Tag Archives: Walgreens

Roundup: Cyndi Lauper, Aspetuck Land Trust, Longshore Ladies …

Posted on October 1, 2022 | 3 comments

Last night, Cyndi Lauper joined a long list — Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson and Chuck Berry, to name just 3 — who played a Levitt Pavilion Fundraiser.

Bantering with the audience and sounding in fine form, the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” girl wowed the sellout crowd.

The weather was fine. The set list was great. And — thanks to all those ticket buyers — Westport’s favorite outdoor entertainment venue can begin planning another summer of over 50 free events for 2023.

Cyndi Lauper, in action. (Photo/Dinkin Fotografix)

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This is the week to pick up 6,000 pre-ordered native plants, through Aspetuck Land Trust’s semi-annual sale.

Funds support their Green Corridor. It links green spaces within developed residential and urban areas to the protected natural areas ALT preserves, maintains, and manages as public spaces.

The Land Trust has added 34,000 native plans to the region, in just the past 3 years. 1,400 Fairfield County residents have contributed more than $100,000, helping improve the region’s biodiversity.

To learn more about Aspetuck Land Trust, click here.

Haskins Preserve is one of Aspetuck Land Trust’s many such areas. (Photo/Wendy Cusick)

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The Longshore Ladies 9-Holers’ recent Charity Golf Event lived up to its name.

The Westport Woman’s Club Food Closet received over $1,125, and 4 grocery carts of food donations. The funds will help provide Stop & Shop gift cards.

Seems like there were plenty of winners at that golf outing,

Food donations, courtesy of Longshore Ladies’ 9-Holers.

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“06880” covers Westport, past and present.

On Thursday, I spoke on exactly that subject to the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston.

My message was, “The bad news is: Westport has changed. The good news is: Westport has changed.”

It was a great audience — as the Y’s Men are for all guest speakers. They asked great questions. They laughed at all the right times.

And the donuts and coffee were fantastic.

Yours truly, at the Y’s Men meeting. ({Photo/Ted Horowitz)

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Hurricane Ian has claimed another victim.

Well, at least the weather has.

The Westport Book Shop event with Lauren Tarshis — originally scheduled for this afternoon (Saturday, October 1) on Jesup Green — has been rescheduled to November 5 (3:30 p.m., Westport Library Trefz Forum).

For more information, click here.

Westport Book Shop.

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Work continues on Westport Hardware’s new location.

The popular store is moving a few storefronts west of its current site, in the shopping plaza opposite Fresh Market.

They’ll open “soon,” they promise.

(Photo/Andrew Colabella)

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Speaking of shopping: Hurry on down to Walgreens.

Altoids are selling now at a much lower price than before!

(Photo/Phil Rubin)

Today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature is a serene scene, off Compo’s South Beach:

(Photo/Laurie Sorensen)

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And finally … today is October 1. Or, as it’s better known in Westport: The day dogs can return to Compo Beach.’

Enjoy th next 6 months. April 1 will be here before you know it.

 (After playing with your dogs, please consider a contribution to “06880”! Click here to help.)

3 Comments

Posted in Entertainment, Environment, Local business, Sports, Totally random

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Unsung Heroes #186

Posted on April 14, 2021 | 2 comments

“06880” has already saluted the COVID vaccinators as Unsung Heroes.

But a recent email got my attention. Susan Maya writes:

The hard working pharmacists at Walgreens are unsung heroes.

Rose Stillo and the pharmacists at Walgreens are busy vaccinating Westport, while still filling our prescriptions and answering our questions.

Staples High School Key Club members, wanted to say “thanks.” They put together goodie bags to thank them for all they have done over the past year.

Staples Key Club at Walgreens.

Which got me thinking. Why not give a shout-out to all the vaccinators again? And everyone else who has made it happen: the Westport Weston Health District, officials who have turned places like Walgreens, CVS, hospitals, college campuses — and the Staples High School fieldhouse (for educators) — into vaccination sites.

But let’s also thank the people like the Staples Key Club, who go out of their way to make people smile in these still-too-difficult days.

Unsung Heroes is not a finite category. There are more than enough people doing more than enough good things these days. So if you’ve given a vaccine, helped someone get one — in a group or individually — or simply made someone at a vaccine site smile: You are our Unsung Hero!

(Do you know an Unsung Hero? Email dwoog@optonline.net)

2 Comments

Posted in Local business, Staples HS, Teenagers, Unsung Heroes

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Stolen Car, Attempted Robbery Shake Westport

Posted on February 16, 2021 | 15 comments

Two crimes in less than 14 hours have jarred Westporters.

At approximately 8:05 a.m. yesterday (Monday), Westport Police received a report of a vehicle stolen from the Post Road East Exxon gas station, near Maple Avenue South. The operator of the 2019 Honda Pilot was paying for gas inside the when his car was stolen from the pump.

Post Road Exxon: Scene of the car theft.

A short time later, Westport Police located the stolen vehicle near Turkey Hill Road and Post Road East. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle but disengaged due to the suspect’s reckless driving and high speeds.

Minutes later, at approximately 8:12 a.m., a Fairfield Police detective came upon a motor vehicle crash involving the stolen vehicle at the intersection of Post Road and Jelliff Lane in that town.

The gray Honda Pilot rolled over and came to a stop. The driver, later identified as a juvenile male from Bridgeport, was ejected from the vehicle and suffered serious injuries. Fairfield Police and fire personnel provided emergency medical care at the scene. He was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center, where he died.

The Fairfield Police Crash Investigation Unit is conducting an investigation and reconstruction of the crash, while the Westport Police Department continues to investigate the stolen vehicle incident. Initial data indicates the suspect vehicle was traveling 99 miles per hour 5 seconds before the crash occurred.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has additional information should call Westport Police: 203-341-6000.

The day before — approximately 6:30 p.m. Sunday — Westport officers responded to Walgreens, on a report of an attempted robbery.

Walgreens: Scene of an attempted robbery.

The victim had finished purchasing some items. As she was about to enter her vehicle a Toyota Rav 4, which had been reported stolen from the city of Norwalk earlier that day, backed into the parking space next to her car.

Two males exited the Toyota, approached the victim, and threatened to harm her if she did not turn over her keys and other personal property.

When the victim did not comply, the men rifled through her pockets. A third man came out of Walgreens, and got in the car.

Unable to locate her keys or any other items of value, the suspects fled toward I-95. The victim was uninjured.

15 Comments

Posted in Local business, Police

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Bag It!

Posted on August 11, 2019 | 19 comments

Westporters may not have noticed, because over a decade ago we were the first town east of the Mississippi River to ban plastic bags.

But a state law that went into effect August 1 mandates a charge of 10 cents for every single-use plastic bag.

In 2021, they’ll be outlawed completely.

There is no state-mandated charge for paper bags — which, by some estimates, cost up to 10 times more than plastic bags. Paper bags have their own environmental impacts too.

So although we haven’t noticed the plastic bag charge here, we’re seeing its ripple effects.

Many stores — including CVS and Fresh Market — have switched to paper bags without handles. They’re inconvenient, and perhaps a subliminal way to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags.

An “06880” reader reports that Walgreens is charging 10 cents for each paper bag.

Meanwhile — reading between the lines of this sign — it looks like Stop & Shop will start charging for paper bags next month.

19 Comments

Posted in Environment, Local business, Politics

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One Less Place To Buy Drugs

Posted on April 21, 2015 | 14 comments

It’s official: Walgreens is closing its longtime HomeGoods shopping center location (opposite Shake Shack). A source says that employees have been told they will be retained, but they have not been told where.

Walgreens has a 2nd Westport location, just a couple of miles away across from the Sherwood Diner.

The company —  the largest drug retailing chain in the US, with over 8,000 stores — recently abandoned plans to build a new facility just over the Southport line. Neighbors had filed a legal challenge with Fairfield’s Plan and Zoning Commission.

Before it was Walgreens, the HomeGoods plaza site was occupied by MediMart.

Meanwhile, the most important question is: Why is Walgreens’ logo red?

Walgreens logo

14 Comments

Posted in Local business

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Oh, Doctor!

Posted on March 29, 2014 | 13 comments

An alert “06880” reader writes (and swears every line is true):

So there I was, 4th in line at the Walgreens on the Southport line. One clerk worked feverishly to account for more than 30 items in a cart. Our line watched in amazement as the customer — a doctor in scrubs — pulled coupons from her handbag. She was like a magician drawing handkerchiefs out of a hat.

The poor clerk struggled to match the coupons to the products. Many were for wrong-size items. Back to the bag the doctor went, to find the right coupons.

After what seemed like 10 minutes, the 2 agreed on a total. The doctor abruptly turned and walked to the ATM, where she screamed, “How much is that again?” Our long line was stunned, but no one uttered a peep.

After paying, the doctor went to her car. I could not contain myself. I asked my new friends to hold my place in line. I had to see what she was driving.

It was a Mercedes S550.

Parked in the fire lane, right in front of the door.

This is not the doctor at Walgreens.

This is not the doctor at Walgreens.

13 Comments

Posted in Local business, Transportation, Westport life

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Grateful For Walgreens

Posted on November 2, 2012 | 9 comments

Nearly everyone here has a great, Westport business-going-the-extra-mile story to tell from the past few days.

Here’s mine.

Every month, my mother renews a hard-to-fill prescription. She’s come to rely on the Walgreens near the Southport line as her go-to pharmacy. No other drugstore seems to stock it.

Yesterday, I went there for a refill. The store was dark, but I pulled on the front door.

It opened.

A flashlight-wielding employee led me to the back. The pharmacist was busy — by cellphone light — calling customers to let them know their prescriptions could be picked up.

“Our phones are out, so they probably think we’re closed,” she said.

She stopped what she was doing, to help me.

She made calls to a number of other Walgreenses, in Connecticut and Westchester. She finally found one — in Greenwich — with the medication on hand.

Then she asked if I needed directions.

It was pitch black. I told her I’d find it myself.

I thanked her profusely.

As the first employee walked me to the front, the pharmacist was already dialing her next customer.

In the dark.

9 Comments

Posted in Local business, Weather

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The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Posted on January 6, 2012 | 69 comments

Most Sunday mornings, I buy my Times at CVS. That early, the store is empty. There are no lines. And the staff — especially always-smiling Phil, just coming off a long shift — is friendly and helpful.

The rest of the time, the place is nuts.

But let an alert “06880” reader — a woman who wishes to remain anonymous — tell her tale.

I need to vent about the CVS pharmacy lines! Over the 3 years I’ve lived here, it’s gone from driving back from the doctor’s office, popping into CVS and picking up the prescription in less than 15 minutes, to now almost a 3-hour wait tonight.

I have a sick 1 1/2-year-old with an ear infection and needed to get a dose before bedtime. I was at the doctor’s at 2:15. They called in the prescription while I was there. So I went directly to CVS. I figured I’d have to wait a bit, but wanted it ASAP.

I waited in a ridiculously long line, only to be told it would be a 2-hour wait. I returned 2 hours later. They said my prescription hadn’t even been called in, which was untrue.

So they checked and discovered it had been. They told me 5 minutes, which turned into another half hour. By 5:30 I was rushing to get out of there and get the medicine in my son so we could all get some sleep tonight.

I was not the only sad story tonight.  There were many people almost traumatized by their individual situations and long lines. I asked the guy handing drop-offs what was going on. He said that since Walgreens stopped accepting express Rx (?), CVS now handles all of those customers. When I asked how they planned to address this increase in drug traffic, he shrugged his shoulders.

I think I’m about to take my business elsewhere. After spending an entire afternoon trying to obtain this prescription, it would have been more efficient if I had just driven to Fairfield.

Any thoughts on CVS? Walgreens? Achorns? Where do you get your prescriptions filled — and what’s your experience with customer service?

Meanwhile, don’t get me started on that CVS parking lot. Why do you think I only go there on Sunday mornings?

69 Comments

Posted in Local business

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