Westporters know a blizzard is coming. A few minutes ago, the line at Trader Joe’s wound all the way to the milk and orange juice cases on one side, and nearly to the bananas on the other.
The parking lot — and entrance from the Post Road — was crazier than ever. That’s saying something.
Trader Joe’s, noon today. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Meanwhile, the Westport Office of Emergency Management says:
We are closely monitoring a major coastal storm expected to impact the area from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon. The National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Warning for coastal Connecticut.
Residents should prepare for dangerous conditions, including heavy snow, strong winds, coastal flooding, and power outages.
Expected Conditions
Heavy Snow: 13 to 18 inches are likely. Snowfall rates may exceed 2 inches per hour Sunday night.
High Winds: North/northeast winds of 30 to 35 miles per hour, with gusts up to 55.
Coastal Flooding: Widespread moderate coastal flooding is possible during Sunday night and Monday morning high tides. Inundation of 1.5 to 2.5 feet above ground level may occur in vulnerable low-lying areas.
Power Outages: Heavy, wet snow combined with strong winds may result in downed tree limbs and power interruptions.
Required Actions for Residents
Stay Off the Roads: Travel will become dangerous and may be impossible during peak storm conditions. Keep roadways clear for emergency vehicles and snow removal operations.
Parking Advisory: The Department of Public Works strongly urges residents to remove vehicles from roadways prior to the onset of snowfall. If vehicles cannot be fully removed, residents should follow alternate side parking based on the calendar date (odd/even schedule). Clearing streets is critical to allow plows to operate effectively and to ensure emergency access.
Protect Property: Move vehicles from flood-prone and low-lying waterfront areas where coastal flooding may occur.
Prepare for Outages: Fully charge electronic devices and ensure flashlights and extra batteries are readily available.
Check on Neighbors: Monitor elderly or vulnerable neighbors who may require assistance during the storm.
Report Emergencies: Call 911 for life-safety emergencies. Report power outages directly to Eversource (800-286-2000).
The Department of Public Works anticipates a prolonged event lasting approximately 36 hours, and will have crews on station beginning at midnight to support continuous snow removal operations. Residents should not expect sidewalks to be fully cleared until well after the storm concludes, particularly if snowfall accumulations reach projected levels.
The Westport Fire Department remains fully staffed and prepared to respond to all emergencies. Residents should complete storm preparations by Saturday evening, and remain indoors during peak storm conditions.
The town has released the bid document for a new food and beverage concessionaire at Compo Beach and Longshore.
Parks & Recreation Department director Erik Barbieri tells “06880” that he will visit all applicants, to see how they operate their current businesses.
His hope is for the new concessionaire to be ready to operate this summer. If not, interim arrangements will be made for food and beverage services.
It’s a time for “reflection, self-love, and ending relationships that are no longer working.” (That’s what Google says, anyway.)
Sustainable Westport knows a thing or two about breaking up, too.
They’ve rolled out a community-wide initiative to reduce the town’s use of plastics — especially single-use — and expand public water-filling stations.
As part of the “Un-Plastic” movement, they’ve begun a social media campaign to help Westporters “break up” with the synthetic material.
It’s pretty clever. You may recognize several neighbors in the video (click here or below). It’s also available on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Parents: Want to know more about “Today’s Weed and Teen Mental Health”?
That’s the title of a session led by Dr. Amy Swift, who oversees in-patient services at Silver Hill Hospital. The event is co-sponsored by Positive Directions and the Mid-Fairfield Youth Cannabis Prevention Project.
It’s this Wednesday (February 25, 7 p.m.), with both in-person (New Canaan High School) and virtual options. Click here for more information.
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After weeks of sold-out houses, standing ovations and enthusiastic word-of-mouth, this is the final weekend for the Westport Community Theatre production of “Looped.”
Performances are set for today (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.) and tomorrow (Sunday, 2 p.m.), in the lower level of Town Hall.
The play is set during a 1965 recording session, where Tallulah Bankhead must re-record (“loop”) a single line of dialogue for a film. What should take minutes stretches into hours as the star clashes with the weary film editor and practical studio manager.
Sharp wit gives way to honesty, revealing the vulnerability beneath the bravado while turning a hilarious backstage story into something unexpectedly moving.
We always showcase a variety of artists in our Saturday online art gallery.
They always span an impressive spread of mediums, styles and subjects.
But this week’s offers the widest range of ages. We’ve got a first-time submission from a 4th grader — and another first-time offering from a 97-year-old.
Can we ever beat that?
Hey: We can try! As always, we invite you to be part of next week’s exhibition. No matter your age; the style or subject you choose — and whether you’re a first-timer or old-timer — we welcome your submissions. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, mixed media, digital, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.
Just email a JPG to 06880blog@gmail.com. And please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.
“Mill Pond Foggy Foggy Night” (Michael Chait — Available for purchase; click here)
“Hey There From Emilia-Romagna, Italy” — digitally painted original photograph (Michael Tomashefsky — Available for purchase; click here)
“Running in the Rain” (Salit Kulla)
“Charleston, SC” (Tom Doran — Available for purchase; click here)
“Bitter End Knots” — Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda (Nancy Breakstone — Available for purchase; click here)
“Flowers Peeking Through the Ice” — 21 x 21 oil and acrylic on aluminum (Dorothy Robertshaw — Available for purchase; click here)
“Spring Forward” — acrylic and resin (Patricia McMahon — Available for purchase; click here)
“Gold Wave, $5 an Ounce” — Dutch-pour technique on canvas (Eric Bosch)
“Seeing Spots” (Allison Arth, grade 4, One River Art student)
“Shadows of my Former Self (Officer, Golfer, Pickleballer” — triptych photo (Tom Lowrie, age 97)
Photographer Mike Hibbard says, Earthquake hits Kathmandu City. Millions of pieces in this puzzle. AI can help rebuild the temple.”
“A Type Setter’s Nightmare” — watercolor and pencil (Steve Stein)
“Lion Around” (Martin Ripchick — Available for purchase; click here)
“What’s it All About?” (Lawrence Weisman)
“Allison” — pencil on paper (Bill Fellah)
“Jan. 6th” (Mark Yurkiw — Available for purchase; click here)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
Peter Tauck is a lifelong Westporter. He has lived in the Old Mill Beach neighborhood for decades. He and his children are frequent customers of Old Mill Grocery & Deli. and its predecessors. (His kids’ photos were among the dozens that the owners of Elvira’s kept under glass at the front counter.)
Now retired, Peter is a former CEO and board member of Tauck, the family-owned worldwide travel business. He is still part owner of the company.
Arthur was a humble but committed steward of Westport history, culture and traditions. He never fought majority sentiment for personal victory or gain.
He always supported the little guy, the underdog. Old Mill Grocery would have been just the type of place he supported.
Old Mill Grocery: a community hub.
He would have enjoyed the picnic tables as he valued human connection and storytelling, as an enabler of a healthy community. As I reflect now, my motivation to support the store for over 20 years came from lessons I learned from my dad.
When Nick and Stacey first took over the store, they were all smiles — yet struggling. There was a rotted picnic table outside, supported by cinder blocks.
I arranged to have a new table and umbrella delivered in the night. No one ever knew where it came from, until now.
I remember thinking “that’s how dad would have done it.” It felt good. Reading how the picnic tables have become such an issue is difficult for me.
Picnic tables at Old Mill Grocery. (Photo/Dave Dellinger)
I have supported Soundview Empowerment Alliance, both in the purchase of the store and their ongoing legal battles with a group that has included a family member. While I respect the group’s right to their opinion and voice, I want to be clear that to my knowledge, no other family member actively supports the actions taken against the store. In addition, our business is in no way involved in any of these efforts.
I hope that the supporters of OMG continue in their resolve to keep it viable and vibrant. As a neighbor, and someone whose 4 children so enjoyed the store in their youth, I will continue to stand with the supporters.
Respectfully,
Peter Tauck
(“06880″‘s Opinion pages are open to all. Please send submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com.)
Werner Liepolt lives in the Bridge Street Historic District.
He has watched with interest as the District has become part of the discussion around the future of the Cribari Bridge. He writes:
Myth 1: “Historic district status means nothing can be changed.”
Fact: National Register listing does not stop projects. It simply requires that federally involved projects evaluate impacts on historic character and consider alternatives before decisions are finalized.
Myth 2: “This is just one neighborhood trying to protect itself.”
Fact: Federal law requires special review when a project may affect a recognized historic district. The issue isn’t favoritism — it’s whether required federal review standards are being followed properly.
Myth 3: “Historic protections only apply to buildings, not traffic.”
Fact: Under federal review (NEPA and Section 106), agencies must consider indirect effects — including traffic patterns, noise, vibration, and setting — if they could affect a historic district’s character.
Historic District: The 1886 Orlando Allen House, at 24 Bridge Street.
Myth 4: “The bridge is old, so replacement is inevitable.”
Fact: Federal law requires agencies to evaluate a reasonable range of alternatives, including rehabilitation, before deciding on replacement — especially for historic resources.
Fact: Safety improvements can absolutely happen. The requirement is simply that agencies evaluate options carefully and transparently before selecting an approach.
Myth 6: “If traffic is a problem everywhere, the historic district shouldn’t matter.”
Fact: Many areas face traffic concerns, but federally recognized historic districts trigger specific legal review requirements that don’t apply in the same way elsewhere.
18 Bridge Street
Myth 7: “This is about stopping progress.”
Fact: The goal is not to stop change, but to ensure that decisions are made with full information and proper public process, as required under federal law.
Myth 8: “Bridge Street National District is no different than other neighborhoods.”
Fact: It has been recognized nationally, and what happens fall under federal regulations.
(“06880” Opinion pages are open to all. Email submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com)
But 3 years earlier — on April 12, 1961 — another iconic activist spoke at the same synagogue.
During Black History Month, we recall James Baldwin’s lecture. This information comes from a story on the writer’s Connecticut decade (1954-63) by Andrew Lopez, a research support Librarian at Connecticut College. He writes:
The public lecture on the “Negro mood” was organized by Marjorie Koster Beinfield and other members of the synagogue’s social action committee.
James Baldwin, in his Connecticut days.
Marjorie and her husband, Malcolm Beinfield, were involved in many causes promoting equal rights and social justice in the early 1960s.
Their daughter, Harriet Beinfield, was 14 years old at the time and remembers Baldwin’s talk, and asking him how he tolerated white people.
She recalls with admiration his generosity in responding to her.
Malcolm Beinfield, a longtime Westport physician and surgeon, had done his medical residency at Harlem Hospital in the 1940s – the same hospital where Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924.
Lopez also notes that Baldwin wrote much of his historic essays “The Fire Next Time” at the home of his agent, Robert Park Mills, in Norwalk.
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
The Beinfield family, not long before James Baldwin’s Westport visit.
MoCA\CT is much more than an art museum and education center.
There’s a strong music component too. The Newtown Turnpike institutions hosts everything from solo performers to the Heida Hermanns International piano and voice competitions.
Art and music are on display in a big way at their next show. “Art, Jazz + the Blues” opens Thursday (February 26, 6 p.m.).
A collaboration with the Westport Public Art Collections combines forceful visual art with pulsating African American musical traditions.
The centerpiece is legendary Westport artist (and folk musician) Eric von Schmidt’s “Giants of the Blues” series. His monumental portraits of blues and jazz artists — hanging most recently in the Staples High School auditorium lobby — will be shown alongside works by Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold, Sam Gilliam, Robert Rauschenberg, Jack Whitten and others.
The opening reception features live music by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and WPKN host Mark Naftalin — the Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s original keyboard player. Click here for reception tickets.
To set the tone, curators Anne Boberski and Ive Covaci have created intriguing playlists inspired by legends like John Lee Hooker, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters and more. Click to listen, on Spotify (Art, Jazz + the Blues) and YouTube (“Giants of the Blues” and “Art, Jazz + the Blues“).
“Blues Piano Players” — one of the 7 works by Eric von Schmidt that make up “Birth of the Blues.”
After a national search, the Pequot Library has a new executive director.
The Southport institution found him right next door, in Westport.
Peter Van Heerden takes the helm on February 26. He has spent much of his professional career in the area.
A 16-year resident, he served as executive director of the Westport Arts Center from 2011 to 2015, then filled the same role at Fairfield University’s Quick Center for nearly 10 years. Since 2024, he has been CEO of Activate: Arts 7 Culture.
In his spare time, Van Heerden has been an assistant coach for Staples’ girls water polo and boys swim teams.
He is married to Renee Plato, CEO of Westport-based MD Solar Sciences. Their 2 sons attend Fairfield University; their daughter is at Coleytown Middle School.
Speaking of libraries: Eiren Caffall — author of “All the Water in the World,” this year’s WestportREADS selection — gave the keynote address for the annual Westport program yesterday.
She was in conversation with Catherine Shen, host of CT Public’s “Where We Live.”
Eiren Caffall (right) and Catherine Shen. (Photo/Susan Garment)
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During Prohibition, Westport had a thriving speakeasy culture.
On March 13 (7:30 p.m.), it’s back.
The Suzuki Music School hosts a Connecticut Guitar Festival fundraiser — the “Speakeasy Jazz Club” — with guest artists Vinny Raniolo and Adrien Chevalier, plus “charity” gambling (craps, roulette, blackjack, and Texas hold ’em).
Tickets are $45; they include music, food and drink, and “gambling to give” chips. Click here to purchase.(Hat tip: Sal Liccione)
Dozens of students take German 1, 2 and 3 Honors, 2 and 3A and Advanced Placement, and study through the University of Connecticut Early College Experience.
Twice, Staples teams won the UConn ECE German Quiz Bowl.
What can they do with their language skills?
Staples German teacher Liuba Ulianova reports that on Tuesday, there was a hearing in Hartford about the establishment of an official German Trade Commission in Connecticut.
With 220 German companies in Connecticut — including Deutsche Bank in Greenwich and Boehringer Ingelheim in Ridgefield — and nearly 900 in New England, the initiative could open significant opportunities for our students, particularly for internships and future employment.
Importantly, she notes, students do not need to be fully fluent. Cultural awareness and foundational language skills are highly valued.
Danke schön!
In 2024, Staples students celebrated German Day at the University of Connecticut.
My law partners and I have been reviewing the trial court decision carefully. We continue to disagree with the trial court’s analysis. The trial court sustained the appeal by the neighbors, thus voiding the text changes, and specifically ordered OMG to cease any activities inconsistent with the lawful preexisting use, including the sale of alcohol.
At this point I need to confer with the Planning & Zoning Commission, First Selectman Christie, and counsel for OMG to review our options. I will have more information in a few days. To answer your question regarding the other 2 properties (Gruel Britannia and The Country Store on Wilton Road), yes, they are also directly impacted by the court decision.
Bloom added:
Appeals in land use cases are not automatic. A party desiring to appeal a trial court decision must file a Petition for Certification to the Appellate Court, which is a request to the Appellate Court to take the case on appeal.
The petition must state the grounds. It is then discretionary with the Appellate Court. Any party has 20 days from the trial court decision to file a petition.
As part of its ongoing study of the Cribari Bridge rehabilitation/replacement project, the state Department of Transportation has released a detailed Environmental Assessment and Evaluation.
The 160-page document offers details of the current bridge, including history, traffic, functional issues, and controversy over its future.
The bulk of the report covers “environment and environmental consequences,” spanning property acquisition, socioeconomics, traffic, public safety, visual and aesthetics, cultural resources, water quality, navigable waters, wetlands, floodplains and coastal resources.
Five alternatives are mentioned throughout:
No build
Conservation
Rehabilitation
Replacement on-alignment
Replacement off-alignment.
DOT consistently offers “replacement on-alignment” — the same alignment as the existing structure — as its preferred alternative.
Cribari Bridge, as shown in DOT Environmental report …
… and an aerial view, from the same document.
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