For the past 4 years, Santa has posted on a Westport Facebook page. Parents can request him to come to their home. He visits as many as possible — greeting kids personally — on Christmas Eve (presumably before he does his chimney thing).
It’s amazing how much this Santa resembles Josh Philip — the Westport dad who volunteers his time as a PAL football commissioner.
Come to think of it, the Santa who appeared at the WestportMoms holiday event at The Porch at Christie’s looked a lot like Josh too.
The temperature was in the mid-50s. There was not a snowflake in sight.
Merry Climate Change Christmas!
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Sorry to get all grinchy, just the day after the holiday.
But this was a “gift” someone left yesterday at Winslow Park:
(Photo/Mark Mathias)
Really, someone? This is what you think of your park, your town, and everyone in it?
Too bad there are 364 days left until Christmas. Santa really needs to bring you some decent human values, and the basic concept of understanding that the world does not revolve around you alone.
The Long Lots School Building Committee meets tomorrow (Thursday, October 5, 6 p.m.). In anticipation of a large crowd — and the expectation of a vote on which recommendation to submit to 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker — the session will be held in the Town Hall auditorium.
The agenda includes:
Update from committee
Public comment and/or questions regarding the feasibility study project (15 minutes)
Committee discussion regarding report and recommendation.
Previous meetings of the Long Lots School Building Committee have been held in a small room. Tomorrow’s is set for the Town Hall auditorium. (Photo/Karen Mather)
With all that’s going on in town– the Slice of Saugatuck, Earthplace and YMCA fundraisers, the Long Lots/Community Gardens kerfuffle, lanternflies — you’re forgiven for not realizing that Restaurant Week started on Sunday.
But foodies: Fear not. This is Westport. We do things differently.
Our Restaurant Week is actually 2. It runs all the way through October 15.
The annual Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce event is part of its ongoing “Eat Local” campaign, to promote area restaurants.
This year Restaurant Week(s) features 21 places, offering prix fixe meals in a variety of cuisines, and for all price points. They cover all of Westport, from Saugatuck to just over the Southport line.
Each restaurant sets its ow prix fixe price. Some offer just lunch, others dinner only; many provide both.
Here are the participating restaurants, with “Lunch” and/or “Dinner” noted. Click each restaurant to see each menu.
In addition to the occasional, “15-minute only” closures of I-95 between Exits 17 and 18 through October 27, the state Department of Transportation has just announced lengthier, more involved work.
From 8 p.m. on Friday, October 20 through 6 a.m. Monday, October 23, I-95 northbound will be closed, and “traffic will be detoured on the southbound bride, severely restricting traffic flow.” Traffic will be detoured onto Saugatuck and Riverside Avenue, the Post Road and Sherwood Island connector.
From Friday, November 3 (8 p.m.) until Monday, November 6 (6 a.m.), I-95 southbound will be closed, and “traffic will be detoured on the I-95 NB bridge thus severely restricting traffic flow.” The Saugatuck Avenue detour will also be in place.
But the Levitt Pavilion — known for its 60 or so nights of summer entertainment — is still going strong.
On stage this month:
“Max Weinberg’s Jukebox” (tomorrow: Thursday, October 5, 7:30 p.m.): The longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band brings his own group – and 300 songs that the audience can pick from. Click here for tickets ($35, $75 and $125), and more information.
Caleb Caudle(Friday, October 6, 7:30 p.m.): A full band show featuring Americana and folk from the his “Forsythia” album. Click here for free tickets, and more information.
Say She She (October 19, 7:30 p.m.): The female-led 7-piece outfit from London and Brooklyn brings its disco-pop sound to the shores of the Saugatuck River. Click here for free tickets, and more information.
Sure, yesterday’s weather was more like the 4th of July than Halloween.
But this group of women were busy carving pumpkins. At Compo Beach, sure, but can trick-or-treating be far behind?
(Photo/Cohl Katz)
Cohl Katz — the great hair stylist who was out for a walk in between clients — was so intrigued, she did not ask whether this was an organized group working on a project, or just a random assortment of friends.
When the Westport Library sponsors a staged reading of “Gentle Hacksaw” — the new drama combining religion, identity and violence (October 21, 8 p.m.; part of Story Fest) — there will be a strong local tie.
Matthew Van Gessel plays one of the lead roles. In Staples Players, the 2011 graduate played some of the most challenging roles seen on a high school stage. (The dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors” was typical.)
Described as “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” meets “God of Carnage,” the psychological thriller follows 2 high-profile gay men in a verbal cat-and-mouse game of utter cruelty when an unpleasant bargain goes awry.
As social graces are discarded and basic human decency is abandoned, both men discover shocking truths about themselves and one another.
A 7 p.m. reception with StoryFest authors precedes the show. A talkback with the playwright and cast, moderated by author Clay Mcleod Chapman, follows it. Click here for tickets.
Matthew Van Gessel
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During World War II, Westporters took turns scanning the skies and waters, looking for Nazi planes and boats.
In the 1950s and ’60s, one Nike site with missiles on North Avenue — and another launch site on Bayberry Lane — were part of the US defense system. The goal was to protect Bridgeport — an important manufacturing city — from a Russian attack
The Norwalk Historical Society on East Avenue has an exhibit on Norden, the Norwalk manufacturer of radar systems and bombsights. The company — located a few yards from the Westport border, and visible from I-95 just before Exit 17 — was later home to Tauck Tours. (Hat tip: Lynn Flint)
A typical Nike site — much like the North Avenue one. Missiles were buried underground.
Half of the prison population ends up back in jail following release.
In Bridgeport, Homebridge Ventures provides a re-entry program to help break the cycle of recidivism.
Yesterday, the Westport Rotary Club heard from David Stubbs. The co-founder and executive director of the non-profit escribed their programs addressing mental health issues, substance abuse and educational deficiencies, including teaching computer and job skills.
David Stubbs addresses the Westport Rotary Club.
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Art was not the only thing Mark Mathias noticed yesterday on his ramble through Winslow Park (story above).
He also snapped this photo, for our “Westport … Naturally” feature.
All those outdoor meeting places with log benches look alike.
There’s one at Earthplace. Another at the Westport Weston Family YMCA’s Mahackeno Outdoor Center.
But the one shown in last week’s Photo Challenge, courtesy of Mark Mathias, was the “chapel in the woods,” behind Saugatuck Congregational Church. (Click here to see.)
Built as an Eagle Scout project by Tobey Patton — son of scoutmaster Craig Patton and Saugatuck Church pastor Rev. Alison Patton, who moved last month to a new church in Maine — it actually is on church property.
There was a brief debate in the “06880” comments as to whether the chapel was inadvertently built on land belonging to the town.
But even though most people assume it’s part of Winslow Park, it’s not. Mathias provided proof — via the town of Westport’s GIS map system — it is the church’s woods.
Congratulations to Dan Vener, Jodi Stevens Bryce, Chris Buckley, Mary Sikorski, Molly Alger, Seth Schachter, Nancy Vener, Amy Schneider, Wendy Crowther, John Suggs, Nancy Bloom, Richard Ellis, Karen Kim, Robert Mitchell, Andrew Colabella, Tom Long, Karen La Costa, Matt McGrath, Colette Winn, Bruce Borner and Lois Himes. You definitely know your outdoor log benches!
Now to this week’s challenge.
Last week’s photo had nothing to do with the Y’s outdoor meeting place. But this one is definitely Y-related.
If you know where in Westport you’d see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Nancy Barrer)
(If you enjoy our Photo Challenge — or any other “06880” features — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Spotted lanternflies are a highly invasive species.
And they thrive on another invasive pest: trees of heaven.
Infestations have been reported around Westport, including Winslow and Grace Salmon Parks.
The Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station says:
The spotted lanternfly Lycorma delicatula, (SLF) was first found in North America in Pennsylvania in late 2014. It is an exotic, invasive sap-feeding planthopper that has the potential to severely impact Connecticut’s agricultural crops, particularly apples, grapes, and hops, and ornamental trees. Spotted lanternfly adults feed on more than 70 species of plants. Its preferred host tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) is highly invasive and is abundant along highways, in urban areas, and along the edges of agricultural and industrial areas, where the spotted lanternfly could easily become established.
Approximately half of Connecticut’s trees are threatened by spotted lanternfly invasion according to data from Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). As spotted lanternfly nymphs and adults feed on the sap from trees and vines, the entire plant can become weakened because it cannot conduct photosynthesis as effectively. The excretions from these leaf-hopping insects encourage the growth of black sooty mold, thereby reducing photosynthesis. Agricultural crops will have reduced yields due to SLF feeding on fruit and generally weakening plants, if not completely destroying them.
To learn more about the pest, click here. Sightings (including, if possible, photos) should be reported to state environmental authorities, using this form. (Hat tip: Tracy Porosoff)
Speaking of nature: Paul Rohan writes, “The other morning on my morning walk on Hillspoint Road ner Valley Road, I spotted 2 young deer eating grass at the edge of the road.
“I then saw a coyote run up Lookout Lane and enter Hillspoint to approach the deer. As he was halfway across the road he spotted me. He did an about face, ran back down the lane, and quickly disappeared in the underbrush.
“Over the years I have seen a few coyotes in the area, but only before daybreak. This was around 8 a.m. Please alert readers with small dogs or other pets who might be in the area in the early morning to be aware of this coyote situation.”
If it’s late summer/early fall, it must be time for the Slice of Saugatuck.
The 11th annual event — a fun food/merchant experience in Westport’s most walkable neighborhood — is set for Saturday, September 9 (2 to 5 p.m.).
This year, over 40 businesses will participate in the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event.
Over 2 dozen venues will offer tastes from their menus. Live music will play at 7 locations, with favorite bands like Otis & the Hurricanes, Silver Steel, Mill River Band, the Howling Barncats, Elana Zarabi and Accidental Breakdown.
Bouncy houses are back. New this year: a face painter for the kids.
Beer Gardens (with wine) on Bridge Square and Railroad Place will be complemented by restaurants offering specialty drinks. Many venues will continued the festivities with happy hour offerings after the Slice ends.
The price is again $15 for adults, $5 for children under 13, free for age 5 and under. Tickets are sold on-site only, beginning at 1:50 p.m.
Slice of Saugatuck is one of the best events on the local calendar. It’s also a great cause. Over the years, the Chamber has donated more than $44,000 to the Gillespie Center’s food pantry .
For more information — including a map of participants — click here.
Lining up for samples, on Railroad Place
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Mike Ronemus and a few friends have been thinking about it for, oh, only 25 years or so.
On Monday, they finally did it: They swam from Compo Beach to Cokenoe Island.
And back.
They began at 6 a.m. A kayak, stand-up paddleboard and 2 boats escorted them through the channel.
It took between 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 hours to cover the 2 1/2 miles.
Congratulations to Mike, and fellow adventure swimmers Tom Bottini, Chris Coffin, Kevin Huelster, Bruce Koffsky, Andy Ludel, Mary Money, Ric Nadel, Leila Shields, Clay Tebbits.
Of course there’s lobster at the Friends of Sherwood Island State Park’s annual Shorefest celebration.
But there’s also salmon and steak (with catering by Westfair Fish & Chips). Plus music by Westport Jenny Ong’s classical trio. And as always, a chance to party with fellow park-lovers.
This year’s event is September 8 (6 to 9 p.m., main pavilion). A silent auction includes tours of Prospect Gardens and Aspetuck brew lab, a fishing charter with Westport captain Blake Smith, and gift certificates to local restaurants.
Proceeds help fund 140 feet of new dunes, with 3,600 American beach grass plants; invasive species eradication; an owl habitat restoration project; fall and spring tree plantings; the Nature Center intern program, and speakers on raptors, horseshoe crabs, turtles and insects.
The Tennis Channel is listed on the NASDAQ. For the past 12 years, they’ve celebrated the start the US Open by ringing the morning bell.
Yesterday morning, the ringers included Cayne Mandell. The 2017 Staples High School and 2021 Syracuse University sports management graduate is an ad sales marketing coordinator for TC.
The NASDAQ bell was not his only perk. He’ll be in the Tennis Channel corporate suite during the event too.
Allan Friedman has led bike trips for a decade — ever since his first Backroads journey to Tuscany in 2013. He then biked through California and Canada, and now leads urban tours in areas like New York, New Haven and Washington.
On September 12 (Saugatuck Congregational Church; 6:15 p.m. dinner; 7:30 p.m. presentation), he’s the Appalachian Mountain Club’s dinner guest speaker. His topic: ”Adventures Abound — Ride and Explore!”
The cost is $10 for members, $15 for non-members (payable at the door). Bring a dessert to share. For more information, email easasso7@icloud.com.
Allan Friedman
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Eagle-eyed photographer Steve Halstead snapped today’s “Westport … Naturally” photo — at the same moment his subject looked, equally intently, for a fish.
And finally … Bob Mummert, the drummer on Roy Orbison’s last tour, died Saturday.
Known for his appearance on the “You Got It” music video, he was also a drummer for the Grand Ole Opry, and a session musician who toured with many famous artists and bands.
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