Lifeguard equipment, stored for the season (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
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Last Friday’s Question Box sparked a debate about when Carvel opened.
The definitive answer: August 1954.
And the man who provided that answer — RTM member Harris Falk — also offered proof. Here’s a newspaper advertisement from that month:
Check out the ice cream cone on top of the store. As Dave Lowrie noted in the Comments section, both it and the red and white bucket over KFC (now Sun Reflexology, next to Layla’s Falafel) came down in the 1970s. The Architectural Review Board was trying to make the Post Road look “less commercial.”
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As one of their many services, the Compo lifeguards post a new, thought-provoking quote every day. Little gestures like that mean a lot.
But this sign last week was particularly intriguing:
(Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
Were they being slyly clever, misspelling both “their” and (look closely) “swimming” in a quote about fault-finding?
Or were they just simple mistakes, made more prominent by the context of the quote?
We may never know. Today is their last day on duty.
Anyway: Who cares? If you see a lifeguard, thank him or her for another safe, fun summer.
And for a daily diet of inspiring, important quotes.
No matter how they’re spelled.
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Every Home Should Have a Challah — the Westport-based national delivery service — is busy taking Yom Kippur orders. The deadline is midnight Wednesday (September 8). Click here for details.
Rosh Hashanah challah is already sold out.
Challah, from Every Home Should Have a Challah.
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Westport Book Shop is expanding its hours. Starting tomorrow (Tuesday, September 7), they’ll open earlier — 10 a.m. — Tuesdays through Saturdays.
They’ll open at noon on Sundays, and are closed Mondays.
Westport Book Shop, on Jesup Road.
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William Nicholas (Nick) Delgass died peacefully at his West Lafayette, Indiana home last month, attended by his family, after a 9-year battle with cancer. The 1960 Staples High School graduate was 78.
His interest in the world and the way it works led him to science. He graduated from the University of Michigan, then earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Stanford University.
He was more than a scientist. Throughout his life, Nick was well rounded. When he spotted Elizabeth (Betty) Holstein at a mandolin concert in 1966, he convinced her to go out with him after they bonded over a love of English literature. They married a year later, and would have celebrated their 54th anniversary at the end of August.
He and Betty had their first child, Michael, while Nick was completing his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California. He accepted his first faculty position at Yale University, and the growing family moved to Branford, where their second son, Leif, was born. Nick was on the faculty at Yale University for 5 years before accepting a position at Purdue.
he became chair of the chemical engineering department there, and taught until retirement. Nick was globally recognized for his work in integrating new tools and methods into reaction systems. His colleague Fabio Ribeiro said that few researchers impacted the field so broadly. He was a joint author of over 200 scientific papers, 2 books, advisor to many graduate students, and consultant to many companies.
His love for Betty was fierce. Nick often biked from the lab to have lunch with his family, and was a constant presence at his sons’ events. When his grandchildren were born, he made cross-country trips to visit.
Nick served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Catalysis, the flagship journal of the field. he earned various awards, and was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
Teaching was one of his great loves, as evidenced by his many honors, including the Shreve Teaching Award 7 times, and inclusion in the Purdue University Book of Great Teachers.
In addition to his wife Betty, Nick is survived by his sons Leif and Michael (Jessica Spector), and grandchildren Isaac, Aidan, Ariella, and Serafina.
No formal service is planned, but there will be a memorial reception on October 16 at the Whittaker Inn in West Lafayette. Click here to leave condolences.
Nick Delgass
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Since we began our “Westport … Naturally” feature a couple of months ago, we’ve posted plenty of animal photos. Lots of flowers, too.
This may be our first cucumber shot. It’s a nice “window” into another aspect of Westport’s many natural wonders.
(Photo/Tracy Porosoff)
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And finally … Happy Labor Day!
It’s easy these days to forget the origins of the holiday. We may not remember (or never learned) the importance of unions in our nation’s history. They brought about safety, minimum wages, overtime pay and more.
Winning those rights was not easy. The power of unions has waned over the years — look at the recent Amazon battle in Alabama — even as income inequality has grown. Organizers there no doubt wish they still had a Pete Seeger to champion their cause.
Westport won’t escape this one.
Henri — now a bona fide Category 1 hurricane — will make landfall somewhere on Long Island or southern New England tomorrow.
But wherever he hits, we’ll feel residual effects. From 4 to 6 inches of rain is now forecast, along with winds of 40 to perhaps 70 miles and hour, and storm surges of 3 to 5 feet. The full moon only adds to the danger.
Meanwhile, at Compo Beach, the Parks & Recreation Department prepared by moving lifeguard chairs to safer spots.
But have no fear. If you want to swim — taking a break from storming the grocery stores and battening down hatches — the lifeguards are on duty.
(Photos/Amy Schneider)
Comments Off on Henri Heads Here
Who’s thinking of summer?
Dan Vener, Fred Cantor, Andrew Colabella and Carol Brezovec.
They knew that last week’s Photo Challenge — which showed some wooden picket fencing, and the number “1” — was part of the lifeguard chair storage area in the Compo Beach Soundview parking lot. (Click here to see.)
Only 113 days until the traditional Memorial Day opening, when all 5 guard chairs will be on the sand, manned (and womanned) for action.
This week’s Photo Challenge is easy. It’s obviously a plaque honoring Sigrid Schultz, a true (if previously overlooked) local hero.
The challenge is not just to say where in Westport it’s located. We want the exact location — to the inch (or at least yard).
If you know, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Amy Schneider)
Outdoor entertainment returned to MoCA Westport last night. A socially distanced crowd enjoyed Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Alexa Tarantino Quartet.
More concerts will be announced soon.
Outdoors at MoCA.
With food insecurity still a serious issue, the Westport Woman’s Club Food Closet is grateful for a nice donation from Westport National Bank.
Any organizations or family can donate food to neighbors in need. Bring non-perishable donations to the WWC 44 Imperial Avenue) from 9 a.m. to onoon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. If the clubhouse is locked, call 203-227-4240.
Monetary donations are also welcome. Click here, or send a check made out to Westport Woman’s Club to WWC, 44 Imperial Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
At the Westport Woman’s Club food pantry (from left); Wendy McKeon, WWC food closet co-chair; Robin Clark, WWC member and Westport National Bank vice president; Selma Blue, WNB head teller.
The “hidden history of Black Westport” will be visible to Westporters next Saturday (September 12, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.)
As a follow-up to the Westport Museum of History & Culture’s “Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport” exhibit, guides will lead tour groups (maximum of 10 people) throughout downtown.
They’ll describe local history, from enslaved people to soldiers, sailors, activists, artists, and respected residents, through existing buildings and long destroyed sites.
Tickets are $10. Reservations are required; click here to register. Foe moew information, email programs@westporthistory.org.
Aarti Khosla needs help in providing chocolate hearts to every Westport and Weston educator, as a show of thanks for all they do. 10% of all proceeds benefit another educational institution: Mercy Learning Center.
Click here to purchase hearts ($8 each). You can also stop by Aarti’s store, Le Rouge Chocolates (190 Main Street).
The final (and 15th) #FridayFlowers are on display at the Compo Beach lifeguard station. The Westport Garden Club — sponsor of the summer-long floral project — is grateful to the guards, and everyone at Westport Parks & Rec — for keeping our beaches safe and fun.
Pictured below (from left): David Levy, Noah Ross, Mia Parkes, Ella Thompson and Avery Tucker.
(Photo/Topsy Siderowf)
RTM representative and Westport Writers Workshop founder Jessica Bram undergoes brain surgery at Yale University Hospital this morning.
Doctors will drain excess hydration to reverse motor, cognitive and memory impairment resulting from a recent fall.
Jessica sends affection and high regard to the Westport community, past and current writing students, RTM colleagues, and Webb Road neighbors.
And finally … today is National Be Late for Something Day. I’ll have a song for you later. Maybe.
They’re back! Lifeguards returned yesterday to Compo Beach. This was the scene today. (Photo/Amy Schneider)
For several reasons — college graduation, other job opportunities, etc. — this year’s Compo Beach lifeguard crew is younger than usual. Of the 3 dozen guards (about 60% from Westport), almost all are between 16 and 21 years old.
But it’s a hugely important job. Lives are at risk. Standards can’t be lowered.
Compo lifeguards do rescue training throughout the summer. Being young and outside, they like to keep fit.
This year, those 2 elements are one. Waterfront co-directors Heidi List Murphy and Danilo Sierra have designed a series of “rescue workouts.”
Heidi List Murphy and Danilo Sierra, in the guard shack.
And they’ve added the element of competition.
Every day at high tide — except, of course, when the beach is closed due to a sewage leak 🙁 — the guards form teams. They sprint along the sand, swim, and head out on boards to the buoys and back.
Every guard is timed. They’re allowed to choose their teams, so there’s pressure to have good scores.
At the end of every day, there’s a debriefing meeting. The rescue workout is always part of the discussion.
The workouts increase confidence and raise morale, Sierra says.
“This is a teaching beach,” Murphy notes. “Guards are constantly learning. They like the hands-on part of this, and the competition.”
JC Montoni, in the midst of a rescue workout.
Fortunately, the Compo guards have not had to rescue anyone — for real — this year.
Last year, there was one rescue. It came in the final 4 hours of the last day guards were on duty for the summer.
“It can happen any time,” Murphy notes. “We have to be ready.”
Thanks in part to the rescue workouts — and constant supervision and education — they will be.
Posted in Beach, People, Sports
Tagged Compo Beach lifeguards, Danilo Sierra, Heidi List Murphy
Another beach season ends. The Compo guards say thanks — and we thank them! (Photo/Heidi List Murphy)
I’m not sure why summer lasts only 3 days, while winter drags on for 27 months, but once again one of our favorite seasons races to a close.
And once again we’ve been served wonderfully well by our Compo Beach, Longshore and Burying Hill lifeguards.
Despite their red outfits, high perches and occasional whistles, they tend to blend in with the sand and sea scenery.
Yet without them, we would not have the wonderful summer(s) we do.
(Photo/Amy Schneider)
Thankfully, their real emergencies are very few. But — in addition to training incessantly for them — our lifeguards also
I’m sure I’ve missed many of other things our lifeguards do. Because — like the list above — they do them quietly, efficiently and (way too often) thanklessly.
Plus they’re out there, rain or shine.
So, to head guard Heidi List Murphy and her fantastic Parks & Recreation crew: thank you! You are always — but especially this week — our Unsung Heroes.
(To nominate an Unsung Hero, email dwoog@optonline.net)
The end of a Compo Beach lifeguard’s day (Photo/Doris Ghitelman)
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