Westport is many things to many people. For those with disabilities — physical or intellectual — it’s a place with possibilities and opportunities.
And challenges.
Stacie Curran and Sharuna Mahesh have been active in the local disabilities community — and the larger Westport community — for years. They are strong advocates for the educational, recreational and social needs of people of all ages.
The other day at the Westport Library, we talked about their work, and our town. What do we do well here, for people with mobility or cognitive differences? What needs work? What are the resources? What else is needed? What are the success stories, and what are the misconceptions and myths?
Click below for our conversation. It’s insightful, fascinating — and very important.
(“06880” covers all aspects of local life. Please click here to help us continue our work.)
In the aftermath of a 6-part television series on the legendary actor/race car driver/philanthropist, attention is now focused on a posthumous memoir.
“The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man” — set for official publication tomorrow — has an extraordinary back story. Melissa Newman — one of his and Joanne Woodward’s daughters — spoke about it, in a long story in yesterday’s New York Times.
His long life in Westport is mentioned, of course — and there’s a photo from inside his North Avenue home.
Click here for the full, fascinating story. (Hat tip: Fred Cantor)
A recent “06880” Roundup story on free money — well, money that’s yours, but is being held unbeknownst to you by the Connecticut state treasurer — intrigued Ken Stamm. (Click here and stop reading immediately, to go to the website.)
In August, he had already gone hunting for hidden treasure. When he returned to the site following the “06880 notice, he found good news: Notarization is no longer required.
The bad news: Despite the website’s promise that you will be “reunited with your money as quickly as possible,” Ken says “it appears nobody’s home.”
Despite duly filing a valid claim with all evidence online (and keepin records of everything), he has yet to receive a response.
“Apparently,” Ken says, “this issue is enough of a problem to rise to one of the top 6 on which one of the state treasurer candidates is running.”
In the small shopping plaza on Main and Elm Streets, the first three parking spots are reserved for store employees to scurry out and — with the windows down or trunks popped — deliver goods to well-protected customers/drivers.
But not all retailers.
You can’t drive up and pick up your Brooks Brothers suit (or even a tie). Before New England Hemp Shop Farm opened, you had to park and walk inside for your CBD oil, topicals and edibles.
Nope. The 3 spots are for Lux, Bond & Green only.
I’m not sure how that little perk came about — or why it continues. But it sure seems like those are 3 parking spots everyone in Brooks Corner would like back.
Yesterday — for the 12th year in a row — the Westport Woman’s Club team took part in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk at Sherwood Island State Park. Team members posed below:
From left: Vivien Rosenberg, Audrey Rabinowitz, Barbara Raffel, Arlene Johnson, Kate Weber, Toni Donahue, Leah Scherzer.
Werner Liepolt captured a swarm recently. They gathered pollen from English ivy and delivered it to their hive. It’s one more piece — though often unseen — of “Westport … Naturally.”
And finally … Jeanne-Paule Marie “Jeannine” Deckers — aka The Singing Nun– was born today in 1933, in Brussels. The singer-songwriter/guitarist (and nun) reached the top of the charts with her upbeat tune “Dominique” in late 1963. A few weeks later the Beatles arrived in the US, and changed the music industry forever.
She and her close friend Annie Pécher died by suicide in 1985. They took overdoses of barbiturates and alcohol. In a note, they wrote that they wished to be buried together with the funeral rite of the Catholic Church.
(“06880” prays for reader support. Please click here to contribute.)
The last time we checked in with the Beltas, the family had closed their farm.
Since 1946, the 23-acre Bayberry Lane site just south of Cross Highway had been worked by 4 generations of Beltas. They raised poultry (and for a while, livestock). They grew corn, herbs and flowers. They ran a farm stand in summer. At one point, they supplied Stew Leonard’s with a ton of tomatoes a day.
An aerial view of the former Belta’s Farm shows fields, greenhouses, a compost pile (near the top), and two homes (bottom).
But the 4th generation is now in their 60s and 70s. Their children and grandchildren are not farmers. Last year, the Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved a plan to subdivide the farm into 9 building lots.
That’s a not-unusual Westport story. Yet what’s happening now is unusual.
Greg, Jimmy and Connie Belta Caruso are not taking the money and running. They’re slowly crafting a plan for 7 new homes. They’re maintaining almost 5 acres of open space. They’re grading the property with a keen eye to runoff, including a retention pond. They’re reusing nearly everything they can, from wood to stone. They’re planting dozens of trees.
And they’re keeping 2 lots for themselves. They’ll continue to live on the land they have loved for so long.
The Belta brothers, on their newly paved road, near what will be building lots.
As with any building project, there are delays. Supply chain issues meant it took nearly 4 months for utilities to run their lines. That’s finally done. The first phase of paving the new Beltas Farm Lane followed, allowing access for builders and realtors.
There has been plenty of interest, including national firms. The 7 lots range in size up to 3 acres — rare in Westport.
The family believes that tying up all the lots in one entity is not the best route for development. As lifelong Westporters, the Beltas favor Westport builders, designers and realtors. “They know and love the town as we do,” Connie says.
The homes are being offered on the retail market, direct to buyers who want to build their dream home. It’s more difficult and expensive for the Beltas, but they think it will produce a much more desirable outcome. In an uncertain market, they are prepared to wait for the right buyers.
Nearly 20 percent of the 23 acres will remain as open space. It’s on the north side of the property, near Cross Highway.
For now, the Beltas are taking their time. The brothers are removing 75 years of things — chicken coops, tractors, plows, topsoil — from the land, themselves. “No one ever threw anything away,” Jimmy notes.
“It’s a slower way of doing things,” Greg adds. “Any builder would have come in and bulldozed all this already.”
A few of the dozens of trees the Beltas are planting. (Photos/Dan Woog)
There’s been visible progress. A handsome stone entrance has replaced the former farm stand, at the bottom of the Bayberry Lane hill. It’s built entire from the Beltas’ fieldstone. (Their grandfather, a mason, came to the US at 18 from Italy.)
White cedar has been repurposed into fence posts, and birdhouses at the wetlands.
Every day, work continues. “But there’s only two of us,” Jimmy says. “We don’t want deadlines.”
Mike Sansur — a highly regarded and longtime technology education teacher at Staples High School — was killed in an automobile accident yesterday morning.
Mike Sansur
According to The Day of New London, Sansur — who was 52 years old, and lived in Darien — was driving northbound on I-95. He stopped in the left lane for an unknown reason, between Exits 70 and 71 in Old Lyme, just before 7:30 a.m.
Fernando Dixon, 26, of Oxford, driving a Kia, rear-ended the car. Sansur was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, where he died of his injuries,
His son Michael, 21. of Milford, was a passenger. He was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital by Life Star helicopter. Dixon sustained minor injuries.
Sansur was in his 18th year at Staples High School. He taught previously at Ansonia High.
In a message to Westport families and staff, superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice called Sansur a “beloved” teacher.
“We are devastated by this news, and our hearts are with the Sansur family during this difficult time,” he said.
“Mike was a personal favorite of countless students and staff. His career has been marked by inspirational stories of positively impacting the lives of students at Staples, and creating an unparalleled sense of belonging in his classroom.”
Working collaboratively to solve tech ed. problems, in Mike Sansur’s room.
As a technology education teacher, Sansur created courses teaching hands-on skills, while integrating STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) into his curriculum.
His goal was to “encourage students to unearth talents, learn lifelong skills, and discover further courses of study or career paths.” Many went on to careers in fields like electronics, engineering, automotive technology, construction management and architecture. (Click here for a story about a student inspired by Sansur to pursue a career as an electrician.)
Shane Lozyniak wired this electrical panel in Mike Sansur’s class.
He challenged students to build miniature race cars for competitions, bridges out of thin wood to support heavy weights, and projects like lamps and skateboards.
Mike Sansur introduced architecture and construction management skills into his tech ed. curriculum.
Last May in “06880,” Sansur proudly described the number of girls enrolled in what was once a male-dominated department. (Click here to read.)
Last spring, Parker Pretty posed at her workstation.
Scarice said that the Staples and district-wide crisis teams are developing plans to support students and staff.
For a very popular place, not many people recognized the Sherwood Diner as the location for last week’s Photo Challenge.
In fact, only one did.
It took awhile, but Lynn Untermeyer Miller eventually identified the bushes in planters in Ellen Wentworth’s image as the ones outside the Post Road East institution. (Click here to see.)
Incorrect guesses ranged all over town: the Senior Center, La Plage, Burying Hill and Old Mill Beach, The Porch @ Christie’s and Terrain.
Will this week’s Photo Challenge be easier? Click “Comments” below if you know where in Westport you would see this:
A sold-out crowd filled Fairfield University’s Quick Center for last night’s “Stand Up for Comedy.”
The benefit — the 15th annual for Homes with Hope, but the first in-person comedy show for them since COVID struck — featured comedian Pat McGann. He knew his audience, and deftly straddled the line between humor and awareness of the the crucial work HwH does to ease homelessness and food insecurity in Westport.
A “paddle raise” pledge drive before McGann took the stage marked a milestone: Over 15 years, “Stand Up for Comedy” has now raised over $3 million.
Pat McGann, on stage at the Quick Center. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Also last night: MoCA Westport’s opening reception for “From the Pen to the Knife.” The exhibit features watercolors by Marian Christy. Now 90 years old, she invented Knifed Watercolors — using only palette knives and puddles of paint (no drawing, no brushes).
Christy was a Pulitzer-Prize nominated journalist for the first chapter of her life, when women had limited journalistic opportunities. During this second chapter, she pivoted from “the pen to the knife.”
The exhibition is on view through November 27. Docent-led tours are available on Thursday afternoons (advance registration requested). Admission is complimentary on Thursdays after 4 p.m. For more information, visit click here,
Also yesterday: Westoberfest — sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association — and the Fall Fete, showcasing Sconset Square. It was a full day in Westport, for sure.
It’s autumn in Westport — a time when everyone has a “favorite” tree.
I have several. They’re at Staples High School’s Loeffler Field — the long-time home of the soccer teams. They hold a special place in my heart, because I had them planted there 16 years ago, when we built a terrace at the top of the hill.
Shira Honigstein loves them too. She sent this photo, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.
WestportMoms is our town’s go-to multi-platform destination for upcoming family and kid events, merchants and helping professional news, and and school and camp advice.
The head moms — Megan Rutstein and Melissa Post — always have every child in mind. They know “it takes a village,” and they always support ours.
The other day, they posted this advice. It comes from Dr. Ali Griffith, and is worth repeating for the (few) folks who don’t follow WestportMoms:
Right now, there are no fenced dog parks in Westport. (Winslow Park is enclosed, but there are many gaps and areas without walls or fences.)
Andrew Colabella wants to change that.
The Representative Town Meeting member worked with Karen Kramer and Matthew Mandell to create a petition. The goal is to gauge support, to show town officials the need. Click here to see.
There are gates, and some new fences, at Winslow Park. But it is not a fully enclosed dog run. (Photo/Nell Waters Bernegger)
The Westport Police Department is participating in the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s high visibility distracted driving enforcement campaign. The campaign — beginning today, and running through October 31 — will increase efforts to enforce distracted-driving laws.
Connecticut law prohibits the use of any hand-held mobile device while operating a motor vehicle. Drivers who are 16 or 17 years old are prohibited from using a cell phone or mobile device at any time — even hands free.
The fine for the first offense is $200. It’s $375 for the second ticket, and $625 for the third and subsequent offenses.
Who knew so many “06880” readers also read the New York Post?
I’d need an entire haberdashery to hand out hat tips to everyone who sent me the tabloid story noting Shonda Rhimes’ purchase of Doug and Melissa Bernstein’s 11-bedroom home. The 7.5-acre property also includes a basketball court, bowling alleys, arcade, home theater, playroom, billiards room, 8 fireplaces, kitchen with a pizza oven, tennis court, pool, playground, and outdoor seating and dining areas.
Karen Scott was the KMS Partners at Compass broker who sold the property to the producer/screenwriter/author/global media company CEO/Television Academy Hall of Fame inductee’s agent. Rhimes will move from elsewhere in Westport; the Bernsteins have bought another home here.
Meanwhile, another New York newspaper — the Times — this week ran a Critic’s Notebook piece headlined: “Has War Changed, or Only War Photography?”
It begins by citing a 1991 Staples High School graduate and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist:
Lynsey Addario began taking war pictures when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Only two-thirds of a century had elapsed since Robert Capa documented the Spanish Civil War. But to go from the exhibition of Capa’s Spain photos at the International Center of Photography to the Addario show at the SVA Chelsea Gallery is to traverse not just time and geography but a profound shift in sensibility. Capa’s pictures express his belief in war as a conflict between good and evil. In our time, which is to say in Addario’s, unwavering faith in the justice of one side has perished, a casualty of too many brutal, pointless, reciprocally corrupt wars.
Addario over the last two decades has taken her camera to some of the most dangerous places on earth. A MacArthur fellow, she is a freelance photographer who shared a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting awarded to The New York Times in 2009 for its coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Like Capa, she calls herself a photojournalist, not an artist. She has said that she is dedicated to “using images to undo preconceptions and to show a reality often misunderstood or misrepresented.” She has also named Capa as one of her main influences, even though many of the preconceptions she seeks to undermine are those he enshrined.
Click here to read the full story. (Hat tip: Kathie Motes Bennewitz)
In one of Lynsey Addario’s most famous photos, Ukrainian soldiers try to save the father of a family of four — the only one at that moment who still had a pulse — moments after being hit by a mortar while trying to flee Irpin, near Kyiv. (Photo/Lynsey Addario for the New York Times)
The Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County has received a $5,000 grant from Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.
It’s for their Dignity Grows chapter, part of a national network to fight period poverty among nearly 30% of menstruators in the U.S. Donors and volunteers fund and pack monthly totes of hygiene and period essentials. They’re delivered free of charge to partner agencies, who then provide them to their clients.
From last September through June, the Federation organized 10 packing events — many in Westport — and delivered 800 totes. The grant will help them expand their reach, to meet a growing need.
A packing event hosted by Sharon Navarro (top right, 3rd from right) and Jen Frank (bottom row, 2nd from right). All participants are Westport residents — except the lone male, Ofek Moscovich. He’s the Federation Israel emissary spending a year here. The group packed 100 totes for LifeBridge Community Services in Bridgeport.
On Thursday (October 20), you can meet one. DeTapas restaurant hosts one. He’ll serve a “world-class jamon,” paired with special Spanish wines.
The carver will go from table to table, from 5:30 p.m. on. The cost is $45 per person. Guests can stay and enjoy dinner afterward. To RSVP, use Open Table, or contact the restaurant: hola@detapasrestaurant.com; 203-557-0257.
Owner Carlos Pia in his handsomely decorated De Tapas restaurant.
After a successful summer, La Plage pivots to fall. Highlights include “Mussels Wednesday” (Pemaquid Maine mussels with non-stop fries service, paired with a special Pilsner from Spacecat Brewing in Norwalk); “Lobster Bake Thursday” (with head-on shrimp, mussels, clams and andouille), and “Paella Sunday” (clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp, chicken, chorizo).
La Plage also offers a “Halloween Bash” (Sunday, October 30). The winning costume earns 2 tickets to the restaurant’s New Year’s Eve dinner and gala.
The Joggers Club is not running out of great ideas.
Besides Fun Runs every Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. at Compo Beach, and Track Night every Wednesday at 6:q5 p.m. (Staples High School), they’re taking part in races throughout the state. Among them:
Pumpkin Run: October 30 (costumes encouraged)
Jamie’s Run for Children: November 6 (DJ Party after)
Hot Coco 5K: November 12 (“Hottest Race in November”)
Branford Thanksgiving 5K: Thanksgiving
Christmas Run for Children: December 4 (free beer and live music).
The Joggers Club offers a free race bib to each of those races to one member — and discounted coupons for everyone else.
Club membership is $50 a year (new members get a free Endurance Brooks racing shirt. Click here or on Instagram or Facebook for more information.
$50 a year (And new members get a free Endurance Brooks racing shirt)
We’ve featured wasp nests before, in our “Westport … Naturally” series.
But I don’t think I’ve seen any as large — and scary-looking — as this. Pete Powell spotted it on the Longshore golf course, opposite the green at hole 13.
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
