This is Matthew Mandell’s second appearance on “06880: The Podcast.”
A few weeks away from retirement, after 12 years as executive director of the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce, he visited the Westport Library’s Verso Studios last week.
We chatted about his successes (and a a couple of flops); the state of Westport’s business economy; music, restaurants, and much more.
Click here or below to listen to Matthew’s wide-ranging take on all things local.
Posted in Economy, Library, Local politics
Tagged "06880" podcast, Matthew Mandell, Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce
Westport’s Cribari Bridge Advisory Committee has been formed.
This morning, 1st Selectman Kevin Christie announced the names of 7 members: Ward French (chair), Paul Davis, David Keeton, David Stone, Joe Strickland, Ian Warburg and Larry Weisman.
Melissa Levy, chair of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) Transit Committee and its Cribari Bridge Subcommittee, will serve as a non-voting ex officio member.
The group will advise Christie on the town’s participation in the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s process for renovating or replacing the 142-year-old Saugatuck River span.
Their charge includes:
Cribari Bridge.
The committee’s formation comes just prior to 2 important meetings. Tonight (Monday, 6 p.m., Zoom), the RTM Transit Committee and Cribari Bridge Subcommitte meet.
They’ll prepare for Thursday’s public session (November 12, 7 p.m., Town Hall auditorium), where the CTDOT is expected to present its recommended next steps.
A press release from the selectman’s office says “the committee brings together experience in structural engineering, architecture, historic preservation, environmental conservation, land use, strategic planning and municipal governance, providing a range of perspectives to evaluate the project’s benefits, impacts and tradeoffs.”
Christie said, “The Cribari Bridge is an important connection for Westport, and its future has significant implications for public safety, traffic, and surrounding neighborhoods.
“In ongoing conversations with DOT, I’ve consistently emphasized safety, including the importance of limiting large through-truck traffic and protecting surrounding neighborhoods, and I appreciate their willingness to listen and engage with the Town.
“My priority for Westport is a safe, reliable solution that addresses the community’s concerns while ensuring this important project can move forward.
“With this committee, I’ve brought together experienced residents who will examine the information, ask thoughtful questions, and provide independent, fact-based recommendations as we continue working with DOT. The bridge’s future matters deeply to many Westport residents, and I welcome their continued involvement and perspectives as we work toward a solution.”
The committee’s responsibilities include reviewing technical and project information, identifying issues requiring clarification or further analysis, considering community input and technical expertise, and providing recommendations to the 1st Selectman.
The committee will report to the First Selectman, and serve in an advisory capacity. The committee’s charge, and more information, is available on the Town’s website.
Merchants are already offering special promotions for the Holiday Stroll — and it’s still almost a month away.
The 6th annual event (Saturday, December 5, 4 to 7 p.m.) is bigger and better than ever.
In addition to the traditional favorites — Santa, the Staples Orphenians, face painting, a photo booth, and much more — this year’s Stroll includes:
Local business offerings include:
The Holiday Stroll is sponsored by the Westport Downtown Association and “06880.”
Retailers, restaurants, service providers and others wishing to offer a promotion: Click here.
The election is over.
So what’s next?
Westport’s 2 state representatives — newly elected Lee Goldstein (District 136) and re-elected Dominique Johnson (District 143) — will offer their ideas, and answer questions, in a special post-election conversation next Monday (November 16, 7 p.m., Toquet Hall).
Moderated by students from Staples High School and Greens Farms Academy, along with “06880”‘s Dan Woog, the forum will explore issues important to the community, and offer insights into their leadership styles.
It’s co-sponsored by the Westport Youth Commission, League of Women Voters Westport, and “06880.”
State Representatives Lee Goldstein and Dominique Johnson.
George Barrett has led quite a life, since graduating from Staples High School in 1973. After performing as a folk and opera singer, teaching and coaching, he spent over 3 decades in business, including CEO of a Fortune 25 company.
Now he’s returned to his roots, as a singer/songwriter. On November 21 (7 p.m.), he’ll be on the Westport Country Playhouse stage. He and his band — including 1971 Staples grad/Emmy and Peabody Award-winning composer/Grammy-winning producer, plus rising indie/folk/country star Sarah Gross — are donating their time to support the Playhouse.
George also returned to his roots, to promote his new release, “You’re Not Alone.” Part of the video below was filmed at Compo Beach.
Click here for tickets, and more information.
Thousands of shoppers packed the Staples High School fieldhouse this weekend, for the 52nd annual CraftWestport holiday show.
1st Selectman Kevin Christie was there Saturday. He presented the sponsoring Women’s League of Westport — formerly the Westport Young Woman’s League — for 70 years of “fostering friendship, civic engagement, and a strong tradition of volunteerism.”
One of over 165 CraftWestport vendors. They sold jewelry, clothing, accessories, handbags, clay, wood, glass, vases, sculptures, photos, scarves, leather, silk jackets — and more. (Photo/Susan Garment)
Governor Lamont, Senator Blumenthal, State Treasurer Erick Russell, State Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald, 1st Selectman Kevin Christie joined 300 guests yesterday, at Lambda Legal‘s annual “Connecticut Cares” event.
As they have for more than a dozen years, Mitchells of Westport opened their floor for the celebration.
Since 1973, Lambda Legal has worked to advance and protect the civil rights of the LGBTQ community, and everyone living with HIV.
Speakers hailed Connecticut’s role as a model for LGBTQ legislation and protection. Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings discussed the non-profit’s role moving forward, in the wake of Tuesday’s election.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, at the Lambda Legal event. Among the crowd: State Treasurer Erick Russell (left), and Governor Ned Lamont (4th from left). (Photo/Dan Woog)
Retired Westport police officer Dick Alley is now in his 90s.
But he gets out often. This weekend he was at Sherwood Island State Park. He snapped this autumn photo, for our “Westport … Naturally” series.
(Photo/Dick Alley)
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And finally … on this date in 1967, the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine was published. John Lennon on the cover, and there were stories about David Crosby, The Who and Country Joe McDonald.
(We haven’t been around as long as Rolling Stone. But like they, we are quite happy in our own little niche. If you enjoy this hyper-local blog, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Posted in Entertainment, Local business, Politics, Westport Country Playhouse
Tagged George Barrett, Governor Ned Lamont, Holiday Stroll, League of Women Voters Westport, Senator Richard Blumenthal, State Representative Dominique Johnson, State Representative Lee Goldstein, Westport Downtown Association, Westport Youth Commission, Women's League of Westport
There are many moving parts — figuratively and literally — to the Cribari Bridge.
It’s Melissa Levy’s job to know them all.
She’s not a state official, or an engineer. But as chair of the Representative Town Meeting’s Cribari Bridge Subcommittee, she’s one of Westport’s most important officials in the complex discussions over the future of the 142-year-old span.
Levy and her colleagues have worked hard recently, preparing for 2 key meetings.
Tonight (Monday, 6 p.m., Zoom), her subcommittee, and the full RTM Transit Committee — of which she is also a member — meet. They’ll prepare for Thursday’s public session (November 12, 7 p.m., Town Hall auditorium), where the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) is expected to present its recommended next steps.
Levy encourages Westporters to attend both meetings.
Cribari Bridge (Photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)
A 2nd-term RTM member and 14-year resident, she notes that transportation decisions involve far more than “how to get between two points.” There are safety, neighborhood, business and quality of life considerations.
Those are especially critical regarding the Cribari Bridge. Beyond what to do with the aging swing span itself — perhaps the oldest of its type in the country — any decision will reverberate throughout Saugatuck, Bridge Street and environs, and out to the Post Road.
“It will affect generations to come,” Levy says.
Her subcommittee recognizes that “while residents have different opinions about whether to renovate the bridge or reconstruct it, everyone wants a safe, reliable bridge that will protect Westport’s character, and protect the town against truck traffic.”
She acknowledges that CTDOT is “probably moving” toward an on-alignment recommendation. That would entail demolition of the existing structure, and construction of a completely new movable bridge that would maintain the existing roadway alignment across the Saugatuck River.
The “on-alignment” plan would involve a new Cribari Bridge, with the same approach as now. (Courtesy of Yulee Aronson)
The subcommittee is studying that plan, while also pursuing how to preserve the span, in light of engineering and federal requirements.
Studying both options “is not mutually exclusive,” Levy says. “We are working to protect the town, regardless of what decisions are made.”
The subcommittee chair speaks frequently with James Barrows, CTDOT’s manager for the Cribari project.
“He is forthright and communicative,” she says. “He gives me even more information than I ask for. I’m very confident in our relationship, and their desire to work with us.”
She notes that Thursday’s CTDOT meeting with residents “is not mandatory. They scheduled it because they think it’s important.”
State Department of Transportation involvement is key. They’re funding the $6o to $100 million project.
They’ll receive approximately 80% of the cost from the federal government.
Understanding national and state standards and regulations — and applying them to what Westport wants and needs — is no easy task.
Residents have certainly made their wishes known. CTDOT received 833 comments following a public session last March.
On Thursday, Levy says, “we hope to hear how those comments were evaluated, and how they’ve influenced the project.”
She looks forward to learning “what decisions have been made, what decisions are still open, and how the town can influence next steps. We have to understand how to to move from wanting something, to implementing it.”
The RTM “does not control this project,” Levy says. “But we do have a responsibility to ask questions, and work with the first selectman’s office, our legislators and CTDOT to see what our options are.”
Her subcommittee is researching ways to encourage town officials to proceed.
Cribari Bridge (Photo/Nancy Lally)
Whatever decision is announced on Thursday, “it takes many months for the federal government to approve what CTDOT proposes,” Levy says.
One of the most important issues surrounding the Cribari Bridge is a “No Through Trucks” designation.
There are 3 interrelated questions. says Levy:
There may be different approval processes for each of those 3 options, Levy notes.
The Board of Selectpersons serve as Westport’s local traffic authority. The Cribari Bridge is part of a state highway (Route 136), so a “no through trucks” designation would be reviewed by the DOT’s Office of State Traffic Administration (OSTA).
They would consider road conditions, traffic patterns, alternate routes, and what happens elsewhere if trucks are prohibited there.
Levy notes, “no through trucks” does not mean “no trucks at all.” Trucks making deliveries in Westport would still be permitted.
And, she adds, “no through trucks” can be challenging to enforce.
In 2019, the Board of Selectpersons considered a “no through trucks” designation for Bridge Street, Greens Farms Road and Compo Road South. The idea was tabled. They were concerned about unintended consequences, such as traffic being redirected to Riverside Avenue and the Post Road.
In 2024 they authorized a similar request for Lyons Plains Road.
Her subcommittee is “trying to understand what is legally possible, what the requirements are for which roads, and if ‘no through trucks’ is enforceable,” Levy says.”
“Maybe OSTA can evaluate the area, and advise us about other roads to include. All that is down the line.”
What happens if CTDOT announces a full replacement plan, even if Westport does not want it?
“That doesn’t mean all decisions have been made,” Levy says. “”We could still influence the design, safety and neighborhood effects.”
She hopes residents will attend tonight’s and Thursday’s meetings.
“A lot of work has been done to identify concerns. Now it’s time to build on that work, clarify our shared concerns, and turn it all into action.
“While we may not be able to control every aspect of the final outcome, we have a responsibility to take every opportunity to understand it, and protect Westport.”
(“06880” has reported on the Cribari Bridge controversy since we started, in 2009. We’ll continue to do so — with readers’ support, of course. To make a donation, please click here. Thank you!)
Melissa Levy, RTM Cribari Bridge Sub-committee chair.
Red leaves at Christ & Holy Trinity Episcopal Church … (Photo/Janine Scotti)
… and yellow ones at Saugatuck Congregational (Photo/Mark Mathias)
Where would you find a wooden sculpture of a court jester, ringed with light bulbs?
On the wall at Little Pub @ Dunville’s, of course.
We’re not sure why he’s there. We can’t remember how long.
But 8 readers knew exactly where they’d find the subject of last week’s Photo Challenge. (Click here to see.)
Congratulations to Dave Eason, Bruce Taylor, Jim McKay, Sal Liccione, Robert Mitchell, Jonathan McClure, Seth Schachter and Rachel Sara Halperin. You know your restaurant décor.
And if anyone knows how or why that guy is hanging at Little Pub: We’d love to hear the back story.
Now on to the next course: this week’s challenge.
It’s got its own back story.
Mark Mathias sent it along for a Roundup item. He was intrigued because there is a button for pedestrians to push to keep the light red on all sides as they cross.
But there is no pedestrian crossing. And it’s in an area where there is no reason for anyone to walk.
Strange. It didn’t work well for the Roundup. But we’ve repurposed it for our Photo Challenge.
If you know where in Westport you’d see it, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Mark Mathias)
(Every Sunday, “06880” hosts this Photo Challenge. We challenge you too to support your hyper-local blog. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
Starting November 18, Connecticut Mobile ID will allow residents to carry a digital version of their driver’s license or state ID on their phones.
Mobile ID complements — but does not replace — physical cards.
It will be accepted by TSA at a number of security checkpoints while flying, for instance, but will not be accepted during interactions with law enforcement or voting as examples.
Businesses will also have the option to accept or not accept Mobile ID. Those that do must adopt verification apps. Click here for more information.
A color guard, speakers — including an always-impressive Staples High School senior — and recognition of veterans highlight Westport’s Veterans Day ceremony.
The event is in the Town Hall auditorium on November 11, at — appropriately — 11 a.m.
The public is invited afterward to a free Veterans Day luncheon and open bar at VFW Post 399 (465 Riverside Avenue). There too, our servicemembers will be honored for their service, thanks to Post members and the Women’s Auxiliary.
Donations are sought to defray the cost. PayPal to VFWPost399CT, or send a check to VFW Post 399, 465 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT 06880.
Honoring our veterans, 2024 (Photo copyright Ted Horowitz)
Lachat Town Farm hosts a host of holiday activities, now through December. They include:
Click here for details, and registration.
The final community conversation for MoCA\CT’s “Looking for History” explored the past, present and future of Connecticut manufacturing.
From river valley mills to aircraft engines and nuclear submarines, panelists traced the ways manufacturing has shaped — and continues to shape — our state, in ways we often overlook. They also shared their admiration for Borders’s work and its ability to bring this rich but little-known history to light.
Paul SLavoie, Connecticut’s former chief manufacturing officer, said, “Connecticut is the 48th largest state in America, and we have 4,800 manufacturers. Swing a Wiffle ball bat and you’ll hit a manufacturing company. You drive by them every single day and don’t even know it.”
The CORA Foundation sponsored the event. The exhibit closes November 15.
CORA Foundation president Robin Tauck, at the MoCA\CT exhibit.
Since 1832, Saugatuck Congregational Church has kept track of its pastors on a large sign in the narthex.
Rev. Dr. Steven Savides is the 23rd person to fill that role.
He’ll be the first on a new sign. The original one has no more room.
Saugatuck Church has a long and storied history. In 1835, it’s where the founding fathers of Westport — yes, they were all men — met to form a new town, breaking away from Norwalk, Weston and Fairfield.
They met in the church’s original location, diagonally across the street (where the gas stations are now).
Rev. Savides’ predecessor, Rev. Alison Patton, was the second woman to serve Saugatuck Church. He is the first pastor there to be born in South Africa.
Rev. Steve Savides, with the Saugatuck Church sign. (Hat tip and photo/Mark Mathias)
For 14 years, Aarti Khosla poured her heart into Le Rouge Chocolates.
She’s moved away. But she continues to give back to the world.
The other day, she created chocolates for Tiffany’s Diwali celebration, at New York’s LVMH Tower.
Aarti tells “06880,” “It was one of those moments when you look back at the journey, and realize just how many people helped you get there.
“Westport was such an important part of that journey. The community embraced my creations, trusted me with its celebrations, encouraged my experiments, and gave me the confidence to keep dreaming a little bigger.
“Westport will always feel like home, and I wanted to share this moment with the people who helped make it possible.”
Aarti Khosla, at Tiffany’s Diwali celebration.
A (new) star is born.
Coleytown Middle School student Olivia Jackson takes the Yorktown Stage stage next Saturday, in “Annie.”
She plays an orphan in the popular musical, alongside a talented cast of professional and local performers. The show runs through November 29.
Click here for tickets, and more information.
A West Haven company has released free “Hometown Trivia” kits for 131 Connecticut towns. Westport is included.
Each kit contains a few printable large-print pages: multiple-choice questions about the town’s history and famous residents, a “Remember When” page of conversation starters, a word search, and an answer page for the activity leader.
They’re aimed at senior center and assisted living activity directors, public libraries, and families visiting older relatives, but anyone can use them. They are free to download, with no sign-up; click here.
The first trivia question.
Fall foliage continues to delight us.
But it won’t be around too much longer. That’s why we’re grateful to Claudia Sherwood Servidio, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” image.
A couple of weeks from now, it will remind us of this very special time of year.
Not far from downtown. (Photo/Claudia Sherwood Servidio)
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And finally … although Olivia Jackson doesn’t go on stage until next week (story above), we’re thinking about:
(Don’t wait until tomorrow! Before you leave, please click here to support this hyper-local blog, with a tax-deductible contribution. We thank you today, tomorrow, and forever.)
Werner Liepolt is a longtime resident of Bridge Street, and a former Westport teacher. He writes:
As Westporters prepare for Thursday’s state Department of Transportation meeting about the Cribari Bridge (November 12, 7 p.m., Town Hall auditorium),
a look at the Bridge Street National Register Historic District can help clarify what’s at stake.
The National Register nomination shows how the bridge, houses, stone walls and a former school tell the story of a neighborhood that grew around the river
crossing.
That history can help residents assess CTDOT’s presentation, ask specific questions, and submit informed comments by November 27.
The original Bridge Street School. It later became Saugatuck Elementary; it is now The Saugatuck co-op housing.
Westport residents and the Representative Town Meetings’s Cribari Bridge Subcommittee still need clear information from CTDOT and the Federal Highway Administration about how the preferred alternative and other
feasible options could adversely affect the historic district.
The agencies should:
With this information, residents and consulting parties could propose specific measures to avoid, minimize or mitigate adverse effects.
The Frederick Hotchkiss House dates to 1876.
Bridge Street tells a story larger than the history of its houses. Its winding roadway, low stone walls, former school and iron swing bridge record how Westport grew from separate settlements into a connected community.
Together, these features form a historic landscape whose significance rests on the relationships among its parts.
The Bridge Street Historic District nomination, prepared by architectural historians at the Public Archaeology Laboratory, describes approximately 22.46 acres extending from the western bank of the Saugatuck River east to Compo Road South, with a branch along southern Imperial Avenue.
It identifies 28 contributing buildings and 3 contributing structures, including the bridge. Its period of significance stretches from 1809 through 1945.
The district’s oldest building, the Delancy Allen House at 192 Compo Road South, predates Bridge Street itself. Built in 1809, it recalls a time when much of the land between Compo Road and the river belonged to the Allen family.
Delancy Allen House, Bridge Street
Before a local crossing existed, residents on the east side faced an inconvenient journey to reach Saugatuck’s businesses and railroad station. The
river connected Westport to maritime commerce, while also dividing its neighborhoods.
The nomination traces the neighborhood’s development to the Allen family’s donation of land for Bridge Street in 1869, and the establishment of a river crossing.
Those changes opened land for subdivision and residential construction. The present swing bridge followed in 1884, replacing the earlier crossing.
Bridge and neighborhood consequently developed as parts of the same story: the crossing made the residential district possible, and the district preserves evidence of the community that grew around it.
The Bridge Street Bridge once carried trolleys.
Today’s William F. Cribari Memorial Bridge remains the district’s most recognizable structure.
Its iron trusses frame the river crossing. and mark the transition between Saugatuck and Bridge Street. The nomination explains that substantial rehabilitation in the early 1990s changed the bridge’s structural system, leaving the historic trusses supporting their own weight above a newer platform.
Nevertheless, it identifies the bridge as a contributing resource and an integral
part of the neighborhood’s development. The bridge had already been individually listed in the National Register in 1987.
East of the crossing, the houses reveal successive generations of residential architecture.
The 1884 Rufus Wakeman House.
Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Craftsman, and other styles give the district variety within a generally consistent domestic scale. Porches, projecting bays, decorative shingles, wood clapboards and traditional windows distinguish individual buildings.
Setbacks, vegetation, fences and retaining walls connect them into a recognizable streetscape.
The inventory also includes more modest 20th century residences.
The Anna E. Dolan House at 12 Bridge Street, built in 1932, contributes to the district alongside its 19-century neighbors. This range matters: the neighborhood records and preserves continuing development across generations.
The Anna Dolan House was built in 1932.
Some of its most significant features stand close to the ground. The nomination identifies the Bridge Street System of Stone Walls as a contributing structure in its own right.
Portions may date to the roadway’s layout around 1869; others reflect later replacement and repair.
Sections appearing original are identified in front of 12 and 20–24 Bridge Street, and along the south side of 192 Compo Road South. These walls help define the roadway’s historic edges. and the relationship between public passage and private property.
The former Saugatuck Elementary School at 35 Bridge Street adds another dimension. Its 1931 building represents the neighborhood’s educational and civic life, while its later conversion to Westport’s affordable housing illustrates continued use of a substantial community landmark.
Former Saugatuck Elementary School, now co-op housing.
The nomination’s photographs also document the adjoining athletic fields open to the public, placing the school within its broader setting.
The historians found that the district retained integrity of location, design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling and association.
Their assessment recognizes a coherent neighborhood whose historic character survives through both buildings and surroundings.
For Westport residents, that provides a practical way to understand what deserves attention when major infrastructure changes are proposed: the bridge, homes, walls, roadway, and setting belong to an interconnected place.
1886 Orlando Allen House.
Residents can use this nomination and its property inventory to support specific Section 106 comments by November 27, the extended deadline communicated by RTM subcommittee chair Melissa Levy.
In your comment, identify the historic feature, explain how the project could affect it, and request a specific measure to avoid, minimize or mitigate that effect — for example, protecting stone walls, monitoring construction vibration, or evaluating traffic-related changes to the district’s setting.
Ask that agreed protections be incorporated into the project’s Memorandum
of Agreement, with responsibility, timing, and follow-through clearly stated.
Email: James.Barrows@ct.gov; Copy: Mandy.Ranslow@ct.gov
Subject: Project 0158-0214 – Section 106 Mitigation Request – [your address]
Mail: ATTN: James Barrows, Connecticut Department of Transportation
2800 Berlin Turnpike, P.O. Box 317546, Newington, CT 06131-7546
Project documents and updates: https://portal.ct.gov/Cribari-Bridge
(“06880” has covered the Cribari Bridge controversy since we began in 2009. We’ll continue to do so — with reader support. Please click here to donate to your hyper-local blog. Thank you!)
Old Mill, near Compo Cove …
… and not far away … (Photos/John Maloney)
… and around the corner (Photo/Matt Murray)
Thomas Nistico, Sr. — known universally as “Tommy,” and a member of the beloved Nistico family who epitomized old Saugatuck as owners of the Arrow restaurant, then served new generations when they revived the famed Red Barn — died yesterday. He was 76
The son of Virginia and Frank Nistico Jr., he grew up in Westport and graduated from Staples High School. He furthered his education at Staunton Military Academy and Memphis State University, before dedicating the rest of his life to his family’s restaurant businesses.
Tommy was an avid sports fan, from football and golf to boxing and fishing. Especially important to him was his involvement in youth sports, and mentoring young children.
He is survived by his wife of 55 years Joan Domalewski Nistico; sons Thomas Jr. & his fiancée Charissa, and Daryl (Lisa); siblings Frank III, Lou, Pam, Richard, and brother-in-law Ron Domalewski, plus many nieces, nephews and godchildren.
He was predeceased by his younger brother John.
Visitation is set for Monday (November 9, 4 to 7 p.m., Collins Funeral Home, 92 East Avenue, Norwalk). A funeral service will be held Tuesday (November 10, 10 a.m., St. Philip Church, 1 Father Conlon Place, Norwalk)
In lieu of flowers, he requested any donations be made to the The Navy Seals. Checks can be written to the Navy League; in the memo line, write “for the RDAC Program.” Checks can be mailed to Captain Andrew Bisset, 18 Canfield Drive, Stamford, CT. 06902.
Tommy Nistico
Posted in Obituaries, Restaurants, Saugatuck
Tagged Red Barn Restaurant, The Arrow, Tommy Nistico
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