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Everyone in Westport has a stake in affordable housing.
For the first time, all 4 political parties — including the 2 formed around land-use issues — have joined to co-sponsor a forum.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, April 12, 7 p.m., Town Hall and Zoom at www.westportct.gov), 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker and Planning & Zoning Commission chair Danielle Dobin host a community conversation about Westport’s “5-Year Affordability Plan.” It’s a joint effort of the Republican and Democratic Town Committees, Save Westport Now and the Coalition for Westport.
Among Westport’s affordable housing options: Sasco Creek Village.
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Six weeks after Russia invade Ukraine, Tyler Hicks continues to show the carnage to the world.
The 1988 Staples High School graduate — a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times photographer — is now in Kramatorsk, where more than 50 civilians trying to flee the region were killed in a train station missile attack.
This is one of several striking images posted yesterday by the Times. Click here for more.
A worker cleans debris outside the Kramatorsk train station. (Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)
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A large crowd Saturday night helped launch what is believed to be the public library record label in the world.
The first vinyl on that first label is “Verso Records: Volume 1.” It’s a 500-copy compilation of emerging and established musicians in the tri-state region.
They play a variety of genres, including jazz, rock, folk, indie and hip hop. All tracks were recorded at the Library’s Verso Studios, a state-of-the-art, hybrid-analog SSL facility.
Chris Frantz — a founding member of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee — calls himself “a major fan of the Westport Library, and the creativity they’re cultivating in artists throughout the region.”
Tracks available for download include Daniprobably (indie pop band), Alexandra Burnet and the Stable Six (ethereal singer-songwriter and band), Ports of Spain, (indie rock) and the Zambonis (“hockey rock”).
The album also includes hip hop artists MIGHTYMOONCHEW and Dooley-O; post punk artists Lulu Lewis; new wave musician Nicki Butane; singer-songwriter Terri Lynn; the John Collinge Jazz Quartet; indie rockers Tiny Ocean; garage punk band The Problem with Kids Today, and roots Americana rock The Split Coils.
To view session recording videos at Verso Studios, click here. To preorder the album, click here.
Tammy Winser was named winner of the album cover design contest, at VersoFest Saturday night. Her artwork is displayed behind her. (Photo/Jerri Graham)
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Two folks with longtime Westport roots have joined the board of the Remarkable Theater.
David Waldman will serve as co-president. Angela Wormser is the director of workforce.
Waldman and his wife Yvette have supported the the Remarkable Theater since its inception. Since founding David Adam Realty in 1991, he has developed some of the area’s most important commercial properties, including Bedford Square and the west bank of the Saugatuck River. Waldman is also a past president of the Westport Downtown Association, and has sat on its board for almost 2 decades. He was also a board member of the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee.
Wormser, an educator with a strong background in special educaiton, will help expand the Remarkable’s mission of creating opportunities for people with disabilities.
Angela’s role will focus on helping expand The Remarkable’s mission of creating opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
The current board includes State Representative Jonathan Steinberg and filmmaker Douglas Tirola. Both have been members since the beginning of the Westport Cinema Initiative. Stacie Curran continues as vice president and secretary.
Angela Wormser and David Waldman
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When Pastor Alison Patton embarks on a sabbatical in June, Saugatuck Congregational Church welcomes a “theologian in residence.”
Jim Antal — a nationally recognized climate expert, and author of “Climate Church, Climate World,” will share his expertise with the congregation and greater community through conversations, discussions, lectures and sermons.
The church seeks housing for Antal and his wife for their 3-week stay in June (June 1-22). A donation of living space, bedroom and kitchen is ideal; an inexpensive rental is the second option.
Anyone offering either possibility should email Priscilla Long: pal9948@aol.com.
Saugatuck Congregational Church seeks housing for a guest pastor.
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On Saturday, the Westport Rotary Club participated in Westport Parks & Recreation Department Clean-Up Day.
Dozens of Rotarians began and the Compo Beach skatepark, then headed to the Longshore driving range.
They shouldn’t have to pick up after the rest of us. But they sure did a great job!
Part of the Westport Rotary Club, with part of their trash collection.
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Spring weather brought many Westporters outside, preparing their lawns and gardens for new growth.
Teenagers Leilani Fleming and Ellen Ou headed to Sherwood Island State Park. They planted grass shoots today, as part of an ongoing effort to shore up the shore.
Ellen Ou and Leilani Fleming, hard at work.
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Visitors to the famed Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland — one of the world’s leading institutions entirely devoted to photography — enjoy many images.
Including 2 from Westporter Larry Silver.
They’re now more accessible to his neighbors. Silver is exhibiting at Fairfield University Art Museum’s Quick Center, in the “13 Ways of Looking at Landscapes” show.
Larry will be in a conversation there about his photos on Wednesday (April 20, 5 p.m.).
“Girl at Showers,” one of 2 Larry Silver images on display in Lausanne.
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Dr. Stephen Rubin, a Westport resident for over 55 years, died last week after a battle with cancer. The educational philosopher and innovator was 83.
After graduating from Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn, he studied education and general systems theory at Brooklyn College and New York University. where he earned his (first) Ph.D. in 1965.
At 23 Dr. Rubin, became the principal of Center School in New Canaan. He made an indelible mark on education, student success and the hearts and minds of multiple generations of students, faculty and other staff from 1965 until 1983, when it closed.
Under his direction, and with a strong staff of teachers and administrators, Center School became a social-educational experiment featured in national publications like Newsweek and the New York Times for its extraordinary atmosphere and remarkable outcomes.
After closing Center School, Rubin served as assistant superintendent of schools in New Canaan until his first retirement in 2003.
As founder and president of the Institute for General Systems Management, He brought his vision about elementary education to a national audience. He was a frequent speaker at The Aspen Institute. Rubin also authored the book Public Schools Should Learn to Ski: A Systems Based Approach to Education; it is still considered seminal reading at the Harvard School of Education.
In 1994 Rubin joined the administrative faculty at Sacred Heart University, where he was founder and director of Educational Leadership and Management. He retired in 2014.
He met Adrienne Jurow in 1959, when they both taught at the same school in Brooklyn. They married in 1961.
Rubin and his wife had homes in Ridgefield; Boynton Beach, Florida, and Truro, Massachusetts. He is survived by son Jason (Louise) and daughter Tory Miller (Robert), plus grandchildren Damon, Madison, Olivia, Alexandria and Trevor, and nephew Seth.
Dr. Stephen Rubin
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I try to run “Westport … Naturally” photos within a couple of days after receiving them. Timing is everything.
It’s especially important with this spring-is-here! photo from Hillspoint Road, by Suzanne Raboy. It illustrates beautifully why this is such a wondrous time of year here.
But — sadly — if I wait even a few days, it will be gone.
(Photo/Suzanne Raboy)
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And finally … On this day in 1727, Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion premiered at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
