If you want to get married at the Inn at Longshore during prime picture-taking-by-the-Sound months — April through October — you normally must book it waaaaaay in advance.
(Pro tip: Some brides roll the dice, and grab a date even before grabbing a mate.)
But these are not normal times. The Inn’s owner — Greenwich Hospitality Group — is about to begin an $8 million renovation.
The original timetable was pushed back, after revisions to plans involving an elevator.
So while the Inn is set to close next month, it will open back up in the first week in April. Events and rooms will be available through October. It will then close again, for more work during the slower late fall and winter months of 2025-26.
Artist’s rendering of the new Longshore ballroom.
Because the operators planned to be closed this spring and summer, they did not accept any bookings. Usually, 90 weddings and 40 events would already be scheduled.
In other words: The Inn will be open, but there is nothing on their calendar.
Grab your wedding date now! (Christine Hussey wants to hear from you: chussey@innatlongshore.com.)
The closure sounds like bad news for Inn employees. Fortuitously, the owners — who also own Delamar Hotels in Greenwich, Southport and West Hartford, and are renovating the former Westport Inn — are also opening a 31-room Delamar and event space in Mystic.
Many staff members will head east, to help open that venue.
Meanwhile, La Plage — the Inn’s restaurant — will close for renovations on January 2, after a New Year’s Eve gala, and New Year’s Day brunch. It too will reopen in the spring.
Maybe you can have your rehearsal dinner there too.
(You don’t have to invite “06880” to your wedding. But you can show your love for Westport’s hyper-local blog, by clicking here to support our work. Thank you!)
Each Christmas season, the Wreaths Across America program honors fallen servicemembers, and all who serve. Over 2 million volunteers take part, in all 50 states and overseas.
Tomorrow (Saturday, December 14, 11:30 a.m., Assumption Cemetery, Greens Farms Road), Westport joins it. It’s our town’s third year with the project.
Everyone is invited to join VFW Post 399 and American Legion Post 63, their Auxiliaries, Sons of American Legion, and Scouts from Troops 39 and 139.
After a short ceremony, everyone will place a wreath on a veteran’s grave, and thank that veteran for their service.
Then, from 1 to 6 p.m., the community is invited to an Army-Navy football game watch party at the VFW (465 Riverside Avenue).
None of this would happen without Patty Kondub. The popular Westport Family YMCA and Senior Center fitness instructor (and Staples High School girls golf coach) is the local coordinator.
As part of her many other Westport activities, she’s also vice president of the VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399 Auxiliary.
Click here to sponsor a wreath. To designate a wreath for a specific veteran at the Assumption cemetery, email Patty: nortonpk@aol.com.
For Patty, the project is personal. Her father — John Kondub — was a World War II Marine, and VFW Post 399 member. He earned a Purple Heart, for hand-to-hand combat in the Marianas Islands (Saipan).
He is buried at Assumption Greens Farms Cemetery — almost across from the farm where he was born, before I-95 was built.
“There are over 350 veterans buried in this cemetery,” Patty says. “I hope they all get wreaths.”
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We’ve got justices. And peace!
Yesterday morning, a new class of justices of the peace were sworn in at Town Hall.
Another group was sworn in last week. Town Clerk Jeffrey Dunkerton did the honors both times.
Westport’s 60 justices of the peace are evenly split between Democrats, Republicans and independents.
Community volunteers, they officiate weddings, sign affidavits, and perform arcane and archaic tasks like issuing tax warrants.
Justices of the peace serve 4-year terms, and can perform their services across the state.
For more information, and to engage the services of a justice of the peace, click here. (Hat tip: Jonathan Alloy)
Sworn in yesterday as justices of the peace (from left): Robin Weinberg, Christopher Buckley, Nicole Klein, Alma Sarelli, Ifeseyi Gayle, Jonathan Alloy, Denise Nicoletti, Jim Marpe, Jeff Wieser.
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In all his years in New York, Donald Trump never rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell.
Until yesterday.
The president-elect was there as part of Time magazine’s Person of the Year celebration.
Dave Briggs, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. President-elect Trump, family members and officials stand near a mockup of Time magazine’s Man of the Year cover.
La Plage closes for a few months on January 2. It’s part of the Inn at Longshore renovation.
Before their hiatus, they offer some holiday specials.
La Plage’s Christmas Eve dinner (4 to 10 p.m.) includes a 3-course prix fixe menu. They’ll be open on Christmas Day too (noon to 7 p.m.).
Prices for both days are $90 per person, $55 for young adults (12 and under), $20 for the kiddy menu.
New Year’s Eve begins with a la carte seating, from 5 to 7 p.m. At 8:30, a gala dinner includes a 5-course tasting menu, with live music by Jay Prince & Friends. The cost is $185 per person.
New Year’s Day brunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Menna Olvera, former program director for Donna Karan’s Urban Zen Integrative Therapy program, and co-founder of New York’s wellness The Oleon House, is bringing her healing services to Westport.
Menna, her husband Yanni and young son moved here from New York City during COVID. Yanni grew up in Westport.
As a functional medicine health coach, yoga instructor, caregiver coach, palliative caregiver, integrative wellness specialist and Reiki practitioner, Menna crafts tailored to each client’s journey.
Recently, Menna supported a Westport client through the emotional turbulence of divorce and the sale of her home. Combining mindful yoga movements, Reiki energy work and touch therapy, she helped calm and balance the woman’s nervous system, providing strength and resilience.
In addition to private wellness sessions, Menna teaches integrative yoga classes at Studio45 on Main Street.
For more information about Menna’s services, click here.
Menna Olvera
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If you’ve lived in Westport for more than a day or two, you know that deer go pretty much anywhere they please.
These 3, however, recently met their match, at Gray’s Creek.
And finally … following up on Dave Briggs’ morning with President-elect Trump yesterday:
(Another day, another Roundup filled with interesting, important and random stuff. If you enjoy our this — or anything else on “06880” — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
The letter said, “Our most recent service line inventory indicates that some or all of the water service line materials between the water main and your property are of unknown material classification. Unknown means that the service line may be lead.”
The Health District says: “Please note that Aquarion’s letter is mandated by the federal government’s customer lead service line inventory effort, and that much of the contained language is required by USEPA as part of evolving regulations around the treatment of lead.
“Additionally, Aquarion has indicated that it consistently complies with all federal and state water quality standards, including those for lead. Even if a customer has lead service lines, Aquarion is adjusting the chemistry in the water to prevent corrosion that could result in lead in the tap.
“Before these new rules, adjusting water chemistry was the long-standing practice to protect consumers from lead. The lead service line inventory is a belt- and-suspenders approach across the country to get lead removed from drinking water infrastructure. Aquarion has indicated that the water has been and will continue to be safe.
“Click here for a link to Aquarion’s service line inventory map. Any resident in the service territory can look up their address to see what Aquarion has on record for their service line (both customer and utility side).
“Aquarion’s website has a comprehensive set of information about lead as well.
“Click here for a link to the Consumer Confidence Report for the most recent year for the Bridgeport Main System.”
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Congratulations to the Staples High School field hockey team!
Sofia Fidalgo’s penalty corner goal with 18 seconds left in regulation time propelled the Wreckers into overtime, in last night’s FCIAC championship at Wilton High School.
She scored again with just over a minute to play in the the extra period. The 3-2 win for top-ranked Staples, over #2 Darien, was the Westporters’ first league title since 2019, when they shared it with the Blue Wave. Darien had won 6 straight FCIAC crowns before last night.
Princeton University-bound Fidalgo — who was also named tournament MVP — told The Ruden Report: “Maybe I got those two final touches, but it was really a team effort throughout, Some of our defenders don’t get that credit because they’re not the ones who put it in the back of the net. They’re not the ones who have that final touch. But from our goalie, our defense, every single player, it’s all a team effort, and so I’m just really proud of every single player. Those last 15 minutes were really high intensity, but we were able to manage our emotions and calm down, especially in overtime, and finish.”
The Wreckers — ranked first in the state in the “L” (large schools) division — begin state tournament play next Wednesday. Pairings will be announced this week.
Staples Wreckers: FCIAC field hockey champs! (Photo courtesy of VJ Sarullo)
Last night, the 2017 Staples High School grad became only the second pitcher in baseball history to make his first-ever MLB start in a World Series. (But the first, no doubt, to do it on his mother’s birthday.)
He left (as planned) after 2 innings, with his Los Angeles Dodgers up 2-1 against the New York Yankees. He has given up just 1 run in 6 1/3 innings in the post-season.
The Yanks got 4 runs in the 3rd inning. after Casparius departed, then cruised to an 11-4 victory to stay alive in the Series (they are down 3 games to 1).
Game 5 is tonight at 8 p.m., on Fox. (Hat tip: Jeff Mitchell)
Ben Casparius on the mound last night … (Screenshot/Fred Cantor)
Reading is wonderful, and joyous — for many people.
For some, it is challenging and frustrating.
Jennifer Bernheim — advocate, entrepreneur, and mom to a dyslexic learner — has launched a new podcast with Verso Studios at the Westport Library.
“Right to Read” is named after the organization she founded. It offers advocacy services, IEP coaching and workshops, as well as a corporate HR benefit that provides educational resources and advocacy coaching.
The podcast offers information on community resources, best practices for dyslexic learners, legislation, and success stories.
It debuted yesterday — during Dyslexia Awareness Month — with 3 20-minute episodes. Additional episodes will drop every other week.
Speaking of the Library: If you were there yesterday morning, you got an unexpected musical treat.
The Orphenians — Staples’ elite singing group — joined a few other area high schools in an inspiring workshop, hosted by the Voces8 Foundation.
The Westport Library this morning between 9 and 11:30am was in for a musical treat. Staples Orphenians, along with a few other area high school choirs, participated in an inspiring workshop hosted by the Voces8 Foundation.
Voces8 — based in the UK — teaches chamber music to high school students worldwide. They visit “music hubs” in New York, Minneapolis and Dallas several times a year.
Last year, they added Westport as a hub.
Voces8 will sponsor another workshop this spring, followed by an evening performance.
Voces8 workshop, at the Westport Library. (Hat tip and photo/Liz Skopp)
Kenzie Hoefs has started a GoFundMe. Last weekend her brother-in law Matt Zahler of Westport lost his battle with depression, leaving behind her sister Steph and 3-year-old niece, and 3 teenage sons from his previous marriage.
Kenzie writes: “Steph owns her own business and will need to take time away from her business to make sure Winnie is supported and adjusts to a new norm, as well as cover funeral costs.
“Steph is truly one of the most selfless people I know and would do anything to help anyone. I’m asking for us to come together and give back to her to remove some of the financial stress during this very difficult time.”
Many Westporters are working to elect their preferred presidential candidate.
They’re making get-out-the-vote phone calls. They’re posting on social media. They’re contributing money.
Shonda Rhimes is in Georgia, urging voters in that swing state to cast their ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Westport resident — who, the New York Times said “became one of American entertainment’s most influential figures after she created the television hits ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘Scandal” — told volunteers at a Democratic field office near Atlanta: “In any episode of ‘Grey’s’ or ‘Scandal,’ I could not make this up. I would not make this up. But this is real. We have a problem, people, and his name is Donald Trump.”
The Times story explored “how much star power ultimately matters to voters, who routinely list issues like the economy, abortion rights and crime as more essential to their choices than celebrity appearances.” Click here to read the full article.
Shonda Rhimes, at the Westport Library. (Photo/Jerri Graham Photography)
Posted onMarch 21, 2024|Comments Off on Roundup: Athletic Field Lights, Jewish Broadway, Staples Tuition Grants …
In November of 2011, High Point Road residents reached an agreement with Westport’s Planning & Zoning Commission and Parks & Recreation Department regarding the hours that lights at the Staples football stadium (now called Paul Lane Field) could be used. Noise regulations were included too.
The agreement included any other lighted fields in town (the only other one is PJ Romano, behind Saugatuck Elementary School. (Click here to read it.)
The agreement has now expired. Next Thursday (March 28, noon, Zoom), the P&Z’s Recreation Committee will discuss lighting policies for all town athletic fields.
It will also review “Dark Sky compliance and sports field lighting.”
Paul Lane Field at Staples High School. (Photo/Robin Wolfe-Scheffler)
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The Westport Country Playhouse has just added 2 intriguing events.
“A Place For Us: A Celebration of Jewish Broadway” features Ari Axelrod, as part of the new “Mic in Hand” series.
The May 8 cultural celebration honors the songs and stories of Jewish composers, and their crucial contributions to the American musical.
Axelrod says, “Our history is not only about how we survived, but also about how we thrived. ‘A Place for Us’ highlights this in its exploration of Jewish Broadway.”
The show was presented first last year to a sold-out house, as the first Mic in Hand (a spin-off of the Playhouse’s popular Script in Hand series). This year’s show will include more songs and musicians. Click here for tickets, and more information.
On Saturday, March 30 (2 p.m.), “table-top puppetry meets pro wrestling meets a rock show; high art meets low art meets Samuel Beckett.”
Kayfabe — an hour-long “frenetic frenzy of puppet wrestling action,” is “a semi-autobiographical meta-fictional love letter to professional wrestling, written, directed and designed by aspiring wrestler and inspired puppet artist Josh Rice.”
It is recommended for ages 13 and up. Click here for tickets, and more information.
Ari Axelrod
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A snafu with FAFSA — the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — has delayed college financial aid decisions for many high school students.
As a result, applications for Staples Tuition Grants — the 81-year-old program that last year awarded $407,000 to more than 100 members of the Class of 2023, and other graduates already in college — are down from this time last year.
STG officials urge students to submit applications before the April 22 deadline — even without knowing specific aid packages from universities.
Also down this year: contributions to the STG General Fund. The organization relies on donor support — along with endowed funds — to help close the gap between what college costs, and what students’ families can afford
More than 500 individuals, families and organizations donated to Staples Tuition Grants in the 2023 fiscal year. To help reach that number again, click here.
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Westport Police made 2 custodial arrests between March 13 and 20.
A man was arrested for assault, and intimidation due to bias/bigotry, after a fight at St. Vincent’s Behavioral Health. The incident was unprovoked, and occurred because of the victim’s race.
A woman was charged with issuing a bad check over $2,000, following a complaint by a local business owner.
Westport Police also issued these citations:
Failure to obey traffic control signals: 5 citations
Speeding: 3
Traveling unreasonably fast: 3
Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 3
Improper use of markers: 3
Operating a motor vehicle without a license: 2
Failure to renew registration: 2
Operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance: 2
Assault: 1
Breach of peace: 1
Distracted driving: 1
Failure to drive in the proper lane: 1
Failure to obey stop sign: 1
Failure to obey state traffic commission regulations: 1
Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 1
Failure to renew license: 1
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Sorelle Gallery’s newest exhibit opened yesterday. Abstract artist Teodoro Guererra will be featured through April 10.
Guererra uses impasto techniques, with thick coats of paint layered over each other for a light 3-dimensional effect. Click here for more information.
Teodoro Guererra’s works, at Sorelle Gallery.
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La Plage’s Mother’s Day menu is set (click here to see).
It’s May 12 (noon to 7 p.m.; $95 3-course prix fixe; $55 for young adults). Reservations are required: 203-684-6232.
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We’ve all heard the tale that it’s only possible to balance an egg upright on the spring equinox.
That’s not true. There is no gravitational change that day; if you have the right egg (and a ton of patience), you can do it any day.
But Marie Gross tried Tuesday night (technically, the day after this year’s equinox). Here’s the result:
(Photo/Marie Gross)
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Dana Kuyper was the first Westporter to photograph the 2024 ospreys, at Fresh Market. We posted her image yesterday.
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature shows the first close-up of the magnificent raptors:
Moving forward, the maximum number of comments allowed for each reader on a thread will be raised from 3 to 5.
Thanks for commenting. And, as always: Please use your full, real name. Deleting anonymous comments is really, really annoying.
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Starting last night, and running every Sunday this winter, La Plage offers a Locals Night Menu.
The prix fixe offering includes a family-style chef’s selection appetizer, entrée (a pinsa. Scottish salmon, fish and chips, homemade squid ink fettuccine, fried chicken or burger) and drink for $39.
The Sunday night kids’ menu has also been upgraded. For details, click here.
Westport resident David Meth’s play, “To the Death of My Own Family,” has won another grant from Artists Respond from the Connecticut Office of the Arts for Equity and Racial Justice.
Meth calls it “an intensely dramatic nonlinear play about an Afghan-American woman who returns to Afghanistan to help her father escape, only to witness the carnage of her entire family. Upon her return to the US she is detained, interrogated, and forced to justify her journey in order to reclaim her citizenship.
“We then learn about a deeper, darker secret that has shadowed the family for many years, but which they do not want to confront until they are forced to confront each other in the face of death.
With the grant, Meth will seek an opportunity to create a playwriting workshop for high school and college students. Click here for more information.
Mary Weiss, the leader of the “Leader of the Pack” bad-girl group The Shangri-Las, died last week. She was 75.
Her Los Angeles Times obituary says: “They were poor white teens from New York City, occasionally singing with pronounced Queens accents and always performing with a stylish swagger….
“Though their time in the spotlight lasted a little under two years, the Shangri-Las created an enduring rock ‘n’ roll archetype: Girls who were every bit as strong and sexy as their doomed boyfriends, boys who were ‘good bad’ but ‘not evil,’ as Weiss said on ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss.’
“This attitude and the group’s heightened music — equal parts operatic pop and exuberant R&B — proved influential, particularly on the punks of New York City in the 1970s.
“Blondie covered their ‘Out in the Streets’; the New York Dolls swiped the spoken intro from ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss’ for their ‘Looking for a Kiss,’ then hired Morton as the producer for their second album, setting the stage for Aerosmith covering ‘Remember (Walking in the Sand) during the height of punk.”
In 2019, “Leader of the Pack” was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
LOCAL ANGLE: In the mid-’60s, the Shangri-Las performed downstairs at the Terpsichore — the Ice Cream Parlor’s (very) short-lived discotheque. I was about 13 years old, but somehow I managed to see them there.
(Click here for the full obituary. Hat tip: Michael Taylor)
(If you’re an “06880” commenter, you’ll like today’s lead item. And whether you comment yourself, or just read them, please click here to support this blog’s commitment to conversation. Thank you!)
But you’re going to be spending a very short time in the water, right?
Temple Israel and the Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County are sponsoring a Polar Plunge today — Monday, January 1, 11 a.m., at Compo Beach.
It’s a fundraiser for the Israel Emergency Fund.
Donations will help pay for evacuation, transport, housing and support for frontline communities; trauma relief and psychosocial support; emergency medical services and health care, volunteers, and much more, for victims of Hamas’ October 7 attacks.
Whether you’re a football fan or not, Westporters should pay attention to today’s national semifinal game between #1 Michigan and #4 Alabama (January 1, 5 p.m., ESPN).
On the roster for the undefeated Wolverines (that’s Michigan, for you non-football fans): Jake Thaw.
A Staples High School Class of 2020 graduate (and football and basketball star), he’s a punt return specialist and wide receiver.
If you invited Nile Rodgers to your New Year’s Eve party, and he said he was already taken: He’s telling the truth.
Our Westport neighbor spent last night in Hollywood. He performed with his band Chic, as part of ABC-TV’s awkwardly named say-goodbye-to-’23 show, the awkwardly named “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”
Here’s a screenshot, in case you really need proof:
(Photo/Matthew Mandell)
Not to be outdone, CBS featured another Westporter: Brad Tursi.
The 1997 Staples High graduate (and former soccer star) is lead guitarist and vocalist with Old Dominion, the multiple award-winning country band.
Brad Tursi. (Photo/Matthew Mandell; hat tips, Neil Brickley and Karen Kramer)
If you know of any other local New Year’s Eve entertainers we missed — José Feliciano? Keith Richards? — click “Comments” below.
ENCORE: CBS featured another Westporter last night too: meteorologist Lonnie Quinn.
Our had a busy night on the tube, for sure. And Matthew Mandell managed to catch all of it.
Lonnie Quinn (left). (Photo courtesy of Matthew Mandell)
Like many restaurants, La Plage celebrated New Year’s Eve with a special party.
The staff was ready. Here was the scene, a few hours before midnight:
After a brief break starting today, the Longshore restaurant will reopen January 5 for dinner, with a new winter menu.
Speaking of restaurants: Don’t forget “06880”‘s guide. Click here — or click the “Restaurants” tab at the top of our blog (or the bottom of our iPhone or Android app), for a list of local spots, complete with menu and website links.
Want to ring in the new year with a nice oil painting of Westport?
How about this one by Arnold Knauth. It’s listed on eBay for $595 (or best offer):
Don’t recognize it?
Neither do I.
The listing says “Westport, CT.” It looks more like Westport, VT. (Except there is no such place.)
Mary Gai — who spotted the artwork, and sent the link to “06880” — wonders if it could be the now-flattened hilltop where the Gault development is now.
Seems kind of mountainous for that location.
If readers have any idea where this could be in Westport — or where else it could show — click “Comments” below.
Westporter Samara Rader and 1991 Staples High School graduate Sigalle Feig are helping the Jewish National Fund-USA’s “Casino Night For Israel.”
The January 18 (7:30 p.m, in Fairfield) fundraiser includes professionally run casino tables, music, great food and an open bar.
The event — in the works for some time — took on new meaning following Hamas’ October 7 attack.
Keynote speaker Yedidya Harush survived the attack. Now fighting on the front lines, he will talk about his experience and the critical nature of rebuilding homes and lives in the Gaza border communities.
Click below to hear his story of October 7.
Tickets are $250. To purchase, or for information about sponsorship and auction opportunities, email srader@jnf.org, or call 212-879-9300, ext. 510.
The event chairs are Westporters Josh and Lauren Braunstein, and Jeffrey and Jacqueline Fidelman.
La Plage’s New Year’s Eve offerings — a la carte seating from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by a 5-course tasting menu from 8:30 on — is not the only special offered by the popular Longshore restaurant.
A “VIP Duckhorn” dinner is set for January 18 (6 p.m.; $150 per person).The 5-course wine event features guest speaker Ian Merris, of Duckhorn Vineyards.
And finally … on this date in 1845, the United States annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it as the 28th state.
(If your heart is as big as Texas, you’ll support “06880” — your hyper-local blog, in this teeny-tiny state. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Yee haw!)
Staples High School’s Internship Program is a win-win-win.
Every spring, talented and eager seniors leave school 3-4 weeks before graduation. They spend the final month out in the real world.
They work everywhere: retail stores, salons, restaurants, non-profits, medical offices, financial firms, design shops, farms, marketing companies, photography studios, publishers … you name it. If there’s a job to be learned and done, they do it.
(And not just in Westport. Interns head to New York City — even beyond.)
The work and real life experience they gain is invaluable. The energy, creativity — and help — they bring to the workplace is huge. And the internships get them out of high school at a time when senioritis would otherwise kick in (that’s the third “win”).
But as hard as they work, the program coordinators work equally hard right now arranging 420 or so internships.
So they’re asking the greater “06880” community: Can you help?
Do you need a senior (or 2, or 3) for daily onsite (or remote) work? Perhaps you’re beefing up your social media presence. Or looking for research help, design work, web content, data entry. Or hundreds of other tasks.
You can be a small, medium or large size firm– or a single proprietor. Maybe you were an intern once yourself, and want to give back.
Internships begin May 20. Students are expected to work 5 hours a day for 3-4 weeks, onsite, remotely or in a hybrid model. Program leaders provide guidance and oversight.
The Board of Finance holds a special meeting this Monday (December 11, 7:30 p.m., Town Hall auditorium).
There is one agenda item: “Second discussion of the Long Lots Building Project.” It’s a discussion only; no vote will be taken.
The Long Lots Elementary School building project’s next step is the Board of Finance. (Drone photo/Brandon Malin)
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Speaking of local politics: 1st Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker is seeking residents registered to vote in Westport to serve on the Fair Rent Commission. This group, was recently established by the Representative Town Meeting.
Five members will be appointed to staggered 4-year terms. Click here for the full language of the ordinance, including its makeup and powers.
In addition to the Fair Rent Commission, Westport residents with varying interests, talents, backgrounds and political affiliations are encouraged to volunteer to serve on other appointed committees that currently have vacancies or upcoming member term limits:
Architectural Review Board
Arts Advisory Committee
Blight Prevention Board
Commission for Senior Services
Conservation Commission
Flood and Erosion Control Board (Alternates)
Historic District Commission
Parks Advisory Committee
Tree Board
Youth Commission
Click here for descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of these appointed boards, commissions and committees.
Registered voters seeking any appointment should submit an Interest Form, including a brief description of your background, biography or resume to selectwoman@westportct.gov.
Westport’s November residential home real estate market was stronger than a year ago.
There were 25 unit sales — up 8.7% compared to November 2022.
The median sales price of $1,75 million was up 9.7%; the median sales price per square foot of $434 is a 3% increase.
76% of homes sold for 95% or more of the list price. 84% sold within 90 days of listing.
The inventory of 91 homes represents a 12.5% decline compared to a year ago. The days on market — 48 — is a 15.8% decline. (Hat tip: Meredith Cohen/Raveis)
This 5-bedroom, 5 1/2-bathroom house at 2 Owenoke Park is listed for $8.795 million. It is 4,820 square feet, on 0.47 acres.
La Plage celebrates the holidays with 2 special dinners.
There are 3-course prix fixe meals on Christmas Eve (4 to 10 p.m.) and Christmas Day (noon to 7 p.m.; $90 per person; $55 for 12 and under; $20 for kid’s menu). Click here for the menu, and reservations (required).
New Year’s Eve features a la carte seating from 5 to 7 p.m. A gala dinner, with 5- course tasting menu, is served from 8:30 on. Click here for the menu, and reservations.
Speaking of the holidays: It will be a cold one in Lyman, Ukraine. For the second winter in a row, our sister city is dealing with the effects of Russia’s invasion.
Brian Mayer — the Westporter who co-founded Ukraine Aid International — is in Lyman this week.
Yesterday, he sent a video. It shows both the destruction, and the opportunity to help.
Our goal this month is to raise $60,000. That would pay for 2 wood pellet machines. Each provides pellets to heat 1,000 homes. In just 96 hours, “06880” readers have donated nearly $51,000.
With your help, the machines can be funded — and delivered — by Christmas. $30 will heat one home all winter. $300 will heat 10. $3,000 will heat 100. And 3 of those $3,000 donations will enable us to reach our goal.
To donate by credit card, click here; then click the “I want to support” box; then select “Westport — Lyman Sister City.” Scroll down on the Donate page for other options: mail, wire transfer and Venmo. Thank you!
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Pizza and a play.
That’s on the menu December 20. Westport Country Playhouse hosts “Together at the Table Family Dinner,” before a performance of the holiday production “A Sherlock Carol.” Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a pizza dinner, followed by the show at 7.
Families can enjoy a communal dinner in the Playhouse’s rehearsal barn and a casual conversation with an artist from the show before the performance together – all for $10 per ticket (must attend as a family, with student-age children. For reservations, call 203-227-4177.
“A Sherlock Carol” runs from December 19-23. Click here for the full schedule, and more information.
Former 1st Selectwoman Diane Farrell returns to Westport.
This time, she’s the deputy under secretary for international trade, in the office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce.
She’ll speak to the Westport Sunrise Rotary Club this Friday (December 15, 7:45 a.m.,; coffee, bagels and muffins at 7; Green’s Farms Congregational Church).
Kerri Rosenthal turns its attention from women’s clothes to women’s work.
On Tuesday (December 12, 6 to 8 p.m.), the Main Street store hosts a launch and discussion for Dr. Hilary Berger’s new book, “Work Like a Mother: Rewriting the Script for a Mother’s Career and Wellness Journey.”
Congratulations to Staples High School’s December Students of the Month: seniors Deneil Betfarhad and William Lacend Duprey; juniors Elsa D’Elia, Christina Kavanah and Kelpin Gomez Ramos; sophomore Reese Rein, and freshmen Lila Roach and Simon Van Aken.
Students of the Month “help make Staples a welcoming place for their peers and teachers alike. They are the ‘glue’ of the Staples community: the type of kind, cheerful, hard-working, trustworthy students that keep the high school together, making it the special place that it is.”
Staples Students of the Month (from left): Simon Van Aken, Lila Roach, Kelpin Gomez Ramos, Deneil Betfarhad, Christina Kavanah, Elsa D’Elia, William Lacend Duprey. Missing: Reese Rein.
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Speaking of Staples: 1979 graduate and Clemson University men’s soccer head coach Mike Noonan is headed to the NCAA championship.
His Tigers beat West Virginia University 1-0 yesterday in the Division I semifinal. They face Notre Dame in Monday’s final (6 p.m.).
Noonan had a legendary soccer career at Staples, helping lead the Wreckers to the 1978 state championship. After earning All-America status at Middlebury College, he played professionally — including in Louisville, where the Final 4 is being held.
Several of Noonan’s former Staples teammates and friends made the trip there for yesterday’s match, including Rich Hiltz, Eric Strausser and Dan Donovan. Donovan’s son Paddy is a reserve goalkeeper for Clemson.
Mike Noonan greets Westport fans after yesterday’s NCAA Division I semifinal win.
The Westport Astronomical Society’s free online lecture series continues December 19 (8 p.m.), with an out-of-this-world topic.
Dr. Catherine S. Plesko will discuss “Planetary Defense: Using Supercomputers to Prevent Asteroid Impacts on Earth.” She is the principal investigator for planetary defense at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Claudia Sherwood Servidio offers today’s “Westport … Naturally” image from Main Street near Willowbrook Cemetery, with this comment: “There’s still color out there!”
And finally … in honor of Dr. Hilary Berger’s book launch (story above):
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