Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Quick Article Index . . .
Free Home Energy
Saving Seminar for Retirees coming to Westport Council on Aging.
Beer drinkers raise over $1200 for Haiti relief.
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, January 28, 2010 History courtesy of Stormfax
Weather Almanac Is
six more weeks of winter on its way? It
appears so as a large high front is moving across the Eastern United States,
and the weather forecast for Gobbler's Knob is sunshine. And
to think an animal rights group wanted to replace Phil with a robot! What
nonsense! Click here to see Phil’s
response to being automated. History of
Groundhog Day. In
1723, the Delaware Indians settled Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as a campsite
halfway between the Allegheny and the Susquehanna Rivers. The town is
90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, at the intersection of Route 36 and Route
119. The Delawares considered groundhogs
honorable ancestors. According to the original creation beliefs of the
Delaware Indians, their forebears began life as animals in "Mother
Earth" and emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men.
The
name woodchuck comes from the Indian legend of "Wojak,
the groundhog" considered by them to be their ancestral grandfather. When
German settlers arrived in the 1700s, they brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day, which has an early origin in the pagan
celebration of Imbolc. It came at the
mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.
Superstition held that if the weather was fair, the second half of winter
would be stormy and cold. For the early Christians in Europe, it was
the custom on Candlemas Day for clergy to bless
candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of winter. A
lighted candle was placed in each window of the home. The day's weather
continued to be important. If the sun came out February 2, halfway
between winter and spring, it meant six more weeks of wintry weather. The earliest
American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Pennsylvania Dutch
Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College: February 4, 1841 - from Morgantown,
Berks County (Pennsylvania) storekeeper James Morris' diary..."Last
Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on
which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter
quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap,
but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be
moderate." According
to the old English saying: If Candlemas be fair and bright, From
Scotland: If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, From
Germany: For as the sun
shines on Candlemas Day, And
from America: If the sun shines
on Groundhog Day;
Free Home Energy Saving Seminar for
Retirees coming to Westport Council on Aging. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday,
February 02, 2010 Westport
residents, Want to reduce your home energy costs? Looking for cheap,
do-it-yourself solutions? Interested in ways to finance energy and heating
improvements? You’ll
learn about all this and more by attending a free seminar: Home Energy
Savings for Retirees on Monday February 17th, at 1:00 p.m. at 75 Reed Road,
Westport. The Council on Aging is
hosting this session, one of the 130 being held statewide by the
Massachusetts Municipal Association. The
workshop will stress the importance of reducing heat usage by providing
do-it-yourself sealing techniques; information on which in-depth alterations
are most cost effective; tips on reducing electricity and water usage,
resources for home audits, rebates and financing alterations. Presenters will
lead a slideshow to illustrate hands-on tips, discuss which changes are the
most cost-effective, and provide free educational materials for attendees.
Refreshments will be provided. “Home
Energy Savings for Retirees Seminars cover the key elements to reducing home
energy costs,” Gomes said. “These free
workshops will teach residents how to be most effective in reducing energy
use and costs.” To
find out more about this workshop, contact Mary Ellen Gomes at: (508)
636-1026 or email: coadirector@westport-ma.gov. Click here to review MMA slide presentation
on Home Energy Savings to see if this workshop is for you. PDF Large
file, please be patient. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, February
02, 2010
MRJ Construction employee
Jeff Miranda (left) sets a curbstone with the help of a Bobcat and co-worker
Donald at the new southend fire station. Workers
took advantage of sunny weather to tackle some of the outside landscaping
chores, getting a jump on spring. It’s probably not a minute too soon as Punxsutawney
Phil predicted six more weeks on winter. Inside the
building, Fradette Drywall of Danielson, CT
continues with the taping and mudding of the interior wallboard, while KONE,
Inc. (branch office in Canton, MA) installs the fire station’s three-level traction
elevator. KONE (pronounced cō´nāy´),
a Finish company, is a world leading elevator and escalator company. Their
KONE MonoSpace™ elevator is a practical, affordable
and efficient machine room-less elevator. HVAV (Heating,
Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) systems use energy-efficient equipment. The fire station’s heating system is primarily forced
hot water with a secondary forced hot air supply using duct-inserted, remotely
installed VAV (Variable Air Volume) units with hot-water-driven reheat coils
and fans. The thermostatically-controlled VAV units employed at
the fire station (pictured below) provide two important functions; rapidly
warming a space cooled by nighttime setbacks; and by regulating the
volume of air delivered, a VAV system can control the temperature of a space
without changing the temperature of the main supply air.
Most of the ductwork in the fire station is
used for the Air Exchange System, as today’s more energy-efficient
construction can
create a problem of indoor air pollution, with vapor barriers, thermal
windows, weather-stripping and caulk reducing or stopping fresh air from
infiltrating and replacing stale air. A device known as an air-to-air
exchanger is used to recover heating or cooling and improve air quality.
Left: Central ductwork
associated with the air-handling system. Right: Dave of Seekonk Heating works
the copper fittings in the heating system’s hot water lines.
Left: Neil of KONE
Elevators works high in the elevator shaft. Center: Neil plumbs and levels
the elevator’s hardware. Right: Frank of Fradette
Drywall works the mud in the tight spots, squeezing himself into the HVAC piping
systems to get the job done.
Left: Interior walls
are ready for painting. Right: Alan of Fradette
Drywall provides the finishing touches to the building’s interior walls.
February 1, 2010 Koczera also said that interior painting
should begin next week. “Energy-efficient construction materials implemented
throughout the entire station will produce returns by reducing energy costs,”
Koczera said. “The air exchange system, for example, (fresh outside air
periodically replaces stale internal air) recovers most of the energy used to
heat or cool the internal air being replaced. The thermal pane glass used in
the apparatus bay doors allow solar heat to be captured in the colder months.
“The windows also provide a light, airy
environment,” Koczera said. Beer Drinkers raise over $1200 for Haiti relief. EverythingWestport.com Saturday,
February 6, 2010 On
Saturday, February 6th, the South Coast's local brewery, Just Beer, decided to donate 100% of sales of its Amber Ale beer
to World Vision's efforts in post-earthquake Haiti.
Bill
Russell, owner and brewer, explains that "with the SuperBowl
on Sunday, we couldn't help but think this was a great way for people to
serve delicious local brew and do some good at the same time." 100% of
the proceeds is a rare thing these days but it
helped the small microbrewery raise over $1200. "Giving
back into our community is important to us," continues Russell,
"several of our bottled beers have earmarks for important local
concerns." In a day and age where federal earmarks are fraught with
political controversy, Just Beer's earmarks help raise funds for "local
farming, poverty issues and our Marines in Afghanistan". Indeed, Just
Beer donates between $1 and $2 per bottle to these concerns. "Beer can
change the world," declares Russell. And his small brewery is proving
it. It
seems many grabbed their SuperBowl Sunday brewskies early at 98 Horsemeck
Road in Westport and did some good in the process. “We sent the donors home
with a 24-bottle case of our beauteous amber ale for each donation of $15;
all proceeds went to assist the
relief efforts in Haiti,” Russell said. The
daughter of one of Just Beer's fundraising fans drew ‘Help Haiti Buy Beer’ on
the brewery's cooler box (photo above left.) You can find out more about Just Beer at their website www.justbeer.us,
or on twitter name = ItsJustBeer. For
more information call Bill Russell at (774) 201-9297, or email: messmaker@justbeer.us - - - - - End - - -
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