Many Westporters loved Serena Williams big US Open win last night over Anett Kontaveit, the world’s 2nd-ranked player.
There were a couple of local connections — and we don’t mean any fans lucky enough to be in the stands.
Westport-based Birdseye Sports is a large independent production company. Specializing in game-day broadcasting and video productions, they provide camera crews to major networks. ESPN, for example, subcontracts them for the US Open.
Ryan Smith — a 1997 Staples High School graduate, and director of the Bedford Middle School Acting Group — has worked the Open for Birdseye for the past 4 years.
He’s seen a lot. But last night was special. He was behind the camera for Williams’ match.
Ryan Smith, at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I still kick myself from time to time, for how lucky I am,” he says.
He did not get home until 2:30 this morning. But he got up early, to head back to Queens. He’ll be behind the camera tonight — again covering Williams. She and her sister play doubles, in what their fans hope will not be their final match together. (Hat tip: Kerry Long)
Speaking of the beach: “06880” has run stories recently about beach days of old. Rocks instead of sand at Compo; sand instead of rocks at Longshore; demolished bathhouses, no houses along the shore — different days, for sure.
Suzanne Sherman Propp owns an interesting piece of art. It combines several elements of old beach-y Westport — some real, some imagined — in a fanciful way:
Created by Suzanne Urban, in part from a 1906 postcard, it shows bathers at Old Mill Beach; nearby homes (that probably were not there then), and — in the background — the old Longshore lighthouse.
Urban is a 1971 Staples High School graduate. After studying art at Marymount College, she worked as an illustrator.
For steady income she became a secretary at Greens Farms Elementary School, from the early 2000s to 2014. Former Stapleites Propp and Carey Leonard also worked there.
Urban moved with her husband to Windsor. They live in one of the oldest houses (1664), in what residents claim is Connecticut’s oldest town settlement (1633).
Urban has found a niche selling “contemporary folk art” — including holiday-themed work — online.
Her Halloween witches, ghosts and pumpkin-heads and cute. But only a true Wesetporter — like me, Suzanne Sherman Propp, and any “06880” reader — can appreciate the Old Mill Beach of Suzanne Urban’s imagination.
It’s not too late to sign up for Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Technician training.
There’s an orientation tonight. Classes begin next Tuesday (September 6). Most are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with some Saturdays as well.
The course covers information needed for state certification tests, a prerequisite for joining WVEMS. Click here for more information.
Meanwhile, mark your calendar for September 9 (7 p.m.). DNR — the grimly named, highly entertaining and very professional rock band made up mostly of doctors — plays a free show at the Levitt Pavilion, in honor of Westport Volunteer EMS.
WVEMS personnel will be there, answering questions about donations or joining the ranks.
Standing by, at a Levitt Pavilion concert (though not one headlined by DNR).
Speaking of the Levitt: Though summer is over (at least, for those with kids in school), outdoor entertainment is not.
In addition to the Orebolo show September 7, featuring Rich Mitarotonda, Peter Anspach and Jeff Arevalo — members of the popular Connecticut rock group Goose — The Levitt just added a special free-ticket show at 1:30 p.m. September 17.
It stars ElephantProof. The band includes Ben Atkind — a founding member of Goose.
ElephantProof is “a euphonic snapshot of the unique sonic energy born at the house parties your best friends still talk about to this day. Refined by disciplined training and years of performance experience, Ben Atkind (drums), Sean Cronin (guitar), Chris Enright (keys) and Shon Gordon (bass) are reconnected, traipsing along the rigid confines of genre using erudite tonal expression.”
I’m not sure what that means, but I’m sure it will be a cool show! Click here for more details, and tickets.
Another piece of Pavilion news: Karina Rykman, whose band plays tomorrow (Friday, September 2), has another gig after the Levitt. She’ll fill in on bass during next week’s Late Night with Seth Meyers Show.
PS: The Levitt has added a “child 12-and-under free ticket” to the BYO-lawn chair section of the Robert Cray show on September 10 (8 p.m.). Click here for details and tickets.
Tonight’s (Thursday, 6 to 7 p.m.) MoCA “Cocktails & Conversations” event features the curators of the current “Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse exhibition.”
Attendees will peek behind the scenes, learning more about the works and the artists. Cocktails and drinks are available for purchase.
“Cocktails & Conversations” is free, but advance registration is requested (click here). The exhibition runs through October 2.
Curators of the MoCA exhibit, and speakers at tonight’s event (from left): Maria Gabriela Di Giammarco, Melanie Prapopoulos (founder and director of the CAMP Gallery), Mario Andres Rodriguez), in front of a work by Shelly McCoy. (Photos/Leslie LaSala)
Cars with decorations like this can be seen all over town:
(Photo/JD Dworkow)
It’s a long-standing Staples High School tradition: Senior girls (and only the girls) boast about their 12th-grade status on the opening day of school.
And you’ll be seeing these for quite a while. Another part of the tradition is to leave the writing on for a long, long time.
Sure, there’s a drought. But there are still lots of gorgeous colors out there. Lauri Weiser captured this, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature:
Leaf blowers: Westporters love ’em when they make our lawns look neat.
We hate ’em when they make our neighbors’ lawns look neat.
They’re an efficient way for lawn crews to work. But they are very environmentally unfriendly.
All those ideas have been debated before, nationally and locally.
Westport’s Representative Town Meeting had a first reading of a proposed leaf ordinance — not the first one ever proposed here — earlier. Another reading (now that revisions have been made) is set for the September 6 meeting.
Among the draft’s key proposals:
Electric-powered leaf blowers would be permitted all year.
Gas-powered leaf blowers would be permitted only from March 15 through April 30, and October 15 through December 31.
No leaf blowers of any type could be used before 8 a.m., after 5 p.m. or on any state or federal holiday.
Exceptions could be made for storm clean-up operations.
The ordinance would also not apply to leaf blowers on town-owned property, or publicly or privately owned golf courses.
The Conservation Department would be in charge of enforcement. After warnings, they could assess fines of $100 for the first violation, and $249 for each subsequent violation.
Following Tuesday’s reading at the RTM meeting, it will go back to committee. A vote could be taken in October. If passed it would become effective on March 15, 2023.
(Other items on Tuesday’s RTM agenda include an appropriation of $237,000 for drainage on the Longshore golf course greens; an appropriation of $313,500.00 for a traffic study of the “Cross Highway School Zone” between North Avenue and Bayberry Lane, and the establishment of a Long Lots Elementary School renovation building committee.)
(Like fallen leaves, “06880” covers all of Westport. Please click here to help support your local blog)
And not just any blues — these are Mark Naftalin’s. This is big-time.
On Sunday, September 18 (3 to 5 p.m.), the Westport Library presents Mark Naftalin’s Blue Sunday. It’s the first in a monthly series of concerts, all produced and hosted by musician/producer/radio host Mark Naftalin.
The kickoff event features guitarists Chance Browne (The Twinkies, Hi and Lois artist), Chris “Otis” Cross (Otis and the Hurricanes) and Paul Gabriel (Blue In The Face, Paul Gabriel Blues Band, Connecticut Blues Society Lifetime Achievement Award); harmonicists Manny Foglio (Manny and the Mojomatics) and Mark Zaretsky (Cobalt Rhythm Kings); bassists David Anastasia (Mojomatics, Walter Lewis Blues Trio, The Zero Boys); percussionists Matt Moadel (Portal) and Barry Urich (Blue In The Face, Jose Feliciano); accordionist-pianist-vocalist Smokin’ Joe Najmy (Otis and the Hurricanes, Mill River Band); sax master Crispin Cioe (Albert Collins, James Cotton, Uptown Horns, Cracked Ice); washboard wizard Washboard Slim (Washboard Slim & The Blue Lights) — and Naftalin himself on piano.
Former Paul Butterfield Blues Band organist, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member Mark Naftalin.
He played keyboard with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The path-breaking interracial Butterfield Band opened doors for blues masters like B.B. King and Muddy Waters. Naftalin later recorded and/or performed with Michael Bloomfield, James Cotton, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, Percy Mayfield, Carla Thomas, Irma Thomas, Otis Rush, Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner and many others.
In 2015 he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Mark Naftalin (3rd from left) with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Living and working in the Bay Area, Naftalin produced over 1,300 blues radio broadcasts on 3 FM stations, and over 30 blues festivals. His Blue Sunday at the Westport Library is a nod to those years.
In 2002, he and his wife Ellen moved to her hometown: Westport. The Mark Naftalin Show is now in its 7th year on WPKN (89.5 FM).
Blue Sunday capitalizes on the success of the Library’s Verso Studios music and media festival VersoFest, and the adventurous Chris Frantz Presents Emerging Musicians series.
If you haven’t been to the Levitt Pavilion this year, or over the past few years*, then you don’t know Joey Bairaktaris.
But everyone else does.
He’s the Levitt’s site supervisor.
That’s his job title, anyway. He’s really much more than that.
Joey — a 2016 Staples High School graduate — is the public face of the pavilion. He’s everywhere, at every show.
Joey Baraiktaris (Photo/Susan Leone)
He makes sure guests are happy, gently enforcing rules for a few for the enjoyment of all. He makes sure the performers have what they need.
He answers questions. He solves problems before they occur. He empties trash cans (and picks up whatever stray garbage the rest of us leave behind).
And he does it all with a wonderful, winning smile.
Susan Leone nominated Joey as an “Unsung Hero.” She asked him about his job. He told her he came to Westport in 8th grade from Redding. Switching schools at mid-year was not easy. But it made him work hard to keep busy, and not think about how tough things had been.
Joey started at the Levitt 7 years ago, after working at Compo Beach and the Westport Weston Family YMCA.
He went to Johnson & Wales University, majoring in criminal justice and psychology. In the summer he’d work for Westport Parks & Rec during the day, then the Levitt every night.
He’s also working for the New England Patriots, doing security, and is in the process of applying to police departments. “All my work and schooling go together, with being around people,” Joey notes.
He says: “The best part about working at the Levitt is the people I meet. I get to interact and talk with people from all over. Everyone has endless stories and knowledge from their lives and careers. Face to face talking is lost these days with technology, so it’s great to get to actually talk to people.”
Keeping a crowd like this — and performers — happy and safe is not easy. Joey Bairaktaris does it well. (Photo/JC Martin)
He’s not kidding about his ability to talk to people. When the Peterson Brothers band came from Austin, Texas, they gave him their contact info, so he could stay with them there.
“There’s kindness everywhere,” Joey says. “It just takes all of us to bring it out.”
Joey spreads credit around. “The Levitt Pavilion is an extraordinary venue, but it wouldn’t be possible without everyone who is behind the magic. I’m a small seasonal part. The base of the Levitt is the board members and the Welshes. They make everything happen, with 365 days a year planning, organizing and so much more.”
He downplays his own role. “There’s not really anything special about me. I’m just a Westporter who loves to keep busy, try new things, and meet new people. Everyone has been so amazing. You can’t find a place like this anywhere. The community really does come first here.”
Joey Bairaktaris is — very deservedly — this week’s Unsung Hero. And he is — every week — Mr. Levitt Pavilion.
*And why not? It’s the best free entertainment in town!
(Do you know an Unsung Hero? Email 06880blog@gmail.com)
(“Unsung Hero” is just one of our weekly features. To keep ’em coming, please support “06880.”)
The non-speaking autistic teenager was once thought to be intellectually disabled. In July, “06880” described his astonishing progress, since he began using a special communication board a year ago.
Wynston was there again Monday — the day before beginning his sophomore year at Staples High School. Owner Andrea Pecoriello hosted him.
His mother Lynda Kommel-Browne says: “Wynston had a nice conversation with 4 families, who were not familiar with non-speakers and spelling boards. Wynston beamed with pride and energy to show folks his communication skills.It was a great eye-opening experience for all.
Wynston Browne and his communication partner, Elisa Feinman, show his spelling board to customers at The Porch. His brother Harrison is standing (right).
“Wynston’s 16-year-old brother Harrison beamed with pride too, seeing customers take an interest in Wyn, and seeing Wyn respond to questions with high level answers.
“For example, he said, ‘In biology we are studying macro molecules … carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. Carbohydrates is your body’s main energy source.'”
He talked about “The Kite Runner” too — and asked some of his new friends questions like what they like to eat at The Porch.
Wynston’s world is opening up — and he is opening up ours. “06880” will continue to report on his progress, and on opportunities for Westporters to meet him.
“We use the ‘speed load’ setting. Our washing machine runs for 25 minutes, instead of an hour and 10 minutes on the regular setting. Our clothes get just as clean — we have never had an issue with that.”
Any other water-saving ideas? Click “Comments” below.
Select “quick wash,” which you probably never noticed before.
Connecticut’s official 9/11 memorial is at Sherwood Island State Park for 2 reasons.
On that horrific day 21 years ago, people gathered on the shore saw smoke rise from the Twin Towers 50 miles away.
And the area was ready to be used as a staging area for rescue helicopters. Sadly, none were needed.
Two decades later, the simple memorial attracts a steady stream of visitors. It includes the names of state residents who died in the terrorist attacks.
Each year, there is a remembrance ceremony at the Sherwood Island Living Memorial. This year’s is set for Thursday, September 8 (5:30 p.m.). Family members of those killed will participate, and the names of the 161 victims with ties to Connecticut will be read aloud.
The ceremony will be livestreamed at ct-n.com. An on-demand video will be made available there shortly after its conclusion.
The 9/11 Living Memorial at Sherwood Island State Park. (Photos/Ellen Bowen)
Tomorrow’s “Jazz at the Post” stars Rob Henke & the Cook County Stompers.
Greg Murphy, Tim Ferguson, Sipho Kunene and Greg Wall — the “Jazz Rabbi” — play 2 sets at VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399 (7 and 8:30 p.m.; dinner at 6:30; $10 cover).
The Thursday night series has earned an avid following. The jazz is great; the acoustics are superb; the food is excellent, and the view is superb.
What’s not to like?
Reservations are strongly suggested: JazzatthePost@gmail.com.
Held, as always, in the Westport Country Playhouse barn, it features works by homeless veterans. The art was created in classes run by the Collective, at Bridgeport’s Homes for the Brave shelter.
There’s a reception next Wednesday (September 7, 6 to 8 p.m.), and an artists’ talk Saturday, September 10 (4 p.m.). The works are on display to the public September 8 to 10, from 2 to 6 p.m. each day.
The Artists’ Collective does great work, very quietly. They don’t toot their own horns. So I’ll toot it for them.
See you at the show!
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I hate to keep throwing barbs at Hook’d.
But really, the Compo Beach concession is just mailing it in.
Earlier this summer, after sharp comments on “06880,” they finally began posting their hours on the door.
That’s gone now.
With the doors locked yesterday, this was the scene:
(Photo/Yvonne Senturia)
That’s still better than a few days ago. The doors were locked then. The sandwich board sign was out.
School started yesterday. And — right on cue — there was this familiar sight at the Imperial Avenue parking lot:
(Photo/Amy Schneider)
Readers sometimes wonder what they’re doing there.
The answer makes sense: It’s a spot for drivers to gather between runs, without having to navigate the cramped, busy entrance and exit at the Dattco lot across from Playhouse Square.
Once in the morning there, and again in the afternoon, is plenty.
Michael and Valerie Szeto write: “With Cole Porter’s permission. one might say, ‘Birds do it, bees do it, even Westport horseshoe crabs do it … let’s do it, let’s fall in love!'”
(Photo/Valerie Szeto)
This shot of mating horseshoe crabs was taken in the shallow water off Owenoke Park. Michael spotted it; Valerie snapped it.
The couple then left, giving this other couple some privacy.
Despite this summer’s lack of rain, many home gardens are at their peak right now. Tomatoes, zucchini, other seasonal delights — they’re all ripe.
Some gardeners may actually have too much produce. They give it to neighbors — and still have extra food.
Every problem has a solution. This one is easy.
Grow-A-Row Westport is a volunteer effort to grow and donate fresh produce. Since 2020 members have planted, tended, harvested, and collected nutritious donations of fresh fruits vegetables, and herbs to benefit food-insecure people and families throughout Fairfield County.
Bounty from the Westport Community Gardens.
Amy Unikewicz runs Grow-A-Row Westport. The program began in the spring of 2020 at the Westport Community Gardens, during the early COVID lockdown.
The idea was simple: encourage fellow Community Gardens members to grow an extra row (or more) to donate.
She set-up a large cooler. All season long, gardeners filled it with freshly harvested items. Several members helped transport over 200 grocery bags were donated to the Center for Food Equity and Economic Development (FEED) in Bridgeport.
Westport continues to sustain the effort. Early on, Pippa Bell Ader of the Zero Food Waste Initiative and Sustainable Westport, and Aileen Brill of Christ & Holy Trinity Church, helped with logistics.
Last year Pippa connected Amy with Westporter Haley Schulman — national site coordinator with Food Rescue US – Fairfield County, a non-profit that picks up otherwise-wasted food from restaurants and supermarkets, and delivers it to pantries and shelters.
Haley — also a Wakeman Town Farm committee member — loved Amy’s idea to expand Grow-A-Row Westport beyond the Community Gardens.
They met Lori Cochran, director of the Westport Farmers’ Market. She championed the idea of a Grow-A-Row community collection cooler every Thursday at the Imperial Avenue parking lot.
By the donation cooler at the Westport Farmers’ Marker: Lori Cochran, WFM director; Amanda Sayegh, Westport Housing Authority director of programs and resident services; Amy Unikewicz, Grow-A-Row Westport founder; Haley Schulman, national site coordinator with Food Rescue US – Fairfield County, and Food Rescue US volunteers, Jennifer Seideman, Darryl Kowalsky and Susie Kowalsky.
The Wakeman Town Farm Committee supported Grow-A-Row collections at their weekly farm stand too.
Haley committed Food Rescue US – Fairfield County’s network of volunteers to transport the fresh produce, and found agencies that are a good fit for the collections.
Grow-a-Row at Wakeman Town Farm.
Now in its third year, the expanded Grow-A-Row Westport effort continues to, um, grow.
All home gardeners are invited to donate at any of 3 drop-off spots:
Saturdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wakeman Town Farm farm stand, 134 Cross Highway)
Daily (8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Christ & Holy Trinity Church Branson Hall, 75 Church Lane).
Westporter Cornelia Olson donates a huge rutabaga.
Not a gardener? Grow-A-Row gladly accepts fresh produce from your CSA, refrigerator, even “freshly-purchased” at the Farmers’ Market or Wakeman Farm Stand.
Each week, volunteers with Food Rescue US – Fairfield County deliver the donated produce to agencies in Bridgeport and Westport, including: FEED Center, Lucy Baney Family Reunification Center at Career Resources CT, Fridgeport (Bridgeport’s first community fridge), and the Westport Housing Authority.
Westport Housing Authority director of programs and resident services Amanda Sayegh says that residents are very appreciative of the fresh donations. They’re shared among 221 families, including seniors and families with children, and prioritized to the most food-insecure residents.
“Fresh vegetables are considered a luxury for many,” Amanda says. One resident was “thrilled” to receive fresh lettuce — something they had not been able to purchase for a long time.
You may shake your head, wondering how you’ll get rid of all that lettuce.
Now you know: Grow-A-Row!
(For more information, follow @growarowwestport on Instagram.)
(Want to help “06880” grow? Please click here to donate!)
Joe Stadek lives in Ridgefield — and donates to Westport’s Grow-a-Row project. (All photos courtesy of Amy Unikewicz)
It’s a rite of passage for London tourists: Pose in the crosswalk by the Abbey Road studio. It’s an homage to the Beatles, and one of the most famous album covers in history.
These 4 deer were outside Little Barn in Westport — not England. But they had the same idea.
If they want music, most high school reunion organizers hire a DJ.
Staples High School’s Class of 1970 has Smoke.
That’s the house band — made up of ’70 grads Mark Smollin, Chuck Boisseau, Steve Wall, Pete Morgen, Marc Bailin and Jeff Dowd (’71) — who played at their past few reunions.
Their 50th was delayed by COVID for 2 years. But Smoke planned to get together for their final gig this past weekend, when the Class of ’70 (coincidentally, most of whom are now 70 years old) gathered at the Norwalk Inn.
As always, they came in a few days early to rehearse. But COVID is not yet over. The virus infected the band. They had to cancel.
It was a bitter disappointment, for them and their many classmates/friends/ fans/groupies.
But the Class of ’71 rode to the rescue.
They’ve got their own reunion band — called (go figure) The Reunion Band. (They also played a legendary Levitt Pavilion show, in 2019.)
The Reunion Band rocked the packed Levitt Pavilion in 2019, at a memorial concert for former member Charlie Karp. Comprised entirely of graduates of Staples High School’s Class of 1971, its members have played and recorded with — among many others — Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson and Orleans. (Photo copyright Ted Horowitz)
When Smoke went up in ashes, Smollin asked Reunion Band front man/multiple Emmy winner Brian Keane for help.
There were many reasons not to: Brian’s looming movie scoring deadlines, his son coming to visit, no time to rehearse. And his partner and fellow band member, Bonnie Housner Erickson, was in the midst of planning her own (delayed) reunion.
But quickly, Brian and Bonnie said: Let’s put on a show!
It did not matter that the last time the Reunion Band played together was that Levitt gig. They’re pros.
They contacted 3 other Reunion Band members: Rob and Julie McClenathan, and Dave Barton. They could not get Michael Mugrage (previously scheduled engagement) and Bill Sims (in Vermont).
But they added some high-powered, non-’71 musicians: Leigh Sobel (SHS ’68, lead singer of famed Mandrake Root); David Giardina (SHS ’70), Tim DeHuff (SHS ’72), and non-Stapleites Tony Aiardo and Arti Dixson.
Bonnie says, “Our collective belief of never turning down a comrade in need, coupled with our decades-long backgrounds as music and theater producers won out. It was ‘all hands on deck,’ making this happen for our friends.”
With no rehearsal — but plenty of professional chops — the Reunion Band rocked the Norwalk Inn. They played the music everyone loved (and that Smoke would have played). The Class of 1970 partied like it was 1999.
The Reunion Band at the Norwalk Inn. From left: Tony Aiardo, Tim DeHuff, Bonnie Erickson, Julie and Rob McClenathan, Leigh Sobel, Arti Dixson, Brian Keane. Not pictured: David Barton, David Giardina. (Photo courtesy of Mary Gai)
“The unexpected plus for me was that I saw so many people I hadn’t seen in years,” Brian says.
“When you go to reunions you only see those from your own class, but in reality we go to school with, and interact socially with, classmates a year or two younger and older too.
“I really felt badly for Smoke. I had played in school with many members. I knew how much they wanted to be there.”
As for the Reunion Band: They’re getting ready for their next gig. They play at their own reunion — the Class of ’71 — on October 1.
This time, they’ll even have a few days to rehearse.
BONUS TRACK: You don’t have to be a member of the Class of ’71 to enjoy this kick-ass reunion website (click here — then click “Flashback” from the dropdown menu).
And who designed it? The Reunion Band’s own Bonnie Erickson.
(Hat tip: Fred Cantor)
(“06880” appreciates donations from members of any high school class — anywhere. Please click here to help.)
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That’s the house band — made up of ’70 grads Mark Smollin, Chuck Boisseau, Steve Wall, Pete Morgen, Marc Bailin and Jeff Dowd (’71) — who played at their past few reunions.
