In anticipation of — and appreciation for — the recent Compo Beach playground rebuild, a few Friday Flashbacks flashed back to the original construction in 1989, and the subsequent renovation nearly 2 decades later.
But those were all photo flashbacks.
Today we’ve got a video.
Sure, it’s a video of still photos. Still, they tell a compelling story.
In 1989, elementary school students working with designer Robert Leathers created plans for a playground at what was then empty space adjacent to the lifeguard shack.
It would replace a forlorn couple of swings and monkey bars by the basketball courts.
Getting ready to build.
It was a great idea — until a group of residents opposed it. They worried about a “ruined vista,” and cited fears of teenagers and out-of-towners overruning the area, drinking and smoking dope and having sex.
A long court battle ensued. At the last minute a court injunction was lifted. Construction began immediately.
As in 2006 and again last month, hundreds of volunteers made magic happen.
The original build was captured in a video by Dom Rossi, a committee member, and his marketing company.
It was unearthed recently by Rick and Totney Benson. They worked on the first playground — and on its most recent renovation.
Howard Edelstein digitized it. RB Benson — Rick and Totney’s son — uploaded it yesterday to YouTube.
And when you do, realize that some of the kids in the video — as adults now, with children of their own — may have helped out this time.
The Compo Beach playground is a great, feel-good story, from 1989, 2006 and 2025.
Just imagine if the anti-playground forces had won.
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker discusses that important financial document — what it is, how it’s grown, how it helps fund town services, and what it all means to residents — on the latest “Westport … What’s Happening?” podcast.
Click below to listen. The series is sponsored by the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston.
Just in time for the Super Bowl, the Westport Police Department and Westport Sunrise Rotary Club are sponsoring a “Souper Bowl of Caring” food drive. All donations support Homes with Hope, and Westport’s Department of Human Services food pantries.
Non-perishable foods can be brought to Stop & Shop this Saturday (February 11, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
Can’t make it then? Hammer & Nails — the new men’s grooming lounge at 606 Post Road East — is accepting food donations all week long.
And — because “06880” truly is “Where Westport meets the world” — here is another local story from Antarctica. Bill Kutik writes:
“I love adventure travel. I just rode an expedition ship from the southern tip of South America, hugging the coast of Antarctica, and finishing near the southern tip of New Zealand.
“It took 30 days to get from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere under the bottom of the earth. Despite being upside down the whole time, we didn’t fall off once!
“An intrepid hiker (and founding editor of Backpacker magazine in 1972), I had to tour New Zealand’s famous mountains used in the movies Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Power of the Dog.’ Here’s a photo of me from Fiordland National Park on the southwest coast (fresh from the helicopter).
Bill Kutik above Doubtful Bay.
“But my heart was captured by this eager, welcoming sign outside Westport, New Zealand. It’s a former port town — just like us.”
Expanding our horizons even beyond Antarctica: “Our galaxy was a quasar.”
That’s the topic for the next Westport Astronomical Society lecture. This one — with Professor Joshua Tan of LaGuardia Community College — is live, in the WAS classroom (February 21, 8 p.m.).
This will be Tan’s third appearance at the Astronomical Society. An optical astronomer, he studies short-period binary millisecond pulsars, open problems in binary modeling, neutron star physics, and 3-body dynamics.
Each year, Westport middle and high school students rock the National History Day competition.
They do it thanks to beyond-the-call help from their teachers — and extra attention from community members, who help students through the research and writing process.
Dr. Lauren Francese, townwide social studies coordinator, invites community members to help in a new capacity this year: as judges in the Fairfield County regional competition (Saturday, March 18, Sacred Heart University).
Judges do not need to be history or education experts. What’s needed is engaged, empathetic feedback to students on their papers, websites, museum exhibits, performances, and documentaries). Training is provided to all volunteers the morning of the event.
The keyboardist — who has toured and recorded with David Bowie, George Michael and Rod Stewart, and served as musical director for Kennedy Center extravaganzas — headlines this Thursday’s Jazz at the Post (February 9, VFW Joseph J. Clinton Post 399; shows at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner at 7 p.m.; $15 cover).
Hey will be joined by Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” Wall, Dave Richards and Jason Tiemann. Reservations are highly recommended: JazzatthePost@gmail.com.
After 2 weeks, bagels are still sitting on High Gate Road.
Chris Grimm reports on the scene, off Maple Avenue South: “The 2 piles have been joined by a smaller, breakaway third pile, to the left, while a few to the far left seem to be trying to flee. Behind the larger pile to the right seem to be a large number of casualties.”
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