Everyone talks about historic preservation in Westport.
But — as homes and buildings as old as 200 years, and as new as 20, fall to the wrecking ball — what are our greatest protection needs?
The Westport Historic District Commission recently received a Historic Preservation Enhancement Grant from the State Historic Preservation Office.
Funds will be used to hire a consultant to prepare a town “Preservation Plan.” It will identify and prioritize the greatest areas of need for historic preservation.
The plan will also will help establish and prioritize more Local Historic Districts and Local Historic Designations.
Gorham Avenue is one of Westport’s Historic Districts.
According to Historic District Commission vice chair Grayson Braun, the HDC strives to “preserve and protect the distinctive characteristics of buildings and places significant in the history and development of Westport; maintain and improve the landscape and neighborhood settings of these buildings and places; and encourage design compatible with buildings extant in the area to continue to maintain Westport’s greater artistic, cultural, commercial and residential character which distinguish the town as a desirable community for permanent residents and visitors.”
Properties within a Local Historic District have a higher degree of protection. The HDC must approve an application for alteration to a historic structure, as well as any new construction within a district.
Most old Westport Country Playhouse photos show the famed “summer theater” during that season. Trees obscure the handsome one-time tannery.
The Playhouse season now begins earlier, and ends later. As they prepare for “From the Mississippi Delta” — their final production of 2022 — here’s a fascinating look, with the trees bare.
The photo is undated. But the Westport Country Playhouse is timeless. If you’ve got a Playhouse memory, click “Comments” below.
(Photo courtesy of Bill Stanton)
(Like the Playhouse, “06880” depends on local support. Please click here to help.)
On Wednesday, “06880” reported that the Cumberland Farms at Bulkley Avenue South near Stop & Shop — formerly Mercury — was charging customers Super Premium prices for Unleaded gas.
Yesterday at 2 p.m., an “06880” reader was getting gas (hopefully for the correct price). In mid-pump, a woman emerged from the mini-mart and told her — and 4 other customers — that the station was short-staffed, and had to close.
Then the pumps were immediately shut off. The customers could not even finish filling their tanks.
The lights were turned off inside. No gas, no Ring Dings, no processed pizza. Nothing.
Earlier this week, parts of Westport were affected by paving projects. Traffic backed up near Saugatuck and Jesup Road.
Here’s the next site. Main Street between Post Road East and Avery Place, plus Avery Place itself, will be milled beginning Monday (October 17.
Main Street will be closed to through traffic and parking starting at 5 a.m. Monday. Avery Place will be closed to through traffic beginning around 10 a.m.
Once milling is done, both roads will be re-opened to traffic until paving begins. It is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, and follow the same schedule as milling. However, a weather system may postpone paving until Wednesday, October 19.
You won’t see this early next week. Paving and milling will close Main Street.
FEMA grants help property owners make homes and businesses resilient against future floods, or relocate to safer locations.
The Western Connecticut Council of Governments’ Regional Flood Mitigation Assistance Program helps educate property owners about opportunities, determine if they qualify, and aid in applications.
An informational session is set for October 27 (6:30 p.m., Stamford Government Center, 888 Washington Boulevard). The public is welcome. It will be recorded, and available at www.westcog.org afterward.
Questions? Call or email Todd Fontanella: 475-323-2070; tfontanella@westcog.org. (Hat tip: Sal Liccione)
Flood-proofing, at Old Mill Beach. (Photo/John Videler, Videler Photography)
The first public reading of “The Incubators” — a new comedy by Madison Fiedler — is set for the Westport Country Playhouse (November 7, 7 p.m.).
It’s an absurdist dark comedy, as the “Pro-Life Generation” is just getting started.
On the first day of California Right To Life Leadership Camp Age Division 15-17, everyone is nervous. But they’re excited to be surrounded by what they believe in, with new strategies of warfare.
A few days ago, our “06880” Roundup included a photo of pink ribbons on several trees in Grace Salmon Park.
We figured they honored Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Nope.
Nathalie Fonteyne writes: “They were placed there by Monica Buesser (conservation chair of the Westport Garden Club and chair of the Westport Tree Board) and myself (civics chair of the Westport Garden Club).
“They highlight the prevalence of the invasive Ailanthus altissima — also known as tree of heaven — at the park. We tagged 20 trees there.
“The Westport Garden Club is working with Mike West of Westport’s Parks & Recreation Department to get the trees removed. Removing invasive species can be an arduous process because of their extensive root system, and their ability to re-sprout. The fact that the trees are in a wetland complicates the process.
“However, the Westport Garden Club and the town are committed to removing the invasive species at the park and planting new native species in their place, hopefully very soon.”
Speaking of Grace Salmon Park (see story above), Peggy O’Halloran says of today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo: “It looks like this poor tree already has a headstone.”
When you see a baby stroller, do you think: I’ve got to see that cute baby?
Or: That thing is really in my way!
Perhaps: I can’t believe I have to lug this thing in and out of my car.
Amanda Parrish Morgan saw a stroller and thought: Book idea!
Amanda Parrish Morgan
The 2000 Staples High School graduate earned a history degree from the University of Chicago, and a master’s in English literature from American University.
She taught English first at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, then at Staples from 2011 to ’14. (She was a cross country and track coach at her alma mater too, through 2017.)
Morgan also taught writing through Westport’s Continuing Education program and the Connecticut Writing Project. Her current gigs are at the Westport Writers’ Workshop and Fairfield University.
Writers are readers. Morgan was intrigued by “Object Lessons.” The essay (The Atlantic) and book (Bloomsbury) series explores a single object — a driver’s license, golf ball or shipping container, say — through a variety of approaches, often in unexpected ways.
As the mother of 2 young children, Morgan was very familiar with strollers. She also realized that although there are many parenting books, most are either “how-to or cheesy, isn’t-this-so-wonderful.”
Very few look at parenthood from a “cultural, emotional and societal” lens.
Bloomsbury liked the idea. The book — “Stroller” — will be published October 20.
Morgan runs with the idea of a stroller — literally. A runner herself, she examines society’s twin expectations of female athletes: They should be good mothers (running with their strollers), while also getting back to competition as quickly as possible.
Amanda Parrish Morgan, running with Thea.
Morgan also explores the metaphor of pushing a child away in a stroller, while keeping them close. She examines the consumerism and status symbol role of strollers; their history; even strollers in art and literature (who knew?).
Writing about strollers pushed Morgan to think about other mobility-aid devices, like wheelchairs. She realized the similarities between navigating Grand Central and subways with a stroller and in a wheelchair — and then studied other nations’ approaches.
“The US is child-centric, but not child-friendly,” she says. “Germany is the opposite.”
Amanda Parrish Morgan, her kids and a stroller in Grand Central Terminal.
“Stroller” straddles the line between memoir and a research-based study. “Some people may wish it was more of one, or more of the other,” she admits.
But “Object Lessons” is a wildly popular series.
Reviewers like “Stroller” too. One said it “compellingly depicts the history and taxonomy of this most weighty and unruly device, ally, and antagonist.”
Morgan looks forward to area readings and book signings, including Barnes & Noble in Westport November 12.
Strollers are welcome.
(For more information on “Stroller,” including how to order, click here.)
(“06880” often highlights local authors and the accomplishments of Staples graduates — sometimes like this, one and the same. Please click here to support our work.)
In the wake of yesterday’s jury determination that Infowars fabulist/Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones must pay nearly $1 billion to families of victims of that school massacre, “06880” reader Kristan Hamlin lauds the work of Westport attorney Josh Koskoff and his law firm, Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder.
She writes: “Congratulations to the lead counsel in the case, Christopher Mattei, a fine human being and an excellent lawyer — the best of our profession — and to the entire Koskoff law firm.
“As Robbie Parker (a parent of a slaughtered 6-year-old) so eloquently said, you gave back to these re-victimized victims their voices. I am so proud of all of them, and to the Connecticut jury and the Connecticut judge in this case.”
To make a real difference, Westport’s Department of Human Services and Domestic Violence Task Force are collecting used cell phones and iPads, to benefit the Domestic Violence Crisis Center of Norwalk and Stamford. Clients can use them to ensure their safety, and avoid tracking by their abuser.
The DVCC provides free, confidential services to victims of domestic violence and their children in Westport and surrounding towns.
Donation bins are located at Westport Town Hall and the Senior Center, and available weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Questions? Call 203-341-1050 or email humansrv@westportct.gov. For information about the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, click here.
The list of Westport barbers has been shaved by one.
Kennedy’s All-American Barber emailed members yesterday: “Effective immediately, all memberships have been frozen. Due to company wide and market changes we are ceasing operations as it was and starting something new and special.
“We helped rejuvenate a dying industry of men’s grooming 13 years ago. Hundreds of shops opened as a direct result of our brining [sic] high end men’s grooming shops back to its former glory. We lead an industry wide movement to bring back high end men’s grooming.
“We are entering a new economic and business climate and healing from the two years of drastic sales decline due to covid. Men that go to the office instantly became a thing of the past. That was our typical client. So we are adapting once more. We are going mobile. Brining [sic] the barbershop to you. In a high end mobile showpiece packed with all the equipment and luxury you are used to, and many of the same staff you have grown to love.” (Hat tip: MaryLou Roels)
Staples High School Class of 2015 graduate Rachel Doran was just 21 years old when she died. But her memory lives on strongly. And her relatives and friends use it to help other families facing critical illnesses, by providing lodging, food and transportation aid.
Rach’s Hope — the non-profit founded in her name — holds its 2nd annual Family Fun Walk this Sunday at Compo Beach (3 p.m.).
Need extra incentive? Rachel’s grandfather Michael Isenberg has pledged to walk 1,000 miles yearly for Rach’s Hope. All you need to do is walk 1 mile!
Participants will receive special prizes, hear live music, and enjoy gourmet pizza and drinks from Pizza Pie Wagon and Greens Farms Spirit Shop.
To purchase tickets, donate or learn more about Rach’s Hope, click here. You can follow Rach’s Hope on Facebook and Instagram: @rachs.hope.
The Staples High School Class of 2019 graduate — now a student at Berklee College of Music — has been working on her EP for over a year. She started it in Westport, during the pandemic.
The producer is Staples classmate Zach Rogers. Her manager — fellow SHS ’19 alum Kevin Ludy — helped make the album cover. It includes a familiar Compo Beach cannon scene:
Most Westport Rotary Club speakers talk about current issues.
Tuesday’s guest – Westport resident Robert Augustyn — went back in time. The owner of Robert Augustyn Rare Maps & Prints discussed historical maps, including one from 1478 that represents a recovery of knowledge from the Roman Empire.
He also highlighted a 1507 map by Johannes Ruysch that was the one of the first to portray America; an 1878 bird’s-eye view of Westport, and a local business directory poster from 1854 that features the Metropolitan Oyster House restaurant and a “mechanical” dentist who made house calls.
Robert Augustyn describes a Westport map at Tuesday’s Rotary Club meeting. (Photo and hat tip/Dave Matlow)
This Sunday’s “Andrew Wilk Presents…” features a special performance by American String Quartet violinist Peter Winograd, and celebrated pianist Rohan De Silva. Wilk himself — the noted executive producer of “Live at Lincoln Center” — will lead a Q-and-A with the artists.
The event is October 16 (2 p.m., Westport Library).
From left: Rohan De Silva, Andrew Wilk, Peter Winograd.
If you’re a psychic you know this already, but: “celebrity psychic medium” Karyn Reece will be in Westport for a “VIP event” November 12 (7:30 p.m., Amy Simon Fine Arts).
The event features (as you also already know) light bites, wine, and “audience-style readings and messages with Karyn.”
At 99 years old, he’s just published a new book: Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy
On Friday, October 21 (1 p.m.), Staples High School 1972 graduate/lawyer/writer Talmage Boston interviews the former Secretary of State for his “Cross Examining History” podcast. Click here for he Zoom link.
Thanks to the internet, anyone can ask any question — and get a quick answer.
Westport Front Porch is Facebook’s source for finding plumbers and airport drivers. Here at “06880,” I field queries like “What’s up with those library steps leading down to the river?”
But let’s say you need to know how to light your dining room. Remove dog poop stains from a rug. Or style the top of an antique icebox.
Those design questions — and many, many more — are asked and answered on the Designport Facebook page.
Launched by Westporter Jen Berniker, it became a judgment-free zone where anyone can discuss any big (or little) issue that homeowners face.
Jen Berniker (Photo/Maya Porrino)
Now she’s expanded. Designport has evolved to include a website, newsletter, video content and Instagram (@my_designport).
Designport (a combination of “design” and “Westport”) began during the pandemic. Berniker — a Brown University graduate, and former producer and writer for lifestyle television shows on HGTV, TLC, PBS and CBS (with a few personal renovations under her belt) — often fielded questions from friends: Where should I shop? What should I choose? Who should I hire?
Staring at paint chips, tables without chairs and dysfunctional work spaces, she had the same questions.
So she launched a Facebook page. It quickly became a place where everyone from do-it-yourselfers to professionals shared advice.
Screenshot from the Designport Facebook page.
Berniker — an expert writer and photographer — began posting stories and tips. Seeking something more permanent than social media, she launched the website.
It’s focused on Fairfield County (and a bit beyond). But it’s attracted interest from far beyond.
Recent stories included tips on gardening in a drought (from Westport Farmers’ Market director Lori Cochran) and a tour of artist Yvonne Claveloux’s home. Landscaping tips come from local pros like Allison Feuer and Maura Cotter.
Berniker has also done “Saturday Snoop” video home tours with Westporters like best-selling author Jane Green (her “secret garden”), CTBites blogger Stephanie Webster (“Eating In”), and photographer Stacy Bass, plus other female entrepreneurs and creative types.
There are before-and-after stories, from homeowners and interior designers.
She partnered with Aitoro and Ring’s End, for “ask the expert” Q-and-As.
Berniker also organized an art drive for paintings to brighten offices at Bridgeport’s Center for Family Justice.
Her goal is to “uplift, discover and promote up-and-coming art and design talent, and lessen the stress of homeownership, while connecting like-mined community members.”
In the works: local resource lists.
You’ll still have to go to Westport Front Porch to find those airport drivers. But interior decorators, landscape professionals — maybe even plumbers — will make Designport an even more valuable destination.
Yvonne Claveloux’s house and artwork, on the Designport website.
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.)
(“06880” is proud to honor Unsung Heroes — and tell many other tales of town too. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog.)
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