Tag Archives: Lauri Weiser

Roundup: RTM & Shed, Rotary Orators, Rosie The Riveter …

Two Representative Town Meeting committees — Parks & Rec, and Planning & Zoning — hold a joint meeting Wednesday (March 5, 7 p.m., Zoom). They’ll discuss the status of the Longshore maintenance shed.

The full RTM meets March 11 (7:30 p.m., Zoom). Two members have asked the body to review and reverse the Planning & Zoning Commission’s negative 8-24 report issued on February 3, regarding the request for a new maintenance building at a new Longshore location.

The P&Z issued a negative report on a request to build a new Parks & Rec maintenance facility off Old Cuttings Lane, near the golf course and Compo Road South.

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Bridgeport’s Bridge Academy junior Aaliyah Marshall took first place in the quarterfinals of Westport Sunrise Rotary Club’s annual 4-Way Speech Contest, held Thursday in the Staples library.

Nine students spoke for 5 minutes each. They could choose any subject that ties into the tenets of the Rotary Club’s 4-Way Test ethic. Aaliyah’s topic was “book banning in schools.”

Aaliyah Marshall, speaking at the Sunrise Rotary Club contest.

She and 3 runners-up — Staples High School freshman Tucker Eklund, sophomore Quinn Fitts and senior Shrish Popuri — advance to the semi-final in Trumbull March 15.

From left: Aaliyah Marshall, Quinn Fitts, Shrish Popuri and Tucker Eklund advance to the next round of the Rotary contest. (Hat tip and photos/Dave Matlow)

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How excited was the Staples boys basketball team — and their coaches — after their FCIAC championship win on Wednesday?

Check out the great video below by Will Stoutenberg (or click here):

The Wreckers begin their quest for the state Division I championship on Tuesday (March 4). They host Kolbe Cathedral. Tipoff is 6:30 p.m.

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Ukraine Aid International — the boots-on-the-ground, aid-where-it’s-needed non-profit founded by Westport brothers Brian and Marshall Mayer — has organized a unique summer trip to that historic nation.

The itinerary does not include Westport’s sister city, Lyman. It’s too dangerous to travel so far east.

But between August 17 and 24, travelers will explore Ukraine’s history and culture; meet frontline heroes fighting for freedom; visit a UAI-sponsored summer camp, filled with children from the battered Donetsk region, and join UAI’s mobile water truck on a mission to deliver clean water to affected areas

Guests will meet key figures, visit sites unavailable to independent travelers, and connect with men and women helping to shape Ukraine’s future.

Click here to register. For questions and more information, email
donormission@ukraineaidinternational.org.

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Spring into spring at Wakeman Town Farm!

Upcoming programs include:

Soil is Alive! Garden lecture with horticulturist Duncan Himmelman (March 10, 7:30 p.m.)

Family Maple Syrup Experience (March 15, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.)

Cooking with the Minis (ages K-2, 5 weeks starting March 24; grades 2-6, 5 weeks starting March 26)

Farm to Bar Mixology Class (March 27, 6 p.m.; $100)

Spring Cooking Class (March 28, 4:15 to 5:45 p.m.: $55)

Adult Spring Kitchen Dinner Class with chef Laura Weinman (April 6, 6:30 p.m.; $120, BYOB)

Spring Break Playdates (April 14, 15, 10 a.m.; ages 1-3)

Eggstravaganza (April 19, 10:30 a.m.).

NOTE: Registration for kids’ summer programs begins March 10.

Click here for details, and registration information.

Easter, at Wakeman Town Farm.

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Happy Women’s History Month!

To celebate, the Weston History & Culture Center presents “Rosies of World War II: Learn About Real ‘Rosie the Riveters.'”

The free March 29 event (2 p.m.) focuses on the role and legacy of women factory workers in World War II — and the women in Weston who contributed to the war effort. Click here for more information.

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Y’s Men of Westport and Weston have been around a long time, and seen and done a lot.

But most had never gone behind the scenes at the Westport Country Playhouse.

This week, they enjoyed a fascinating, up close and very personal tour. Archivist Bruce Miller led members all over the historic playhouse, from the stage and costume rooms, downstairs to the dressing rooms and green room.

The tour was preceded by lunch at Gabriele’s, the steakhouse next door.

Bruce Miller leads the Y’s Men’s Playhouse tour.

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Last month, “06880” posted a story about Sam Weiser.

The 2012 Staples High School graduate was headed to Carnegie Hall, with his Columbus, Ohio-based Carpe Diem String Quartet.

Lauri Weiser — a well-known “06880” photographer, and (more importantly, for today) Sam’s aunt — could not make it to the famed theater.

So Sam did want any loving nephew would do: He and his ensemble gave Lauri and her mother a private concert, at her Westport home.

They say the way to Carnegie Hall is “practice, practice, practice.” Or you can take a detour to Westport, to “perform, perform, perform.”

Sam Weiser (left) and the Carpe Diem String Quartet, at Lauri Weiser’s home.

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Second graders may not know how far Los Angeles is from Westport.

But students in Elena Wetmore’s class have learned one thing: They’re never too far to help.

When they heard about an opportunity to send gratitude to firefightters for their work battling wildfires, a parent helped the youngsters create beautiful cards, and write heartfelt letters.

Their drawings and messages were greatly appreciated.

Los Angeles firefighters, with Kings Highway cards and letters.

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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature honors a visitor on Fillow Street:

(Photo/Merri Mueller)

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And finally … we made it to March!

And what better way to celebrate than with the March King, John Philip Sousa.

(Here’s another way to celebrate March: Support “06880,” with a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. And thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #201

As we do (nearly) every week, our online art gallery welcomes new artists.

Whether first-timer or oldtimer: We welcome your work. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — we want whatever you’ve got.

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.

Email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.

“Blue Solitude” (Jill Odice)

“Evening Stroll” — acrylic on canvas (Jody Meryl Wallace)

“Dorothy’s Life Was Fairly Boring Before the Tornado” (Ken Runkel)

“Fogatuck” — Saugatuck Reservoir (Andy Millard)

“Studio View No. 4” (Peter Barlow)

“Peony” — acrylic painting (Lis Hisgen)

“Finding Nemo” (Ellen Wentworth)

“Cupid Resting Before His Big Day” (Lauri Weiser)

“A Path Less Traveled” (Mike Hibbard)

“Seated Figure” (Lawrence Weisman)

“Nice Still Life — But You Forgot the Stem!” (Steve Stein)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #182

From pencil and crayon drawing and pouring oil/acrylic mix, to a digital creation in photorealistic style, this week’s online art gallery showcases many genres.

We always welcome all kinds of art. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got.

Email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited (no, urged) to contribute.

“Hole Card” — pencil and crayon drawing (Ann Chernow)

“Wild Horses” — pouring oil/acrylic mix (Dorothy Robertshaw)

“Sunset Bay” — digital creation in a photorealistic style (Ken Runkel)

“Sailing at Dusk” (Tom Doran)

“Dogs Are Colored Blind” (Spanky Giddings III)

“Please Don’t Bite My Head Off” — Norway (Lauri Weiser)

“Oiled, Bound, Rubbed, and Smoked — One of the 50 Shades of Chicken” (Mike Hibbard)

“Aging Factory, Afternoon Sun” (Peter Barlow)

 

Untitled (Cohl Katz)

“Longshore” (Rowene Weems)

“Itch” (Lawrence Weisman)

“Ye Olde Sherwood Island Environs Map” (Steve Stein)

Untitled — Photographer Amy Unikewicz writes: :I snapped these pictures just as the rain stopped, while managing produce donations at the Westport Community Gardens. Walking through the garden paths felt like walking on a sponge. With every step, my boots sunk into the wood chipped pathways after the site absorbed several inches of rainfall.”

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #181

As September ends, our art gallery begins to fill with fall works.

We welcome those seasonal themes — and everything else.

We also welcome all kinds of art. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got.

Email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited (no, urged) to contribute.

“Pumpkin” (Karen Weingarten)

“The Rake’s Progress” (Peter Barlow)

“Head Outdoors” — northwestern Connecticut (Peter Birch)

“Five Mile River, Rowayton/Darien” (Kathleen Burke)

Untitled (June Rose Whittaker)

Untitled (Tom Doran)

“Dark Times” (Jo Ann Miller)

“Ridgeline” — digital image (Ken Runkel)

Untitled — Norway (Lauri Weiser)

“Coral Head Sculpture.” Artist Dorothy Robertshaw explains: “Thanks to Nancy Breakstone’s generosity and sharing her coral and shell collection, I created Jimmy Durante, Mr. Potato Head, Harry… and I think he looks like Bert from Sesame Street. His frame is a refurbished broken clock.”

“Aerin’s Thermal” — Steve Stein says: “This was done by our 12-year-old grand child. Thermal art is done on a thermoluminescent screen, It is evanescent, and has to be done quickly before it fades away forever (unless granddad takes a screen shot!).”

“Waiting #3” (Lawrence Weisman)

Photographer Mike Hibbard’s caption: “Okay, they’re watching the elephants. You grab the lunch bags, and I’ll meet you in the trees.”

Untitled (Cohl Katz)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #180

This week’s online gallery includes a few abstract works. There is also some interesting “shell” art — something new and different.

As always, we welcome all kinds of art. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got.

Email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited (no, urged) to contribute.

“Foggy Fall Morning” — digital photography, AI and editing software (Ken Runkel)

“Ready for Yom Kippur” — pencil and water color (Steve Stein)

Untitled — Artist Dorothy Robertshaw says, “We come in all shapes and sizes, and we all have the same hearts.”

Untitled — acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 18″ (John Waski)

“Monterey Seascape” (Tom Doran)

“Coiffed” — acrylic/resin, 9″ x 12″ canvas (Patricia McMahon)

Untitled (Jo Ann Miller)

“Parrot” (Kathleen Burke)

“Comet” (Lawrence Weisman)

“Lunge Beats Hop!” (Mike Hibbard)

Untitled (Cohl Katz)

“Ring of Brodgar” — Photographer Lauri Weiser calls this “A Stonehenge-type place in Scotland”

“Wind Turbine” (Karen Weingarten)

“Photographers Will Go Anywhere!” (Peter Barlow)  

“Footprints in the Sand” (June Rose Whittaker)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #179

This week’s art gallery includes several newcomers. They join our cadre of regular, looked-forward-to artists.

As always, submissions span a wide range of subjects. LobsterFest, Rosh Hashana, the end of summer — they’re all here, and much more.

As always, we welcome all kinds of art. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage, needlepoint — whatever you’ve got.

Email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited (no, urged) to contribute.

“Persistence of Media” (Norm Siegel)

“Fifty Shades of Grey” (Amy Schneider)

“LobsterFest” — in honor of next Saturday’s annual Westport Rotary Club event (Lis Hisgen)

“Shalom for Rosh Hashanah: Peace for the New Year 5784″ — pencil and watercolor, 5″ x 8” (Steve Stein)

“Faceless” — acrylic, oil pastel on Bristol paper, 14″ x 11″ (John Waski)

Untitled (Kathleen Burke)

“Bluebird” (Ellin Spadone)

Untitled (Martin Ripchick)

Untitled triptych — oil paints on brushed aluminum panels (Cynthia McLoughlin)

Untitled (Tom Doran)

“I’m Open! Throw Me the Ball!” — Rapa Nui, indigenous people of Easter Island (Mike Hibbard)

“Fate” == lithograph 11″ x 14″ (Ann Chernow)

“Waiting” — #2 in a series (Lawrence Weisman)

“Modern Fireboat and a Vintage Chris-Craft” (Peter Barlow)

“Endless Summer” — Greenwich Point (Cohl Katz)

“And Just Like That, Summer Is Over” (Lauri Weiser)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #170

Welcome to our 170th online art gallery.

We opened in the early days of the pandemic, as an opportunity for “06880” artists hunkered down at home to share their work with the world.

More than 3 years later — now back to near normal — we’ve done what all artists do: We’ve grown and evolved.

But one thing has not changed. We still need your submissions.

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.

All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and (yes) needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

“Beautiful Boarge.” Photographer Mike Hibbard says: Pluck the blue flower and float it, face up, on white wine. Sip and refill very carefully. A transformation (of the flower) occurs in about 30 minutes.”

Untitled (Judith Katz)

Untitled (Santiago Lozano)

“After the Storm” — pastel on paper (Clayton Liotta)

Untitled — Italy (Lauri Weiser)

“Sunny Cityscape” — acrylic paper (Lis Hisgen)

Untitled — Martha’s Vineyard (Wendy Levy)

“Planting” (Lawrence Weisman)

“Red Sky at Night, Sailor’s Delight” — pencil and crayon (Steve Stein)

“Rudder, Prop, Keel, and Bottom — Sloop Joanne B” (Peter Barlow)

“Warmth” (Tom Doran)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #169

Not one but two of today’s submissions were inspired by Martha’s Vineyard.

Perhaps that’s not a surprise. The island off Cape Cod is a summer home for many Westporters.

Also no surprise: The breadth and depth of genres and styles in this week’s gallery.

Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions. Everyone is invited to contribute.

All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and (yes) needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

“Schooner Shenandoah, From Vineyard Haven” — acrylic on Masonite (Peter Barlow)

Untitled — Martha’s Vineyard (Wendy Levy)

“Calypso Cubo” (Santiago Lozado)

“Tranquility” — acrylic (Valerie Fischel)

“Hippo” — graphite on paper (Clayton Liotta)

“View From a Puddle” (Lauri Weiser)

“A River of Life Runs Through It” (Mike Hibbard)

Untitled (Tom Doran)

“Remember How Much Fun We Had Playing Cards When You Were Little” — pastel on paper (Roseann Spengler)

“Lift” (Lawrence Weisman)

“A Captain Jack Sparrow Found in the Caribbean” — Artist Steve Stein says, “There are 138 species of sparrows spread throughout the world, making it the most widely distributed wild bird.”

“A Pouring of Summertime” — Artist Dorothy Robertshaw calls this “a combination of ice cream sherbet beach days, green forest hikes, sunshine and coastal holidays.”

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

Online Art Gallery #167

This week, we welcome one of our youngest contributors ever.

Julian Kerschner is a rising 5th grader at Greens Farms Academy. He is, his mother notes, “an artist and an avid pickleball player.” You’ll see why.

As Julian knows, everyone is invited to contribute. Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions.

All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, collages, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and (yes) needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world! (PS: Please include the medium you’re working in — art lovers want to know.)

“Italy” (Lauri Weiser)

Untitled — Artist Dorothy Robertshaw explains, “Assemblage after a storm at Cedar Point Yacht Club.”

Untitled — graphite on paper (Clayton Liotta)

“Hope” (Mike Hibbard)

Untitled (Julian Kerschner, age 10)

“North Shore of Oahu” — watercolor (Jerry Kuyper)

“Pride Crosswalk” (Amy Schneider)

“Learning to Sail in an Optimist Pram” (Peter Barlow)

“Eurasian Crowned Hoopoe” — Artist Steve Stein explains, “hoopoes are commonly found across Afro-Eurasia. It is mentioned in the Bible (Deuteronomy and Leviticus), and is lucky to be considered a rare non-kosher bird.”

“Getting Up is Hard to Do” (Lawrence Weisman)

“Work it Out” — acrylic (Lis Hisgen)

“Summer Breeze” (Ken Runkel)

(Entrance is free to our online art gallery. But please consider a donation! Just click here — and thank you!)

 

Online Art Gallery #133

Our (cider) cup runneth over!

Last week was gorgeous. But 15 artists, photographers, needle-pointers and necklace makers stayed inside long enough to send their submissions in to our online art gallery.

That’s the most ever, since this feature was born in the first lonely weeks of the pandemic.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now keep ’em coming!

Remember: This is your feature. All readers are invited to contribute. Age, level of experience, subject matter — there are no restrictions.

All genres are encouraged. Watercolors, oils, charcoal, pen-and-ink, acrylics, lithographs, macramé, jewelry, sculpture, decoupage and (yes) needlepoint — whatever you’ve got, email it to 06880blog@gmail.com. Share your work with the world!

“Fallen Leaves” (Karen Weingarten)

“Pumpkin Time” (June Rose Whittaker)

Diane Yormark’s “fall-themed” needlepoint.

“Silver Dollar Plant Harvest in Morning Light” (Linda Sugarman)

Artist Steve Stein says: “Every kindergartener has a nightmare that when they get to school ,,,’Every Cubby is Taken!'”

Photographer Lisa Tantillo was I was at Westoberfest last weekend, and saw a bubble machine. She snapped this photo before the bubble burst. She likes how “the event space (aka the Elm Street parking lot) is reflected in the bubble.”

“Vermont Village” (Lucy Johnson)

“The Reading Room” (Lawrence Weisman)

Untitled (Tom Doran)

“Whoa! It’s a Stutz Bearcat Roadster, 1920) (Peter Barlow)

Untitled — Lauri Weiser’s latest project

“Tuscany” (Werner Liepolt)

Untitled. Artist Sharon Paulsen says, “this is from the latest full moon. It is partially hidden behind trees at the right, but a brilliant star (planet) caught my eye on the left, so that was my focus.”

Untitled (Ann Chernow)

“Who Done It?” Photographer Mike Hibbard says, There is a quarter-mile long brushy hillside on our walking route, used as a dump by passersby traveling between the Post Road to Greens Farm Road. My wife and I periodically do a clean-up along that stretch. Here is our latest bounty. The good news is that in our entire 4-mile walk around our neighborhood, we found only one discarded plastic bag of puppy-poo. Thank you to the many dog walkers in our area.”

“Deconstructed Leaf” (Amy Schneider)