A beautiful sight was Staples High School’s Jinny Parker Field, where hundreds of Westporters of all ages banged out pushups for a great cause.
The 12th annual Push Against Cancer is a fundraiser for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp — the wonderful respite for kids battling life-threatening diseases. It was developed by Westport’s beloved Paul Newman.
Participants solicited pledges, in return for pushups. The top 2 teams were Staples girls soccer ($24,178) and Staples boys soccer ($23.311).
It costs $2,500 to send one youngster to the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for a week. Those 2 soccer programs alone will send 18 children there.
Add in the $140,000-plus raised by everyone else, and that’s nearly 80 boys and girls. Well done, Westport!
The Staples High School girls soccer team at the Push Against Cancer … (Photo/Charlotte Strandell)
On Saturday, friends and family of Steffi Friedman honored the Westport artist who died 2 years ago at 94, and dedicated a new work.
Her bronze “Pas de Deux” (2002) is now part of the Westport Public Art Collections. Installed for years on her Yankee Hill Road lawn, it now sits proudly in the Staples High School courtyard. The work was donated by her family, in gratitude of Westport’s cultural legacy, and Staples’ commitment to the arts.
The event was organized by Steffi’s daughter Margie — a 1972 Staples graduate — and town arts curator Kathie Bennewitz.
Performances include poetry from town poet laureate Diane Meyer Lowman, and dance by Staples alum Grace Bergonzi.
Friends and family admire Steffi Friedman’s sculpture. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
The River of Roses is one of Westport’s best fundraisers.
It’s probably the most colorful too.
The Survive-OAR program provides mental, physical and emotional healing after traditional treatment ends. It’s an empowering, supportive community for women to heal.
During next Sunday’s celebration (October 10, 4 p.m.) — honoring the Saugatuck Rowing Club’s Survive-OARS crew, plus anyone who has battling breast cancer (or is now) — names are read aloud, as rose petals are scattered into the Saugatuck River at high tide. They’re then swept out to sea.
Survive-OAR’s Kimberly Wilson will sing. There’s live music by Fake ID, plus Copp’s Island Oysters, a raw bar from Pagano’s Seafood, drinks, Chef Jason’s clam chowder and lobster bisque, and Donut Crazy treats.
Click here for tickets, donations, positivity bracelets and more. Questions? Email president and head coach Diana Kuen: diana@survive-OARS.org.
PS: Throughout October, new members can buy a one-month membership to the Saugatuck Rowing Club. 100% of the dues goes toward Survive-OARS.
Westporter Lisa Seidenberg had a letter published in yesterday’s New York Times Book Review.
It was a response to a review by Simon Winchester that mentioned the Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair, and how General Motors drove many Americans into debt with the purchase of automobiles. That was a huge expense, in the post-Depression years.
Seidenberg knows the subject well. Her 2010 documentary on the Fair — “I Have Seen the Future” — premiered in Westport, before screenings at film festivals nationwide. It included commentary by the late Westport futurist Watts Wacker.
General Motors’ Futurama, at the 1939 World’s Fair.
Congratulations to the Longshore Ladies 9 Holers. Their annual charity golf event at Longshore raised an enormous amount of food donations for the Westport Woman’s Club food closet, plus $1,175 in cash.
Longshore ladies who golf — and raise money for good causes. From left: M.J. Fusaro, Eileen Hart, Mandy Germishuys, Julie Gray.
Natalie Bandura — the daughter of Russian immigrants — entered kindergarten in Norwalk without knowing a word of English.
She learned quickly. Her parents moved to Westport, and as a Staples High School freshman she tutored Spanish-speaking elementary students in her former town. Last year, during COVID, she founded the Little Learners Club, a virtual project with another Norwalk elementary school.
Now Natalie advocates for students like those — and her Staples peers — all over the state. She is one of 2 high school members of the Connecticut Board of Education.
And although she and counterpart Rishabh Bandari of Wilton do not vote, they have voices. Their charge is to represent the perspectives of students, and show how educational decisions made by adults will impact youngsters.
Natalie Bandura in Hartford.
It’s an important role. But it’s not the only one Natalie has undertaken. The Staples senior is a member of the National Honor Society and Latin Honor Society, editor-in-chief of the school newspaper Inklings, math team captain, Link Crew mentor, creator of Masks That Matter and Top Hat tutor.
In her spare time, she is a Latin ballroom dancing competitor.
But the state Board of Education post is pretty cool. Natalie admits that when she first heard of the opportunity from assistant principal Chase Dunlap, she thought it was for the Westport Board of Ed.
She soon realized it was orders of magnitude larger. The application process included a personal statement. Natalie wrote about the discrepancies between the opportunities afforded students she knew through her Norwalk tutoring, and those she’d worked with at a Greenwich STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) camp.
She said she was used to working with schools and administrators, and mentioned another experience: attending the Youth Leader Summit last summer. (It’s usually in Singapore; because of COVID, this one was virtual.)
Natalie had 2 rounds of interviews, and another with an aide to Governor Lamont. She had a chance to meet the governor later — along with US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona (a former Connecticut Commissioner of Education), and Congresswoman Jahana Hayes.
Her first Board of Education meeting this month was a heady experience. She had an ID badge and a parking spot; in front of her seat was a microphone.
Natalie and Rishabh took the initiative to introduce themselves to other members, and ask about their backgrounds and goals.
Once the meeting began, Natalie spoke up about COVID contact tracing. She noted that although it works in classrooms, it breaks down in school cafeterias. She also jumped into a discussion about school funding and the learning gap, and diversity issues.
Other members thanked the two student representatives for their insights. “They want us to be vocal,” Natalie notes.
She knows the importance of using her voice to represent all Connecticut students. She knows too that Staples High School is different from most schools. She feels fortunate that living in Norwalk, and tutoring there, has given her different perspectives.
As a kindergartner who did not speak English, Natalie could never have imagined sitting on a statewide body.
But now that she’s there, the youngest member of the state Board of Education says, she’s eager to talk.
There are few things more iconic in Westport than the Black Duck.
So when last week’s Photo Challenge showed hand-painted directional signs to 2 islands (Cockenoe and Long), and equally watery Key West, many “06880” knew where they can be found: the right side of our favorite dive bar. (Hey, that’s not me: Back in 2009, the Duck was a star attraction on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives“).
Elaine Marino, Derek Fuchs, Michael Calise, Robert Mitchell, Werner Liepolt, Tony Sousa, Andrew Colabella, Bobbie Herman, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Juliana Sloane Fulbright and Seth Braunstein are all (presumably) regulars, who nailed Seth Schachter’s photo as easily as they navigate the old barge’s sloping floor. (Click here for the image.)
This week’s Photo Challenge is also water-related. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
Yesterday, “06880” reported that Adam Goldberg’s pop-up bagel store — the one behind Cycle Dynamics that draws dozens of devoted customers every Saturday — was entering the Brooklyn Bagelfest contest.
Sure, Westporters love them. But — as the only out-of-state entrant in the bunch — Adam was sure that others had a home borough advantage.
Well whaddayouknow: The boys from the ‘burbs won it all!
Congratulations to Adam. Now all of New York knows whose bagels are the best.
“At the Y this morning, we were shocked to see a very big wild cat walk by on the paved path outside the fitness center. This is an area used frequently by children and adults. I called 911 because in my experience, coming from California, large wild cats are dangerous. They should not be seen in urban areas alongside humans, as this indicates a lack of fear or illness that is even more dangerous.
The big cat.
Animal control assistant Peter Reid responded by email. He wrote:
“That is a decent-sized bobcat, and he is certainly walking around like he owns the place!
“That YMCA property used to be a summer camp, and was mostly woods. Now they have developed almost all of it, and with reduced cover, animal sightings have increased. We had a bear move through that property on several occasions this past summer.
“I will talk to the YMCA about some signage. I know there was at least one previous sighting earlier this week.
To celebrate, Westport Pride is sponsoring a virtual panel discussion. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. that day, an “A team” of LGBTQ area residents will answer “When did you know?” They’ll tell their own personal stories of self-realization, acceptance and coming out.
Panelists include
John Dodig, former Staples High School principal
Zac Mathias, Weston High School senior and media influencer
Samantha Webster, Staples High graduate and former Staples Player
Luke Foreman, Staples grad and varsity tennis captain
Jen DeLoyd and Bethany Eppner, Westport parents
Kayla Iannetta, Staples teacher and founder of the Westport Public Schools’ Pride Coalition
Brian McGunagle, Westport parent and founder of Westport Pride.
Halloween is all about dressing up. And what better place for a costume than the Westport Country Playhouse.
On the day before the holiday — October 30, noon to 4 p.m. — the historic theater hosts an outdoor family event. On tap: activities for kids, food trucks, a food drive for the community, beer tasting, scavenger hunt, raffle, and a costume parade (dogs welcome!).
One of last month’s Photo Challenges showed “Onyx Perpetual” — the sculpture by Sally Mttikow that stands near the Riverwalk downtown. It’s part of the Westport Public Art Collections.
It was also — as JC Martin’s image showed — overgrown with weeds and brush.
That’s been removed. Passersby can see the artwork as originally intended.
Except for one thing. As Werner Liepolt noted, it is now heavily damaged.
Westport’s arts scene has a long, vibrant history.
Okay, to be honest: It’s a long, vibrant, white history.
The men and women who — from the early 1900s on — made our town a magnet for illustrators, painters, sculptors and others were (like the rest of the town) largely Caucasian.
But our town’s heritage includes important contributions from (and exploitation of) people of color. The arts today must reflect more than one perspective.
In the alley between Main Street and Bedford Square are floodgates no longer in use. David Waldman — the developer of the mixed-use center between Main Street and Church Lane — asked the WAAC how the gates could look more attractive.
The arts organization commissioned 5 artists to turn them into a history of our town: Westporters Eric Chiang, Jana Irejo and Rebecca Ross, Norwalk’s Hernan Garcia and Iyaba Mandingo of Bridgeport.
At 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 16, the WAAC will unveil their 5 paintings at the Main Street entrance to the Bedford Square courtyard. The works include early life among Native Americans, and Black life and culture here.
A “concept slide” of what the floodgate art might look like. These are not the finished pieces.
A professor at North Carolina State University College of Art and Design, and a noted collagist whose colorful, culturally symbolic work incorporates themes from his extensive travels to Ghana, he’s no stranger to Westport.
In 1964 he came to Westport through an American Friends Service program that brought 35 Southern students to the North to promote integration. Joyner lived with the Ader family.
After graduating from Staples High School he headed to Iowa State University on a football scholarship, transferred to North Carolina A&T, then earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
Joyner’s, and other newly acquired art, will be part of the WPAC’s first-ever public showing of dozens of works at MoCA Westport. The event opens January 28, and runs through March 13.
Charles Joyner’s mixed media work “Village @ Ntoso” has been acquired by the Westport Public Art Collections.
The Texas Legislature’s vote banning nearly all forms of abortion unleashed protests across the country.
There were several in Westport last month. This afternoon they continued at the town’s favored political meeting place: the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge downtown.
Forget Snapchat and TikTok. Go away, SAT tutors. No need to worry about COVID or climate change.
Last night, dozens of Staples High School students enjoyed a good old-fashioned dance-a-thon.
The dance-a-thon begins.
The back-to-the-’50s kids were Staples Players. From 8 p.m. till midnight, they filled the main courtyard for a fundraiser. Actors and tech crew solicited pledges, for each hour they danced.
And this was real dancing. No grinding allowed.
Highlights included the male ensemble performing “Greased Lightning” — twice. The DJ loved it so much, he wants tickets to the next show.
Which is, of course, “Grease.”
After 18 months away from a full mainstage production, Players enjoyed getting together to dance. They also hoped to raise $40,000, to cover the cost of sets, costumes and much more. With canceled shows — and limited audiences looming due to the Delta variant — the dance-a-thon was crucial. (Donations are still being accepted; click here.)
Show dates are November 12, 13, 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m., and November 14 and 20 at 3 p.m. Tickets go on sale October 23 at www.StaplesPlayers.com. For more details, follow Players on Facebook and Instagram.
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Once the meeting began, Natalie spoke up about COVID contact tracing. She noted that although it works in classrooms, it breaks down in school cafeterias. She also jumped into a discussion about school funding and the learning gap, and diversity issues.
