Westport
in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday,
February 12, 2012
photos/EverythingWestport.com
Quick
Article Index . . .
Simple Pleasures is theme of this year's Rhode Island
Spring Flower & Garden Show.
Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery brings home the gold!
WRWA Merit Scholarships
for 2012.
Country Travelers schedules Twin Rivers and Atlantic City
trips.
Protect our oceanside campsites!
|
Simple
Pleasures is theme of this year's Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden
Show. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, February 07, 2012 Click here to view 2011 hi-resolution photo album. Need Adobe Flash to view album? Click here!
Former
“Victory Garden “ host Roger Swain, columnist Henry Homeyer,
and other top garden experts will be speaking at this year's annual Rhode
Island Spring Flower and Garden Show, which runs Thursday, February 23
through Sunday, February 26 at Providence's Rhode Island Convention Center. Some
30,000 blooms, green grass and fertile imaginations will be on display as
landscape architects and designers from across southern New England present
their very best gardens for this Providence event. Some 30 gardens and
vignettes will be presented. Interesting facts: Amount of sod used
in exhibits is enough to cover a football field; amount of mulch used in
exhibits is enough to cover 2 football fields; over 100 tons of wall/patio stone;
and number of fragrant blossoms is over 100,000!
Over
four acres of space at the convention center are full of family-friendly
features from special children’s activities, to a place for shoppers with
over 200 vendors of all kinds, and areas for information sessions and
demonstrations for gardening and for food and wine. New
this year is a Food and Wine Festival sponsored by Johnson & Wales
University. Whole Foods and Alex & Ani. Also featured is a lecture and
demonstration by famed chef Sara Moulton of PBS show “Sara’s Weeknight
Meals.” The
Food and Wine Festival, which runs from 1 to 6 p.m. each day, also highlights
local star chef Frank Terranova and other Johnson
and Wales University chefs with cooking demonstrations by local and regional
top chefs, including Perry Raso of Matunuck Oyster Bar, Benjamin Sukle
of The Dorrance, Kait
Roberts of Easy Entertaining Inc., Derek Wagner of Nicks on Broadway, and
chef, author and more.
Above: Two
Tiverton residents are again participating in this year's show. Michelle Sousa (left), of
Metamorphosis Design www.michellesousa.com
is preparing a multi-facetedl garden; and Steve Topazio
(right) of Sandtasia www.sandtasia.com
is developing another impossibly complex sand creation. There
will also be tastings offered by top wineries and beer samplings, all on the
Lifestyle level of the show. There
is something entertaining for everyone, from activities for children to a taste
of wine for adults with food demonstrations. Tickets
are good any day, all inclusive and reasonable. Advance tickets are $16,
adult $18, senior/student/evening are $15, groups are $13 and children are
$7. Tickets
are now available at the show website and at all
36 AAA Southern New England locations and 34 TD Bank branches. For more
information on tickets, please call or click Karen E. Brol
at 401.253.0246 or email: kbrol@flowershow.com.
Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery
brings home the gold! 7 gold and 6 silver medals EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
February 08, 2012
The
Russell's farm is the home of the fourth generation of a family of
winegrowers. In 1982 they set themselves up on the sunny, South Coast of
Massachusetts. They knew, based upon a study of the climate and soils, that
this is a wonderful location for growing the kind of wine they love:
gloriously aromatic, deliciously crisp wine. Inset: holiday wine tasting at Westport
Rivers Vineyard and Winery. And
it just so happens that they were right. Westport
River Vineyard wines display all the world-class characteristics for which
they sought. The farms soils are dark, rich New England loam on well drained
gravel. The climate is cool but moderated by the warm waters of the gulf
stream (which bathes the shoreline all summer and fall). The rainfall,
perfectly accommodating for farming grapes. No
wonder they produce so many award-winning wines! "Rob
(Russell) and I opened the envelope together announcing the results of the tastings,"
winemaker Bill Russell said. "We haven't
submitted many wines in the past few years. These results were exactly
what we were hoping for." "We're
especially pleased with the medals our Westport
Rivers 2010 Pinot Noir and our 2001 Blancs de
Noirs won at the nation's most prestigious Pinot Noir competition, the Pinot Noir Shootout." "The
southcoast vineyards don't receive a lot of
interest from the Boston and national press. We're always fighting to elevate
our vineyard's offerings, to get them the attention they deserve in the
marketplace," Russell said. This
medley of medals should go a long way in helping Westport Rivers Vineyard and
Winery get the recognition for the world class wines they produce, and for
the family that has spent the last 25 year's pursuing winemaking as a viable
agricultural enterprise in the town of Westport. Gold medals: 93 • Westport Rivers 2009 Pinot Gris,
Southeastern New England
91 • Westport Rivers 2009 Riesling,
Southeastern New England 91 • Westport Rivers 2006 Brut, Robert James
Russell "RJR", Southeastern New England 91 • Westport Rivers 2009 Chardonnay,
Southeastern New England $16. Best Buy! 90 • Westport Rivers 2000 Blanc de Blancs, Southeastern New England 90 • Westport Rivers 2009 Riesling,
Southeastern New England Silver
Medals: Westport Rivers 2010 Pinot Noir and their 2001 Blancs de Noirs both won Silver
at the nation's most prestigious Pinot Noir competition, the Pinot Noir
Shootout. The award presentations will be made at the Pinot Noir Summit by Spencer Christian, the emcee for
the evening. The Grand Awards Tasting at the Summit is on February 25, 2012.
Check it out if you're in San Francisco! Also, Silvers for: 89 • Westport Rivers 2009 Gruner
Veltliner, Southeastern New England 89 • Westport Rivers 2009 Grüner
Veltliner, Southeastern New England 88 • Westport Rivers NV "Grace",
Chardonnay, Southeastern New England 88 • Westport Rivers 2009 Pinot Gris,
Southeastern New England Congratulations
to the Russell family! http://www.westportrivers.com/ EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
February 08, 2012
The
select board meeting turned from the difficult task of balancing budgets to
heated debate when Selectman Vieira
proposed a ballot question which, if a majority of the Selectmen
accepted, would put a non-binding ballot question before the town's voters
this April 10. Inset: Selectman Antone
Vieira found himself under fire from residents criticizing his proposal to
repeal Westport's participation in the Community Preservation Act. The
ballot question would allow voters to air their opinions on repealing the
town's participation in the Community Preservation Act (CPA). A non-binding ballot question, or referendum, is a direct vote in which an entire electorate
is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal, the results of
which would cause no action, only allowing voters to express their opinion. The
Selectmen's agenda incorrectly referred to a "proposed ballot article,"
which caused some confusion as to whether Vieira was suggesting a non-binding
warrant article or ballot question. Selectman
Vieira suggested "a ballot question brought before the voters to ask them
if they would instruct the board of selectmen to pursue a procedure under the
bylaws to repeal the Community Preservation Act." The
vote would be non-binding and it would still be up to the board of selectmen
to decide to put a warrant article before town meeting at a later date to
repeal Westport's participation in the CPA. Vieira
said "you could argue that you should start with the town meeting, but I
don't think that gives you the same representation that you would at the
ballot, and that's why I'm suggesting you go to the ballot in a non-binding
situation. It gives more people the opportunity to hear about this
issue." "The
taxpayers deserve an opportunity to let this board (Selectmen) know their
opinion on it," Vieira said. Vieira
suggested the town could wait a year after the ballot question before a
repeal warrant article would appear at town meeting. The
proposal was immediately confronted by residents at the meeting who
criticized the proposal to repeal CPA. "This
has come before town meeting twice in the last three years. It came up in
2009 where it was voted down resoundingly, it came up in 2010 but was passed
over, and again in 2011 (Article 43) where it was resoundingly defeated,"
Selectman Craig Dutra said.
Left: CPC committee
chairman Warren Messier said "If the CPC was not available, where would
the town get money for these projects?" Right:
residents, including former CPC committee Betty Slade rose to object to the
non-binding ballot question proposed by Selectman Anton Vieira. Westport
adopted the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act at the April 2001 Annual
Town Meeting; participation in the act was then accepted by the town's
electorate at the March 11, 2002 Town Election. The
CPA adds a 2 percent surcharge to property tax bills for the acquisition,
creation and preservation of open space, historic resources, land for
recreational use, support of community housing, as well as the rehabilitation
and restoration of such open space, historic resources, land for recreational
use and community housing that is acquired or created as provided under the
Act. A
large benefit of CPA was the 100% state matching funds when CPA money was originally
used to acquire, preserve and protect qualifying town assets. That
contribution has declined over the years to less than 25%, although the state
legislature has been trying to increase the state's matching funds
percentage. They
have been unsuccessful to date. Proponents
of the Act point to the success in acquiring land preservation agreements to
protect open space, and the acquisition and preservation of historic
properties like the Cadman-White-Handy House and the Palmer Farm. Opponents
claim a burden on taxpayers in trying times, and removing millions of dollars
of properties from the tax rolls. They also point to misuse of CPA funds, and
that the CPA money could be better used to fund important town functions such
as schools and public safety. Chairman
Richard Spirlet deferred a vote on the article until the February 21st select
board meeting, citing that the final article should be free of prejudiced
language against the CPA, and contain a complete summary allowing voters to
easily understand the implications of their vote. Westport
voters will face at the upcoming annual Town Meeting a $3.2 million debt
exclusion article to pay for the Westport Middle School PCB cleanup, and a
possible structural override of up to $2 million to fund the fiscal 2013
budget "if we plan to provide the same level of services the town has
come to expect," said Town Administrator Jack Healey. "We
have to set priorities," Vieira said. Historical
less than 5% of registered town voters attend town meeting, prompting Vieira
to propose the non-binding ballot question. Many
town voters are unwilling to sit through two nights of Town Meeting, sifting
through 50 plus articles, leading some to question the effectiveness of this
form of town government. "I
also think it's dangerous when this board starts throwing non-binding
referendums before the town election for items that should rightfully start
with the legislature body of the town which is the town meeting form of
government," Dutra said. "I
think non-binding referendums are total democracy. That is one reason I would
vote for putting on the town ballot a non-binding referendum on the CPA
question," said Selectman James Coyne. To
date Hingham, Northampton and Scituate have
attempted to repeal their CPA involvement. Under the law, a city or town must
wait five years from the time it enacts the CPA to take a vote on whether to
revoke it. 148 cities and towns out of 351 are currently involved
with the Community Preservation Act. The selectmen will take up the non-binding ballot
question again at their February 21st meeting where a divided select board
will vote on its inclusion in the April 10th election ballot. WRWA
Merit Scholarships for 2012. EverythingWestport.com Friday, February 10, 2012 The
Westport Watershed Alliance is pleased to offer two $500 scholarship
opportunities for graduating seniors in the Westport River watershed: Fall
River, Dartmouth, Freetown, Westport, Little Compton, and Tiverton. One award,
was made possible by the generosity of the late Margot C. Boote,
who was active in education and the environment. The second award, was
initiated by Bill Heath in memory of his parents Ruth and Bill Heath. The
merit award applications are available by clicking this link or by calling the WRWA office at
508.636.3016. Local high schools also have applications on file at their
guidance department office. All applications
are due to WRWA (PO Box 3427, Westport, MA 02790) no later than April 1,
2012. The
Alliance has a proud record of environmental stewardship and has expressed
its commitment to carry on this tradition. The merit awards offer an
opportunity to honor students who have demonstrated a passion for learning
about and protecting the watershed environment. Country Travelers schedules Twin
Rivers and Atlantic City trips. EverythingWestport.com Friday, February 10, 2012 WESTPORT - The Country Travelers will offer trips to Twin Rivers on February 20,
May 27, August 12, and October 14, 2012. Cost
per person is $15 which includes a $7 food credit and $10 in free play bonus. Reservations
are required at least two weeks ahead. Call Veronica Beaulieu at 508.636.4889
for more information and reservations. Deadline for trip to Atlantic City is
February 20th. The
Country Travelers will offer a trip to Atlantic City from Sunday to Tuesday,
March 11 to 13, 2012 with a roundtrip flight from Green Airport in Warwick,
RI. Airfare, hotel accommodations, transfer to and from Atlantic City Airport
and one free checked bag per person. Reservation
deadline for this trip is February 20th. The
cost is $199 per person. Interested? Call Veronica Beaulieu at 508.636.4889 for
more information and reservations. Protect our oceanside campsites! EverythingWestport.com Sunday,
February 12, 2012
Edward
Lambert, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and
Recreation, will present the final
Resource Management Plan for the Horseneck Beach Reservation at the
Westport Business to Business breakfast meeting on Thursday February 16, 7:30
a.m., at White’s Restaurant. The
draft plan had included a recommendation to limit the ocean-front campsites
as part of a dune restoration project. The
plan assesses needs, issues and challenges for one of the most popular
facilities in the Massachusetts State Forests and Parks system. Located at
the southern end of Westport, the sandy beach welcomes hundreds of thousands
of visitors per year, seeking to experience the beach and enjoy the
recreational opportunities provided. With over 30 years of governmental and
public management experience, including seven years as a member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives (Westport, Fall River), and twelve
years as the Mayor of Fall River, Commissioner Lambert has extensive
experience with economic development initiatives, and public policy. For
reservations to the breakfast, contact Thelma Sullivan at 508.679.1123. The
cost is $10 per person. Westport Business to Business is a not-for-profit association of
companies and individuals joined together to promote the interests of
businesses located in Westport and surrounding communities. Members work
together for the mutual benefit of their businesses and their relationship
with other companies and the general public. Regular monthly meetings are
open to the public. For more information, visit http://westportb2b.com. Click here to read article "Hands off our Campsites!"
Click here to read about "Trailer Turbulence in the Horseneck
Campgrounds." © 2012 Community Events of Westport. All rights
reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
