Booked For The Evening Presented Laura Linney To Record Crowd
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The Westport Library's Booked For The Evening series has had numerous very high profile honorees and Thursday's event with acclaimed star of stage, film and television Laura Linney helped the Library to it's most successful "Booked" fundraiser yet.
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Before taking the stage to be interviewed by Lynne Meadow, the director of the Manhattan Theatre Club, Linney was front row for the presentation film in which she received glowing tributes on her abilities as and actor and as a exceptional person by the long line of Hollywood and Broadway "A" listers from Clint Eastwood to Jason Bateman to Liam Neeson. One speaker took a comic note of the extensive accolades afforded Linney from all over the entertainment industry saying he was happy that Linney was able to hear her eulogy in person while alive to enjoy it, bringing a smile to the honeree's face.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Linney’s film, television and stage credits are extensive with roles in Love, Actually, Mystic River and The Truman Show. Television viewers will remember her from shows such as Frasier and more recently, Ozark as well as the acclaimed mini-series John Adams. Her true loves always been the stage and she has appeared on Broadway in The Crucible, Sight Unseen, and other roles.
She has been recognized for her acting excellence with two Golden Globes, a SAG Award and four Emmys.
The pre-main event gathering for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres was at capacity at nearly 500 guests, as was the on stage interview of Linney with many notable Westporters in attendance.
As always, dedicated library volunteers and staff helped the evening go smoothly. Music was provided by a string trio of recent staples grads.
A Very NICE Saturday In Norwalk
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On Saturday July 8th, Norwalk's Oyster Shell park, a beautiful hilltop overlooking the Norwalk River and SoNo held their annual NICE festival. NICE was created by the Norwalk International Cultural Exchange, is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to promote and increase awareness of the diversity of people from around the world through arts and culture.
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The event, first held in 2016 has grown to draw up to 5,000 visitors throughout the nearly 12 hour event. This seventh staging of the NICE festival, which was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic offers visitors a taste of the flavors of multiple world cultures in not only delicious ethnic foods from multiple vendor food truck, but in their native dances and traditional music.
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As their website states, "NICE specifically emphasizes celebrating folk and traditional arts from multiple cultures and ethnic groups across varied art forms and genres…"
One of the more spectacular performances was by Cebuanos in Engaging in Building Unity Inc's Tribu Cebuano which presented Sinulog. Performed at the Sinulog Festival which originated in Cebu City in the Philippines, it is held on the third Sunday of January. It commemorates the conversion of the Cebuanos to Roman Catholicism and pays tribute to the Santo Niño de Cebú, also known as the Holy Child Jesus.
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The word “Sinulog” means “graceful dance”, wherein it all started in 1980 with a simple dance that represents the “sulog” (or current) of a river in Cebu. With the celebration's evolution, the Sinulog Festival has become a month long tradition in Cebu.
The mission of NICE is to encourage the various groups that make up our society to learn about each other’s traditions and customs in order to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of what each group brings to our community.
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The festival receives high praise from the office of Norwalk's Mayor, Harry Rilling on the NICE website which says "In Norwalk, we make it a point to celebrate the uniqueness of our community and all the diverse cultures our city represents. No other event exemplifies the beautiful melting pot that Norwalk exhibits as well as the NICE Festival."
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The performers listed on their website included the Mike Camacho Quintet which performed a Jazz Tribute to Norwalk's own Horace Silver, Mariachi Mexico Antiguo featuring Tere Luna a Traditional Mexican Folkloric Ensemble, NYTAK, the Akwaaba Ensemble from Ghana, Rick Reyes who brought Latin American Fusion with more music provided by DJ Kebi who has spun at Aspen and the events worldwide.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Volunteers braved the hot weather and even hotter grills to serve up delicious food offerings.
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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
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.
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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.
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Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Sidewalk Sales Draw Hundreds, Highlighting Ongoing Parking Debate
Parking is at capacity for Westport’s Sidewalk Sale event on June 24th.
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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.
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Vineyard Vines tent was also very well attended with shoppers looking for bargains.
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.
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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.
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Getting a prime spot early is always a good idea.
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Pretty easy for these party-goers to find the party!
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Some folks had the perfect view, and no traffic!
jUNe Day: When The World Came To Wakeman Town Farm
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Wakeman Town Farm in Westport often gets visitors from out-of-town, especial for their special events like their upcoming family fun day. Saturday the large groups of visitors were from WAY out of town. LIke China, Pakistan and Boliva.
WTF was one of the stops for the visiting UN delegates and staff who were in town for jUNe Day. There were folks from Bolvia, Taiwan and Hungary. They were thrilled at the chance to show some love to the baby goats and lambs in the farm's enclosure. Even visitors from Kenya and Nigeria who are only a few hour's journey from seeing lions, giraffes and hippos were having a ball playing with and brushing a simply adorable group of baby goats which are on loan from a farm in Roxbury, CT.
A Wakeman staffer escorted small groups of excited children and delighted adults into the enclosure where they posed for photos, petted and even did some grooming on the playful, very curious, very friendly baby goats.
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jUNe Day Soccer: UN Team Defeats Westport Football Club, 9-7
Above left the home team, Westport Football Club and right the UN football team.
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Anyone thinking the annual Football (Soccer in the US) match between the visiting United Nations team and our Westport Football Club, formerly known as the Westport Late Nights would be a competitive but somewhat casual game would not have expected the intensity of play between these long-time fierce rivals. Tremendous efforts by both clubs resulted in a hard played match with lots of contact and physical play.
The UN team came out strong, scoring 3 goals to zero in the first half. Westport FC fought back hard scoring all of their seven goals in the second half. The efforts were not quite enough as the UN team added another six goals to their first half total of three. Westport's goalie, Brian Kane suffered a game-ending injury early in the second period. After feeling something not right in his leg, he ignored the possible injury and continued to fight. A strong goal kick a few minutes into the second half caused his knee to fail completely and Westport EMS responded to the call, bringing Kane to the hospital where it was determined that he required surgery.
Westport scorers were led by Michael Nowakowski with 3 goals followed by Cat Pavel, who added 2 more. Peter Dorgai and Marius Jasinski each contributed 1 goal. Westport was coached by Damien McClave.
The UN Team scoring was well balanced, led by Harwan from Yemen with 3 goals, followed by AJ from Nigeria/USA, and Marcelo from Brazil scoring 2 goals apiece. Adding 1 goal each were Felipe from Brazil and Marcus from the US.
Aliamane Bacar Said, UN Soccer Team coach, complimented Westport on their fine play. Upon hearing of Kane's injury from WestportLocalPress, coach Said asked to relay his concern and hopes for a speedy recovery for the Westport goalie. Coach Said, who hails from the Comoros Islands also expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome the UN visitors received from the people of Westport.
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Sunrise Rotary's 14th Annual Great Duck Race Another Huge Success
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Although the skies were a little threatening at the commencement of the jUNe Day ceremony and the Great Duck Race, the rain held off bringing hundreds to the annual Westport Sunrise Rotary Club's largest annual fundraiser. Such was not the case at 6:00 AM when three dozen hard working volunteers arrived amid a torrential downpour to begin the complicated setup.
Mr. Paul proudly told WestportLocalPress, "We sold just over 3,000 ducks and raised more than $70,000 that we will give away to charities. There were people as far away as Australia and Japan purchasing tickets and supporting 35 local Westport area charities. This year’s Great Duck Race had 25 sponsors who helped make this event possible and support the works of the Rotary Club."
Donny Corona of sponsor A.J. Penna carefully drove his front loader from the Jesup Green parking area where duckies were still being loaded until the very last minute. Corona then slowly "poured" the 3,000 ducks into the sluice for their journey to the finish line.”
The finish line found Sunrise Rotarian Steve Violette who selected each of the first ten ducks to enter the chamber of the sluice. They were then carefully placed in plastic bags numbered one through ten. Violette actually created the Duck Race 14 years ago and devised the giant sluice last year. Ducks are dropped from the bucket of the front loader into the sluice, then it is unsealed allowing the water to form a current directed to the finish line and emptying into the storm drain. Westport Fire Department was on site with a fire hose to hep direct the flow toward the end point.
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The Winners of the $10,000. cash prize money were:
First place duck belonging to Theresa House brought her $5,000.
In second place was Elyse Oleksak whose duck brought home $1,000.
The rest of the prize money, $500 each went to Rady Johnson, Lily Ayers, Andrew Dinitz, Janet Beers, Steven Benardete, Neil Santos, David Press and Helen McAlinden.
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Sunrise Rotary President Bruce Paul told WestportLocal, "Each year several winners have donated their prize money back to Westport Sunrise Rotary and this year was no exception. We are thrilled with their generosity and support." The prize monies donated back will pass on to the 35 charities supported by The Great Duck Race event. Said Paul of the contributions, "People can be really thoughtful."
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jUNe Day: When The World Comes To Westport
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On Saturday June 24th Westport held it's 58th annual welcome to the people of the world in conjunction with The United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut and the International Hospitality Committee. Delegates to the UN as well as staff members were given a warm welcome once again and were offered the opportunity to visit some of Westport's exceptional amenities such as Wakeman Town Farm, Compo Beach, Earthplace and the Longshore Golf Course among others. They also got to witness first-hand a Westport Institution, The Sunrise Rotary's Great Duck Race. The fierce rivalry on the Soccer pitch is also an annual event where The Westport Football Club took on the United Nations team, comprised of soccer players from all over the world at the Saugatuck school. (story and photos to follow)
The jUNe Day program began with a greeting from Mr. Willard Hass, President, NA-USA Southwestern CT Chapter. Mr. Hass was followed by First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker who welcomed the international contingent to Westport. A message from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was delivered by the Guest of Honor, Mr. Christian Saunders. Mr. Saunders is the Under-Secretary-General, Special Coordinator on Improving the UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.
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The important highlights from the message of UN Secretary-General Guterres which which were delivered by Under-Secretary-General Saunders were:
For over five decades, on the last Saturday of June, the Town of Westport has welcomed UN staff members, delegates and friends to mark a special occasion: the anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter.
The UN Charter is rooted in a simple idea: what happens to one member of the human family affects us all. Groups like yours understand that overcoming complex global challenges like conflicts, climate change, hunger, poverty and inequality requires all countries working together, as one.
We need globally minded citizens to stand together and lend their voices to call for action in support of the world’s most vulnerable people, and to build a better, fairer, more peaceful and sustainable future for all.
Mr. Sherif Mohamed United Nations Staff Union, Member of the Executive Board followed with closing remarks given by Mrs. Michaela MacColi, jUNe Day Chairperson.
