While a new Compo Beach Playground Committee is busy preparing for design day to create a new playground at Compo Beach next April, the “original” Playground Committee headed by Jim Bennett and Rick Benson is organizing a maintenance day Sunday.

The work is needed to ensure the continued safety of the playground for the forthcoming summer season, said Benson, coordinator of the event.

“This will be a joint effort of the original playground committee, the Parks and Rec. Department, the Westport Young Women’s League, and the new playground committee to provide a hands-on experience of all working together for the new generation of children in Westport,” he said.

Volunteer sign up will be 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., work will be done 10 a.m. to noon, and then Joey’s by the Shore will be serving lunch noon until 2 p.m.

Late afternoon Sunday at Westport’s Compo Mill Pond. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Emily Laux for WestportNow.com

Three Greens Farms Elementary School students did brisk business today along Soundview Drive across from Westport’s Compo Beach. The temperature hit 73F during the afternoon, drawing crowds of beachgoers.. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Two longtime Town of Westport employees are retiring soon and their friends and colleagues will honor them at a reception next month.

The event for Kathy Barnard, Planning and Zoning director, and Judy Nelson, director of the Westport Weston Health District, will be held Tuesday, May 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Inn at Longshore.

There will be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Cost is $25 per person. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP by May 17 to Lorrie Tremonte, Westport Weston Health Distirct, 180 Bayberry Lane, Westport, CT 06880, or Nancy Curcio, Westport Planning and Zoning Department, 110 Myrtle Ave., Westport, CT 06880.

Please make checks payable to the Westport Weston Health District.

Here is the text of a news release issued today by four Westporters on a telephone survey they commissioned about the location of a new home for the Westport/Weston YMCA:

OPINION SURVEY LOCATION OF PROPOSED WESTPORT Y APRIL 14, 2005

Survey results show Westporters Want Y at Baron’s South

Results of an opinion survey (“Survey”) by The Marketing Network of North Haven, CT were presented at the Westport Historical Society today. Survey results showed that:

72% OF THOSE WITH A PREFERENCE SUPPORT A SITE OTHER
THAN CAMP MAHACKENO

59% OF THOSE SURVEYED SUPPORT THE LEASE OF TOWN LANDS
AT BARON’S SOUTH TO THE “Y” AND ONLY 28% WERE OPPOSED;

AMONG “Y” MEMBERS SURVEYED, 67% MORE WERE PREPARED TO
CONTRIBUTE MONEY IN SUPPORT OF A NEW “Y” AT BARON’S SOUTH
THAN AT CAMP MAHACKENO.

(Click here for detailed results)

Westporters favoring the Y on Baron’s South today released this graphic showing results of a telephone survey they commissioned on the issue. Asked whether they had a preference for location of a new Y, 32 percent said Baron’s South, 20 percent said Mahackeno, 10 percent said along the Saugatuck in the commuter lot, 11 percent said “other,” and 28 percent had no preference. Click here for detailed results. (CLICK TO ENLARGE ) Contributed graphic

Four Westporters who favor Westport’s YMCA moving to the town-owned Baron’s South property held a news conference today to release the results of a telephone survey of 400 Westporters last week on the issue which they said showed most residents agreed with them. Pictured (l-r) are Andy Lozyniak, Ted Diamond, Roy Dickinson, and Donald Bergmann. Click here for detailed results. (CLICK TO ENLARGE ) Larry Untermeyer for WestportNow.com

Dick Foot, executive director/CEO of the Westport/Weston YMCA, today discussed details of the Y’s planned move from its downtown headquarters to its Camp Mahackeno property. He told a forum for Y members that the organization’s plans for safe and uncongested access to the site include smart signalization to enhance traffic flow, two widened stacking lane connectors from Wilton Road, and a widened Sunny Lane. He said there will be no access to the site via neighboring streets, Rice’s Lane and River Lane, and that all access will be through Sunny Lane.  (CLICK TO ENLARGE ) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

In a sure sign of spring, skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) have emerged in the woody wetlands along Westport’s Sturges Highway, south of Cross Highway. The skunk cabbage blooms long before any other spring wildflower. The name comes from the odor they release when moved. (CLICK TO ENLARGE ) Emily Laux for WestportNow.com

Westport’s Burying Hill Beach at dawn on Monday. (CLICK TO ENLARGE ) Ron Malone for WestportNow.com