Yesterday — in the aftermath of the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania — the Democratic Town Committee said:
Dear Westport Community,
The Westport Democratic Town Committee denounces the violence perpetrated against former President Donald Trump, and all other acts of political violence.
We live in unusually divisive times, where conduct has devolved both nationally and locally. This is unacceptable. The Democratic Town Committee is committed to civility, community, and above all – safety.
Sincerely,
Michelle Mechanic, Chair
Nicole Klein, Vice Chair
Robin Weinberg, Secretary
Alan Shinbaum, Treasurer
This was posted on a Westport Republicans social media account:
There’s no place for political violence in our republic.
Civility & respect.
God bless Donald Trump, America and those harmed by these actions.
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Tickets for this year’s “Booked for the Evening” — featuring tennis legend and social justice pioneer Billie Jean King, set for September 12 — go on sale today (Monday, July 15) at 10 a.m.
Click here to purchase, for this sure-to-sell-out-quickly fundraiser. Click here for a seat map of the event.
The library notes: “All tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, and we cannot guarantee access to tickets.” A livestream/watch-from-home ticket option is also available.
NOTE: If you don’t see tickets available on the website at 10 a.m., refresh your browser. The ticket link might be added to the page after you logged on.
King will come to the Library fresh off the 2024 US Open, whose grounds were named in her honor in 2006.
Onstage, she’ll chat with Chris McKendry, a Westport resident and host of ESPN’s tennis coverage.
Billie Jean King
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Decades ago, Functional Clothing sold used blue jeans in a basement-level Main Street store, near the current Gap.
Soon, a new used clothing store will open downtown this fall.
2nd Street takes over at 17 Main Street. Most recently, it was the site of Loft.
The chain’s originated in Japan in 1996. There are now more than 700 locations there.
The first 2nd Street in the US was in Los Angeles, in 2018. there are now about 3 dozen in the this country. The Westport and New Haven sites will be the first 2 in Connecticut.
The website boasts of “a huge selection of styles from street wear to vintage to Japanese designer and luxury accessories.” It also cites the company’s sustainability and waste-reduction efforts”
As part of our Hand2Hand project, we make sure to reuse all the clothing that arrives in our stores. Any items that we cannot sell are donated to a partner company that will recycle the clothing to clean up oil spills in factories, while other items are resold to create job opportunities and provide clothing to those in need.
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In other business news, Stop & Shop is closing 5 underperforming stores in Connecticut — and 27 others throughout the Northeast — by November.
The Westport location will remain open.
The 5 Nutmeg State stores to be shuttered are in Ansonia, Danbury, Milford, Stamford (West Main Street) and Torrington.
Nancy Anderson adds: “My father, Dr Arnold Pearlstone, moved to Westport in 1963 where he lived until his passing in 2020.
“In 1963 he and his partner Leonard Flom (they were both well known ophthalmologists) purchased adjacent plots of land on a road without a name. It is off North Ave extension, and was named “Arlen Road” after both of them.”
Dr. Leonard Flom
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Cali Carleton is a Westport mom of 5. A year ago, she launched Domino & Juliette.
They create high quality, safe, affordable and “educationally accurate” toys for children. Favorite items include alphabet and numbers puzzles. Made from food grade silicone, they are dishwasher safe (and great for crafts and messy play).
The toys are hailed by by parents of neuro-divergent children and therapists, because they are soft, flexible and chewable.
D&J also sells placemats for children of all ages to practice counting, spelling, sorting, geography and science.
With every order placed, the company donates a 24-pack of Crayolas to children in need, in places like Bridgeport.
Last month, Domino & Juliette entered retail space for the first time. They joined Honeypie, the children’s boutique on Riverside Avenue also run by a Westport mom.
Feeling safe, she hatched 5 tiny chicks. “It’s been amazing to watch,” he says of the process that led to today’s very cool “Westport … Naturally” photo.
And finally … on this date in 2006, Twitter was launched. The world has never been the same.
(From local roads and stores to national politics, “06880” is “where Westport meets the world.” Please click here to help us keep those connections strong. Thank you!)
Sometimes you have to put down a book, and see a movie.
The Westport Book Shop understands. So the Jesup Road institution has paired with its Imperial Avenue neighbor — the Remarkable Theater — to celebrate the 94th annual Academy Awards.
They’re co-sponsors of a “Guess the Oscars Winners” contest.
Starting Sunday, you can fill out a ballot for who you think will win, in 9 categories. The top 3 entrants receive a ticket to any drive-in movie this year. Plus a $25 Westport Book Shop gift card — and Remarkable Theater and Book Shop swag.
Ballots will be available at the Westport Book Shop, and by visiting the Book Shop website or the Remarkable Theater website. The deadline is 5 p.m. March 27. Only one entry per person.
In 2016, a section of Smith Richardson Preserve was a thicket of weeds, and invasive shrubs and vines.
Connecticut Audubon envisioned an ecological overhaul that would transform it into a rich, coastal forest and shrub-land filled with birds, bees and butterflies.
Then they did it.
The story behind the project will be told at Aspetuck Land Trust’s next “Lunch & Learn” (March 22n, 12 to 1:15 p.m.. Zoom). CT Audubon steward and ALT member Charlie Stebbins reveals how that tangle turned into a mixture of meadows, shrubs, thickets, conifers and open woods. Click here to register.
April is Autism Acceptance Month. It’s a propitious time for Westport author Sivan Hong to release her 4th book in the best-selling “Super Fun Day” series. “Avery G. and the Scary End of School” is a social story that helps children express their feelings about the end of school.
It’s perfect for neurodiverse (autism, ADHD, dyslexia, etc.), and also neurotypical, youngsters who struggle with change, worry about new things and are working on being flexible.
Avery G. teaches them how to tackle change, including movement breaks and belly breaths.
The March 25 entry deadline for the Wheels2U limerick contest is approaching, even faster than a Westport Transit District bus that comes to your door.
The goal is to raise awareness of the $2 pick-up request service (5:45 to 10 a.m., 4 to 9:30 p.m.), to and from Westport’s 2 train stations. Seven winners earn gift certificates to Westport restaurants ($100 to $25).
Enter as often as you like. Email pgold@westportct.gov by March 25; put “Limerick Contest” in the subject line, and include your name, address, and email address.
Some great entries have already been sent in. However, some are actual poems, rather than limericks. A reminder: This is a limerick…
A brilliant lawyer named Lena
Said be smart and commute greener.
Give the bus a try.
It’s as easy as pie!
If not, you’ll get a subpoena!
For more information about Wheels2U, click here. For more information about the Westport Transit District’s services for the elderly and people with disabilities. click here.
Ken Bernhard — the longtime Westport attorney who taught law in Ukraine — has continued his friendships with people he met there.
Yesterday, he passed along this email from one of them:
“On February 24, I woke up to the loud noise of 2 rocket strikes on my hometown. A short whistling sound was followed 2 seconds later by a loud bang.
“It was terrifying. Of course, there was no trace of normal sleep after that. The whole following day was grim and stressful with people shocked in disbelief. Food started disappearing from grocery shelves and cash disappeared, with no credit cards accepted.
“Because of the imminent danger of night air attacks, we decided to leave our city to the village about 30 miles away and stay with friends. We haven’t been able to go home since. We are now displaced people living alien lives. There are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and most basic necessities. There is no re-supply capacity. We have to watch how much we eat.
“The kids don’t understand what has happened to us. Due to a major gas pipeline damage near Mariupol (shelling), there is no gas anywhere in the region for residential heating or cooking. We use wood in a wheel barrel to make coffee. Electricity is spotty. with frequent power grid outages.
“About 10 days ago I personally witnessed a column of about 75 Russian military vehicles pass through the village, indifferent and threatening at the same time. We hear explosions regularly and see rockets passing overhead. It is terrifying thinking one of them might land on us. We are worried to death about people we know in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy and other big cities under bombardment. We hear about heavy battles going on.
“Apart from the devastation (evacuations, killing and suffering), there is social devastation as well. We do not work; kids don’t go to schools; kindergarteners, pensioners suffer; there is no postal service or cell connectionl millions of active citizens leavr the country for safety – this all effects the Ukrainian economy, social life, education, healthcare. The longer the conflict goes, the worse such impact will be. This is especially hard, since Ukraine, like the rest of the world, has been badly hit by COVID for the past two years.
“My hometown is occupied for now, with Russian propaganda machine slowly but steadily infiltrating local minds. For now, locals protest daily in peaceful but organized ways and resist Russian humanitarian convoys. But how long will they be able to resist with not much food or any other opportunities available?
“My wife and I discussed her option to escape with the kids from the region toward Europe, probably Poland, but there are too many risks for our children. They could bring with them only the things they could carry. I am waiting to be called up for duty.
“At this point, nothing can be predicted for sure. Things are out of control. With God’s will, things will come to a peaceful end. Glory to Ukraine!”
p.s. Thank you for reading this and your continuous support of us. Your words and prayers matter!”
A graphic photo by Staples High School 1988 graduate Tyler Hicks. (Photo/Tyler Hicks for The New York Times)
Here is the full obituary for Leonard Flom. The internationally known ophthalmologist, medical pioneer and inductee in the National Inventors Hall of Fame died Tuesday at Norwalk Hospital. He was 94.
The son of Polish immigrants Murray and Pauline Flom of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Flom entered New York University at the age of 16. He received a medical degree from the NYU School of Medicine, where he studied ophthalmology and was certified as an ophthalmic surgeon.
He then became a first lieutenant in the US Army Medical Corps. He was stationed in Trieste, Italy during the Korean war conflict.
Following his service, Dr. Flom founded a private medical practice and surgical center in Fairfield. He served Fairfield County for nearly 50 years. With his colleague Dr. Aaron Safir, he conceptualized and patented an idea for an iris identification system, and co-founded IriScan. Today, this biometric is considered to be one of the most accurate in the field of biometric identification.
Dr. Flom taught and worked at a number of New York and Connecticut universities and hospitals, and remained a member of the faculty of the NYU School of Medicine after retiring from practice. He served on the Ethics Committee of the Connecticut Medical Examining Board, and was an active member of the Y’s Men and a frequent guest speaker at Camp Invention.. His passions included politics, photography, humor and faith.
Dr. Flom is survived by Marilyn, his wife of 74 years; children Cherie Quain, Jonathan Flom, Sara Goldstein and Rachel Chason; 12 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his oldest son, Murray.
Yesterday’s Roundup included an incorrect date for the Staples High School Guidance Department’s “Spark Your Future” virtual session on careers in business and computer science, with alums Georgia Fox, Megan Root and Jake McCambley.
The correct date is Tuesday, April 5 (6:30 to 7:30 p.m.). Click here to register. Everyone is welcome.
And finally … Timmy Thomas’s best-known hit was “a soulful, plaintive statement against the Vietnam War that he sang to his own accompaniment on the electric organ and drum machine,” the New York Times‘ said.
He was not a one-hit wonder, but that’s what led his obituary. He died last week in Miami. He was 77, and had battled cancer. Click here for the full obituary, and below for his memorable song.
Before beginning radiation, a cancer patient receives a small tattoo. The dot helps doctors target the treatment.
But when radiation ends, the tattoo serves as a constant reminder of what that person has been through.
Some cancer survivors appreciate seeing the symbol of what they’ve overcome. Many, however, don’t want to relive that terrible time.
Dr. Rhonda Klein
Rhonda Klein is a Westport dermatologist. Some of her practice involves rashes, infections, dermatologic surgery and Botox.
But she also removes radiation tattoos. Because it’s so important and meaningful, she does it for free.
The procedure is part of an American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery project called New Beginnings. It’s also part of why Klein loves her specialty.
The daughter of Westport native Cheryl Flom — and granddaughter of Westport ophthalmologist Dr. Leonard Flom — Klein earned her undergraduate degree in bioengineering and biomedical science from the University of Pennsylvania.
She added a master’s in public health from Columbia University. After earning her medical degree from Penn she worked in epidemiology with the New York City Department of Health, including a stint after 9/11 on the bioterrorism task force.
But Klein always enjoyed clinic care, surgery and medical procedures. In dermatology, she says, “you never now what will walk into the office. It’s a field that combines all my interests.”
Many people, she notes, don’t realize how broad dermatology is. “There’s a lot of real medicine,” she explains. “It’s not just cosmetics.”
Klein did her residency at Yale. Her husband works at a Greenwich hedge fund. Westport was in between. In 2008, she and her family moved here.
After 3 years of residency — and 3 more on the Yale faculty — Klein had her 4th child. Four years ago, to be closer to them, she joined a practice here.
In July, she and Dr. Deanne Robinson partnered in a new practice: Modern Dermatology. It’s on Post Road East, next to the Maserati dealership.
That’s where Klein does what she loves — including free radiation tattoo removals.
Dr. Rhonda Klein and Dr. Deanna Robinson remove a radiation tattoo.
October — Breast Cancer Awareness Month — is a great time to let people know about this important initiative.
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