Jennifer Johnson, her husband and 2 daughters moved to Westport in 2006.
She has worked in financial services, and for open space and land preservation organizations.
Jennifer has served on Westport’s Westport Parks & Recreation Commission, Compo Beach Site Improvement Committee, and is an executive committee member for the South Western Regional Planning Agency. She was a director of the Westport Transit District, and is a member of the Representative Town Meeting.
Following a recent vote by the legislative body, she writes:
Last month the RTM and Board of Finance voted to approve an expenditure of $5.58 million to rebuild 2 tidal gates at Sherwood Mill Pond.
The funding also includes rebuilding the pedestrian walkway that connects Sherwood Mill Beach to Compo Cove. There is a locked gate on the eastern end of the walkway. It was installed by Cove residents, and prevents public access to the Compo Mill Cove pathway along the southeastern shore of the Mill Pond.
Locked gate at the entrance to Compo Cove.
During the RTM meeting, questions arose regarding the gate: Why is it locked? Why can’t pedestrians walk along the Compo Mill Cove pathway like they used to? What about access to the mean high water line that belongs to all residents? Can the plan for the new taxpayer-funded walkway include some form of reclaimed access to the Compo Mill Cove pathway and/or tideland that is now blocked by the gate?
Given that the funding approval was time-sensitive, the RTM correctly approved the funding and tabled the pedestrian access issue. With the funding secured and the construction period deferred until spring, now is the time for Westport to find a solution to reclaim pedestrian access to the Compo Mill Cove pathway and tidelands once enjoyed by all, not just the dozen or so homeowners who live there (some part time).
While rebuilding the tide gate and walkway is both expensive and complicated, regaining public access to the Compo Mill Cove pathway and/or tidelands should be fairly straightforward.
Compo Cove residents should simply agree to open the gate between sunrise and sunset (an easy solution that could be programmed into the gate’s lock). Since the public is paying the hefty price tag to fund the walkway’s reconstruction — a walkway that Cove residents rely on to access their property — this seems like a fair and reasonable tradeoff.
Pedestrian path, and Compo Cove. The locked gate is near the bottom of the photo.
This simple solution reflects an increasing trend across the country. Private property owners are granting pedestrian easements to their land, for the express purpose of allowing the public to respectfully walk across a defined pathway during daylight hours.
The public historically had access, until the locked gate appeared about 20 years ago. As the years passed, and one by one the island’s historic bungalows were replaced with sizable rebuilds (like this $12.250 million recent listing), public access vanished.
I anticipate some Cove residents may raise security concerns. But those could readily be addressed by a police camera at the gate and/or residents installing readily-available security systems, if they haven’t already. The timed gate — combined with the general lack of car access — should prevent any opportunities for mischief, beyond the kinds of things beach residents typically contend with currently.
Alternatively, the town could initiate a small project to construct access points from the rebuilt walkway to the tidal land along either side of the walkway. This solution would only provide access at low tide. But some access is better than none.
If you are interested in joining this effort, please send contact information to millpondwalkway@gmail.com.
Aerial view of Compo Cove, with Sherwood Mill Pond (top). The arrow shows the gate location.
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A “Red Flag” warning is in effect through 6 p.m. tonight. It’s issued during dangerous fire conditions due to strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures.
Any fire may spread quickly, and possibly out of control.
The Westport Fire Department says that outdoor fires are prohibited; cigarettes should be disposed of responsibility, and the public should call 911 immediately in the case of fire.
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AP has called the Pennsylvania Senate race for David McCormick.
The Republican ousted 3-term incumbent Democrat Bob Casey, after a campaign in which McCormick’s residency was scrutinized.
The former Bridgewater CEO — born and raised near Pittsburgh — owns a home on Beachside Avenue. Critics claimed that is where he spent most of his time, including during the early days of the campaign.
This year’s contest was the second most expensive race in the country.
Senator-elect David McCormick
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Like many Westporters, Carl Addison Swanson has noticed the 16 new signs (with blinking lights) (and other features) on Cross Highway, between North Avenue and Bayberry Lane.
There are plenty of places to get great Thanksgiving pies.
One of them includes a special treat: Every one you buy helps fight hunger.
Wakeman Town Farms’ “Thanksgiving Pies for Good” — a collaboration with Earth Animal’s Mitten Project — benefits CTFoodShares.
This year’s sale features freshly baked 9-inch pies: apple, apple crumb, blueberry, blueberry crumb, cherry, cherry crumb, and pumpkin. All are from Oronoque Farms.
Want something extra (and an extra helping of goodness for others)? Make your order à la mode, with Madagascar vanilla or bourbon brown sugar from Lindsay’s Handmade Ice Cream.
Pies are $20 each; ice cream is $20 per pint. Click here to order. The deadline is noon on November 22.
Pickup is Monday, November 25, 4 to 7 p.m. only at Wakeman Town Farm. Pies that are not picked up will be donated to local food pantries.
As for that other all-American food — pizza — Riko’s celebrates their arrival in Westport this Saturday (November 9, 2 to 4 p.m.), with a free festival.
The new restaurant — replacing Mystic Market (and before that, Blu Parrot, Jasmine and the Arrow restaurant) on Charles Street, opposite the railroad station parking lot and Luciano Park — will offer a bouncy house, face painting, temporary tattoos, balloon twisting, a photo booth and more.
Among the capital projects proposed for Westport: repairing the pedestrian bridge to Compo Cove, and the tidal gates there.
Yesterday, nearly half of the Representative Town Meeting took a field trip to the site, accessible only by a pedestrian bridge.
Department of Public Works director Pete Ratkiewich led the excursion. Last night, the appropriation was discussed at a meeting of the RTM’s Finance, Public Works and Environment Committees.
On Tuesday, the full body is the final vote on the $5.58 million request. It was approved unanimously Wednesday night by the Board of Finance.
RTM members on the Compo Cove pedestrian bridge. Moderator Jeff Wieser is at the far left. (Photo/Matt Murray)
Speaking of the Mill Pond, Larry Hoy sends this photo:
He writes: “A bucolic scene. But is it me, or has the cute little oyster farm at Old Mill turned into a full-blown industrial operation with 9 workers, generators and heavy equipment on several barges, harvesting and cleaning oysters to be sold to restaurants?
“I’m aware of the King’s Grant for the Mill Pond and parts of Long Island Sound here. But does that allow this level of noisy and questionably clean production to be done in what is essentially a residential neighborhood?
“The quiet walks on the Mill Pond bridge aren’t so peaceful and beautiful.”
“Martha” — R.J. Cutler’s documentary about the much-admired yet very controversial lifestyle guru/businesswoman/TV personality — is now on Netflix, after a series of film festival screenings.
Dave Briggs watched it, and caught a couple of references to her Westport years.
She calls it “the furthest commuting town from New York.”
As for Turkey Hill — the name she gave her home and garden on the road of the same name — “we had to have (it), to fix it up …. If I hadn’t had Turkey Hill I wouldn’t be me, right now. I would have been somebody else. I just wouldn’t have been Martha Stewart, homemaker.”
She also discusses her husband’s — and her own — infidelities during their marriage here.
So what does Martha think of “Martha”? Click here.
The sky’s the limit for the Westport Astronomical Society’s 2025 calendar.
It’s filled with great photos from amateur astro-photographers Michael Southam, Jasper Southam, Regina Olshan, Carol Quinn, Franco Fellah, Stuart Stakoff, Kurt Zeppetello, Celia Campbell-Mohn, Dana Weisbrot, Carl Lancaster, Phil Harrington, Louis Tancredi, Dr. Steven Labkoff and
The Westport Astronomical Society’s amateur astrophotographers found the best photons again this year with offerings from WAS members Michael Southam, Jasper Southam, Regina Olshan, Carol Quinn, Franco Fellah, Stuart Stakoff, Kurt Zeppetello, Celia Campbell-Mohn, Dana Weisbrot, Carl Lancaster, Phil Harrington, Louis Tancredi, Dr. Steven Labkoff and WAS president Shannon Calvert — plus daily astronomical data.
The cost is $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Shipping is $5 for 1-2 calendars, $10 for 3-5. Email kathy@was-ct.org; include your mailing address, and number of calendars requested. An invoice will be emailed back to you.
If you’ve been thinking, “Westport is a pretty great town, but what we really need is another nail spa”: Your prayers have been answered.
The oddly named Monday Nail Spa will move into the vacant space next to the Westport Post Office.
Probably not Monday. But soon.
(Photo/Molly Alger)
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STAR Lighting the Way has a new president: Westporter Doree Levy.
At the recent gala, she shared her vision for the future of the non-profit, which empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families.
Doree — a longtime STAR advocate — pledged to “do everything in my power to ensure that STAR will be there to watch over the young and the old, giving them the care and quality of life they deserve.”
New STAR president Doree Levy and her husband Bob are staunch supporters of the organization. (Photo/Miggs Burroughs)
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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” image is a gorgeous view of Winslow Park.
Photographer Mark Mathias calls it “a two-fer. First, regardless of one’s political leanings, voting for dogs is fun.
“Second, earlier this week the town mowed the big hill. All we need now is a good dumping of snow. An entire crop of kids with sleds will magically appear.”
(Photo/Mark Mathias)
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And finally … in honor of Westport’s favorite lifestyle guru:
(If you like this “taste” of Westport, please click here to support our work.)
The former home of the world’s largest hedge fund may become home to 14 residential homes. Four would be deemed “affordable,” according to state guidelines.
As first reported by Westport Journal, the houses — built by an LLC that includes David Waldman, the developer of projects like Bedford Square and the Bankside condos — would be constructed on 3.7 acres in the northwest part of the 16-acre property, off Weston Road.
The proposed homes are shown at the top of the Glendinning property.
The homes at “Cottage Village at Glendinning Place” would be 3 bedrooms. The “affordable” homes (for buyers who make 80 percent of state median income) would be half the size of the market-rate houses.
The land — named for Ralph Glendinning, who built a 48,000-square foot modern office park there for his marketing firm in the 1960s — includes a pond and pathways. It is at the confluence of the Saugatuck and Aspetuck Rivers, and abuts Aspetuck Land Trust’s Leonard Schine Preserve and Children’s Natural Playground.
Bridgewater Associates moved out earlier this year. They consolidated their hedge fund operations at the Nyala Farm office complex, off I-95 exit 18.
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New to town? Newly retired? New empty nester? Inspired by the new year (school and/or Jewish) to do something new?
If you are interested in volunteering — but don’t know where to start — the Westport Library, Town of Westport and League of Women Voters of Westport can help.
On Saturday, September 23 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), the 3 organizations are teaming up to host an adult volunteer fair in the Library’s Trefz Forum.
Over 2 dozen community organizations will be represented. Each will have a staff member to provide information and answer questions.
The Library will also host a volunteer expo for teens on Wednesday, October 4 (4:30 to 6 p.m.), featuring local youth organizations with volunteer opportunities.
Organizations participating in the September 23 adult volunteer fair include: A Better Chance of Westport; AWARE; Center for Senior Activities; Club 203; Earthplace; FCJazz; Food Rescue; Friends of Sherwood Island; Guiding Eyes for the Blind; Levitt Pavilion; Staples Tuition Grants; Sunrise Rotary Club; TEAM Westport; Town of Westport; Verso Studios; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Wakeman Town Farm; Westport Book Shop; Westport Community Theatre; Westport Country Playhouse; Westport Emergency Medical Services; Westport League of Women Voters; Westport Library; Westport Permanent Art Collections; Westport Sunrise Rotary; Westport Woman’s Club; Westport Young Woman’s League; Westport-Weston CERT; Westport Weston Family YMCA.
There are countless ways to volunteer here. Food Rescue — picking up excess food, and delivering it where it’s needed — is just one.
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport has a new transitional minister.
Rev. Alan Taylor will serve the congregation both from Westport and Oak Park, Illinois, where he and his family live permanently. He will preach 3 Sundays out of 4 — 2 in person, and 1 via virtual broadcast.
Rev. Alan will carry out his duties both in person in Westport, and virtually via email, Zoom and phone from his home office in Oak Park. He is serving in partnered ministry with UU Westport’s longtime minister of music, Rev. Ed Thompson.
Rev. Alan will first preach from the pulpit in Westport at this Sunday’s service (September 10, 10 a.m.). All are welcome to join in person or via livestream.
UU Westport’s previous senior minister, Rev. Dr. John Morehouse, has moved to a developmental minister role in a church outside of Philadelphia.
The Westport Rotary Club hosted a board member of another outstanding group, at Tuesday’s meeting.
Ed Spilka of Wheel It Forward described their “lending library.” People who need durable medical equipment like wheelchairs, and related products can borrow them at no cost.
People with “lightly used” equipment can donate them too — helping others, and keeping what’s no longer needed out of landfills.
Westport Police made 2 custodial arrests between August 30 and September 6.
One man was arrested after a resident reported that several checks worth $30,000 were returned due to insufficient funds, or account closed. The checks had been stolen, and attempted to be used to pay rent.
A man was arrested and charged with illegal possession of personal identity information, identity theft, and illegal trafficking in personal identity information. The incident began after a May 31 arrest at BevMax. A warrant was then obtained for a cell phone search. Evidence implicated the man in a larger, more complex fraud involving the purchase and sale of “high-end” liquor, using fraudulent credit cards. The scheme took place in many East Coast states.
Police also issued these citations:
Traveling unreasonably fast: 11 citations
Failure to obey traffic control signals: 3
Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 2
Failure to comply with state traffic commission regulations: 2
Failure to carry registration or insurance card: 2
Speeding: 1
Failure to obey a stop sign: 1
Operating a motor vehicle while under suspension: 1
Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 1
Failure to carry a license: 1
Operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance: 1
The Westport Country Playhouse “script in hand” season continues Monday, September (18, 7 p.m.). with “100 Saints You Should Know.”
Theresa (played by Tony Award winner Celia Keenan-Bolger) is a single mother with a rebellious teenage daughter. Working as a cleaner in a church rectory, she rekindles her religious beliefs and searches for validation from the priest.
But the troubled pastor, questioning his own faith, suddenly leaves the church and returns home to his protective mother. Theresa tracks him down, ultimately changing both of their lives.
All tickets are $25. Click here to purchase, and for more information.
A recent “06880” Roundup photo featured a series of holes dug next to the pedestrian path, leading from Old Mill to Compo Cove.
Property owner Jeff Northrop Sr. reports they’re for a new fence, identical to the one on the other side of the walkway.
A sign will say “Children and fishermen welcome.”
Northrop learned to fish there, as a child. “I want to keep it open access,” he says.
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Henry Wynne is one of 20 elite runners participating in Sunday’s 42nd annual Fifth Avenue Mile race.
The 2013 Staples High School and 2017 University of Virginia graduate — one of the greatest runners in Connecticut history — will cover the 20-block stretch of New York City far quicker than nearly anyone else can.
Of course, it helps that all the traffic lights will be green. (Hat tip: John Nathan)
Rock music, photography, art and fashion combine soon at WEST.
The Post Road East boutique hosts Michael Friedman for a discussion and signing of his very cool book “Exposed: The Lost Negatives and Untold Stories” (September 21, 6 p.m.).
The book is a treasure trove of up-close, personal — and excellent — photos of the musical icons the 1961 Staples High School graduate worked and hung out with, more than half a century ago.
You know: Janis Joplin, The Band, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, Todd Rundgren, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, James Cotton, the Rolling Stones ….
Many were part of a 2019 exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
A portion of the proceeds from the “Sound Exposed” WEST event, including 20% of limited edition print sales, will benefit Neighborhood Studio. The non-profit provides after-school arts education for Bridgeport youngsters.
WEST will also offer 20% off all clothing and merchandise at the event, plus giveaways like signed copies of Friedman’s book, and tickets to the Bridgeport “Sound on Sound” music festival.
“Sound Exposed” is free, but registration is required — click here.
Kerri Rosenthal hosts an “Art of Beauty” event next Wednesday (September 13, 5 to 7 p..).
The Art of Beauty event on Wednesday September 13th 5pm-7pm.
Her favorite esthetic, Erin Meyers-Albaridi from New Beauty & Wellness, will discuss art, fashion and (of course) beauty. There’s a raffle and swag bag too.
The New York Times reports the August 17 death of Sarah Wunsch, at her Massachusetts home. She was 75, and suffered a stroke 3 years ago.
The 1965 Staples High School graduate “championed citizen protections on issues of race, gender and free speech and helped persuade New York’s highest court to declare that men could be prosecuted for raping their wives,” the Times says.
“As deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts for almost three decades, Ms. Wunsch brought innovative challenges before the courts, aimed at safeguarding a wide range of public behavior, including panhandling for small amounts of change, tattooing, wearing certain hairstyles in school and videotaping on-duty police activity.”
Our “Westport … Naturally” feature celebrates all kinds of living things. We’ve run photos of deer (plenty), eagles (handsome), lanternflies (ugh) … you name it.
Today we feature a first: an orb-weaver spider, from Elisabeth Levery’s patio near Longshore.
It may not be particularly good-looking when you see it around your home. But Elizabeth sure makes it look interesting here.
And finally … Gary Wright, the singer-songwriter with a couple of synthesizer-infused hits, died Monday in California. He was 80, and suffered from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Another day, another Roundup, another “06880” post filled with all kinds of Westport (and Westport-ish) news. Please support our work. Click here to contribute. Thank you!
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