In 2014, “Tunnel Vision” — Miggs Burroughs’ clever series of lenticular photos, showing Westporters connecting with each other (and each one changes, depending on your viewing angle) — turned a drab pedestrian walkway between Main Street and Parker Harding Plaza into a lively, creative tourist attraction.
“Tunnel Vision,” in the walkway between Main Street and Parker Harding Plaza
Although — 7 years later — plenty of people still don’t know it exists.
Recently, the images were refurbished and reinstalled. A small reception, including a ceremonial re-lighting, is planned soon.
Also in the works: great visibility.
Miggs and Mark Yurkiw are seeking approval to add awnings to the tunnel’s front and back entrances. They’ll be an easy way for shoppers to find the handy cut-through (and enjoy Miggs’ photos).
They’ll also be an easily identifiable shelter for people waiting for a friend or ride, in all kinds of weather.
PS: Check out the new name: “Tunnel of Love and Community (TLC).”
Rendering of the proposed tunnel awning on Main Street.
Speaking of downtown: Westporters of all ages headed there yesterday, for the first annual Riverwalk clean-up.
Sustainable Westport, Staples High School’s Zero Waste Committee and the Coleytown Elementary School PTA’s Sustainability Committee met behind Starbucks, then fanned out to remove trash from the riverfront, on both sides of the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.
They spent 3 hours, and filled 25 buckets.
The rest of Westport — and all kinds of wildlife — are grateful.
Looking for a special — and beautiful — holiday gift?
Longtime photographer Tom Kretsch has some ideas.
How about “Touching Maine,” his beautiful book of essays and images of coastal Maine? A 4″ x 4″ acryclic photo block? Or a gift certificate for one of his photos? There are plenty, taken throughout Fairfield County and beyond. Click here to see.
Email tom@peacefulplacesphoto.com for more information.
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo shows a beautiful gingko biloba tree. It’s in Ted Horowitz’s back yard on Wilton Road — but now everyone can enjoy it!
Next month marks the 10th anniversary of the murder of Kuti Zeevi.
The popular Westporter was killed during a robbery at his jewelry store, on the 2nd floor of Compo Shopping Center.
The next day, Fred Cantor — a long-time friend and player on the Late Knights, a group of local men who enjoyed the game, and socializing together afterward — remembered the Israeli-born businessman and teammate. Fred wrote:
Many years ago someone told me you can learn a lot about a person by how willing he is to pass the ball and share it with teammates. Kuti was always looking to pass to an open teammate, and it was indeed just one indication of his great generosity — both on and off the field….
Kuti Zeevi, on a trip to England with the Late Knights soccer team in 1999. He’s in the middle of the back row.
There was a boyish spirit that remained inside him — one that I thought would never succumb to old age — and that was only snuffed out by a murderer’s bullet. We will all miss Kuti’s smile, and his laugh, and his joy for the game.
Other tributes poured in. Readers remembered the care with which he selected the perfect ring for customers; his pride and delight in his family, and grief at the death of his daughter a few years earlier from leukemia; his genuine concern for everyone he met; his volunteer work as a Hebrew school teacher at Temple Israel, and his sweet gentle nature, matched only by his tenacity on the soccer field.
The other day — as the hard-to-believe 10-year mark neared — his wife Nava shared her thoughts. She wrote:
His passion for soccer was beyond words, but also his passion for his trade. He was lucky to be dealing with happy people, catering to good and happy times in their lives: engagements, weddings, newborns, anniversaries, holidays and so many more.
All his clients became his friends. He dealt with them as if he was the uncle, the father, the brother. protecting them from spending too much, saving them to build their future. He added to their event his own personal excitement, as if it was his. He was family to everyone.
Kuti Zeevi
Before his death, Kuti waited impatiently for the arrival of his grandson. Yuval is now 10 years old, and — like the grandfather he never knew — an avid soccer player.
Kuti missed him by only 4 days.
Both grandchildren — Yuval and Noga, his sister (now 8) — hear stories about their grandfather. They are very proud of him.
Neva adds, “I feel blessed to have had Kuti by my side during those wonderful years together. He gave me a reservoir of strength, love and devotion, so I can spread it around now, among my dear ones, as he would have done, had he been spared.”
The Zeevi family, and Kuti’s many customers and friends, have never forgotten him.
Neither have his teammates.
On December 12 19 — just a few days after the anniversary of his murder — they’ll gather again, to play a memorial game in his honor.
Julie Belaga — whose career took her from the Westport P&Z and RTM to the Connecticut House of Representatives, then a run for governor, teaching at Harvard, regional director of the EPA and a director of the Export-Import Bank — died peacefully on Friday, at her Westport home. She was 91, and lived here since 1965.
Julie grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts, where her father was a fish wholesaler on the Boston docks. After graduating from Syracuse University, she worked for several years as a 2nd-grade school teacher.
Then she found her true calling: politics. After a term as president of the Westport League of Women Voters, Julie served on the Planning and Zoning Commission (including a stint from 1972 to ’76 as chair), and on the Representative Town Meeting.
She was next elected as Westport’s representative to the Connecticut House . She served for 10 years, including positions of deputy majority leader and assistant minority leader. Julie achieved legislative success on a number of environmental issues. She took the lead in drafting and implementing Connecticut’s coastal management laws.
Julie Belaga
She was active in developing the state’s hazardous waste management service, and instrumental in reforming the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (now the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority), which provides recycling and waste disposal services for cities and towns. In 1985, the Hartford Courant named Julie one of the “Top 10 Legislators of the Year.”
After deciding not to seek reelection, Julie was chosen by the Republican Party as its 1986 candidate for governor. She lost to incumbent William O’Neill in the general election.
Out of politics for the first time in more than a decade, Julie served briefly as a television political commentator. She was also a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University and taught grassroots politics at the Kennedy School.
In 1989, President George H. W. Bush appointed Julie as administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency for New England. As regional administrator she oversaw a budget of over $5 million, and more than 14,000 employees.
After she left the EPA, Governor Lowell Weicker appointed her to the Connecticut Development Authority. She left that position in 1994, when she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as one of 5 directors of the US Export-Import Bank. Clinton cited Julie’s “impressive range of public and private sector experience, particularly in the area of the environment.” She was easily confirmed by the Senate, and she served on the Ex-Im Bank board through 1999.
Julie retired from government in 1999 but continued her active community engagement, serving on the boards of several environmental organizations, including the Connecticut Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound, the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters and the Audubon Society, as well as the Westport Library and the CT Mirror.
Julie was predeceased by her husband of more than 65 years, Mike. She is survived by her children Debra Belaga (Steve Stublarec) of Tiburon, California; David (Alison) Belaga of East Northport, New York, and Heather (Rob) McLean of Owings Mill, Maryland, and granddaughters Kristen Stublarec, Tracy Spencer and Lindsey Belaga.
June Rose Whittaker’s image showed the geodesic dome-like “igloos” that warm — and protect — outdoor diners at Rizzuto’s. (Click here to see.)
It’s a very visible location: Riverside Avenue, at the head of the Cribari Bridge.
It’s a popular restaurant too. No wonder so many of you quickly got it.
A “tip” (of the hat — not the wallet) to Seth Schachter, Martha Press, Janet Freedman, Lauren Schiller, Julia Broder, Barry Cass, Gloria Smithson, Nancy Engel, Janice Strizever, Andrew Colabella, Molly Alger, Fred Cantor, Karen Como, Michael Calise, Tom Risch, Pete Powell, Seth Braunstein, Phil Kann, Juliana Sloane Fulbright, Linda V. Velez, Werner Liepolt, Jo Kirsch, Shirlee Gordon, Peter Tucker, Patricia Auber, Abby Tolan and Sara Palmer.
Is this week’s Photo Challenge tougher?
You be the judge. And if you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
This season, the Westport Downtown Association will install a dozen beautiful, colorful trees throughout the area.
Each will be decorated by professional designers. Each will also be themed to a different local non-profit.
The organizations include Filling in the Blanks, Wakeman Town Farm, Westport Young Woman’s League, Westport Fire Department, Homes with Hope, Christ & Holy Trinity Church, Aware, CLASP Homes, Westport PAL, Westport Bookstore, and MoCA Westport.
The WDA asks residents to help fund trees, lights and decorations. Click here to donate via GoFundMe.
PS: Dartmouth College’s Brovertones will sing on Sunday, December 5 (6:30 p.m., Christ & Holy Trinity Church courtyard).
Two weeks after winning the FCIAC championship, they earned a co-state championship. The Wreckers and Wilton battled through 80 minutes of excellent soccer, and 30 more of overtime, before both were declared Connecticut LL (extra large schools) winners.
The defensive battle was a worthy final, between teams that knew each other well. Staples shut out the Warriors 1-0 for the league crown, after beating them by the same score in the regular season.
Congratulations to coach Barry Beattie and his staff, and a wonderful group of talented, tenacious athletes!
Staples celebrates after last week’s state semifinal win. (Photo/JC Martin)
Staples is not coach Barry Beattie’s only championship team this fall. His Westport Soccer Association U-15 Blue squad also tied for their league title. Congratulations (again) to him, and of course to his players!
Speaking (still) of sports: The Joggers Club hosts its first-ever Turkey Burn on Saturday (November 27, 8 a.m., Compo Beach).
On tap: 5K, 10K and 15K runs, along with hot coffee, treats, and finish line music. “Celebrate the holidays with your most festive running outfit,” they say.
Regular Compo Beach runs are Saturdays at 8 a.m., and Wednesday nights at the Staples High School track (6:15 p.m.).
Click here for more information, or follow on Instagram: @TheJoggersClub.ct.
“Grease” — their first full mainstage musical since the pandemic — played to 2 weeks of sold-out audiences. Choreography, music, sets, lighting — all were up to the award-winning high school troupe’s always high standards.
Congratulations to directors David Roth and Kerry Long, the cast and crew. Stay tuned for news about the spring show!
Ryan Porio leads a show-stopping “Greased Lightning.” (Photo/Kerry Long)
And finally … we have a two-fer for today in history. On this date in 1877, Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph …
… while — somewhat related — on this day in 1959, disc jockey Alan Freed — who helped popularize the term “rock ‘n’ roll” — was fired from WABC radio in New York. He was alleged to have been part of the payola scandal.
COVID has been tough on everyone. It’s especially hard on homeless men and women.
Westport has a long history of helping. An interfaith project that began nearly 40 years ago has evolved into Homes with Hope — a multi-pronged non-profit dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in Fairfield County.
They offer emergency shelter for men and women, supportive housing for individuals and families, rapid re-housing, diversion services, a community kitchen and food pantry, youth development programs and mentoring.
From the start, Westporters pitched in to help. Among the most important: donating food, and serving meals.
Westporters of all ages have volunteered at the Gillespie Center.
Food donations have continued since the pandemic began. Clubs, religious institutions and others have kept their commitments.
“I’ve never seen a community like Westport,” says Homes with Hope executive director Helen McAlinden. “Everyone wants to help. They do so much for us.”
But the Gillespie Center — the men’s shelter behind Barnes & Noble, and across from the police station — has been closed to volunteers, as a safety measure.
She knows they miss seeing the clients they cook for, and once served meals too. She hopes volunteers can return soon to Gillespie Center. In the meantime, she thanks the town for its continued support.
The Gillespie Center. (Photo/June Rose Whittaker)
However, the past 18 months have taken a toll on fundraising. Annual events like Gather Round the Table, Fashionably Westport and Summer Nights were canceled last year and this.
The Standup for Comedy event went virtual. Though successful, it did not generate the buzz — and awareness of Homes with Hope — that it does, live and in person at the Quick Center.
McAlinden worries that not enough people in town know about Homes with Hope. New residents especially may be aware that a few yards from Tiffany, one of the nation’s oldest suburban homeless shelters serves people — including Westporters — who have fallen on hard times.
She wants every resident to hear about (and see) her organization’s many programs and projects. She’ll talk about (and show) the Gillespie Center and Hoskins Place men’s and women’s shelters; Project Return/Susie’s House for young women; Powell Place and Linxweiler House, the Bacharach Community for victims of domestic abuse and their children, and after-school programs.
Project Return’s “Susie’s House,” on North Compo Road.
“We’re more than just a homeless shelter,” she adds. “We help all vulnerable people, with food and housing.”
Interested? Call McAlinden at 475-225-5292 for a tour
And keep an eye out for information on when volunteers will again be able to serve meals at Gillespie Center. The line of helpers — and recipients — will be long.
The Westport Young Woman’s League’s newest holiday fundraiser may be its sweetest one yet.
They’re selling Lyman Orchards homemade pies and cookies. Each purchase supports the WYWL grants program that funds local non-profit organizations.
Orders may be placed through Tuesday (November 23) with WYWL for a variety of pies and cookie dough, frozen fresh for delivery. They can be kept fresh in the freezer until ready to bake and serve.
Orders can be picked up at the Westport VFW (465 Riverside Avenue) on Friday and Saturday, December 17-18.
WYWL members also offer holiday gift wrapping, for a recommended donation of $5 per gift. Items can be dropped off at the VFW on those same days (December 17-18).
It sounds like a broken record: The Staples High School girls swim tam broke 4 records again.
Wednesday night’s eye-popping performances came at the class LL (extra large schools) state finals at Southern Connecticut State University. Freshman Annam Olasewere rewrote the state and LL record books in 2 freestyle races. The freshman wowed the crowd with a time of 22.67 in the 50 free, breaking the 2016 record of 23.02. She also took the 100 free in record time, with a blistering 50.14.
Staples, which placed 4th overall, also saw 2 relay teams finish first in record times. The 200 freestyle foursome of Jessica Qi, Ella Alpert, Ayaan Olasewere and Annam Oleseree broke the 25-year-old state record, with a time of 1:35.75. Qi, Alpert, Ayaan and Annam Olasewere came back to win the 400 freestyle relay in yet another state record time: 3:28.54.
Up next: the state open meet tomorrow (Sunday) in West Hartford.
Congratulations to coaches Mike Anderson, Elaine Rankowitz and Kuku Fleming. — and of course to the girls! Can you imagine what they’ll accomplish as seniors?!
Staples’ record-setting 400 meter free relay team (from left): Ella Alpert, Annam Olasewere, Ayaan Olasewere, Jessica Qi.
Speaking of swimming: Earlier this month, the Westport Weston Family YMCA’s Water Rats swim team ran a food drive. They collected 880 pounds of food — nearly half a ton — for the Bridgeport Rescue Mission. Those donations will provide 735 Thanksgiving meals.
Team members also collected $205 in cash, good for 82 more meals.
The entire Water Rats team participated, from pre-competitive swimmers to seniors.
Will Haskell is in his 2nd term as Westport’s state senator. When he was elected in 2018, he was the youngest legislator in the country.
He’s still not far removed from his Georgetown University days. He’s a proud alum — and his school is proud of him.
The other day, the school newspaper The Hoya interviewed Haskell. Click here to read his thoughts on government, politics, his college experience and more. (Hat tip: Sal Liccione)
The early bird gets the Westport Country Playhouse summer camp worm.
“Early bird pricing” is available now through December 5 for CampWCP, a social justice theater program for 20 middle school students (June 27 through July 23).
The camp “empowers young artists to activate their creative voice on issues that matter to them and turn it into something theatrical — so that they can ignite social change for their community and beyond.”
Campers explore the art of playwriting, and create and perform an original play. devise their own play. They learn acting techniques, and participate in workshops with Playhouse staff. For details and registration, click here.
And finally … music photographer Mick Rock died recently. He was 72.
Among his subjects: David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Queen, Syd Barrett, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Motley Crue, T. Rex, Blondie and Thin Lizzy. He shot the covers of albums like “Queen II,” Reed’s “Transformer” and “Coney Island Baby,” Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and the Stooges’ Raw Power.
He also directed Bowie’s music videos for “I’m Only Dancing,” “Jean Genie,” “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars.”
Click here for a full obituary. (Hat tip: Amy Schneider)
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