Scarlett Siegel is a rising senior at Staples High School. This summer, she is interning in the 1st Selectwoman’s Office.
Her environmental and socially conscious efforts began when she joined Staples’ Coastal Cleanup Crew. She helped found OneWestport, a service club where she is vice president of social justice and activism.
Scarlett has lived in Westport since preschool. She hopes to keep our town as beautiful as it is now, for the generations to come. She writes:
Like many others, I have spent my summer days strolling down Main Street, visiting Compo with friends, and riding my bike along Beachside Avenue.
Yet I often find myself sidestepping broken and jagged glass on my walks.
I decided to do some research into glass recycling, and learned about Westport’s Glass Recycling Program, at the transfer station on the Sherwood Island Connector.
Glass recycling container at the transfer station. (Photo courtesy of Westportcct.gov)
People bring their beverage bottles and food jars; they’ll be discarded and recycled safely.
Of course, there are some do’s and don’ts. According to Sustainable Westport:
Do make sure all items are empty, rinsed, and clean.
Do make sure bottle caps are on the bottles — or take them off and place them in the trash.
Don’t shred, box, bag, or bundle items. That includes using plastic bags to collect and dump your recyclable materials.
Don’t put paper food take-out containers in your recycling. They can’t be recycled because they are too soiled; and may be plastic-lined or compostable.
Glass can be extremely dangerous to humans and wildlife when not discarded properly.
Coastal Cleanup Crew co-founder Ryland Noorily, says, “the glass recycling program will separate glass from the other vulnerable materials — recyclable plastics and papers — and maximize our recycling potential”.
Let’s join together to keep this town a beautiful and thriving ecosystem, and
make sure we have plenty of beautiful Westport summers in the years ahead.
Trash collected by Staples’ Coastal Cleanup Crew (Photo/Ty Levine)
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The Diamond family has released an obituary for Ted Diamond. The former 2nd Selectman, longtime civic volunteer and World War II hero died earlier this month.
Theodore Diamond — a combat veteran, attorney, CEO and active citizen of Westport, died at home on August 2 as a consequence of Covid-19. He was 105 years old.
After serving as an infantry drill instructor, Ted volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. He was determined to fight, and became the lead navigator of a group of 28 planes flying 50 missions against the Nazis leaving from North Africa, Italy and Russia.
The missions were beyond dangerous — after 50 of them, only 3 original planes survived.
Ted Diamond
An exhibition called “In Their Own Words: Jewish Veterans of World War II,” at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, opens with Ted’s words: “As a Jew, it was Hitler and me. That’s the way I pictured the war.”
For his service Ted received many medals and decorations, including 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses. He was proudest of the insignia of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest military medal.
Ted was totally engaged in Westport politics. He served 3 terms in the RTM, and 3 terms as 2nd Selectman.
He worked on many projects in Westport. Three stand out, and helped
to form the character of the town.
The first was the town’s acquisition of Longshore Country Club, and the upgrading of the clubhouse.
The second was working with the modernization of the Fire
Department, to help it become one of the finest and most professional departments in Connecticut.
Finally, and probably most important to the town, Ted led a community movement to prevent the development of a shopping mall. Instead, the town purchased the land that has now become Winslow Park.
Ted Diamond delivers an RTM invocation. (Photo/Dave Matlow)
Born on July 3, 1917 in New York City, Ted was the son of Isador Diamond and Sadie (Drath). Diamond. His parents had recently immigrated from Europe, had limited proficiency in English and were very poor. To contribute money to the family, Ted worked from the age of 8 in a grocery store and drug store.
Ted learned to read early. When a mobile library unit came monthly to his community of Far Rockaway, he borrowed and read as many books as he could.
A teacher in Ted’s elementary school recognized his talents, and encouraged him to take the competitive exam for placement in an elite public school, Townsend-Harris.
He was admitted, and the experience changed his life. It introduced him to college level study, school government, world affairs, and a community of achievers within which he excelled.
Following high school, Ted graduated from St. John’s University, and received his law degree from Columbia University. He was drafted shortly after graduating from law school.
Before he flew overseas, he met Carol Simon for 2 hours at a party. He told his flight crew that if she were still available after the war, he would marry her.
In 1946 they married. They shared an intense love for 75 years, until her death in March 2022.
From 1946 until 1950, Ted practiced in a small law firm specializing in civil rights and labor law.
In 1950 he joined Composition Materials. Ted developed, manufactured and marketed diverse materials used in industries from oil well drilling to airplane maintenance to the composition of running tracks. He worked at Composition Materials until he was 87.
Ted is survived by his sons William and Jonathan; daughter-in-law Harriet; grandsons Theodore and Noah, and great-grandchildren Peter, June and
Beatrix.
A celebration of Ted’s life will be held Sunday September 18 (11 a.m., MoCA Westport).
Contributions in his memory may be made to: ACLU Connecticut, 765 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105.
At 98, Ted Diamond served as grand marshal of Westport’s Memorial Day parade. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
A “For Lease” sign stands on Weston Road, at the entrance to Bridgewater Associates’ Glendinning. The parking lot has been fairly empty, since the start of COVID.
Bridgewater’s Glendinnin gPlace campus, off Weston Road.
The sign advertises 8,000 to 50,000 square feet. Cushing & Wakefield’s website lists only 7,553 square feet. The price is negotiable.
Bridgewater — the world’s largest hedge fund — now houses most employees at its Nyala Farm complex, off I-95 Exit 18.
The “For Lease” sign by Bridgewater’s Weston Road office park. (Photo/Matt Murray)
There’s a new addition to the town’s “blight list.”
Westport’s Blight Prevention Board added 6 Ulbrick Lane, off Bulkley Avenue North, at its meeting this week.
It’s been vacant about 10 years. Grass has grown high outside; visitors report rodents and vermin indoors.
6 Ulbrick Lane (Photo/Jack Krayson)
Meanwhile, as first reported by Westport Journal, the house at 233 Hillspoint Road — diagonally across from Old Mill Grocery, now wrapped in blue after work construction was halted 2 years ago — has been taken off the blight list.
The Zoning Board of Appeals reached a settlement with the owners earlier this summer. Work was stopped after officials detected several permit violations.
Construction can begin again at 233 Hillspoin Road. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Also off the blight list: 1 Fresenius Lane, on Long Lots Road.
An all-star cast will be honored next Friday (August 19, 7:30 a.m., Greens Farms Church).
Westport Sunrise Rotary fetes Sam Gault, Vincent Penna Sr., Fire Chief Michael Kronick and Dr. James Wong.
Gault and Penna are longtime key volunteers at the club’s Great Duck Race fundraiser for many years. Chief Kronick is a longtime leader of the town’s fire service. Dr. Wong recently retired from his ophthalmology practice, after many years.
The public is invited to attend, and enjoy a buffet breakfast. To confirm, text Ron Holtz at 203-993-4970.
The New York Times’ Ginia Bellafante weighs in on “The Last Movie Stars,” HBO’s 6-part series on Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
She includes this reference to their life here:
“Once, Newman came home to their place in Westport, Conn., to find Joanne refashioning an outbuilding in crazy colors with ad hoc furniture — a place for them, she told him, to retreat to their carnality.”
That’s quite an image. To read the full piece, click here.
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. The relationship is the focus of an HBO series.
Posted onAugust 13, 2022|Comments Off on Online Art Gallery #123
Surprise! This week’s online art gallery is filled with paintings, drawings and photos of water and nature.
Actually, it’s no surprise. This is August. Those are natural subjects this time of year.
Remember: This is your gallery. All readers are invited to contribute to it. Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions.
All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and (yes) needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world!
“Greens Ledge Light, Norwalk Harbor” (Ken Runkel)
“Seashore” (Amy Schneider)
“A Lamp on the Morton Plant Mansion” (Peter Barlow)
News of Ed Capasse’s death this week brought tributes from many quarters.
In his 91 years, the lifelong Westporter touched many lives. He was a Board of Finance chair, an active volunteer with the Westport Weston Family Y and Assumption Church, and a scrupulously fair, generous attorney.
He made his mark locally, for sure. But for one week in 1946, Ed’s face was seen in nearly every American home.
A few weeks earlier, Westport artist Stevan Dohanos invited 5 students from the 40-member Staples High School band to model for a Saturday Evening Post cover. He wanted to show a marching band.
The 5 musicians posed individually in Dohanos’ home studio. Each one earned $30 — $400, in today’s money — to sit still for a half hour, while pretending to play brass instruments.
What made the cover special was that every band member looked not straight ahead, at the director, but off to the side — where the football game was taking place. That action was reflected in the tuba.
Ed Capasse was on the top left, playing his trumpet.
The Saturday Evening Post — for which Dohanos drew 125 covers — was one of the most popular magazines in America. That October 19, 1946 issue, smack in the middle of football season, ended up in millions of homes.
Years later, Donahos donated the oil painting to what is now the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collections. For decades, it hung in the Staples band room. Then it moved to the principal’s office.
Former 1st Selectman Jim Marpe — a big Stevan Dohanos fan — commandeered it for his office. Later, it hung elsewhere in Town Hall.
Today it awaits a new location.
The work — called “The Band Played On” — gained new attention in 2001, when Staples Players staged “Music Man.” The poster showed 5 current actors, mimicking the painting.
Staples Players’ 2001 poster …
Fifteen years later, Players reprised the musical. Directors David Roth and Kerry Long redid the poster too.
… and the 2016 version.
Two years earlier, WestPAC had raised funds to restore the painting to its full brilliance. It was displayed proudly in the Staples auditorium, throughout the play’s run.
In 2016, theater-goers admired Stevan Dohanos’ painting in the Staples High School lobby.
For over three-quarters of a century, Dohanos’ work has been a part of Westport history.
Trumpet player Ed Capasse is gone now. But his — and Dohanos’ — band plays on.
Ed Capasse, in the 1948 Staples High School yearbook.
(Hat tip: Kathleen Motes Bennewitz)
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As plans to renovate the Westport Inn move through the application process — the 116-room hotel will be downsized and upgraded to 85 rooms, with more landscaping, a 3-story addition, demolition of the front building, a pool, rear dining terrace, and driveway and parking improvements — let’s look back, to its earlier incarnations.
The New Englander Motor Hotel was perfect for the 1960s. It welcomed weary Connecticut Turnpike travelers at Exits 18 and 19. Amenities included a pool (with, for a while, “memberships” offered to Westporters).
The postcard above is an accurate rendition of the rooms facing the rear (north), and the pool.
I’m not sure what the view in the front shows, though. That’s not exactly the Post Road, and the stores on the other side.
The Westport Inn/New Englander has been a hospitable spot for a century. Long before motels, it was the site of Mathewson’s Tourist Cabins. They were all the rage when motoring was new.
The Turnpike (now called I-95) was still in the future. The drive between New York and Boston could be long; driving on the Post Road was tedious. The “motor cabins” offered a welcome respite.
Look familiar?
“Tourist cabins” eventually morphed into “motor courts,” then “motels.” A few still survive.
One is the Norwalk Westport Motel.
It’s in Norwalk; presumably “Westport” sneaks into the name because 1) it’s kind of near the border, and 2) in Norwalk, the Post Road is called “Westport Avenue.”
In 2022, the Norwalk Westport Motel has seen better days.
Some of those days can be seen in this postcard, courtesy of Carl Swanson:
I have no idea what the room rate was, back then.
But gas was probably 39 cents a gallon.
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Chuck Greenlee, acting Y’s Men Gardening chair, writes:
“Wednesday afternoon at the very popular Westport Community Garden, our our Ys Men Gardening group noticed an unusual flying insect. JP Montillier got an eerily good photo.
“It was our newest American insect invasive scourge: the lanternfly.”
Nômade — the new restaurant replacing Tavern on Main — has had a few previews, before opening officially next week.
The previously dark interior has been reimagined, much more brightly. (The fireplace remains — but it’s now white). The patio is filled with tables, and a large bar. Wicker baskets hang from the ceiling.
The eclectic menu ranges from burgers and steaks to octopus, clams and ravioli.
The Nomade patio, overlooking Main Street. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Tickets are going fast for tonight’s (Friday) Levitt Pavilion show — the inaugural one, launching Hiss Golden Messenger and Aiofe O’Donovan’s “Turn Tail in the Milky Way” tour. (Next stops: Chautauqua, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival.)
And kids’ tickets (12 and under) are free.
Both bands are part of the Levitt’s “Stars on Tour” event.
The show starts at 7 p.m. tonight. Doors open at 6; the Walrus Alley food truck will be there. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Tonight’s “Stars on Tour” folk double-header follows the free one last night. Intergenerational greatness was on stage, as Clueless (with School of Rock stars Ethan Walmark, Anais Preller, Jake Greenwald; Zach Rogers, Francesco Perrouna and Witt Lindau teamed up with perennial favorite the Mill River Band.
Dancing to the Mill River Band last night at the Levitt Pavilion, under a super moon.
The international event includes master classes by finalists at the Westport Public Library, and performances at MoCA Westport.
Today’s (Friday) events include a lecture by educator and musician Clipper Erickson, plus more master classes at the Library, and performances at MoCA. The competition concludes with an awards ceremony at MoCA on Saturday, (August 13).
Click here for tickets for all events, both in-person and virtual, and more information.
Heida Hermanns finalist Artem Kuznetsov leads a master class at the Westport Library. (Photo/Feria Sewell)
Speaking of music: Me2/Orchestra is the only one in the world created by and for people living with mental illness. R
It was created by Ronald Braunstein. On a trajectory to becoming a leading conductor, he made his diagnosis of bipolar disorder public and was shunned by the classical music community.
He vowed to erase the mental health stigma. one concert at a time. The film “Orchestrating Change” follows Braunstein and several musicians for 2 years, capturing their setbacks and accomplishments.
The film ends in triumph for Braunstein, who thought he might never conduct again — and for the musicians and audience, whose perspective on mental illness is forever changed.
The Westport Library will show “Orchestrating Change” on September 13 (7 p.m.). Executive producers/directors Margie Friedman and Barbara Multer-Wellin, and several people featured in the film, will be on hand for a talkback after the screening. Click here for more details.
The Staples High School football program was inspired yesterday by a visit from a combat wounded Army veteran, Intelligence Sergeant Quincy Lopez.
He cheered on the athletes, as they did a Marine Corps “Murph workout.” It’s a fundraiser for both Westport football and Catch a Lift, the program that helps wounded vets.
Sgt. Lopez spoke of being part of something “bigger than yourself.” He added:
“You are as strong as your strongest link, and as weak as your weakest link. If you guide your decisions by what makes the team better, that in turn makes you better.
“We will soon approach another anniversary of 9/11. The darkest of hours and ultimate tragedy was followed by the greatest period of camaraderie and unity. Incredible gains can happen when everybody works together. Keep this in mind as you persevere for whatever you do and aim to achieve.”
Staples football players listen intently. (Photo courtesy of Adam Vengrow)
August’s full moon is called the “sturgeon moon,” because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during that part of summer.
It reached peak illumination at 9:36 last night. The day before, Jonathan Prager took this gorgeous photo.
(Photo/Jonathan Prager)
Last night, Westporters were out in droves to document the moon. Ted Horowitz shot this with his iPhone:
(Photo/Copyright Ted Horowitz)
Taking another view, Patrick Kennedy describes this shot as “the full moon, guarded by our Minute Man”:
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