Fireworks Light Up The Sky At Norwalk’s Calf Pasture Beach
One of the many spectacular fireworks shows that took place earlier this month was at Norwalk’s Calf Pasture Beach. The show was the highlight of the July 4th celebration at the beach, which included live music by one of Fairfield county’s favorite bands, the Funky Dawgs who have played many times in Westport.
Fireworks continued the week of the 4th with Ridgefield holding their display on Sunday the 7th after threat of rain postponed their planned Saturday show. Rain also postponed the show at Darien High School set for Friday July 12th and will instead take place this Friday, July 14th.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Please click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Signs of patriotism and the celebration of our nation’s founding were everywhere. Norwalk PD marine unit kept boaters at a safe distance.
Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling and his first lady Lucia were on hand to enjoy the festivities and the beautiful fireworks show. Kids were having fun with bubble guns, while teens were enjoying the newly popular game of spike ball while others displayed their skill at Pepsi-Pong.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Please click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
The brilliant shells were varied and many and were reflected in the waters of Long Island Sound.
Some folks went all out on their red, whit and blue. Teens took a moment from their game to show off for the camera. The day was a perfect opportunity for dads to dance with their kids and grandmothers to bond with their grandchildren. Not all who gathered for the event and show were born in the USA. One woman was fully prepared to dig a very large whole. We did not ask what the purpose was. Some may have been too young to fully understand the big party, but they enjoyed it nonetheless.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Please click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Always a crowd favorite, CT based Dawgs band. Their website states that they “are one of the premier touring acts on the live music scene today. It is impossible not to enjoy yourself during a show as they play a contagious upbeat mix of original music, hip hop, funk, and today’s top hits with a brass twist.” they have played nationally and have appeared with such notables as Tower Of Power, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Twiddle when they played Westport at the Levitt and more.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Please click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
There was a sea of smiles as visitors enjoyed the beach, the music and each other as they awaited the start of the show.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Please click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
As darkness approached the excited crowd got their own little start on the show as street entertainers showed their skills.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com. Please click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Paddlin’ At Compo Cove
This family found respite from the heat recently by paddling at Compo Cove.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com
Another Example Of Anti-Semitism Appears In Westport
Three of the volunteers from Run4TheirLives hanging new posters showing the faces of the hostages kidnapped in the October 7th attack on Israel to replace the tattered and destroyed posters hung after the October 7th attack. Those posters were torn down earlier this week. No word on if the group will replace them again.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com.
The day before the jUNe Day celebration in town of the United Nations and Westport’s commitment to the rights of the peoples of the world and to their freedom and safety, a group of volunteers replaced the tattered posters which had appeared on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge shortly after the brutal Hamas attack on Israel, with new posters.
The more than 100 new posters were laminated to protect them from the weather and were securely hung with strong zip ties, all at the cost of several hundred dollars to the volunteers who are part of the Run4TheirLives organization.
On Wednesday it was discovered that all of the posters had been ripped from the bridge railings, a feat which required some effort as the thickly laminated sheets were attached quite securely, and a fair amount of time depending upon how many individuals were involved in the effort.
The group provided a statement to WestportLocaPress shortly after jUNe Day, where a silent protest (WestportLocal: In Their Silence) of over 100 people appeared at the jUNe Day commemoration to keep attention focused on those victims of the attack:
“In February, many of the hostage posters hung on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge after the October 7th Hamas massacre in Israel, were torn down, ripped, and strewn across the ground. Those that remained grew faded in the nine months since the attack. In response, members of the Westport chapter of Run4TheirLives, reprinted and laminated new posters. Today, those posters representing the remaining 116 hostages thought to remain in captivity – many alive, too many dead – were rehung as part of a local jUNe Day silent protest of 150 Westporters against the UN’s abject silence in the face of definitive and graphic evidence of the sexual atrocities Hamas has committed against women on and since October 7th, and the agency’s involvement and complicity in the attack itself, not to mention its refusal to aid in the release of the hostages, representing 54 nationalities.”
Run4TheirLives is a global volunteer organization of humanitarian citizens who march weekly as a reminder of the hostages in captivity. Westport is one of 212 such groups worldwide.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com
June’s Sidewalk Sale Scenes
There were bargains galore at Downtown Westport’s annual Sidewalk Sale Days held on the last weekend of June. The excellent weather, coupled with the Great Duck Race and the annual jUNe Day celebration added to Saturday’s very busy shopping day. Some of the shoe deals brought some big smiles to these ladies. We don’t know if this bulldog made the purchase at Vineyard Vines or he was just guarding his human’s purchase.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Not only were the sidewalks filled with shoppers, there were lots of purchases being made. Several Main St. stores told WestportLocalPress that sales were noticeably better than last year, with more traffic and more purchases being made.
One store which was experiencing their first Sidewalk Sale was very pleased with the number of shoppers visiting their store. The appearance of a 10 week old Golden Retriever puppy stopped many shoppers in their tracks to give some love and get some puppy kisses. Another pup seemed pretty comfortable in his owner’s lap after lunch.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
The multi-national brand Rhone which offers men’s and women’s clothes was positioned right on the corner, a short distance from to the very local Two Oh Three, the ifestyle brand celebrating CT life. We noticed more than a few people quizzically looking at this sidewalk “dressing room” which even seemed to draw notice from one four-legged “shopper”. It appeared to be more of an attention getter than an actual dressing room.
They may not have been shopping much, but these dogs seemed more than happy to greet passers-by.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.