There’s more room to walk around. It looks a lot better when you do. And the DMA is coordinating volunteers to make sure the new additions (and the other plantings on poles) will be watered all summer.
PS: There is plenty of parking available. And now it’s all unrestricted. No time limits — no worries!
The planting project was coordinated and led by Jacqui Bidgood and Deborah Herbertson.
The Westport Weston Family YMCA reopened today, more than 3 months after it closed.
Members were thrilled to return. And staff — including popular Aquafit instructor Patty Kondub (below) — were thrilled to see them.
When the coronavirus struck, 2018 Staples graduate Zach Feinstein helped create Urlist: a home delivery shopping service.
Over 200 orders later, there’s a new concern beyond groceries. With camps closed and other activities curtailed, Zach — a former Staples High basketball and lacrosse player, now majoring in communications at the University of Maryland — has developed a new app: SportsPal.
it connects college and high school athletes throughout the tri-state region with younger athletes, for personal sports training or helping achieve an active lifestyle. Zach makes sure to select athletes who can not only teach, but also mentor and support youngsters.
For more information, click here or check out @sportspaltraining on Instagram.
Zach Feinstein
And finally … Teenear refuses to live her life in fear. Hear, hear!
For decades, Westporters have watched meadows disappear. New homes replace open space. Natural grass gives way to well-manicured, well-meaning — yet artificial-looking — lawns.
It’s hard to imagine a new meadow being created anywhere. But it’s happening on Prospect Road.
John and Melissa Ceriale are already Westport heroes for the beauty they’ve brought to Greens Farms. Gardens, trees, bushes and walking paths fill their 8-acre property.
Looking northeast, on the Ceriales’ property.
The couple — noted philanthropists and volunteers — have a vision. Noted landscape designer Cindy Shumate brings it to life.
And they’re in it for the long haul. “In 40 years, the trees we’re planting now will be magnificent,” Cindy says.
Right now, it’s the meadow that’s drawing raves.
Early this spring, Cindy planted 4,600 3-inch perennial plugs on an acre of land, at the far end of #25 Prospect. They’ll grow in slashes, she says, self-sowing in the lawn grass to create a “wild meadow.”
Already, that lawn grass is 18 to 20 inches high. It moves in the wind. “So beautiful and natural,” Cindy says. “It’s what anyone’s lawn would look like if they stopped mowing.”
The Prospect Road meadow.
She likens her role to a painter. Instead of a brush, her medium is plants.
Neighbors notice.
“People out on their COVID walks pass by,” Cindy says. “They’re curious. I wave, and they come over to the stone wall to talk.”
One man stared as he drove by. Then he backed up to chat, and learn more.
“Everyone is amazed that someone would purchase a piece of land and not put a home on it,” Cindy says. “But John and Melissa have a larger perspective. As they add land, they’re putting this parcel together so that it really works with nature.”
A parcel of land with gardens, walking paths, and now a meadow. What is Westport coming to?
A little pandemic can’t keep Westport’s Sunrise Rotary club down.
Every April, they do a volunteer clean-up in town. The lockdown postponed this year’s event. But yesterday the members were out in force, ridding the I-95 Exit 17 parking lot of trash.
It was just like old times. Except for the masks.
Westporters have been intrigued by a Ford Escort at the train station.
During the pandemic it sat for weeks in the same spot. Last week it finally vanished. Some folks were pleased because it seemed the driver was okay; others wondered if the car had been towed, because the driver was not okay.
Well, the Ford is back. But now I’ve got another question:
There are hundreds of empty spots in the lot. Why does he (or she) choose such a random place to park?
(Photo/Curtis Lueker)
Bridgewater got Paul Podolsky to Westport. The 1991 Brown University grad liked the town so much, he moved here.
Five weeks ago — after more than 20 years with the firm — he retired. His goal is to write full time. Judging by his memoir — released today — he’s got another great career.
Raising a Thief is the powerful, insightful and searingly truthful story of the orphan girl Podolsky and his wife adopted from Russia. They imagined she’d blend in well with their son, and enjoy all the wonders of Westport.
But she suffered from Reactive Attachment Disorder — a condition in which a child who has suffered physical or emotional neglect or abuse cannot form a healthy emotional bond with new parents.
Sonya lies and steals. She has an eating disorder, and tries to jump out of a window.
It’s a difficult story to read. It must have been even harder to live through — and then write.
Yet, Podolsky notes, Bridgewater helped. “The culture is all about radical honesty. I was accustomed to that.”
Founder Ray Dallio says of the book: “I am passionage about understanding how people think, and why … This book offers an invaluable picture about how the earliest childhood experiences shape thinking. I recommend it for all parents.”
Podolsky’s wife became a therapist, and now treats struggling families. They — and anyone with an interest in the human condition — will appreciated Raising a Thief.
As for Podolsky, his next book is fiction. It’s based on his work in international finance, specifically China and Russia.
For more information and to buy Raising a Thief, click here.
Paul Podolsky
They’re the gifts that keep on giving.
From the earliest days of the coronavirus, stones bearing uplifting messages have been spotted around town.
They’re at Grace Salmon Park. Outisde the police station. On Burying Hill Beach.
Yesterday, Lauri Weiser spotted this particularly pretty one. Rock on, Westport!
And finally … summer arrived yesterday. Of the squintillion summer songs, this Gershwin tune — and this Billy Stewart version — stands at the top.
I knew last week’s Photo Challenge would be tough. But I also thought that since many Wesptorters have been taking long walks during the pandemic, more folks than usual might have spotted the banner with Paul Newman’s smiling face that was the featured shot.
Nope.
The only 2 readers who knew were artist/designer Miggs Burroughs (who seemed to have inside knowledge, when he wrote “studio garage behind 25 Imperial Avenue; it was conceived and created by the late internationally renowned futurist Watts Wacker”) and Jeff Kaufman (who, by noting “I have an unfair advantage,” must mean he works at that small office complex).
The banner is visible from a few vantage points near the police station. So, if you’re still out taking a COVID walk, check it out. (Click here for the photo.)
This week’s Photo Challenge should be much easier. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
Caroline Barney began writing The Trebors 4 years ago.
An adventure novel for middle school youngsters, it’s about a race of creatures that established a civilization in an enormous, mysterious tree that was shaken by a powerful storm. As the characters grapple with something larger than themselves, they — and Barney’s readers — learn about the power of community.
Caroline Barney
When she began, the Westport mother 2 had no idea it would be published in the midst of a pandemic that is teaching those some lessons to children everywhere.
In her previous career, Barney was an advertising professional. When her second daughter was born, she moved into the non-profit and freelance world. But, she says, “I’d been a writer in my heart forever.”
Four years ago, walking in woods with her dog, she saw a tree door. Imagining an entire world outside, she came up with her story.
But she could never have imagined the story that is unfolding now.
Barney says, “we are at the precipice of a changed world. I really believe in the next generation. I think we can all be united. If we frame what is happening today in the right way, we have the power to help kids see there’s hope for a better world.”
The author certainly walks the talk. She’s donating 50% of the proceeds from The Trebors to Save the Children. The organization — now based in Fairfield, but for many years headquartered on Wilton Road — has been part of her life for decades. Her mother worked there.
In college, Barney interned there. While studying abroad, she visited a field office in Cameroon. Recently, she worked for the non-profit as a freelance writer.
The book was published on June 1. Coincidentally, that’s the day Save the Children launched “Read a Story, Change Their Story.” The 100-day campaign aims to curb summer learning loss, while providing support and resources for kids in rural America.
There’s no better story for them to read than The Trebors — a story about changes, in our ever-changing world.
The first in-person “Supper & Soul” concert since the pandemic shutdown is set for Friday, July 3 (6 p.m., Imperial Avenue parking lot). The Tom Petty Project headlines the “drive-in tailgate” show, sponsored by the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce and the Westport Library.
Cars will be set up every other spot, in every other row (a state requirement). But with up to 5 people per car — and tailgating starting at 5 p.m., using the empty space in front of each vehicle — it should be a great (and much-needed) evening out. The Chamber says it’s the first event like this in the state.
The Tom Petty Project includes Westporters Phil LoPresti (lead guitar) and Pete Najarian (lead singer, guitar). The band wowed a Levitt Pavilion crowd last year, and have sold out shows throughout New England. They’re volunteering their time for this show, to help the Chamber while bringing live music back to town.
Tickets are $85 per car. Ten dollars from each sale will be donated to a local non-profit — to be selected by the band.
The Chamber encourages everyone to order takeout from member restaurants, and bring it to the show (click here for the list; it will also be emailed to ticket purchasers). No food or drink will be sold on site. The cost of the meals is not included in the ticket price.
A limited number of tickets goes on sale this Monday (June 22, 10 a.m.). For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
COVID-19 canceled many Westport Woman’s Club events. There was no March fashion show, April art show, May antique appraisal day, and — this one really hurts — no June Yankee Doodle Fair.
They can’t get those fundraisers back. But the 113-year-old civic organization still awarded $40,000 in college scholarships. And though the 10 deserving Staples High School seniors did not get the public ceremony they deserved, the get this shout-out on “06880.”
Congratulations to the honorees — and thanks to the WWC, for their continued yeowomen’s work!
Tamikah Boyer (University of New Haven, Emily Duvoisin Scholarship)
Nicole Caiati (Georgia State University)
Victoria Caiati (Marist College)
Alyssa Chariot (Penn State University)
Anna Fuori (Penn State University, Emily Fuller Scholarship)
Audrey Kramer (California Polytechnic State University)
Ian Kramer (Penn State University)
Katherine Meszaros (College of the Holy Cross, Lea Ruegg Scholarship)
Niyhive Michel (Morgan State University)
Tomaso Scotti (University of Connecticut, “Most Active Member” Scholarship, which this year honors Mira Auxier).
Hilary Arnow Burns did it all in Staples. The 1977 graduate played in the orchestra and band. She sang in the choir. She played tennis, and was on the cheerleading team.
After Wharton came consulting work with Arthur Young and Drexel Burnham. She married, moved back to Westport, started 2 businesses, had 2 children, and got divorced.
When he was 50, she caught a glimpse of someone who did not look good. It was her — in the mirror. “What happened to me?” she wondered.
At a Staples reunion a classmate said, “You were so much fun!” Hilary thought, “I’ve become another person. I was not happy.”
She lost weight. She rediscovered “athletics, my brain, and fun.” She got her life back.
Now — after writing classes with Jessica Bram (and 7 years of revisions), and she’s written a memoir about her journey. The Second Piece of French Toast: If Marriage Was My Dream, Why Was I Numbing Myself?
It’s been called “the wake-up call I didn’t know I needed.” To order the book, click here. For her website, blog and YouTube channel, click here.
Hilary Arnow Burns
And finally … I heard this yesterday, on Juneteenth. It brought me back several decades. Sweet Honey in the Rock is as uplifting, and important, as ever.
As Westport reopens, and the world continues to turn — if a bit wobbly — you continue to send us your work. Your many moods are reflected in your paintings, collages, sketches, photos, sculptures, cartoons and videos.
Please keep ’em coming. Professional, amateur, old, young — we want it all. Student submissions are particularly welcome!
The only rule: It must be inspired by, reflective of, or otherwise related to the times we’re going through. Email dwoog@optonline.net.
“Feeling Trapped in the Illusion of Summer” (Lauri Weiser)
Dereje Tarrant is a rising 8th grader at the Pierrepont School. He created this mural, which hangs outside his Westport home.
“When Life Gives You Lemons” (acrylic, Herm Freeman)
Weston High School asked Andrea Metchick to paint a mural for the Class of 2020. She asked principal Lisa Wolak, staff and parents for words that represented the students. Her work was hung on the Onion Barn near Weston center for the graduation parade; it’s still there. It was a gift of love: Andrea’s youngest child, Millie, was in that class.
Untitled (Carina Bockhaus, age 9, Kings Highway Elementary School)
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.
The book was published on June 1. Coincidentally, that’s the day Save the Children launched “
