Doug and Melissa Bernstein — longtime Westporters, and founders of the beloved (and hugely popular) children’s brand Melissa & Doug — are the newest members of the Toy Industry Hall of Fame.
They were inducted earlier this month, at the Toy Foundation’s annual Toy of the Year Awards gala in New York.
The honor recognizes the couple’s lasting influence on the toy industry, and their decades-long commitment to creating toys that spark imagination and support meaningful child development through purposeful play.
Melissa and Doug Bernstein, and friends.
A press release about the honor notes: “Throughout their careers, Melissa and Doug approached toymaking with a clear and enduring philosophy: take timeless play patterns and elevate and extend them through innovation. By combining a purposeful focus on learning through play, high-quality materials, original artwork, and realistic details, they reimagined classic toys and introduced new ones that invite deeper engagement and open-ended exploration.”
Their products appeal to parents and educators, becoming staples in homes and classrooms alike.
The founders “are true icons for all of us who are part of the Melissa & Doug family and across our industry,” says Lauren DeFeo Duchene, president of the company.
“Their belief in purposeful play — play sparked by a child’s imagination and fueled by endless possibilities — established a foundation we’re proud to build on today.
“They created a brand shaped by word-of-mouth love and trust from families, educators, and child-development experts. Their legacy reflects a deep respect for childhood, and has made a lasting impact on generations of children.”
In addition to the Hall of Fame festivities, Melissa & Doug — the company, not the people — were nominated in 2 categories: Construction Toy of the Year (for Blockables), and Preschool Toy of the Year (Simmer & Stir Stovetop Play Set).
Downtown parking has gotten “lots” of attention lately.
In meetings and online, Westporters have talked discussed the lack of spots, and/or the distance they walk from them.
This holiday season, the Westport Transit District has a solution.
Wheels2U — their on-demand train station service — will operate this weekend and next.
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on December 14 -15 and 20 -21, Wheels2U will pick you up anywhere in Westport. They’ll take you downtown, then back home again when you’re through.
Stops are at Jesup Green opposite the Westport Book Shop, and Elm Street across from Serena & Lily.
Download the Wheels2U app, and book your ride 20 minutes before you want to leave. Rides are just $2 per passenger, open to all Westport residents and visitors. Children 12 and under must ride with an adult.
Club203 — Westport’s social organization for adults with disaiblities — celebrated the holidays last night at the VFW.
It was another great evening. And — as with all of the club’s events — many people and businesses made it rock.
The VFW donated its popular space. Delicious food was made by Carmine Cenatiempo, of Calise’s Market. Desserts and gingerbread cookies for decorating came courtesy of Chef Avery (@chefaveryw).
Marcello scontributed a holiday-themed photo booth (@Marcello.DEF).
Club203 gives a huge shoutout to the Westport Woman’s Club. Its Ruegg Grant will enable them to offer more social and educational events for Westport’s neurodiverse community.
Audiences at the Westport Country Playhouse’s production of “A Sherlock Carol” (December 17 through 22) can get in the holiday spirit even before the curtain rises.
Collection boxes for 4 local charities — Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Norwalk Toys for Tots, and Westport Homes with Hope Food Pantry — will be set up in the lobby during performances.
They’re also available during box office hours (Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m.). You don’t have to see the show to help!
Click here for details on each charity, and wish lists for all 4.
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Speaking of Christmas wishes: There are 13 days till Christmas.
Which means there is still time for kids to drop off letters to Santa, at the Greens Farms post office.
Where — unlike the always-crammed Playhouse Square location — there is never a line.
(Photo/Johanna Keyser Rossi)
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It was a full — but unintended — Westport moment yesterday, on “Today.”
He did not realize until later that Lifelines is the company started by Melissa & Doug to “help individuals rediscover wonder and relieve stress through their senses.”
Of course, he knows that “Melissa & Doug” are the Bernsteins.
And that the husband and wife team are — like Craig himself — Westport residents. (Hat tip: Dave Briggs)
Westport Police made 2 custodial arrests between December 4 and 11.
A 21-year-old Bronx man was charged with 2 counts of larceny, and 2 counts of conspiracy to commit larceny, following an investigation into 2 shoplifting incidents at Ulta Beauty in 2021. His bond was $100,000.
A 51-year-old Bronx man was arrested for identity theft, after a report from TD Bank of a suspect using fraudulent identifaction to obtain a debit card. He was released on $10,000 bond.
Police also issued these citations:
Traveling unreasonably fast: 13 citations
Failure to comply with state traffic commission regulations: 3
Operating a motor vehicle under suspension: 2
Operating an unregistered motor vehicle: 2
Failure to obey stop sign: 2
Failure to obey traffic control signals: 2
School zone violation: 1
Opoerating a motor vehicle without a license: 1
Failure to renew registration: 1
Failure to drive in the proper lane: 1
Ulta Beauty is a frequent target of shoplifters. Many are arrested.
Westport continues to raising funds, to ensure that 200 children in our sister city of Lyman, Ukraine enjoy time away from the wartime terrors of the past 3 years.
Our goal of $56,000 will pay for them — scattered now, evacuated from their homes — to get together, with friends, teachers and counselors, at a therapeutic camp in the Carpathian Mountains.
To help, please click here. Under “Designation,” choose “Westport-Lyman sister city” from the dropdown menu. You can also choose a monthly or one-time donation. If you use the mail or Venmo option, please make a note: “For Westport-Lyman.”
A bit of normalcy in war-torn Ukraine.
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Westporter Warren Hammer is a chiropractor in Norwalk
For years he has specialized in fascial manipulation. It is taught in 50 countries, and used by many professional teams for chronic pain.
Last weekend, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, he introduced the method to the trainers who treat the New York Mets.
And finally … in honor of Warren Hammer’s recent gig (story above):
(As this Roundup shows, “06880” is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: You never know what you’ll get. If you like most of what we offer, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Dogs are joyful: As of October 1, they are allowed back at Compo Beach.
But the other day, longtime Westporters Stefani Cohen and Cathy Malkin noticed a young child crying, afraid of the dogs.
The women kept their pets at a distance. But several other owners allowed their dogs to run up to the family. Upset and frustrated, they left the beach.
Stefani and Cathy see that scene often, at other places too like sports events and outdoor restaurants. Up to 20% of the population — adults as well as children — have some fear of dogs.
Now they’re presenting an online workshop about it (Tuesday, October 17, 7 p.m.). The material is appropriate for all ages. It covers an understanding of cynophobia, strategies to face that fear, ways to stay safe around dogs, and the importance of noticing a dog’s body language to tell when to interact and when to stay away.
In addition to anyone fearful of dogs, the webinar is aimed at therapists, dog professionals, educators and parents.
The cost is $27. Click here to register, and for more information.
A fun sight — but not for everyone. (Photo/Dan Johnson)
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Melissa & Doug — the beloved toy company founded by Melissa and Doug Bernstein in 1988, in their Westport basement and his parents’ nearby garage — has been sold.
Spin Master announced yesterday that they bought the Wilton-based firm for $950 million.
Spin Master was attracted by Melissa & Doug’s trusted brand of early childhood toys, and timeless products. They are sustainable wooden toys, without screens. Last year’s net sales were $490 million.
Click here for the full story.(Hat tip: David Loffredo)
Some Bridgeport artists are in serious straits. Lynn Flint is doing what she can to help.
She’s running a 1-day estate sale at her home. Proceeds will help them meet immediate needs, including rent, food, fuel and art materials.
A member of the Bridgeport arts community will be there, offering information on the arts (who will have their own open studios in November).
So I am having an experimental one day only estate sale in the ground level area of my home since I am handicapped and can no longer run up and down stairs.
It’s Saturday, October 26 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), on Belaire Drive. A sign on Saugatuck Avenue (near the Norwalk border) will direct art lovers to the sale.
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In just over one year, Club 203 has become one of Westport’s most important non-profit organizations.
Yesterday, the Westport Rotary Club learned about the town’s social club for adults with disabilities from co-founders Stacie Curran and Sharuna Mahesh. They told moving stories of the need for such a group — and the joy and bonds created at every monthly meeting.
A host of Westport groups and businesses have hosted Club 203 activities, in a town-wide showing of interest and support.
Stacie Curran (left) and Sharuna Mahesh of Club 203, at yesterday’s Westport Rotary Club meeting. (Photo/Dave Matlow)
Rick Benson — one of Westport’s more energetic and productive members since joining in 1989 — recently received a huge honor.
In Toronto, Rick was recognized with a zonal Donald MacRae Peace Award. It celebrates members who demonstrate the advancement of international goodwill, understanding and peace through peacemaking efforts or humanitarian activity of international significance.
Rick is a previous recipient of local, district and zone honors — and the Rotary International Service Above Self Award, in 2020.
Rick Benson, his wife Totney, and his Donald MacRae Peace Award.
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STAR Inc. and Voices Center for Resilience present a special program: “A 22-Year Journey from 9/11 to Today: Helping Families and Communities Prepare for Emergencies” next Wednesday (October 18, 7 p.m., Westport Library).
Mary Fetchet — founding Director of Voices Center for Resilience — lives in New Canaan. Her son Brad died in the September 11 attacks.
She will share her personal experience and perspective on preparing communities in advance of a tragedy.
A panel discussion about emergency management in Westport will include 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, emergency management director and Deputy Fire Chief Nick Marsan, Deputy Police Chief Ryan Paulsson, Human Services director Elaine Daignault, and state Department of Emergency Services representative Robert Kenny.
Attendees will receive a tip sheet and emergency management packet.
Today’s “Westport … Naturally” Saugatuck River photo comes from Sunny Sherman.
Her words are as meaningful as her picture: “It’s hard to forget the horrors happening in Israel right now. But I thought you and your readers might like to enjoy (unfiltered) what I am blessed to see almost nightly.”
Right now, there are no fenced dog parks in Westport. (Winslow Park is enclosed, but there are many gaps and areas without walls or fences.)
Andrew Colabella wants to change that.
The Representative Town Meeting member worked with Karen Kramer and Matthew Mandell to create a petition. The goal is to gauge support, to show town officials the need. Click here to see.
There are gates, and some new fences, at Winslow Park. But it is not a fully enclosed dog run. (Photo/Nell Waters Bernegger)
The Westport Police Department is participating in the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s high visibility distracted driving enforcement campaign. The campaign — beginning today, and running through October 31 — will increase efforts to enforce distracted-driving laws.
Connecticut law prohibits the use of any hand-held mobile device while operating a motor vehicle. Drivers who are 16 or 17 years old are prohibited from using a cell phone or mobile device at any time — even hands free.
The fine for the first offense is $200. It’s $375 for the second ticket, and $625 for the third and subsequent offenses.
Who knew so many “06880” readers also read the New York Post?
I’d need an entire haberdashery to hand out hat tips to everyone who sent me the tabloid story noting Shonda Rhimes’ purchase of Doug and Melissa Bernstein’s 11-bedroom home. The 7.5-acre property also includes a basketball court, bowling alleys, arcade, home theater, playroom, billiards room, 8 fireplaces, kitchen with a pizza oven, tennis court, pool, playground, and outdoor seating and dining areas.
Karen Scott was the KMS Partners at Compass broker who sold the property to the producer/screenwriter/author/global media company CEO/Television Academy Hall of Fame inductee’s agent. Rhimes will move from elsewhere in Westport; the Bernsteins have bought another home here.
Meanwhile, another New York newspaper — the Times — this week ran a Critic’s Notebook piece headlined: “Has War Changed, or Only War Photography?”
It begins by citing a 1991 Staples High School graduate and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist:
Lynsey Addario began taking war pictures when the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Only two-thirds of a century had elapsed since Robert Capa documented the Spanish Civil War. But to go from the exhibition of Capa’s Spain photos at the International Center of Photography to the Addario show at the SVA Chelsea Gallery is to traverse not just time and geography but a profound shift in sensibility. Capa’s pictures express his belief in war as a conflict between good and evil. In our time, which is to say in Addario’s, unwavering faith in the justice of one side has perished, a casualty of too many brutal, pointless, reciprocally corrupt wars.
Addario over the last two decades has taken her camera to some of the most dangerous places on earth. A MacArthur fellow, she is a freelance photographer who shared a Pulitzer Prize for international reporting awarded to The New York Times in 2009 for its coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Like Capa, she calls herself a photojournalist, not an artist. She has said that she is dedicated to “using images to undo preconceptions and to show a reality often misunderstood or misrepresented.” She has also named Capa as one of her main influences, even though many of the preconceptions she seeks to undermine are those he enshrined.
Click here to read the full story. (Hat tip: Kathie Motes Bennewitz)
In one of Lynsey Addario’s most famous photos, Ukrainian soldiers try to save the father of a family of four — the only one at that moment who still had a pulse — moments after being hit by a mortar while trying to flee Irpin, near Kyiv. (Photo/Lynsey Addario for the New York Times)
The Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County has received a $5,000 grant from Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.
It’s for their Dignity Grows chapter, part of a national network to fight period poverty among nearly 30% of menstruators in the U.S. Donors and volunteers fund and pack monthly totes of hygiene and period essentials. They’re delivered free of charge to partner agencies, who then provide them to their clients.
From last September through June, the Federation organized 10 packing events — many in Westport — and delivered 800 totes. The grant will help them expand their reach, to meet a growing need.
A packing event hosted by Sharon Navarro (top right, 3rd from right) and Jen Frank (bottom row, 2nd from right). All participants are Westport residents — except the lone male, Ofek Moscovich. He’s the Federation Israel emissary spending a year here. The group packed 100 totes for LifeBridge Community Services in Bridgeport.
On Thursday (October 20), you can meet one. DeTapas restaurant hosts one. He’ll serve a “world-class jamon,” paired with special Spanish wines.
The carver will go from table to table, from 5:30 p.m. on. The cost is $45 per person. Guests can stay and enjoy dinner afterward. To RSVP, use Open Table, or contact the restaurant: hola@detapasrestaurant.com; 203-557-0257.
Owner Carlos Pia in his handsomely decorated De Tapas restaurant.
After a successful summer, La Plage pivots to fall. Highlights include “Mussels Wednesday” (Pemaquid Maine mussels with non-stop fries service, paired with a special Pilsner from Spacecat Brewing in Norwalk); “Lobster Bake Thursday” (with head-on shrimp, mussels, clams and andouille), and “Paella Sunday” (clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp, chicken, chorizo).
La Plage also offers a “Halloween Bash” (Sunday, October 30). The winning costume earns 2 tickets to the restaurant’s New Year’s Eve dinner and gala.
The Joggers Club is not running out of great ideas.
Besides Fun Runs every Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. at Compo Beach, and Track Night every Wednesday at 6:q5 p.m. (Staples High School), they’re taking part in races throughout the state. Among them:
Pumpkin Run: October 30 (costumes encouraged)
Jamie’s Run for Children: November 6 (DJ Party after)
Hot Coco 5K: November 12 (“Hottest Race in November”)
Branford Thanksgiving 5K: Thanksgiving
Christmas Run for Children: December 4 (free beer and live music).
The Joggers Club offers a free race bib to each of those races to one member — and discounted coupons for everyone else.
Club membership is $50 a year (new members get a free Endurance Brooks racing shirt. Click here or on Instagram or Facebook for more information.
$50 a year (And new members get a free Endurance Brooks racing shirt)
We’ve featured wasp nests before, in our “Westport … Naturally” series.
But I don’t think I’ve seen any as large — and scary-looking — as this. Pete Powell spotted it on the Longshore golf course, opposite the green at hole 13.
A Westporter helps Westporters who help the world.
That was the theme of David Pogue’s telecast yesterday. He walked a few yards from his home, to Melissa and Doug Bernstein’s. There — with a “CBS Sunday Morning” camera crew — he interviewed the toy company co-founder about her lifelong battle with existential anguish and depression.
The Bernsteins’ new project — Lifelines — is an ecosystem for mental health support, resources and education. Pogue brought their work to a national television audience. Click below for that very important report.
Brian Lewis — chef/owner of the very popular Colonial Green restaurant (and OKO, on Wilton Road) is opening another Cottage in Greenwich.
The 49 Greenwich Avenue spot will seat over 60. As in Westport, it will celebrate seasonal ingredients, sourced from local purveyors and farmers. The Cottage Greenwich is slated to open later this year.
“We’ve always looked forward to the day that we can bring The Cottage to a new market after being so blessed with our devoted clientele and hardworking team in Westport,” says Lewis.
“As we experienced such continued support during COVID and after 6 successful years in Westport, the time was right to grow and find a sister location to complement the original Cottage.”
In the toy industry, Melissa Bernstein is a rock star.
The world knows her as co-founder and chief creative officer — with her co-founder husband and fellow native Westporter — of Melissa & Doug. The $500 million company is legendary for its toys that encourage interactive, hands-on play, and spark the imagination of children in a way screens and high-tech never can.
Yet for most of her life, Melissa Bernstein did not even know herself.
She and Doug built the business from scratch. It was their idea, their execution, their 32 years of hard — yet very fulfilling — work.
Melissa Bernstein, with some of her creations.
They married in 1992. They have 6 accomplished children, ranging in age from 27 to 13. They built a beautiful home.
Yet all along — for as long as she can recall — Melissa lived with existential anguish and depression. It made her who she is.
And at times, it made her want to end her life.
Existential anguish and depression is not a DSM diagnosis. But her torment — a crisis of doubt and meaning — was frighteningly real. It was “the darkest nihilism. Life seemed absurd and futile.”
Her mother remembers Melissa screaming every day, for the first year of her life. It was not colic; these were terrifying shrieks. “I had no words or creative solutions to what I was feeling,” Melissa says.
Melissa and Doug Bernstein.
Melissa grew up with that pain. But she was creative too. She wrote verses, and was a musician. But in college, realizing she would never play professionally, she quit music cold turkey.
She sought solace in academic performance. Looking back, she says, that turn “took me out of my heart, and into my head.” She felt “completely and utterly worthless.”
It was a coping mechanism involving denial, resistance, avoidance and dissonance, Melissa realizes now.
She created a “perfect, fictitious world” in her head. She lived in that “blissful place, filled with imaginary friends,” for at least a decade.
To the outside world, Melissa projected a façade of perfection. She worked, volunteered with the Levitt Pavilion, Music Theater of Connecticut and July 4th fireworks. She ferried her children to every sport and activity. The biggest criticism of her as a parent, she says, was that she seemed “emotionless.”
Doug and Melissa Bernstein, with their 6 children.
“Part of my validation was being a martyr,” she says. “I had to put one foot in front of the other. I had to think of my kids before me.”
Doug did not have an inkling of what Melissa was going through. But neither did she.
“I couldn’t let this demon come up,” she notes. “If I did, it would have taken me down.”
Five years ago, Melissa began to “connect the dots in a profound way.” She was exhausted. “I wanted to stop racing. It’s hard to resist everything you feel and are,” she says.
She listened to podcasts like “The Good Life Project.” She read Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” She learned that “as humans, our number one motive is a search for meaning.”
Melissa says, “My heart stopped. With profound alacrity, I knew what I was afflicted with.”
The more she learned, the more she realized that highly creative people — Beethoven, Mozart, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Emily Dickinson, Hemingway — shared her anguish.
For the first time in her life, Melissa did not feel alone.
Understanding her hypersensitivity to “both the beauty of the world, and unbearable pain,” she cried for 3 days.
She had awakened a window into her soul. She came to terms that her creative blessing was also a curse.
Melissa Bernstein
All those verses she’d written; all the toys she’d developed — they were outward signs of who Melissa Bernstein is. Now, she knew, she had to accept internally who she is too.
She could not do it alone. With the help of therapist Loredana Trandu, she has learned to make sense of her life.
“My journey with her was arduous. It was the lowest I ever felt,” Melissa says. “But she was there every step of the way. She’d been to that spot. I wasn’t scared.”
Now, Melissa wants to help others.
First, she shared her story on Jonathan Fields’ “Good Life” project. Hundreds of listeners responded. Their words were soulful and heart-wrenching. One told Melissa, “you put words to what was ineffable and hidden.”
She emailed or called every one. She followed up in depth with nearly 100.
Now, she and Doug have developed LifeLines. An ecosystem — books, videos, podcasts, community — its goal is to “help frame those soul-searching questions that allow you to explore your authentic self and discover what makes you tick.”
Melissa Bernstein reads her “LifeLines” book.
LifeLines is based on 3 premises:
You are not alone
We all have the capacity to channel darkness into light
We will not find true fulfillment and peace until we look inward and accept ourselves.
Completely free — funded by the Bernsteins — it’s about to roll out nationally. Major media like the Washington Post, USA Today, People, Elle magazine and “Good Day New York” are covering LifeLines this week and next.
Westporter David Pogue airs a segment on “CBS Sunday Morning” this weekend (March 14).
David Pogue tapes a segment with Melissa Bernstein, in her Westport home.
LifeLines has become Melissa’s life. She has recorded nearly 3 dozen podcasts, and oversees every aspect of the project. Yet she still takes time each day to speak to individual men and women — people just like her, who feel the same overpowering existential anguish and depression.
Being on the national stage — and speaking to strangers — is important. But Melissa is our neighbor. Sometimes the hardest part of baring our souls is doing it to those who know us well.
The other day at a Staples basketball game, a woman looked away when they met. Then she said, “I’m so sorry.”
Melissa felt badly that the woman felt so uncomfortable.
“We need a huge education program,” she says. “We know what to say, and not say, when someone dies. Now we need a new national conversation on how to talk about mental health.”
It’s taken Melissa Bernstein her entire life to discover herself, and open that internal dialogue. Now, with LifeLines, she’s opening up to the world.
The chief creative officer of one of the world’s leading toy companies is playing for keeps.
(PS: On Thursday, March 18 at 7 p.m., the Westport Library hosts a conversation with Melissa — and me — about her journey. Click here to register.)
The Bow Tie “Ultimate Royale” multiplex on US 1 — just over the border in Norwalk — reopens tomorrow. Features include “Monster Hunter,” “The Croods,” “Wild Mountain Thyme,” “Elf,” The Midnight Sky,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “Honest Thief” and “Tenet.”
The experience will be different than in pre-pandemic days. For example:
100% reserved seating …
… but only 50% capacity
A temporary waiver of all advanced ticketing fees
Selling seats in an alternating pattern so each customer has an empty seat on either side
Contact-free purchasing of tickets and concession items
Mandatory face masks (unless eating or drinking at your seat)
Plexiglas barriers at box office and concession
Frequent cleaning
Limitations on restroom and lobby capacities.
You can also book a private movie party” for up to 20 guests.
No word on whether you will still pay $22 for a 10-pound box of Jujubes. (Hat tip: Mark Mathias)
Christmas caroling — remember that?! — returns to the Unitarian Church this Saturday (December 19, 3 to 4 p.m.).
It’s COVID-conscious of course: in the large parking lot, with masks and social distancing required.
In Unitarian spirit, there will be a mix of secular songs and Christmas carols. Everyone will use phone flashlights to sing “Silent Night” at dusk. Feel free to bring an instrument too!.
In the holiday spirit, if you want to join but don’t want to actually join people, email events@uuwestport.org for the Zoom link.
Not quite the Unitarian Church parking lot, but you get the idea.
Chloe Hackett is a Staples High School sophomore. She’s an athlete too.
As she and her family searched for a way to help others during the pandemic, they found Leveling the Playing Field. The non-profit seemed perfect.
It collect new and gently used sports and playground equipment, then distribute it to needy youth organizations. And it was founded by Syracuse University alums — Chloe’s parents’ alma mater.
“My sisters and I play field hockey, ice hockey and softball year round,” Chloe says.
“Sports have taught us teamwork, discipline, commitment, determination and how to compete. They’ve given us an after-school outlet, and the opportunity to make friends. We are fortunate to live in an amazing town with so many opportunities, access to a wide variety of sports and the equipment to play them.”
This weekend (Saturday and Sunday, December 19-20, 10 a.m. to noon, at The Granola Bar), the Hacketts are collecting donations.
Cleats, field hockey sticks, lacrosse equipment, bats, hockey skates, footballs, softball gloves — it will all make a difference. Click here for a full list of acceptable and non-acceptable items.
If you can’t make it this weekend, the Hacketts have your back. They’ll leave a box in front of the restaurant, and make pickups daily.
The Hackett girls already have donations! From left: Alex, Chloe, Daisy. (Photo/Julianne Mulvey)
Melissa & Doug — the international toy company, and the Westport couple named the Bernsteins behind it — keep a low profile.
The company (and the couple) do many good things, out of the limelight. Here’s one that deserves notice.
They’ve partnered with the Whole Foods, selling toys in stores and online. Between December 20-24, 1% of sales at Whole Foods will support Whole Kids Foundation’s child nutrition programs.
Stock up on good food and great toys. And help children eat well. Melissa & Doug — and kids you’ll never know — will thank you. (Hat tip: Johanna Rossi)
Westport abstract expressionist painter David Stephen Johnson made his European debut earlier this year.
To share in his good fortune — and do his part to help local first responders — from now through mid-January, he is donating all proceeds of his Works on Paper sales to Norwalk Hospital.
Click here for some of the Works on Paper that make original, thoughtful holiday gifts (and support the community).
More of Johnson’s pieces can be viewed at his Compo Beach studio, by (socially distanced) appointment. Email studio@davidstephenjohnson.com, or call 970- 376-5058.
And finally … on this date in 1865, Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” premiered. The composer died nearly 40 years earlier, from either typhoid fever or syphilis. Just 31, he had composed more than 600 vocal works, 7 complete symphonies, sacred music and operas, along with piano and chamber music.
President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff decisions have rattled the global economy.
Here in the US, sectors ranging from aluminum to footwear have felt whipsawed by decisions made and remade in the White House. The latest industry is a big one: toys.
Earlier this week, the president delayed a new 10 percent tariff on some Chinese imports, from September 1 to December 15. That gives toy manufacturers some breathing room, before and during the make-or-break holiday season.
Melissa and Doug Bernstein
Westport has an important dog in this hunt. Melissa & Doug was founded in 1988 by Doug and Melissa Bernstein, in his parents’ garage on Guyer Road. Over the past 31 years it’s become a highly respected creator, manufacturer and distributor of educational toys, including wooden puzzles, arts and crafts products and more.
Bernstein breathed a sigh of relief at the tariff delay. But, he said yesterday, the larger question is the entire concept of a “trade war.”
“Wars are not good,” he said. “They cause casualties: human, social and economic. Calling this a ‘war’ is not a good thing.” He would prefer to see trade policy discussed “amicably.”
Like most American toy companies, the vast majority — 85 to 90% — of Melissa & Doug’s products are made in China.
This founders did not set out to manufacture overseas. Years ago, Bernstein said, he brought prototypes to factories across in the US. No one wanted the job.
The issue was not price. Rather, it was the “massive amount of handiwork” that goes into each Melissa & Doug item. “They can’t be stamped out” — and American factories could not do it at a price that would be reasonable for consumers.
A small selection of Melissa & Doug toys.
Over the years, Melissa & Doug built strong relationships in China. Today, around 200 or so employees oversee quality and inspection there. “They work for us,” he said. “They’re not 3rd-party contractors.”
While other companies talk about moving production to other parts of the world — Vietnam and India are often mentioned — Melissa & Doug worries about losing quality control.
“We have 3 tenets,” the co-founder says. “We make educational products for children; we make them with the absolute best quality we can, and we price them as affordably as possible. We don’t want them accessible only to kids who grow up in a place like Westport.”
So — even with higher tariffs — Bernstein and his wife are committed to “not passing on higher pricing to consumers. Other companies say that if the tariffs take effect on December 15, they’ll have to raise prices by 10, 20 or 25% in 2020. We’re working very hard not to do that. We would probably absorb most, if not all, of the cost.”
They’ve already been tested. In addition to toys, Melissa & Doug produce items like chalk and markers. They’ve already been hit with several million dollars in tariffs — and have not raised prices.
Bernstein sounds a hopeful note, though. “Honestly, I didn’t think the tariffs would happen on September 1. And I think there’s a high likelihood they won’t happen on December 15. This is a game of chess, and we’re pawns. No one gains from a trade war. I think agreements will be reached.”
Besides chess, Bernstein uses another analogy to describe the last few months.
“We’ve been on a roller coaster,” he says. “It would be one thing if there were transparent discussions. But for us — and everyone in the industry — it’s been up and down, on and off, 10%, 25%, September 1, December 15.”
That’s one game the Westport toy manufacturer has no desire to play.
No one snoozes during Westport’s Independence Day fireworks.
But if you snooze too long now, you’ll have a tough time seeing them at Compo Beach.
Parking at Compo for the 62nd annual fireworks — which, in true Westport tradition, are blasted off a barge not on July 4th but, this year, on Monday July 2 — is by ticket only.
Sales — which began today — are limited, and on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once they sell out, shuttle passes from Longshore are available for purchase.
Tickets are available at Westport Police Department headquarters (50 Jesup Road), and the Parks and Recreation office (in Longshore, near the first tee).
The price is $35 per car (pack ’em in!). Before you bitch and moan: Proceeds go to Westport PAL, to support many programs — and thousands of kids.
And before you complain that the fireworks are sponsored by Melissa & Doug — the international (and locally owned) toy company — remember that because of them, PAL does not have to shell out money for all those firework shells.
Last year, some hard-to-please Westporters bitched and moaned because the 4th of July fireworks were held on June 30th.
Folks have complained about July 1 and 2 dates too.
There are several reasons why we can’t do fireworks on July 4. But this year we’ve got the next best thing.
The 2017 show — produced by Westport PAL, sponsored by Melissa & Doug, with fireworks from the great Gruccis — are scheduled for Monday, July 3.
Tickets for the 61st annual event go on sale tomorrow (Thursday, June 1). They’re available — first-come, first-serve — at the Police Department (50 Jesup Road) and the Parks and Rec office (Longshore, across from the 1st tee).
Westporters also sometimes bitch and moan that the cost is $35 per car. Well, proceeds fund a ton of PAL programs. And the entire evening is unrivaled for fun, and a community feeling.
Oh, yeah: The rain date is Wednesday, July 5.
We’ve got the 4th surrounded.
Westport’s fireworks, as seen from Hillspoint Road.
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