Speaking of books: The Westport Book Shop’s featured artist for May is Miggs Burroughs.
The native Westporter — and devoted book lover — exhibits his large lenticular installation “Sign Language” at the Drew Friedman Art Place. That’s at the rear of the popular used book store on Jesup Green.
“Sign Language” includes 25 small signs. Depending on the angle of the viewer, the words change in ironic or humorous ways.
Miggs has created art since he was 20. Six years later he was chosen to design a commemorative US postage stamp. He has also illustrated covers for Time magazine — and the Westport town flag. Miggs is a co-founder of the Artists Collective of Westport.
Miggs Burroughs with his lenticular art. When looked at from a different angle, the words change.
Dr. Parthena Penny Proskinitopoulos has big shoes to fill. But she’s ready to step right in.
The Fairfield educator is Staples’ newest assistant principal. She takes over from Meghan Ward on July 1.
She is a former technology integration specialist and social studies teacher. Most recently, she served as interim assistant principal at Roger Ludlowe Middle School.
Staples principal Stafford Thomas says, “Penny was the standout candidate out of a very large and talented administrator pool. She is thrilled to be joining our team at Staples, and I am excited that her arrival will coincide with our summer efforts to create an exciting and fulfilling 2021-22 school year.”
Dr. Proskinitopoulos earned a BA in psychology from St. John’s University, an MA in teaching and 6th year diploma from Sacred Heart University, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Bridgeport.
Speaking of Staples: Praise keeps pouring in for the high school’s SLOBs.
Among the many organizations the Service League of Boys helped at last weekend’s community work day: Homes with Hope.
COVID had depleted the food pantry, while more people than ever need help. A townwide appeal brought in over 300 bags — and SLOBs worked tirelessly to collect and unpack them, then stock the shelves.
It takes a village to help, HwH officials said. They’re thankful SLOBs are part of ours.
PS: If you could not drop off food, monetary donations are needed to buy supplies. Click here: www.hwhct.org.
SLOBs, with officials and friends of Homes with Hope, outside the Gillespie Center.
During this graduation season, here’s a shout-out to Tom Tarrant. He recently graduated from the Guiding Eyes for the Blind school — along with his new guide dog, a black Lab named Velvet.
Tom is a longtime Westporter, but this is his first guide dog. An avid rower, Tom has participated in his local area’s rowing club on and off for over twenty years. He looks forward to running with Velvet.
He and his wife have 2 sons, ages 20 and 14, and a 9-year-old golden retriever. The newest member of the family fits right in.
Wendy Crowther found this morel mushroom the other day, in her backyard near Winslow Park. She says, “The morel has a reputation for being one of the greatest mushrooms in the world — edible when cooked and prized by gourmets. It was such a surprise to find one.”
The holiday has become commercialized here in the US — primarily by bars and restaurants — and it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico.
It is not “Mexican Independence Day.” Cinco de Mayo celebrates the day in 1862 when the Mexican army defeated France at the Battle of Puebla. It was part of the Franco-Mexican War — a conflict I had never heard of until a few seconds ago.
The Westport Farmers’ Market opens next month. But if you thought you were following them on Facebook, you might have missed the news.
During the winter, the WFM page was hacked. They lost over 8,000 followers — and the chance to inform them about news, vendors, special events and more.
They created a new Facebook page, and are rebuilding their following. But many people don’t realize they’re no longer “friends” with the WFM.
A generous supporter offered a “matching” Facebook challenge. If they reach 1,000 followers, the supporter will make donate $1,000 for WFM programs.
So, whether you think you follow the Farmers’ Market on Facebook or not, click here, then click the “Like” button. Then share that post with friends and family.
Speaking of farms and food, here’s a way to keep ’em down on the farm: Pizza.
On Tuesdays starting May 4 (4 to 7 p.m.), “Tony Pizza Napolitano” will make 16-inch wood-fired cheese pizzas live at the Wakeman Town Farm oven.
Tony lives in Weston, and the pizzas he makes at The Grange are an 0688e legend. He uses “only top-quality local, organic ingredients — and love.” Click here for a rave review from Stephanie Webster’s CTBites.
Go to Facebook. Find “Tony Pizza Napolitano,” click “like” and follow the page. The weekly menu is posted every Monday morning. To order, send Tony a private message for a time slot. Once it’s confirmed, pick it up the next day at the Cross Highway farm..
It’s a perfect dinner — particularly if you’re already at Wakeman Field picking up the kids.
The Westport Library is seeking candidates for its Board of Trustees. Of particular interest: people with expertise in finance, fundraising and development for non-profits; knowledge and understanding of current trends in digital media and information technology, or a background in municipal government and/or not-for-profit law.
Trustees serve 4-yeare terms. Click here for more information.Interested candidates should email a resume and letter of interest to rpowell@westportlibrary.org. The deadline is April 23.
Coke Anne Murchison Wilcox — member of a famed Texas family — majored in architecture at Princeton, then studied at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture. She worked for several architects, including Philip Johnson. In the early 1990s Wilcox purchased The Maidstone Arms in East Hampton. She and her husband, Jarvis Wilcox, have 3 adult children.
Charlotte Rogan spent 25 years as a writer before her first novel was published in 2012. The Lifeboat was included on The Huffington Post’s 2015 list of “21 books from the last 5 years that every woman should read,” and has been translated into 26 languages. Her second novel, Now and Again, continued to explore issues of morality and justice. Rogan attended Greens Farms Academy when it was an all-girl’s school, studied architecture at Princeton University, and worked for a large construction firm before turning to writing.
Spring is in the air. And there’s no better place to smell it — and enjoy the outdoors — than Wakeman Town Farm.
Westport’s sustainable jewel is back open. Visiting hours begin today (Saturday, April 10, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.), including the popular Meet the Farmer program.
Everyone 13 and older is welcome for a walk around the gardens and grounds. (All COVID rules are in effect.) For more information, click here.
Speaking of the environment: The Parks and Recreation Department sponsors “Clean Up Westport Day” on Saturday, April 24.
Over 50 local organizations and groups will help. Individuals and families can show up at the Parks Advisory Committee’s sites — Riverside and Grace Salmon Parks — or any street or public space.
Formal groups should call Parks & Rec (203-341-5091) before April 16, to let them know the time and location of their cleanup efforts. After the event, the town will collect bagged garbage and debris from each site.
Free trash bags are available outside the Parks & Rec office (opposite the Longshore golf course pro shop) between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on April 16 b8:30am and 4:30pm. Bags are limited to 6 per organization, and must be requested by April 15.
“Westport’s Suffragists — Our Neighbors, Our Crusaders: The 19th Amendment Turns 100” was the Westport Library’s best exhibit that no one visited.
Well, hardly anyone. It opened last year just days before COVID shut the town down.
But the Connecticut League of History Organizations knows about it. And they’ve awarded the Library an Award of Merit for it.
The awards committee was impressed with “how the exhibit fit nicely into a larger series of public programs and showcased the lives of local women in their fight for suffrage.”
Fortunately, the exhibit is online (click here). It explores the careers and political triumphs of suffragists who made Westport home. It also honors over 50 Westport women — many forgotten — who left their parlors for the streets, to fight for voting rights.
The Remarkable Theater drive-in is back in action. Last year , the Imperial Avenue lot also served as the stage for the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce’s Supper & Soul Series. Next month, they return there.
Dark Desert Eagles — an Eagles tribute band — have been booked for Friday and Saturday nights, May 14 and 15. The Chamber urges attendees to get takeout from local restaurants and markets, and bring it to the concert.
Tickets for each show are $150 per car (5 person maximum). They go on sale this Monday, April 12 (10 a.m.). Click here to order.
Yesterday’s Roundup highlighted the mattress recycling program at Earthplace on May 8 (8:30 to 11:30 a.m.).
Not everyone has a mattress to get rid of. But you should still head to Earthplace that day.
Particularly if you’d like free compost. Bring a bucket, and Sustainable Westport will fill it. It’s open to all Westport residents, as a thank-you for making the food scrap recycling program such a success.
Sustainable Westport is collecting nearly 10 tons of food scraps a month from the transfer station (a free service for residents), and from the 2 licensed food scrap haulers (a paid curbside service). Over 500 Westport families are composting in some form.
Intrigued, but don’t know how to begin? Volunteers will sell food scrap recycling starter kits (with a countertop pail, compostable gags and 6-gallon transportation container) during the May 8 Earthplace event. (They’re free for income-eligible folks).
If you’re not into mattress recycling or food scraps — come anyway. It’s a family-friendly outing, with guided trail tours and animal feeding.
PS: Bring natural corks, used magic markers, mascara wands and batteries for recycling.
For more information click here, or email admin@sustainablewestport.org.
And finally … DMX — described by the New York Times as a “snarling yet soulful rapper … who had a string of No. 1 albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s but whose personal struggles eventually rivaled his lyrical prowess,” died yesterday in White Plains. He was 50.
The Westport Library’s Transformation Project turned a great building into an amazing one.
The Forum, new stage, upgraded MakerSpace and welcoming café drew most of the attention.
But the Verso recording studios — with state-of-the-art recording equipment and spectacular post-production technology — is one of the revamped library’s most impressive features.
Part of the Westport Library’s Verso Studios.
And it’s about to get more impressive.
A major — and I do mean “major” — recording artist has just signed a contract to use the studio for an upcoming album.
“It doesn’t get bigger or more exciting than this,” says Library executive director Bill Harmer. “Trust me. This is huge.”
I am not allowed to use his name in the body of this story (apparently, to avoid it being picked up by search engines). But here are a couple of clues:
He lives in Weston.
In the 1960s, he could not “get no satisfaction.”
Yet he did have some “sympathy for the devil.”
And though “wild horses” couldn’t drag me away to write his name here, I am allowed to link to it. Click here to see.
Posted onMarch 24, 2021|Comments Off on TEAM Westport Plans Asian-American Program Tonight
TEAM Westport — the town’s multicultural commission — says:
TEAM Westport and the partnership of the Interfaith Council, Westport Library and Westport Country Playhouse extend our staunchest solidarity with and heartfelt embrace of our town’s Asian-American and Pacific Islander community.
That solidarity and embrace are matched only by the depth of our outrage over the rising tide of AAPI racism and violence, capped by the unspeakable murders in Atlanta last week. Both the first selectman and superintendent of schools have issued statements for the town and school system.
Our work over the past few years has been focused on dismantling the centuries-old legacies of layered racism and supremacy which have led us to this current circumstance. As such, our involvement with both the advent of the Equity Study mentioned by the superintendent, and the ongoing antiracism conversations mentioned by the first selectman, make it clear that this should be a time for focused reflection with our AAPI community.
Please join us for these upcoming events today (Wednesday, March 24) and next Wednesday (March 31). We will hold space for our AAPI friends and community members for times of sharing and exploration regarding racism and its impact on each of us here in Westport and nationwide.
Wednesday, March 24, 7 p.m: Community Focus on Anti-AAPI Racism (Virtual Event):
[Note: The originally planned 4 sessions on “Me and White Supremacy”: The Challenge Continues have been postponed to (April 7 and 21, and May 5 and 19)].
Wednesday, March 31, 7 p.m. (Virtual Event):
TEAM Westport Schools Work Group. Join us for our next Schools Workgroup meeting. We will continue our discussion of white supremacy culture and how it shows up in our community, focusing on the recent tragedies against AAPI and Anti-Asian hate. All are welcome.
Tina Green reports that the American oystercatcher pair has returned to Compo Beach for the season.
“Their loud. distinctive calls announced their early morning arrival for all to hear yesterday,” she says.
“No doubt they will try to nest again in the same area of the beach just north of the cannons. The pair successfully raised and fledged 3 juvenile birds last year, due in part to the beach being closed because of COVID. They had the beach to themselves until May, along with the piping plovers.
“Compo visitors — especially those with dogs — should keep away from the oystercatchers and give them some space. Westporters are very fortunate to have a front row seat to watch nature up close and personal in our hometown.
American oystercatchers at Compo Beach yesterday. (Photo/Tina Green)
Besides the oystercatchers, there’s another returnee to Westport: drive-in concerts.
The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce and Westport Library sponsor 2 next month. The site is the Imperial Avenue parking lot.
Sophie B Hawkins — a great talent, and Westport resident — opens the season on Friday April 23rd. The show — featuring her 5-piece band is a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Deep Banana Blackout follows on Saturday, April 24. The 8-piece band is an area favorite, with a high-energy mix of jam, funk and blues.
Tickets for each show are $150 per car (5 person max). Tickets for Sophie B Hawkins go on sale on this Monday (March 29, 10 .am). Deep Banana Blackout will go on sale Tuesday, March 30, also at 10. Click here to order.
Speaking of entertainment: Jamie Mann — the Staples High School senior who stars in Netflix’s new hit, “Country Comfort,” which premiered Friday — has written a great piece for Backstage on the highs and lows of being a young actor.
He writes honestly about his love for dance, the “dead zone” when child actors grow too tall and add braces, the mentors he found in Westport like Cynthia Gibb and Jill Jaysen, being just another cast member with Staples Players, and more. Click here to read.
John Noble writes: “I live near Earthplace, and walk by this house on Woodside Avenue almost every day.
It’s a teardown. I totally get it — but why did the developer take down over 17 large mature trees to create this eyesore of a lot now? There’s always 2 sides to a story, but as a neighbor this tree obliteration really bugs me.”
The Westport Library is seeking candidates for its Board of Trustees. Of particular interest: people with expertise in finance, fundraising and development for non-profits; knowledge and understanding of current trends in digital media and information technology, or a background in municipal government and/or not-for-profit law.
Trustees serve 4-yeare terms. Click here for more information.Interested candidates should email a resume and letter of interest to rpowell@westportlibrary.org. The deadline is April 19.
Westporter Ana Cristina Purcell died on March 16. She was 68.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she immigrated with her parents to the US in the 1950s.
Ana was a graduate of Staples High School. She served as the office administrator for Purcell Moving Corporation, a family-owned business, for over 20 years. She enjoyed traveling, the beach, and spending time with family and friends.
She is survived by her husband Lawrence; daughter Cristina; son Shane (Jennifer Soyeck); sister Julia Huber; niece Rachel Greene; nephew Philip Huber, and grandchildren TJ Altman, Kroy Purcell and Camilla Purcell.
Harding Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Services will be held at Assumption Church this Saturday (March 27, 11 a.m.). After, close friends and family are welcome to their home to share memories of her life.
Slowly, the Westport Library is moving back toward pre-pandemic operations.
Effective April 5, users will enjoy:
Expanded operating hours. The building will be open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will continue to close on Sundays.
Limited seating at socially distanced tables in the Trefz Forum and on the Mezzanine.
Masks will still be required, and 6-foot social distancing remains in place.
Printing will be available for people working in the Library and remotely.
Children’s Library occupancy will continue to be limited. Patrons are encouraged to make an appointment.
The Café will be opened for limited service between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Appointments will still be required for the Maker Space and Verso Studios, but are no longer necessary for the Library Store.
The Library will resume collecting fines owed prior to the pandemic.
We won’t see scenes like this for a while. But the Forum is reopening for limited seating.
Wakeman Town Farm’s new partnership with Homefront Farmers is already bearing fruit.
The Redding-based organic group building a special teaching garden onsite at the Cross Highway farm.
On April 6 (7 p.m.), Homefront Farmers’ experts will lead a Zoom session about vegetable garden design, how to extend your growing season with succession planning, organic pest management, and the joys of growing organic food. Click here to register.
There’s more! Starting April 3, Homefront Farmers will donate all proceeds from gift card sales purchased through @payitfwrd.co directly to WTF.
Meanwhile, this Monday, there’s a (non-Homefront Farmers-sponsored) Pollinator Pathway talk.
University of Connecticut advanced master gardener Alice Ely will teach Zoom participants how to plant for a continuous season of bloom, with abundant blossoms for pollinators (and people!) to enjoy. Click here to register.
Wakeman Town Farm’s garden. Yours can look like this too!
After 9 light-hearted young readers’ books — the “Charlie Joe Jackson” and “Crimebiters” series — Tommy Greenwald turned serious.
“Game Changer” was a no-holds-barred look at youth football culture. There was not a laugh to be had. But it sure made people think.
Critics loved it. And the American Literacy Association named it one of 2019’s Top 10 books for reluctant readers.
Next up for the Westport writer (who, like his wife and 3 sons, is a Staples High School graduate): “Rivals.” A companion book to “Game Changer,” this one focuses on basketball.
The book explores the journeys of two 8th graders, Carter and Austin, as they navigate the pressures and pleasures of starring on their middle school teams, while an intrepid school sports reporter uncovers scandals that threaten to derail their season.
It’s told through a series of flashbacks, newspaper reports, social media posts and interviews — of course, in Tommy’s unique style. Click here to order, and for more information.
Last summer, MoCA Westport was one of the few organizations to sponsor events.
Their outdoor concerts — with strict social distancing and other COVID precautions — were a huge (and welcome) success.
This year, MoCA plans a new series. The 13 performances — jazz, pop and classical — take place on Fridays, from April through October.
Three jazz concerts will again feature performers from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Spotlight series. They include the Alexa Tarantino Quartet, a highlight of MoCA Westport’s 2020 series.
Here’s the full 2021 Music at MoCA Concert Series schedule :
April 30: Matt Nakoa (Pop)
May 14: Isaiah J. Thompson: Jazz at Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Spotlight (Jazz)
May 28: The Alexa Tarantino Quartet: Jazz at Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Spotlight (Jazz)
June 11: Jocelyn and Chris (Pop)
June 25: Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung, piano duo (Classical)
July 9: Oshima Brothers (Pop)
July 16: Horszowski Trio and Masumi Per Rostad; viola (Classical)
August 6: Catalyst String Quartet (Classical)
August 20: Samara Joy Ensemble: Jazz at Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Spotlight (Jazz)
September 3: The Simon Mulligan Trio (Jazz)
September 10: Escher String Quartet (Classical)
October : Marielle Kraft (Pop)
October 15: The Figgs (Pop)
Tickets are now on sale to MoCA members. They’ll be available to the general public on March 22. To learn more or to purchase tickets, please visit mocawestport.org or call 203/222-7070.
And finally … Sally Grossman — the woman in red lounging in the background of the cover of Bob Dylan’s 1965 “Bringing It All Back Home” album — died last week in Woodstock, New York. She was 81.
Dylanologists have spent decades deciphering the artifacts in that photo. Among them — smack in the middle, and of special interest to “06880” readers — is “The Folk Blues of Eric von Schmidt.”
Von Schmidt is one of the most interesting Westporters I’ve ever known. The son of famed artist Harold von Schmidt, Eric was both a revered folk singer and a very accomplished artist.
His Evergreen Avenue studio was a magical place. He died in 2007. Tragically, cancer of the larynx had taken his voice. Click here for a fond remembrance.
Back to Dylan. On his first album in 1962, the singer introduced “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” this way:
“I first heard it from Rick von Schmidt. He lives in Cambridge. Rick’s a blues guitar player. I met him one day in the green pastures of Harvard University.”
In May 1964, Dylan visited von Schmidt at his then-home in Sarasota, Florida. Dylan recorded several songs there, including an early version of “Mr. Tambourine Man.” They were released in 2014 as part of Dylan’s “50th Anniversary Collection 1964.”
And in 1969, Dylan gave one more hat tip — literally — to Eric von Schmidt. Check out the cover of his “Nashville Skyline” album:
A year after Connecticut was locked down, COVID has killed over 7,700 state residents. Nearly 2,100 have been in Fairfield County — 28 in Westport alone.
This Saturday, members and friends of Green’s Farms Church will mark the somber anniversary by placing 2,00 luminarias on Veterans Green.
Bagpipes and a brief service of dedication begins at 7 p.m. Thepublic is invited to walk among the lights (or view them from cars), reflect, and light their own LED luminarias in tribute to a life lost or affected by the pandemic, or as a symbol of hope for the future. The display will remain in place for 24 hours.
Sunday’s New York Times Real Estate section explored trends in the tristate suburbs.
Much of the Connecticut focus was on Westport. The paper said:
Gains were perhaps expected south of the Merritt Parkway, whose popularity derives in part from regular train service. Indeed, in the past two months, Westport saw 33 sales of single-family homes priced from $1 million to $2.5 million, compared with 19 sales last winter, according to William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty.
There were quotes from a man who missed out on a home here, despite offering a 10% premium (“There seems to be so much irrational behavior”), and retirees from White Plains who very much wanted to move to town,
After two failed purchases, they swooped in last month with an all-cash offer for a four-bedroom house, listed for $1.749 million. And it seemed to do the trick; a contract was in the works.
But a rushed title search missed problems, and on Feb. 24, (they) walked away. (The seller upped the price to $1.849 million a day later.)
The piece is illustrated with 2 photos too. Note the New York license plate! (Click here for the full story. Hat tip: Peter Gold)
1992 Staples High School graduate Susan Izzo co-founded The Sports Management Mastermind. The company helps professional athletes maximize their potential — while never losing sight of who they are as people.
At 7 p.m. today (Tuesday, March 9) and Thursday (March 11), she and another sports agent host a 90-minute virtual sports management masterclass for aspiring pro, college and Olympic athletes, and their families.
I am hosting/teaching tomorrow and on Thursday. I am joining forces with another female sports agent and we are hosting a free 90-minute virtual sports management masterclass for aspiring professional, collegiate and Olympic athletes and their families.
Topics include building a successful career as a competitive athlete; creating and amplifying your brand; learning what sponsors, agents and coaches look for, and how to build those relationships; NCAA and Olympics regulations, and more.
The sessions are free, but spots are limited. Click here to register.
Speaking of sports: Westport READS continues during March with a fascinating conversation about baseball.
Andrea Williams — author of “Baseball’s Leading Lady” — chats with Westport Museum for History & Culture executive director Ramin Ganeshram about a little-known woman at the center of the Negro Leagues: Effa Manley, co-owner and business manager of the Newark Eagles.
The event is set for Monday, March 22 (7 p.m.).
Williams worked in marketing and development for the Negro Baseball Museum in Kansas City. She’s now a fulltime writer.
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Our work over the past few years has been focused on dismantling the centuries-old legacies of layered racism and supremacy which have led us to this current circumstance. As such, our involvement with both the advent of the Equity Study mentioned by the superintendent, and the ongoing antiracism conversations mentioned by the first selectman, make it clear that this should be a time for focused reflection with our AAPI community.
