Rotary Club Celebrates First In-Person Guest Speaker with Talk by Westport Local Press Founder, Executive Editor
The Westport Rotary Club celebrated its first in-person guest speaker Tuesday afternoon during their meeting at Christ & Holy Trinity’s Branson Hall. The club had moved to Zoom meetings during the pandemic lockdown, and recently transition back to their traditional in-person meetings - with guest speakers Zooming in to the group through a large presentation screen. The Westport Local Press’ Founder and Executive Editor, Jaime Bairaktaris, was honored with the opportunity to attend live and spoke to the rotarians about the foundation and construction of the Westport Local Press, the values that guide its team, and continuing the tradition of community journalism and photography.
With former WestportNow contributors attending the meeting, Bairaktaris described the positive impact that WestportNow and its team had on him while growing up in Westport. Bairaktaris became a contributing photographer for WestportNow as a high school freshman, and had over 500 photos published before the website’s transition to a digital history in December 2020 after its founder and Westport Rotary Club member Gordon Joseloff’s passing.
The Westport Rotary Club has been in service since 1924, and serves local and international communities through philanthropic actions with donations and fundraisers such as the annual LobsterFest at Compo Beach. Photo by Dave Matlow for WestportLocal.com