Staples Girls Soccer Shutouts: Danbury 2-0, Newtown 4-0
Staples Girls Soccer continues it’s successes in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Tournament with shut-out victories over Danbury and Newtown, advancing their quest for another state tournament championship.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Staples take the pitch after halftime of the Danbury game.
On Friday, October 31 the Wreckers avenged a scoreless tie in Danbury with a decisive victory at home. Head Coach Barry Beattie spoke with WestportLocal, saying, “It was a strong performance from the girls as they dominated possession and controlled most of the game. They were able to create a lot of clear chances to score.”
He continued, “Willa (Junior Willa Shamie, center back) took her goal well from a corner by Alexa (midfielder, sophomore Alexa Fan Aken) which she lost her mark and headed home.”
Beattie told us, “The second half saw us create more chances but Alexa made the difference by scoring a great goal from the edge of the box.”
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
On Tuesday, November 4th, the girls once again dominated with a 4-0 shout-out of the #5 ranked Newtown Nighthawks on their home pitch in the second round of the tournament. It was another stellar Wrecker performance, with Coach Beattie telling us, “We started well and created many good chances. The goals we scored were all great quick moving play. Alexa Van Aken scored twice assists were Maddy Johnson and Riely Gullans.”
Players celebrate another decisive victory over Danbury.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Coach Beattie added, “Toni Rizzi scored late in the first half off a great Neave Mulvey cross. The second half we were able to make a lot of changes and give good game time to others. Sami Selig scored the last one off an assist with Maddy Grey.”
The #12 ranked Stales girls will next face the #4 Amity Regional HS Spartans in Woodbridge on Saturday at 1:00 PM
The MOMbies Invasion Of Westport’s Vineyard Vines!
The MOMbies take over Vineyard Vines!
Photos by J.C. Martin, Story by Joy Martini For WestportLocalPress. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
It seemed like an ordinary Saturday. Until…One of Westport’s favorite stores, Main Street’s Vineyard Vines, was invaded by the ghoulish MOMbies. There appears to be no casualties and if reports are correct, store employees and customers all left with their brains fully intact. (And smiles on their faces.)
The MOMbies. Who are they? What are they?
Ten years ago, Fairfield’s Terry Davis had an idea. Wouldn’t it be a hoot to gather a bunch of friends and do a flash mob dance to Thriller during trick-or-treating in their beach area neighborhood? It was just an idea to shake up Halloween and show the kids that moms can be fun. You could say the idea took hold. Following their break-out performance, the terrifying troupe which now numbers over 50 Fairfield moms, partnered with the Cancer Couch Foundation, which funds metastatic breast cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. In their decade of dance, fully costumed as zombies and professional choreographed, the MOMbies have become a seasonal – and national, sensation!! Best of all with an anonymous matching donor, to date the MOMbies have raised nearly $750,000.
Each year, in addition to their dance performances, the MOMbies zombie up and hit the road to visit their corporate supporters. And that brings us to last Saturday and the march of the half-dead down Westport’s main drag. “We absolutely love visiting our special supporters and are so grateful for Vineyard Vines’ longtime generosity. This is where preppy meets petrifying!” noted Terry Davis, MOMbies founder and creative director.
Photos by J.C. Martin, Story by Joy Martini For WestportLocalPress. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Join In The Fun On This Sunday!
Their main performance will be this Sunday, October 26th at Elicit Brewery in Fairfield with shows at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm. The free and family friendly show also will include a dance party, raffle prizes, a zombification station and other tricks and treats.
For more information, or to donate, visit mombies.org. You can also follow the ghouls:
@mombiesorg on Instagram, and @MOMbies on YouTube and Facebook.
To see them in action, check out YouTube: MOMbies in a Minute:
Family Fun At Earthplace Fall Fest
Earlier this month Earthplace, one of Westport’s true gems for children and families held their Fall Festival.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
There were plenty of fun activities for kids and their parents to enjoy. Everywhere you went there were games to be played, crafts to be created, and an opportunity to get close-up and personal with some of Earthplace’s wonderful wildlife.
A perennial favorite, the “corn pit” kept kids engaged for quite some time as the jumped, dove and “swam” in hundreds of thousand of corn kernels. They found several clever ways to enjoy this very busy attraction.
.Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
The donut on a string presented a challenge for kids looking for a treat, but only with a bit of work. Kind of like an Earthplace version of bobbing for apples (a boomer reference no doubt).
There were plenty of fun activities for kids and their parents to enjoy. Everywhere you went there were games to be played, crafts to be created, and an opportunity to get close-up and personal with some of Earthplace’s wonderful wildlife.
.Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
The eagle nest also drew quite a lot of attention as kids channeled their inner builder spirit, assembling tree limbs and sticks to created a larger than life “eagle nest” as they learned about many interesting facts about our national symbol and how they live.
.Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
.Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
Food vendors were also on hand, including Paradise Island Food which offered authentic Puerto Rican food from their elaborate food truck and buffet.
.Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery
No King’s October 18th Protests Nationwide Now Exceed 2600; Expect Traffic And Delays Downtown On Saturday, 10:30AM
The nationwide No Kings Day movement will be holding protests all across the country and in locations around the world to express their refusal to accept the actions of the Trump administration. The number of protests for this event is currently at 2600, a dramatic increase from the 2100 protests held on June 14th, 2025. Those protests took place on the same day as the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade and Trump's 79th birthday and estimates of 5,000,000 people in attendance nationally were reported in the media. The map above shows locations of protest rallies.
This interactive map can be found at: No Kings Map.org and locations of the rallies can be found.
At last check there were nearly 40 protests shown to be taking place in CT from Greenwich, north to Salisbury, east to Killingly and south to Mystic, essentially covering all corners of the state, as well as Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport & Stamford as noted on No Kings.org
Photos above by J.C. Martin for WestportLocalPress are from the June No Kings Day protest. The close-up of the trip-state area map from No Kings.org.
Westport’s protest begins to gather at 10:45 AM at Jesup Green and will march from Jesup to Veteran’s Green at the north end of Main St. traffic and potential road closures will make downtown travel difficult. The end time for the protest may possibly be as late as 1:00 PM, with similar downtown protests dissipating around 12:30 PM, however that is no guarantee that will occur Saturday. Organizers project as many as 1,000 people who may possibly join the protest.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has dubbed the protest the “Hate America Rally”
Yahoo News Mike Johnson Comments
NBC News reported on a Fox News interview of Johnson commenting on the protest: “In a Fox News interview, Johnson referred to those marching Saturday as the “pro-Hamas wing” and the “antifa people.” Republican congressional leaders have dubbed them the “hate America” rallies.
See: NBC News Politics
OnThursday morning, the No Kings coalition held a press conference with these speakers:
- Leah Greenberg, Co-Founder, Indivisible Project
- Katie Bethell, Executive Director, MoveOn Civic Action
- Deirdre Schifeling, Chief Political & Advocacy Officer, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- Jaime Contreras, Executive Vice President, 32BJ SEIU
- Robert Weissman, Co-President, Public Citizen
- Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
- Sarah Parker, 50501 and Voices of Florida
Here is the YouTube link to that presser:
No Kings Press Conference
The Westport Police Department issued this press release:
Westport Police Department Traffic Advisory – Planned Protest for Saturday, October 18 (Westport, CT) The Westport Police Department has been made aware of an organized protest assembly scheduled to take place in the downtown area on Saturday, October 18, 2025, between approximately 11:00am and 1:00pm. At minimum, motorists should anticipate significant traffic delays, with the potential for road closures and associated detours. It is therefore suggested that travelers seek alternate routes around the downtown area or simply avoid the vicinity if feasible. Those driving to or through the locality of this demonstration during this timeframe are asked to be patient, cautious and mindful of what is anticipated to be extremely heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 14, 2025 Contact: Lieutenant Anthony Prezioso APrezioso@WestportCT.gov.
Westport PD is expected to update information on event conditions on Friday.