Most people celebrate their 90th birthday with cake.
Tom Lowrie went skydiving.
That was 5 years ago.
He liked it so much, he did the same this year, for his 95th.
Last time, Tom was joined by fellow Rotarians. This year, he celebrated with Y’s Men of Westport & Weston friends Bob Mitchell and Peter Donovan.
(Tom is an active member of both groups. He is also Westport’s leading pickleball ambassador.)
The jump took place Saturday, at the CT Parachutists’ airstrip in Ellington.
“It was the first time for Peter and me. We loved it!” Bob reports.
“We went up in a small plane to 15,000 feet and jumped. Each of us was harnessed to an instructor, so we didn’t have to work the parachutes ourselves,
“It was a free fall for about 8,000 feet, then a gentle parachute glide around the countryside, with a soft landing in a field back at the airport.
“The weather was beautiful. The personnel at the facility were wonderful. It was the adventure of a lifetime.”
It sounds fantastic. I just have one question:
Tom, what are you planning for your 100th?
From left: Peter Donovan, Tom Lowrie, Bob Mitchell.
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Today’s lead “06880” story features Westport’s Compo Beach lifeguards.
Here’s an update:
Yesterday morning, bright and early at 8 a.m., the Parks & Recreation Department sponsored their annual Compo and Longshore Lifeguard Olympics.
Waterfront foreman of waterfront operations Michael Giunta and director Danilo Sierra-Giraldo organized the event.
It’s great for team-building, enhancing skills — and, as seen in the photo below, everyone had fun.
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Vinny Penna — the longtime Westport police officer and deputy chief whose death in 2021, at 51 from a heart attack, stunned the town — was honored yesterday.
A statue in his honor was dedicated at Assumption Church. Members of the Penna family were joined by law enforcement members from across the Northeast, as well as Westport Police officials, the Westport Police Athletic League, and other residents whose lives he touched.
Funds came from the PAL, Assumption Church, and Vinny’s many friends.
Vinny Penna statue at Assumption Church. (Photo and hat tip/ Andrew Colabella)
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The Levitt Pavilion has added a new ticketed event.
Billy Prine & the Prine Time Band play “Songs of John Prine” on Saturday, September 30. Scarlett Egan is the opening act.
Meanwhile, this week is filled with free shows. They include:
- Tuesday, 7 p.m.: Sona Jobarteh, Africa’s first female griot kora virtuoso.
- Wednesday, 7 p.m.: Divinity Roxx (Children’s Series)
- Thursday, 7 p.m.: Theo Kandel, artist/songwriter/producer, with Michael Cantor (Westporter; rising senior at Berklee College of Music, and his band)
- Friday, 7:30 p.m.: Julie Williams, “CMT Next Women of Country Class of 2023.”
Click here for tickets, and more nformation.
Sona Jobarteh, Tuesday’s Levitt headliner.
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Westport’s 12U Little League team continues its winning ways. They captured the sectional championship, beating Wilton 5-0.
Next up: the state championship, beginning Wednesday (6 p.m. vs Shelton, at Unity Park, Trumbull).
Westport has not won the 12U state title since 2013. That year, they went all the way to the Little League World Series final in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
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The subject line of Elle= Bowen’s email said “I ❤️ Westport.”
And what’s not to ❤️ , with a photo like this?
(Photo/Elle Bowen)
She spotted it just past Cockenoe Island.
“What a wonderful sentiment, on a gorgeous summer day,” Ellen says. “Does anyone know who owns this boat?”
If you’ve got any info about the “love boat,” click Comments below.
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The Phillips 66 gas station on Post Road East — between the Connecticut Humane Society and Fire Department headquarters — has reverted back to Exxon.
I’m no petroleum engineer but I bet — despite the bunting — that the gas you get there now is exactly the same as before.
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It’s hard to capture lightning (with a camera).
And you shouldn’t do it standing beneath a tree.
Nancy Lewis was at Compo Beach Friday night — presumably somewhere safe — when she shot this, for our “Westport … Naturally” feature:
(Photo/Nancy Lewis)
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And finally … in honor of that boat Elle Bowen spotted off Cockenoe (story above):
(“06880” ❤️s contributions from readers. Please click here. Thank you!”)
