Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
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EverythingWestport.com Sunday, July 11, 2010
Those days of volunteerism and Yankee
thrift are now but ancient history as Westport prepares to celebrate the
opening of the largest public works project in its history - the new $6
million dollar South End Fire Station No. 1.
The 83-year-old wooden frame building
located in Central Village that housed Westport’s first new fire engine has
been retired, and the land returned to Mr. Woods’ son, Jim. The fire
apparatus is now housed in the new, state-of-the-art, taxpayer-funded fire
station that is the envy of all surrounding towns. My how times have
changed. The controversial project that took
many years and many revisions to approve and build is ready for its coming
out party. The grand opening and dedication is scheduled for Friday, July 30
at 11:00 a.m. Sandwiches and fire house chili for all! But with the completion of the new
fire house comes the end of an era when firemen’s associations built their
own fire stations and equipped them with town-owned equipment. Closed is the
Reed Road fire station, and closed is the Route 6 single-door fire station
that experienced its own controversy so many years ago. Read
about the early history of the Westport Fire Department. “I’m glad this project is finished,”
said Fire Chief Brian Legendre. “It’s been a long road.” The project came off the back burner
when Westport voters approved the funding in a special town meeting on June
18, 2008.
Left: Looking smart with its new signage and architectural elegance,
Station No. 1 is now in service. Right: Westport’s first new fire
engine – a 1928 Maxim – as seen in the recent 2010 July 4th parade. Click here for a preview of the Station No. 1’s interior.
Groundbreaking, May 5, 2009
Moving in! – July 13, 2010 EverythingWestport.com Saturday, July 17, 2010 There is always something cooking at
Lees Market. In this case it’s a vegetable
layer cake with Sicilian Crunch.
She recently brought her culinary
skills and a sparkling TV persona to a capacity crowd in the Lees’ Westport
Cooks Room. “My mother is the most precise baker, the most patient teacher and ultimately the best home cook I know,” said the perky hostess. “I was born and raised in Italy, so I
would do a disservice to my country if I said my favorite food destination
was somewhere else, but I also love Peru for Tiradito, Brazil for Pao de
Queijo and Bolinos de Bacalau, Spain for tapas, Greece for moussaka and
France for pretty much everything else!” “Serena Palumbo, a finalist for the 'Next Food Network Star,' is the sister-in-law of a volunteer for Habitat for Cats,” said Elaine Ostroff, one of the many Westporters who came to see Serena. “Her cooking demo was a fundraiser for that organization.” “She gave us a tasty roasted vegetable stack and a couple
of great tips. I learned the best way to use parchment paper for lining oven
pans is to wet the paper, squeeze it well and spread it out. It will stick to
the bottom of the pan and won't curl up and burn,” Ms. Ostroff said. “Also
she introduced Sicilian Crunch - bread crumbs mixed with huge quantities of
parsley, chives and basil, pine nuts, garlic, and pecorino cheese. This was
layered with the stacked vegetables - excellent!” It’s easy to see how Serena Palumbo
became a finalist on Food Network’s Next Star program. You have to be a great
cook, but an even better entertainer. For a small monetary donation
benefiting Habitat for Cats, area residents
got a chance to rub shoulders with Serena as she prepared a vegetable layer
cake with Sicilian Crunch in the often used Westport Cooks Room. Keeping up a
constant dialogue of cooking tips and insights to her background, Serena
demonstrated how she became a finalist. “I should be the Next Food Network
Star because I love food and I believe that viewers can relate to me as a
home cook with a busy lifestyle more than a trained chef. I love entertaining
and sharing my tips and tricks with the viewer to get in the kitchen and get
creative even if they are in a rush or on a budget,” Serena said.
Serena
currently hosts an online instructional cooking show, “Cooking in Manhattan,”
on YouTube and believes the cooking process should be simple and healthy. Her
main food is Mediterranean cuisine.
Five
dollars got you a cooking lesson, TV quality entertainment, a chance to meet
a reality show contestant, and a delicious serving of vegetable layer cake. There’s always a bargain at Lees! EverythingWestport.com Sunday, July 25, 2010
But Westport had its own modest bit
of Ecuador as lovely Natalia Lopez of Cuenca set up a mini bazaar at Costa’s veggie
stand across the way from Ellie’s Place. The Ecuadorian woman was the guest of
local pastel artist Svetlana Rockwell. “This is my first attempt at providing
handmade articles to the Westport community by Ecuadorian indigenous artisans”
she said. “Our panama hats are handmade in Gualaceo by several Indian communities.
The textiles are mostly from Otavalo.” “These
items are not found in this country and are really beautiful,” said Svetlana
Rockwell of Westport. “Due to the fact the markup is really low, it is a
fabulous occasion for us in Westport to find rare gifts like alpaca shawls
and vests at a reasonable price which you would have only found by traveling
to Ecuador.” Lopez
pointed to the brilliant scarves on display. “These scarves were handmade
using the ancient weaving technique
of Ikat that was common throughout the Andes. It
is now used by a small indigenous Indian community in Octavalo,” Lopez said. “This
is the only family I’m aware of that still uses it. It’s very time consuming,
and raises the price of the scarves.” Lopez first met the Rockwells18 years
ago when she assisted in the adoption of an Ecuadorian baby by Nikki Rockwell,
Svetlana’s daughter. “It was my first adoption,” said Lopez. “I came to
America to oversee the placement. We have had a wonderful relationship ever
since.” Lopez was able to set the bazaar up
this week as she was returning with seven American children from her
three-week Ecuadorian camp she oversees in Cuenca. “Our camps are really
wonderful as they promote the sharing of cultural ideals and languages between
two very different worlds to the 11 to 16 year-olds who attend,” Lopez said. Visit her website: http://4riverscamps.com/
Left: Natalia
with Nikki Rockwell. Right:
Katherine Morrison of Westport. Katherine Morrison of Westport was
one of several local area residents who stopped by and purchased several
articles. “These items are wonderful. We’re so happy Natalia could be here.” “It was very busy,” Lopez said. “This
has been a real learning experience, and I hope to come back again.” “It was very nice,” echoed Morrison. “People
loved it!”
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