Compo cannons and clouds (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)
There are 2 types of Westporters: those who know that the cannon in front of the VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399 building on Riverside Avenue is an original from Compo Beach.
It was vandalized in 1957. The Rotary Club restored it in 1999, and presented it to the VFW. The cannon at the beach today is a replica.
The 2nd type of Westporters are those who drive by every day, and never notice it.
The first group thought that last week’s Photo Challenge — showing the cannon — was the easiest one ever. Specifically, it includes Tom Risch, Robert Mitchell, Michael Calise, Jacques Voris, Tom Feeley, Diane Silfen, Jonathan McClure, Mary Ann Batsell, Peter Swift, Lois Himes, Linda Amos and Nancy Engel.
If you’re in the 2nd group: Click here for the photo. Then click here for more info on the VFW — an important presence in town, for nearly 100 years. And when you’ve done that, the next time you head to Saugatuck, check out the history you’ve spent so much time passing by.
And when you’re finished doing that, you can figure out this week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Peter Tulupman)
I’ve said it before: You guys are good.
I was sure last week’s Photo Challenge would be tough. Tim Woodruff’s image showed something dark, and rough textured. It could have been anything. (Water cascading over the old Embalmer’s Supply dam, someone suggested.)
But most of you knew — and quickly — that it was a close-up of one of the Compo Beach cannons.
It’s one of our town’s most beloved spots. Generations of Westporters have climbed and played on the cannons (and been photographed by other generations.)
Still, I’m impressed so many readers could identify them so easily. Kudos to Sharon Paulsen, Will Hamilton, Dan Herman, Andrew Colabella, Joyce Barnhart, Fran Taylor, Wendy Cusick, Mary Schmerker and Carla Fostet. (Click here for that very up-close look.)
So you like cannons? Here’s one!
If you know where in Westport you can find it, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Mark Mathias)
One shot of the Compo Beach cannons … (Photo/Tim Woodruff)
,,, and another (Photo/Larry Untermeyer)
This shot has it all: an artist, the cannons, a seagull, and a Compo Beach sunset (Photo/Fred Cantor)
Compo by drone: beach, cannons, jetty, with Cockenoe Island in the distance. (Photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)
Posted in Beach, Pic of the Day
Tagged Cockenoe Island, Compo Beach, Compo Beach cannons, Compo Beach jetty
Saugatuck Shores was hit hardest by today’s near-nor’easter. Jennifer Seymour reports:
2 hours after high tide, there was still several feet of water. My husband rescued me and my sons by kayak on the island side of the Saugatuck Island bridge. I lived here during Irene and Sandy, and have seen nothing close since then.
With Saugatuck Shores flooded, Jennifer Seymour’s husband and daughter paddle a kayak.
One view of Saugatuck Shores …
… and another. Yes, that’s a road. (Saugatuck Shores photos/Jennifer Seymour)
Longshore’s ER Strait Marina …
… and nearby Evan Harding Point. (Longshore photos/Scott Smith)
The Soundview Drive seawall took a pounding … (Photo/Andrew Colabella)
… but it doesn’t faze Soundview resident Paul Lane. He’s lived there for decades, and weathered many storms. (Photo/Betsy P. Kahn)
An old standby: the Compo cannons. (Photo/Andrew Colabella)
Quentin Road, off Compo Beach Road. (Photo/Bruce Becker)
Grove Point Road was underwater too. (Photo/Andrew Colabella)
Posted in Beach, Longshore, Weather
Tagged Compo Beach cannons, ER Strait Marina, Grove Point Road, Quentin Road, Saugatuck Shores, Soundview Drive
Amazingly, the sun was out this morning at Compo Beach.
(Photos/Amy Schneider)
Lucky lifeguard chair, a couple of hours ago … (Photo/Nancy Axthelm)
… and the view by the cannons… (Photo/Jen Greely)
… plus this full hemi rainbow … (Photo/Seth Goltzer)
… and a pot of gold at Greens Farms Elementary School. (Photo/Kurt Dasbach)
Compo Beach cannons at night (Photo/Henry Wynne)
Click here to help support “06880” via PayPal. Any amount is welcome — and appreciated! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to: Dan Woog, 301 Post Road East, Westport, CT 06880. Or use Venmo: @DanWoog06880. Thanks!)
