Tag Archives: Diane Benke

Roundup: Traffic Delays, The Bridge At Saugatuck, Kings Highway Walking Tour …

Posted on September 7, 2024 | 8 comments

A reminder: Tomorrow’s (Sunday) CT United motorcycle ride will impact travel on Riverside Avenue, Wilton Road — and cross streets — from Exit 17 to the Wilton line.

The event — paying tribute to the victims and first responders of 9/11 — is the largest motorcycle ride in the state.

It begins around 11:30 a.m. at Sherwood Island State Park. Hundreds of riders head south on I-95; take Exit 17, and then proceed to Wilton, and on through 7 towns before ending in Bridgeport.

The route is closed and continuous. With the assistance of a police escort, motorcyclists drive through traffic lights and do not stop at stop signs.

Drivers should expect extended traffic delays along the route — potentially 45 minutes or longer. Alternate routes are recommended.

The start of the CT United ride, at Sherwood Island State Park. (Photo/Penny Pearlman)

==================================================

Today’s Slice of Saugatuck is postponed until next Saturday (September 14). Rain and thunder are expected this afternoon.

But the weather was perfect last night. And a large crowd enjoyed a pre-opening party at The Bridge at Saugatuck.

Doug Pardon’s new restaurant — replacing Parker Mansion, which replaced Mansion Clam House — will open later this month, or in early October.

But a band played, drinks were served, music rocked, and a couple of hundred guests enjoyed the 2-level space, patio and deck.

The cabanas by the river will be a welcome addition to the restaurant — and all of Saugatuck too.

“06880” will announce The Bridge at Saugatuck’s opening date, as soon as it’s set.

The band on the Bridge at Saugatuck patio …

… and a view of the downstairs bar, from above. (Photos/Dan Woog)

=================================================

Last October, “06880” reported on the 50th anniversary of the Kings Highway North Historic District — the first such designation in Westport.

Now — just in time for nice fall walking weather — the Historic District Commission has updated its self-guided walking tour.

And made it available digitally.

The fascinating and important project — overseen by HDC member Bill Ryan — includes nearly 3 dozen homes and other structures (plus a cemetery) on Wright Street, Kings Highway North, Old Hill Road, Edge Hill Lane and Wilton Road.

Click here to view, download and begin.

Kings Highway walking tour. Detailed information about each home is available by clicking on the Historic District Commission link above.

=================================================

The other day, we previewed Diane Benke’s upcoming Swedish swimrun.

The Westport mom was preparing to swim — tethered to a partner — to an island in the Stockholm archipelago. Then they’d race across the rocky surface, plunge back in the water, and do it again.

Two dozen times.

The Ötillö Swimrun World Championship involves 46 transitions: water to land, and vice versa. She hoped to race across 24 islands in all.

The pair needed to make cutoff points along the way. If they did not get to a point within a certain time, they could not continue.

Diane Benke and her swimrun partner, Chrissy Halioris of Louisville, Kentucky.

Diane is back home. Unfortunately, she says, she and her partner missed the second time cut-off by just 6 minutes.

“It was a huge disappointment,” Diane says. “Our race ended after over 5 hours on the course.

“It was a beauty and a beast! The water temperature was in the 50s. Conditions were pretty rough at the start, but you deal with the hand you’re dealt.”

Despite her early finish, Diane says, “it was so cool to be there. And it was such an incredible experience!”

Look closely — that’s Diane Benke, in the high yellow socks.

She hopes to try again another year — perhaps partnering with her husband Blake, an endurance athlete himself. (Click here to read an “06880” story about his 2013 adventure: a 153-mile Spartathlon race in Greece, tracing the journey of Pheidippides from Athens to Sparta.)

Meanwhile, Diane says, “I would love to grow the pool of local swimrunners in our community.”

Congratulations, Diane — on training for the swimrun, then spending 5 hours at, in the water and on land.

You have my admiration and huge respect, delivered warmly right here from the comfort of my home.

Diane and Blake Benke, in Stockholm.

==================================================

The Japan Society Fall Festival — scheduled for today at Jesup Green — has been postponed to tomorrow (Sunday, September 8, 1 to 4 p.m.). Threatened rain — which could harm the traditional drums — forced the delay.

The Fall Festival includes Taiko drumming, Bon Odori dance, booths with Japanese crafts and other products, and — new this year — a demonstration of Radio Taiso, a gentle fitness routine set to music. 

The 2019 Japan Festival on Jesup Green.

================================================

Westport Fire Chief Nick Marsan spoke at yesterday’s Sunrise Rotary Club meeting.

He described the Community Connect program, and how it helps first responders during emergencies.

Sunrise Rotary has a special connection to the WFD: They provide the “river” that plastic animals course down during the annual Great Duck Race.

Fire Chief Nick Marsan speaks yesterday.

==================================================

In conjunction with StoryFest 2024, the Westport Library will showcase 2 art mediums related to their own kinds of storytelling.

The history, present and future of cartooning, and an album cover art retrospective, headline 4 new exhibits. They run from today (Saturday) through December 10.

The history of cartooning in Fairfield County is on display at “Cartoon County: The Golden Age of Cartooning in Connecticut” in the Sheffer Gallery.

It will display works from the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection, featuring more than 40 original cartoons by area greats including Dik Browne, Mel Casson, Stan Drake, John Cullen Murphy, Leonard Starr, Jack Tippit and Mort Walker.

Visitors can explore the medium’s current condition and vision for the future with “The State of Cartooning” in the South Gallery.

Works by members of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society include Greg, Brian, and Neal Walker, who carry the legacy of their father, Mort Walker, the creator of “Beetle Bailey.”

An opening reception and keynote presentation by cartoonist and comics historian Walker is set for Tuesday (September 10, 6 p.m.).

As it did in the spring, the Jesup Gallery exhibit will focus on country music this fall. Drawn once more from the collection of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame keyboardist and record producer Mark Naftalin (Paul Butterfield Blues Band) and his wife, Ellen Naftalin, “Art of the Album: Country” showcases tcovers from the 1920s through the ’70s.

Country music album covers, at the Library.

==================================================

As use of Longshore slows down, workers began maintenance on handsome entrance.

(Photo/DouglasHealey.com)

==================================================

Longtime Westport resident Marie Carpenter died Thursday, at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport. She was 96.

The Scarsdale, New York native served in the Civil Air Patrol after World War II.

She worked for many years as a real estate agent here, first for Mila Grieb Village Realty and then Coldwell Banker.

She was an avid scuba diver, tennis player and skier. and a member of the Norwalk Ski Club.

Survivors include her son Mark S. (Donna Marie) of Lakeway, Texas, and nephew Walter Greenwood of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was predeceased by her husband Stanley, and sister Helen Thornton.

A graveside service will be held September 13 (11 a.m., Willowbrook Cemetery). In lieu of flowers, contributions in Marie’s name may be made to Potter League for Animals. Click here to leave online condolences.

==================================================

Fall is not far away, as today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo from Robin Frank’s back yard shows:

(Photo/Robin Frank)

==================================================

And finally … Sergio Mendes, the Brazilian pianist, composer who came to fame with his Brasil ’66 combo, and was a popular performer for more than 60 years, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 83, and suffered from long COVID.

Click here for a full obituary.

(If it’s happening this weekend — or any time else — you’ll read about it on “06880.” Please click here to help us continue covering everything going on in Westport. Thank you!)

8 Comments

Posted in Library, Longshore, Obituaries, Real estate, Restaurants

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Diane Benke’s Swedish Swimrun: Not For Slackers

Posted on August 28, 2024 | 9 comments

On September 2, Diane Benke will run 11 miles on a rocky trail, from one end of a Swedish island to another.

But that’s not the half of it.

Or even 1/46th.

The cross-island run is just one element in the day-long Ötillö Swimrun World Championship.

The endurance sport combines open-water swimming and trail running. Two competitors — tethered together — swim from one island to the next. They clamber ashore, untie themselves, run across that isle, then jump in the water to do it again.

The Ötillö event in the Stockholm archipelago involves 46 transitions: water to land, and vice versa. She’ll race across 24 islands in all.

I’m exhausted just writing about it.

Swimming in the Ötillö swim run …

For Diane — a Westport mom of 2 teenage boys — it will be a walk in the park.

Well, maybe not quite. But Diane is not plunging into this unprepared.

The Short Hills, New Jersey native swam in high school. She got into marathons and triathlons as “an outlet, and something social” while building her career in marketing and consulting.

Her coach introduced her to a Marine he’d served with, Blake Benke. They had a mutual interest in endurance sport: He was an Ironman competitor.

They married, moved to Danbury for his job, then 15 years ago came to Westport.

The Benkes discovered this is “an amazing, active community for athletes.” They run, swim and bike with friends.

And, Diane notes, “Westport has its own triathlon, point-to-point open water swim, and summer running series.”

… then transitioning to an island …

Diane loved the open water swimming portion of triathlons. But though she wold emerge from the water in the lead, she was soon passed by bikers.

When a triathlon friend told her about swimrun, she thought, “Perfect! No bikes!”

She did her first swimrun in Boston Harbor before COVID. She was intrigued that — in contrast to triathlon, with its “hardcore competitors and fancy bikes” — this was “more about the environment, being in nature, with lots of camaraderie.”

Though fast-growing, swimrun is still in its infancy, Diane says. The community is “tight and friendly, from all over the country. We get a lot of joy from this.”

As a wife and mother with many responsibilities, leading a fast-paced life swimrun is “uniquely mine,” Diane says.

The physical demands are great. But so is the mental aspect. She must focus hard, on ever-changing tides, currents, weather, shipping lanes, “things you can’t control” — and of course the grueling, quick transitions from water to land, then back again.

… and trail running.

Competitors must carry everything they need. In Maine, she lost a water flash when she forgot to zip up her wet suit.

Earlier this month, to prepare for the Swedish swimrun, Diane headed to Casco Bay, Maine. She felt good.

But, she notes, that event was only half the distance of the upcoming one. In Sweden she’ll swim 5.6 miles, and run 38 miles.

They’ll start around 6 a.m. Cut-off points are at 9 and 11:15 a.m. If a competitor has not reached that spot, they cannot continue. Everyone must finish by sunset; if they don’t, their swimrun ends then.

After tearing a hamstring in March, Diane has been training more than 15 hours a week, all summer. She runs all over Westport and Fairfield — often wearing a wet suit — and swims and runs from Compo Beach to Sherwood Island, then back.

She trains with Pete Roper, a Fairfield resident who is also going to Otillo.

But he’s not Diane’s partner. She’ll run and swim with Chrissy Halioris, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Diane Benke (right) with her partner Chrissy Halioris, at the Casco Bay Swimrun earlier this month. (Photos courtesy of Ötillö USA)

“She does mostly lake swimming. She doesn’t have cold water and ocean experience,” Diane says. “But she’s a very strong runner.”

The women met for the first time at a swimrun this past November, in Austin, Texas. Since then they’ve developed a friendship — and a high level of trust.

Diane will bring 3 different wet suits to Sweden. The Baltic Sea can be cold, and she has no idea what the weather will be like the day of the event.

She’ll be buoyed by her husband Blake.

Blake Benke

He’s no slouch in the endurance sports world himself. Click here to read an “06880” story about his 2013 adventure: a 153-mile (that’s right) Spartathlon race in Greece, tracing the epic journey of Pheidippides from Athens to Sparta.

Benke — with 2 young kids, and a full-time job on Wall Street — finished in 28 hours, 29 minutes and 34 seconds. He was the top US finisher (13th overall).

This time, he’ll be in a support role. He’s recovering from hip resurfacing in June.

Their 2 sons — Max, a sophomore who runs cross country at Staples, and Alex, a Hopkins 8th grader — will stay home, for school.

“I think they like what I do. It keeps me from bugging them about other things,” Diane says.

“They’re used to what Blake and I do. It seems pretty normal in our household.”

So normal, in fact, that sometimes on a training run, Diane will see Max with his Staples track teammates.

She has prepared well for next month’s 24-island, 13-hour swim-and-run in the Swedish archipelago.

But she is realistic.

“My goal is to not die, and finish happy,” she says.

“Look. I’m over 50. I’m 5-foot-nothing. I’m just treating this as an epic adventure.”

It sure is.

Good luck, Diane Benke. We’ll be following your Ötillö swimrun avidly.

From the comfort of our homes.

(To learn more about the Ötillö swimrun, click here.)

(Where else but “06880” would you learn about remarkable Westpoters like these? Please click here to support our work — and keep stories like this one coming. Thank you!) 

9 Comments

Posted in Sports

Tagged , ,