J.C. Martin 7/10/23 J.C. Martin 7/10/23

LymanAID Fundraising Festival Raises Over $40K For Ukrainian Sister Cities

Several hundred people attended the LymanAid event in Southport on Saturday and were treated to great food and great music form the very popular local group the Mike McGovern Band and as well as patriotic Ukrainian songs performed by Olga Olichka a lovely Ukrainian singer who regularly performs for events aimed at raising funds for helping the people of Ukraine as they endure more than 500 days of suffering and sacrifice. In keeping with the Ukrainian spirit food was given to festival attendees with free will donations gratefully accepted.

Photos And Story by J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Above, Left: Westport First Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Center: Easton First Selectman David Bindleglass, Right: (L to R) Marshall Mayer, co-founder and President, Ukraine Aid International (UAI) Clyde Wauchope, Volunteer Coordinator, UAI, Connie Von Zwehl, LymanAID Organizer, Brian Mayer, Co-Founder and Executive Director, UAI

UAI Press Release - Southport, CT - July 9, 2023

LymanAID, a remarkable fundraising festival, was held today at the Ukrainian American Club in Southport, CT, with the aim of supporting Ukraine Aid International, Inc., a Connecticut-based nonprofit organization. The event was organized to further assist the Sister City of Lyman in Ukraine, as well as six additional towns in Connecticut that have been paired with Sister Cities in Ukraine.

The festival commemorated the thriving partnership between Westport and Lyman, which began in December 2022. Demonstrating their unwavering commitment, Westport successfully raised more than $250,000 for Lyman, enabling critical aid initiatives. These include the procurement of two trash trucks, repairs to six apartment buildings, revitalizing the town's agricultural sector through seed distributions, and much more.

Press Release continued:

Expanding its scope to incorporate other Connecticut towns, LymanAID welcomed guests from every Sister City involved. Participants included representatives from Fairfield, Easton, Weston, Ridgefield, Greenwich, Stamford, and LymanAID's host town, Fairfield. Notable dignitaries in attendance were Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Representative Jim Himes (CT-04), First Selectwoman Jen Tooker of Westport, First Selectman David Bindelglass of Easton, First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor of Weston, First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchik of Fairfield, and Chief of Police Foti Koskinas of Westport. The event was meticulously organized by Connie Von Zwehl and graciously hosted by the Ukrainian American Club of Southport.

LymanAID was further enriched by the generous support of local vendors who donated their time, food, and goods. Special thanks go to 203 Brick Oven Pizza, Saugatuck Sweets, AZYR Specs, and Keller Williams Westport Realty for their invaluable contributions.

Photos by J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Press Release continued:

Marshall Mayer, President of Ukraine Aid International, expressed his gratitude, saying, "LymanAID exemplifies the power of collaboration and compassion. The remarkable support received today will significantly impact the lives of those residing in Lyman and our sister cities across Eastern Ukraine. We are immensely grateful for the generous contributions made at this event."

Additionally, heartfelt appreciation goes out to the dedicated volunteers of the Ukrainian American Club of Southport who played an integral role in making the event a reality.

While organizers continue to tally the final donation figures from the generous contributors at LymanAid, early indications suggest that over $30,000 has been raised for Lyman and the other sister cities in Eastern Ukraine. The event was privately underwritten, guaranteeing that 100% of the funds raised will directly benefit Ukraine Aid International and their ongoing efforts to support Lyman and the Ukrainian sister cities.

For further information about the impactful work carried out by Ukraine Aid International and to make a tax-deductible donation to support their work, please visit www.ukraineaidinternational.org.

Anyone wishing to help can contact Ukraine Aid International, Inc. via email: contact@ukraineaidinternational.org

The mayor of Lyman, Oleksandr Zhuravlov appeared on a TV monitor and addressed the audience about the devastation his city has suffered.

As Westporter's have seen in media reports Zhuravlov hosted our First Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Police Chief Foti Koskinas and Easton First Selectman David Bindleglass on a recent visit to Lyman, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Westport First Selectwoman Jen Tooker spoke with sadness at the recent news of more destruction to Westport's sister city, Lyman as a result of renewed Russian missle attacks which took the lives of nine people in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, a city which was retaken by Ukrainian forces last year.

Tooker told WestportLocalPress, "Saturday’s shelling of our sister city Lyman makes me even more committed to delivering personalized, respectful, effective humanitarian aid to them through the efforts of the non-profit Ukraine Aid International. Thank you to our generous Westport community. You are making a difference in the lives of regular people who are now caught between being victims and heroes"

Westport First Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Fairfield Westport First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick, Easton First Selectman David Bindleglass.

U.S Senator Richard Blumenthal spoke passionately about the determination of the U.S. to support Ukraine, including providing the military hardware and humanitarian aid to help Ukraine defend their homeland and to stop what is widely believed to be Putin's possible aggression against other countries in the region.

Photos And Story by J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

The Mike McGovern Band kept the event rocking’.

Mother-Daughter Team Luba and Yaroslava Zamoyska offered art, blankets, wood art, cat toys, doggie bandanas all handmade by them, as well as photos donated by a local photographer. Proceeds from everything sold were donated to assist Ukraine. Both women are proud to demonstrate dedication to their cause and their homeland and have gotten tattoos with the ubiquitous Ukrainian national symbol, the Tryzub trident we have seen everywhere which Yaroslava (left) proudly displays.

Photos And Story by J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Volunteers braved the hot weather and even hotter grills to serve up delicious food offerings.

Photos And Story by J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Left: Julia Voytovych of Ridgefield Holds one of the artwork pieces offered, a very hard-hitting paiting showing the flag of Ukraine bringing focus on the bloodshed of innocent Ukrainians.

Westport artist and designer Miggs Burroughs designed and produced one of his lenticualr photographs which commemorates the sinking of the pride of the Russian Black Sea fleet, the flagship Moskva (Moscow in Russian) on April 14th. 2022. The piece show the vessel steaming along one minute and when turned a few degrees, shows the sinking of the ship after being struck by two R-360 Ukrainian subsonic anti-ship cruise missiles which reportedly infuriated Putin.Burroughs was asked by Mark Yurkiw who, along with Miggs is of Ukrainian decent, to create about 20 of them for a stamp convention in New Jersey last year to raise money. They sold for about $100 each And several were sold. As well as being a fundraiser, Burroughs and Yurkiw thought it would make a great statement about the Ukranian’s strength and resolve to show the ship actually sinking, which Miggs created with Photoshop using the original photo. The envelope with a stamp and an illustration related to the stamp is called a “First Day Cover” and is very collectible in the stamp world.

Again, Anyone wishing to help can contact Ukraine Aid International, Inc. via email: contact@ukraineaidinternational.org

J.C. Martin 7/7/23 J.C. Martin 7/7/23

America's Birthday Celebration Continues At Norwalk's Calf Pasture Beach Fireworks

Norwalk's scheduled fireworks celebration was postponed as have several other area shows and was held on Wednesday at Calf Pasture Beach.

Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

The beach was filled with families anticipating the first rocket launch. In the meantime, a favorite area band, Darik and the Funbags who have been entertaining their fans for more than twenty years, got the crowd rockin' early.

Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

J.C. Martin 7/3/23 J.C. Martin 7/3/23

Sidewalk Sales Draw Hundreds, Highlighting Ongoing Parking Debate

Parking is at capacity for Westport’s Sidewalk Sale event on June 24th.

Photos and story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

The Annual Sidewalk Sale Days are always a big hit with shoppers and that means lots of drivers looking for a parking space. The debate over the proposed modifications to Parker Harding Plaza, the largest parking lot for downtown shoppers currently would result in the closing of the pass through from Main St. to the Post Road as well as the elimination of a number of parking spaces. According to First Selectwoman Jen Tooker, consideration of reconfiguration of the Parker Harding Plaza Parking Lot will be on hold for the time being. Reporting indicates many downtown merchants as well as many residents objected to the plan which would reduce available parking.

As the photos above show, there is nary a space to be had even at 4:00PM on Saturday with only a few shopping hours left in the day. One Gorham Island which adjoins Parker Harding and is available for parking on weekends when the offices are mostly closed, had just a few spots left. With a growing list of in town events such as the Westport Art Festival, WestoberFest with more possible in the future, and new retail and restaurants increasing the demand for parking, the solution will be a challenge for town officials. No matter what the solution turns out to be, rest assured there will likely be vocal criticism and opposition.

Word on the street was that Kerri Rosenthal was offering big discounts on some of their lines of fine artwork, clothing and home accessories resulting in a line to enter their tent.

Photos and story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Vineyard Vines tent was also very well attended with shoppers looking for bargains.

J.C. Martin 6/30/23 J.C. Martin 6/30/23

Thousands Flock To Compo Beach To Celebrate America’s Birthday

Melissa & Doug and Westport PAL once again team up to give us a spectacular show.

Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

At 6:30 PM there was still prime real estate available. By 7:30, it was all gone. The baseball field had been marked up for perfectly aligned parking.