This weekend’s Candlelight Concert was traditional, rousing, haunting, majestic, brassy and inspiring.
It always is.
Arriving for the show.
For 84 years, the Staples High School Music Department has offered this gift to the town.
A variety of choirs, orchestras and bands perform. Their selections are well-known and obscure. They are classical and contemporary; American, European and African.
It takes a tremendous amount of practice, preparation and care, by hundreds of talented musicians, their committed and caring teachers, and many others who work hard behind the scenes.
Volunteers festoon the lobby with festive touches.
From the unique “Sing We Noel” processional to the alumni-filled “Hallelujah Chorus,” the Candlelight Concert is Westport’s way of celebrating the season.
Not everyone could get tickets to the 3 shows. But today, thanks to Lynn Untermeyer Miller’s brilliant photography, we all can bask in its glow.
As she has for decades, Alice Addicks greets concert-goers.
Lauren Pine rehearses her choir an hour before showtime.
The audience settles in.
“Sing We Noel” processional.
Orchestra director Jeri Brima.
Ludovit Pauliny takes a bow, after soloing on “Danse Bacchanale.”
One part of the lighter “Wreck the Halls” …
… and another.
From left: Band director Kevin Mazzarella (in his Candlelight debut), orchestra directors Carrie Mascaro and Jen Brima, and assistant band director Caitlin Serpliss acknowledge applause.
New York Times chief theater critic Jesse Green gave a rave review to “Cult of Love,” the new show that opened Thursday at the Helen Hayes Theater.
He likes the “rip-roaring home-for-the-holidays dramedy” for its plot, direction, music and more.
He also praises playwright Leslye Headland. This is the 1999 Staples High School graduate’s Broadway debut. But she’s earned kudos before, as a playwright, screenwriter and director (“Bachelorette,” “Sleeping With Other People,” “Russian Doll,” “The Acolyte”).
“Cult of Love” is Headland’s final work in a series called “Seven Deadly Plays.” Inspired by the 7 deadly sins, this one is about pride. It was first staged in Los Angeles in 2018.
The play focuses on 4 adult children of one family and their partners, coming home for a contentious holiday gathering.
Green writes: “Though ‘Cult of Love,’ like many unhappy family reunion plays, draws big buckets of humor from the toxic brew of religion and repression, those buckets also draw blood.
“Headland knows just how to get there, suggesting deep familiarity with the territory. But she also has a gift for complication and construction, as was already evident in “Bachelorette,” her Bridezillas Gone Wild breakthrough play of 2010…. Loading pattern on pattern — a holiday-season design don’t for most — is for her an opportunity to dizzy us down to hell.”
Click here for the full Times review. Click here for more information about “Cult of Love.” (Hat tip: Tommy Greenwald)
The Board of Education’s Policy Committee meets Wednesday (December 18, 9 a.m., Town Hall Room 307), with a wide-ranging agenda.
They’ll discuss the first reading of possible revisions to graduation requirements; admission to the Westport Public Schools at or before age 5 and assignment to grade levels; and student attendance, truancy and chronic absenteeism.
The committee will also discuss health concerns “such as lice,” and a possible new civility policy.
meanwhile, the Long Lots School Building Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed to Wednesday (December 18, 6 p.m., Town Hall Room 307/309. The agenda has not yet been posted.
Speaking of schools: All month long, Kings Highway Elementary School students have collected gifts for their annual Holiday Bear drive.
Each year, the Connecticut Education Foundation’s Holiday Bear provides gifts for children whose families face financial or other hardships.
The KHS Caring Council helped package 25 Holiday Bear bags.
Meanwhile, yesterday the school helped raise funds for Connecticut Children’s Hospital.
Students also wore pajamas as part of a statewide spirit day.
It’s been an eventful month for Kings Highway!
A few of Kings Highway’s many holiday bags.
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John McKinney is the newest member of the Connecticut Mirror’s board of directors.
The Mirror is state’s non-profit, non-partisan, digital source for public policy, government and politcal news.
McKinney — a descendant of Westport’s famed Bedford family — is also a trustee of the Westport Weston Family YMCA.
The former State Senate minority leader and a Republican candidate for governor, he was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont to the Liquor Control Commission in 2021.
McKinney serves on the advisory board of Operation Hope, a homeless shelter in Fairfield. He and his family help provide housing and care for people with AIDS through the Stewart B. McKinney Foundation. It is named for his father, the longtime US Congressman from Westport’s district.
And finally … on this date in 1819, Alabama became the 22nd US state.
(Whether you’re here in Westport, way down in Alabama, or anywhere else, “06880” is your hyper-local source for news, events and much more. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Lynn Untermeyer Miller hasn’t seen every Candlelight Concert.
There have been 84 years of them. The Staples High School Class of 1971 graduate is only 71 years old.
But she’s been to plenty, beginning with her years as a student.
She’ll be there again this week, for the Staples Music Department’s annual gift to the town.
She’ll be joined by hundreds of other grateful Westporters. Parents will proudly watch their teenage singers, and orchestra and band members, as they perform complex pieces with talent, passion and pride.
A small part of the large Candlelight Concert.
Westporters whose own kid have long graduated — or never went to Staples, or are not yet there — will thrill to the concert too, appreciating the mix of tradition and change that has sustained the Candlelight Concert for over 8 decades.
Middle and elementary school boys and girls will dream of the day they can take part in the remarkable event.
And alumni will stride, with excitement and smiles, onto the stage for the finale: a rousing rendition of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” The massed group — a couple of hundred current musicians, and dozens who preceded them — is part of what makes the Candlelight Concert so special.
The “Hallelujah Chorus” ends the Candlelight Concert. The “Sing We Noel” processional begins it. (Photos/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
But none of it would happen without this week’s Unsung Heroes: the Music Department.
The staff — Jeri Brima, Carrie Mascaro, Kevin Mazzarella, Lauren Pine, Caitlin Serpliss and Gregg Winters, plus townwide music coordinator Steve Zimmerman and administrative assistant Liz Shaffer — have been working toward this moment since the summer.
They have great talent to work with. Our superb middle and elementary school music teachers deserve a great hand, for preparing the high schoolers so well.
John Ohanian created the first Candlelight Concert, in 1940.
No list of Unsung Heroes would be complete without the men and women who created, nurtured and grew the Candlelight Concert, from before World War II to today.
John Ohanian, George Weigle, John Hanulik, Bob Genualdi, Jack Adams, Nick Mariconda, Alice Lipson, Luke Rosenberg, and many other music educators, are the reason Candlelight has evolved, flourished — and made the holidays special — for over 80 years.
They, and everyone else associated with the Candlelight Concert, are true Unsung Heroes.
Take a bow!
ENCORE: One of the great Candlelight traditions is the “Sing We Noel” processional. Click here to learn about its unique back story.
(Unsung Hero is a weekly “06880” feature. To nominate a hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)
In 1979, Staples High School’s Candlelight Concert was already nearly 4 decades old.
To some people, 1979 seems like almost yesterday. But musicians from that year’s production are old enough to have grandchildren on stage tonight and tomorrow, for the 83rd annual “Staples Music Department gift to the town.”
The 1979 Candlelight Concert.
It’s unlikely there will be any grandkids — not this year, anyway. Give those ’79 alums a few more years.
But Candlelight will welcome them, whenever they’re ready. It’s one of Westport’s oldest and proudest traditions.
From the opening “Sing We Noel” processional to the rousing “Hallelujah Chorus” finale, it’s timeless.
Yet the Candlelight Concert changes with the times, too. Over the years, the symphonic band was added to the program. So was a production number.
The 1983 production number — 40 years ago, this weekend.
This year, for the first time in over 40 years, a special commissioned piece — by alums Jake Landau and Emily Garber — will be premiered.
Also new: choral director Lauren Pine makes her Candlelight debut.
If you’re lucky enough to have scored tickets: enjoy! But whether you’ll be there or not: If you have any Candlelight Concert memories to share, click “Comments” below.”
“Sing We Noel” processional, 2011. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
A severe ice storm led to a significant “power failure the likes of which can’t be remembered in Fairfield County,” the Westport News report.
Connecticut Light & Power said that 90% of Weston lost electricity at some point; 1/3 of Westport customers were impacted. It took up to a week for some customers in the state to regain power.
Though the movie “The Ice Storm” is not based on a true story, it takes place on Thanksgiving weekend in 1973 — exactly 50 years ago.
1107 Hope Street, Stamford, after the 1973 ice storm.
(“06880” is your hyper-local blog — the place to go for news and views on yesterday, today and tomorrow. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
“It is with mixed feelings that we announce that after spending the last 10+ years building Saugatuck Sweets Westport, we will be closing this location effective December 17.
“In recent years due to the challenging economic conditions and Covid issues, we have determined that it is no longer financially viable for us to keep this business afloat.
“We have so many amazing memories from our time in Westport that we will always cherish. So many incredible and lifelong friendships that we have built in our time here. It is our hope that while serving the Saugatuck section of Westport we have provided you and your families with not only great ice cream and candy … but also a tremendous family experience.
“We extend our appreciation to the Gault family, our landlord, for their great support, patience and help over the last 10 years….
“While we are saddened to be leaving the Westport area, we are excited to continue to serve you at our Fairfield location.
“Thanks for your love, support & business.
Chris & Al DiGuido
“PS. Please note that Westport gift cards will continue to be honored at the Saugatuck Sweets Fairfield location.
“PPS. There are a number of great photos hanging in the store featuring your children. If you would like these photos. you can pick them up in the Fairfield Store as well.” (Hat tip: Mark Mathias)
Friends and admirers of Lynda Bluestein packed the Westport Library yesterday, for the dedication of 2 wind phones. Donated by the longtime Westporter and her family, the disconnected (but real) telephones allow people to “stay in touch” with loved ones who have died.
Originated in Japan, there are now 170 wind phones in the US. However, these are the first in a public library. One will be in the “Library of Things,” available for checkout. The other will be in the Children’s Library, allowing youngsters to “call” not only grandparents and others, but pets who have passed.
Children’s Library wind phone (left), and the one in the Library of Things.
Lynda — who has terminal fallopian tube cancer, and who after reaching a settlement with the state of Vermont, will be the first non-resident to take advantage of a law allowing people with terminal illnesses to end their own lives — was at the Library ceremony, with family and friends.
Speaking gracefully, she acknowledged the importance of wind phones at the library: a public place where people can also find privacy.
The Library’s wind phones will be accompanied by recommended reading for both children and adults, plus a dedicated resource guide.
Lynda also spoke about the process of grief, and what it means to feel connected to those who are gone.
Library director Bill Harmer and actor James Naughton — who, like Lynda, is a staunch advocate for legislation permitting medical aid in dying — also spoke, lauding Lynda’s generosity, compassion and humanity.
Lynda Bluestein, at the Westport Library. (Photos/Dan Woog)
A SWAT team descended on 24 Ferry Lane East yesterday.
First responders from 6 towns used stun grenades. Officers — including K-9 corps — breached the house, and found suspects inside.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
No one was arrested, either.
It was the right house, though: one slated for demolition later this month.
Personnel from Westport, Wilton, Easton, Darien, Monroe and Trumbull seized the opportunity for a training exercise. The “suspects” were playing roles — but the action (except for live ammo) was real.
Neighbors were notified last week. They were told to expect military-looking vehicles and officers along the road.
And explosions too.
It’s great to know that emergency personnel are constantly training.
It’s equally great to know that everything they did yesterday was not for real.
SWAT action on Ferry Lane East yesterday. (Photos and hat tip/Matthew Mandell)
Anyone lucky enough to have tickets to this weekend’s Candlelight Concerts knows they’re in for a treat. In addition to the usual superb show, the Staples High School Music Department premieres its first commissioned work in 40 years, by Class of 2000 graduates Jake Landau and Emily Garber.
But there’s another important element of Candlelight — and it’s called “Can-Delight.”
This year, the Staples chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society is bringing back the tradition of donating cans of food, for Homes with Hope.
They’ll collect nonperishable canned and boxed foods at all 3 Candlelight Concerts. Donation boxes will be in the lobby.
So grab your tickets — and as many cans as you, um, can. It’s an extra-special way to enjoy the Music Department’s 83rd annual gift to the town.
Poster design by Tri-M Music Honor Society co-president Shivali Kanthan.
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Yesterday’s Roundup included an item about contractors’ trucks being parked at the triangular green on Kings Highway North and Old Hill Road, across from the cemetery. It’s a historic site: Militias trained there during the Revolutionary War.
I expected a few reactions:
“Who cares?”
“Aren’t there more important things to worry about?”
“It’s better than parking on that narrow, busy road.”
I did not expect this to be posted in the Comments section:
It is my contractors who have been parking on the green across from the Old Hill Cemetery.
I have felt awful about the damage done to the green and have been planning on repairing everything. The repair will be done in the spring. I already have a quote from my landscaper to put new topsoil down and seed and will do anything else necessary to repair and restore the area.
Thank you,
Ann Sisto
4 Old Hill Road
Just when you think you’ve heard everything …
Happy holidays, Ann. And here’s wishing you a speedy, beautiful and hassle-free renovation!
This month marks the 25th birthday of Tess Meisel.
The Coleytown Middle School student was killed in a motor vehicle accident in 2011, during summer camp in Maine. She was just 12 years old.
Her mother, Suzanne Tanner, invites friends who are in town over the holidays to visit her memorial bench at the Westport Library.
It is adorned for the season in “Tessie Blue,” and includes Tess’ poetry.
Tess Meisel’s bench.
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In 1999, Aaron Donovan — just 5 years out of Staples High School, and a New York Times news assistant whose job included updating each issue number — discovered that the venerable “paper of record” had inadvertently credited itself with 500 extra issues.
The mistake happened 101 years earlier — in 1898.
Thanks to Donovan’s epic research, on New Year’s Day 2000, the Times corrected the error.
On Tuesday — nearly 24 years after that memorable correction — the paper looked back on the story behind the story.
The occasion was the Times‘ 60,000th issue. In commemoration, the “Times Insider” column featured an interview with Donovan. (He has moved on to a new position: deputy communications director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.)
Click here to read the full, interesting tale, and Donovan’s take on it. (Hat tip: Mary Condon)
Page 1 of the January 1, 2000 New York Times, when the issue number error was fixed. Besides the momentous turn of the millennium, there was some interesting news from Russia.
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Amy Simon Fine Art is moving.
It’s not far — just a few yards east, to 155 Post Road East (opposite Design Within Reach). The target date is January 1.
They’re transitioning to a showroom with full inventory, rather than a public gallery space. They’ll be open by appointment.
“So much of our business is online and all over the world, this just makes sense for us,” Amy says.
Meanwhile, nearly everything is on sale. Amy can provide retail and discounted prices by request, or in person (123 Post Road East).
Looking for something artsy for your kids over the holiday break?
MoCA Westport’s Intensive Art Camp is open to youngsters ages 8-10. There are 2 sessions: December 18-22 and 26-29. Both run from 9:30 a.m. to 2:3 p.m.
Students will learn art fundamentals like line work, color theory and composition, as they explore the MoCA gallery. They explore painting with a palette tool, ink on watercolors and more.
Click here for more information — including sessions for younger boys and girls – – and to register.
Registration is open for 3 of Wakeman Town Farm’s winter kids’ programs.
“Little Farmers Parent & Me,” “Toddler Sprouts” and “Fantastic Farmhands” all begin January 23. Click here for more information, including registration.
The Candlelight Concert is one of Westport’s most beloved traditions.
From the haunting “Sing We Noel” processional to the majestic “Hallelujah Chorus” — with choirs, orchestras, bands and a special production number in between — the Staples High School Music Department’s gift to the town is a centerpiece of the holiday season.
It’s hard to imagine anything more special. But this weekend’s 83rd annual concert promises an astonishing addition.
Two Class of 2013 graduates — composer Jake Landau and poet Emily Garber — have collaborated on a piece commissioned solely for this year’s Candlelight.
“I Found the Light” is the Music Department’s first commissioned work in 40 years. The world premiere marks a new chapter in the school’s rich musical heritage.
A video that will play before each concert this weekend offers background into the artistic process, from the composer, the librettist, and Staples’ orchestra, band and choral directors.
The video provides an intimate look into the creative process and the significant impact this commission has had on students and faculty. It underscores the vital role of new art and contemporary artists in our world, and shows how Staples students have a unique chance to contribute to the creation of new music.
The story behind the commission is so compelling, and the video so insightful, that it deserves the widest possible audience.
So here it is. Click below or — if your browser does not support embedding — click here.
This weekend’s Candlelight Concert — the 82nd since 1940 — honored both its long and storied tradition, and kept it fresh and new.
The choral symphonic and jazz ensembles awed the full auditorium with their voices and musicianship. The program — from the traditional, lovely “Sing We Noel” through the stunning “Nutcracker Suite,” rousing “Jubilate Deo” and clever production number, to the powerful “Home Alone Suite” and rousing “Hallelujah Chorus” finale — was both proof that our town’s young artists are very alive, quite well (and superbly well-trained), and that even in times of uncertainty and division, all can be right in Westport.
Congratulations and thanks to all who made Candlelight possible: choral director Luke Rosenberg; orchestra directors Carrie Mascaro and Jeri Hockensmith; band director Phil Giampietro; townwide music and visual arts coordinator Steve Zimmerman — and of course all the teenage musicians, who gave us the gift of music.
And of course thanks to Lynn Untermeyer Miller, who captured all the magic of the show.
The stage …
… and the lobby …
… the welcoming musicians …
… the ubiquitous Alice Addicks …
… the “Sing We Noel” processional …
… the orchestra …
… in tune with each other …
… an intense gaze …
… the Jazz Combo plays “Frosty the Red-Nosed Christmas Tree” …
… and the vocal duet “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” …
… and the music …
… and the production number, Don Rickenback’s original “Holiday Greeting Letter” …
… and another production number view …
… while Jeri Hockensmith (rear) introduces her Staples music department staff (from left) Carrie Moscaro, Luke Rosenberg, Nick Giampietro and Don Rickenback. (All photos/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
(Happy holidays! If you’d like to help support this hyper-local blog, please click here. Thank you!)
Just in time for the holidays: Westport’s Department of Human Services’ Giving Program is back.
Donations from community members are a huge help to Westport families facing financial hardship. One hundred families with school-aged children benefit each year from the program.
This year, rising costs for food, housing and fuel has added strains to many local budgets.
Gift cards and cash donations are matched with families, who then purchase food and simple holiday gifts for their children. Beneficiaries are anonymous.
The program enables parents to personalize their presents, and participate fully in the holiday season.
Residents and organizations can donate cash, checks or gift cards to the “Family to Family Seasonal Holiday Giving Program” online (click here). Contributions can also be dropped off at Town Hall, or mailed to the Department of Human Services c/o Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
Westport residents facing financial difficulties can contact Human Services at 203-341-1050 or humansrv@westportct.gov for confidential assistance.
CTBites’ weekly blog leads with a story about Casa Me.
The story on the new restaurant in the longtime Sconset Square corner begins:
Casa Me elevates the local restaurant scene with its exceptional Northern Italian vacation-inspired cuisine.
For months Westporters and passersby wondered what was to become of the slightly rundown restaurant in Sconset Square in the midst of a massive renovation and remodel that seemed to take forever. Rumors began to circulate… a Mexican restaurant was coming to town (another?). A Spanish restaurant was moving in. (That’s across the street.) There was also some speculation that a new concept by restauranteur Mario Fontana, owner of the Bodega restaurants both in Fairfield and Darien was going to open.
Fontana was indeed opening a new restaurant, Casa Me, but the cuisine would be distinctly vacation-inspired Italian cuisine. This time he would be joined by his wife, the lovely Pina Ferlisi, who would take on the role of Creative Director after leaving a long and successful career as a fashion director for such esteemed brands as Henri Bendel and Alexander McQueen.
The Westport Public Art Collections’ new program will display large format artwork. loaned by local and regional artists.
The goal is to expand WestPAC’s mission of bringing original works to schools, to help stimulate discussion and connections with art and other curricula.
The middle school program was piloted last year when Coleytown reopened, with Eric Chiang’s “Are We Born Connected” and “History Civilizations.”
Two artists are loaning works for the 2022-23 school year. Jay Petrow offers a large-scale canvas “So Sorry” for Bedford Middle School, while Liz Leggett’s 3 abstractions are at Coleytown.
Both Westport artists have completed their installations. Throughout the school year they’ll speak to art classes, be interviewed by student newspapers and TV, and continue sharing their stories, experiences, and practices with students and staff.
A reminder: Staples High School Candlelight Concert tickets go “on sale” to the public — don’t worry, they’re still free! — on December 1.Performances are Friday, December 16 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, December 17 (3 and 8 p.m.).
The event combines 80 years of tradition with a modern holiday spirit. The Symphonic Orchestra, Symphonic Band and Choral Ensembles perform Candlelight favorites like “Sing We Noel” and “Hallelujah Chorus.” Also movements from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” music from “Home Alone” by John Williams, and the first movement of Dan Forrest’s “Jubilate Deo.”
Set your reminders. Candlelight tickets get gobbled up fast!
The Westport Museum for History & Culture is teaming up with Verso Studios at the Westport Library for a new podcast.
“Buried in Our Past” focuses on the histories all around us, It offers a new way to look at the past, and rethink the present.
The monthly podcast is recorded at Verso Studios. It’s available on the Library’s YouTube channel, and through Apple and Spotify.
The debut episode (available now) features the true story of the first Thanksgiving with guest Greg Porretta, a Julliard-trained actor and Westport Museum board member. Click below to see:
Last month, 5-year-old Daisy Jonas contracted RSV, the respiratory virus that is especially dangerous in young children. She spent 3 nights — including her birthday — at Stamford Hospital.
Her parents were grateful for the new toys given to her during her stay. Now it’s time to give back.
Daisy’s older brother — 9-year-old Levi — wants to join her in collecting toys from Westporters, for Stamford Hospital. New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off by December 18. Email biancablairjonas@gmail.com for the address; click here for an Amazon wish list.
Westport resident Dr Jim Gadzik, Westporter — a trauma surgeon at Norwalk Hospital — has a life outside of the operating room.
He can cross off one bucket list item. He’s just written a play.
“Magic: A Ballroom Musical” will be staged at Norwalk’s Wall Street Theater this Saturday (November 26, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.).
It’s an original, Christmas-themed, family-friendly show, featuring 30 songs and 7 ballroom dances.
Jim explains: “It is the story of Pam and Bob, 2 lonely people who find love in a ballroom studio on an enchanted Christmas weekend when they are offered free lessons as a holiday gift by an intriguing dance instructor. If you like Hallmark, Disney and happy endings, you’ll love ‘Magic.'”
Click here for tickets, as well as the livestream link.
Speaking of doctors: Bob Altbaum is guest speaker at the Y’s Women’s next meeting (Monday, November 28, 11:30 a.m., Green’s Farms Church). The public is invited.
Dr. Altbaum retired last year from Internal Medicine Associates of Westport, where he spent his entire career. He joined them in 1978.
An exceptional diagnostician, he is also a Renaissance man. He teaches, hikes, snowshoes, plays tennis and pickleball, and is a keyboardist in the doctor-filled rock group DNR. They play at places like the Levitt Pavilion, and fundraisers for pancreatic and breast cancer, Norwalk Hospital and ALS.
“The Laramie Project” — the Unitarian Church of Westport’s weekend play — was a simple but powerful production examining the aftermath of the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard.
It was also timely, coming on the same weekend a man killed 5 patrons of a gay club in Colorado Springs, and wounded many others.
After the actors took their bows, the audience remained for an insightful talkback.
“Laramie Project” talkback, at the Unitarian Church. (Hat tip and photo/Jill Johnson Mann)
Posted onNovember 16, 2022|Comments Off on Roundup: Candlelight Concert, Mexicue, Poet Laureates …
Don’t say we didn’t tell you.
Staples High School Candlelight Concert tickets go “on sale” to the public — don’t worry, they’re still free! — on December 1.Performances are Friday, December 16 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, December 17 (3 and 8 p.m.).
Spectacular holiday music will be provided by the symphonic orchestra, symphonic band and choral ensembles. The 82-year-old event blends plenty of time-honored traditions, with some 21st-century twists.
If you’ve been to Candlelight, you know what I’m talking about. If you’ve never gone — set that alarm for tickets. You don’t need kids in high school to appreciate what these teenagers (and their teachers) do.
One more tradition: the artwork for this year’s concert comes once again from Staples senior Hugh Kennedy. It’s the third year in a row he’s designed the graphics.
Last February, “06880” announced the imminent arrival of Mexicue.
The restaurant — mixing “street food sensibility” with fine dining — was renovating 38 Main Street, the former site of Bobby Q’s and Onion Alley.
The target for opening was May.
Mexicue missed the mark by 6 months. Opening day is today, at 4 p.m.
From all indications, the wait will be worth it. Westporters who have dined at Mexicue in New York City (Chelsea, NoMad, Midtown), Stamford and Washington say “¡muy bueno!”
Westport resident Aye Aye Thant is one of the our town’s biggest boosters of the United Nations.
It’s no wonder. Her father, U Thant, was the third secretary general of the organization. The Burmese leader served from 1961 to 971.
Aye Aye – a longtime Westporter — addressed the Rotary Club yesterday, at Green;s Farms Congregational Church. She reflected on her father’s legacy of diversity and peace, and the role education played in that vision.
U Thant, who died in 1974, was a strong proponent of decolonization and tolerance. His daughter believes he was ahead of his time.
“As a Buddhist, he believed Buddhism was a great religion but he also understood that hundreds of millions disagreed with him,” she said. That realization led her father to espouse a philosophy of peaceful coexistence.
Aye Aye Thant, speaking at yesterday’s Westport Rotary Club meeting. A photo of her father, U Thant, is on the screen behind her. (Photo and hat tip/Dave Matlow)
Sixteen years after headlining the Malloy Lecture in the Arts, former US poet laureate Billy Collins returns to the Westport Library.
He’ll chat with Connecticut poet laureate Antoinette Brim-Bell about his new volume, “Musical Tables.” Those short poems focus on nature, animals, mortality, absurdity and love.
The event is December 9 (7 p.m.). Tickets are $26 (same price for 1 or 2 attendees), and include a signed copy of “Musical Tables.” Click here to purchase and for more information.
Westport’s own poet laureate — Jessica Noyes McEntee — says: “If you know Billy Collins’ work, then I don’t have to encourage you to see him live. If you haven’t explored his oeuvre, this night promises to be delightful. His work has a magical and effortless quality that many of us in the poetry community emulate, and enjoy.”
“Billy Collins is perhaps the most revered poet writing in America today,” says Library executive director Bill Harmer. “Most communities would count themselves fortunate to see him once in a lifetime. To have him back in Westport for a second time is a thrill beyond measure. And to be joined by Antoinette is a true gift.”
The Staples High School boys soccer program has always given back to the community. This year’s initiative: collecting donations for the Cardinal Shehan Center in Bridgeport, and its after-school, vacation and summer camps for low income youth.
All donations will be delivered by players to the Center, in time for their annual holiday party on December 17.
Donations can be made Friday through Sunday, December 2-4, at 1 Baldwin Place (off Bayberry Lane). There will be bins by the garage.
Suggested items include:
Soccer balls, dodgeballs, basketballs
Plastic hockey sticks
Air Hockey Table and supplies
Ping Pong table and supplies
Complete board games with intact boxes and all pieces
Children or family DVDs
Unopened arts & crafts supplies
Unopened toys for holiday gifts
Dolls
Headphones
Gift cards
Hats, scarves and gloves
Swim goggles
Can’t find anything to give? Click here to guy new using the Center’s Amazon Wishlist, and have it delivered directly to the Laskin family, 1 Baldwin Place, Westport, CT 06880.
Can’t drop off during the December 2-4 dates? Email nicolelaskin@icloud.com for alternate arrangements.
Longtime Westporter Ruby Allen died Friday in her sleep. The wife of Winston Allen. she was 87 years old.
Born in Pittsburgh, and one of 8 siblings, she lived here for 48 years.
She graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in finance, and from Baruch College with a master’s in public administration. She also attended Harvard University’ executive program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government..
Ruby served as an assistant vice president of finance for the Health and Hospital Corporation of New York City for 30 years.
She loved traveling the world for pleasure, and as “first lady of the Westport Rotary Foundation,” attending 10 international conferences, She volunteered for humanitarian for months at a time with her husband, in Haiti and South Africa.
In addition to her husband, Ruby is survived by her stepchildren Vaughn and Julie Allen.
Viewing will be at St Paul’s on the Green (60 East Avenue, Norwalk) on Tuesday, November 22 at 10:00 a.m., followed by an 11 a.m. service and then a noon gravesite ceremony at Willowbrook Cemetery in Westport. Guests are then welcome at the Allen home (4 Burritts Landing North).
Staples High School’s November Students of the Month are seniors William Lacend Duprey, Marley Brown. Alexander Mussomeli and Jason Capozucca; junior Kimberly Cheng; sophomore Jane Cunningham, and freshmen Sophie Grijns and Gunnar Eklund.
Students of the Month “help make Staples a welcoming place for their peers and teachers alike. They are the ‘glue’ of the school community: the type of kind, cheerful, hard-working, trustworthy students who keep Staples together, making it the special place that it is.”
November Students of the Month (from left): William Lacend Duprey ,Kimberly Cheng, Alexander Mussomeli, Gunnar Eklund, Jason Capozucca, Jane Cunningham, Missing: Marley Brown, Sophie Grijns.
Joe Carpenter offers today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo of his Annabelle hydrangea, and says: “This little girl finally decided she better bloom now before it is too late. Or is she 6 months ahead of everyone else?”
And finally … Dan McCafferty has died, at 76. He suffered from COPD.
You may not know his name. But you know his voice — from, for example, Nazareth’s “Love Hurts.” The New York Times explains:
His rendition — vocally scratchy but belted out behind reverberating guitar lines — became the definitive one. The world-weary lyrics emphasize hard lessons learned from heartbreak, but his passionate delivery made the song sound more like a statement of unvarnished desire.
The song came to seem characteristic of a post-hippie era, when male vitality was at the center of rock but the combativeness of heavy metal and punk had not yet become popular. In the movie “Dazed and Confused” (1993), “Love Hurts” plays at a 1970s junior high party in a neighborhood recreation center, where longhaired teens slow dance and furtively neck.
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Two Class of 2013 graduates — composer Jake Landau and poet Emily Garber — have collaborated on a piece commissioned solely for this year’s Candlelight.
