Nearly 10 years ago — back in the pre-Unsung Hero days — I posted a story about Colonial Druggist and its wonderful owner, Russ Levine.
At that point, he and his ever-alert, always-helpful, constantly-go-the-extra-mile staff had been serving grateful customers for decades. They started in Colonial Green, then moved to the plaza near Fresh Market (and kept the name).
They’re still doing it. And Russ is still at the helm.
Alert “06880” reader John Karrel thinks it’s time to revisit Colonial Druggist — this time for an Unsung Hero award.
I couldn’t agree more.
Russ Levine, at his familiar spot. (Photo/John Karrel)
John writes:
“With the world ever more complex in 2022, there’s no let-up in Russell’s patience, the depth of his knowledge, his ceaseless good cheer and humor (not to mention his natty suspenders).
“Recently, I went in and asked if he could point me toward ear drops. ‘That depends,’ he said. After a dramatic pause: ‘Left ear or right ear?’”
“He and his superb staff seem to handle any kind of inquiry, whether face to face at the counter, or by phone (based on some conversations of which I hear one end).
“When I asked a long-time Westport friend her opinion of Colonial, she said, “‘The best pharmacy in the world.’”
No one who has walked in Colonial’s front door would disagree. So thank you, Russ and all your staff. You are true Unsung Heroes.
Here’s to many more years of helping whatever ails all of us. You never turn a deaf ear.
Left or right.
(Do you know an Unsung Hero? Email 06880blog@gmail.com.)
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The Longshore Capital Improvement Plan is moving ahead.
The next phase of public input takes place soon.
Stantec — the town’s consultant — will present preliminary concept diagrams at the October 19 Parks & Recreation Commission public meeting (7:30 p.m.). The Zoom link will be available when the agenda is posted here.
Open houses will follow, at the Westport Library:
Wednesday, October 26: (10 to 11:30 a.m.; 3 to 4:30 p.m.; 7 to 8:30 p.m.)
Saturday, October 29: (9:30 to 11 a.m.; 1 to 2:30 p.m.).
At the open houses residents can examine diagrams up close, and ask questions and offer feedback to the consultants.
In 2008, in honor of her dedication to the performing arts, she was presented with a special tribute by Bernadette Peters at Westport Country Playhouse.
Lansbury said, “I never played (at the Playhouse). I wasn’t a big enough star! If I don’t perform one small thing on this stage tonight, I’ll feel I’ve missed the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Then she enthralled the audience with “Not While I’m Around,” from Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.”
A legendary shot from the Westport Country Playhouse green room. prior to the 2008 gala performance, From left: Bernadette Peters; Joanne Woodward, Playhouse co-artistic director; Julia Roberts, gala host; Angela Lansbury, honoree; Anne Keefe, Playhouse co-artistic director. (Photo/Kathleen O’Rourke)
Robbie Guimond lives in Saugatuck. But he battles traffic nearly every to head across town to The Porch @ Christie’s.
They serve “the best bacon egg and cheese in Westport,” he says.
But the vibe is just as great too.
Robbie writes: “The staff has impromptu ‘contests.’ This one in this photo was ‘Pride in Your Culture/Heritage Day.'”
(Photo/Robbie Guimond)
They also have “Best Hat,” “Favorite Sports Team,” etc. Customers vote throughout the day. The winner gets bragging rights — and more importantly, smiles.
“They’re a lovely group, and a wonderful part of Westport,” Robbie says. “I go there for the food. But mostly for the employees, and to support this business model of inclusivity and diversity.
Everyone wonders about “The Cost of Success: What Pressure is Doing to Our Kids.”
Positive Directions wants to talk about it — positively.
That’s the topic of a program they and the Westport Weston Family Y are sponsoring (October 19, 7 p.m., Westport Library; reception at 6:30).
Panelists include Valerie Babich, Westport Public Schools coordinator of psychological services; Frank Castorina, Positive Directions clinical supervisor; Alicia Briggs, pediatric hospitalist, and students from Staples High School’s Teen Awareness Group.
They’ll discuss what causes pressure; how to recognize signs that your child is struggling; strategies for reducing anxieties, and local resources.
Positive Directions will host a follow-up “Lunch and Learn” series at the Y, on related topics. More information will follow.
“Please avoid getting gas at the Cumberland Farms near Stop & Shop. I was charged for Super Premium, after clearly choosing the Unleaded button.
“The police reviewed the video, which confirms the Unleaded button being pushed. The manager insisted the video would be backwards when speaking with the officer so would be difficult to determine. The officer assured him it would not, as it would be the furthest button from the nozzle.
“He insisted it is a franchise, and he has no idea who he works for. We are pursuing a refund from Corporate, but it’s really the principle at this point.
“Please let Officer Kelly in Westport know if you have experienced similar there, or any other station.”
She added a PS: “When he printed the receipt inside, it read for Super Premium. Clearly something being manipulated, and was a $25 difference from the Unleaded choice that was made.”
NOTE: This took place at the Cumberland Farms by Stop & Shop — not the one near McDonald’s and Sakura.
And finally … on this date in 1810, citizens of Munich hold the first Oktoberfest. It celebrated the marriage of Crown Prince Louis of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Prost!
(Celebrate Oktoberfest with a donation to “06880.” Please click here!)
Businesses thinking of starting in or relocating here can “Choose Westport.” That’s the town-sponsored website, with information on commercial space, demographics, lifestyle and more. The goal is to attract retailers, small firms and financial services.
Now there’s a site for everyone else. “Discover Westport” — www.discoverwestportct.com — has just gone live.
Complementing the commercial-oriented website, this one is aimed at current residents, visitors, and anyone planning a move.
In other words: It’s the first comprehensive spot in cyberspace for anyone to “discover Westport.”
The “Discover Westport” home page. Several rotating images share the spotlight.
“Discover Westport” has been a year in the making. The Visual Brand — Randy Herbertson’s downtown creative agency — won an RFP to design and maintain the new site. (They created Choose Westport too.)
Randy didn’t realize how much goes on here until he tried to include it all in one self-contained place.
Over 200 merchants are listed — and that’s just one item, on one dropdown menu.
“Discover Westport”‘s 12 tabs include:
Arts, Culinary & Entertainment (Levitt Pavilion, MoCA, Westport Country Playhouse, Westport Farmers’ Market, etc.)
Beaches
Community (neighborhoods, downtown, Cockenoe Island …)
Education (public and private schools, preschools, dance academies)
Move to Westport (realtors)
Nature & Parks (Winslow, Baron’s South, pocket parks, Earthplace …)
Outdoor Activities (Wakeman Town Farm, sports, pools, PAL ice rink, etc.)
Places of Worship
Salons & Services (several handfuls of nail salons — and Harding Funeral Home)
Shopping
Sports & Fitness (from A [Age of Reason] to almost Z [Winged Monkey]
Sports & Fitness (almost as many gyms as nail salons).
6 eateries, 1 market and 2 liquor stores. on the “Food & Drink” page.
“Discover Westport” also features the “Celebrate Westport Community Calendar.” It’s been available on WestportCT.gov — the town’s official website — but buried deep and hard to find.
Now, the Calendar has its own special tab.
The Community Calendar.
Other tabs include “Plan” (Getting Here, Parking, Stay, “For Businesses”) and “History” (which needs work).
“Discover Westport” had a soft launch recently. It launches officially this Monday (October 17, 5 to 7 p.m., Westport Library), with a special ceremony. Several restaurants will offer tastings.
The public is invited. All are invited too to discover — and then bookmark — “Discover Westport.”
(Like the new website, “06880” is all about Westport. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog.)
An “06880” reader was intrigued by an item in yesterday’s “Roundup.” It previewed a November 1 discussion at the Westport Library on“How Public Policy is Putting Our Children at Risk.” The session will be led by CD Media’s chief investigative correspondent and senior editor Christine Dolan.
Hoping to learn more about Dolan the reader found a piece she wrote last year.
Headlined “Idyllic Westport, CT Is Ground Zero for CRT Infiltration by America’s Bolsheviks,” it begins:
The yellow and red leaves are drifting down quietly as they have for millennia in Westport , CT as the historic New England town sleeps towards a tipping point, one it may never recover from if the coming elections go the wrong way and vote in a continuation of its current path.
The Minuteman statue guards at Compo Beach where a ragtag group of American rebels fought the global tyranny of the once monolithic British empire, but Westport residents seem to want to forget this honorable history and welcome with open arms global tyranny of a different name — the Maoist doctrine of Critical Race Theory, or CRT.
Essentially, the agenda of the CRT movement is to teach young children their country is evil, that they themselves are racists and bad if they are white. The ideology is racist, it is divisive, and is on purpose. The doctrine is just a gateway drug to a more pernicious evil, re-imagining Westport schools. In the CRT future, gone will be AP classes, music excellence. Gone will be the gateway to Ivy league schools, replaced with a dumbed-down redistribution of educational wealth and excellence.
Along with this educational decline, property values will plummet as zoning laws are also changed to forever alter the nature of the community. Physical safety will disappear. Crime will increase.
If you like to dine out — and, this being Westport, that means everyone — then CTbites is essential reading. Published by our town’s Stephanie Webster, it’s a weekly guide to new restaurants, special culinary events, food trucks, catering and more.
I always learn something from the site. But — until yesterday — I’d never actually laughed while reading it.
“Connecticut Restaurant Confidential: Strange Stories, Odd Orders & Twisted Tales in the Industry” is a collection of jaw-dropping tales, from owners, chefs, bartenders and wait staff.
It’s an insider’s look at what gets told after hours — about diners (hopefully un)like you and me.
They come from all over the state. Including our own Winfield Deli. Click here to read.
Texas blues/New Orleans funk band Otis & the Hurricanes headlines the next “Blue Sunday” at the Westport Library (October 23, 2:30 p.m., Trefz Forum).
The free event is curated by Mark Naftalin. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame keyboardist will be there of course, with his Blue Sunday Band of all-stars: Westport/internationally known saxophonist Crispin Cioe, guitarists JD Seem and Paul Gabriel, and special guest Chance Browne.
Lat month’s Blue Sunday — the first in the series — drew a large crowd, and plenty of raves.
And this one could make that seem like just a warmup.
This week week’s “Jazz at the Post” features pianist Michael Cochrane, drummer to the stars Steve Johns, and fiery young bassist Jason Clotter in concert with the Jazz Rabbi, Greg Wall.
There are 2 shows — 7:30 and 8:45 p.m. — on Thursday (October 6) at VFW Post 399 (465 Riverside Avenue). There’s a $10 cover. Food service starts at 6:30.
Reservations are strongly suggested. Email JazzatThePost@gmail.com.
This is an active weekend in Westport. Among the highlights: Westport Moms’ 2nd annual Fall Family Festival. It’s Saturday, October 15 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Greens Farms Academy; $20 per family).
The event includes food, crafts, games and fun (bouncy houses, ninja course, music, art projects, DJ, pumpkin and cookie decorating, face painting, hair extensions, glitter tattoos, magic, STEM activities and more).
Many businesses will show off their products and services — all with activities for kids.
Organizers Megan Rutstein and Melissa Post ask attendees to bring gently worn jackets, for donations to a local non-profit.
Sunday’s Westport Weston Family YMCA Fall Festival drew a large crowd.
There was music, gymnastics exhibitions, bounces houses and s’mores. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event.
Best of all: You didn’t have to be a kid to have a great time.
Westport Board of Assessment Appeals member Ifeseyi Gaylel (left) and Westport Weston Family YMCA CEO Anjali McCormick take a break during the Y’s Family Festival.
The Norwalk Symphony Orchestra takes center stage at the Y’s Women’s October 24 meeting (Green’s Farms Church, 10:45 a.m.). Jonathan Yates and Sandra Miklave will talk about the group’s long history, and share visions for the future.
There’s been lots of talk recently about Connecticut’s business climate. Governor Lamont is running for re-election in part on his economic record. Challenger Bob Stefanowski says it is broken.
At least one entrepreneur is betting on the state — or at least, the Fairfield County part of it.
Kaile Zagger
Kaile Zagger is a Southern California native. She came east to the University of Connecticut as a tennis recruit “decades ago” — and stayed.
A healthcare professional for over 20 years, she spent 12 years in Tribeca. Her move to the suburbs was made “kicking and screaming.”
The first town she lived in was “too stoic.” But Westport — where she moved 4 years ago — is “like a suburban Tribeca. It’s intelligent but casual, with diverse people. And it’s very artsy.”
Part of Zagger’swork involves finding businesses with novel technologies. A company launched out of the University of California-Davis’ Centers for Food & Science fit that bill.
Infinant Health — formerly known as Evolve Biosystems — is “committed to changing the trajectory of human health, one baby at a time.”
The founders discovered B. infantis EVC001, a natural bacterial strain pivotal to infant immune health.
Until now, the company says, B. infantis had been almost completely eradicated from infants in developed countries, due to unintended consequences of modern medicine such as feeding and birthing practices.
But they found that EVC001 — their specific strain of B. infantis — unlocks the critical function of Human Milk Oligosaccharides, to potentially benefit short- and long-term health.
The goal is to eradicate some of the most complex diseases that begin at infancy, including NEC, Type 1 diabetes, cognitive issues, the atopic march and food allergies.
Zagger is now CEO of Infinant. Investors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Johnson & Johnson.
The founders will stay in California. But Zagger has moved the company to Norwalk. A 12,000-square foot recently renovated office next to Merritt 7 can house over 100 employees.
This area is rich in talent, she says. Experts in product development, regulatory issues, finance and marketing are all here.
The location, between the business world of New York and the high-tech hub of Boston is perfect. There is a wealth of untapped talent — including women — all around.
Westport and environs are “a special place,” Zagger says. “People land here because it’s great for their family. Some of them have taken side steps during COVID. They love biotech, but they don’t want to commute to New York.”
She looks forward to tapping into well-developed internship programs at local colleges and high school. “There are so many bright kids here who want to learn about science and infant health,” she says.
“We have a strong platform, a rich discovery pipeline, and big promise (and responsibility) ahead.”
Not to mention: dozens of new jobs, in a state that is always looking for them.
(“06880” covers business news — along with stories on politics, people, lifestyles, real estate, history, education, recreation, and yada yada yada. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog.)
Earlier today, I posted a “Roundup” item from a reader who had emailed me over the weekend. She said she had changed her mind about the recent “banned book” display at the Staples High School library, having recently learned that the book jackets were covered.
Several readers pointed me to a Westport Journal story that includes a photo of the banned book display at the Staples High School library. The book covers are exhibited, and students could have browsed the contents.
Similar displays have been part of the library’s National Banned Book Week for about 15 years.
I have deleted the “Roundup” story, and removed 4 comments pertaining to it.
I apologize for posting the reader’s erroneous story.
The Army Corps of Engineers is beginning the Saugatuck River dredging project.
What’s involved? Where exactly will they dredge?
1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker explains the process, with Dick Kalt of the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston.
This Y’s Men podcast is released every 2 weeks. Click below to listen. If you have a question for the next episode, email: westport@ysmenwestportweston.org.
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Zagger is now CEO of Infinant. Investors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Johnson & Johnson.
