Chamber of Commerce Announces Selectmen Candidate Debate
The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce and the Westport Library are pleased to once again bring a vibrant and informative debate to the community this election season. There will be a new First Selectman in Westport and this interactive and moderated forum will help residents decide who should lead the town next.
“We have been doing these types of debates for years with the Library,” said Matthew Mandell, Executive Director of the Chamber. “But I think this one might be one of the most eagerly anticipated and meaningful.”
“This is all part of our mission to bring information to the community in this case through a debate,” said Bill Harmer, Executive Director of the Library. “It’s also another collaboration with the Chamber who we enjoy being partners with on so many things.”
The debate will be held live in the Library on Tuesday October 12th at noon. A limited number of tickets will be available, free, to those who would like to watch in person, in a socially distant manner. Tickets will be available starting on Wednesday at 10am. (note: all attendees must remain masked as per Town mandate)
The debate will also be televised live on Town Ch 79 and may also be watched via stream on vimeo. The debate will also be recorded and archived for later viewing. Both First and Second Selectman candidates from all parties; Jen Tooker and Andrea Moore, Jonathan Steinberg and Candi Savin, TJ Elgin and Louis D’Onofrio, will be attending and have agreed to the format and covid protocols put in place for health and safety.
The debate will be moderated by Matthew Mandell, Executive Director of the Chamber.
For further information on tickets and streaming go to www.westportwestonchamber.com/debate2021
Matthew Mandell matthew@westportwestonchamber.com 203-227-9234
Superintendent: 3 New COVID-19 Cases in 2 Schools
Superintendent Thomas ScariceDear Westport Families and Staff,
We had 3 newly reported cases of Covid-19 associated with our schools from yesterday and today. The positive cases came from:
Bedford Middle School - 1
Kings Highway Elementary School - 2
It is important to note that the district once again provided optional surveillance testing yesterday for all elementary and middle school students under the age of 12. We had 424 students participate in this round, with the exception of participants from Saugatuck Elementary School who will have that option again on Thursday. Only one positive case came from this round which is reflected in the numbers reported at Kings Highway Elementary School.
Please remember that families are asked to report positive Covid-19 cases of students using our reporting voicemail or email. Please follow this link for more information on reporting.
Additionally, we want to remind families that students with pending Covid-19 tests should not return to school until receiving negative results. This approach is critical in helping us minimize the potential for transmission in our schools.
Respectfully,
Thomas Scarice
Superintendent of Schools
Westport Book Shop Welcomes Artist Susan Fehlinger as October Exhibitor
The Westport Book Shop is pleased to welcome artist Susan Fehlinger as its guest art exhibitor for the month of October, at the Book Shop’s Drew Friedman Art Place. Susan is an oil painter; her exhibit includes 12 coastal paintings that evoke a sense of place.
Susan Fehlinger’s paintings depict familiar, yet abstracted scenes. Her painting style emphasizes her interest in texture, color and light; and she applies her paint thickly with a palette knife to highlight structure, form and shadow. Her compositions play with scale, placement, and negative/positive spaces, creating visual interest and an individual style.
Susan is a member of the Silvermine Arts Center, The Artists Collective of Westport, and the Ridgefield Guild of Artists, and is an exhibiting member of the Rowayton Art Center where she also teaches painting with the palette knife. Since moving to Connecticut in 2014, she has had a solo show at The Westport Library, The Greene Art Gallery in Guilford, and The Kershner Gallery in Fairfield, and she has exhibited her work at Beechwood Arts, Silvermine and the Westport Art Center.
Westport Book Shop, a nonprofit used book store, is downtown Westport’s only source for used and antiquarian books, vintage vinyl records, and other media. It is located at 23 Jesup Road, right across Jesup Green from the Westport Library. The art exhibit is open to the public during the Book Shop’s business hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from Noon to 5 p.m. (closed Mondays). Susan Fehlinger’s work will be on exhibit through October 31, 2021.
The Book Shop’s “Drew Friedman Art Place” is an area of the store dedicated to exhibiting the work of community artists year-round, on a rotating basis. Miggs Burroughs, a Trustee of the Drew Friedman Community Arts Center, and a founding member of The Artists Collective of Westport, is curating these exhibits, which change monthly.
Earthplace Fall Fest Brings Excitement to the Forest
Sunday’s Fall Festival at Earthplace brought fun and wonder to the Woodside Lane forest with hayrides, animal encounters, and an apple slingshot (photos below). The Festival took a hiatus during the pandemic, but returned in full force this year with volunteers and members of the Earthplace team helping facilitate the annual fundraising tradition. All funding goes towards supporting the non-profit mission of the local nature center and preschool, helping to fill in a donation void left by the lockdown-era world. Chatty, one of Earthplace’s resident Bald Eagles kept an eagle-eye on festival visitors
