James Bairaktaris 12/30/21 James Bairaktaris 12/30/21

Westport COVID-19 Test Kit Distribution Postponed

First Selectwoman Jen Tooker

The Town of Westport has been notified that due to a shipping problem, the at-home Covid test kits from the State have not been delivered to us. The distribution planned at Staples High School scheduled for today 12/30/21 at 1pm is hereby postponed. Once the test kits have been received, we will notify our residents of the new date/time of distribution.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and we are hopeful that the State will rectify this problem very soon.

Westport Center for Senior Activities

All indoor programming has been cancelled through January 17, 2022. All registrants for classes being held during this period will be notified and when possible, classes will be held via Zoom. The congregate lunch program will continue to operate as a drive-through at noon, Monday – Friday. If interested, please reserve a lunch by calling 203.341.5099.

We thank you for patience, understanding and cooperation and look forward to seeing you when we resume in-house programs.

As we move into a busy holiday weekend, we strongly encourage wearing masks indoors, social distancing, and monitoring your own health. If you are not already fully vaccinated, please get a booster.

We wish you and your families a healthy and happy 2022.

James Bairaktaris 12/30/21 James Bairaktaris 12/30/21

Morning Weather Report

Today

A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 9am. Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 46. Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph.

Tonight

A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 9pm. Cloudy, with a low around 38. Calm wind.

Tomorrow

A 20 percent chance of rain before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. Calm wind.

Tomorrow Night

A 40 percent chance of rain, mainly after 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 40. Calm wind.

James Bairaktaris 12/29/21 James Bairaktaris 12/29/21

Dr. Martha Sue Newell Atkinson, 98, Died; Professor, Cedar Point Member, Silver Donkey Awardee

Martha Sue Newell Atkinson died December 23, 2021 in Chester, Connecticut.

Always known as Sue, she was born in 1923 in Falls City, Nebraska to Duane Jacob and Grace Gillham Post Newell. She graduated from high school in Falls City as salutatorian and was student speaker at her college graduation from Park College, Missouri, in 1944.

After college Sue was awarded a one-year fellowship with the National Institute of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. She spent six months with the Labor Department and six months with the National Labor Relations Board. At the end of World War II, she went to work for the U.S. Department of State to establish an embassy in The Hague, spending two and a half years in post-war Europe.

Returning to the United States, she entered graduate school to study economics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where she met and married fellow PhD student Thomas Roth Atkinson. She earned her PhD in economics in 1951, a time when few women got doctorate degrees and fewer still in the field of economics.

As they moved from Wisconsin to Riverdale, New York; Atlanta, Georgia and finally Westport, Connecticut, Sue had a lengthy career as a college professor. She taught at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, City College in New York City and then for many years at the University of Bridgeport. At the University of Bridgeport she was involved in union politics and the faculty strike of 1978 and served as chapter president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). One of her colleagues referred to her as the "Velvet Steamroller."

On retirement Sue and Tom went to teach at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China. They were in Beijing during the student uprising in Tiananmen Square and had to leave before their classes ended. Later they returned to China to teach at the Johns Hopkins University/University of Nanjing Center.

Sue and Tom lived more than 50 years in Westport. They belonged to Cedar Point Yacht Club and enjoyed sailing on Long Island Sound. Picnic dinners on the wall by the cannons at Compo Beach were a special joy Sue and Tom shared. They enjoyed traveling and visited many interesting places throughout their 65-year marriage. Over the years they hosted many international students in their home. Sue was an enthusiastic gardener and belonged to the Westport Garden Club. She also volunteered at the Westport Historical Society. Passionate about politics, she was a member of the Democratic Women of Westport. She served as co-president and received the Silver Donkey Award for her work.

Sue's husband Tom passed away in 2013 after which she moved to Chester, CT. She is survived by her four children: Barbara (Kip) Seely, St. Louis, Mo.; Thomas N. (Patricia) Atkinson, Essex, Conn.; Connie (Mark) Holberg, Watertown, N.Y.; and Jane (James) Prentice, W. Cornwall, Conn.; nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Also surviving is Haluk (Monika) Alacaklioglu of Istanbul, Turkey, who lived with the Atkinsons while a foreign exchange student at Staples High school and continues to be considered family.