Tag Archives: Ukraine

Roundup: Y & Ukraine, Descendants, myTeamTriumph …

Posted on April 7, 2022 | 4 comments

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The world knows Lindsay Czarniak as a Fox Sports anchor and reporter.

Westporters know her as our neighbor.

Westport Weston Family YMCA members know her as a fellow cardio fitness class member. Instructor Ashlee Grieb is a longtime friend.

The other day, Lindsay posted a story to her 180,000 Instagram followers. She described how Ashlee introduced a song requested by Jane Laska, a fellow group member.

Jane came to the US from Ukraine years ago, as an exchange student. She fell in love with a man from Alabama, and married him. They live here now, where she’s raising a family.

But her own family, and many friends, remain in Ukraine.

Ashlee then played a song — “Good Evening, We Are From Ukraine” — as a way to support Jane. And she added her own choreography.

It was a special moment, for Ashlee and Jane.

It was special enough for Lindsay to post about it. It already has over 10,000 likes. Click below to see for yourself. (Hat tip: Julie Maciejewski)

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Didn’t get a chance to see “Descendants: The Musical”?

Staples Players’ lively musical has 3 more dates: tomorrow (Friday, April 8, 7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (April 9, 3 and 7:30 p.m.). Click here for tickets, and more information.

Not sure about it? Need a little push?

Disney executives came to Westport during rehearsals. Staples is piloting the show, and they wanted to see it in action.

They brought a camera crew. The teenage actors and tech crew were eager to talk about the show’s message — and its energy.

The result is a sizzling sizzle reel. Click below to see:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/694692925?h=30edc1bad4

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Speaking of live theater, here’s a message to the woman sitting next to me at last night’s powerful Westport Country Playhouse performance of “Next to Normal”:

Unless you’re waiting for a kidney, there’s no need to check email messages on your phone in the middle of a show.

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It was Staples Day yesterday, when Middlebury and Union faced each other in a college baseball game.

Both starting pitchers were former Wrecker teammates: Justin Lessing for the Panthers, Harry Azadian for the Dutchmen. George Goldstein also pitched, for Middlebury.

George got the victory, 7-5. But the real winner was Staples baseball.

George Goldstein (Photo/David Goldstein)

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In a town filled with volunteer opportunities, myTeamTriumph stands out.

The program pairs children, teens and adults with disabilities (“captains”) with volunteers (“angels”) who help them participate in triathlons and road races. In those events, everyone truly is a winner.

The next big event is the Westport Young Woman’s League’s Minute Man 10K and 5K Runs, and 5K Walk, on April 30.

MyTeamTriumph always looks for more captains (special needs athletes). They’re also short of angels (volunteer runners). This is their first time participating in the Minute Man.

They’re excited to provide an opportunity for people with special needs (and their families) to have increased visibility, and be involved in a great community event.

There is no cost. Angels can be any ability of runner or jogger.

Captains and angels can click here to sign up. MyTeamTriumph will take care of race registration.

Questions? Email kziebell@myteamtriumph-ct.org. For more information on myTeamTriumph, click here.

Sami Leskin, racing with myTeamTriumph in the 2018 Westport Triathlon.

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The Westport Library’s Spring Book Sale returns soon.

From April 29 through May 2, thousands of “gently used” books, in over 40 categories of fiction and non-fiction, for children and adults, plus antiquarian volumes, CDs and DVDs, will be on sale (and cheap!) in the Library.

Of special interest this year:

  • Vintage matchbooks from around the country
  • Antique photographs and daguerreotypes
  • Psychology texts for the practitioner
  • Large selection of books in German and Czechoslovakian
  • Many “Great Courses” DVDs.

Vinyl records (and of course more books) are available across Jesup Green, at the Westport Book Shop.

Admission is free, though there’s a special “early bird” admission on Friday, April 29 (8 to 9 a.m.; click here for tickets, beginning April 18 at 9 a.m.).

For exact times and more information, click here. To volunteer to help, click here or email volunteers@westportbooksales.org.

Can’t make it? Shop 24/7 on the book sale’s online store, or at their new eBay store.

Westport LIbrary Book Sale.

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In June, 22 Staples High School students will graduate with high honors. The distinction goes to those with a GPA in the top 4% of the graduating class.

Principal Stafford Thomas says, “This class is extremely talented. The most
astonishing aspect is that these students were involved in a number of
extracurricular activities and various aspects of school life which took a great deal of time, focus and concentration outside of the classroom as well.

We were lucky to have had them for 4 years, and we will no doubt hear about their next great achievements in the years to come.”

High honor graduates include: Emma Alcyone, Natalie Bandura, Gregory Beal, Zachary Bishop, Michael Brody, Oliver Clachko, Sabrina Didner, Erin Durkin, Matthew Genser, Alexandra Maskoff, Aidan Mermagen, Gabriella Messenger,
Tessa Moore, Luke Morelli, Chloe Nevas, Emma Nordberg, Talia Perkins, Finn Popken, Ishan Prasad, Jessica Qi, Allison Schwartz and Julian Weng.

Staples High School principal Stafford Thomas (back row, far left) and assistant principal Chase Dunlap (back row, far right), with Class of 2022 high honors graduates.

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Though dogs are banned for the spring and summer at Compo Beach, they’re still welcome at Sherwood Island — but only through April 14.

Today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo shows a bit of canine joy at Connecticut’s first state park.

(Photo/Cathy Malkin)

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And finally … people of a certain age knew him as a smooth-voiced, good-looking pop singer in the pre-Beatles days. He had 19 Billboard Top 40 hits,.

People of a younger age knew his name only because it was a fictional high school in “Grease.”

He was Bobby Rydell. He died Tuesday near Philadelphia, his longtime home, from complications of pneumonia. He was 79. Click here for a full obituary.

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Posted in Arts, Library, Politics, Sports, Staples HS, Teenagers, YMCA

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Pic Of The Day #1815

Posted on April 6, 2022 | 2 comments

Hospitals and theaters are meant be safe spaces for everyone, of all ages, races and backgrounds.

In mid-March, a theater where hundreds of Ukrainians were taking shelter was bombed — even though the word “children” was written in large Russian letters outside the building.

Today — showing solidarity with Ukraine — Westport Country Playhouse staff members chalked the Russian word for “children” in the parking lot adjacent to the theater. 

(Photo/Elizabeth Fort)

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Brian Mayer: Report From Poland

Posted on April 4, 2022 | 2 comments

Brian Mayer

Kings Highway Elementary, Bedford Middle and 2006 Hopkins School graduate Brian Mayer is a New York tech executive.

But these days, he’s in Przemsyl, Poland. He’s helping deliver supplies for Ukrainian refugees, and the army.

So far, he’s raised more than $10,000 from friends and family.

Here is Brian’s first report, sent to all who donated:

Writing to you from border with Ukraine. Thank you all for your donations so far.

Fundraising is proving a lot easier than sourcing the supplies needed. We gave out 130+ power banks that you all donated in about 3 minutes flat, and those were the only ones we could even find to buy today.

Tourniquets, power banks, thermal underwear (it’s snowing right now in Poland), and most housing in Poland and elsewhere in the EU are all in short supply. I hear 30,000 people are still coming across the border every day.

A screenshot from Brian Mayer.

Thousands of Ukrainians are going back, too. We hear stories of landlords in Odessa demanding rent, bosses calling people back to work, etc. It’s a fluid situation, with lots of needs on both sides of the border.

There is almost no official supply effort everything is volunteer driven. The train station staff doesn’t speak Russian or Ukrainian, and don’t seem to know anything about where trains are going or how to find buses. This is a tiny border town and is completely overrun. Very few police keeping order. People help friends, and friends coordinate efforts from the inside.

It’s overwhelming being here. It feels like a war zone in itself. We’re waiting now for the next train to come from Lviv — it’s already 7 hours late. When it arrives, an army of volunteers from all over Europe is here to help people find housing, food and medical care. There’s a great team from the UK I’m connected with, a team of Russian language masters students who are all here. One of them is putting me up tonight in their hotel, so I will drive back to Warsaw tomorrow.

My companion today, Jonathan, is a Montreal-based Polish-Canadian documentarian who spent 10 years telling the story of Polish refugees from WWII and where they settled (click here for his doc). He’s making a doc about the refugee crisis here and with Syrians on the border with Belarus, where his family is originally from. It feels like both of us are chasing our family history.

On the phone, a former work colleague of mine in Lviv tells me his wife and children are safe in Poland. He wasn’t worried about their safety in Lviv, but he didn’t want his kids to see what was happening.

“This isn’t just about Ukraine” he tells me, “this is the whole world. If you only knew…it’s so senseless.” He says the biggest needs right now are “dozens” of HD tablets of a certain model needed to work their artillery equipment, and vacuum medical systems for bullet wounds.

I hear that people in Kharkiv are running a civilian brigade. They need humanitarian aid and medicine, especially insulin and injectable pain killers. Refugees crossing the border need power banks to charge their phones to contact their families and find lodging.

Everyone needs something different. We’re trying to source thermal imaging drones right now for the defense effort. All the ones in Europe are sold out.

Another report from Brian.

We’re meeting families who traveled for 3 weeks from the east of the country under heaviest bombardment. This is the second wave of refugees, meaning the ones who survived hell and managed to get out. The first wave got out fast and early; they had money and connections in Europe.

The people in this wave all have stories to tell. A woman, her mother and daughter came from Cherniv where the mother’s cancer clinic was bombed. They had to get to Germany to see a doctor. We put them on a private train bound for Prague, donated by a Czech businessman. It runs supply trips to Lviv, then brings refugees back.

Another grandmother-mother-daughter set (there are lots of these; all the sons of Ukraine are at war) is a family of professors. The grandmother taught for 60 years before Covid. The mother is also a professor, and speaks great English. I buy her coffee. We talk as she waiting for hours to buy train tickets. She made her daughter take school books instead of her toys.

One of the few young men I met was about 15, here from outside Chernobyl with his mother. He tells stories of bombings every night, except the few days when Biden was in Poland. His Russian “friends” are in denial that there’s a war on; they call him a liar. This apparently isn’t uncommon.

He and his mom are on their way to France, to stay with a family that volunteered to host them. Everyone has their own story. I listened to a lot of crying tonight. It’s emotionally draining. I have to keep a calm composure.

I’m fielding donations and coordinating supply drop-offs, in between running errands for refugees who need help. Jonathan and I carried a woman’s bags a couple of blocks to get her to her friend’s aunt.

Hundreds of refugees don’t have immediate next destinations, and sleep in the train station. People need transport to the makeshift refugee center set up at the Tesco in town. They recently started offering outdoor showers to refugees. It’s below 40 degrees outside. The government has done basically nothing.

A scene from the train station.

The donations help tremendously. The most serious supply needs will need to be sourced from increasingly difficult (and expensive) options. Prices keep going up. My efforts for the next week will focus on securing and transporting supplies to refugees on the ground, and getting supplies to our partners in Ukraine who need them. I

It’s 1:30 a.m. now. All of the trains have left for the night. They’ll start again at 4 a.m. I got some late-night shawarma for dinner and am crashing in a volunteer’s hotel room. I made many new friends today. Will send more updates tomorrow from Warsaw.

(Direct donations can be sent via PayPal and Venmo to: @bmmayer. Brian will give a full accounting of funds when he returns. You can follow him on Instagram: @not.my.brand)

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Pic Of The Day #1812

Posted on April 3, 2022 | 7 comments

Westporters say: US stands with Ukraine (Photo/Arlene Yolles)

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Roundup: Easter Egg Hunt & Tree, Beach Dunes & Dogs, Tyler Hicks …

Posted on April 3, 2022 | 3 comments

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The Great Lawn at Saugatuck Church hosts lots of events. Social justice rallies, blessings of animals, plant sales — you name it, it’s there at one of Westport’s most visible and handsome sites.

Yesterday, it was an Easter egg hunt. Hundreds of youngsters raced around, finding thousands of eggs.

The afternoon was organized by WestportMoms — the multi-platform social media group, not a generic bunch of mothers —  with volunteer support by Boy Scout Troop 36.

Great hunt, on the great lawn. (Photo/Craig Patton)

Want Mark Mathias’ video version? Click below:

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Speaking of Easter:

For 15 years, 1971 Staples High School graduate Jalna Jaeger has decorated a tree on her property (3 East Avenue in Norwalk, not far from Stew Leonard’s).

It’s an homage to Ostereierbaum — the German tradition of filling trees and bushes with Easter eggs. It’s always colorful and fun.

This year, it sends a message.

Most of Jalna’s eggs are blue and yellow: the colors of Ukraine.

Many Americans are doing what they can to show support for that embattled nation. But Jalna’s Ostereierbaum tree may be the only one like it anywhere.

Jalna Jaeger’s Easter egg tree. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)

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As Russian troops retreat in parts of Ukraine, the horrors of their occupation are only now beginning to be known.

One of the world’s first looks at what the invaders did — and left behind — comes today in the New York Times. A story headlined “‘This is True Barbarity’: Life and Death Under Russian Occupation” describes the past month in Trostyanets, a strategically located town that soldiers finally fled a few days ago.

“A monthlong Russian occupation reduced much of the town to rubble, a decimated landscape of mangled tank hulks, snapped trees and rattled but resilient survivors,” the Times says.

The piece is accompanied by more than a dozen photos from Tyler Hicks. The Pulitzer Prize winner graduated from Staples High School in 1988. Click here for the full story and photos.

Svitlana Grebinyk’s home was left in disarray after being inhabited by Russian soldiers during the occupation of Trostyanets. (Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)

Entire blocks of homes were destroyed in Trostyanets, after Russian occupation. (Photo/Tyler Hicks for the New York Times)

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There was plenty of action yesterday at Sherwood Island State Park.

Michele Sorensen — Friends of Sherwood Island’s next president — organized volunteers to plant beach grass. It helps revitalize the dunes, and prevents erosion.

They’ll return over the next few weeks. But they need others. Click here to help, via Signup Genius.

Restoring dunes at Sherwood Island. (Photo/Ilene Mirkine)

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How’s this for a warm-and-fuzzy, pooch-friendly photo?

(Photo/Roseann Spengler)

Unfortunately it was taken at Compo yesterday — the day after dogs were prohibited from all town beaches.

Hopefully the woman was unaware of the rule, not flouting it.

She and her buddy can return October 1.

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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” image features a strong, handsome eagle. They’re hard to photograph well. But Steve Halstead nailed it.

(Photo/Steve Halstead)

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And finally … on this date in 1865, Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

Just over 100 years later the Band included that pivotal moment, in Virgil Caine’s lament — though he puts the date as “May the 10th”:

 

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Posted in Beach, Children, Environment, Media, Politics, religion

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Roundup: Julia Marino, Beach Digs, Beach Dogs …

Posted on April 1, 2022 | 5 comments

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A bigger crowd will honor Olympic medalist Julia Marino tomorrow than was on hand when she actually won it.

Spectators were not allowed on the Chinese mountain where the Westport native snagged her snowboard slopestyle silver. Her parents, sister and friends watched from half a world away, on Vivid-Tek’s big screen.

They — and many more fans — will fill the Trefz Forum tomorrow, for the town’s celebration.

But if you haven’t already registered, don’t try getting in. All the (free) tickets were gone in a few hours.

You can still see it, though. The 7 p.m. event will be livestreamed. Click here for the link.

Hey — if watching Julia win an Olympic medal on a screen was good enough for her family, doing the same for her celebration should be okay for you.

Julia Marino, on the Olympic podium. Tomorrow she’ll stand on the Library stage.

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Fashionably Westport — the Downtown Association’s great benefit for Project Return, the Homes with Hope program for homeless women — kicked off last night with a runway event at the Westport Library.

Fashionably Westport continues today (Friday, April 1) with activities and promotions at downtown and Playhouse Square retailers and salons

Participating merchants include Middlemarch, WEST, Noya Jewelry Design, FRED, Marine Layer, Splash of Pink, Southern Tide, Cotelac, Barbour, Stephen Kempson London, Express Edit, Winged Monkey, Fleet Feet, The Plumed Serpent, Bobbles & Lace, Brochu Walker, 7 For All Mankind, Splendid, Scout and Molly’s, Great Stuff, Pure Salon and Artistex.

Looking fashionable last night at the Library (from left): Homes with Hope CEO Helen McAlinden, RTM member Sal Liccione, frequent food drive volunteer Anna Rycenga, Police Chief Foti Koskinas, 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Westport Downtown Association president Maxx Crowley.

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Some of Westport’s most historic, unique — and breathtaking — homes are for sale.

And they’re all next to each other, on one of Westport’s most historic and unique sites: Compo Mill Cove.

#44 — a 1917 bungalow — is the gray house, most visible (and most painted and photographed) from Old Mill Beach. The oldest one on the Cove, with original framing and fireplace intact, it’s accessible via a footpath and teak boardwalk, just beyond 2 wooden bridges.

Incredibly, it never floods. Even Superstorm Sandy did no damage. The price was recently reduced to $3.295 million.

Fun at 44 Compo Mill Cove.

Also on the market: #42 (the cottage rebuilt in 2006 by Michael Greenberg), and #48 Compo Mill Cove. Like #44, they’re owned by Robin Tauck, and feature natural plantings. Together, they’re on hundreds of feet of private beachfront.

42 Compo Mill Cove, aka “The Pirate Shack.”

There’s an open house for all 3 Sunday (April 3, 1 to 3 p.m.). Park in the Old Mill lot, and walk over the bridges.

PS: Though not owned by Robin, #46 is far sale too. That means all of the Cove point is for sale.

Buy one of these spectacular homes.

Or all 4!

44 Compo Mill Cove is the gray house on the right side of this photo. Other homes nearby are also for sale.

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April 1 is noteworthy for 2 things:

  • April Fool’s Day
  • The start of the 6-month dog ban at Westport beaches.

A couple of alert readers/avid dog owners captured the final day of Fido and Fifi’s freedom yesterday, at Compo.

Frank, Oggy, Utah and Winston (Photo/Nicola Sharian)

(Photo/Collette Winn)

See you October 1!

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Pause + Purpose — the new mindfulness studio, across from the Library on Jesup Road — calls its sessions “Pause for a Cause.”

From tomorrow through Monday (April 2-4), that cause is Ukraine. All proceeds from meditations hosted by the studio staff will go to World Central Kitchen, to help feed the Ukrainian people.

Click here to book a session. Click here to learn more about Pause + Purpose.

Inside Pause + Purpose.

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An “06880” reader sends this cautionary tale:

The other day, an older woman was shopping at HomeGoods, near Southport. She returned to her car — close to the store — and put her bags in the car.

A “normal-looking person” said, “Hey, be careful backing out. Your rear tire is flat.”

She got out to look. When she turned back around, he had already grabbed her purse and vanished.

Be careful out there.

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Some “Westport … Naturally” photos can sit for a while before I use them.

Not this one.

Soon, the branches will fill out. In a couple of weeks — fingers crossed — this image of Owenoke Park, looking toward Compo Beach, will seem very dated.

Fingers crossed, anyway.

(Photo/Jonathan Prager)

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And finally … in honor of today:

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Posted in Beach, Library, Local business, Police, Politics, Real estate, Sports

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Pic Of The Day #1808

Posted on March 30, 2022 | 2 comments

Gray’s Creek, sporting Ukraine’s colors (Photo/Claudia Servidio Sherwood)

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Unsung Heroes #233

Posted on March 30, 2022 | 1 comment

The drumbeat of news from Ukraine is relentless. It’s tragic, horrific, frightening  — there really are not enough words to convey how Westporters feel.

Sitting safely thousands of miles away, we wonder what we can do.

Some, like Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn and Buck Rosenfeld, travel overseas to help.

Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, with supplies.

Others, like Stephan Taranko and Mark Yurkiw — both with Ukrainian heritage — use their words and art to keep the plight of their countrymen in the forefront of our minds.

Mark Yurkiw, with his Ukraine installation on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge.

Still others, like Darcy Hicks and Bean Corcoran, organize rallies.

Miggs Burroughs at last weekend’s rally. The QR code provides quick access to donations through Save the Children Ukraine. (Photos/Rowene Weems Photography)

And many, many more — our neighbors and friends — respond to requests by organizations like Wakeman Town Farm to collect clothes, toys, medical supplies and money.

Those who help are not doing it to be heroic. The true heroes are on the ground, 4,500 miles from Westport.

But many people here do what they can. If you’ve done anything over the past month — organized or attended a rally, donated needed goods or funds, posted information on social media, flew a flag, whatever — thank you.

It’s a small gesture, but it speaks volumes. Mark Mathias has changed his outdoor lights, to show support for the embattled nation of Ukraine. (Photo/Mark Mathias)

And keep doing it. It does make a difference.

(Photo/Susan Woog Wagner)

 

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“Stop War!” Westporters Rally On Bridge

Posted on March 26, 2022 | 3 comments

The turnout was smaller than earlier this month. But the support for Ukraine — and for peace — was just as fervent.

The woman holding the sign and flag below is Ukrainian. Her son is still there, but her grandchildren have escaped to Poland.

(Photo/Rowene Weems Photography)

Today’s rally on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge included a wide range of ages.

(Photo/Rowene Weems Photography)

Also on the bridge: 5 Ukrainian families. This was one:

(Photo/Bean Corcoran)

Many drivers honked in appreciation, or gave thumbs-up signs.

(Photo/Rowene Weems Photography)

Miggs Burroughs — whose ancestors are Ukrainian — was on the bridge too. His QR code for donations worked there. “06880” readers can scan it here.

(Photo/Rowene Weems Photography)

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Posted in Downtown, Politics

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Teaming Up For Genius Ukraine Help

Posted on March 25, 2022 | 1 comment

It was one of those small-world/Westport moments.

Years ago Jeff Manchester met Mehmet Sezgin, a potential banking partner, in Istanbul.

They discovered a connection: Jeff graduated from Staples High School in 1985, Five years earlier, Mehmet was a Turkish exchange student there.

Jeff Manchester

Jeff moved back to Westport several years ago. Mehmet is now in Miami. But they’re collaborating on a project with global implications. It’s a way for American credit card users to raise money to help Ukraine, through purchases at 20,000 retailers and restaurants — including several here in town. It aids Ukrainian merchants too.

Jeff has over 25 years experience in the “payments space,” as an executive vice president and the leader of card programs at GE Money. He’s now in charge of business development at myGini. The  company that helps banks and financial institutions provide loyalty programs and personalized promotions to customers.

When a consumer downloads the Worthy app on their phone, and enrolls their Mastercard or Visa credit or debit cards, whenever they dine or shop at a participating merchant, they get cash back — and cash will be sent to UNICEF for Ukrainian children too.

For example, one Westport merchant — Iganzio’s — offers 4% cash back: 2% to the purchaser, 2% to the charity.

Ignazio’s Pizza helps customers earn cash back — and help Ukrainian children.

Other Westport participants include

  • Capuli
  • Finalmente
  • Julian’s
  • Mexica
  • Pane e Bene
  • Romanacci
  • Rye Ridge Deli
  • Shake Shack
  • Via Sforza
  • Village Bagels
  • Vineyard Vines

In addition, for any Ukrainian-owned small business in the US that joins myGini’s network to offer cash back to American cardholders, myGini will waive set-up and marketing fees. myGini will also match that merchant’s total amount given as cash back to consumers, and donate it to UNICEF USA.

It’s a win-win-win: for consumers, merchants, and (especially) Ukrainian children.

Thanks to Jeff Manchester and fellow Staples alum Mehmet Sezgin, myGini is pure genius.

The myGini app.

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