Tag Archives: Catch a Lift Foundation

Roundup: Board Of Ed, 190 Main, Lemonade …

Posted on August 20, 2023 | 9 comments

This November’s Board of Education election is very important. In the next 2 years, members may vote on everything from new buildings and redistricting to students’ access to library materials.

To help Westporters understand more about the BOE, the League of Women Voters of Westport will host 3 current members. The trio will discuss how the BOE operates.

Chair Lee Goldstein, secretary Neil Phillips and member Dorie Hordon are panelists for the September 6 event (7 p.m., Westport Library).

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190 Main appears closed.

There is no sign on the door of the restaurant, located in the same mini-plaza as Joe’s Pizza and Le Rouge Chocolatier. Tables remain on the patio. The answering machine still describes its hours of operation.

But inside, furniture is piled high, ready for removal. Fans of the small spot, with an eclectic menu, will be heartbroken.

(Photo and hat tip/Sal Liccione)

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For veterans, September 11 is a solemn day.

This year, it’s especially important.

Catch a Lift — the national organization that helps post-9/11 combat-injured veterans recover and rehabilitate, physically and mentally, through physical fitness, motivation and support — will hold its 2nd annual Connecticut golf and pickleball outing.

The event, at the Patterson Club in Fairfield (10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.), also includes cocktails, dinner, raffles, and the chance to hear inspirational accounts from veterans about their journeys.

Click here to register, and for more details.

Catch a Lift veterans, at a previous event in Westport.

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There are lemonade stands.

And then are super-lemonade stands.

Emerson, Beckett, Aja and Jada Rhimes set up a stand at a busy intersection near their home. They wanted to raise funds for Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Services.

“They help so many people. And they do it through donations. We wanted to help,” the girls said.

Did they ever!

Before running out of cups and lemonade, they raised $1,817. Their proud mother matched it.

An anonymous donor, impressed, added another $500.

So that’s $4,134 for WVEMS, from one lemonade stand.

Well done, girls!

A very successful lemonade stand. (Photo/Shonda Rhimes)

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Labor Day is (ugh) sooner than you think.

Time to get back to business — in more ways than one.

The Westport Business Networking International chapter’s Quarterly Visitor’s Day is September 7 (United Methodist Church, 7 a.m.).

Westport BNI has 50 members, with only one per category. Current open classifications include printer, salon/spa, restaurant, security systems, HVAC, photographer, travel agent, caterer, florist, event planner, home inspector, moving company,  electrician, dentist, personal trainer, auto repair, cleaning service, physical therapy, cosmetics/skincare and promotional products.

Meetings are held weekly. Email debralommascout@gmail.com or cara.mocarski@welcomewagon.com to sign up for Visitor’s Day. For more information, click here.

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The home at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Treadwell Avenue — across from the VFW — draws plenty of admiring stares.

There are 3 reasons: It’s handsome. It’s historic. And there’s plenty of time to look, at what can be a very long light.

Recently, there’s another reason: renovation work.

It looks dangerous. Kudos to the workers who navigate that steep roof, and the rickety-looking ladder laid horizontally across.

(Photo/Pat Auber)

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Dan Vener’s “Westport … Naturally” photo of a Burritt’s Cove swan is great.

But his comment is even better: “She only has 4 months left to find 6 buddies.”

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And finally … when you saw the photo of the workmen on the house at Treadwell Avenue, you must have known this was coming:

(“06880” does not have a lemonade stand. But we do encourage donations, to help us continue our work. Please click here. Thank you!)

 

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Posted in Education, Local business, Local politics, Real estate, Restaurants

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Roundup: 233 Hillspoint Road, 58 Saugatuck Avenue, Goats …

Posted on July 19, 2023 | 16 comments

It may not be the biggest controversy in Westport, but it is the most visible.

On this week’s “Westport … What’s Happening” podcast, 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker and anti-blight officer Steve Smith discuss the history — and latest action  — involving 233 Hillspoint Road: aka the blue eyesore at the old Positano restaurant near Old Mill Beach.

It’s quite a saga. Click below to listen to the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston production.

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For decades, 58 Saugatuck Avenue has been an object of intrigue.

The tiny brick storefront has housed, at various times, a barbershop, florist, catering kitchen and (perhaps) a pre-Prohibition liquor store.

58 Saugatuck Avenue before …

It’s been vacant for years though, ever since the previous tenant — a pop-up art gallery — closed.

Recently, it’s gotten a nice (and much-needed) makeover.

(Photos/JD Dworkow)

What’s going in?

The use of the building is up to the owner. Current zoning allows almost any retail use, from another catering kitchen or gallery to a law office, or an artist’s or interior designer’s studio.

One fairly big drawback: There is absolutely no parking.

The building has been on the market for months. It’s in a residentially zoned lot (with a 2-family home, also recently renovated) behind.

A zoning permit was recently issued for the storefront, authorizing its continued (non-conforming) retail use. (Hat tip: Gloria Gouveia)

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When it comes to pet health food, Earth Animal is the GOAT.

So it’s no coincidence that the Post Road all-natural shop is sponsoring Wakeman Town Farm’s summer goat program.

Earth Animal provides the goats with food, bedding, animal care, veterinary needs, pen maintenance and more to keep them healthy and happy.

The sponsorship also includes “goat classes.”

WTF’s goat husbandry program includes 30-minute private feeding and socialization sessions. Its “Bottle-Feed the Kids” class offers a goat-feeding experience, along with cuddling and playing.

Earth Animal funded the recent construction of a new animal barn at Wakeman Town Farm, adding an additional animal shelter, feed storage and veterinary care space.

Merritt and Abbey Goldstein, co-owners of Earth Animal, are not kidding around.

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The world changed forever on September 11, 2001.

On September 11, 2023, servicemembers who were injured in post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will benefit from a special event.

Catch a Lift — the national non-profit that provides combat-injured veterans with nutrition, fitness, emotional wellness and community help, to heal emotionally, physically and spiritually — returns for a 9th year in Fairfield County.

The Patterson Club event includes pickleball, golf, dinner, and an inspiring program. Click here for more information on tickets, sponsorships and donations.

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It’s official!

Senator Richard Blumenthal recently recognized the Westport Library, Verso Studios, and their compilation album Verso Records, Volume One, in the Congressional Record.

“This record is the product of collaboration among local artists and is the first of its kind issued by a public library,” Blumenthal said. “This endeavor is an example of Westport at its best — the vision and vibrancy of the community and its commitment to artistic achievement, powering culture throughout the State of Connecticut.”

Blumenthal added that the Library has enriched the community as a leading innovator for decades, noting the MakerSpace, Library of Things, Seed Library, Cafe and Store, and prized artwork collection.

“These resources make The Westport Library one of the best libraries in all of America — a ‘noisy library,’ as its supporters say, and a true jewel of the community.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal, at the Westport Library.

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In 2012, the Suzanne Sheridan Band performed and recorded a concert of Leonard Cohen’s music at Voices Café.

Since then, Sheridan’s band has continued the tradition in many venues. On August 6 (12:30 p.m.), Sheridan (vocals, guitar), Bob Cooper (keyboard) and Joe Meo (woodwinds) will add the VFW to the list.

There’s a $10 cover. Brunch and a Bloody Mary bar (plus mimosas) are available for an extra charge.

Click here for tickets. For more information, email info@firstfolksunday.com, or call 203-222-1441.

… with Suzanne Sheridan.

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Lyn McCarthy, development director of Caroline House, spoke yesterday to the Westport Rotary Club.

Bridgeport-based Caroline House — a regular recipient of Rotary grants — provides food, clothing, English language and life skills education to immigrant women.

Lyn McCarthy of Caroline House at the Westport Rotary Club. (Photo/Ellin Curley)

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Today’s very compelling “Westport … Naturally” photo comes from 14-year-old Emae Forman. It’s from the frog pond on Marion Road.

(Photo/Emae Forman)

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And finally … when Suzanne Sheridan channels Leonard Cohen on August 6 at the VFW, many of the tunes may be familiar. Here are 2 of my favorites:

(Hallelujah! You can help support “06880”! Please click here. Thank you!)

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Roundup: Lanternfly, Dead Tree,, Orchestrating Change …

Posted on August 12, 2022 | 6 comments

Chuck Greenlee, acting Y’s Men Gardening chair, writes:

“Wednesday afternoon at the very popular Westport Community Garden, our our Ys Men Gardening group noticed an unusual flying insect. JP Montillier got an eerily good photo.

“It was our newest American insect invasive scourge: the lanternfly.”

Click here for more information on lanternflies.

Lanternfly (Photo/JP Montillier)

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Speaking of the less-wonderful side of nature:

Dave Wilson sent a photo of a dead tree on New Creek Road, near the Greens Farms Station and Beachside Avenue.

(Photo/Dave Wilson)

It’s dangerous. Dave says that a few requests have been made over the years to remove it.

He thinks it may have been tagged this week.

Fingers crossed …

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Nômade — the new restaurant replacing Tavern on Main — has had a few previews, before opening officially next week.

The previously dark interior has been reimagined, much more brightly. (The fireplace remains — but it’s now white). The patio is filled with tables, and a large bar. Wicker baskets hang from the ceiling.

The eclectic menu ranges from burgers and steaks to octopus, clams and ravioli.

The Nomade patio, overlooking Main Street. (Photo/Dan Woog)

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Tickets are going fast for tonight’s (Friday) Levitt Pavilion show — the inaugural one, launching Hiss Golden Messenger and Aiofe O’Donovan’s “Turn Tail in the Milky Way” tour. (Next stops: Chautauqua, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival.)

And kids’ tickets (12 and under) are free.

Both bands are part of the Levitt’s “Stars on Tour” event.

The show starts at 7 p.m. tonight. Doors open at 6; the Walrus Alley food truck will be there. Click here for tickets, and more information.

Tonight’s “Stars on Tour” folk double-header follows the free one last night. Intergenerational greatness was on stage, as Clueless (with School of Rock stars Ethan Walmark, Anais Preller, Jake Greenwald; Zach Rogers, Francesco Perrouna and Witt Lindau teamed up with perennial favorite the Mill River Band.

Dancing to the Mill River Band last night at the Levitt Pavilion, under a super moon.

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Yesterday was the first of the 3-day Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition.

The international event includes master classes by finalists at the Westport Public Library, and performances at MoCA Westport.

Today’s (Friday) events include a lecture by educator and musician Clipper Erickson, plus more master classes at the Library, and performances at MoCA. The competition concludes with an awards ceremony at MoCA on Saturday, (August 13).

Click here for tickets for all events, both in-person and virtual, and more information.

Heida Hermanns finalist Artem Kuznetsov leads a master class at the Westport Library. (Photo/Feria Sewell)

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Speaking of music: Me2/Orchestra is the only one in the world created by and for people living with mental illness. R

It was created by Ronald Braunstein. On a trajectory to becoming a leading conductor, he made his diagnosis of bipolar disorder public and was shunned by the classical music community.

He vowed to erase the mental health stigma. one concert at a time. The film “Orchestrating Change” follows Braunstein and several musicians for 2 years, capturing their setbacks and accomplishments.

The film ends in triumph for Braunstein, who thought he might never conduct again — and for the musicians and audience, whose perspective on mental illness is forever changed.

The Westport Library will show “Orchestrating Change” on September 13 (7 p.m.). Executive producers/directors Margie Friedman and Barbara Multer-Wellin, and several people featured in the film, will be on hand for a talkback after the screening. Click here for more details. 

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The Staples High School football program was inspired yesterday by a visit from a combat wounded Army veteran, Intelligence Sergeant Quincy Lopez.

He cheered on the athletes, as they did a Marine Corps “Murph workout.” It’s a fundraiser for both Westport football and Catch a Lift, the program that helps wounded vets.

Sgt. Lopez spoke of being part of something “bigger than yourself.” He added:

“You are as strong as your strongest link, and as weak as your weakest link. If you guide your decisions by what makes the team better, that in turn makes you better.

“We will soon approach another anniversary of 9/11. The darkest of hours and ultimate tragedy was followed by the greatest period of camaraderie and unity.  Incredible gains can happen when everybody works together.  Keep this in mind as you persevere for whatever you do and aim to achieve.”

Staples football players listen intently. (Photo courtesy of Adam Vengrow)

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Colorful seacoast mushrooms at the Westport Farmers’ Market make today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo particularly colorful.

(Photo/Mike Hibbard)

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And finally … on this day in 1966, John Lennon apologized for saying that “the Beatles are more popular than Jesus.”

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Posted in Arts, Downtown, Environment, Library, Restaurants, Sports, Staples HS

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Roundup: Reusable Takeout, Super Bowl, More

Posted on February 2, 2021 | 4 comments

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Like many Westporters, Yulee Aronson’s family orders a lot of takeout food.

Environmentally conscious, he hates throwing away single-use containers. So he researched companies that offer reusable ones.

He found several. The closest — DeliverZero — is in Brooklyn. They provide containers to restaurants, for takeout or delivery. Diners can return them to the delivery person the next time they order from a participating restaurant, or drop them off themselves. A list of DeliverZero restaurants is on their website.

Yulee asked the owner what it would take to bring his service to Westport. He said, “5 participating restaurants.”

So: How about it, Westport? If you’re a restaurant owner, do you want in? If you’re a diner, would you ask your favorite owners to join?

If so, email yulee.aronson@parsons.com. We’ll let you know when we’re ready to start!

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Not sure who to root for in Sunday’s Super Bowl?

Forget the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. Just cheer for a guard: the Bucs’ Ali Marpet.

He has a great back story: The Hobart College alum is the highest Division III player ever drafted in the NFL. Now he’s got a 5-year, $54 million contract blocking for Tom Brady.

He grew up not far away, in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where his mother sang in the band Housewives on Prozac, and founded both the Mamapalooza music and arts festival and the Museum of Motherhood.

Oh, yeah: That mom is 1975 Staples High School graduate Joy Rose.

The New York Post provides the full back story. Click here for details. (Hat tips: Bill Halprin and Fred Cantor)

Ali Marpet (left) on draft day and his mother Joy Rose (right), flanking his siblings Zena and Blaze.

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Before cheering for Ali Marpet — and digging into wings and nachos — consider doing a tough workout. You’ll feel good. And you’ll help a great cause.

The workout is a 6-minute pullup bar hang or 6-minute plank, followed by either a half-mile run and 30 pushups, or 2 rounds of 75 jumping jacks, 35 mountain climbers, 15 pushups and 7 burpees. There are other options too.

The cause — after registering ($25 per person, or $40 if you want a t-shirt) is Catch a Lift. The national organization — which has a strong Westport presence, thanks to Adam Vengrow and Andy Berman — helps thousands of post-9/11 combat-wounded veterans regain mental and physical health through gym memberships, home gym equipment, personalized fitness and nutrition programs, and a peer support network.

Click here to register, and for more information.

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Lynsey Addario’s compelling New York Times photos of COVID’s very real effects on very real people in the UK has caught the eye of CNN.

The 1991 Staples High School graduate (and Pulitzer Prize winner, and MacArthur fellow) was interviewed by Rosemary Church. It’s a sobering look at her work — and at the lives and deaths of a few of the millions impacted by the pandemic. Click here (not below — that’s a screenshot) to see.

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Once again, Homes with Hope is part of the Wilton Kiwanis Club’s annual Citrus & Chocolate Fundraiser.

A variety of offerings includes combo packaging with samplings of citrus, plus a great assortment of See’s chocolates.

Every box of fruit or chocolate ordered through the Homes with Hope link benefits our local supportive housing organization. Click here to order. Click here for more information.

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Westporters are used to deer. One, two, sometimes even three eat our bushes, and bound out of the woods.

But it’s rare to 6 at once. Eric Roth took this photo yesterday, on Dogwood Lane.

(Photo/Eric Roth)

They look hungry. It’s not easy feeding such a large family — especially in a snowstorm.

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Hal Holbrook — who died recently at 95 — spent more than 6 decades portraying Mark Twain.

As John Kelley notes, one of those performances was on Halloween night in 1959, at Staples High School.

The school had just opened its modern North Avenue campus. The PTA had an active arts program, bringing musicians, dancers and actors to the new auditorium stage.

Hal Holbrook might have been the most famous name of all.

Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain (Photo/Sara Krulwich for the New York Times)

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COVID-delayed openings today: Westport Library (1 p.m.) and Westport Weston Family YMCA (12:30 p.m.).

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And finally … Happy Groundhog Day!

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Posted in Arts, Environment, Library, Media, Organizations, Restaurants, Sports, Staples HS, YMCA

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Sgt. Nikki Elder Catches A Lift

Posted on October 14, 2019 | 2 comments

It’s easy to ignore Veterans Day.

Sure, banks and the post office are closed. But many offices — and the stock market — are open. School is on.

Westport is not exactly a military town. The veterans who live here served mostly in long-ago wars. We’re almost entirely untouched by the endless battles in Iraq and Afghanistan. That conflict — and the men and women who fight there — is out of sight, out of mind.

But it sure isn’t for those who were wounded there.

The Catch a Lift Fund is a lifeline for those “other people.” Created by a woman whose brother volunteered after 9/11 and was killed in Afghanistan, it provides gym memberships and home gym equipment to help wounded post-9/11 service members heal physically and mentally, through physical fitness.

Thanks to one Westporter, however — and his dedicated crew of friends and supporters — Catch a Lift has become a prized, and very special, “local” organization.

In just 5 years, Catch a Lift’s Veterans Day event has become one of the year’s most important fundraisers.

I went to my first one 2 years ago. It was among the most moving nights of my life.

Catch a Lift veterans, at last year’s Birchwood Country Club event.

Adam Vengrow is the inspiration behind this inspiring evening. The next one is Friday, November 8 (7 p.m.), at Birchwood Country Club.

There’s great food and beverages. There’s a DJ, and a video.

But all that pales in comparison to the guests of honor. More than a dozen veterans will be there, mixing and mingling. One will speak. The room will fall silent. It’s a life-changing experience.

The men and women include double and triple amputees. Some are in wheelchairs; others use canes. But this is no pity party. The spirit, energy, life and joy in the group is astonishing.

These veterans are not your typical Westporters. They enlisted just after — or during — high school. They’ve seen things you and I can’t imagine (and, because the war is so distant, never read about).

They have suffered unfathomably — for their country, and us. Thanks to Catch a Lift, they’ve rebuilt their lives. Next month, they’ll honor us with their presence.

Sgt. Nikki Elder (ret.) was at Birchwood last year. She did not speak. This year she will.

Sgt. Nikki Elder

The upstate New York native joined the Navy, and worked as a cryptologic technician with the National Security Agency.

She got out — and then, after 9/11, Elder joined the Army National Guard. In 2004 and ’05, she was deployed to Afghanistan.

She medically retired in 2013. Elder went to grad school, earning a master’s in nutrition. That’s her job now. So is being a single mother to 2 sons.

For years, she battled PTSD. She thought she could conquer it on her own. One day, at a retreat, a fellow veteran told Elder “you have to get your life together.” She mentioned Catch a Lift.

The organization connected Elder with a squad leader, who held her accountable. It took a while — “I fought it,” she admits — but CAL stayed with her.

“I got a lot more out of it than a gym membership,” Elder says. “They believed in me, when I didn’t even believe in myself.”

Nikki Elder (5th from left), at a Catch a Lift event.

Last year she went to Birchwood Country Club, for the 4th annual Catch a Lift fundraiser.

That was the turning point.

“I hadn’t realized the support that was out there, until I saw it in Westport,” Elder recalls. “I had been fighting it. I was guilty, ashamed, depressed, angry. Catch a Lift, and the people in Westport, made me realize I wasn’t broken.”

The weekend “blew me away,” Elder says. “I didn’t know what to expect. But people came up and started talking. I had not been comfortable being complimented, or called a hero. But they genuinely appreciated what I did. It was amazing. I started being okay with thank-yous.”

Vengrow, his fellow organizer Andy Berman, and others were “so enthusiastic. They believed in us. They said ‘you can do this.’ There was no doubt in their minds. They sparked something in me that hasn’t stopped. They gave me confidence I hadn’t felt since I was in the service.”

Today, she has lost 140 pounds from her maximum of 264. She is off all her PTDS medications. “I’m myself again,” she marvels.

Nikki Elder (right) with a fellow Catch a Lift veteran.

She looks forward to returning to this year’s gala. “I want to support Westport, because Westport supported me,” Elder says.

For the past year, she has kept in touch with some of the people — veterans and civilians — she met here. They still encourage each other.

“It’s contagious. It’s infectious. I love it!” she says.

Westport loves Sgt. Nikki Elder, and all her Catch a Lift colleagues, too.

(In addition to Sgt. Nikki Elder, the November 8 event features 2-star General Charles W. Whittington and Catch a Lift founder Lynn Coffland, plus food, drinks and music. Click here for tickets. The next day, the veterans pay it forward by helping MyTeamTriumph, a program for people with disabilities who otherwise could not participate in endurance events like triathlons and road races.) 

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Unsung Hero #23

Posted on November 15, 2017 | 8 comments

We don’t often think of Westport as a vocal, support-our-troops town.

Westporters are as patriotic as any Americans. We’ve got our share of veterans. But very few served after 9/11. The difficult, ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are far from most of our minds.

Yet with tremendous energy, incredible organizing skills, plenty of passion — and the leadership qualities of the best generals in history — Adam Vengrow has put Westport on the military map.

He’s the driving force behind our great relationship with Catch a Lift. The national organization provides gym memberships and home equipment, fitness programs and motivational peer support to post-9/11 combat-wounded military personnel, aiding in their physical and mental recovery.

It’s an amazing group, accomplishing tremendous things. But Westport holds a special place in Catch a Lift’s heart.

Once a year, veterans come to town for a “fitness and knowledge boot camp”: strength and conditioning, yoga, spinning and more. Businesses like Joyride, Crossfit and Achieve that usually compete for customers join hands to help.

Also once a year — on Veterans Day — Adam organizes a fundraiser for Catch a Lift.

Last Saturday’s event was phenomenal. Birchwood Country Club was packed. A great cross-section of Westporters — veterans and those who never served; old and young; Republicans, Democrats and everyone else — joined together to help Catch a Lift.

Adam Vengrow (right) and Jeremiah Montell — a Marine and Navy veteran of Iran and Afghanistan — at Saturday’s Catch a Lift fundraiser.

The food and conversation were great. The silent auction was high-end. The video brought tears to all.

But the highlight of the evening was the veterans themselves. These young men and women talked about losing limbs, coming home to homelessness, battling obstacles from PTSD to losing custody of their child.

Yet they spoke too of triumphs: losing 100 pounds; entering and graduating from college; healing themselves, helping others — and regaining custody of that child.

Marine veteran Sarah Rudder lost her foot in an accident. Her story of fortitude inspired the packed crowd at Birchwood Country Club.

The fundraiser is just a part of their weekend in Westport. Earlier in the day, the Police Department hosted them for an intense workout. The day before, they’d talked to Staples athletes.

When they spoke so eloquently and passionately at Birchwood, the veterans made clear how much Westport meant to them. It was equally clear how much they meant to those of us in the audience.

Adam does not do this alone. He’s got a high-powered day job, and gets plenty of help from Andy Berman and batallions of other volunteers. (One woman called herself “part of Adam’s Army.”) He thanked them all on Saturday.

But the Westport/Catch a Lift connection would not be possible without Adam Vengrow. He shares something special with the brave men and women he brought to Birchwood on Saturday: He too is an Unsung Hero.

(If you know an Unsung Hero who should be recognized, email dwoog@optonline.net)

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