Saturday Skate
Westporter Brian Greenspan, UConn Freshman, takes flight at the Compo Beach Skate Park this afternoon. WestportLocal.com photo
New Neighbors: “Local to Market” brings Local Groceries Back to Main Street; Open until 2 Today
Rita and Chris Marcocci in front of their new store, Local to Market, during today’s Farm Stand. Anna Aron, of Little Bits Pottery, displays her work during today’s farm stand. A Staples Class of 2013 graduate, Aron attributes her passion and skill to the SHS pottery and sculpture teacher Jaclyn Jeselnik - who helped give her a “home” in the pottery room while a student. With Connecticut farmers and artisans standing with them, Westporters Chris and Rita Marcocci are bringing local love back to 177 Main Street with their new shop: Local to Market. The shop will focus on items made, grown, or produced in Connecticut - with a portion of their profits going towards local charities. Open until 2:00 today as a farm stand, they expect to be fully open within the next three weeks - bringing Groceries back to Downtown.
Located in the historic Remarkable Book Shop storefront, the Marcoccis - with local artisans and farmers - are celebrating their arrival to the community with a weekend Farm Stand, planned for every weekend at the corner of lower Main Street. The farm stand includes locally grown produce and fruits, locally sourced milk, and products created by Westport artists.
Envisioned as place where downtown neighbors and merchants can stop for groceries on their way home, or for downtown shoppers to enjoy some of the local artwork and wares, “We’re bringing groceries and locally made items back to downtown” Chris described.
Peter Stack and Jen Cozak, both of Fairfield, displayed Easton’s Silverman’s Farms produce and fresh donuts along with other locally sourced items, such as milk and local corn. “Everything needs to come from Connecticut” Chris continued as he spoke about the items they’ll be displaying. Chris and his wife Rita live in Westport, with Chris owning another locally owned business, StreetMarc marketing. The pair saw the need to continue this past year’s push to support local - turning it into their mission.
That mission: Eat Well, Live Well, Do Well. They’ll support it by carrying it throughout the shop as they feature local foods, arts, and even music seven days per week. When describing the “Do Well” mission, Chris continued: “A portion of all profits will go towards local charities, back into the community.”
Local to Market is located at 177 Main Street and is planning to open fully within the next three weeks. For now, the Marcoccis plan to have farm stands, like today’s, on the weekends from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM.
News 12: Westporter Seeks, Finds Owner of $500 Cash Gift
Westport woman goes on hunt to return $500 to rightful owner
News 12 Connecticut Staff, July 26th, 2021
A woman from Westport decided to return a card found on the ground with $500 inside to its rightful owner.
Gabrielle Perry, 23, was headed to dinner with friends in South Norwalk when she found the card in the parking lot of the Maritime Aquarium on July 10.
“I see there's an envelope on the ground…it said Reverend Dennis on the outside,” says Perry. “The outside said ‘Thank you for marrying us’ and then the inside was a really sweet, heartfelt note to the reverend and it seemed like they knew each other for a really long time.”
Perry tells News 12 the card had no last names. Only “From Christina and Dave.”
“That's when I contacted my friend's mom who's good at searching for people online,” said Perry.
The friend’s mother Google searched "Christina and David wedding Connecticut,” and one of the first hits brought her to the registries for a Christina Ulreich and David Kean. From there, she found Ulreich through LinkedIn and her job.
“I got married on July 11 and it was a beautiful day,” says Chrisitna Ulreich-Kean. “The thing that dampened the morning was when I found out that the gift we had given our reverend who was performing the ceremony had been lost the night before at our rehearsal dinner.”
The dinner was at The Spread in South Norwalk.
Ulreich-Kean figured the gift was gone and focused on enjoying her big day with friends and family.
That night, after the wedding Ulreich-Kean got an email which said: “I hope this is the Christina of Christina and David that are getting married on July 11. We're desperately trying to find the owners of the card. Please let us know if that was you.”
A shocked Ulreich-Kean and her new husband met up with Perry the next day and returned the card to the reverend.
“It was incredible that she even saw the cash and wanted to return it…That they went to so much trouble to find us was just really incredible,” says Ulreich-Kean.
Designer, Westporter Christian Siriano Hosts Art Show at Downtown Boutique
Fashion designer and Westporter Christian Siriano (left) spoke with Westport Second Selectwomen Jen Tooker (right) as he hosted an art show at 9 Sconset Square’s Swoon home furnishing boutique. Siriano is a recent addition to Westport, moving to the community just prior to the pandemic lockdowns in February 2020. Siriano grew to international fame after winning Project Runway’s fourth series, now designing for international community members - like Michelle Obama or Lady Gaga - in addition to interiors and home furnishings. His art show today displayed another artistic side of the designer, with his large paintings and sketches filling the downtown Westport storefront as an intimate crowd stood amongst them. To learn more about Siriano and his art, visit christiansiriano.com. WestportLocal.com photo