Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Quick Article Index . . .
The end of an era.
Reality TV comes to Lees.
Ecuadorian handmade gifts.
The end of an era.EverythingWestport.com
Sunday, July 11, 2010
In 1927 a group of volunteer firefighters founded the Westport Firefighters’ Association, leased a bit of land on Main Road from Mr. Woods, and built a fire station at no cost to the Town of Westport and its taxpayers.
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.
Read about the article with photos about the special election authorizing the funding of Station No. 1.
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
Reality TV comes to Lees.
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.
Serena Palumbo, a New York corporate attorney and former ballerina, taught herself how to prepare food with unusual ingredients while growing up southern Italy. Apparently she learned her lessons well as she’s now a finalist on the Food Network’s Next Star episode 6.
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!”
“What a great treat to find her at Lees in their demo kitchen,” Ms. Ostroff said
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!
Ecuadorian handmade gifts.
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Cultural Survival Bazaar was in Tiverton this weekend, doing a show, tell and sell of the arts and crafts made by indigenous peoples from all corners of the globe.
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 weavingtechnique of Ikatthatwas 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:
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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