By Joanna Pliner

Busy Westport senior citizens will have the opportunity to use the Center for Senior Activities on weekends starting Saturday.

The center will be open Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. after seniors expressed an interest in the expanded hours.

Saturday activities will include fitness classes such as Yoga and Pilates.

Alexandra Oudheusden, who oversees Thursday night and Saturday programs, said Saturday hours are part of an effort to include working seniors in center activities and for all seniors to be able to bring their families.

With July 4 on Tuesday, many people turned this weekend into a four-day holiday weekend and were hitting the beach and the local roads this afternoon. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com

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Community gardeners will gather with hoes, shovels and donated plants on Saturday to help replant the plots that were vandalized earlier this week.

Gilbertie’s Herb Garden has donated about 20 tomato plants and several more squash plants to the Westport Community Gardens to help replant what was lots, said Mary Ann West, one of the gardeners.

Parks and Recreation Department officials have also donated a lock and chain for the garden, she said.

The gardeners will gather Saturday at 10 a.m. at the garden adjacent to Long Lots Elementary on Hyde Lane, and volunteers are welcome to help, she said.

A tape of the public meeting on the Town Plan of Conservation and Development update will air the next two weekends on the Westport cable access channel.

The tape will air at 8 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday and again July 7, 8 and 9 on cable channel 79.

The public meeting was held last Monday, and the broadcast runs about 90 minutes.

No date has been set for the next public meeting on the plan.

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Residents in the proposed Gorham Avenue Historic District voted in favor of the district.

Town Clerk Patricia Strauss said the residents voted 17-3. The votes were due Thursday by 4:30 p.m., and were counted that afternoon.

There were 23 total votes for the 24 properties in the proposed district, Strauss said, and 13.5 votes were needed in favor of the district.

The Westport Representative Town Meeting will vote on implementing the district at its next meeting on July 11.

Ned Dimes Marina was full with cloudy, uncertain skies over head. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

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Promotions are planned at the Westport Fire Department this summer, but department officials need more than $93,000 before they move forward.

Department officials will seek $93,625 from the Board of Finance during its meeting on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Town Hall.

Fire Chief Christopher Ackley said the money would cover the vacancies created by the promotions.

Several of the promotions were supposed to be made during the 2005-06 fiscal year, which ends today, but it didn’t happen, he said.

A boat sits in the sand at low tide at Westport’s Old Mill Beach on Thursday. It was a foggy start to the day, but the fog soon gave way to sunshine. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

6:30 p.m. – Westport Arts Center – Members Show 2006: Solo Show II opening
8 p.m. – Westport Country Playhouse – “Drawer Boy”
8 p.m. – Levitt Pavilion – Bone Dry

Westport will host a collaborative volunteer training opportunity in emergency preparedness on Tuesday, July 11 at 4 p.m. at the Center for Senior Activities.

The two-hour event will include volunteers from the Mid-Fairfield County Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Westport-Weston Health District, Westport Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), the Westport-Weston United Way, Westport Volunteer EMS and the Westport Department of Human Services Mental Health Network.

“One purpose of this collaborative effort is to maximize the training resources of the community emergency preparedness team,” said Human Services Director Barbara Butler.  “More importantly, this provides an opportunity to build relationships among the many volunteers who will be assisting in a community response.”

The meeting is the first of what will be quarterly meetings and will focus on personal preparedness.