Westport’s Unitarian Church will host the first annual Chowdafest Friday and Saturday as about a dozen chefs test their soup-making skills to raise funds for the nonproft Connecticut Food Bank.

The competition will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the church, 10 Lyons Plains Road.

Organizers hope to raise $5,000 for the Connecticut Food Bank, which has warehouses and distribution sites across the state.

Visitors to the competition, who will pay a $5 admission fee for those 12 and older, also are encouraged to bring nonperishable foods, which will be donated to the food bank. 

Westport’s Saugatuck Congregational Church is holding a community Thanksgiving feast today at 1 p.m. in the church’s Hoskins Hall, 245 Post Road East.

Participation is not limited to members of the church. For information call (203) 227-1262.

This view of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel in Mumbai, one of a number of targets attacked by terrorists today, was taken by WestportNow photographer Dave Matlow during a 2005 trip to India. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

These wild turkeys got camera shy on the day before Thanksgiving near the Three Bears Restaurant on Newtown Turnpike in Westport. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

The overnight and morning rains gave way to sunshine Tuesday. This was the scene near the Ned Dimes Marina at Westport’s Compo Beach. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

A 52-year-old Easton man employed as a mortgage broker in Westport pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport to fraud charges in connection with a mortgage application on a Westport property.

Fred Stevens faces 30 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine after pleading guilty to one count of bank fraud before U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall. His actual sentence is expected to be less under sentencing guidelines.

Stevens admitted submitting a falsified mortgage application to IndyMac Bank, a federally insured bank, in November 2006 for the purchase of a house at 35 Prospect Road in Westport, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.  He was employed as a broker from April 2006 to September 2007.

The mortgage application package contained “numerous false pretenses and representations,” according to a news release.

In an update on the direction of Westport’s Save the Children, its chief executive officer, Charles F. MacCormack, tonight addressed a crowd at a reception at the neighboring BNY Mellon offices on Wilton Road. “Young people today are more focused than ever on what’s going on around the world,” he said. “That’s why we’re investigating how to mimic (President-elect Barack) Obama’s mastery of reaching youths electronically.” He referred to Facebook, MySpace and other social networking tools that guide children of today to communicate as never before with other children in far off lands and cultures. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com