A near-record 29 of you quickly identified last week’s Photo Challenge — showing a shelf of books labeled “Local Authors!,” next to can of gefilte fish — as being one of the many reasons to love Gold’s Delicatessen. (Click here to see.)
In fact, many readers added exclamation points when they answered: “Gold’s!!!”
(One reader — the last — responded, “Westport Library Bookstore.” Perhaps he was kidding.)
Congratulations, and free gefilte fish for life* to Fred Cantor, Susan Iseman, Matt Murray, Elaine Marino, Jeannie Pearl, Lynn Untermeyer Miller, Arthur Hayes, Rachel Halperin, Andrew Colabella, Roz Kopit, Sal Liccione, Joni Usdan, Sandy Rothenberg, Jerry Kuyper, Werner Liepolt, Jay Horn, Becky Keeler, W. Gibson, Nancy Bloom, Lisa Hayes, Diane Silfen, Seth Schachter, Nathan Greenbaum, J. Eason, Seth Braunstein, Mark Soboslai, Wendy Schaefer, Dana Kuyper and Cat Malkin.
This week’s Photo Challenge may be more difficult. If you know where in Westport you would see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Karen Como)
*Just kidding.
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
“06880” continues our Instagram Live conversations with the first selectman candidates tomorrow (Monday, August 25, 4 p.m.). Dave Briggs and I will chat with independent David Rosenwaks.
You can find us on Instagram @06880danwoog. We welcome your questions!
The Fairfield National Little team’s storied run in the Little League World Series ended yesterday.
They lost 8-2 to Las Vegas, in the US championship game. Fairfield had come from behind to beat the same team 3 days earlier, sending the Nevadans to a must-win contest in the losers’ bracket.
Fairfield boasts 4 players with direct Westport connections: Ben Herbst, Colin Curley, Boden Dunlap and Tommy D’Amura.
The defeat in the American title game matches the achievement of a Westport team 12 years ago. They fell to a California squad in the championship.
Congratulations, Fairfield, on a great run. You represented yourselves, your town and our state wonderfully!
Three Fairfield players with Westport ties (from 2nd left to far right).
John Kantor — the highly regarded former Longshore Sailing School owner, who knows an enormous about about the sport — calls that result “very impressive. There were a lot of pros in the top 10.”
First place was won by David Peck of Niantic.
At Cedar Point Yacht Club, standing, from left: Bill Whidden, Vance Harrison, John Rhodes, Tom Atkinson. Front: John Yingling. (Photo/Bonnie Housner Erickson)
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Speaking (still) of sports: Today’s (Sunday) Staples High School boys basketball 2nd annual Summer Slam Jam 3-v-3 Tournament for 3rd-8th grade boys of all skill levels runs all day at Bedford Middle School.
There is also a 3-point shooting competition for everyone. Trophies will go to kids (high school and younger), as well as adults.
There are 3 45-minute slots: 11 a.m., 1:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Anyone can enter any of them.
Meanwhile, the boys basketball program seeks contributions, to help imrpove the facilities at Staples. Click here to donate.
Meet and hang out with the FCIAC champs!
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Five new recruits joined the Westport Fire Department on Friday.
William O’Rourke, Stephen Marsan, Drew Haig, Joseph McKay and Patricia Quinn were sworn in, at the Post Road headquarters.
Congratulations. Thank you for your service. And welcome to Westport!
After decades of teaching at Staples High School — and now, a decade or two later — a group gets together regularly.
They call themselves ROMEO: Retired Old Men Eating Out.
On Friday — as their still-working colleagues were setting up classrooms, attending meetings and planning lessons — these guys enjoyed their annual “We’re Not Going Back to School” breakfast.
How many can you identify? Their names are in the caption below.
Clockwise from far left: Jim Wheeler, Al Jolley, Jim Honeycutt, Stan Rhodes, John Pepe, Ed Bludnicki, Drew Strauss, Fred Choromanski, Brian Kelley, Bruce McFadden, Pete Van Hagen, Bob Selverstone, Werner Liepolt.
Last year, Jay Nicholds was looking for very fresh eggs.
He cares about nutrition, and eating healthily. He wants to support local food producers as much as he can.
But the Westport Farmers’ Market — an excellent source — is open only 4 hours, once a week.
That was impractical. Jay was — and still is — a Staples High School student.
He ordered 20 dozen eggs off “some random website.”
Then he thought: There must be a better way.
There was not.
So, with several friends — classmates (and now seniors) JC Guerra, Johnny Deitch and Uzi Greenman, plus current junior Joey Carpenter — they created one.
From left: Joey Carpenter, Jonathan Deitch, Juan Carlos Gura, Jay Nicholds and Uzi Greenman, on the farm.
All share Jay’s interest in what they put in their bodies, and the importance of accessibility to high-quality foods.
The result is Farmlink: “Fairfield County’s first farm-to-table platform that connects farmers directly with consumers, ensuring fresh produce and fair prices.”
On Saturdays, Jay and his crew pick up the products, then deliver them quickly and directly, right to each door.
These guys know their onions.
And they work as hard as every farmer they work with.
They began by emailing over 200 farms, within a 2-hour radius.
Then they visited dozens — not only to pitch their idea personally, but to ensure that the farms actually adhered to high standards.
They refuse to work with one, Jay says, because they did not like seeing too many chickens caged too closely in small coops.
Their first 2 farms are Little River in Fairfield, and Nature View in Bridgewater.
Farmlink’s prices are very competitive: $7 a pint for berries, $10 a pound for beef, $9 for a dozen corn- and soy-free eggs.
The service charge is far smaller than it could (or should) be.
Their target market is “moms in Fairfield County who care about healthy food, and want to support local farmers, but can’t always get to the Farmers’ Market. This is another option.” Farmlink delivers up to an hour from Westport.
Screenshot from the Farmlink website.
They’ve learned valuable lessons along the way — not only about their own business, but about farming.
“We didn’t realize how hard it is, and with such slim margins,” Jay says.
(The teenagers cite a variety of Staples courses, including Economics, Personal Finance and Computer Science as important to their current venture.)
Feedback has been excellent. “People love the quality and convenience,” JC says. “They really, really love the blueberries!”
The Farmlink founders are involved in many activities. Jay plays rugby and squash, and was a member of the Wrecker Wealth Management team that was their first from a public, non-magnet school to place second in the Wharton Global Youth Program’s annual investment competition.
JC plays hockey and lacrosse, and is a member of Scout Troop 36. Joey rows, Johnny is an Emergency Medical Responder, and Uzi plays hockey.
But Farmlink is their foremost activity, and their passion. They devoted many hours to it this summer, and look forward to ramping it up this fall.
Ramps are not on the menu. But plenty of other farm-fresh food is.
Delivered right to your door, by 5 hard-working, healthy-eating, and very customer-oriented Farmlink founders.
(“06880” regularly covers the environment, food, local businesses, and Westport students — and, like today, all 4 at once. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Westport native Jean Hunt Tucker died August 5 in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was 100, and one of the last surviving “Rosie the Riveters” in the country.
She was born in a house on Imperial Avenue built by her father, Leon Hunt.
Jean graduated from Staples High School in 1941. Soon, she became one of the first female engineers to work during World War II. Among her projects: the F4U Corsair.
Jean Tucker with the Connecticut Air & Space Center’s Corsair, 2 years ago.
After Staples she headed to college in Ohio. But several months later, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. She returned to this area, and enrolled at Bridgeport State Trade School to learn drafting.
At 18 she joined the engineering department of Chance Vought Aircraft in Stratford. The company sent her to the Academy of Aeronautics, near La Guardia Airport, which trained women entering the industry.
She was one of very few females at Chance Vought. Most of the others were secretaries and clerks.
Jean made drawings of parts for electrical installations — without ever seeing the actual equipment. She also worked on fuselages.
Part of the Connecticut Air & Space Center’s exhibit is dedicated to Jean Hunt Tucker.
In 1945 Jean entered Northeastern University, as one of its first class of women. She earned a BS in industrial engineering.
She married in 1949. When the company moved to Dallas, she stayed here. She earned a degree in industrial engineering, and taught math for 38 years in Massachusetts, New York, Indiana and Pennsylvania, and in England as an exchange teacher.
After retiring from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, she spent many years teaching in Honduras.
Jean was an avid model railroader and amateur genealogist. She was a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants. and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She is survived by her son Mark, of Pinellas Park, Florida; daughters Wendy of St. Petersburg, Florida and Dency of Los Angeles; 2 granddaughters, 5 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
As students return to school Tuesday — how did that happen?! — Top Hat Tutors is back too.
The long-running, well-respected teen-led organization — featuring tutors from Fairfield County (mainly Staples High) — is looking for new clients (and tutors).
Their large staff covers every major K-12 school subject, plus music, SAT/ACT prep, and more.
Every tutor has taken the classes they tutor in — and passed the class with at least a 90. Last year, they served 160 students.
To register, go to the website and click on the tutor request form. Top Hat will email the parent or guardian when a tutor has been assigned. The rate is $50 for an individual, $75 for 2, $100 for 3. Low-income students qualify for a much reduced cost.
Questions? Email president Jack Leonard and vice president Jay Hari: tophattutors@gmail.com
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Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 399 hosts its 62nd straight monthly blood drive on Wednesday (August 27, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
Donors are encouraged to schedule appointments in advance. Click here; then use sponsor code VFWWESTPORT. Or call 800-733-2767.
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“Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie” — a play based on the beloved book — kicks off the 2025-26 Westport Country Playhouse season next month.
It’s been called “a moving story, filled with warmth, humor, and heartfelt lessons about living life to the fullest.”
When the 2025 Staples High School freshman soccer team was announced, one name stood out.
Beckham Martino is a strong player on coach Luis Mandojar’s 9th grade squad.
He also bears the names of 2 famous soccer heroes.
David Beckham was one of the superstars of his generation. He earned 115 caps and scored 17 goals for England. He starred with Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Paris St.- Germain. Today he owns MLS Club Inter Miami — and helped bring Lionel Messi to the league.
Kyle Martino was the Gatorade National Player of the Year at Staples in 1999. He was named MLS Rookie of the Year with the Columbus Crew. He earned 8 caps with the US men’s national team, then embarked on careers as a soccer broadcaster (NBC Sports, ESPN, Turner Sports), and as the inventor of the Goalpher self-rising soccer goal system.
Beckham and Martino were also teammates, when both played for the MLS Los Angeles Galaxy.
When an alert Staples soccer fan — okay, it was me — saw the name, I texted Martino. I was the Wreckers’ assistant soccer coach, when he was the best high school player in the country.
Martino then texted Beckham.
Beckham quickly replied:
During its 67-year-history, Staples soccer has become known throughout the country for its success, its legacy, and the accomplishments of its players.
Speaking of sports: Cedar Point Yacht Club is hosting this year’s Atlantic Class National Championships.
Among the competitors: former Westporters Tom Atkinson, Vance Harrison, John Rhodes, Bill Whidden and John Yingling. Click here for a recent “06880” story on their journey back to town, decades after learning to sail at CPYC.
The Atlantics are racing right now. Eileen Lavigne caught this early morning view, from Compo Beach.
(Photo/Eileen Lavigne)
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Speaking still of sports: Lorraine Scaviola Duffy — who began her career as a Staples physical education teacher and gymnastics coach in 1976, and continued through 1985 — will be inducted into the Connecticut Gymnastics Hall of Fame in October.
She has retired from coachng — after the University of Bridgeport and at Pat King’s Gymnastics Academy — but continues to judge meets for the NCAA. (Hat tip: Karen Roehr, Staples Class of 1977)
Lorraine Scaviola, back in the day …
… and keeping a close eye on a vaulter.
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In the waning days of summer, young entrepreneurs are everywhere.
5-year-old Olly set up shop yesterday near his Greens Farms home. He was selling cars, rocks and lemonade. He earned $1, a Bic pen and a high five.
Serena Tirado, who taught science at Staples High School fromo 2008 through 2018, before taking time to focus on her battle with cancer, died earlier this month.
A colleague called her “a beautiful person inside and out — a dedicated teacher, a kind friend, and someone who was always willing to lend a hand.”
Cards and remembrances can be sent to the family at 51 Grandview Road, Fairfield, CT 06825.
Posted onAugust 23, 2025|Comments Off on Online Art Gallery #280
Watercolors, colorful digital photography, black-and-white pencil-on-pen works: As it does every week, today’s online gallery offers a diverse, creative mix of art, from “06880” readers just like you.
And we do mean you!
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, 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.
“Alien Beauty” — digital composite (Ken Runkel — Available for sale; click here)
Untitled (Duane Cohen — Available for sale; click here)
“Phataenopsis” — watercolor (Kathleen Burke — Available for sale; click here)
Untitled (Tom Doran — Available for sale; click here)
“Metro NY — Sea Levels Rising” — Acrylic Dutch pour (Eric Bosch)
“‘Close Encounters’ Sequel?” (Fred Cantor)
“Stone Age Dice” — Photographer Jerry Kuyper found the stone at Compo Beach, then added the dots.
“Don’t Mess With Him!” Photographer Mike Hibbard says, “The Maasai Warrior uses his razor-sharp steel spear to protect the family’s cattle from lions.”
“Not Having a Good Day” (Steve Stein)
“Yippee!” (Lawrence Weisman)
“Harry” — pencil on paper (Bill Fellah)
(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)
Paul Pioselli has lived in Westport for 3 years. He blends a passion for community with expertise in personal cybersecurity.
Paul Pioselli
As the founder of Solace – Truly Personal Cybersecurity — a local concierge cybersecurity firm — he helps residents safeguard their digital lives, financial assets, and privacy.
When not advising clients he’s active in local safety initiatives, charity road races, and technology mentorship groups. Paul writes:
As a Westport resident and founder of Solace – Truly Personal Cybersecurity, I’ve had a front row seat to how quickly digital threats are changing, and how often our own community is targeted.
In recent months, Westport Police have sounded the alarm on a steep rise in scams aimed squarely at residents, particularly older adults. Nearly every day we hear reports of cybercriminals using sophisticated impersonation tactics. They include:
Fake toll violation notices
Urgent calls claiming a relative has been injured
False accusations of money laundering or other financial crimes.
A Westport couple recently called me after receiving a convincing voicemail claiming to be from local police. The message warned that they’d missed a jury summons, and a warrant had been issued. The “officer” even provided a badge number, and directed them to a website payment portal to “clear the warrant” immediately.
Police will never call about a jury duty summons.
Fortunately, they paused long enough to contact Solace before any money changed hands. A brief analysis by our team confirmed it was a scam.
In 2024, Connecticut residents lost an estimated $90 million to fraud, up from $70 million the year before. Nationwide, imposter scams alone caused $789 million in losses. Email remains the top delivery method for online scammers, followed closely by phone calls and texts.
Scam are increasingly harder to spot, but here are several warning signs to help you steer clear:
Unexpected calls, texts, or emails demanding immediate payment
Payment requests in the form of gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency
Caller ID showing a police station or government office you’ve never dealt with
Messages designed to spark fear, urgency, or promises of large rewards
Website URLs with small but suspicious differences such as a single extra letter
Email and text messages with poor grammar or formatting
Requests for personal or financial details over the phone or text message.
Best practice: Pause before acting on any unexpected request, no matter how urgent or convincing it may seem. Verify its legitimacy using a trusted, independent source.
Netflix would never start an email “Hi Dear.” They would not say you “may want to” update your payment details. And they would not refer you to a “Help Centre”; it would be spelled “Center.”
While imposter scams dominate the statistics, our team has also helped Westport residents deal with:
Viruses and spyware compromising personal devices
Email and online account takeovers that damage reputations
Identity theft and phishing campaigns stealing sensitive data
Phone SIM-swapping attacks to hijack phone numbers and bypass security codes.
This isn’t random. Affluent ZIP codes like ours attract cybercriminals who believe residents have more to lose.
To stay safe:
Validate phone calls and text messages. Call the organization directly, using a trusted phone number.
Use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication. Incorporate more characters, digits and symbols to your passwords, and turn on multi-factor authentication everywhere.
Limit sharing of personal information online. Ensure appropriate privacy settings on social media, and limit posting of personally identifiable information.
Educate your household. Make sure everyone is aware of scam red flags.
There are several types of multi-factor authenticataion. Two involve sending a code to your smartphone, or pinging it.
From our office in Darien, we offer concierge personal cybersecurity services to Westport residents. They include:
Emergency cyber response if you’re hacked or scammed
Personal cybersecurity consulting to protect accounts and digital footprint
In-person and virtual security audits that secure devices and data
Digital privacy and data removal to help prevent identity theft and scams.
In today’s digitally connected world, personal cybersecurity is essential. If something feels off, trust your instincts. Remember these red flags and tips.
(“06880” appreciates being able to offer helpful resources to readers, through local businesses. If you appreciate this kind of “06880” service, 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!)
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