Halloween comes early!
The annual downtown Children’s Halloween Parade is set for next Wednesday (October 26). Kids and parents meet at the Post Road East/Main Street intersection at 3:30 p.m.
They’ll march up Main Street, turn right to Avery Place, then turn left on Myrtle Avenue to Town Hall and Veterans Green. Children may trick-or-treat along Main Street and outside Town Hall.
Entertainment, refreshments and a small gift will be provided on Veterans Green across from Town Hall at 4 p.m.
The Parks and Recreation Department, Westport Downtown Association and Westport P.A.L. are sponsoring the event. It’s for all children — “especially those 8 and under.”
NOTE: There is no parkin on Main Street between 2 and 4 p.m. during the parade.
Seen at a previous Halloween parade.
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The Westport Education Association is raising funds to honor one of its own.
Beloved Staples High School technology education teacher Mike Sansur was killed Saturday, when his vehicle was rear-ended on I-95. His 21-year-old son — who is studying to be a teacher too — is hospitalized with serious injuries.
A GoFundMe page will help defray medical costs for Mike’s son, and help with future college costs for his 2 high school daughters.
The WEA says, “Mike touched the hearts of all students who walked through his door. A former student said was the “the only class where I felt like I belonged. He opened up a world of possibilities, and a desire to learn more. He taught the importance of attention to detail, design, and craftsmanship, which influenced me to pursue architecture. As I write this, the lamp he helped me build is still on my desk. Its light will not go out.”
Click here to contribute, and for more information.
Mike Sansur
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In the wake of “The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man” — Paul Newman’s new memoir — it’s hard to keep up with media mentions.
But a story in the current issue of The New Yorker caught my eye.
Twice, writer Louis Menand references the book’s genesis: over 100 interviews with and about the actor, conducted by his screenwriter friend Stewart Stern.
But in 1991, Newman asked Stern to stop. In 1998, Newman “took the cassettes to the dump and burned them all.”
Later, Menand mentions the incident again: “the auto-da-fé at the town dump seems a pretty clear indication that Newman did not want a memoir.”
The New Yorker is well known for its rigorous fact-checking.
It seems pretty clear that “the town dump” is our town dump. After all, this is where Newman lived. It’s where he kept the tapes.
But wait! We don’t have a “town dump.” It’s a “transfer station.”
And there’s no place there to burn anything.
So … maybe Paul Newman did not burn those hundreds of tapes here, but somewhere else?
Or maybe they were never burned at all?!
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One of the major themes of “From the Mississippi Delta” — the current Westport Country Playhouse production — is civil rights.
That’s inextricably tied in with voting rights. So — with an election looming next month — Westport’s League of Women Voters is offering political information in the Playhouse lobby through the show’s run. It ends on October 30.
For over 70 years, the LWV has been a non-partisan Westport institution. They do not support individual candidates; instead they advocate for voter education and enfranchisement. They actively register voters, and organize candidate debates.
Before each performance of “From the Mississippi Delta,” LWV volunteers will offer information on times, locations and requirements for voting in the November 8 mid-term election, including how to get an absentee ballot and online registration.
They will conduct in-person voter registration for people with valid identification (driver’s license, passport, or Social Security card).
The LWV will also explain the ballot referendum about adding days to voting in Connecticut. Right now, we are one of only one 4 states that limits voting to one day.
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Before Halloween and Election Day, there’s another holiday.
United Nations Day is not a big one. Except for the people who believe in things like, um, world peace.
To celebrate, the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut is sponsoring a talk and Q-and-A at the Westport Library (October 24, 7 p.m.).
Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-founder of the Yale Forum on Religion & Ecology, will speak on “Reimagining Our Environmental Future Together.” Her goal is to inspire people to “preserve, protect and restore the earth community.”
After nearly 3 COVID years away from cabaret, Leslie Orofino is back. And “Laughing at Life.”
This Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Lecture honors the founder of the UNASC. She was a longtime Westporter, and advocate for all things UN-related.
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Speaking of world peace: World-famous photojournalist (and 1991 Staples High School graduate) Lynsey Addario has spent more than 2 decades reporting in the face of conflict, corruption and censorship. She’s done it in the Middle East and Africa; now she capturing the horrors of war in Ukraine.
On November 9, she’ll receive a “Courage in Journalism” award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.
The virtual ceremony is set for November 9 (5:30 p.m.). CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell will host. Click here for free registration, and more information. (Hat tip: Naree Viner)
Lynsey Addario
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Westport’s prized vocalist joins director (and fellow townie) Louis Pietig in 2 performances at New York City’s Don’t Tell Mama.
“Laughing at Life” — that’s the show’s name — is a “foot-stomping, life-affirming journey of love.” It includes songs by Alberta Hunter, Fats Waller, Cole Porter, Bob Dylan and many others.
The first show is this Saturday (October 22); the next is Sunday, October 30. Both are at 4 p.m. There’s a $20 cover, with a 2-drink minimum. Click here for reservations.
Leslie Orofino
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Not much gets by Bob Weingarten.
He spotted frost yesterday morning on a Morningside Drive South roof.
“It’s the first of the season,” he reports.
Spring arrives in 152 days.
Frosty roof. (Photo/Bob Weingarten)
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Autumn continues to awe. Jonathan Alloy sends along today’s spectacular “Westport … Naturally” foliage. It’s at Long Lots Elementary School. Similar scenes can be found all over town.
But not for long.
(Photo/Jonathan Alloy)
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And finally … On this date in 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashed in the Mississippi woods. Six people, including 3 band members, were killed.
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