
Enjoying Saugatuck Island ,,, (Photo/Bobbi Essagof)

… and Cooper at Compo (Photo/Dan Kahn)
Enjoying Saugatuck Island ,,, (Photo/Bobbi Essagof)
… and Cooper at Compo (Photo/Dan Kahn)
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Just how hot was last year’s real estate market?
That’s as crazy as GameStop. (Hat tip: Judy Michaelis)
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Ally Lipton McArthur grew up here. For the past 15 years she has owned and operated Herb-n-Peach, a catering/event planning company in New York.
She and her husband moved back to the area in June. She’s expanding her business locally.
Ally’s mother (Marilynn Blotner) and sister (Stacey Lipton Schumer) own Soleil Toile, the popular lingerie/swimwear stores in Westport and New Canaan.
All 3 have pivoted their businesses during COVID. While brainstorming ways to incorporate something delicious (“the best chocolate chip cookies ever”) and wearable (lingerie), they hit upon a Valentine’s Day idea.
“Treat yourself — and share with a loved one!” they say.
Their “Valentines Share the Love Box” of sweets, love and undies includes 2 Hanky Panky (regular rise) one-sized thongs in curated Valentine colors, plus 6 scrumptious herb-n-peach chocolate chip cookies (milk chocolate, white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chip).
Click here to order online ($55) by Wednesday, February 10. Boxes will be available for pickup at Soleil Toile’s 2 locations. They can also be shipped ($12). For free local delivery, email ally@herbnpeach.com.
You can also buy at Soleil Toile on the weekend of February 13-14 (until the treats run out).
As for “sharing the love”: 10% of all sales go to Pink Aid.
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For decades, the Belta family has taken care of Westporters. Their Bayberry Lane farm is a treasured, wonderful (and under-rated) source for fresh produce.
The Beltas take care of more than just humans. Yesterday — when the temperature barely nudged 20 — John Karrel saw this sign:
(Photo/John Karrel)
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Saugatuck Island is a glorious place to live.
But nowhere is perfect. Residents put up with regular flooding.
The canal overflows when it rains. Occasionally it takes only a sprinkle.
Sometimes — as islanders saw yesterday, when the weather was perfectly fine all over town — all it takes is a full moon and high tide.
(Photo/Les Dinkin)
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And finally … on this day in 1865, Congress passed the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. It was ratified less than a year later, on December 6.
Posted in Environment, Local business, People, Real estate
Tagged Ally McArthur, Belta's Farm, Judy Michaelis Group, Saugatuck Island, Soleil Toile
Honoring front line personnel on Saugatuck Island (Photo/Gene Borio)
The new bridge to Saugatuck Island has gotten lots of press (and praise).
But area residents are less pleased about another project on Saugatuck Shores.
Gene Borio reports on a culvert replacement project that has closed off Canal Road since earlier this month.
“Somehow,” he says, “the construction company missed out on the idea that if they completely close off ingress and egress of seawater to the pond for 2 months of estimated work, the pond might stagnate and start dying.”
When 3 eels floated to the surface, neighbors called the town. An emergency culvert was quickly installed.
But, Gene says, “the eels were so bad, even a gull wouldn’t eat them.”
He adds, “It’s definitely affecting life around here. Even on weekends, people think they can’t cross to get to the beach.”
They can, he says — if they don’t mind mud and obstructions.
Still, drivers constantly see a sign saying the bridge is closed, and turn around.
Saugatuck Shores resident Jeff Manchester is also concerned. Hundreds — perhaps thousands — of cars, oil trucks, boats and trailers and school buses have backed down Canal Road, he says.
They’re following confusing signs that should instead divert Canal Road traffic over the bridge on Harbor Road.
He recommends a simple solution: replace the “Bridge Closed” sign with the one used when the bridge was being renovated.
Otherwise, he warns, “we’ll see a vehicle in the canal.”
Posted in Environment, Transportation
Tagged Canal Road, Harbor Road, Saugatuck Island, Saugatuck Shores
Alert “06880” reader, native Westporter — and active Saugatuck Island resident — William Adler writes:
In recent days, the Saugatuck Island bridge project has been given the final touches. Traffic is once again busy to and from this neighborhood on Westport’s westerly shores.
The Saugatuck Island Special Taxing District arranged for whitewashing of the bridge railings, and has restored landscaping that had been disrupted by heavy construction equipment.
The new bridge replaces a quaint timber structure of wooden pilings and rustic railings originally built in the 1920s.
The old bridge was well past its intended lifespan in 2012, when it suffered structural damage in Superstorm Sandy.
The total cost of $2.1 million includes a $1.3 million FEMA grant. The town and SISTD split the remainder 50-50. Construction began last year.
The new bridge retains the feel of its predecessor, while providing greater safety, practicality and rock-solid durability. The single span of concrete deck sits on steel girders, with an asphalt surface. It is secured on 50-foot deep sheet pile abutments clad in concrete.
96 feet long and 20 feet wide, the bridge can hold 20 tons – more than sufficient to accommodate heavy emergency equipment, unlike its wooden predecessor. The bridge’s anticipated life span is 75 years.
The bridge completion comes as Saugatuck Island has been experiencing a housing boom. During the past 5 years, about 1/3 of the approximately 100 properties on the island have changed hands. Prices range from $700,000 to $9.8 million.
Others have been expanded, elevated or otherwise enhanced. New construction has increased the number of larger, higher-end luxury residences.
In addition to 400 Westport residents, the island is home to Cedar Point Yacht Club, established in 1887, and the Saugatuck Shores Club (1946).
SISTD was established in 1984 to tax island property owners for local community costs — mainly road maintenance.
As for Saugatuck Island itself: Near the end of the 19th century, the Army Corps of Engineers cut a canal between what is now Canal Road and Spriteview Avenue, to provide a faster, safer route for onion farmers to transport their goods to Norwalk.
The newly formed island was called “Greater Marsh Shores at Saugatuck.”
Posted in Places, Real estate
Tagged Cedar Point Yacht Club, Saugatuck Island, William Adler
Saugatuck Island resident Gene Borio sends along these photos of the approach to the newly renovated bridge on Harbor Road.
Inside the wooden bus stop, plaques honor Dean Powers and David Goldstick for their “skill and hard work beautifying our island.” An example of that beauty is found opposite the wooden structure.