Last night’s brief but powerful storms brought down tree limbs — and power lines — all over Westport and Weston.
And across the state.
Dramatic lightning at Compo Beach. (Photo/Meredith Holod)
At 7:30 this morning, Eversource reported 455 Westport customers — 11.6% of the town’s total — without service.
Another 455 Weston customers (6.1%) lacked power.
The map did not offer restoration times for most outages.
Statewide, the total number of customers without electricity was 71,965 (5.5%).
Last night, “06880” reader Tracy Porosoff sent this report: “We were at the Levitt Pavilion, and saw the lightning from Norwalk before it got to us and closed down the concert.
“Roads were full of branches and debris. Seems like it’s going to be a messy storm.”
She sent this photo too, of a non-functioning traffic light at the Compo Road South/Greens Farms Road/Bridge Street intersection:
(Photo/Tracy Porosoff)
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The Staples High School Class of 1961 was the first to spend 3 years at the then-sparkling new North Avenue campus.
More than 6 decades later, they’re still trailblazers.
For their 65th reunion, Peter Kelman organized a unique virtual event. In late June, nearly 50 alums gathered via Zoom.
For over 2 hours, they shared stories, memories, insights and more.
To keep things from going off the rails, Peter instituted some simple rules. There was a 2-minute time limit for each speaker (he suggested timing them beforehand), and 6 specific topics:
- Pre-school and elementary School years
- Junior high years
- High School years
- Post-high School lives
- Remembrance classmates who died
- Current lives as octogenarians.
There was even tech help available, for men and women whose Staples days included slide rules and blue book essays, not computers and AI.
For security reasons, the video is unlisted. “06880” readers can view it by emailing Peter (phkelman@gmail.com), with details on why you’re interested.
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Westporters of a certain age remember Linda Blair.
She was a 14-year-old Staples student in 1973 — and had been working as a model and actress for years — when she was chosen from 600 others for the role of Regan in “The Exorcist.”
She earned a Golden Globe Award, was nominated for an Oscar — and received death threats for her “blasphemy.”
What’s she up to now?
For one thing, she’s old enough for AARP. (As are, to their surprise, many other people.)
The June/July issue of AARP magazine has a short update.
At 67, she has survived pneumonia and sepsis. She’s devoted her adult life to the rescue, rehabilitation and “rehoming” of dogs.
She runs the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation from Acton, California.
Fun fact: When she made “The Exorcist,” she was too young to watch it in a theater.
Read the full story below. (Hat tip: Douglass Davidoff)
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Several readers have expressed disappointment at the lack of patriotic decorations on Westport homes. Even with a house décor contest underway, flags and bunting is hard to find.
One place to see it: Compo Hill.
Rick and Totney Benson are flying the colors at the exact site where, 249 years ago, colonists and the British battled in one of our town’s most historic events.
The view coming up Compo Hill …
… and at the top, on Buena Vista Drive. Rick participated in the OpSail tall ships event 50 years ago, during America’s bicentennial. (Photos/Rick Benson)
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The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — written, of course, with a quill pen — is a great connection to today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo.
Jerry Kuyper collects these feathers on his Rayfield Road property. As the image shows, that’s a self-evident truth.
(Photo/Jerry Kuyper)
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And finally … on this date in 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” speech at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester, New York.
(The Independence Day holiday continues. So does our “06880” blog. We’re here 24/7/365, because that’s what hyper-local blogs do. If you like our work, please click here to support us. Thank you!)
