UPDATE and CORRECT History and kayaking will come together Friday as the importance of Westport’s Saugatuck River is explored.

Kayakers will have an opportunity to paddle into Westport’s distant past as they learn about the waterway that long divided Norwalk and Fairfield before 1835, the year Westport was incorporated.

The sunset tour, which sets up at 6 p.m. and co-sponsored by the Westport Historical Society (WHS) and Downunder Kayaking , 575 Riverside Ave., will examine everything from the water quality of the lower Saugatuck River, to impact of the I-95 bridge which kayakers will paddle underneath, and to how Westport’s iconic Black Duck Cafe got its start, according to the WHS.

Kayakers will also to learn about the railroad trestle they will paddle underneath, as well as the history of Longshore Club Park, the shores of which they will be navigating.

Wednesday’s Summer Café at the Westport Arts Center featured Erin Ostreicher of Westport who runs a floral designs company. She explained how to utilize locally grown flowers to create professional whimsical arrangements. The Summer Café Lunch Escapes series on the Center’s deck is held in cooperation with the Westport Farmers Market. The alternate Wednesdays 12;30 – 1:30 p.m. event includes discussions about community and landscape and lunch offered by local fresh food vendor Du Solei. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

Longtime Westporters and filmmakers Frank and Doris Jacoby kept their audience entertained tonight with memorable stories of some of the celebrities they worked with who often became lifelong friends. The talk down memory lane took place at the monthly salon hosted by Lee Greenberg and Herb Podel. This month the meeting was at The Saugatuck senior housing facility on Bridge Street. There were stories of Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, crooner Rudy Vallee, and Adlai Stevenson, the former governor of Illinois who received the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 1952 and 1956 and both times was defeated by Eisenhower. As Frank Jacoby was telling a story, he momentarily broke down as he started to describe hearing about the sudden death of Stevenson, who died of a heart attack while on a walk in London in 1965. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

The Magic of Lin enthralled an overflow Levitt Pavilion-sponsored audience of both adults and children tonight at the Saugatuck Elementary School auditorium. The indoor venue was necessary because of technical requirements that could not be fulfilled on the Levitt Pavilion stage. Lyn Dillies, one of the nation’s top illusionists, displayed a stunning array of illusions, laced with suspense and excitement. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

By Mark Pazniokas

www.ctmirror.org

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy walked a picket line today in Newington with striking nursing-home workers, accusing HealthBridge Management of New Jersey of violating labor laws in its battle with employees at its five facilities in Connecticut. [A union picket line is also in place at co-owned Westport Health Care, 1 Burr Road.]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman walk a picket line today in Newington.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Ctmirror.org photo

“Let’s be honest. What HealthBridge is attempting to do illegally is to break the union. That’s what they want to do,” Malloy said. “They want to be the new model in the state of Connecticut, and we don’t want them to be.”

Emboldened by a National Labor Relations Board complaint accusing the company of bargaining in bad faith last week, Malloy was unusually harsh in his denunciation of HealthBridge as he marched with Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman.

“This was made easy. I am the governor, and I can’t go to every picket line across the state every time,” Malloy said, adding there is a collective bargaining process. “What is quite clear is that process is not being respected by HealthBridge.”

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