Tag Archives: Leonard Bernstein

Roundup: Ned Dimes Marina, Sherwood Island Lane, Natural Disasters …

Posted on April 25, 2026 | 3 comments

The fuel dock at Ned Dimes Marina is gone!

A new (and temporary) look for the Ned Dimes Marina. (Photo/Ron Poserina Jr.)

It was removed — temporarily — as part of a project to replace the piers, wood dock and deck at the office and clubhouse.

The Parks & Recreation Department reports that, due to extreme winter conditions that impacted water and electrical service on the docks (as well as South Beach bathroom facilities), water service to the docks at Ned Dimes Marina will be restored by late May.

Electrical service will be delayed until sometime in June. Officials are working on a solution for boaters to be able to charge batteries starting in June, most likely on a temporary generator supply to the individual docks.

South Beach bathroom facilities cannot be opened until the project is done. completion. Temporary  facilities will remain until the restrooms are opened.

Meanwhile, also over on South Beach, Parks & Rec is installing power. It will be used for special events like LobsterFest.

Security cameras may be added too.

Electrical trench on South Beach. (Photo/Dorothy Robertshaw)

Parks & Rec also notes issues with navigational aids at the entrance to the Saugatuck River channel.

Can 5 and Nun 6 are missing. Nun 8 and Can 9 are significantly off station. The Coast Guard has been notified, and will replace them as soon as possible.

==================================================

One of the most interesting properties in Westport is on the market.

And it’s the first time for it, in 65 years.

4 Sherwood Island Lane is a 7-bedroom, 6 1/2-bathroom, 6,215-square foot home — on a 20.85 acre lot.

You don’t see that very often these days.

4 Sherwood Island Lane

Located off the Sherwood Island Connector, south of I-95 on the way to Sherwood Island State Park, it’s been owned by the same family for nearly 7 decades.

There are no immediate neighbors — but plenty of birdlife and other nature.

The property includes 2 1940s 3-bedroom guesthouses with water views — plus a tennis court, indoor pool, pool house and formal gardens.

It’s listed for $15 million. Click here for more details, or to purchase. (Hat tip: David Loffredo).

=================================================

It’s important to plan for natural disasters.

It’s even more important to plan correctly.

The Western Connecticut Council of Governments is doing “resilience planning,” to inform hazard plans.

Efforts will lead to mitigation that can reduce loss of property and life due to floods, severe wind, winter storms, wildfires, droughts, extreme heat and earthquakes.

Residents can click here to take a 2-minute, 5-question online survey.

Damage from Hurricane Isaias on Grove Point Road. (Photo/John Kantor)

=================================================

A large crowd filled Clarendon Fine Art Thursday night, for a reception with Mr. Brainwash.

The French-born, Los Angeles based artist earned international prominence through the Bansky film “Exit Through the Gift Shop.”

The current exhibition reimagines Van Gogh’s most recognizable motifs through his signature fusion of street art, vibrant color, mixed media and layered cultural references

The show runs through May 3. For more information, click here.

Mr. Brainwash, with one of his works. (Photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)

=================================================

As summer arrives, Fleet Feet is racing ahead.

On the local running store’s calendar:

  • Apex Performance Runner’s Workshop (April 27, 5 p.m.): New client specials and custom footwear fittings.
  • Moms Who Move (May 6, 5 to 6:30 p.m.): Women-focused movement workshop
  • Kane Summer Launch x Beastie Burger (May 11, 5 to 6:30 p.m.): Try on new Kane footwear; bites from Beastie Burger

Upcoming races include:

  • Minute Man: April 26
  • Breast Cancer Alliance 5k for Hope: May 3
  • Weston Memorial Day 5: May 23
  • Savin Rock Waves of Hope 5k: May 23
  • Athletic Brewing Road Races: June 6-7

Click here for details. (Hat tip: Sal Liccione)

===============================================

Congratulations to Staples High School’s We the People team.

Suzanne Kammerman’s class recently returned from national competition in Washington, where one group won the “Unit 4” award.

The competition is a congressional mock trial hearing.  Students showed mastery of different parts of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, American history and the 3 branches of government. government. Participants are judged on their ability to understand, apply, and reasoning.

Unit 4 winners include Chloe Beitel, Mehmet Madigan, Lauren Potter and Leo Viner. All are juniors.


Staples’ We the People team, at the US Capitol.

==================================================

Congratulations too to Adelia Purcell!

The 2023 Staples High School graduate has just been selected as a Truman Scholar.

The College of William & Mary junior is one of 55 students nationally to receive the prestigious scholarship for aspiring public service leaders. Nearly 800 candidates were nominated.

Truman Scholars demonstrate “outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence.” Scholars receive funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling, and internship and fellowship opportunities in the federal government.

Adelia Purcell

================================================

Bloodroot is gone.

But the beloved vegan/feminist Black Rock restaurant — co-founded 49 years ago by Westporter Selma Miriam, which closed in December — can live on.

In your home.

Some great items remain, in their online auction. Among them: tables, china, glassware, framed menus, feminist books and signed cookbooks and sculpture.

The entire library — of feminist and political hard and softcover books — is being sold as one lot, too.

The online auction ends in 4 days. Click here to see, and bid. (Hat tip: Carol Waxman)

Buy the Bloodroot library.

==================================================

“Bernstein’s Wall” — Westport filmmaker Doug Tirola and producer Susan Bedusa’s documentary about Leonard Bernstein, using TV interviews, news footage, home movies, audio clips and personal letters, to explore the legendary artist’s views on freedom, politics, creativity and more — had its US theatrical premiere yesterday, at New York’s Film Forum.

Click here for the New York Times’ review.

Leonard Bernstein

==================================================

Two memorial services are set for Janet Filling. The longtime Westport American Red Cross director, who also held important Red Cross posts at the state and national levels, died in February at 91.

A memorial mass will be held on June 1 (10 a.m., Fairfield University’s Egan Chapel). There will be informal reception afterward.

A celebration of life is slated for June 14 (2 p.m., Westport Library). The public is invited to both. Focusing on Janet’s deep roots and relationships in Westport, it is a time to share memories, stories and photos. Anyone wishing to speak, send a photo, or offer words though unable to attend, should email Janet’s son Greg: gfilling@gmail.com.

Janet Filling

=================================================

David Ohman is a native Californian. But he lived in Westport from 1992-98. He loved those years, and still considers it his “adopted home town.”

A photographer (some of whose images were featured on “06880” last month), he is a fan of Frames Magazine, an exquisitely printed London quarterly.

Recently, Frames interviewed him. He discussed portraiture, photojournalism, working with light on location, trusting spontaneity, and staying open to unexpected moments that seem to appear only for those who are truly paying attention.

After decades of making pictures, meeting people, telling stories, and navigating the transition from film to digital, Ohman still speaks about the camera with curiosity, gratitude and excitement.

Click here or below, for a fascinating and educational half hour.

PS: If you or a family member had portraits taken by Ohman in the 1990s, “06880” may have beautiful prints of your session. Email 06880blog@gmail.com with the name of the subject. We’ll check through the files that he very generously sent!

==================================================

And now, the first 2026 “Westport … Naturally” appearance for an Eastern tiger swallowtail:

(Photo/Bob Liftig)

==================================================

And finally … on this date in 1915, the Battle of Gallipoli began. One of the longest and bloodiest campaigns of World War I, it is a defining moment in Turkey’s history. It is also considered the beginning of Australian and New Zealand national consciousness. Today is Anzac Day, a national commemoration in both countries.

(Sure, it’s Saturday. But neither the Roundup nor “06880” takes weekends off. If  you appreciate our 24/7/365 coverage of all things Westport, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

3 Comments

Posted in Arts, Beach, Local business, Real estate, Restaurants, Staples HS, Weather

Tagged , , , , , ,

Bernstein On Broadway — And The Westport Library

Posted on October 4, 2018 | 1 comment

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth. The legendary composer/conductor had a profound impact on Broadway, the Philharmonic, television, young people. You name it, he touched it.

He also had strong local ties. For much of his life he had a home in Fairfield, just over the Westport line. Area residents knew him well.

Leonard Bernstein

Andrew Wilk did not. But like many children of his era, he loved Bernstein’s “Young People’s Concerts” on CBS. They inspired his career in music and TV.

At New York University, Wilk was the only student who could read a full conductor’s score. When the CBS music coordinator was sick prior to a Lincoln Center show, Wilk’s professor got him to fill in.

The network paid him $50, and fired the other guy. At 19, Wilk won an Emmy for his work on the “Young People’s Concerts.”

He now has 4 more. And — in addition to his noted career as executive director of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts — the Westporter serves as a trustee of the Westport Library.

Last year he produced the organization’s Malloy Lecture in the Arts, one of the library’s signature annual events. Past programs have featured Arthur Miller, Christo, Joshua Bell, Joyce Carol Oates, Christopher Plummer and Salman Rushdie.

Andrew Wilk in the “Live From Lincoln Center” remote truck, during “Falsettos.”

Wilk had just produced the film version of “Falsettos” for PBS. He brought the director and cast to the library. It sold out the day it was announced.

So it’s only natural that this year he’s reprising his producing role for the Malloy Lecture — and focusing on Leonard Bernstein.

The event — set for Monday, October 22 (7:30 p.m., Quick Center at Fairfield University) has 2 parts.

The first focuses on Bernstein and Broadway. A panel discussion with his children Nina and Alexander will be moderated by conductor/composer/ producer George Steel. Rare family footage will be shown, including scenes from their life in Fairfield.

The second half of the evening features live musical performances of iconic shows like “West Side Story,” “On the Town” and “Wonderful Town.” Broadway soloists will be joined by the Staples High School Orphenians.

Musical director Michael Barrett will also perform a 4-hand piano arrangement of the “Candide Overture,” with Westport’s own internationally famed Frederic Chiu.

It will all be “a unique perspective on an amazing man,” Wilk promises.

Susan Malloy

It’s one more in the series named after a remarkable person herself. Artist and philanthropist Susan Malloy  died in 2015, age 91.

Thirteen years earlier, she had endowed the lecture series. It’s a free, public annual discussion by a person with significant cultural influence, and whose work has enhanced the understanding and appreciation of the arts.

(The Malloy Lecture in the Arts has already sold out. Call the Quick Center at 203-254-4010 or email boxoffice@quickcenter.com to be put on the wait list. For more information, click here.)

 

1 Comment

Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Library, People

Tagged , , ,

When Lenny And Isaac Played Westport

Posted on January 17, 2014 | 6 comments

Because the my baby boom generation is so obnoxiously self-important — and because we still cling to control of much of the media — throughout this decade we will insist on foisting 50-year anniversary stories about a mind-numbing number of 1960s events on the rest of the country.

We’ve remembered John Glenn’s orbit of the earth and John Kennedy’s assassination. Next month is the Beatles’ 1st trip to America. On the horizon: the Gulf of Tonkin incident, and Soupy Sales’ “The Mouse.”

So — as Martin Luther King Day nears — this is a good time to remember another 50th anniversary: the night Leonard Bernstein and Isaac Stern played together for the 1st time in public.

It was half a century ago this August. It was a benefit for the Student Nonviolent  Coordinating Committee. And it happened in the Staples High School auditorium.

Leonard Bernstein, back in the day...

Leonard Bernstein, back in the day…

According to the New York Times of August 31, 1964, the concert’s genesis came from Tracy Sugarman. The Westport artist and civil rights activist — who died a year ago, the day before Martin Luther King Day — described his recent “Mississippi Summer” work in Ruleville, Mississippi to Frank Brieff, conductor of the New Haven Symphony.

Brieff called Bernstein, who called Stern. The 2 had played piano and violin together for pleasure, but had never performed in public together.

They were joined by 4 other Fairfield county musicians. The concert sold out, at prices from $3 to $35. That raised $8,250 bringing Westport’s 1964 contributions to the Mississippi Project to $29,000. Previous fundraisers for the NAACP and National Council of Churches included a townwide solicitation, and a small gathering at the home of attorney Alan Nevas. He had just returned from Mississippi where, the Times said, he provided “legal counsel to Negroes.”

Nevas’ son Bernard — age 20 — was one of 6 “freedom workers” honored at the Bernstein/Stern concert. Five were from Westport: Nevas; John Friedland, 22; Martha Honey, 19; Deborah Rand, 20, and John Suter, 19.

...and Isaac Stern.

…and Isaac Stern.

Another guest introduced at the concert was Charles McLaurin. Just a few days earlier, he was a member of the controversial Mississippi Freedom Party at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City.

Also at the concert, Sugarman displayed 43 pen-and-ink drawings of Mississippi, and 6 photos used by SNCC. He called the involvement of youths like the ones from Westport courageous.

“They went there afraid, lived there afraid and worked there afraid,” Sugarman said.

But, the Times noted, “the experience has affected some so deeply…they are torn between resuming their college careers and going back to Mississippi.”

(Hat tip to Fred Cantor for research.)

6 Comments

Posted in History, Looking back, People

Tagged , , , , ,

Fairfield Museum Unites Leonard Bernstein And Keith Richards

Posted on January 15, 2014 | 4 comments

In 2014, the town of Fairfield celebrates its founding 375 years ago.

And nothing says “1639” like rock ‘n’ roll, soul, jazz and show tunes.

The Fairfield Museum and History Center kicks off the 375th anniversary with a “Rockin’ Top Ten” exhibit. Among the area musicians honored: former Westporters Ashford & Simpson, and the Remains, a half-Westport band that still inspires awe nearly 50 years after touring with the Beatles.

The exhibit features rare photographs, videos and artifacts from other artists who lived next to Westport, and spent (or are spending) plenty of time here: Weston’s Keith Richards and Jose Feliciano; Wilton’s Dave Brubeck; Fairfield’s Leonard Bernstein, Richard Rodgers, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club), Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards Chic), and Donna Summer.

It’s safe to say that, before this exhibit, all of those names had never before appeared in the same sentence.

The Remains included Westporters Barry Tashian (3rd from right) and Bill Briggs (far right). Rock critic Jon Landau said the band was "how you told a stranger about rock and roll."

The Remains included Westporters Barry Tashian (3rd from left) and Bill Briggs (far left). Rock critic Jon Landau said the band was “how you told a stranger about rock and roll.”

Over the next 3 months the museum show — partially sponsored by Westporters Deej and Deborah Webb — will include musical performances, lectures, artist evenings, films and more.

It kicks off tomorrow (Thursday, January 16, 6 p.m.) with a show featuring Chris Frantz. Other events this year include appearances by Caravan of Thieves, Mystic Bowie and the Zambonis; a performance and lecture tracing the influential friendship between Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland; the story of Bridgeport’s once-famous Ritz Ballroom dance palace, and an evening with Jose Feliciano.

About the only thing missing is Hall and Oates.

(For more information click here, or call 203-259-1598.)

4 Comments

Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Organizations

Tagged , , , ,

Jake Landau: The Next Leonard Bernstein?

Posted on June 2, 2012 | 2 comments

After you’ve composed a piece for the New York Philharmonic, what’s left in life?

How about writing writing choral music for the Conservative Synagogue?

That’s Jake Landau’s latest feat.

Of course, much more lies ahead. Jake is only a Staples High School junior.

Jake Landau

A multi-talented junior, that’s for sure. A student at the Juilliard School pre-college program, a member of the New York Youth Symphony and a national PTA “Reflections” award winner, he’s been playing piano — and composing — almost all his young life.

Classical music is his favorite. But Jake is equally comfortable writing opera, musical theater, soundtracks — and now, a piece for his synagogue.

His work will be performed tomorrow (Sunday, June 3, 7 p.m.) as part of the “On a Chai Note: A Musical Celebration of Israel” concert. Accompanying Jake on piano are 2 other nationally recognized young musicians (and temple members): cellist Danielle Merlis and violinist Sam Weiser.

Amazingly, this is Jake’s 2nd world premiere this spring. Last month, the New York Philharmonic performed a piece he wrote for their School Day concert. That one, he says, was “adventurous, aggressive and knotty.” Tomorrow’s piece is “simpler.” A synagogue is not a concert hall.

Working from a text, Jake composed this work for the “up-in-the-stratosphere soprano” cantor.

Jake Landau, rehearsing at the synagogue’s piano. (Photo/Marcy Juran)

He calls the process “very rewarding. It’s not just that it will be performed by my choir. Most of my pieces are done in high-pressure concert halls, and everyone is rushed for time. This is a much more personal environment.”

Conservative Synagogue Chorale member Marcy Juran is “blown away” by Jake’s talent.

“He understands how to create a beautiful piece of music,” she says. “But the way he explains his work to the choir — how it’s constructed, how he envisions it to sound, how his music matches the liturgical text — is unparalleled.

“It reminds me of hearing Leonard Bernstein explain music — but Jake is only 16! It is a joy to listen to play his piece on the piano, direct us, and understand from him what this is all about.

Still a teenager, Jake understands the long tradition he’s part of. “Music is a craft that’s existed almost as long as man,” he notes. “Music is practical, emotive and evocative. Music is everywhere. I’m proud to help continue that legacy.”

Danielle Merlis and Sam Weiser will also perform at the Conservative Synagogue tomorrow. (Photo/Marcy Juran)

Though Jake also studies piano at Juilliard, his playing is secondary to  composing. In fact, he says, “some of the pieces I write are too difficult for me to play. Someone plays my stuff for me.”

He hopes to make a career in music — writing film scores, operas, commercial soundtracks, “whatever.”

So — after spending the past 2 summers at Interlochen and Tanglewood — this year Jake will stay home. He’ll write orchestral and chamber pieces for his conservatory and music school applications.

Oh, yeah. His college essay, too.

(“On a Chai Note: A Musical Celebration of Israel” free concert takes place Sunday, June 3, 7 p.m. at The Conservative Synagogue, 30 Hillspoint Rd. The program also includes The Western Wind, a renowned a cappella sextet, and Jewish choral singers from throughout Fairfield County. For more information, click here.)

2 Comments

Posted in Arts, People, religion, Staples HS, Teenagers

Tagged , , , , ,