Tag Archives: WEST boutique

Roundup: State Of The Town, Super Bowl Raffle, Harriet Tubman …

Posted on February 1, 2025 | 18 comments

A reminder: Westport’s annual “State of the Town” event is tomorrow.

On Sunday (February 2, 2 p.m., Westport Library), 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker and Board of Education chair Lee Goldstein will offer their insights.

The leaders will review town and school accomplishments during the past year, and preview some upcoming initiatives and challenges. A question-and-answer session will follow.

The annual event is sponsored by Westport Sunrise Rotary and the Westport Rotary Club.

Click here for the livestream.

1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker and Board of Education chair Lee Goldstein.

No matter who wins the Super Bowl next weekend, the Sunrise Rotary Club will be victorious.

The civic organization is selling raffle tickets for $50 apiece. Each ticket will be assigned a randomly selected pair of numbers — one for each team.

If 2 numbers correspond to the final score of the Super Bowl (or the end of any quarter), you win.

You don’t need to watch the Super Bowl, or even care about football to collect.

50% of all ticket sales go the raffle winners (up to $1,000). The other 50% goes to charities the Sunrise Rotarians support.

Tickets will be sold through Friday morning (February 7). Click here to purchase, and for more information.

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Speaking of sports:

In what has become an annual tradition, the Junior Knicks partnered with Westport PAL to send travel 8th grader boys and girls basketball players to Madison Square Garden for an incredible experience this week.

The young athletes attended shootaround from courtside, played on the famed court, then stayed to watch the Knicks demolish the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Junior Knicks are a great friend to the Westport travel program, running camps together and bringing former NBA olayers like Larry Johnson, John Starks and John Wallace in to speak to the players.

Brett Tessler — who grew up here, and has returned to live — is director of fan engagement and youth programs. He’s worked hard to integrate programming between the Junior Knicks and Westport travel basketball.

More special events are planned for the future.

Just another day at Madison Square Garden.

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Black History Month comes to the Westport Library on Thursday (February 6, 7 p.m.).

The topic is abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The presenters are special: local author Jean Marie Wiesen — and Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece, Rita Daniels.

They’ll discuss their new book, “Harriet Tubman: Military Scout and Tenacious Visionary.”

The talk will be moderated by TEAM Westport chair Harold Bailey, Jr. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Click here for more information.

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A special “Women Leading The Way To Wellness Galentine’s Kickoff Event fundraiser” is set for Tuesday (February 4, 6 to 9 p.m., WEST, 117 Post Road East).

Organizers say “Gather your best gal pals to sip, shop, and more.” Guests will enjoy bites, cocktails, and shopping discounts.  A portion of the proceeds will support American Cancer Society research.

For questions or more information, email jessica.taylor@cancer.org.

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There’s always a new way of looking at Westport. And our “Westport … Naturally” feature (naturally) shows a different one every day.

This is the view from Bermuda Lagoon:

(Photo/Doug Steinberg)

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And finally … on this day in 1896, “La Bohème” premiered at the Teatro Regio in (Turin. A young Arturo Toscanini conducted.

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Posted in Education, Library, Local business, Local politics, Sports

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Roundup: CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, WFD’s Santa Run, UNC’s Marisa Shorrock …

Posted on December 10, 2024 | 11 comments

Alison Camerota surprised her many fans Sunday — first on Instagram, then on the air — by announcing it was her last day with CNN.

After 10 years with the network, the Westport resident signed off with a smile.

Alisyn Camerota’s Instagram post.

She recalled interviewing “presidents and heroes and extraordinary people (in) peak career experiences that I had dreamed of since I was a teenager.”

She thanked her colleagues and her viewers, and encouraged them to follow her on Instagram (@alisyncamerota) for updates on what’s ahead.

In a social media post minutes later, she said: “I’m on to new horizons. I’ll just share this bit of wisdom. New horizons are great when you’re ready for them. There have been times in my life when I was not ready to leave a place that I loved and that was really sad and really hard. But I think am ready to leave this place that I’ve loved.”

Before joining CNN in 2014 — where she was a co-anchor on “New Day,” “CNN Newsroom,” “CNN Tonight” and, most recently, “CNN Newsroom” — Camerota worked at Fox News.

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The Westport Uniformed Firefighters Charitable Foundation “Santa Run” is one of Westport’s most cherished traditions.

(Spots are limited. IYKYK).

For a donation to the Firefighters Foundation, Santa arrives by fire truck to drop off a present at a (limited number of) children’s houses.

Kids, stop reading here! The gift is dropped off at the firehouse previously, by the parents.

This weekend, for the third year in a row, Staples High School’s Service League of Boys (SLOBs) joined the firefighters.

They helped the little ones spread joy, fend off the Grinch, and make the holidays special.

Pausing for a photo opp, at the annual Santa Run.

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Westport has another NCAA Division I national champion.

Marissa Shorrock is a goalkeeper on the University of North Carolina women’s soccer squad. The Tar Heels won their 23rd championship last night in Cary, North Carolina. They defeated Wake Forest University 1-0.

The 2020 Staples graduate was not in the nets (teammate Clare Gagne was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Defensive Player). But she’s got her championship ring.

At Staples, her 14 shutouts as a senior helped her team to a 19-1-2 season. She also played 4 years of varsity lacrosse and basketball, helping the hoopsters to the state semifinal.

Shorrock walked onto the Bowdoin College soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams, before seasons were canceled due to COVID. She transferred to Yale University, appearing in 22 games over 3 years at Yale after walking-on midseason in 2021. She started 20 matches. Shorrock helped the Bulldogs break the program’s consecutive shutout record, and tie the record for shutouts in a season in 2022.

After graduating with a degree in economics from Yale last spring, Shorrock transfered to UNC with one more year of eligibility. (Hat tip: Don Kubie)

 

Marisa Shorrock, with the national championship trophy, and her new cap. (Photo courtesy of David Shorrock)

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WEST boutique hosts a special “Sip & Shop” event this Thursday (December 12, 6 to 8 p.m., 117 Post Road East).

20% of all purchases, and 20% of the proceeds, go to Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County, the great arts non-profit for underserved youngsters.

One Hope Winery and The Granola Bar will be on hand too.

WEST boutique. (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)

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Yogi Bear stopped by the Westport Police Department/Westport PAL  toy drive this past weekend.

He donated to the great cause, and thanked the officers for all they do.

The toy drive continues this coming weekend. New, unopened and unwrapped toys for all ages and genders — along with cash to buy toys — will be collected at Athletic Shoe Factory (1560 Post Road East) Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

You can also drop off unwrapped toys at Police headquarters on Jesup Road (any time), or Awesome Toys & Gifts and The Toy Post, during business hours.

Yogi Bear and friends, at the Police Department’s toy drive collection spot: Athletic Shoe Factory. (Photo/Cathy Malkin)

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Birchwood County Club is usually about golf, tennis, swimming and dining.

This weekend, they added gingerbread house decorating to the list.

150 youngsters, along with parents and grandparents, gathered for the annual holiday brunch, and creative fun.

Gingerbread house decorators, hard at work. (Photo/John Schmidlin)

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The Y’s Women had 2 special guests yesterday.

1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker talked about issues on many residents’ minds. She reported that while Post Road traffic remains a big problem, many stop signs and sidewalks have been added all around town.

Parking is still a work in progress.

The 1st selectwoman also discussed Longshore improvements (more pickleball courts, an 18-hole golf clubhouse, a pool upgrade), and Long Lots Elementary School construction (expected to begin this spring, with completion in 2027).

After Tooker’s talk, Y’s Women enjoyed a holiday concert by Staples’ elite Orphenians a cappella group, in the acoustically wonderful Green’s Farms Church.

1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker (center), with Y’s Women president Vera DeStefano and vice president Catherin Albin.

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Congratulations to Staples’ December Students of the Month.

Seniors Olivia Berg and William Vanamee, junior Madeline Leventhal, sophomore Nathaniel Maurillo and freshmen Gabriella Juliano and Kai Massicott were nominated by their teachers.

They make Staples a welcoming place for peers and teachers, and are, principal Stafford Thomas says, “the type of kind, cheerful, hard-working, trustworthy students that keep the high school together.”

From left: Kai Massicott, Gabriella Juliano, Olivia Berg, Madeline Leventhal,  Nathaniel Maurillo, William Vanamee.

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Michael Mossman has done it all.

After apprenticing as a youngster with jazz legends Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and others, the trumpeter forged a brilliant career as a soloist, arranger, music director and educator.

This Thursday he brings his talents to Jazz at the Post (December 12, VFW Post 399; shows at 7:30 and 8:45 p.m.; dinner service from 7; $20 tickets, $15 for veterans and students).

Mossman willk be joined by pianist Jeb Patton, bassist Phil Bowler, drummer Ryan Sands and saxophonist Greg “The Jazz Rabbi” Wall. Click here for tickets.

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Today’s “Westport … Naturally” feature shows what Michele Sorensen says was left untouched after bulldozers renovated Riverside Park:

(Photo/Michele Sorensen)

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And finally … on this date in 1817, Mississippi became the 20th US state.

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Posted in Entertainment, Local business, Media, Police, Sports, Staples HS

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Eartha & Kitt: A Love Story In Black And White

Posted on April 26, 2021 | 3 comments

In 1957, Eartha Kitt starred in the Westport Country Playhouse production of “Mrs. Patterson.”

She was already famous. The actor/singer/dancer had debuted on Broadway a dozen years earlier. Her 1953 recordings of “C’est Si Bon” and “Santa Baby” both hit the Top 10. Orson Welles had called her the “most exciting woman in the world.”

She had homes in Beverly Hills and London. But in 2001 — after her daughter Kitt Shapiro had married Allan Rothschild, and moved into his Westport house — Eartha Kitt bought a home in Weston.

She loved it: the people, the river, the proximity to New York (and her grandchildren).

Kitt and her kids thrived here. She loves living in “a unique area, with eclectic people.” Three years ago she opened WEST, a very cool Post Road East boutique.

Eartha Kitt died in 2008. Kitt had worked closely with her, on business matters.

Now Kitt has written a book. Eartha & Kitt: A Daughter’s Love Story in Black and White details their wonderful relationship. And much, much more. It will be published May 4, just before Mother’s Day.

Eartha’s mother was of African and Cherokee descent. Eartha never knew her father; he may have been white.

“I was meant to be her daughter. I gave my mother roots and grounding,” Kitt — who was born in 1961, during Eartha’s 4-year marriage to John McDonald — says. “That’s not always easy, for people in that industry.”

Eartha Kitt was sometimes “too light-skinned for Black people, and too dark for white people,” Kitt Shapiro says.

Kitt herself has been attacked on social media for being “too light to be Eartha Kitt’s daughter.”

Eartha Kitt and her daughter.

“The gene pool does what it does,” she says. “My mother thought that treating people a certain way just because of their skin color was preposterous. She couldn’t understand the need of society to pigeonhole people as one particular thing.”

In her early years in New York, Eartha had to be “either a jazz singer or a gospel singer. She couldn’t be just ‘a singer.’ She fought against that, and we’re still fighting that today.”

That’s one of the themes of Eartha & Kitt. Kitt felt this is “the right time to talk about race, and a woman who was a trailblazer. She was a Black woman, a role model who spoke out.”

Eartha Kitt certainly did that. In 1968 — at a White House luncheon — she sharply criticized President Johnson’s handling of the Vietnam War. The CIA called her “a sadistic nymphomaniac,” and her career stalled in the US. She continued to perform, with great success, in Europe and Asia.

In 1978 she returned triumphantly to Broadway, in “Timbuktu!” She gained new generations of fans with voiceovers in movies like “The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s Story,” New York cabarets and much more.

Kitt Shapiro’s new book is “for anyone who had a relationship like we did — whether it was with a mother, a mother figure or a sibling.”

Its message, she says, will resonate with many: “We all have a right to be here. We are all unique. We can embrace and learn from each other. That was my mother’s philosophy, and it speaks to a lot of people.”

When Eartha Kitt died, her daughter says proudly, she had 200,000 Facebook followers. Many were women between 18 and 35 years old. They admired “a woman who never compromised who she was. She always spoke the truth.”

Now Kitt Shapiro brings that message to a new, even wider audience.

(Click here to order Eartha & Kitt: A Daughter’s Love Story in Black and White. Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer; Kitt Shapiro is raising funds for the American Cancer Society’s “Women Leading the Way to Wellness” project. Stop in to WEST at 117 Post Road East; for $125 you get a signed copy of her book, a scented candle, and beaded bracelet.)

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Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Local business, Media, Westport Country Playhouse

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