As the Compo Beach playground renovation project kicks into high gear, young artists have a chance to help.
And win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Students in kindergarten through 5th grade who live in Westport or Weston can enter the playground’s logo contest. The winning entry will be used on the website, social media, t-shirts and signage, through the September build,
Click here for the logo contest rules and release form. Send entries to CompoPlaygroundFund@gmail.com. The deadline is February 9.
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Despite yesterday’s rain and cold, Westport’s first Run For Their Lives event drew 20 people (and 3 dogs).
Organizer Melinda Wasserman made signs, provided red beanies, and pinned “115” (the number of days Israeli hostages have been in captivity) on participants’ backs, as though they were running a marathon (which to them it seems like).
Jennifer Wolff provided coffee and Munchkins.
The group walked from Winslow Park to town, then across the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge and back.
Many drivers honked in support. At a stop light, a woman played a melodic rendition of “Hatikva” (the Israeli national anthem) from her car window.
“We’ll do it again and again, until we don’t have to,” Wolff says. To join the WhatsApp phone chain for upcoming events, click here.
Participants in yesterday’s “Run for Their Lives” event.
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The Boston Globe has run a long story on Lynda Bluestein’s fight to die on her own terms — in Vermont, because Connecticut has no medical aid in dying legislation.
For several months, a reporter and photographer followed the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport member’s battles against ovarian cancer, and in the Green Mountain State courts.
The Globe story also documents her final project: a wind phone project, through which families and friends can “speak” to loved ones who have died.
It is a nuanced, moving account of Lynda’s final days, accompanied by poignant photos. Click here to read (paywall).
On the morning of Lynda Bluestein’s death, her husband Paul told her how much he loved her. They waited for the rest of their family to arrive, so she could say goodbye and take medication to end her life. (Photo/Jessica Rinaldi for Boston Globe)
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MoCA Westport celebrates its “Sixties Mod” exhibit with a Community
Conversations. Curators Kathleen Bennewitz and Ive Covaci, of the Westport Public Art Collections committee, will be at the museum on February 8 (6:30 p.m.).
Pre-registration is required, with a suggested donation of $10 for
non-members.
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Last month, “06880” noted that “The Wiz” is being revived on Broadway — with 2 Westport connections.
The original script was by Bill Brown, a longtime resident. And the revival is co-produced by 1994 Staples High School graduate Ari Edelson.
Now another Staples alum is involved. Benjamin Zawacki has built Wayne Brady’s costumes for the show. He is a professional draper, whose love of the arts was nurtured at Staples.
Performances begin March 29. Click here for more information. (Hat tip: John Dodig)
Wayne Brady (and his costume) in “The Wiz.”
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The 16th annual Darwin Day Dinner returns to The Inn at Longshore on February 10 (6 p.m.).
The event — for people “interested in learning about evolutionary biology and how science impacts society” (and who love a party) — includes a very un-party-like presentation, on “Carbon Dioxide Removal and Understanding Earth’s Natural Systems for Regulating Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere,” by Dr. Matthew Eisaman, professor at Yale’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture.
It is, organizers say, the “best science party this side of the Kuiper Belt.”
For more information, click here. For tickets, click here.
Charles Darwin
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Recent rains created this intriguing “Westport … Naturally” image:
(Photo/Wendy Levy)
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And finally … on this day in 1886, Karl Benz patented the first successful gasoline-driven automobile.
(You don’t have to buy “06880” a Mercedes-Benz. We’re happy for any tax-deductible contribution, of any kind, to support our work. Please click here. Thank you!)
