By James Lomuscio
Under sunny skies and with many flags of the United Nations’s 193 member countries billowing on Westport’s Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge, about 300 U.N. ambassadors, delegates, staff and their families converged on the Saugatuck Elementary School today for the town’s 48th annual jUNe Day to commemorate the signing of the U.N. Charter in 1945.

Bill Haas of Westport, president of the U.N. Association of Southwestern Connecticut, welcomes guests at today’s jUNe Day ceremony at Saugatuck Elementary School. Listening are (l-r) Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff, Patricia O’Brien, U.N. Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs, and Ambassador and U.N. Under-Secretary General Joseph V. Reed. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Patricia O’Brien of Ireland, the U.N.‘s Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs, was the keynote speaker, noting that she was amazed when she learned the event was being held in Westport.
“In Ireland we have a Westport, and we see our Westport as a very special place,” she said. “In fact, last year it was voted the best place to live in Ireland, so there’s a great synergy.”
O’Brien said that driving around Westport today, she, too, could envision moving to town.