The Westport Weston Family YMCA is many things, to many people.
Now — thanks to a partnership with Superpower Mentors — it is reaching out specially to students ages 10 through college and beyond with dyslexia, ADHD and other learning differences.
Y families now get reduced rates for Superpower Mentors’ services. The organization — created and run by Westport native Jake Sussman, who struggled with ADHD before graduating from the Forman School, then the University of Hartford — provides one-on-one support to build confidence, develop executive functioning skills, and prepare for success in school, work and life.
Superpower Mentors does it by matching students with peer mentors who share their learning differences, smf understand their challenges firsthand. They’re paired by interests too — sports, music, technology, the arts and more — creating an even strong connection.
Mentors offer guidance in time management, study habits and emotional well-being. Over 90% of mentees show increased confidence and success after just a few months.
Information sessions to help families learn more about the program are set for March 11 (12, 6 and 7:30 p.m.) Parents can meet the Superpower Mentors team, ask questions, and explore whether the program is a good fit for their child.
To prepare for a discussion of adapting 5 buildings at Baron’s South for affordable housing, the Planning & Zoning Commission will inspect them next Tuesday (February 25, 2 p.m.).
The public is invited, but no public comment will be taken.
“Golden Shadows,” the largest of the 5 buildings at Baron’s South. (Photo/Wendy Crowther)
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“Native Gardens” bloomed last night at the Westport Country Playhouse.
The comedy — about neighbors from different cultures who clash over the property line separating their gardens — runs through March 8.
Author Karen Zacarías will be in the audience tonight (Wednesday). American Theatre magazine recently cited her as one of the 10 most-produced playwrights in the US.
Click here for tickets, and more information. Click below, for a video preview:
Upcoming Westport Farmers’ Markets include “effortless” discussions.
Both are led by TAP Strength’s EJ Zebro, from noon to 1 p.m. On February 27 he’ll speak with Bena Kallick on “Effortless Aging.” The March 3 topic is “Effortless Wellness,” with Jennifer Boyd.
The Winter Farmers’ Market runs every Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Gilbertie’s Herbs & Garden Center (7 Sylvan Lane).
As always, there are 3 dozen vendors, plus lunch options like pizza, Thai and Mexican food, oysters and more.
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Westport is quiet this week. With schools closed for winter break, families have taken off for spots warm (Florida, the Caribbean) and cold (Vermont, Utah).
Two dozen Staples High School students and 4 teachers have gone somewhere else: Japan.
Their 9-day tour has a STEM focus. They’re visiting a testing facility for maglev trains, and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency.
They’re also having traditional experiences, like seeing Mt. Fuji, shrines and gardens, and attending tea ceremonies and a sushi-making class.
The Compo Beach playground’s “community build” renovation is set for April 21-26.
In preparation, fencing has already appeared.
(Photo/Matt Murray)
The renovation will include new accessible equipment for children of all abilities; widened walkways; safer surfacing around the swings, and replacement of the weathered fence.
It’s a major project of the Westport Rotary Club and Westport Young Woman’s League, with help from the Parks & Recreation Department and other organizations.
And finally … in honor of the Westport Y’s partnership with Superpower Mentors (story above):
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The Planning & Zoning Commission discussed 2 big items last night: lights on athletic fields, and the first step in the Longshore renovation project.
They deferred a decision on a text amendment that would add lights to more town fields. Much of the discussion centered, however, not on the effect of the lights themselves, but on noise that might accompany expanded practices and games.
A decision could come at the next P&Z meeting (Monday, February 10).
The board voted 4-3 to issue a negative report on an 8-24 (municipal land use change) request to relocate the equipment shed (currently located between the golf course and tennis courts, on the exit road).
The new complex would include 2 structures, with parking, in the middle of the Longshore golf course. It would encompass 35,000 square feet, with no building larger than 10,000 square feet or higher than 1 story.
P&Z commissioners acknowledged the need for a new facility. They questioned the proposed location in a flood zone; its impact on open space and the golf course, and some procedural questions regarding the proposal.
The negative 8-24 report can be appealed to the Representative Town Meeting, which could overturn it by a supermajority.
Alternatively, town officials could propose a new location for the maintenance facility.
Paul Lane Field is the only lighted field at Staples High School. The adjacent baseball, soccer and field hockey/girls lacrosse fields do not have lights. (Photo/Robin Wolfe-Scheffler)
If Saturday’s sneak preview is any indication, it’s a game-changer for Westport’s entertainment scene.
The 5 simulator bays — featuring golf, with 30 sports in all — are versatile, interactive, and tons of fun.
The 2 dart bays are state-of-the-art. Think soccer’s VAR technology, with feathers.
There’s a cool karaoke room, and another with a University of Michigan theme. (Guess where the owners, Emily and Tim Zobl, went to school.)
The large bar and dining area serves excellent pub food and cocktails. The 22-foot video wall there can show just about anything, in a variety of ways. (The simulator bays can be reserved for viewing big games too.)
Sunday’s Super Bowl is already nearly fully booked. A couple of tables and bar stools can still be reserved. (Call 203-292-3169 or email connect@theclubhousewestport.com.)
Bookings are already strong for corporate events, parties and bar and bat mitzvahs.
Oh, yeah: The rooftop opens in April.
Fore!
Staples High School junior Will Briggs drives, at The Clubhouse. (Photo/Dan Woog)
Speaking of sports: “06880” reported yesterday that Adam Behrends has stepped down after 6 years as Staples’ head football coach. He’ll be taking a position at the University of New Mexico.
Last night, the state champion-winning coach described his new role as “offensive analyst with quarterbacks and wide receivers.”
He’ll be joining a new staff that includes Luke Schleusner, who was Behrends’ coach at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Schleusner will be New Mexico’s offensive coordinator.
We’re less than 3 months away from renovation of the Compo Beach Playground.
To prepare, the playground will close March 1. It will reopen at the end of May.
A “community build” April 21-26 will include new accessible equipment for children of all abilities; widened walkways; safer surfacing around the swings, and replacement of the weathered fence.
Westport’s Parks & Recreation Department and the Compo Beach Playground Committee seek volunteers for Build Week.
They also seek donations, to purchase new pickets ($500), replacement pickets ($250).
As you chow down at a Super Bowl party: Remember those who can’t.
This Saturday (February 8, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Stop & Shop), the Westport Police Department and Sunrise Rotary Club host a food drive.
All donations with support the Homes with Hope and Westport Department of Human Services food pantries.
Police officers and volunteers will accept non-perishable food items and cash donations.
Suggested items include breakfast bars, baking goods, BBQ sauce, macaroni & cheese, canned vegetables and fruit, coffee, canned meats, canned stew, noodles, cereals, gluten-free foods, granola and protein bars, grated Parmesan cheese, hamburger and tuna helper, hearty soups, instant mashed potatoes, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, oatmeal, cooking oil, pancake mix and syrup, pasta and sauce, peanut butter and jelly, rice, spices, salad dressing, shelf-stable milk, and snacks. (No glass jars.)
Suggested personal care and household items include
body wash, Clorox wipes, deodorant, dish soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, razors, shampoo and oothpaste.
To volunteer, or offer a large pickup, call Anna Rycenga at 203-763-9656.
Last November, Alan Bartus was a last-minute pianist substitute, for Jazz at the Post.
He sight-read the music, and blew everyone away.
Jazz at the Post founder Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” saw Bartus in a duo concert with Dave Brubeck’s long time saxophonist (and Wall’s early mentor) Jerry Bergonzi at the Dave Brubeck Room of the Wilton Library.
The audience — including Brubeck’s son Chris — was floored. Bartus’ compositions were “sophisticated, emotional, and quite worthy of sharing the program with the venue’s namesake,” Wall says.
This Thursday (February 6, 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner service begins at 7; VFW Post 399), Bartus takes center stage at Jazz at the Post.
Along with Wall, bassist Raul Reyes Bueno, trumpeter Michael Cruse and drummer Antonio Cerfeda, he’ll play his own music, and Brubeck’s.
Tickets for the 7:30 show are $20; $15. All tickets for the late show are $10. Click here to purchase, and for moreo information.
And finally … on this date in 1846, the first Mormon pioneers left Nauvoo, Illinois, on their way to the Salt Lake Valley.
(Whether it’s a new Clubhouse, an annual food drive, or a weekly jazz concert, “06880” is where you read about it all. But we can’t do it without readers’ help. Please click here to support us. Thank you!)
If it’s Christmastime, you’re hearing holiday songs: “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.”
And — just as regularly — you’ll read or hear a light news item about tunes like those.
Yesterday, it was the New York Times’ turn. They turned the spotlight on Johnny Marks, the talented (Jewish) man who wrote all 3 of the songs I mentioned above.
And who for decades had a home on Green Acre Lane, off Compo Road South.
The Times piece focuses on Rudolph. It describes the back story (Marks wrote the song nearly a decade after his brother-in-law created the Rudolph character for a Montgomery Ward promotion); the stats (when Marks died in 1985, there were 500 versions, with 150 million records sold); the reasons for the tune’s popularity and endurance (“It’s a relief from the genre’s usual themes of home, nostalgia and romantic love; its tempo is faster than some Christmas songs of that era, and even the average pop song of the past 60 years; the lyrics are so concise that the story is heard twice and the melody three times in a single play; it’s easy for kids to sing, since the tune travels less than an octave; and the song’s “natural cheerfulness is pretty indestructible across genres.”
The newspaper story does not mention Marks’ Westport connection. Nor does it note another one: Daniel Tashian, the Grammy-winning Nashville songwriter and producer, is the son of Barry Tashian, founder of the fabled Remains band (who toured with the Beatles), and his wife Holly. Both are Staples High School graduates.
For some unknown reason, the Times quotes Daniel Tashian as a Rudolph expert.
He “compared the song to a ‘couture garment,’ so expertly stitched that the underlying handiwork is invisible. But for him, it’s more than mechanics: It’s a ‘rebel’s anthem.’”
Tashian added: “I was just a little half-Armenian kid and I neverIt’s Ch felt like I fit in with all the other kids in the school. I saw myself as Rudolph.”
You may love hearing “Rudolph” — Gene Autry’s version, or any other, ranging from Ella Fitzgerald, Dolly Parton and Ray Charles to the Temptations, DMX and the Chipmunks; as the Times notes, “it has been bebopped, soul-infused, tranquilized, saddled with twang, rocked, rapped and made to cha-cha” — or you may hate it.
But after tomorrow, it goes into hibernation for 11 months.
Then — like all those other Christmas chestnuts — we’ll hear Johnny Marks’ most memorable song once again.
(Click here for the full New York Times piece. Hat tip: Fred Cantor)
Johnny Marks
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It’s a Christmas miracle!
Facebook’s Westport Front Porch page regularly contains posts like this: “Someone backed into my car in the [fill in the blank] parking lot today at [fill in the time], and left without leaving a note. If you saw anything, please contact me.”
Yesterday was quite different.
A woman wrote: “Dear Post Road shoppers. My passenger side mirror hit someone’s mirror while they were parked in the area of Patagonia.
“Getting back around via Main Street to drive past that area to try and assess which car mirror it may have been was challenging, given all the traffic.
“My mirror snapped closed and has no damage. other than a slight black scuff mark. I notified Westport PD.
“If you were parked in this area around 3:45 and your mirror was damaged, – please PM me!”
This is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.
The driver’s mirror.
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Yesterday, “06880” featured Nikki Glekas’ Bridge Street home, as part of our feature on Westport’s very cool holiday-themed decorations. (She’s a pro: The restaurateur/caterer/entertaining expert owns Nikki Glekas Collective.)
Nikki Glekas’ Bridge Street home. (Photo/Andrew Colabella)
“06880” is in good company. Over the weekend NBC’s “Open House” highlighted it too.
They were lucky enough to go inside. Here’s one look at the spectacular decor:
Or one for the 8 nights of Hanukkah? Or perhaps an end-of-year tax-saving gift?
Donate to the Compo Beach Playground Renovation project. You can make a general contribution, or buy a specific item (like a swing, suspension bridge or picket).
Volunteers are less than $75,000 from their 2024 fundraising goal. Donations will last for decades.
Click here for more information, including how to contribute.
But this Halloween remnant is still hanging around.
Deservedly, our “Westport … Naturally” feature shows with a mantle of snow.
(Photo/Jerry Kuyper)
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And finally … once you saw the story about Johnny Marks, you knew this was coming:
(It’s Christmas Eve! Set out cookies and milk for Santa. Join in reindeer games. And click here, to support “06880.” On behalf of your hyper-local blog, Rudolph thanks you.)
The Compo Beach playground renovation project takes place next April.
But the planning committee is already working hard, leaving, um, no stone unturned.
They’ve just unveiled a cool new website.
In includes a detailed drawing of the new playground (see below); plenty of options for support (as families and corporate sponsors); apparel like t-shirts (bearing the logo designed by Greens Farms Elementary student Jack Burke), and opportunities to volunteer.
Click here for the website. And get ready: April will be here before we know it.
The new Compo Beach playground.
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Brad Tursi — the 1997 Staples High School graduate whose band Old Dominion has won numerous country music awards — is simultaneously embarking on a solo career.
He’s having just as much success as he is with his group.
The other day, he played at the Grand Ole Opry.
“Surreal, and an opportunity I’ll never forget,” the former Wrecker soccer star says.
“Thank you to everyone at the Opry for the warm welcome and sweet hospitality.”
Westporters who were not in Nashville will get a chance to see Brad much closer to his old home.
He plays the Levitt Pavilion on October 12. Click here for tickets, and more information. (Hat tip: Curtis Lueker)
Brad Tursi, outside the famed venue.
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For over 20 years Movers Rich, Scott, Dave and Smitty have entertained families.
Their Emmy-winning Disney show and catalog of more than 250 original compositions make the Imagination Movers story — well, the stuff of dreams.
The fun-for-the-whole-family show comes to the Westport Country Playhouse on Sunday, September 22 (1 p.m.).
Tickets are $45 and $40 (click here). For an additional $50, there’s a pre-show meet-and-greet (click here).
“06880” gets tons of photos of bad and/or entitled parkers.
I reject some many submissions. The bar for egregious behavior is high. For example, a car hogging 2 spaces just won’t cut it anymore. That’s low-level douchebaggery.
So when I glanced at Glenn Payne’s photo, I was ready to toss it. The guy probably just went in to pay cash, I thought. There’s nothing bad here.
(Photo/Glenn Payne)
I confess: I had to ask Glenn what I was missing.
Duh!
Look closely. This one is truly gob-smacking.
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Nature is amazing.
Hard to believe such small insects can make such astonishing creations.
And hard to believe they also strike such fear in us.
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo comes from Susan Garment’s front yard.
Hopefully not too close to her door.
(Photo/Susan Garment)
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And finally … last night was International Bat Night.
How did you celebrate?
“06880” CONNECTION: Meat Loaf lived in Westport, a couple of decades ago. He was a regular presence in town, including playing softball at Compo Beach, and coaching a girls softball team too.
(We hope you learn at least one thing new every day from “06880.” We hope too you’ll support your hyper-local blog. Just click here — and thank you!)
Not far away from the playground, Old Mill’s long blue nightmare may soon be over.
Workers are installing siding on 233 Hillspoint Road. The house — formerly the site of Positano (and other) restaurants — was the subject of years of litigation.
All the while, it was swathed in blue wrap.
There is now light at the end of the tunnel.
Or at least, gray.
(Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)
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Gus Palmer is not related to Arnold Palmer.
But the rising Staples High School junior shares something with the other Palmer: Both are golf champions.
Arnie Palmer won 62 PGA tournaments, including 4 Masters.
Gus – a member of Staples High School’s varsity golf team — captured the Longshore club championship on Sunday. He is believed to be the youngest player ever to win it.
In a close 36-hold match play with Stephen Colodny, Palmer sunk a 15-foot putt on the last 18th green, to capture the crown.
Gus Palmer (left) receives the Longshore trophy from head pro John Janik.
Common Ground — the Westport Library’s project to bring civility back to civic discourse — sponsored a timely topic yesterday.
“Communicating to Open Minds” featured Steve Parrish in conversation with Sally Susman, Pfizer’s chief corporate affairs officer. They discussed how to share information in ways that encourage agreement, and avoid confrontation.
During the pandemic, Susman was charged with rolling out Pfizer’s vaccine to an anxious and polarized world. She offered insights learned about leadership and connectivity.
From left: Westort Library director Bill Harmer, Sally Susman, Steve Parrish.
It’s hard to believe today, but the Compo Beach playground created a gigantic Westport controversy.
Tensions ran so high in 1988, in fact, that opponents — worried it would obstruct views of the water, and attract out-of-town riff-raff, plus pot-smoking, beer-drinking, sex-having teenagers — filed a lawsuit to prevent it.
They lost.
A joyful, community-wide construction effort began moments after a court injunction was lifted.
The playground quickly became a civic jewel. It’s beloved by everyone in town (including grumpy former litigants), and out-of-towners (who use it out of season). Teens find plenty of other places to smoke, drink and snuggle.
A renovation in 2006 was — like the original build — a chance for Westporters of all ages to spend a weekend together, donating time and labor to ensure many more years of fun.
Parents lead children through the Compo playground.
It’s almost time for a second renovation. Once again, this is a town-wide effort.
And once again, all of us can help.
Anchored by $100,000 gifts from both the Westport Rotary Club and Westport Police Foundation, organizers have already raised $262,932. The goal is $650,000. Funds will modernize the playground, keeping it safe and enjoyable for generations of youngsters (and their parents and grandparents).
Improvements include
A larger play area, with a fence line to add new picnic spaces
Installation of new equipment, including adaptive play structures
Renovations to improve accessibility of current features
Increasing sightline visibility, giving adults better views, with more entry fencing and seating.
There are many ways to donate. Among them:
Become an anchor sponsor
Donate one of the new elements
Buy an “engraved fence picket.” (Donors of previous pickets get 50% off — and a chance to pick up your old one before the build.)
Buy a paver.
And more.
Click here for donation details. Scroll down on that page, to contribute to specific structures. The website also offers volunteer opportunities.
Nearly 40 years after the Compo Beach playground was first built, there is no court case. Unlike 1988, the first selectwoman has not received a death threat.
The playground renovation is one of the few things in town everyone can agree on.
But it won’t happen without everyone’s help. Remember: We can’t spell “playground” without “u.”
In 1989, a new Compo Beach playground replaced a small structure near the basketball courts, and a meager swing set by the pavilion.
The project involved hundreds of youngsters, who “helped” with the Robert Leathers design; the backing of the Westport Rotary Club and Westport Young Woman’s League, and dozens of volunteers, who built it over a long spring weekend.
A renovation 2 decades later involved a similar community-wide effort.
Another renovation is planned for next spring. It took is a Rotary project — honoring their 100th anniversary as a Westport club — along with the WYWL.
The elaborate playground is a far cry from this scene, from 1978:
Carolyn Wilkinson was home from college, and headed to the beach.
Controversy surrounded the 1989 playground. A group of residents — worried that it would ruin the view, and attract out-of-towners and partying teenagers — filed a lawsuit.
They lost. The playground prevailed.
And though the view is not the same as in the photo above, it quickly became one of the most popular — and beloved — spots in town.
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
Standing room only crowds got up-close (and very personal) insights into the music world of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s yesterday, at the Westport Library.
The 4th day of Verso Fest featured conversations with record producer Tony Visconti, and Doors drummer John Densmore.
Chatting with WFUV’s Paul Cavalconte, Visconti offered behind-the-scenes insights into his Grammy Award-winning work with David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Paul McCartney and many more.
Tony Visconti (left) and Paul Cavalconte, on the Library stage.
Topics of Densmore’s conversation with CNN’s Alisyn Camarota included “Light My Fire,” Jim Morrison’s brilliance and self-destructiveness, and the rift among the surviving members over licensing music rights to advertisers (the drummer was opposed).
He also noted how difficult it was to explain “The End” to his parents.
Densmore — who accompanied himself on an African drum and other percussion instruments — spoke fondly of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band, and gave a shout-out to the ’60s.
John Densmore and Alisyn Camerota.
The decade, he said, “planted the seeds for so much good, like civil rights and women’s rights. But seeds can take 100 years to grow. Stop dissing the ’60s — and get out your watering can.”
Among other events yesterday: an all-day record fair.
“Record riot” sales at VersoFest. (All photos/Dan Woog)
Vinyl and CD sales continue today — the finale of VersoFest ’24.
On the schedule:
Connecticut, WPLR, and the Birth of Buckingham/Nicks Era Fleetwood Mac (11 a.m.)
Mind Your Business: Legal Workshop with Marcus Thomas (Sunday, April 7, 11 a.m.)
Video Game Composing with Tom Salta (Sunday, April 7, 12:30 p.m.)
Glam to Punk — A Fashion Roundtable: Alice Cooper, Bowie, Blondie and Beyond, with Cindy Dunaway and Tish & Snooky (Manic Panic); special guest Dennis Dunaway, moderated by Christine Ohlman (1 p.m.)
Unlock the Secrets of Radio Airplay for Emerging Artists with Peter Gray (Sunday, April 7, 2 p.m.)
51 Years of “Wild Style,” the 1st Hip Hop Motion Picture (3 p.m.)
Exhibit: Thinking Inside the Box, multi-media art installation (all day)
Diamond Dogs at 50, David Bowie Exhibit by Paul Brenton with designer Mark Ravitz (all day)
The first quarter of 2024 is in the real estate books.
As shared by our friends at KMS Team at Compass, the number of Westport sales (46) is down 13%, compared to the same quarter in 2023.
However, the total volume of single family home sales — $113,835,000 — is down only 1% over the first quarter last year.
The median sales price, meanwhile — $1,850,00 is up 14% year over year.
Inventory remains scarce, contributing to the reduced number of sales.
Homes for sale over $3 million have been on the market considerably longer (52 days) than those in the $1.4 to $2 million range (18 days).
Right now, 35 homes for sale are listed for $3 million or more. Eight homes are in the $2 to $2.99 million range; 8 are between $1,4 and $1.99 million. Just 4 are listed for under $1.4 million.
The lowest priced home for sale is at 18 Roseville Road ($660,000). The most expensive home is 50 Compo Mill Cove. The asking price $13,500,000.
The Compo Beach Playground Renovation Committee presents their proposed plan to the Parks & Recreation Commission this Thursday (April 11, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium).
The meeting will be livestreamed on www.westportct.gov, and broadcast on Optimum Channel 79.
Click on or hover over the image below, to see the latest plan.
Westporter Randy Herbertson sits on the advisory board for Voces8 Foundation, a UK-based global chamber music organization. Their 2 ensembles, Voces8 and Apollo5, had over 50 million views on YouTube alonelast year.
Their US-based all-women’s group, Lyyra, is currently touring.
Voces 8’s mission is to use music to support STEAM learning, to students worldwide. They’ve set up “music hubs” in select American cities. They visit several times a year for workshops with students, culminating in performances with the students and ensemble. They always include underserved schools, and those with well-developed programs.
The goal is to establish a music hub in Fairfield County, based at the Westport Library. Donors will underwrite it.
Herbertson is helping plan a program with Staples, Greenwich and Wilton High Schools.
With a combined choir of over 80 young singers, Voces8 and Lyyra did an initial workshop last month at the Library.
Next up: a full performance (April 23, 7 p.m., Trefz Forum). Click here for tickets.
Herbertson is hosting a reception at his 56 Church Lane studio on Saturday, April 20 (5:30 p.m.). Anyone interested in attending to meet founder Paul Smith and Lyyra should email randy@thevisualbrand.com.
The next day (April 21, 5 p.m.) Lyyra performs at Christ & Holy Trinity Church. Click here for tickets.
We’re not sure of the connection between tomorrow’s eclipse, and the importance of buying art.
But this intriguing sign can be seen outside Westport River Gallery, on Riverside Avenue at Post Road West:
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Ellen Wentworth snapped today’s “Westport … Naturally” shot in her Highland Road yard.
In the words of the old song, he was only passin’ through.
(Photo/Ellen Wentworth)
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And finally … John Densmore’s conversation yesterday at VersoFest ranged from the monster success of “Light My Fire” …
… and the jazz influences of “Touch Me” …
… to the awkward moment when he had to explain “The End” to his parents.
Densmore also said he really liked José Feliciano’s completely different version of “Light My Fire” — probably without knowing that the international superstar lives just a couple of miles away, in Weston.
(Want to light “06880”‘s fire? Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
On March 26, 1924, 98 people gathered in a raging snowstorm to celebrate the founding of the 1,658th Rotary Club in the world.
A hundred years later — after raising millions of dollars for charities here, and in Africa and Asia; donating the Compo Beach playground and South Beach grills, and countless more good works — the Westport Rotary Club is poised to celebrate its centennial.
Much has changed. There are now over 46,000 clubs in Rotary International. Meetings are no longer mandatory (or male only). Membership is not restricted to one person per occupation. In Westport, lobster has replaced roast beef as the main fundraiser.
No Rotarian is alive to remember that first dinner, at the Westport (now Birchwood) Country Club. But the organization is excited to honor its century of service.
A gala dinner is set for March 7 — 100 years to the day since the Westport Rotary Club received its charter.
The Inn at Longshore event includes entertainment, and a multimedia look at Westport Rotary’s first century. All attendees will receive a commemorative book, written by Ron Henkoff.
Anson Leary
It’s packed with history, starting with 33-year-old Anson Leary’s dream of starting a Rotary Club. The World War I veteran had come to Westport a year earlier, to help open the fledgling YMCA.
He envisioned a men’s counterpart to the Westport Town Improvement Association (now the Westport Woman’s Club). Charter members included Leonard Gault (son of Gault Company founder Robert), mattress factory owner Austin Wakeman, Charles Kemper (whose tannery had not yet been turned into the Westport Country Playhouse), and ice dealer Edward Nash.
Rotary International was “serious and strict,” for “men from various vocations to exchange ideas and form meaningful friendships.” Meetings rotated between members’ offices (hence the name “Rotary”), and were guided by founder Paul Harris’ motto: “Service above self.”
Westport’s Rotary met every Tuesday for lunch. Attendance was mandatory. Members traveling for business or on vacation were required to attend a local meeting there — and show proof.
Westport meetings included patriotic and popular songs. There was a Rotary band. For gala dances, men wore tuxes. (Their wives, dressed in evening gowns, were called “Rotary-Annes.”)
The Westport Rotary Club’s 1928 band.
The Westport club’s first project — begun in June 1924, just 3 months after their founding — was building a playground behind then-new Bedford Elementary School (now Town Hall). Members cleared and leveled the ground, and installed equipment.
In those early years they raised money for the town’s first ambulance, paid for surgery to save a boy’s eyesight, donated funds to disabled children, equipped the Bedford Junior High fife and drum corps, sponsored twilight baseball, and started a college fund.
Their 10th anniversary celebration in 1934 was at the Open Door Inn on Jesup Road. The party lasted until 1:30 a.m.
In the summer of 1940, the Westport Rotary Orchestra played at the New York World’s Fair. After war broke out the next year members sold war bonds, and raised money for families whose members were fighting overseas. Founder Anson Leary, age 51, served in the Air Force Reserves in the Pacific. Closer to home, founding member Howard Gault was on the town’s Ration Board.
In 1994, Rick Benson gave the first Community Service Awards to Ed Mitchell (standing) and Howard Gault.
Over the years, Rotary evolved. Meetings were held in a variety of restaurants: the Mansion House, Compo Pavilion, Hidden Door, Josie’s Nook, The Townly, La Normandie, New Englander, Andy and Mary Barna’s, 3 Bears, Canterbury, The Inn at Longshore and Bertucci’s.
Most recently they met at Christ & Holy Trinity Church, and now Green’s Farms Church. One thing never changed, though: They’re still on Tuesdays.
President Ed Mitchell — founder of the eponymous clothing store — initiated Roast Beef Dinners as a fundraiser. Those paid for the Compo grills, a pavilion at Camp Mahackeno, a pool at Easton’s Camp Aspetuck, dugouts at Gault Field, and the education of Sam Luciano’s 3 children, after the police chief died suddenly.
Rotary’s 50th anniversary celebration drew 95 members. Founding Rotarian Chot Kemper was still alive. Fifth-year member Bruce Knowles was there too — and remained a Rotarian for another 45 years.
Chot Kemper (left) and Bruce Knowles were both 50-year Westport Rotary Club members.
A 7-0 Supreme Court ruling in 1987 opened the Rotary door to female members across the US. A straw poll at the Westport club showed 24 in favor — but 32 against.
Five months later, Pat Harrington and Carol Way became the local organization’s first women Rotarians. Five men quit in protest.
The 1989 Westport Rotary Club photo included just 5 female members.
But by 1995 superintendent of schools Judy Rovins was chosen as the first female Westport Rotary president. The story of women in Westport Rotary ever since has been one of tremendous numbers, and tremendous contributions.
Meanwhile, past president Lou Weinstein supported the idea of a second Rotary Club here, for people who could not attend lunch meetings.
Some members opposed the idea — they thought it would be confusing, and make it harder to raise funds — but the Sunrise Rotary Club was chartered on November 22, 1988.
Today, both clubs flourish. There are about 140 members overall. Nearly half are women.
In fact, Westport has more Rotarians per capita than any other town in Zone 32 (encompassing 9 states, parts of Canada, and Bermuda).
1988 also was the year that Westport Rotary led a project to build a playground at Compo Beach. It was led by Jim Bennet. Rick Benson, whose name turns up often over the club’s past 40 years, provided strong support. Benson also worked with Paul Spiekermann to get Westport Rotary involved in overseas projects, in underserved areas of Africa and Asia.
Paul Spiekermann (left) and Rick Benson
The local club now allocates 25% of its funds to international projects. They’ve aided victims of Cambodian land mines, helped battle dengue fever in Indonesia, and contributed to projects in Lithuania, Haiti, Benin, Swaziland, Tanzania and Thailand. Westport Rotary has donated to 27 countries overall.
Rick Benson, Lyla Steenbergen and Leslie Roberts, with local officials, at the dedication of a hospital ICU unit in Uganda.
In 1994, when Connecticut welcomed the World Special Olympics Games, Rotarianns hosted athletes from Cameroon and Panama. They outfitted one athlete with a prosthetic leg.
Five years later, for their 75th anniversary, Westport Rotary led an $82,000 effort to restore the Compo Beach cannons. They also joined with other organizations to give the Westport Fire Department a mobile classroom, to teach children about safety.
The LobsterFest fundraiser began in 2012, under president Julia Broder. (An earlier clambake ended when the price of seafood soared.) Last year’s event brought in $280,000. Overall, LobsterFest has raised over $1.5 million, for local projects like scholarships, meals at the Gillespie Center and Habitat for Humanity houses in Bridgeport, and many more overseas.
(Save the date: LobsterFest 2024 is September 21!)
LobsterFest: One of the best parties in town.
That’s just the first 100 years. As Westport Rotary looks to the next 100, they’ve earmarked $100,000 to join with the Westport Young Woman’s League in renovating the Compo playground they helped build in 1989.
Though no one is alive to remember, it hearkens back to that very first project, in 1924: the Bedford Elementary School playground.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Happy 100th birthday, Westport Rotary Club. Here’s to 100 more, helping Westport — and the world.
(Tickets to Westport Rotary’s March 7 centennial gala are $100. (Venmo @Thomas-Carey-73046, or mail checks to Westport Rotary PO Box 743, Westport, CT 06881). Email: rsvp.WestportRotary@gmail.com.)
FUN WESTPORT ROTARY CLUB FACTS:8 Westport Rotarians have served as 1st selectperson: E.C. Nash, Austin Wakeman, Herb Baldwin, Bill Seiden, Joe Arcudi, Dianne Farrell, Gordon Joseloff, Jim Marpe and Jen Tooker (Sunrise Rotary member).
(“06880” is nowhere near 100 years old. But we’re part of Westport too. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
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Much has changed. There are now over 46,000 clubs in Rotary International. Meetings are no longer mandatory (or male only). Membership is not restricted to one person per occupation. In Westport, lobster has replaced roast beef as the main fundraiser.
