Preparations were under way today on Westport’s Jesup Green for the Westport Library’s annual summer book sale, which begins Saturday and continues through Tuesday mid-day. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Splash, 260 Compo Road South at Longhsore Club Park is today’s featured spot in our WestportNow series, Westport Outdoors, highlighting popular spots where Westporters gather to eat, play, or relax during the warm weather months.  According to Splash general manager Michele Rotondi, the restaurant’s outdoor seating accommodates 80-90 patrons at 22 tables with additional outdoor seating on its waterview lower patio, which offers live band music on Sunday from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. .  He said Splash, in its 16th year, features “Pacific Rim infusion cuisine” and its menu which is 90 percent dedicated to seafood. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Westport’s Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts today announced that the July 20 grand opening Jose Feliciano concert and ribbon cutting ini its new $6.8 million home is sold out.

The new Levitt at dusk today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

“We are delighted by the community’s enthusiastic response,” said Carleigh Welsh, marketing and communications director, of the offer of free tickets on a first-come-first-serve basis.

She reminded residents that no tickets will be available at the site and the lawn will open to ticket holders at 5 p.m. No advance entry will be permitted.

In addition, she said a wait list has been established to redistribute any tickets that may be returned. 

Jonathan David Gross, an English professor at DePaul University, provided insights tonight for a Westport Arts Center ArtCafe Happy Hour audience into the life of Anne Damer (1748-1828), England’s first significant female sculptor. Gross talked about his new book, “The Life of Anne Damer: Portrait of a Regency Artist.” Damer produced lasting pieces of work at a time when the art of sculpture was largely the domain of male artists. She believed that art could have significant political influence, and that artists must defy conventions and live passionately. Gross noted that in recent years there has been a strong revival of interest in Damer’s life, particularly in gay and lesbian studies due to her famous relationship with author Mary Berry. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Helen Klisser During for WestportNow.com

NYU journalism professor and author Charles Seife tonight talked about his book “Virtual Unreality: Just Because the Internet Told You, How Do You Know It’s True?” at a Westport Library appearance. The book describes how digital information has become extremely vulnerable to tampering and is changing people’s behavior. The lines of fantasy and reality are being blurred by the Internet, he said. But society has chosen to give up some power for convenience and getting things for free. “People don’t think twice,” he writes in his book, “about reflexively transmitting their whereabouts to a company that’s trying to bend your mind and make you a frequent visitor to your local Pizza Hut, Hess gas station, or RadioShack.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Marcia Logan for WestportNow.com

After less than a year in operation, Westport’s Post 154 restaurant has brought in a new partner to run the eatery in the former post office building at 154 Post Road East.

Guests dine on the patio of the Post 154 Restaurant. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

An announcement today said the Kelly family, owners of the restaurant, have partnered with SKAL Restaurant Group, which operates The Ginger Man in Norwalk and Greenwich and Cask Republic in New Haven.

“Led by owner Christian Burns, SKAL Restaurant Group is now spearheading the operations side for Post 154,” it said.

“The plan for Post 154 is to take what is already a magnificent space and further carve out its food and beverage identity,” Burns said in the announcement.

Joey’s By The Shore is today’s featured spot in our WestportNow series, Westport Outdoors, highlighting popular spots where Westporters gather to eat, play, or relax during the warm weather months. A fixture of Compo Beach, Joey’s by the Shore beachfront eatery opened in 1988 according to owner Joey Romano. It traditionally closes for the season on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

A nine-member team of librarians from Russia was guests at the Westpor Library today and were greeted by executive director Maxine Bleiweis (3rd l) and Bill Derry, the library’s director of innovation and user experience. Bleiweis and Derry visited Russia in February at the invitation of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and participated in a three-day workshop with Russian librarians. She said seven of the nine visitors today, also invited and sponsored by the U.S. State Department, were the same librarians they met with in Russia. “This is a lot like a reunion today,” she said. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Bill Derry (l), director of innovation and user experience at the Westport Library, today explains the library’s Design-Thinking Center to nine visiting Russian librarians. He was assisted by Westport resident, Danil Karandin (4th l), 20, who emigrated from Russia recently and serves as a library “maker space coach.” According to Maxine Bleiweis, the library’s executive director, the group arrived in the United States about two weeks ago, attended a library conference in Las Vegas and toured library facilities in Chicago before spending their final day in Westport today. Derry and Bleiweis had met seven of the Russians during a visit there in February. (See WestportNow Feb. 25, 2013) That visit followed an October 2013 visit by 17 Russian librarians to the Westport Library. (See WestportNow Oct. 20, 2013) (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com