Achieve Fitness vs. SlateRock
Andrew Kindt of Achieve Fitness Softball Team makes strong contact with a pitch at this evening’s softball game at Compo Beach.
Longshore Pool: Opening Memorial Day for the 2021 Season
The Town of Westport Parks & Recreation Department has announced that the Longshore Pool will be opening this coming Monday on Memorial Day. The Town tradition of heading to the pool will begin again after it’s 2020 hiatus due to COVID-19 precautions, another step towards the revival of Westport during Summer 2021.
The pool will be open on weekdays for open swim from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM, and weekends from 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM.
From Westport Parks & RecreationThe Longshore Pool will open for the 2021 season from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day in accordance with the schedule below.Please note that as COVID-19 is still a concern, if it is determined that the pool area is overcrowded, the Town reserves the right to temporarily halt admittance until space is available. Additionally, if overcrowding becomes an ongoing issue, the Town reserves the right to implement alternative operating procedures to allow appropriate usage of the facility.
The Longshore Pool Complex and Longshore Pavilion offers handicap accessible locker rooms with showers, family bathrooms, and a full service concession stand with outdoor seating and picnic tables. There is an adjacent playground and tennis courts with lights.
The Longshore Pool complex consists of two swimming pools and a wading pool
The Training Pool is 20 yds. in length, is a uniform depth of 3’7” and used for lap swim and swim lessons
The Lap Pool is 25 yds. in length with depth from 3-ft. to 9-ft. and is used for open swim
The Wading Pool has a depth 1-ft. to 2-1/2 ft. and is restricted during open swim to children under six years of age
Westporter Scores $10K Lottery Win this Week
According to the Connecticut Lottery, a Westporter scored a $10,400 lottery win this week. Purchased at the Super 7 Food Market in Norwalk, Michael Benson won the prize with Keno on Monday, the Connecticut Lottery announced this week.
Hound Dog Cuts the Evening Waves
The sailing boat Hound Dog cuts the waves this evening as local yacht clubs took part in their weekly races off of Compo Beach. Lightning seen over the south end of the Long Island Sound hurried the ending to the races as the sun set over Westport.
ABC Show “American Housewife”, Set in Westport, Cancelled
A screengrab from the show’s opening credits, showing “Westport Unified” - the fictitious name for the show’s school. After five seasons on the ABC Network, “American Housewife” has been cancelled.
The show made headlines in 2016 when they announced the show’s debut name of “The Second Fattest Housewife of Westport”. It was later changed to
”American Housewife” due to the main character’s “relatability” to not only Westport moms, but moms everywhere according to the ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey.
“The wealthy town of Westport, Conn., is full of cookie-cutter mommies and their seemingly perfect offspring, but the members of the Otto family can't be counted among them. Confident housewife Katie Otto shares a home with her husband, Jeff, and their three children Taylor, Harrison and Anna-Kat, and while she loves them all dearly, she recognizes they probably aren't going to land themselves in a magazine spread anytime soon. The matriarch knows her family is beautifully flawed, and she's far from sorry.” the show’s description explained.
Although the show was set in Westport- filming took place in Studio City, California - with names of local schools being changed and swapped with fictitious ones. Lindsay Denninger of Bustle answered the question: “Is Westport a Real Town?” with “Westport is a real place, and its role as the setting on American Housewife definitely matters to the show. However, it’s definitely more than yoga legging-clad moms and Range Rovers, so go give it a visit and discover more for yourself.”
“In Season 5, American Housewife averaged a 0.55 demo rating and just shy of 3 million total viewers (in Live+Same Day numbers) — down just 5 and 8 percent from its Season 4 numbers. Among the seven sitcoms ABC has aired this TV season, it ranked third in both demo (trailing The Goldbergs and The Conners) and in total audience.”(TVLine)
New Neighbors: The Porch at Christie’s Opens Today
Andrea and Bill Pecoriello welcomed the first customers to The Porch at Christie’s early this morning as the new community-based restaurant opened their doors. Westport’s northern neighborhoods will regain their beloved country store after this morning’s opening of The Porch at Christie’s at 161 Cross Highway.
The 101 year old building has served for decades as meeting house and gastronomic locale for many far-out Westporters and herds of nearby middle and high school students. Owner Andrea and Bill Pecoriello of Westport founded The Porch not only on the basis of good food, but to provide a community space for both their customers and their beloved employees.
In 2020, the Pecoriellos founded the non-profit Sweet P Bakery in Norwalk as a way to provide job training and employment for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Through their work with Sweet P, they found that they needed a storefront to continue that training at the front of a house - resulting in their creation of The Porch; “We can't think of a more perfect spot in town to support Sweet P Bakery's mission” they described when speaking about the opportunity to have Sweet P Bakery graduates work at the front of the house. Graduating members of Sweet P’s 4 week internship program are able to bake alongside the Porch’s three pastry chefs to create the baked goods sold at the store while building skills and celebrating their accomplishments.
Guests are greeted by the historic building’s stone front porch as they step through the door into a bright and newly renovated dining room and food counter. Opening at 6:30 AM, The Porch offers a variety of coffees, teas, smoothies, and breakfasts while offering a comprehensive lunch and supper menu, too. A separate ice cream hut will serve the frozen dessert later into the evenings, allowing families to watch the traffic go by while preventing ice cream drips from hitting the grass.
Operating on-and-off in the most recent years, the previous tenant - Chef’s Table - closed less than a year after they opened in April 2019. The property was last sold in 2008 for 1.65 million dollars.
Being the northernmost restaurant in Westport, the space has always been beloved by those who want to avoid the noise of Post Road and the traffic of downtown. “Christie’s” has been a pillar in the community for nearly 100 years, serving snacks, cold drinks, ice cream, and locally sourced foods to generations of Westporters. Owners Andrea and Bill are excited to welcome the next generation to The Porch.
Wednesday Sailing Regattas Begin for the Season
Hound Dog of Ridgefield, Connecticut glides towards the C marker in this evening’s sailing regatta, about one half mile off of the coast of Compo Beach. One of Westport’s most unique and competitive traditions returned tonight as dozens of sailboats motored out of the harbor into the Sound for the Wednesday night sailing regatta. .
Each Wednesday night the boats from local yacht clubs, such as Cedar Point Yacht Club and Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club, gather off of Compo Beach for a friendly regatta - racing each other until sunset with crews of their friends and family. The boats are privately owned, with the committee boat being operated by Cedar Point Yacht Club.
Tonight’s races started off with calm winds and flat seas, however towards sunset - the winds picked up and created a moderate chop, leading to an exciting end to the first race of the season.
The clubs welcome members of the community to join their crews or participate in the Wednesday night regattas. Those interested should reach out to the Cedar Point Yacht Club, or the Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club.
206 Years of Holding Back Lee’s Pond
Photo & Research by Preston Siroka.Lee’s Pond sat sun-drenched this afternoon, ready for the next generation of Camp Mahackeno kids. Built in 1815 to assist in powering the Richmondville Mill, the Lee’s Pond dam was gushing this afternoon as springtime swelling of local waterways added to the pond’s volume. The dam powered the Richmondville mill’s cotton yarn machinery until 1842, when the dam failed and stopped work. In 1844 “John Lees and John Dryden rebuilt it and started Lees Manufacturing Co.” according to Preservation Connecticut. The dam was operational until 1950 when the mill closed down; the pond and the dam were purchased by two locals, who later sold the property to the Westport-Weston YMCA in 1975.
With the new millenium came scrutiny from the US Army Corps of Engineers, which lead to later renovations thanks to a $30,000 FEMA grant applied for by the Westport Fire Department and a $90,000 investment by the YMCA, according to the New York Times. The new dam featured terracing and a fishway to allow migratory fish the ability to swim upstream, as well as an updated sluice gate to release pressure during storms, and an eel pass for the migration of American eels.
Saturday Skate
Westporter Jasper Fowle skates the quarter pipe at the Compo Beach Skate Park this afternoon.