This week, we have not one but two submissions titled “Last Days of Summer.”
Great minds — and great artists — think alike.
At the same time of course, both are very different.
That’s the magic of our weekly online art gallery.
So no matter how young (or old) you are; what 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.
Please email a JPG to 06880blog@gmail.com. And please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.
“Woman in a Hallway” — digital creation (Tom Doran — Available for purchase; click here)
“A Laughing Gull Staking His Claim Behind Overton’s” — watercolor (Kathleen Burke — Available for purchase; click here)
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for purchase; click here)
Homemade bracelets (Amy Schneider)
“A Slice of Time” (Jerry, Kuyper, Shirlee Gordon) — Materials: Rock balanced on a 3″ slab of a 4’ wide trunk from a 100-year-old oak tree, balanced on a moss-covered trunk removed because of storm damage.
Every April, VersoFest brings music of all kinds to the Westport Library.
Every October, StoryFest does the same for storytelling.
Next month, the 8th annual literary festival — one of the biggest in the Northeast, drawing scores of authors and hundreds of readers, writers, and fans in a celebration of the story in all its forms — adds a musical storytelling element.
On October 17 (6:30 p.m.), a special screening of the documentary “Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues” will be followed by a concert featuring songs from the film.
Legendary bluesman James Montgomery produced the film. His legendary James Montgomery Blues Band performs the post-film concert.
They’ll be joined by Saturday Night Live “Beehive Queen” Christine Ohlman, saxophonist Crispin Cioe (a Westport resident who has played with the Rolling Stones and J Geils Band), and other special guests.
James Montgomery, Christine Ohlman, Crispin Cioe, Julian Brave Noisecat and Shonda Rhimes are the latest in a long line of high-powered StoryFest participants.
They include R.L. Stine; Roxane Gay, Michael Lewis, Mitch Albom, Nic Stone, Tiffany Jackson, Sheila Nevins and Victoria Kann.
Cotton’s life tracks American history from the post-Depression cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta to Chicago, and on to today’s live music scene in Austin.
In between are tours with Janis Joplin and Paul Butterfield, and sessions with the Stones, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Steve Miller, B.B. King and many more.
James Montgomery
“Blues music was really a music of empowerment,” says Montgomery. “Cotton is one of the first guys to say, ‘I’m not going to play just 12 bar blues anymore. I’m going to play soul music.’”
Ohlman adds, “The blues was perhaps America’s first storytelling genre.”
Lead singer, harp player and frontman Montgomery has collaborated with Johnny Winter, Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Tyler and B.B. King. He has toured with the Allman Brothers , Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, J. Geils, Steve Miller and others.
(“06880” is your hyper-local source for all your entertainment and educational needs. If you enjoy our coverage of all this — and more — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
The death of Robert Redford earlier this week reminded many Westporters of his long friendship with fellow actor Paul Newman.
Many residents recalled encounter with the pair here, at hangouts like the Ship’s Lantern bar and Tavern on Main restaurant.
But Newman entertained at least one other superstar, as these undated photos posted to social media by Christopher Maroc show.
Paul Newman, in the backyard of his North Avenue home, with Tom Cruise …
… and in the nearby Aspetuck River.
(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!)
More wood: Westport’s Tree Board is ready to welcome October.
Or, as they call it, “Oaktober.”
Their annual celebration by that name is set for Saturday, O(ak)ctober 11, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Jesup Green.
They’ll hand out oak tubelings. Kids can get their faces painted, paint pumpkins, and meet some Earthplace creatures. Halloween costumes are welcome.
The event is sponsored by the Westport Book Shop and Earthplace.
Oaktober, 2024: Tree Board members Dick Stein (left) and Ed Picard.
=================================================
Cancer has touched Ella Cohen and Charlotte Booth’s families.
But the Staples High School seniors don’t sit around and mourn.
They created Cuddles for Courage. The mission is to bring comfort and joy to children fighting cancer — one cuddle at a time.
Last year they sponsored a holiday toy drive, collecting gifts for children at Yale New Haven Hospital.
This summer they became a nonprofit.
Now Cuddles for Courage is an official Staples club. They just launched Courage Kits: care packages for kids undergoing cancer treatment.
Each kit includes books and activities, to make treatment days a little easier. They’ll be donated through the club’s new partnership with CT Children’s in Westport.
This winter there will be another toy drive for Yale New Haven Hospital.
Ella and Charlotte invite interested Westporters to follow them on Instagram
(@cuddles.for.courage), and visit cuddlesforcourage.org to get involved.
Wreathing for Community — an initiative of Westport resident Faith Sargent — transforms donated faux florals into handcrafted wreaths and gifts for neighbors, local organizations and community projects.
This year, Faith leads a special effort to create and deliver 50 winter wreaths — one for every front door at Open Doors Shelter’s affordable housing units in Norwalk. Delivery is the first week of December.
Neighbors & Newcomers of Westport will generously sponsor 20 wreaths. But more support is needed to reach the goal of 50.
Residents can get involved in several ways:
Join a Wreath-Making Day at Faith’s home (late October/early November).
Donate a 16-18″ wreath base (grapevine or green pine, available at Amazon, Michael’s or Hobby Lobby).
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport gets ready for the Jewish High Holidays with a guest preacher.
And a baritone singer.
Rev. Ana Levy-Lyons leads this Sunday’s service (September 21, 10 a.m.)., with a sermon titled “Forgiveness is Divine.” Spencer Reichman is the musical guest.
Currently a rabbinical student in the Jewish Renewal movement, Rev. Levy-Lyons is UU minister. She has served UU congregations for almost 20 years, including 12 as senior minister of First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn.
Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal, non-dogmatic religious community open to people of all backgrounds and beliefs.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport chalice. (Photo/David Vita)
Also this Sunday: Rev. Dr. Steven Savides leads his first service as Saugatuck Congregational Church’s new settled minister. The special day (September 21) begins at 10 a.m.
Pastor Steven is also an educator and former journalist. He has served UCC congregations in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Ohio.
He earned a Ph.D. in peace studies and theology from Notre Dame University, and a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School. He was ordained in 2006.
Westport resident Grant Patrick died September 14, of cardiac arrest. He was 70 years old.
The Pittsburgh native graduated from Amherst College, and earned an MBA from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs.
His career in finance included roles at Paine Webber, Whitehead Mann, Citigroup and Napier Park Global Capital, where he worked until his retirement in March.
For over 45 years Grant was a member of the University Glee Club of New York City. He never missed a performance or a post-rehearsal gathering.
His family says, “Grant had no time for pretense, didn’t care much for material things, and never took himself too seriously. He was defined by an uncommon ability to find happiness in life’s quiet corners: tending his garden, making chutney and giving it away, chopping wood, walking his dog Stella, and sitting at Compo Beach with family and friends, debating the topics of the day with his baseball cap pulled low. Perhaps most emphatically, Grant was a man who believed in doing the right thing, even when no one was watching.”
He is survived by his wife Susan Terry, his sons Morgan and Will, and his siblings George and Nancy. A memorial service will be held for family and friends at Christ & Holy Trinity Church on October 4, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Grant’s honor to Music on the Hill CT.
And finally … the porcelain berries above remind us of our favorite Berry:
(You never can tell what you’ll find on “06880.” But that’s part of the fun. If you enjoy our daily Roundups — or anything else in this hyper-local blog — please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
Alert — and concerned — “06880” reader Lynn Flint writes:
This is a very important issue. It merits deeper and more considerate thought than a quick vote at 1 in the morning.
The poor Saugatuck River has a huge dump from the YMCA now, above the dam by the Merritt Parkway.
That’s okay. because it sits and settles in the deep Lees Pond. There are residences below the dam, and Canal Park too.
Bucolic Lees Pond. (Photo/Doug Steinberg)
It may and probably should have city sewer. But our town sewer system is recycled wastewater which goes into the Saugatuck under the I-95 bridge, once treated.
We had problems with feces from Black Duck floating in the river.
Sewage needs to sit in septic tanks or sewage treatment plants to become safely organic. It needs to rest while the microbes in the waste die off.
COVID testing was done in waste removal systems, where microbes in the expelled urine and solid matter could be detected. We also know that drugs (prescribed and on the street) appear in wastewater, and affect living marine organisms.
If nearby Long Island Sound, which the Saugatuck empties into, is the oyster capital of the East — partly because it thrives on the nutrients of organic waste from our communities, and partly through the careful seafood farming management practiced by local fishermen — shouldn’t we be careful that that organic waste is not contagious or toxic?
Long Island Sound oyster boat. (Photo/Gene Borio)
Think about it: Where have all the bluefish gone? Why don’t those planks of winter birds come and float in the mouth of the Saugatuck until it gets warmer up north again for them?
What about the recently observed hundreds of porpoises beating their way up Long Island Sound on a mission looking for new habitats and food sources, as the water warms nicely for them?
As the water warms, doesn’t it become more susceptible to new plant growth and new species from the south? Is it good to add on top of all that more human waste, which may not be fully broken down yet because of its sheer quantity?
These are all things to think about — things that may yield a brilliant solution to the kinds of problems that are appearing all over Earth right now.
Why don’t we be the vanguard in the solution by bringing together all of our best minds and ideas — including our kids. Get Staples students to work on this problem.
Combined with AI, you’ll hve Einstein.
Lynn adds:
While we’re at it, let’s fix the delta of the Saugatuck. It’s all silted up now, challenging our channel which is not deep enough for big sailboats.
The mouth of Saugatuck River looks beautiful. But it’s silted up. (Photo/John Kantor)
We can guild a breakwater out of stone between the low mud tide flats and the channel near the straits, where Cedar Point and Compo Yacht Basin come into the river.
The mud flats will become dry land slowly, extremely fertile like the flower fields of Holland. That would make a fabulous community garden, on the lap of the Longshore Inn with its weddings and delicious patio dining restaurant.
Wouldn’t that be beautiful? It would be easier than dredging, and more effective. Water runs faster through a narrow passage. I think a breakwater like a dyke on just the Longshore side would probably do the trick.
There are many masons around who remember how to construct stone walls in water. It has to do with marine concrete, which has a special element that makes it stronger the longer it sits in salt water. The ancient Romans knew how to build port structures and bridges that involve salt water.
These structures become stronger over time. We marvel at them when we tour ancient ruins.
(“06880” often covers environmental issues — and much more. If you appreciate stories like this — and much more — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Our “Historic Homes of 06880” tour returns for a third great year!
Save the date: Sunday, November 2 (1 to 4 p.m.).
Once again, we’ll open 4 beautiful — and very different — homes to the public. You’ll see loving restorations, creative touches, and some very cool surprises.
Once again, we’re working with KMS Team at Compass to present this fun (and very popular) event.
The 4 homes will be revealed soon. See you November 2!
This Cross Highway barn was part of our 2023 “Historic Homes of 06880” tour. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Want to help shape the future of Westport’s parks?
As part of the Parks Master Plan process, the Parks & Recreation Department hosts a public workshop on September 30 (6 p.m., Westport Library). All community members are invited. It will be run by the town’s consultants, BL Companies.
The Town’s consultant, BL Companies, will provide residents with the opportunity to engage directly with the consultants, share feedback, and learn more about the planning process.
If you’re between the ages of 6 and 18, and you play music — or want to — or you’re the parent of someone who does, check out the Music Collective’s open house this weekend (September 20-21, 3 to 6 p.m.; 1572 Post Road East).
The Collective (formerly the Gig Center) looks forward to showing off its space. Instructors will be there, attendees can try out some instruments. Or sing into a mic.
Jim Savage plays boogie-woogie piano on Saturday (September 20, 6-9 p.m.).
And a Veterans Benefits Luncheon is set for September 25 (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.). It’s open to all veterans as part of an ongoing effort to check in on all veterans’ welfare, and connect them with the benefits and support they earned.
Representatives will answer questions, and provide information on services and assistance available to veterans.
RSVPs are encouraged (but not required). Email vfw399ct@gmail.com, and include the number of attendees, or call (203) 227-6796.
PS: If you’re not a veteran, but know one: Please pass the word!
Mark Shanahan has earned standing ovations as the Westport Country Playhouse artistic director.
But he works his magic away from the local stage too.
Shanahan is the writer and director of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp’s annual Fandango Benefit Gala. It’s this Saturday night, at the Ashford camp in northeastern Connecticut. Shanahan took over the role from the Playhouse’s Anne Keefe, several years ago.
The Playhouse is a strong supporter of the event.
The camp — which creates joy and community for seriously ill children and their families — shares a long bond with the WCP.
Westporters Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward supported both institutions generously. Many Playhouse staff members volunteer at Hole in the Wall throughout the year.
The Playhouse also raises funds for the Camp every December, through audience donations at “A Sherlock Carol.”
Club203 kicked off the 2025-26 year in style Tuesday, at Weston’s Lachat Farm.
Members of Westport’s social club for adults with disabilities kicked up their heels, danced with Marca, and enjoyed great food catered by Carmine Cenatiempo of Calise’s Deli.
MOCA offered art projects, Skip’s Good Humor ice cream added dessert, and the volunteers helped everyone make the most of the great Lachat setting.
Art by MoCA, at Club203. (Photo/Stacie Curran)
=================================================
Heating season (and heating bills) are near.
Fortunately, beginning October 1 income-eligible Westport residents can apply for the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program.
Those who previously qualified for assistance through Westport’s Department of Human Services will receive application instructions in the mail. Residents wishing to apply for the first time should call 203-341-1050 or email humansrv@westportct.gov.
To qualify, household income must be at or below 60% of the state median income. The maximum income for households is:
Households of one (1) $47,764
Households of two (2) $62,460
Households of three (3) $77,157
Households of four (4) $91,854
Households of Five (5) $106,550.
Applicants must have recent copies of heating, electric, water, lease or mortgage statements, and other proof of income documents.
On Saturday, 1,500 guests will enjoy lobster, steak, veggie burgers, all the trimmings, beer and wine and other beverages — plus music, kids’ activities and much more — at the Westport Rotary Club’s annual LobsterFest.
At Tuesday’s weekly meeting, longtime member and LobsterFest maestro Rick Benson updated members on logistics. All hands will be on deck, raising $400,000 for charitable organizations in Fairfield County and abroad.
Rick Benson, and his map.
Rotarians also heard from Wendy Petty. The Senior Center director said that 25% of Fairfield County residents are over the age of 65. The Center has seen a commensurate increase in membership over the past few years.
The Senior Center hosts over 100 classes each week, along with a tech hub, nutrition program, and a quarterly veterans’ coffee.
Wendy Petty (Photos/Dave Matlow)
================================================
Westport’s other Rotary Club — Sunrise — celebrates International Day of Peace this Sunday (September 21, 2 p.m.), by sharing peace through music and humor.
The event — “Songs and Reflections on Peace, Kindness and Fun” features performances by the Whirled Peas Band, with members from area Rotary clubs and special guests David Friedman, Shawn Moninger, Eric Šebek and Samantha Talora.
There is a great back story to today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo.
But first, marvel at this creature:
(Photo/Seth Schachter)
Seth Schachter encountered this massive reptile yesterday on Maple Lane, near Burying Hill Beach.
A neighbor helped him get it to safety. Otherwise, Seth is sure it would have been struck by a car.
Turtles can live well beyond 100 years. This guy might have been roaming Greens Farms at the dawn of the automobile age.
Seth and his neighbor used a broom and a large blue recycling bin — something that was definitely not around when the turtle was born — to move it along.
And finally … sure, we honored this group just the other day, when Mark Volman died.
But thanks to the item above, they’re worth revisiting, with a different song:
(If you enjoy “06880,” we hope you’ll be part of our November 2 “Historic Homes” tour. We also hope you will click here, to make a tax-deductible contribution supporting our work. Thank you!)
In the car ride home after his teenage son played poorly in a tennis match, Jeff Greenwald asked, “What were you thinking out there?”
“My ranking will drop,” the boy replied.
“And then what would happen?” Greenwald asked.
“I won’t get into a good college. I won’t get a good job. And I’ll be homeless,” he said.
He was not kidding. All that had gone through the young athlete’s mind.
Greenwald could relate.
Jeff Greenwald, in his Staples days.
In 1984 — playing #1 for Staples High School — he won a rare triple crown: the FCIAC and state LL (largest schools) singles championships, and the team’s 3rd consecutive state title.
After college, he continued to compete.
Greenwald won the US 35-and-over national singles and doubles championships. He was ranked #1 in the world International Tennis Federation men’s 35 category, for both singles and doubles.
He kept playing — and winning — in older age groups too. In 2019, he was inducted into the NorCal Hall of Fame.
But Greenwald was not a professional tennis player. He’s a clinical and sports psychologist in northern California. So he listened to his son’s fears as a concerned father, a fellow athlete, and a sports psychologist.
He recounts that experience — and many others — in “The Mental Edge for Young Athletes: A World Champion’s Mental Toughness Guide for Athletes, Parents and Coaches in the Digital Age.”
Greenwald’s second book — his first, “The Best Tennis of Your Life,” published in 2007, sold 80,000 copies — is a clear-eyed look at the realities of being a young competitor today.
Things were not easy when he wrote his first book. They’re exponentially tougher today.
Greenwald’s goal was to “pass on the principles I know now — and wish I knew earlier — in a way kids can relate to,” he says.
He does it without preaching or offering checklists, but by telling stories.
His audience is also parents. Greenwald hopes that reading “The Mental Edge” will help them open up conversations with their youngsters.
“We’re human. We have adrenaline. We want to win,” the sports psychologist notes.
“But there are no guarantees we will. The mind doesn’t like that. So we worry about things we can’t control, rather than focusing on the things that can make winning happen.”
Social media exacerbates already-existing pressures.
Jeff Greenwald
“There’s nowhere to hide,” Greenwald says. “All the time, you see the best of the best. You think you could be so much more than you are.
“Then throw in all the money that’s offered now in college — and high school. The pressure all goes in one direction.”
It’s no longer enough for a coach or parent to say, “Just have fun!”
“Just having fun hitting a tennis ball and playing has been decimated,” Greenwald believes.
“It’s become a job. Kids feel, ‘I’ve done this for so long. I’m supposed to do it. I have to keep going.'”
Greenwald believes that focusing on mastery can produce good results. “It’s good to want to win,” he notes. “Just do it in a smarter way.”
“The Mental Edge” helps athletes, parents and coaches strengthen resiliency to excel under pressure; lessen anxiety, and compete with freedom; create a mindset of success and positivity within an entire family, and build focus for peak performance.
Meanwhile, in individual consultations, he finds that “moving the needle with families is harder now. It takes longer to pull them long.” Eventually, parents warm to his approach. “They appreciate having a spot to land,” he says.
But Greenwald warns against too much parental emotional investment in any child’s sport.
His daughter’s passion is track. She recently told her father, “I don’t want you to watch me run. That’s my sport. You don’t need to be there.”
That was hard to hear. But it was a lesson he took to heart, as a sports psychologist.
And a father.
(“06880” reports often on Staples graduates, sports, teenagers — and, as we do today, the intersection of all 3. If you enjoy stories like these, please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
On October 17 (6:30 p.m.), a special screening of the documentary “Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues” will be followed by a concert featuring songs from the film.
He recounts that experience — and many others — in “The Mental Edge for Young Athletes: A World Champion’s Mental Toughness Guide for Athletes, Parents and Coaches in the Digital Age.”
