This week’s Unsung Heroes selection is a no-brainer.
Four Westport first responders — Deputy Fire Chief Matt Cohen, Firefighters Patrick Dailey and Michael Durette, and Police Officer Gregory Gunter — answered the call to bring aid to North Carolina communities devastated by Hurricane Helene.
They delivered food, water, essential supplies and a mobile cell unit by helicopter to isolated towns, and helped resolve a mobile communications problem at a field hospital.
Westport Deputy Fire Chief Matt Cohen (right) delivers supplies via Chinook helicopter. (Photo courtesy of Westport Fire Department)
Meanwhile, the Westport Rotary and Sunrise Rotary Clubs quickly organized a collection drive for food and other essentials, tolls and equipment, and medical supplies.
Many Westporters responded yesterday to the Rotarians’ appeal. A very large truck, filled with contributed goods, are already in North Carolina.
Packing supplies yesterday at Stop & Shop. (Photo/Connie Belta)
But that’s not all. The Y’s Men of Westport and Weston very quickly raised enough money to buy 10 generators for North Carolina.
Our first responders, Rotarians and Y’s Men have made important — even life-saving — efforts.
They do it because it’s the right thing to do, not for thanks.
But all of Westport joins countless hurricane victims in saying: Thank you!
(Unsung Hero is a weekly “06880” feature. To nominate a hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)
Hours have been extended for dropping off donations for victims of Hurricane Helene today(Tuesday), at Stop & Shop.
Items will be accepted now through 2:30 p.m.
The drive is being conducted by the Westport Rotary Club and Westport Sunrise Rotary.
The list of desperately needed items is long. It includes food and other supplies; tools and equipment; other essentials, and medical supplies. Click here for a full list.
In other Helene news, the Y’s Men of Westport/Weston have raised enough money to buy 10 generators for North Carolina.
Jaden Waldman is spending his fall afternoons playing freshman soccer at Staples High School. The team is great, but they don’t attract many fans — just a few parents and friends.
Jaden will be seen by exponentially more people this fall in another role: as the younger Dr. Oliver Wolf, Zachary Quinto’s character on NBC’s new series “Brilliant Minds.”
Based on Dr. Oliver Sacks — the exceptionally gifted neurologist who suffers from a rare condition that gives him a unique perspective on care — it airs Mondays at 10 p.m., then streams the following day on Peacock.
The teenager — who goes by Jaden Myles Waldman professionally — is equally at home on the soccer pitch and the stage. He debuted in 2021 (after a pandemic delay) in “Caroline, or Change.”
His other credits include “Ne Zha,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Plot Against America,” “Give or Take,” “Confetti,” and as Peter Pinkerton in “Pinkalicious & Peterrific.”
Jaden may be best known for his voice role as TO-B1 in the Emmy-nominated “Star Wars: Visions,” and Kun in the Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated movie “Mirai.”
Next up: a guest role on “Law & Order: SVU” October 24.
But we will say this: His father, David Pogue — a noted TV personality himself — is proud.
Very proud.
Jeffrey Pogue (right) on Scrabble TV.
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Yesterday’s Roundup included an item about signs from Huntington Learning Center and the Patch Boys that marred Kings Highway Colonial Cemetery.
Brian Rivel, who owns Huntington with his wife, notes that he did not place or dispose of his sign there.
“I was dismayed to read that,” he says. “We would never put a sign in a cemetery.”
Huntington Learning Center on Post Road East.
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The Downtown Plan Implementation Committee will hold a public meeting this Thursday (October 10, 8:30 a.m., Town Hall Room 201/201A).
Agenda items include the Jesup Green, Imperial Avenue and police station parking lots, and the parking study and feasibility analysis.
Remote and in-person comments from the public will be received as time is available. Comments can also be emailed to DPIC-comments@westportct.gov.
The future of the police station is one key to the development of a new downtown parking plan.
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Speaking of local politics: The Board of Finance regularly votes on big appropriations — our tax dollars at work.
But they don’t just study spreadsheets and grill town officials. Sometimes, they take field trips to better understand funding requests.
This Friday (October 11, noon), BOF members head to Old Mill Beach. They’ll walk on the pedestrian bridges and examine the tidal gates. It’s part of a request for $5,580,000 from the Public Works Department director, to rehabilitate the walkway and structure.
One of the 2 Sherwood Mill Pond tidal gates. (Photo/Phil Delano)
Early voting takes place Monday, October 21 through Sunday, November 3, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium.
On October 29 and 31, the hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting on Election Day (Tuesday, November 5), is from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., at regular polling places. Click here to view a district map.
Registrations done online, at the Department of Motor Vehicles or by mail must be completed (postmarked or received by the Westport Registrar of Voters by October 18.
All applications to register to vote after October 18 must be done in person at Town Hall, Room 107, in order to vote on November 5.
Citizens may also register and vote in person during the early voting period or on Election Day through same-day registration at Westport Town Hall, Room 107.
Meanwhile, the registrars of voters will begin memory card and tabulator testing this Thursday (October 10, 9:30 a.m., Town Hall, Room 212D. The public is welcome to observe on Thursday, or until completion
Questions about any of the above? Email the registrars of voters: Deborah Greenberg (Democrats): dgreenberg@westportct.gov, 203-341-1116; Maria Signore (Republicans): msignore@westportct.gov, 203-341-1117.
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Add this to your little kids’ Halloween activity list: a “fa-boo-lous”time at Wakeman Town Farm.
Youngsters ages 0-5 are invited — in costume — for a fun event October 25 (2 to 3 p.m.). Click here for tickets.
Lynette Washington headlines this week’s Jazz at the Post (Thursday, October 10, VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399; shows at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner begins at 7 p.m.; $20 music cover, $15 for veterans and students).
Her extensive career in jazz, R&B and gospel has taken her around the world.
Lynette will be joined by pianist Amina Figarova, bassist Will Goble, flutist Bart Platteau and drummer Vinton Hines, Jr. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Spice — a gift shop specializing in fashion, home, entertaining, and baby and child goods — will move into the Sconset Square space recently vacated by Bespoke Designs.
This is Spice’s second location. The first is in Delray Beach, Florida.
A bit of needed rain came and left yesterday morning.
The sun quickly came out. But not before Celia Campbell-Mohn captured this scene, at the Westport Weston Family YMCA, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature.
(Photo/Celia Campbell-Mohn)
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And finally … in honor of the arrival of Spice, Westport’s newest store (story above):
(Whether you’re scary, sporty, baby, ginger or posh, you’re part of our great online “06880” community. And we rely on you — our readers — to support our work. Please click here to help. Thanks!)
Westport’s Rotary and Sunrise Rotary are joining other clubs in Connecticut to help another Rotary group in western North Carolina, as it aids victims of Hurricane Helen.
They’re asking “06880” readers to help too.
Two members of the East Hampton Rotary Club have donated a 50-foot semi-truck, and a 26-foot box truck, to transport collected materials.
The collection is set for Tuesday (October 8, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Westport Stop & Shop).
Items needed include:
Canned or packaged food with a long shelf life (especially cases of ramen, pasta and rice)
Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels and plates, plastic utensils, feminine hygiene products)
All types of batteries
Pet food and cat litter
Shelf-stable milk
Bug spray
Baby food, diapers, formula
Hand-held can openers
Disinfectant spray
Over-the-counter meds
First aid supplies
Sports drinks
Water (low priority)
Other items that are not available at Stop & Shop, but still needed, are:
Tools and equipment
Heavy-duty extension cords
Small generators
Gas & diesel fuel (many residents are using their own equipment to push through roads, and are running out)
Bar and chain oil for chainsaws
2-cycle fuel mix for chainsaws
Chains and sharpeners
Other essentials
Car batteries
Propane
Hay
Starlinks
Cots, tents, sleeping bags
Medical Supplies
Tourniquets
Medical scissors
First aid kits
Once items are collected Tuesday at Stop & Shop, the trucks will be driven directly to Asheville, then distributed by the Rotary Club there.
North Carolina needs help. Westport’s Rotary Clubs are answering the call — with help from the rest of the town.
Three members of the Westport Fire Department, and one from the Westport Police Department, have deployed to western North Carolina to assist with relief efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
The group includes Deputy Fire Chief Matt Cohen, Firefighters Patrick Dailey and Michael Durette, and Police Officer Gregory Gunter.
The 4 will provide critical communication and data restoration support to the hard-hit area.
The Westport team will use a mobile command unit equipped with cutting-edge communication and coordination technology. Field-Comm 1 functions as an on-site command center, offering satellite communication, radio interoperability, and internet access.
Ready to deploy (from left): Fire Chief Nick Marsan, 2nd Selectwoman Andrea Moore, Firefighter Michael Durette, Police Officer Gregory Gunter, Firefighter Patrick Dailey, Deputy Fire Chief Matt Cohen, 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker.
The unit also has onboard power and climate control systems, ensuring continuous operation in all conditions.
“This vehicle allows our team to operate independently and maintain essential communication links between local responders, state agencies and federal resources,” says Fire Chief Nick Marsan. “Field-Comm 1 is a critical asset in managing large-scale incidents, making sure that communities get the help they need quickly and efficiently.”
All costs associated with the deployment of personnel, equipment and resources will be fully reimbursed toWestport through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, in collaboration with the State of North Carolina.
“Westport is proud to answer the call to help our neighbors in North Carolina during this challenging time,” says First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker.
“Our highly skilled first responders are well-equipped to provide vital assistance in restoring essential communication infrastructure.”
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