mobile id: put driver’s license on your phone
Starting November 18, Connecticut Mobile ID will allow residents to carry a digital version of their driver’s license or state ID on their phones.
Mobile ID complements — but does not replace — physical cards.
It will be accepted by TSA at a number of security checkpoints while flying, for instance, but will not be accepted during interactions with law enforcement or voting as examples.
Businesses will also have the option to accept or not accept Mobile ID. Those that do must adopt verification apps. Click here for more information.
celebrating veterans day at town hall & vfw
A color guard, speakers — including an always-impressive Staples High School senior — and recognition of veterans highlight Westport’s Veterans Day ceremony.
The event is in the Town Hall auditorium on November 11, at — appropriately — 11 a.m.
The public is invited afterward to a free Veterans Day luncheon and open bar at VFW Post 399 (465 Riverside Avenue). There too, our servicemembers will be honored for their service, thanks to Post members and the Women’s Auxiliary.
Donations are sought to defray the cost. PayPal to VFWPost399CT, or send a check to VFW Post 399, 465 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
Honoring our veterans, 2024 (Photo copyright Ted Horowitz)
HOLIDAY FUN AT LACHAT TOWN FARM
Lachat Town Farm hosts a host of holiday activities, now through December. They include:
- Children’s winter program registration (art, cooking, STEM) begins November 10.
- Kneads Bakery offers pies, cakes, breads, pastries and side dishes for Thanksgiving; a portion of sales benefits Lachat. Ordering deadline: November 21.
- Thanksgiving Community Feast (November 26, 12 noon)
- Wreath decorating (December 4, 6:30 p.m.)
- Block print gift wrap workshop (December 8, 7 p.m.)
- Winter market (December 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Click here for details, and registration.
MOCA, CORA FOUNDATION EXPLORE CONNECTICUT MANUFACTURING
The final community conversation for MoCA\CT’s “Looking for History” explored the past, present and future of Connecticut manufacturing.
From river valley mills to aircraft engines and nuclear submarines, panelists traced the ways manufacturing has shaped — and continues to shape — our state, in ways we often overlook. They also shared their admiration for Borders’s work and its ability to bring this rich but little-known history to light.
Paul SLavoie, Connecticut’s former chief manufacturing officer, said, “Connecticut is the 48th largest state in America, and we have 4,800 manufacturers. Swing a Wiffle ball bat and you’ll hit a manufacturing company. You drive by them every single day and don’t even know it.”
The CORA Foundation sponsored the event. The exhibit closes November 15.
CORA Foundation president Robin Tauck, at the MoCA\CT exhibit.
SIGN OF THE TIMES AT SAUGATUCK CHURCH
Since 1832, Saugatuck Congregational Church has kept track of its pastors on a large sign in the narthex.
Rev. Dr. Steven Savides is the 23rd person to fill that role.
He’ll be the first on a new sign. The original one has no more room.
Saugatuck Church has a long and storied history. In 1835, it’s where the founding fathers of Westport — yes, they were all men — met to form a new town, breaking away from Norwalk, Weston and Fairfield.
They met in the church’s original location, diagonally across the street (where the gas stations are now).
Rev. Savides’ predecessor, Rev. Alison Patton, was the second woman to serve Saugatuck Church. He is the first pastor there to be born in South Africa.
Rev. Steve Savides, with the Saugatuck Church sign. (Hat tip and photo/Mark Mathias)
AARTI, TIFFANY & DIWALI
For 14 years, Aarti Khosla poured her heart into Le Rouge Chocolates.
She’s moved away. But she continues to give back to the world.
The other day, she created chocolates for Tiffany’s Diwali celebration, at New York’s LVMH Tower.
Aarti tells “06880,” “It was one of those moments when you look back at the journey, and realize just how many people helped you get there.
“Westport was such an important part of that journey. The community embraced my creations, trusted me with its celebrations, encouraged my experiments, and gave me the confidence to keep dreaming a little bigger.
“Westport will always feel like home, and I wanted to share this moment with the people who helped make it possible.”
Aarti Khosla, at Tiffany’s Diwali celebration.
OLIVIA JACKSON IS AN ORPHAN
A (new) star is born.
Coleytown Middle School student Olivia Jackson takes the Yorktown Stage stage next Saturday, in “Annie.”
She plays an orphan in the popular musical, alongside a talented cast of professional and local performers. The show runs through November 29.
Click here for tickets, and more information.
“Hometown trivia”: How well do you know westport?
A West Haven company has released free “Hometown Trivia” kits for 131 Connecticut towns. Westport is included.
Each kit contains a few printable large-print pages: multiple-choice questions about the town’s history and famous residents, a “Remember When” page of conversation starters, a word search, and an answer page for the activity leader.
They’re aimed at senior center and assisted living activity directors, public libraries, and families visiting older relatives, but anyone can use them. They are free to download, with no sign-up; click here.
The first trivia question.
“WESTPORT … NATURALLY,” & SONG OF THE DAY
Fall foliage continues to delight us.
But it won’t be around too much longer. That’s why we’re grateful to Claudia Sherwood Servidio, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” image.
A couple of weeks from now, it will remind us of this very special time of year.
Not far from downtown. (Photo/Claudia Sherwood Servidio)
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And finally … although Olivia Jackson doesn’t go on stage until next week (story above), we’re thinking about:
(Don’t wait until tomorrow! Before you leave, please click here to support this hyper-local blog, with a tax-deductible contribution. We thank you today, tomorrow, and forever.)
