Bad weather kept American flags from being displayed over Memorial Day weekend. They fly proudly now, on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge. (Photo/John Maloney)
Early in the morning, community volunteers — including Scouts from Troops 39 and 139 — gathered at Assumption Cemetery on Greens Farms Road
They placed new flag holders and flags on the graves of veterans.
“Today was about recognizing our heroes, and making sure their sacrifice is remembered,” says Phil Delgado, quartermaster of VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399, which funded the project.
Donations to help fund more flags and holders are welcome; email delgadopa@icloud.com. If any veterans’ graves were missed (not all had military inscriptions), email VFW Auxiliary member Patty Kondub: Nortonpk@icloud.com.
(Photos courtesy of Andrew Colabella and Patty Kondub)
This past Tuesday, a Stamford gala celebrated Michael Douglas’ career as an actor, producer, nuclear disarmament activist and philanthropist. The event was a benefit for the historic Avon Theater.
Among the star-studded crowd were politicians and businesspeople. Plus 3 former Downshifters — buddies from Douglas’ teenage years in Westport.
The trio flew in from across the country: Charlie Taylor (Kentucky), Tom Hatch (New Mexico) and Morgan Smith (Idaho).
Michael Douglas with Charlie Taylor, Morgan Smith and Tom Hatch, at Stamford’s Avon Theater.
The Downshifters were a civic-minded, educational and fun hot rod club, in the 1950s and ’60s. Parents Magazine named them one of the 14 outstanding youth groups in the country. (“There must have been a father in town who worked for them,” a member said.)
(Click here and click here for some great Downshifters back stories. Click here for one featuring Michael Douglas himself.)
A young Michael Douglas. He attended Bedford Junior High School, but his parents shipped him off to boarding school instead of Staples.
The Stamford event — emceed by Terre Blair — included a short film clip of Taylor’s music, with images of cars and people from the Downshifters days. Douglas was stunned.
Another, less important video tribute, came from Michael Bloomberg.
(Click here for the Downshifters video. The music is as good as the photos. After his hot rod days, Taylor had successful dual careers, with Vanderbilt University and as a noted Nashville singer/songwriter.)
As for Michael Douglas hot rod: He had a 1947 Mercury, with a Model A axle in the back. It was named the “Ruptured Duck.”
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Speaking of film stars: Wynston Browne has enjoyed quite a whirlwind of activity.
The Staples High School senior — a non-speaking autistic teenager whose communication via a typing device has opened up his own world, and shown the rest of the world his remarkable, wide-ranging and tremendous intelligence — was featured in a News 12 profile.
On Saturday, the Cablevision team — including host Mark Sudol and Frank Bruce Rosen, who conceived of and filmed the piece — were honored as an Emmy winner.
Wynston Browne
Meanwhile, the film “Presumed Incompetent” — starring and inspired by Wynston’s life — has been accepted as a finalist at both the Santa Monica, California ETHOS Festival (November 9) and New York’s Big Apple Film Festival (December 12, 657 West 57th Street, 5:45 p.m.; click here for tickets. Click here for a link to Wynston’s acting reel.)
ETHOS is an awards program and film festival recognizing impact-driven films casting lights on critical current social causes and themes.
Wynston will do talkbacks — using his communication devices — at both the ETHOS and BAFF festival screenings.
“06880” is proud to say we knew and admired Wynston even before he was a star!
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Everyone was a winner at Saturday’s Challenger baseball’s 12th annual Halloween game and party.
The Westport Winners — the team that competes in a league for boys and girls with disabilities — squared off for an intra-squad game: Team Spooky vs. Team Scary.
Thirteen buddies from middle school age to adult joined the young athletes, along with many families and spectators.
Afterward, everyone enjoy pizza and Halloween treats.
The vibe was as fantastic as the weather.
Dressed for Halloween — and baseball. (Photo/Beth Cody)
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Clarendon Fine Art — the great gallery at the head of Main Street — welcomes Craig Alan next month.
A reception for the solo show — featuring the artist’s distinctive images of iconic faces, buildings and abstracts, in hundreds of intricately painted figures — is set for November 22 (6 to 8 p.m.). Click here for details.
Art by Craig Alan
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There are just 3 days till Halloween.
So naturally, today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature features:
And finally … on this date in 1893, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique” premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.
He died 9 days later, of cholera.
(Today — if you enjoy any of these Roundup stories — “06880” challenges you to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
It’s time for another installment of our “06880” Question Box.
This is the feature in which I try to answer readers’ questions.
I don’t have all the answers. But our readers — in their collective wisdom — might.
Please chime in with any additional information. Click “Comments” below.
This edition is short on quantity. But the quality of the questions is high.
As always: If you have a question for our box, email 06880blog@gmail.com.
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The large cylindrical hill not far from the small Winslow Park parking area on Compo Road North has always intrigued me.
It seems too perfectly symmetrical to be natural. And it looks so much different than the surrounding area. There are no other mounds like it anywhere. Is it man-made? If so, why? (Anonymous)
That’s a fantastic question. And — despite living a few yards away from Winslow Park, and walking there often (without a dog) — it’s one I’ve never even thought of.
Now that you mention it: You’re right. That hill (a longtime favorite spot for teenagers to drink, get high and hook up) definitely looks out of place.
Winslow Park mound/hill. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Could it have been built by indigenous people, long before Europeans arrived?
Perhaps it was constructed when the Winslow family owned a mansion — one of the most luxurious homes in town — at the corner of North Compo and the Post Road (State Street)?
Or maybe it was part of the Westport Sanitarium, which took over the estate?
I have no idea. But I’ll never again walk past without wondering what it is, and why it’s there.
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Why do they take the flags down after Labor Day? It’s kind of sad without them flapping in the breeze. (Deborah Baker)
“They” — aka town workers — remove the flags because of possible inclement weather. (Not just snow — possible hurricanes or nor’easters.)
It might also be a cost-saving measure, to extend the lives of the flags. They do look great. But there sure are a lot of them.
Here’s something to look forward to, though: October 24.
It’s UN Day. And, for one of 2 days each year (the other is jUNe Day), flags of dozens of nations will fly proudly on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.
Long may they wave. Or at least, every spring and summer. (Photo/Lauri Weiser)
What can a neighborhood or residents on a common street do about a neighbor that neglects the upkeep of their home and property?
The neighbor’s house needs to be painted. Their back yard (which can be seen from the street) is completely overgrown. Their side yard is a dump heap, and their bushes grow out into the road. It has a negative impact on all our properties.
Can the town enforce homeowner upkeep? How do we get this fixed? (KR)
The town of Westport has a Blight Prevention Board. It’s made up of private citizens and a Building Department official. They listen to residents’ concerns, and take their work very seriously. Click here to read an in-depth story on them, from the “06880” archives.
Sometimes, there is an underlying issue with a house in that condition. The Department of Human Services may be able to assist residents in need.
These dilapidated buildings on Post Road West have since been demolished.
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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