Resident Reflections: Leonard Everett Fisher

Resident Reflections: Leonard Everett Fisher

By Mike Lauterborn

(Appeared 2/16 in the Westport News)

2/11/11

A WWII mapmaker who made his living illustrating, painting and teaching, Leonard Everett Fisher, 86, has lived a full life dotted with celebrity encounters and secret projects. He recently reflected on his life’s highlights and recalled a few Westport memories from the studio of his Twin Bridge Acres Road home.

“I was born in the Bronx in June 1924, and, at 8 or 9, moved to Sea Gate in Brooklyn, America’s first gated community, where the family had initially summered,” said Fisher.

His father, Benjamin, was a marine designer who worked most of his life for the navy designing submarines at the Lake Torpedo Works in Bridgeport. Simon Lake was the inventor of the even-keel diving submarine. Ben’s initial job was the U.S.S. Arizona, the battleship that was sunk at Pearl Harbor. Though only 20 at the time, he designed small parts like gangways, anchor chains and capstans. He went on to design the hulls of battleships and cruisers in navy yards all over the U.S.

Fisher’s mom, Ray, was a bookkeeper in NYC initially, then a homemaker.

“Our Sea Gate home was right on the water – the confluence of the lower New York bay and the Atlantic Ocean, across from Staten Island and next to Norton’s Point lighthouse,” he said. “Its red glow would shine in our living room and make it look like hell.”

Fisher attended Abraham Lincoln High School and majored in art. He was 16 when he graduated and went to Brooklyn College. In Dec. 1942, at age 18, he was recruited by the army as a mapmaker and, for the next three years, was with a very elite unit that mapped all the WWII invasions – Anzio, southern France, part of Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the invasion of Japan.

“I was in operations as a young non-com, and very appropriately placed based on my skill set, which included the drafting of maps, knowledge of several languages and a background in geology,” he said. “The work was very top secret and clandestine and my boss was General George Marshall.”

Fisher was discharged in Jan. 1946 and began attending Yale Arts School, pursuing a degree in painting. He got a B.F.A. in 1949, an M.F.A. in 1950 and, incredibly, a Pulitzer Prize in painting that same year, about which he was notified via telegram from then President Eisenhower.

In 1952, at which time he was a dean at a small arts school, he married Margery Meskin and they had three children, raising them initially in New Haven. In 1957, they ultimately landed in Westport at their current home and, over the next 50 years, Fisher illustrated books for young readers, painted and taught.

As a book illustrator, he traveled all over the country lecturing, and illustrated 260 books, 90 of which he also wrote. He also had a number of memorable meetings with heads of state like former President Clinton and other dignitaries.

Fisher said his painting was less public, with sporadic gallery shows.

“It’s been a lucky life. I never had to earn a living in any other way but the arts,” he concluded.

Lost opportunity 1957

“When we first moved to Westport, several things struck us about the area. The first was our immediate property. Behind our acre, there were 165 acres of just forest. There was game in there like wild turkey, grouse and rabbits. A gentleman named Raymond Ely owned the land and asked us if we would like to buy another acre so that no one would build directly behind us. It was pretty cheap, about $6,000, but we figured because it was an incline and rocky, no one would ever build there, so we passed… and they built. Then the whole area went.”

Main Street, late 50’s

“It was a pleasure to walk down the main and visit all the stores, which were individually owned – Greenberg’s Department Store, Welch’s Hardware Store, etc. On the south corner of Main and the Post Road, there was a Chinese restaurant called West Lake. The name reflected an area in China where the owner was born… and he was educated at Harvard. There was also a movie house and, next to it, a stationery shop owned by Max Kaplan which eventually evolved into Max’s Art Supplies, which is a landmark now for most regional artists.”

Waterfront fun

“Coming from a waterside upbringing, I immediately felt right at home here. I don’t recall that Compo Beach was ever crowded and the Longshore Country Club was private. The latter wasn’t bought by the town until the early 60’s and became a facility that our kids used all the time during the summer, for boating and swimming. I golfed there, too – albeit a short career. The pro was George Buck and I would take my lesson from him before teeing off.”

Roadways

“There was little traffic in those days, no one creeping up behind you blowing the horn, no cell phones and the largest private car was a station wagon. Newton Turnpike, which runs by our area, was a turnpike with no cars on it. It was more or less a two-lane, paved country back road. Now it’s got bumper-to-bumper traffic.”

Westport’s transformation

“We settled here because of the school system and because it seemed to be a quiet, pretty, comfortable place. I didn’t initially realize it was an arts community with a number of celebrated artists. This fascinated me. I came here as an academic to the heartland of commercial illustration. The arts focus waxed and waned as professionals died off or went west and show biz people started moving in like Paul Newman, Jack Klugman, Robert Redford and Joanne Woodward. Their presence made Westport a destination, more so than the artists, who kept a low profile. This improved real estate values which attracted Wall Streeters, all sorts of entrepreneurs and corporate executives. Now there’s been a revival of the arts here.”

Institutional foundations

“In the late 80’s, I was president of the Board of Trustees of the Westport Library, which was then establishing its new and current location. Back in 1965, I was also a founding member of the Westport-Weston Arts Council, which later morphed into the Westport Arts Center.”

Paranormal Talk Sends Chills Through Packed House

Paranormal Talk Sends Chills Through Packed House:

Ghosthunter team shares evidence at Fairfield Woods Library

(Posted to Fairfield.Patch.com 2/12)

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

2/12/11

Fairfield, CT – Ghostly images. Mysterious energy. Physical encounters. Strange faces. This was the evidence put forth by a pair of state ghosthunters with regard to their long-time work in the field of paranormal activity.

It was all part of a presentation given by Joseph Franke and Orlando Ferrante, founders of the Connecticut Paranormal Research Society, Saturday afternoon at Fairfield Public Library Woods Branch. The duo, with over 45 years of combined knowledge and experience, has established itself as one of the leading paranormal investigation and research teams in New England. To a full house of 60 attendees, they shared photographic imagery from ghosthunting excursions and related details of several cases they had worked on over the years.

One of the most remarkable cases occurred in Enfield in 2008, and still haunts the pair. As Ferrante related it, they were contacted by the homeowners who described that they had been seeing shadowy figures. A lot of the sightings and activity was centered around the couple’s twin daughters, who they later discovered had a gift of seeing the paranormal. They went to check out the home.

“We went a total of five times,” Ferrante said, “but were finding no evidence to validate the claims. On that fifth visit, we set up an infrared video camera in the girls’ room and had one of our investigators shooting still shots in the hallway outside their bedroom while we worked with a psychic downstairs. The psychic managed to channel a spirit that we felt was doing all the harassing. I used religious provocation to challenge the spirit and, through the psychic, it spit in my face and laughed at us.”

Things really became intense at that point. “Shortly thereafter, our investigator was attacked upstairs,” Ferrante said. “She was physically picked up off her feet and dropped to the ground. We ran upstairs and found total chaos. As we checked on the girls, we could hear loud growling. We controlled the situation, removed everyone from the room and monitored things for the rest of the night, which was quiet.”

The investigators expected the video camera might have documented the occurrence, but discovered the tape was gone when they began packing up their equipment. It went missing for over nine months before turning up mysteriously on top of a camcorder bag.

Ferrante reviewed the tape and, to his amazement, saw an anomalous object coming out of the crib, timed about two minutes after their investigator was attacked.

A second review showed one of the girls looking very agitated and whispering “sit down” in the direction of the investigator, at which point the woman was attacked.

Ferrante said the pair weren’t able to resolve the situation in the home. “While the homeowners were at first pursuing a course that may have allowed us to provide a house cleansing, the situation changed during the time the tape went missing. The homeowners ended up working with another paranormal group which contacted a television producer to film a paranormal episode for Animal Planet.”

The overall event still brings chills to the duo when they recollect it and, Ferrante said, “I feel the aggressive spirit there has managed to attach itself to my family through me. Let’s just say there have been some unexplainable occurrences over the past two years.”

This was just one incredible tale the pair related from their nearly lifelong experience in the field, which began for both when they were just children. In fact, Franke’s first interface came when he was three.

“My maternal grandfather and I were very close and spent a lot of time together. One night, while my parents were watching TV, I came out of my bedroom, apparently sleepwalking, and said I heard someone saying, ‘Joseph, come with me.’ Shortly thereafter, my parents got a call from my grandmother saying that my grandfather had passed away. He’d had a heart attack while sitting up reading the Bible in bed. That’s where the seed was planted that I had some kind of paranormal connection.”

Similarly, Ferrante had been surrounded by the paranormal since he was six. “I had the ability to sense spirits, see them and feel them. My mother would tell me it’s nothing, then later confessed to knowing I had a special gift and it was common to other members of the family.”

Later in life, both had the opportunity to meet and work with Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were the pioneers in the paranormal field and handled such high-profile cases as the infamous Amityville mass murders in 1974.

In 1995, through a mutual friend, Franke met Ferrante, they decided to branch out on their own and formed the Connecticut Paranormal Research Society.

“We are committed to researching the unexplained and try to assist people who feel they may have paranormal disturbances,” said Franke. “A very small percentage of the cases we look into turn out to be paranormal. Often they are psychosomatic. We do a lot of upfront research and screening before we take a case.”

The pair say television doesn’t accurately represent what goes on in the field. “There’s a lot of hard work in researching and family sacrifice. We may work on a case for nights, weeks, even years. We’re about finding resolution,” said Ferrante.

They don’t profess to have all the answers but just share their experience. “We’re like Fox News. We report, you decide.”

Make-A-Wish Movie Madness

Make-A-Wish Movie Madness:

FLHS Club holds fundraiser at Community Theatre

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

2/12/11

Fairfield, CT – The lobby area of Fairfield Community Theater was abuzz with excited children, caring parents, thoughtful teens and a big green fellow named Shrek.

The occasion Saturday morning was the 8^th annual “Movie Madness” event, a fundraiser hosted by the Fairfield Ludlowe High School Make-A-Wish Club, at the popular downtown movie house. The featured presentation was “Shrek” and, while free, donations were being accepted with all proceeds going to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Connecticut.

Explained FLHS student Melissa Warten, 17, “The Make-A-Wish Club of FLHS is a group devoted to raising funds for children with life-threatening medical conditions. This is one of our most popular fundraisers and we do it annually. The kids from all around town love coming to the movies and it helps us with donations. There are 30 of us in the Club this year.”

With regard to how Warten became involved with the Club, she said, “We have an activity fair every September advertising all the school clubs. When I saw this one as a freshman, I thought it would be interesting and looked into it. I’ve ended up sticking with it for three years and plan on being an officer next year.”

Speaking about the event, Sydney Kay, 16, a fellow volunteer, said, “People that donate today get to see our featured movie and will receive information about the club and organization and who it benefits. Kids can also write their names on paper stars, which we tape to a banner. We have wristbands, too.”

Another volunteer, Libbey Walker, 18, said the event has been successful over time. “We’ve been doing this since 2003 and have raised over $15,000 during that time. That has allowed us to grant two wishes and we’re close to granting a third. It takes about $5,000 or more per child.”

Kay said it’s a rewarding effort. “After a child takes advantage of their wish, they come back to us and tell us about their experiences. Usually we also get thank you’s from their parents, too, who tell us how the experience allowed them to forget about all the doctors for a couple of days and enjoy being a family again.”

Fairfielder Kirk Shankle and his daughter, Amelia, 6, were glad to support the cause. “It seemed like a good event, to help out Make-A-Wish, and gives Amelia the chance to see ‘Shrek’ on the big screen. Being a parent, I can’t imagine having a child in this situation. To help in a small way is great.”

Fellow Fairfielder Scott Meurer, attending with his daughter Zoe, 6, said friends had told him about the event and he was just learning about the organization, but that “it seemed like a great cause and a fun morning.”

Dan Kelly, with his children Devin, 3, and Mairead, 2, agreed with Meurer. “This is a great cause and great thing to do in cold weather. This is also my children’s first movie house experience.”

Fairfield Historian Marcia Miner’s Amazing Roundtrip

Fairfield Historian Marcia Miner’s 
Amazing Roundtrip

(Front page feature of Fairfield Sun 2/10)

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2010. All Rights Reserved.

1/7/11

Fairfield, CT – She literally traveled around the world before realizing that Fairfield and its history were her true calling.

In a recent sit-down at her historic Old Post Road home, Fairfield’s Honorary Town Historian Marcia Miner, 81, spoke about her ancestral connection to the area, her unique upbringing as the daughter of a newsreel sound man, adventures in places near and far and unexpected interest in town lore.

Benson House Roots

It seems appropriate that a historian should live in a historic home. Miner’s 232-year-old residence, known as “Benson House”, certainly qualifies. More than that, the home and Miner have an ancestral connection and she was proud to relate the background.

The house was named after Abraham Benson, though he was not its first resident. Born in 1779 in Hackensack, NY, Benson was one of twelve children. When his father was shot by a British sniper, Abraham’s mother moved him and his siblings to lower Manhattan. Benson grew up living along the waterfront and became a seaman.

One port of call was Fairfield where he fell in love with and married a local girl in 1802. Sadly, she died in labor nine months later. Benson then became acquainted with General Elijah Abel, who built Benson House, married his caretaker Giselle Burr in 1804 and bought into the house. When the general passed on, Benson assumed ownership.

Benson raised 12 children with Burr. She died in childbirth with the 13^th. Benson remarried a third time, to Finette Edwards, in 1831. He became a steamship captain and Fairfield’s fifth postmaster. He and Finette had one child, also named Finette, who married John Nichols, a local church deacon. They had five children, including Finette Benson Nichols. She ultimately willed Benson House to Miner’s mother, Gertrude, her cousin, in 1948.

Father’s Unique Occupation

Gertrude was born and raised in Cornwall Bridge, CT and, as a pre-teen, came to live at Benson House when her mom passed and her father settled in Freeport, Long Island. Gertrude ultimately joined her father there and met Miner’s father, Charles “Chic” Peden.

Peden’s first significant job was as a sound man for Fox Movietone News. When sound came on film in 1929, Fox was first to use it. Peden was sent to London to teach the Brits the new technology. Gertrude learned she was pregnant as they prepared to travel there and Miner was subsequently born in London on June 21, 1929. Later that year, the family returned to the U.S., to Manhattan, where Peden joined Hearst Metrotone News, which became his lifelong employer.

The family relocated to Jackson Heights, Queens, where Miner had her early schooling. During those years, Peden covered news events all over the eastern part of the U.S. including the Hindenburg explosion, the trial of the kidnapper of Charles Lindbergh’s son and the sinking of the Normandy in New York harbor.

“I would wake up in the morning and say, ‘Where’s daddy?’ and my mother would say, ‘Oh, he’s gone to cover the floods along the Mississippi,” Miner recalled. “It was exciting to hear about his travels and news adventures. At dinner, he would tell us what he’d done, whether he was with Roosevelt that day or covering a convention.”

Every winter, the family went to Miami. “We’d attend horse races and I went to school part of the year there,” said Miner. “We stayed in a luxurious suite of rooms at the Miami Biltmore Hotel. The lifeguard there was ‘Buster’ Crabbe. He taught me to swim and later became a movie star.”

Peden volunteered for the Air Corps in 1942 and was sent to the Aleutian Islands, then to Saipan. He was a cameraman doing reconnaissance in B-29s over Asia. While home on leave in 1945, the A-Bomb was dropped and the war ended. “That night, my dad took me to Times Square for the celebration,” said Miner.

Peden went back to work for Hearst while Miner finished high school. Peden was then sent to Washington, D.C. as a White House correspondent. “I went down there one summer and dad had me meet him at the White House,” said Miner. “President Truman made the announcement that he was firing General Douglas MacArthur. I was right there and as Truman left the office, he patted me.”

When Finette Nichols became ill and passed and Benson House came into the family’s possession in Nov. 1948, the family relocated from Queens. “We moved in on the night Truman won re-election against Dewey.”

Miner initially pursued acting. “I would love to have been a camerawoman or newspaper reporter as my father had all the connections, but they wouldn’t let women in the union.” She went to the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where Grace Kelly and Helen Hayes’ daughter were fellow students.

English and History Unite

Miner decided acting was not for her, majored in English at the University of Bridgeport and worked for a time as an assistant research editor at Faucett magazine. Among its writers was Ernest Hemingway.

In 1959, Miner was engaged to be married. It didn’t work out and she moved to Hawaii to soothe her wounds and teach at a Navy base. “I got there on a freighter from New Orleans – nine days of travel.” She then moved to Honolulu, teaching kids from Pearl Harbor, and married a naval officer from Massachusetts.

The couple returned to the U.S., to West Hartford, in the early 60s, where she taught at a high school and achieved a Masters in English Literature. They moved back overseas to Frankfurt, Germany, but split in 1965. She continued on to England, teaching American Literature at the University of Sheffield.

In 1967, she moved to Berkeley, CA. “What a place to be at that time with the anti-war movement -- a bone of contention between my father and me.”

In 1970, she moved to Bolinas, CA, “a wonderful community and as hippie a town as you can imagine”, continuing to teach. When her father died in 1974 and her mother became ill in the early 80s, Miner returned to Benson House in late 1987. Her mother passed in 1988.

“I had no intentions of staying. I didn’t like the weather or the town initially, but got hooked on the house,” said Miner. “I also began to revisit some pieces my father had written in the early 60s about 20 historical houses on the Old Post Road. I updated them and they were published as a column in the Fairfield Citizen called “Then and Now.”

By the time the series ended, Miner had gotten very turned on by town history and started another series called “Fairfield Revisited”, covering town history and other topics. The series won several awards and, in June 2004, First Selectman Ken Flatto bestowed the honorary town historian title on Miner.

“It’s ironic that I find myself so fascinated with Fairfield as I’d been so anxious to get out of this town. And I don’t regret my travels. But I’m glad to be making a contribution to the town. The history of Fairfield is fascinating, as well as its residents -- both famous and infamous.” 

SIDEBAR

Newsreel Man “Chic” Peden

In the 1920s through the 1960s, before the widespread popularity of television, newsreels were the everyday capture of the news of the day. Charles “Chic” Peden, father of Fairfield Honorary Town Historian Marcia Miner, spent his life recording history on sound and film in the newsreel format. He was among the leading men of the era in this industry.

Peden wrote a book about his early experiences titled “Newsreel Man”, which was published in the 1930s. It related his exploits and adventures covering some of the most important news stories of the time. These included a range of content from dramatic to mundane, like the trial of Bruno Hauptmann, kidnapper of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s infant son, and John D. Rockefeller Sr. cutting his cake on the occasion of this 90^th birthday.

“In the very early days, there were few news crews in major cities, so my dad and his cameraman often drove up and down the east coast to reach stories,” said Miner. “They even went as far away as the Fiji Islands one time,” said Miner, “to cover the firewalkers there.”

These men were more than reporters. They were documenters, and the process was quite involved. Reels had to be shipped, processed and edited with voiceovers. “Typically, they turned these around in three days and played them in the theaters before a movie showing,” said Miner.

“For many years, my dad had a company car, a Dodge that was specially built with a roof platform upon which the camera could be secured,” related Miner. “The equipment was very heavy and a challenge to move around. Imagine carrying this gear up mountains.”

A Shopper’s Guide to Valentine’s Day Retail Resources

A Shopper’s Guide to Valentine’s Day Retail Resources:

Flowers, jewelry, cards, spas 

and chocolate

(Posted to Fairfield.Patch.com 2/11)

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

2/11/11

Fairfield, CT – That special day is just around the corner, Valentine’s Day. Like many people, you’re probably scrambling last minute for a thoughtful gift that shows you care. But where to go and what to buy?

Patch takes some of the stress out of the decision making process with a helpful list of a few local retailers and their wares in the flowers, jewelry, greeting card, day spa and chocolate categories. We’ve also taken a moment to check in with a retailer in each segment to see who’s buying, what they’re buying and how business is going.

Flowers

Hansen’s Flower Shop, 1040 Post Road, 203-255-0461

An unusual selection of cut flowers from all over the world.

Fairfield Florist, 1998 Post Road, 203-256-9342

Wide selection of flowers, arrangements and plants.

Sullivan’s Heritage Florist, 25 South Benson Road, 203-259-1629

Large selection of cut flowers, including Ecuadorian roses and Dutch flowers, and custom-made arrangements for every order.

Dailey’s Flower Shop, 2151 Black Rock Tpke., 203-336-1895

Custom bouquets, floral arrangements and gift baskets. Same-day delivery available.

Colonial Gardens, 1174 Bronson Road, 203-259-2722

Full-service flower shop, greenhouse plants and roses.

Spotlight: Hansen’s Flower Shop

Patch pulled aside General Manager Gary Lucas, who reported that business was speeding along. “If business doesn’t spike for any flower shop on Valentine’s Day, they’re in trouble. Our business has been expanding and is very good this year and for this holiday.”

Lucas said his customers have been male for the most part. “Ninety-percent of our traffic is men, mostly looking for roses. They make very simple, traditional selections.”

As to special items, Lucas said, “We are offering chocolate, stuffed animals, balloons, an array of flowers from all over the world and, of course, arrangements of roses – any amount from one dozen to three dozen.”

Jewelry

Fairfield Center Jewelers, 1498 Post Road, 203-259-5693

Precious gems in all the colors of spring in the middle of winter

J. Albert Johnson Jewelers, 1957 Black Rock Tpke., 203-334-4680

Quality diamonds and elegant jewelry at fair pricing.

Shaw Jewelers, 525 Tunxis Hill Cutoff, 203-367-0777

Designer and affordable semi-precious and precious stones and sterling silver.

HC Reid Jewelers, 1591 Post Road, 203-255-0447

Affordable designer jewelry in gold and silver with diamonds, as well as colored stones. A selection of cultured pearls is also offered.

Lenox Jewelers, 2379 Black Rock Tpke., 203-374-6157

Diamonds, gemstones, giftware and engraving.

Spotlight: Fairfield Center Jewelers

Partner Howard Diamond took a moment to comment, “Every Valentine’s Day is different in terms of traffic and business. The economy especially forces people to prioritize their expense. Valentine’s Day is kind of a polite dutiful holiday. It’s not as important as birthdays and anniversaries, so people are more careful with their spending. People are also looking at their December holiday credit card bills and at tax time, which affects the dynamic. It’s still a significant day for us.”

As to shoppers, Diamond said, “A lot of women have been coming in and making wish lists, looking at white gold and platinum pendants, as well as pearl jewelry.”

About business, Diamond added, “Business has been better than last year, despite the weather. People are more positive and our sales are up.”

Greeting Cards

Party Party, 14 Sanford Street, 203-292-9277

Fine stationery, gifts and event planning services.

Cardsmart, 2075 Black Rock Tpke., 203-334-1657

Discount cards and quality gifts.

Miller’s Hallmark, 2255 Black Rock Tpke., 203-368-1778

Candy, plush toys, wide selection of greeting cards, single roses and pre-wrapped items.

CVS

700 Post Road, 203-255-1089

1968 Black Rock Tpke., 203-366-8070

Wide array of greeting cards, candy, balloons, flowers and plush toys.

Spotlight: Party Party

Owner Mary Thornton’s shop opened at the end of September, offering “paper, presents and parties”, as she put it. “For Valentine’s Day, we have great greeting cards and gifts such as personalized notepads and frames,” she said. “We’re having a special in February called “All You Need Is Love” offering 10% off anything wedding related, from invites to Save The Date notes.”

About shoppers, she said, “People have been looking for gifts for that special someone, and cards. Our walk-ins are primarily women, thought we get some men, too.”

Day Spas

The Spa, 1139 Post Road, 203-259-8757

Deluxe facials, massage therapy, body and foot treatments, waxing, hair care, bath and body products and gift certificates.

Total Look Salons, 2193 Black Rock Tpke., 203-367-4247

Complete hair care, facials, waxing, manicures, pedicures, medi-spa services, gift packages and baskets.

Ocean Skin Care Spa and Massage, 1700 Post Road, 203-292-8188

Massage therapy, facials, body waxing, body treatments and skin care products.

Turquoise Medical Spa, 1305 Post Road, 203-319-1900

Facials, cosmetic procedures, a variety of massages and waxing.

Spotlight: The Spa

Patch spoke with Business Manager Al Dee about the holiday. “This is probably the third largest volume day we have after Christmas and Mother’s Day. This year it’s kind of early to size up traffic as most purchases will be made Saturday, a couple days before the holiday.”

Thus far, though, Dee said, “Our traffic has been mostly men, for their wives and mothers. Some of it is online or by phone, in addition to the walk-ins.”

Summing up, Dee added, “Spa services are a good gift as they are personal. Gift requests are usually massages and facials.”

Candy/Chocolate

Sweet Rexies, 1552 Post Road, 203-254-3254

Chocolates, classic candies, apparel, plush toys, gift baskets and ice cream.

Spotlight: Sweet Rexies

Owner Nanci Lewis said about Valentine’s Day, “It’s a unique holiday. People tend to shop just a few days before. The weather has affected us, but we’re pretty much on track with last year. We’ll see how this weekend goes.”

About her customers, Lewis said, “We get moms coming in to buy for kids and husbands but, really, whoever likes candy and gourmet chocolate.”

Lewis has a wide variety of products to offer for the holiday. “For Valentine’s Day, we have different sized heart containers, with zebra stripes and XO’s. Anyone can fill those with their own candy – a custom make-your-own Valentine’s heart.

Other items include ready-made boxes of Godiva chocolates, gift baskets, tall canisters of chocolate drizzled popcorn, champagne bottles of milk chocolate, Love Me To Pieces bars and even nut-free candies.”

Octet Sings Their Hearts Out

Octet Sings Their Hearts Out:

All-female barbershop group delivers singing Valentines

(Posted to Fairfield.Patch.com 2/11)

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

2/9/11

Fairfield, CT – They bonded through a choir, gave their group a name and took their show on the road. Now these eight women are spreading the love and can be yours for a song on Valentine’s Day.

The group is called Matinee and they are an all-female barbershop octet comprised of ladies ranging in age from 45 to 80 who hail from Fairfield, Stratford, Brookfield, Easton, Milford, Trumbull and New Canaan. On Valentine’s Day, they will be visiting homes and offices to sing two love songs and deliver a rose and card. While they have already booked a few gigs, they are available to schedule additional appearances. A visit costs $55.

“We’ve been together for more than 15 years,” said Cathy Van Tornhout, 52, a leading member of the group who resides on Burr Street. “We took the name Matinee as we were all not working. This became our day job in a sense. We like to say ‘we do it in the daytime’. But now we do it all day long and all night, too.”

Tornhout said the group started out singing at nursing homes, ladies’ luncheons and other events that would occur during the daytime. They even scored some high-profile gigs like performing the national anthem at a New Haven Ravens game. For a number of years, they also sang at the annual naturalization ceremony held at Fairfield University.

“Our 80-year-old, Jan Dalgar, from Trumbull, even performed with a choir organized by Michael Bolton to compete on NBC’s ‘Clash of the Choirs’, a TV reality show contest that aired one December a few years back,” Tornhout said proudly. “She’s one hot ticket. Bolton called her ‘The Silver Fox.’”

Tornhout said their group is a subset of a larger singing entity. “We’re all members of a choir called Harmony on the Sound, a women’s barbershop chorus. The acronym is H.O.T.S. The chorus is a member of Sweet Adelines International, which is a women’s barbershop singing organization with approximately 50,000 members worldwide.”

Tornhout quipped, “Barbershop harmony was started by men but perfected by women. It’s not unusual within large organizations for members to put together a quartet or octet, to go out and have some extra fun, sing and perform.”

The singer said it has brought the women very close together. “Through our singing relationship, we’ve developed a pretty tight sisterhood and bond, watched our children grow up, grandchildren come along and witnessed events like the O.J. Simpson verdict and 9/11, both of which occurred during rehearsal sessions. These are things that will bond you.”

Tornhout said the group’s gigs have been very varied. “People will hire us for birthday parties and Christmas parties, as a surprise to guests. We’ve done weddings and funerals, too, which we call ‘gigs and digs.’ We even participated in an engagement, at a Starbucks in Trumbull, which was fun.”

With regard to the singing Valentines concept, she explained, “You’ve seen the singing telegrams – our idea to do doorstep performances on Valentine’s Day evolved from that. We usually wear all red or pink sweaters, black slacks and heart jewelry. When you see all eight of us walk in wearing the same outfits, you know something is up. We do love songs – mostly old songs – like ‘Always’, ‘Moonglow’, ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’, ‘Embraceable You’, ‘Unforgettable’ and ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ That will be our Valentine’s repertoire this year.”

She said people find the performances fun. “The reaction we get is very positive. People really seem to enjoy it. The men turn bright red. The women laugh or cry – one extreme or the other. When we go to an office building, we usually gain a large crowd by the time we’ve finished as people join us from their cubicles and offices.”

For its Valentine’s Day lineup, the group has been rehearsing at Turnhout’s Fairfield home but, on Valentine’s Day, they will meet at Dalgar’s house. “Jan’s home is the closest to our first booking and she has a minivan, which we call the Mat Mobile, as in Matinee, that we will all cram into. It’s like a clown car… and off we’ll go. We have four or five jobs booked already and hope to have more by Monday. It’s the kind of thing people usually do last minute and they choose us as a fun alternative to traditional ‘gifts’ like a box of chocolate.”

To schedule a singing Valentine, call Cathy at 203-255-1701 or Irene at 203-378-5764.

Man About Town: A Wilson’s BBQ Pitstop

Man About Town: A Wilson’s BBQ Pitstop

(Column appeared in Ffld Citizen News 2/9)

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

1/30/11

It was early afternoon on a recent Sunday and town residents were taking a little breather between pummeling snowstorms. The sun was streaming down and the skies were a Carolina blue. It seemed only appropriate to two-step over to Wilson’s Real Pit Barbeque at 1851 Post Road.

Situated across from Hemlock Hardware, the shack-like corner restaurant was pumping out heavenly smells from an exhaust fan adjacent to the back parking lot and a small lunch crowd was enjoying the shop’s fare.

Fairfielder John Wrobel, his son Mark, 6, and daughter Christina, 4, were among the diners, and seated at a corner table.

“We come here once in a blue moon when I’ve got a hankering for barbeque,” Wrobel said. “It’s local and authentic, and the food’s not drenched in sauces. You can taste the flavor of the meat. And the mac and cheese and fries appeal to the kids. The atmosphere’s cozy, with a rustic feel. You can kind of get lost in here with its atmosphere.”

The self-dubbed “Proprietor and Pit Boss”, Ed Wilson, 61, was on hand chatting with customers and spoke about the restaurant’s inception.

“At age 50, I started entering barbeque competitions around the country,” Wilson said. “After five or six years of that, I decided, because there are very few barbeque joints in the northeast, to open a place on the lot here that I owned. The concept was well received.”

Wilson’s officially opened in March 2005. “We had a rocky start at first due to logistics and how to run the place,” said the owner. “I was in real estate for 30 years prior – this was really different. The ‘chef’ that I’d hired really didn’t know how to handle the mechanics of portion control and getting food from the oven to the plate. It took me 18 months to figure out and solve the issues. I was lucky I owned the building as I was struggling.”

Wilson has a definite position about barbeque and seeks to offer only the best food products. “In the South, barbeque is a cuisine. In the North, it’s an event. I fly my sausages in from Texas, my brisket has beaten Texans’ brisket, and my pulled pork and Carolina sauce have both won competitions.”

Wilson views his business as an extension of home entertaining. “I’ve always been a backyard cook. When my kids were young, I would do a cookout twice a year for about 100 people. I’m a pretty traditional barbeque guy. I know how to cook a whole hog.”

Jeff Dondregan, 40, and Derek Delorenzo, 39, were visiting the area as Fairfield University alumni and had heard about Wilson’s from a Food Network episode, and decided to check it out.

“I’m having a beef brisket sandwich that is just phenomenal,” said Dondregan. “I like the vinegar-based sauce the restaurant uses versus tomato-based sauce.”

“I’m having the pulled pork with Eastern Carolina sauce. It’s really good,” Delorenzo added.

They agreed that the stop had been memorable. “We’ll be back… with the kids… and the wives,” said Dondregan.

Besides the popular brisket, sausage and pulled pork offerings, Wilson’s serves up free-range chicken, ribs that are dry rubbed and slow smoked, BBQ sandwiches and a host of sides including collard greens, baked beans, mashed sweet potatoes and a tasty black-eye pea salad.

Wilson’s skills were learned from his mother Mimi, who loved to cook and use spices and would put her home cooking in front of anyone who showed at meal time. But Wilson’s childhood in the South may also have been an influence. “South Norwalk, that is,” Wilson joked.

As he coached a customer on a good sauce pairing for her meal, I gathered up my belongings and stepped back into the snow, the smell of Southern-style home cooking still tickling my nose.