And 5 women long involved in the Westport Public School’s special education program have suggested 3 people as Unsung Heroes, for their tremendous work in that field.
Kate Frascella, Kate Grijns, Sivan Hong, Becky Martin and Abby Tolan write:
Merrily Bodell, Stacie Curran and Sharuna Mahesh have actively served the special education community in our town for well over a decade. Principally they’ve been longtime leaders and members of the Special Education PTA, but they’ve also advocated for people with disabilities throughout our town.
They have forged a path forward full of opportunity and promise for all kids with disabilities in our schools, and after they graduate.
Sharuna Mahesh
SpEd PTA is a committee operating under the Westport PTA Council that meets monthly with Westport school district administrators.
SpEd PTA — comprised of parent representatives from each school, plus out-placed students — advocates for our students, communicates parental concerns, and conveys vital information from the administration to SpEd families.
In their time on SpEd PTA, which began when their children were in pre-school at Stepping Stones and continues nearly 16 years later, Merrily, Stacie and Sharuna have advocated passionately for their children and ours. Most recently, they played a key role establishing the transitions program “Connections” that keeps students in Westport after graduation in a job training and life skills program.
These women push for the improvement of services for SpEd students and the education of families new to special education through newsletters and programming, like “Understanding your IEP.” They have led dozens of monthly “Sip ‘n Chat” conversations for SpEd parents.
Merrily Bodell
They promote fun for our kids by establishing SpEd PTA’s Community Fun Day, promoting opportunities like Challenger Baseball, and working with many other local organizations to offer programs for kids with special needs.
All 3 women also devote considerable time to causes that create opportunities for children and adults with disabilities in Westport and beyond. Stacie and Sharuna are active with the Remarkable Theater; Sharuna also dedicates her talents to Westport Book Sale Ventures, both of which create work opportunities for people with disabilities.
Stacie serves on Westport’s Commission on People with Disabilities. Merrily is on the board of directors of School the World, a community-driven nonprofit committed to solving extreme poverty through the power of education.
Stacie Curran
Perhaps most importantly, all 3 have offered their constant hope, reassurance and advice to parents struggling with new diagnoses or challenges.
Becky Martin, current SpEd PTA co-chair, recalls wondering in a meeting if she should be pushing her child to accomplish more academically, given her challenges.
“Sharuna looked me in the eye and said, ‘always push.’ I still hear her saying that in the back of my mind sometime. I hold it as a constant reminder of my job as a parent of a child with challenges,” says Becky.
We will protect their children’s privacy, but they too should be recognized for their trailblazing and hard work that has led to better education and services for all of our children here in Westport.
Congratulations Merrily, Stacie and Sharuna. What a meaningful way to honor National Disability Awareness Month!
(To nominate an Unsung Hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com)
Westport needs registered voters to serve on 5 advisory bodies:
Arts Advisory Committee: advises on the preservation of Westport’s legacy as an arts community, provides oversight of the Westport Permanent Art Collections, and helps increase visibility of the arts in town.
Maintenance Study Committee: the Committee recently completed studies of all major town buildings, and reviewed buildings recently purchased by the Town, or under consideration for purchase and/or demolition.
International Hospitality Committee: advises town officials about local activities related to the United Nations and international visitors.
TEAM Westport: advises town officials about achieving and celebrating a more welcoming, multicultural Westport community.
Wakeman Town Farm Committee: helps WTF serve as an educational demonstration center for sustainable living.
Registered voters seeking an appointment should click here for an application. It must be emailed (selectwoman@westportct.gov) or mailed (110 Myrtle Avenue, Westport, CT 06880) by April 15.
With few exceptions, non-elected members of town boards, commissions and committees are appointed by the First Selectwoman.
First Selectwoman Jen Tooker ways, “Westport’s electorate is dynamic and diverse. This community could not run successfully without the many citizens who willingly and enthusiastically give of their time to benefit us all.
“Among the many appointed boards, commissions and committees, there are a number of vacancies that may filled by the members of our community who seek an opportunity to volunteer, gain knowledge of their municipal government, and provide service to the town. Some boards have minimal commitments, others are more hands-on and skill-driven, but all play an important role in keeping our community strong and vibrant.”
Click here for a list of all town boards, commissions and committees.
Those alpacas didn’t fall from the sky. The Wakeman Town Farm Committee helps oversee activities there. (Photo/Cathy Malkin)
Wayne Blickenstaff — aka “Blick” — was a key member of the Eighth Air Force, part of the England-based World War II air campaign against Germany. Rising to lieutenant colonel, flying P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs, he flew 133 destroyed 10 enemy aircraft.
After the war, Blickenstaff settled in Westport. For many years, he was part of Famous Artists School.
Now he’s written a book. “Ace in a Day” will be published in September.
Amazon calls it “Blick’s honest and gritty personal memoir of his air war in Europe. His vivid writing places you in the cockpit as he and his comrades battle the enemy in the skies or attack ground targets across Europe. His account conveys a true sense of just how dangerous flying World War II fighters, in all weather conditions, really was.
“It was not just the enemy that could kill you. A moment’s inattention, overconfidence or simple mistake could be deadly. As a keen observer of character, Blick’s pen portraits of those around him, including many of those who sadly did not survive the war, offer a poignant and deeply moving tribute to those with whom he served.” Click here for more information. (Hat tip: Laurie Woog)
Staples High School sophomore Grace Power has a big role in Amy Schumer’s new series “Life & Beth.” It debuted on Hulu this month.
Grace — who was part of last year’s Staples Players radio shows — is seen in 7 episodes, as “Young Liz,” the best friend of Amy’s younger version of herself.
The New York Times says: “The straightforward, emotionally grounded acting that much of ‘Life & Beth’ requires isn’t Schumer’s strength, but … Grace Power (is) also good as Beth’s best friend in the flashbacks.” (Hat tip: Nicole Mayr)
Grace Power
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This Sunday (March 27, noon to 5 p.m., 190 Main Street), the CAMP Gallery hosts “Sip and Shop for a Cause.” It’s a closing event for the current exhibition: “Not Dior’s New Look III.”
20% of the gallery’s commission will be donated to Fashion Fights Cancer. The organization provides design-oriented therapeutic programs to cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones.
In addition, all participating brands — Kristi Vosbeck, Rosie Assoulin, The Hidden Gem, Johnny Was, Boho Prep and Le Rouge Chocolates — will contribute a percentage of all event sales towards Fashion Fights Cancer, and efforts in Ukraine.
No, it’s not the Serengeti. But these deer grazing locally — today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature — do have something to do with Africa.
They’re at Nyala Farm. The corporate headquarters between the Sherwood Island Connector and Greens Farms Road, just north of I-95 Exit 18, was once part of the vast Bedford estate.
E.T. Bedford’s son Fred gave the house and farm its “Nyala” name for the spiral-horned antelope that had captivated his attention during a safari.
Last week, longtime Westporter David Gottlieb went for a walk.
Strolling along North Avenue, he saw a line of 20 or so cars. All were waiting to pick up Coleytown schoolchildren.
Most had their motors running.
For 20 or 30 minutes.
Cars on North Avenue, near Coleytown Elementary School. (Photo/David Gottlieb)
A couple of days later, Gottlieb saw a front page story in the New York Times. It described the city’s Citizens Air Complaint Program — a public health campaign that pays people to report trucks parked and idling for more than 3 minutes (1 minute outside a school).
By submitting a video showing the engine is running, and the company name on the door, they collect 25% of any fine collected. The minimum penalty in New York is $350.
Connecticut has a similar law. Its limit is 3 minutes for “mobile sources.” The enforcing agency is not, however, local or state police departments; it’s the air bureau of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
(Police can enforce an idling regulation against school buses specifically. The fine is $117.)
Coleytown Middle and Elementary are not the only schools in Westport in which cars idle for long periods of time. They’re not even the only ones on North Avenue.
Cars lined up on Post Road West, near Kings Highway Elementary School. (Photo/Dick Lowenstein)
During COVID, more parents than ever drove their children to school, then picked them up. The trend has continued.
Is idling near schools a problem, a nuisance, or an issue really not worth worrying about? In the absence of real enforcement — the state DEEP will not come prowling in Westport — is there anything to be done?
Parents pick up their kids for many reasons — including the unintended consequences of starting and ending school 30 minutes later than previously. Are there any solutions to the rising rates of non-bus riding?
Click “Comments” below. Please include specifics of your situation. And please: Don’t judge others. Be kind. We’re looking for answers, not a lot of smoke and hot air.
Mitchells may own 8 high-end clothing stores on both coasts. But since its humble beginnings in Westport 64 years ago, they’ve never lost their small-town, human touch.
As the son of founders Ed and Norma Mitchell, Jack Mitchell carries on the family tradition. He’s helped raise service to a new level.
Jack has written best-selling books about “hugging” customers and employees. He’s an internationally known speaker.
The other day, he sat on the Westport Library stage with me. We chatted about Mitchells, the state of retailing today, Westport old and young — and hugging.
Click below for our homey, half-hour conversation.
Meanwhile — not far away — an osprey has returned to its Fresh Market perch.
Alert “06880” reader Wendy Crowther reported last evening: “He was primping the nest as I passed by just now. I drive by Fresh Market to and from work or doing errands nearly every day. I always look in that direction.
“This is my first sighting since he left for parts south last fall. I was in my car so I don’t have a photo.”
Like many Westporters, Stephan Taranko has followed the news from Ukraine closely.
He has a special interest: His family is from there.
Earlier this month, he ordered 50 flags, to hand out at the Stand With Ukraine rally on Jesup Green.
They did not arrive in time. When he finally got them, he did the next best thing: He put them on his mailbox, with a sign inviting people to take one.
Steve lives on a private road, off Sturges Highway. Yet all 50 were taken quickly.
Westporters around town are also decorating their homes and yards with Ukrainian flags. Several line Prospect Road, in a show of support for that courageous nation.
The Kiwanis Club is one of Westport’s less publicized civic groups. But they’ve been around for decades, aiding everything from Safe Rides and local playgrounds to gear for the EMS bicycle unit.
Very quietly, they continue to enrich our town.
The other day, they donated $5,000 to Save the Children’s relief efforts in Ukraine. Now Kiwanis is gearing up for their grant program for high school seniors. Funding comes from their annual family-friendly Mini-Triathlon at Compo Beach.
The Kiwanis College Grant application is open to income-qualified Staples High School who have demonstrated academic excellence and service to the community. Click here for an application. The deadline is April 15.
The Triathlon is open to all ability levels. It includes a point-to-point swim at Compo Beach, followed by short bike and run courses in the Compo neighborhood.
The event is great for first-timers, and families wishing to race together. To register for the September 11 event or donate to the college grant program, click here.
What do Rosa Parks, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Katharine Hepburn, Golda Meir, Jackie Kennedy, Peggy Guggenheim and Mother Teresa have in common?
All will be celebrated this Saturday by Westporter Suzanne Tanner, in her inspiring millinery musical “Voices of Herstory.”
The event (March 26, 3 p.m., St. Andrew’s Church, Kent) coincides with Women’s History Month. And it’s for a great cause: Proceeds benefit Ukrainian refugees, honoring the memory of Tanner’s daughter Tess.
We all know how “Romeo and Juliet” ends, right? (Spoiler alert if you don’t: badly.)
On April 8 and 9 (7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively; Sacred Heart Community Theatre, Fairfield) you’ve got a chance to change Shakespeare’s 425-year-old classic. Internationally renowned pianist — and Westport neighbor — Frederic Chiu is a Prokofiev expert. Among his most noted works: the piano suite from the composer’s “Romeo and Juliet” ballet.
Almost 30 years ago, Chiu discovered the original score. Written entirely for the piano, it contained a revised ending. The lovers do not die.
Twenty-five years later, he commissioned choreographer Sandra Shih Parks to collaborate on “Romeo & Juliet: The Choice.” The audience votes on which ending — Prokofiev’s original happy one, or the traditional dismal version — will be performed.
It debuted at Drexel University in 2018, with Chiu playing the entire ballet on piano, while dancers performed — and the enthralled audience waited for the outcome.
Now, WSHU brings it to Fairfield. Click here for tickets and more information.
Staples High School’s Zero Waste Committee is wasting zero time making an impact.
In addition to next month’s pop-up thrift shop, countering the wasteful “fast fashion” shopping trend, co-chairs Kayla Iannetta and Jenn Cirino are partnering with Sustainable Westport and ZenWTR for a Compo Beach cleanup on April 30.
This is the first time all the Zero Waste Committees from different Westport schools join together for one effort.
ZenWTR is the first beverage in the world to be certified plastic negative (meaning they remove more plastic from the environment than they produce, by investing in sustainable programs). ZenWTR is sold in the Staples High School cafeteria.
A new store — Bobbles & Lace — has opened their first Connecticut location in Bedford Square.
Lindsay Rose Rando launched the store 14 years ago in Marblehead, Massachusetts. B&L offers “modern fashion forward designs at affordable prices.” There are other outlets in Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine.
Rando says she “loves the sense of community” in Westport, and calls her Church Lane location “bright and beautiful.”
Bobbles & Lace is opoen Monday through Saturday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Bobbles & Lace, Bedford Square. (Photo courtesy of Inklings News)
Yesterday’s Roundup noted that Michael Bolton was representing Connecticut, in last night’s premiere of NBC’s “American Song Contest.” The show is a US version of the long-running Eurovision competition.
We missed the trailer — which features our neighbor touting his home state’s charms. It includes a few shots from his Westport home.
A few seats remain for this year’s Westport Library “Booked for the Evening” gala. The June 1 honoree is television producer/screenwriter/ author Shonda Rhimes — twice named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”
Earlier this month, “06880” reported on Coleytown Middle School students headed to the state Mathcounts competition.
A followup: Vikram Sarkar finished first in Connecticut. He leads the 4-person Connecticut team that will compete in the national event, in Washington. Ayush Rudra finished 9th overall.
As Staples Players directors David Roth and Kerry Long searched for a spring show that would feature plenty of actors, and engage young audiences — more important than ever, as the troupe emerges from many COVID-imposed restrictions — they did not have to look far.
Caley Beretta — a 2010 graduate and former Players president — now works as manager of creative development for Disney Theatrical Group. She worked with writer Nick Blaemire on “Disney’s Descendants: The Musical.”
The comedy features songs from the Disney Channel original “Descendants” fantasy adventure film, and its sequels. (If you don’t have a young kid: The plot lines involve the teenage children of Disney characters Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella de Vil,)
“Descendants: The Musical” came out near the beginning of the pandemic. So it did not go through the usual pilot process, in which school drama troupes try it out, then offer feedback for producers to tweak. (Staples Players has done that before, most notably with “Newsies.”)
Beretta offered the untested show to her alma mater. Players will be the first group to use live orchestrations.
It will also be the first to host a production team from Disney. They’ll see the show, complete with an audience.
Staples Players ensemble in “Did I Mention?” (Photo/Kerry Long)
But that’s not the only connection between Disney, “Descendants” and Staples.
Last week Blaemire and Beretta came to Westport. They described the creative process to Players, answered questions, watched the actors perform 2 numbers, then worked with the cast on specific scenes.
In addition, a camera crew interviewed several Players, for Disney to use in marketing.
Caley Beretta and Nick Blaemire, on the Staples stage. (Photo/Kerry Long)
Blaemire described his parallels between the fairytale storyline, and serious social themes like belonging, heritage, citizenship, and the complexities of good and evil.
Blaemire and Baretta inspired the young cast and crew, as they prepared for the opening curtain April 1. The show runs for 7 performances, the first 2 weekends in April.
“Descendants” has been fun — and challenging — for Roth, Long, choreographer Rachel MacIsaac and technical director Jeff Hauser.
“So many times, we do plays that have been done so many times before,” Roth explains. “The chance to do one that no one has seen is rare, and exciting. We are staging scenes completely on our own. That’s very energizing.”
“The Evils.” From left: Chloe Manna, Ben Herrera, Quinn Mulvey, Jayden Saenz).(Photo: Kerry Long)
Sets, dancing and stage movements are not the only things they’re figuring out. The song “Goal” takes place during a sports event — but it’s a sport that does not exist.
Roth and Long created it entirely from scratch. Then they choreographed, and fit it on the stage.
“The kids and adults are very excited,” Roth says. “We like the story line, the music, and taking iconic villains to a new level.”
Roth praises the set too, designed by professional Jordan Janota. The show moves between 2 worlds, offering a different set of challenges to the tech crew and lighting designers.
Roth and Long’s goal was to find a show that appealed to their actors, and young audiences — both of whom have missed the rhythm of regular Players shows during COVID.
Beretta delivered, big time. Walt Disney would have loved this story.
(“Disney’s Descendants: The Musical” will be performed on April 1, 2, 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m., and April 2, 3 and 9 at 3 p.m. Click here for tickets. Proof of vaccination and/or testing is not required. For the protection of the cast and crew, masks are encouraged in the auditorium.)
Staples Players ensemble in “Rotten to the Core.” (Photo/Kerry Long)
Tickets are selling fast for the 3 concerts that are part of VersoFest — the Westport Library’s inaugural music-and-media festival.
(It may also be the first of its kind for any library, anywhere in the world. You read it here first.)
VersoFest includes a range of Connecticut music: rock, low-key African pop and blues.
It all kicks off Friday, April 3 (7 p.m., $40) with Lez Zeppelin. The tribute group — called “the most powerful all-female band in rock history” by Spin Magazine, and seen, heard and endorsed by Jimmy Page — delivers Led Zeppelin’s blistering arrangements and monstrous sounds.
Lez Zeppelin, with fan Jimmy Page.
The show also includes DJ Dan Soto’s all-vinyl, mostly 45’s set of R&B, blues and British Invasion music that was Led Zeppelin’s inspiration.
On Saturday, April 9 (7 p.m., $15), Chris Frantz presents 2 emerging artists.
Enid Ze
Enid Ze is a futuristic, low-key African pop band from Bridgeport. Their debut album Better is Gold was produced by composer/ producer/gear enthusiast Chris Ruggiero.
Daniprobably is a 3-piece New Haven-based indie rock band with a pop edge. Their song lyrics range from movies and quantum mechanics to falling in love on the dance floor. Daniprobably is a featured artist on the upcoming Verso Records vinyl compilation.
(There’s also a free Verso Records vinyl compilation launch party prior to the concert, at 6 p.m. in the Trefz Forum. Featured artists will attend; album art will be revealed, and session videos and album tracks will play on Verso’s great sound system. The launch party is free to everyone who registers for VersoFest.)
The final concert is Sunday (7 p.m., $30), with Selwyn Birchwood and Drop Party.
Selwyn Birchwood (Photo/Jim Hartzell)
Selwyn is a groundbreaking blues visionary, with electrifying guitar and lap steel playing. His group is rounded out by a baritone sax, bass, drums and keyboardist. Rolling Stone calls him “a remarkable, contemporary bluesman…a powerhouse young guitarist and soulful vocalist…a major player.”
Drop Party — the opening act — is an eclectic septet that switches gears seamlessly through ska, funk, jazz, and Latin, offering great dance music in every genre.
Click here for tickets to 1, 2 or all 3 concerts. Click here for more information on all of Verso Fest.
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Caley Beretta — a 2010 graduate and former Players president — now works as manager of creative development for Disney Theatrical Group. She worked with writer Nick Blaemire on “Disney’s Descendants: The Musical.”
