeria.
Young students perform an interpretive dance at Pierrepont’s graduation.
And they must be comfortable with diversity. Belying the stereotype of private schools, 47% of Pierrepont’s 130 students (grades K-12) are of color.
They come from 35 towns and cities throughout the region. But 40% are from Westport.
“You can’t develop intellectually, wholly and deeply, unless you’re in a community of difference,” says head of school Sarah Marchesi.
She notes that race and ethnicity are not the only types of differences. Pierrepont strives for diversity of religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomics and political points of view too. Financial aid is available.
The faculty is equally diverse. Of 52 teachers, 46% are of color.
Almost none live in Westport. Most commute from New York or New Haven.
Very few have teaching degrees. But at least 60% have at least one post-graduate degree.
“They are not trained teachers,” Marchesi notes. “They don’t have a pedagogical orientation.”
They are, however, “deep in their fields.” An English instructor is a published poet. A dance teacher runs her own Brooklyn dance company. A music teacher is writing 2 operas. A number are former college professors. They teach courses like Latin, Mandarin and African Dance (all required).
A high school theater class.
Faculty members are attracted by the chance to work collaboratively across disciplines with a non-standardized curriculum, and by the lack of letter grades. Students are accountable for their own learning.
Accountability is big — sometimes in ways unfamiliar, even uncomfortable, to parents.
“We limit direct contact between parents and teachers,” Marchesi says. “We ask teachers to be accountable to their students, and administrators to be accountable to parents.”
There’s a “sense of defensiveness” if teachers must constantly post grades and assignments, Marchesi says. That gets in the way of the learning environment Pierrepont hopes to foster.
Above all, the school prizes curiosity and learning, for learning’s sake.
“Grades create ceilings,” Marchesi points out. “Getting an A is not necessarily great. Some kids can do very little, and get A’s.”
Instead of letter grades, Pierrepont students receive detailed written assessments 3 times a year, in every class and from every teacher.
The lack of grades has not hurt seniors’ college chances. Though Pierrepont does not focus on preparing students for the most selective schools, those universities know how deeply and broadly its graduates can think, analyze, synthesize, write and create.
A piece of art from middle schooler Dereje Tarrant, on the Pierrepont wall.
“Colleges look for authenticity,” Marchesi says. So — back to that Zen koan — the students who go to Pierrepont not worrying about getting into the “top” colleges often do.
The small graduating class sends students regularly to the Ivies, and schools like Stanford and the University of Chicago.
And — because this is Pierrepont — several have gone to Deep Springs, the tiny, demanding, self-governing school in a Nevada valley.
Meanwhile, back in Connecticut, Pierrepont does what it does best: empower a diverse faculty to teach and learn with a diverse student body, in rigorous, inclusive, empathetic, intimate and ambitious ways.
Student musicians — from kindergarten through high school — rehearse for a concert.
It’s not for everyone. But for the students and staff who seek it out, it works.
For over 2 decades it’s worked — quietly and effectively — right here in Westport. And under most Westporters’ noses.
Now, Pierrepont School prepares itself for the decades ahead. This fall they closed on the purchase of the Sylvan Road property they’d rented for years.
That Mediterranean mansion on the hill is now their permanent home.
(Chances are, you won’t learn about a school like Pierrepont from media other than “06880.” To keep stories like this coming, please click here to support your hyper-local blog.)
Several “06880” readers quickly nailed last week’s Photo Challenge.
Phil Kann’s image showed the soundproofing — aka “baffles” — on the Westport Library’s south wall, near the Trefz Forum stage and Verso Studios.
But they didn’t get the whole story.
As Phil notes, the acoustic foam actually includes certain letters. And the letters spell out a phrase.
His photo showed the letters “ET.” (Click here to see.) They’re part of the words “MAKE – MEET –WORK –REA D.”
“Brilliant crypto messaging,” Phil says.
And that’s just part of a number of hidden designs incorporated into the Westport Library’s Transformation Project. As is true with so much about one of our town’s favorite places: There’s far more there than meets the eye.
Seth Schachter, Martin Gitlin, Ken Kantor, Scott Brodie, Clark Thiemann, Will Gibson and Paul Cahill all identified the baffling. Next time they — and you — are there, “check out” the entire wall.
This week’s Photo Challenge takes us back outside. If you know where in Westport you would see this ineffective and abandoned-looking gate, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
(Here’s a challenge: Please support “06880.” Click here to donate!)
On the even of today’s New York City Marathon — and a couple of weeks before Roh Simmelkjaer takes over as CEO of its organizer, New York Road Runners — the New York Times sat down for a chat with the Westport resident.
Simmelkjaer is familiar to local residents. He’s a former member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Democratic Town Committee.
Persona — the interview and conversation-focused social media startup he founded — had a heavy local presence.
Simmelkjaer has also been a top manager at ESPN, an on-air Olympics personality for NBC, and — most recently — director of the Connecticut State Lottery.
He calls the Road Runners gig his “dream job.” (He comes prepared: He’s finished the New York Marathon twice.)
Click here to learn about Simmelkjaer’s plans — including a greater focus on the mental health aspect of running, and expanding the organization’s reach — in the Times’ Q-and-A. (Hat tip: John Suggs)
Also in today’s New York Times: a review of Paul Newman’s new posthumous memoir, “The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man.”
It’s by Richard Russo, who has some skin in the Westport actor’s game. Newman’s portrayal of Sully in the film adaptation of Russo’s novel changed the author’s life, opening doors to a screenwriting career.
As the political season heats up, so does the work of Marc Selverstone.
The 1980 Staples High School graduate — An associate professor in presidential studies at the University of Virginia, and chair of the Presidential Recordings Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs there — is about to publish “The Kennedy Withdrawal: Camelot and the American Commitment in Vietnam.”
It’s called “a major revision of our understanding of JFK’s commitment to Vietnam, revealing that his administration’s plan to withdraw was a political device, the effect of which was to manage public opinion while preserving United States military assistance.”
Selverstone is an expert on the subject. At the Miller Center he edits the secret tapes of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
Speaking of stress: Relax with some wine! (Adults, not kids …)
Westport Sunrise Rotary has just the ticket. Their “Westport Uncorked” wine tasting fundraiser is set for The Inn at Longshore (Friday, November 18. 6:30 p.m.).
Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served, along with dozens of fine wines provided by The Fine Wine Company of Westport. (All wines are available for purchase).
Every dollar raised goes directly to charities supported by Westport Sunrise Rotary. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Good times at the 2019 Uncorked wine tasting, at the Inn at Longshore.
In advance of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ November 25 release of “Live at the Fillmore 1997” — their first live record in over a decade — Emmy-winning Westport animator Jeff Scher has created a great video.
Viewers will recognize plenty of local scenes, including Compo Beach, North Avenue and Cross Highway. There’s also the “Heroes Tunnel” through West Rock Ridge near Wilbur Cross Parkway Exit 59 in New Haven.
Westporters turned out in force yesterday, to help the Westport police force — and folks in need.
The Police Department and Stop & Shop sponsored their annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. All donations — 436 bags, filled to the brim — support Homes with Hope’s Food Pantry at the Gillespie Center. and Westport Human Services’ Food Pantry.
Some residents went out of their way to bring food. Others spotted the food drive, and added non-perishable items to their shopping lists.
At the end of the day, an entire (and enormous) truck was filled with much-needed goods. Thanks to all who contributed — and of course to the WPD, and Stop & Shop.
RTM member Jimmy Izzo, former 1st Selectman Jim Marpe (with his wife Mary Ellen and grandson Charlie), and Police Chief Foti Koskinas (center), with volunteers and Westport Police Department officers at the Thanksgiving food drive by Stop & Shop.
And finally … Aaron Carter, the singer and actor (and brother of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter) was found dead yesterday at his California home. He was 34.
(Your clock should have been set back an hour last night. And don’t forget to support “06880” either! Please click here to contribute.)
Ron Berler is a 1967 Staples High School graduate, and noted magazine and newspaper writer on a variety of subjects, from education to baseball. Today, he turns his focus on guns.
Ron says:
How fearful are Westporters?
In 2001, the town’s police department issued a total of 26 gun permits. That number jumped to 181 in 2021.
According to the Connecticut State Police, as of April 2021 there were 5,212 registered firearms in town – 2,877 handguns and 2,079 long guns, a category that includes assault-style weapons.
That’s a lot more firepower than the Minutemen who faced down the British at Compo Beach had. And those fellows had an actual need.
Ron Berler
I grew up in Westport. Walking the quiet streets, even the unlighted ones, even at night, I can’t recall a single instance of fear – other than the time I egged a car on Halloween night and the driver chased me through woods that, thankfully, I knew better than he.
Now I live in Stamford. I walk the streets of my suburban neighborhood nightly, armed with a flashlight, doggie bag and miniature poodle while keeping my eyes peeled – for the hawk and the occasional coyote that have claimed as their turf what I had imagined to be mine.
I don’t own a gun. Never have, never will. Yet I don’t pretend that Westport, or the US, will ever be a gun-free zone. Or that it even should be.
I do believe in a nuanced approach to firearms possession.
Shortly after the Uvalde massacre, I wrote an op-ed about nuance and gun reform. It ran in the Houston Chronicle. I wanted it in a Texas paper for a reason. Here it is. (The Chronicle has a paywall, so I’ve posted it on Medium.com.)
I hope it resonates with you.
The type of weapon the 2nd Amendment had in mind, for a well regulated militia.
The other night, in a segment on Kanye West’s social media remarks, he aired a (fake) ad for “Yentanyl” — an aid to help those who might be feeling a bit antisemitic.
And there — right in the middle — was a clip from “Fiddler on the Roof.”
But not just any production of the Broadway classic. This was from Staples Players’ 2015 show: the famous “Bottle Dance” sequence.
Directors David Roth and Kerry Long have no idea how Kimmel’s staff found the show. But it’s on YouTube.
Actually, it’s quite popular. It’s gotten over 113,000 likes — and admiring comments from as far away as Russia. Many admirers probably have no idea this is a high school group.
Click below for the Kimmel into. The “ad” begins around the 7:30 mark. Staples’ cast comes on just after 8:00.
Then click below for the original Staples Players’ “Bottle Dance.” Oy! (Hat tip: Caroline Rossi)
Speaking of Staples: The high school’s logowear is everywhere. Athletes, actors, musicians, Inklings writers — all proclaim their Wrecker allegiance.
There’s plenty of generic “Staples” apparel too, worn proudly by students and parents. It’s fun — and quite profitable for the retailers (some local, some not) who sell it.
At the Homecoming football game last month, a Staples PTA member spotted 2 varsity jackets — on long-ago graduates: Gina Hackett (Class of 1991) and John McGrath (’95).
Gina Hackett and John McGrath, at Homecoming.
That sparked a fundraising idea.
For a limited time — and just in time for the holidays — the Staples PtA is selling Staples Wreckerwear. Some is branded for alums; some just says “Staples.” It’s available to all alums everywhere. And anyone else who is proud of our outstanding high school.
Keeping it local: This is a partnership with Nice Threads, the Kings Highway North customizing company owned by 2000 graduate Tim Nash.
Click here to see all the sweatshirts, t-shirts, flannel pants, hats and beanies. The ordering deadline is November 11.
Some of the Staples PTA/Nice Threads logowear items.
Autostrada — the classic car/private club/event meeting space that’s one of Westport’s hidden gems — was the setting for yesterday’s Westport10 meeting.
The social and cultural group of Black Westport men was hosted by Autostrada founder Gioel Molinari. They enjoyed a private lunch and tour of the rare autos in the well-curated space.
Gioel’s oat milk lattes drew especially high praise.
So far Westport10 has met at La Plage, the Westport Library and now Autostrada. Next month …?
Westport10 at Autostrada. Standing (from left): Craig Melvin, Christian Bolu, Ted Parker, Jay Norris, Kevin Christie, Brian Corbett, Vincent Spencer, Eric Freeman. Front: Gioel Molinari.
Back to Staples: The high school’s Zero Waste Committee’s first-ever sustainable holiday festival is in the cafeteria on November 12 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Green gift items include kids crafts, a thrift store and more. Admission is free. Click here and scroll down to see the nearly 30 vendors.
Speaking of green: Last winter, “06880” posted 2 stories about trees removed at the site of a new home on Hideaway Lane, off Hillspoint Road.
New trees have now been planted on the town’s right-of-way. They are slow growing, and will not reach as high as the utility wires above them (as the trees that were removed did).
SIR Development also planted approximately 32 trees on the property itself, replacing those that were cut down. The tree warden was consulted on all the plantings.
With great weather predicted, La Plage’s Patio Bar at Longshore will remain open this weekend.
We’re not sure what Thanksgiving holds. But the popular restaurant will be serving (indoors) a special holiday dinner, from noon to 7 p.m. that day (November 24).
There’s a traditional Amish turkey, with seasonal local ingredients. The 3-course prix fixe menu is $85 per person (young adults: $39).
For reservations and information, click here or call 203-684-6232.
Longtime Westport resident and noted actress Page Hedden Wilson, died at her Haddam home on September 13. She was 96.
Page was born in New York City in 1926 to Walter P. Hedden, director of Port Development for the Port Authority of New York, and Worth Tuttle Hedden, an award-winning novelist and champion of minority rights.
After attending Antioch College, Page met her husband, Ian H. Wilson while studying at the Theater School of Bradford Yorkshire, England. They were married in 1951 and lived for a short time in London, where Page gave birth to her first child on the day Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne.
In 1954 the couple relocated to Westport, Connecticut, where they raised their daughters Rebecca, Dori, Ellen, Holly and Alix. For more than 60 years the family lived in 5 different homes there.
Page and Ian acted in the Westport Community Theater during its early years at the group’s little theater on Kings Highway, Wilton Playshop and White Barn Theater.
Page was an artist and puppeteer, creating her own traveling puppet show Trunk of Tales Puppets in 1965 and performing at hundreds of schools, museums and nature centers in New York and Connecticut. She was also s founding member of the Connecticut Guild of Puppetry.
Page was a playwright, actress and producer of critically acclaimed plays about famous women, from Agatha Christie to Mary Cassatt and Eleanor Roosevelt. She researched her characters carefully, using authentic props and dresses.
Page is survived by her daughters Rebecca (John Armstrong) of Madison, Connecticut; Dori (George Ostasiewicz) of Norwalk; Holly (Jim Luce) of Denville, New Jersey and Dr. Alexandra Wilson (Terry Dawson) of Austin. and 12 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Page was predeceased by her former husband, Ian Wilson, her daughter, Ellen Page Wilson and her companion of many years, Sayard Stone.
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