Fairfield: A Summer Playground

Fairfield: A Summer Playground

(Fairfield Mag - We’ve Got Answers column – July Aug 2011)

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

4/21/11

Q: Has Fairfield always been a popular summer destination?

Fairfield has long enjoyed a calling as a summer playground. In the 1830s, former town residents like Frederick Marquand and Jonathan Sturges, who had made their mark in New York, built summer resorts here. Their interest in the area drew other affluent individuals like Reverend Samuel Osgood, who, in 1850, built Waldsteen, an 18-room summer home.

To attract summer vacationers, entrepreneur John Steenbergen established Fairfield House, a hotel at the northeastern corner of Old Post Road and Beach Road. It featured a ballroom, vast dining room, barrooms, billiard tables and a nine-pin bowling alley.

The beach, of course, was a prime attraction, offering horseback riding, lawn tennis, boating, bathing and excursions on the Mill River. During the high season, wealthy families placed portable private shelters along the shorefront. Common folk used a public facility called Idle Hour Baths, which stood on the site of the Jacky Durrell Pavilion.

Select Fairfield families also enjoyed the Fairfield Beach Club, built in the 1890s. For swimming, female members wore black taffeta suits and black taffeta hats with black stockings while children wore button-down navy blue jerseys that stopped at the knee.

Fairfield Beach Blast

Fairfield Beach Blast

(Fairfield Mag - We’ve Got Answers column - July Aug 2011)

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

4/25/11

Q: What present-day summer activities can be enjoyed at Fairfield Beach?

Fairfield’s beaches are among the most pleasant you’ll find along Connecticut’s southern shoreline. They also offer an abundance of summertime activities.

A key highlight is the annual July 4th fireworks show, conducted from a barge off Jennings Beach and lasting over 30 minutes. It is preceded by live band performances beginning at 5 p.m. at Jennings and 7 p.m. at Penfield Pavilion.

Another popular attraction is the combined Sand Jam Family Fun Dance and Movie Night, held at Jennings on Friday nights, July 1, July 15, July 29 and August 11. The deejay-led dance starts at 6:30 p.m.; a family-oriented movie follows at nightfall.

Yoga enthusiasts can enjoy classes at Penfield II Pavilion on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7 a.m. in July and August, offered by Yoga for Everybody. A fee applies.

Boaters that own their own kayaks and small sailboats can launch them from points at Jennings and Penfield. Alternatively, one can rent a kayak from Fairfield Kayak Company, which will deliver a craft right to a launch site.

You can also try your luck fishing for striped bass, bluefish and fluke, available through November, at any spot along Fairfield’s shore. A fishing license is required from the CT Fish & Wildlife Dept.

Man About Town: Fairfield Senior Center

Man About Town

Senior Center: Where the second half of life begins

(column for June 15 Fairfield Citizen news)

By Mike Lauterborn

6/6/11

Nestled near the shore, there is an invaluable resource for the town’s senior citizens – the Fairfield Senior Center at 100 Mona Terrace. Serving the community for nearly 30 years, the facility is by no means a last stop for the town’s elder residents. It is, in fact, a gateway to a wide array of opportunities, learning experiences, crucial support and new friendships. Pausing for a moment one recent weekday morning, Director Claire Grace spent a moment to offer some historical background, an overview and a program rundown.

“The building was originally Oldfield Elementary School,” said Grace. “In 1983, during Jacky Durrell’s administration, it was renovated as a senior center. Before that, there was just a small facility for seniors at One Rod Highway, which is no longer there. Martha Plotkin Hyra, then director of human services for the town, really pushed for the new center. There needed to be a place for seniors to go and comprehensive programming.”

At the request of the first director, Eileen Milazzo, Grace came aboard in 1992. “It was supposed to have been a six-month deal, but I’ve been here ever since,” she said. “Initially, we just offered simple diversions, but soon realized seniors need a whole lot more.”

Today, the building encompasses a wide assortment of features. A library with about 500 books and magazines. Meeting rooms for various uses. An exercise room with bikes and a treadmill. A sewing bee. A computer room. Ping pong and pool rooms. A gymnasium for fitness classes. A woodworking shop. A gift shop with handcrafted items. Outdoor bocce court. TV room. A cafeteria. A social services office. It’s a world unto itself.

The building itself has not changed at all over the years and is just now getting a facelift: new paint job, rugs, sound system and remodeled bathrooms. The town is paying much of the expense – the balance comes from donations and an internal board. “Cindi Bigelow, president of Bigelow Tea, has also been a constant source of financial help for us,” said Grace.

 

Besides the tangible facility features, programs and services include Elderhostel courses for lifelong learners, continuing education, Medicare counseling and home visit outreach.

Another popular extension is the Pacers. “These are seniors that walk three times a week, rain or shine,” said Administrator Janet Merando. “The model airplane group, which builds and flies their own planes, is also fun, and our woodcarvers are very talented.”

A critical element for many is the shuttle bus, which runs five days a week. “The service has just logged 1.4 million miles over the past 23 years,” said Hank Steffens, the transportation dispatcher. “On average, we pick up and deliver about 15,000 seniors a year.”

Of course, patron feedback is the true measure of a center’s success, and they give it a thumbs-up. “I come to play ping pong with a tight group of friends here,” said Joyce Bernfeld. “It’s a great place to socialize and exercise.” Similarly, sewing bee participant Sandy Clabby said, “We have friendship, an opportunity to learn new skills and even take day trips. This keeps us very young at heart.”

“Seniors in Fairfield are very fortunate,” concluded Director Grace. “A lot of towns don’t have half of what we offer.”

Sadly, this would be my last Man About Town excursion, due to budget cutbacks at the Fairfield Citizen. I hope that my enthusiasm for Fairfield has rubbed off on readers of my column and I will continue to champion our town where possible in my other writing extensions. See you around the ‘hood.

Ferraris Draw Car Enthusiasts to Rizzuto’s Festa

Ferraris Draw Car 
Enthusiasts to Rizzuto’s Festa

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Westport News)

6/12/11

Fairfield, CT – To a chorus of “Mambo Italiano” and a lingering aroma of Margherita pizza, local folks strolled about checking out all the eye candy sitting pretty on the asphalt.

The site was Rizzuto’s Wood Fired Kitchen & Bar at 540 Riverside Avenue and the draw Sunday afternoon was the 2nd Annual Mille Ferrari, a day of Italian food, wine and cars. Besides the featured Ferraris privately owned by Ferrari Club of Connecticut members, there was a quartet of Maseratis from Miller Motor Cars of Greenwich, a batch of Ducati motorcycles, motorized go-karts provided by Grand Prix New York and a racing simulation system.

The event was first hatched by Jon Fontane, president of Motorsport Simulation Consultants, a Rizzuto’s patron looking for ways to promote his company’s racing simulator. “I spoke to Linda Kavanagh, Rizzuto’s publicist, about the restaurant hosting the system and building an event around it,” he said. “Then we picked this day and time to align with the running of the Canadian Grand Prix.”

Fontane added, “Besides offering some great fun to the general public and creating an Italian theme, the event benefits Make-A-Wish foundation. There’s a strong tie between the club and the charity. Car entry fees, private donations, and simulator and go-kart fees will be contributed.”

Paul Bova, president of the Connecticut chapter of the Ferrari Club of America, said the club does a number of owner gatherings throughout the year, with most supporting a charity. “Make-A-Wish is such a great group and so supportive of our event activities,” he said.

New Canaan resident Jill Pescatore, onsite with her eight-year-old son Dylan, said, “We love all things Italian, and thought it would be a great family event with good food and activities.”

Andrew Berry, 12, from Westport, walking about with his family, remarked, “I like Ferraris and Maseratis. They’re really fast and look cool.”

Showing off the Ducati bikes was Anne Marie Albate, representing the motorcycle maker’s New Rochelle dealership. The owner of a Ducati 696 Monster, Albate said about the bike, “While it tops out at 150, I’ve only pushed it to 120 – I know I had a lot more left, but you can only go so fast on the streets of Long Island.”

On hand to convey the feeling of driving a Ferrari was Mike Sutka, a car collector from Wilton. He was displaying his 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia, with a current-day value of $300,000. “It’s all about the engineering and performance,” he said. “That’s what you’re buying. It’s a very raw car – a street legal race car essentially. It’s fairly loud, and rides a little stiff, but is reliable. It’s really in its own element on the track, where it’s well balanced with tremendous straight line performance and acceleration. I like to put it through its paces at Lime Rock Park. I like fast machines period.”

While families milled about and sat in the cars, hopped on the bikes, sampled San Pellegrino and let their children compete against one another on the go-kart circuit and simulator, restaurant patrons eyed Montreal-based Grand Prix action on HD sets inside Rizzuto’s. The race started in rainy conditions and, through the first 25 laps, the Ferrari team – Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso – held spots among the top 10 positions. Fortunes changed, however, after a two-hour rain delay, resulting in Massa placing sixth and Alonso failing to finish.

While it wasn’t a banner day for Ferrari in Montreal, it sure was a grand day for the carmaker in Westport.

Levitt Pavilion Grounds Green Up for EcoFest

Levitt Pavilion Grounds Green Up for EcoFest:

Third annual event continues to build in scope

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Westport News)

6/11/11

Fairfield, CT – There was a fine mist, chilly temperatures, lots of teens and lots of green… green initiatives, that is.

Despite the gray, rainy weather, the third annual EcoFest, firmly rooted on the grounds of the Levitt Pavilion, went ahead Saturday afternoon as planned. The event attracted throngs of environmentally conscious people who enjoyed live music, food, scores of exhibits and raffles. The fest was sponsored by Westport’s Green Village Initiative (GVI) and Staples High School’s Club Green.

“The goal of EcoFest is to get the word out about environmentally friendly businesses around town and raise awareness about the service work that the Club does,” said Nicole Brill, co-president of Club Green.

“The first year was successful, but only had a handful of vendors,” added Ben Meyers, Brill’s counterpart. “Last year, we climbed to 35 vendors. This year, we have 55 vendors as well as 14 performers, all local talent.”

The pair noted that this year’s theme is “Think Clean Go Green”, and is about your home and what you can do personally to make positive environmental change.

“EcoFest was originally targeted to the high school crowd, but it has really attracted a wide audience,” said Meyers. “It has become a great event.”

One popular vendor onsite was Whole Foods Market. The representative there, Lavinia Hurd, was sampling Steaz tea but also promoting a recycling initiative called Gimme 5. “Customers can bring into the store their #5 recyclables, which we then provide to Preserve, a company that repurposes them into plates and toothbrushes. It’s a way for customers to make a difference.”

Nearby, the Backyard Beekeepers Association was abuzz with information about its pursuit. “We’re a group of about 400 beekeepers, mostly in Fairfield County, guaranteeing through our hobby fruitful flowers and vegetables while generating premium honey,” said board member Gabriele Kallenborn. “It’s about local sustainability.”

At lead sponsor GVI’s table, Deirdre Price was busy educating the public about the group’s initiatives, which include putting edible gardens in schools in Bridgeport, seeking to establish an urban farm in the same area and starting GVIs in surrounding towns. “By establishing a network, we create strength to drive environmental legislation in Hartford,” she said.

Across the grounds was Mimi Auer of Brighter Concepts of CT, distributors of an innovative daylighting system called Solatube. “The equipment captures daylight on your roof, transfers it through a tube in the attic and delivers it into a dark space in your home,” she said. “The tubes are lined with a reflective material called Spectralight, which transfers light through the conduit. There are no negative by-products in the process.”

Proving that being green doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style, Janet Foster of Westport-based Eco-Chic spoke about her business, which she runs with co-founder Kim Reiter. “We are a luxury green gift box company,” she said. “All our materials are natural and organic, including items for beauty and bath, baby and home. The price point for our gift sets is $60 to $140. I was sick of gift baskets with the cellophane wrap. It’s extra garbage and obscures the view of the product. Our boxes are custom-made and reusable.”

Taking it all in was Westporter Elaine Daignault, sitting with daughter Mia, 8, and Mia’s friend Abby Fleming, 9. “I wanted to support GVI and Club Green and teach the girls about how to preserve the environment,” she said, pausing to add, “and rock out to the music!”

Ducks Dodge Drizzle in Annual Rotary Race

Ducks Dodge Drizzle in 
Annual Rotary Race:

Spectators line river rails to 

catch the drift

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Westport News)

6/11/11

Westport, CT – The weather late Saturday morning – light rain, gray skies and gusty wind -- was really for the birds… ducks specifically. About 2,000 of them.

Stars of The Great Duck Race event sponsored by the Westport Sunrise Rotary, the bright yellow rubber ducks were dropped from Parker Harding Plaza into the Saugatuck River where they rode outgoing currents through a defined grid to a channeled finish line. Each was numbered and tied up with the name of a person that had paid $20 to back. Owners of the top ten finishing fowl received prizing that overall totaled $10,000. All entry fees collected, various sponsor fees and revenue gathered from the sale of duck-themed merchandise benefited the Rotary and, in turn, will benefit area charities.

“This is the third year we’re hosting this,” said Roy Fuchs of the Rotary’s Publicity Committee. “It’s one of two major fundraisers we conduct – the other is a wine tasting at the end of October at Longshore,” he said. “The first year, we raised $20,000; the second year, $30,000. The event is wide open to the public, and an opportunity to enjoy some fun and downtown Westport, while supporting a good cause.”

With regard to the Rotary Club, Fuchs said the organization has over 1.2 million members worldwide and basically operates two kinds of service projects. “We do hands-on efforts in the community, like clean-up days, food drives and homeless shelter dinners,” he said. “We also give cash contributions to charity. At the same time, we have an active program with teens, honoring students-of-the-month at Staples High School and Greens Farms Academy, and a service-oriented Interact Club at Staples.”

Besides the featured duck race, event highlights included a dozen vendor tents, two moonbounce units, a live jazz band, kids’ craft activities and free 10-minute massages provided by Massage Envy. Among the vendors was RxEnergy sunscreen, Down Under Surf Shop, Fire House Hot Dogs, Izzi B’s allergen-free cupcakes and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Corporate sponsors also decorated large rubber ducks, to enter into a contest. Entries were judged by event visitors, who indicated their top three favorites on accompanying lists. Most popular entries were awarded small trophies.

Enjoying all the fun was three-year-old New Canaan resident Caroline Quill, with her grandfather Kevin, from New Hampshire. “My wife is shopping and we just happened to luck out seeing all the duck activity,” the elder Quill said. “Caroline wanted a duck but settled for a duck call.”

Norwalk resident Howard Rose, with his three-year-old son L.J., said he was drawn by the signs around town. “It seemed like a good family event and opportunity to enjoy the day,” he remarked.

Claudia Nielitz, visiting from Stuttgart, Germany with her friend Sandra Holzaepfel, had also seen the street signs and thought the event would be funny to see. “I let friends back home know about it and they said there’s a duck race there, too, but in October, in Tubingen,” she said. “We bought a couple of ducks and are hoping to win.”

According to Rotarian Sheila Keenan, weeks went into planning for the duck release. “It’s been timed for noon, coordinated with the outgoing current, which allows the ducks to travel down river,” she said. “It took a lot of measuring and calculations to get to this point.”

At the appointed hour, the ducks were loaded into the shovel of a front loader and, to much cheering, dumped over the side into a noose of tubing in the water below. This was towed into a larger channel defined by tubing, then opened. The initial forward progress of the flock was hindered by westerly-blowing crosswinds, making the “race” anti-climactic.

“It’s a bit like watching paint dry,” said one of more than 300 spectators crammed against riverside railings, as the ducks then started to clump up on one side.

“My heart is beating, it’s a blistering pace,” joked Bob Lasproga, emcee for the Rotary Club, calling the action over a P.A. system. “That first duck is just outside the chute… he’s got to paddle a little faster… he’s finally in! Give that duck a nice round of applause,” he said.

Results were radioed to tabulators Sheila Keenan and Frankie Smith, and announced by Lasproga. Finishing first and collecting a $5,000 Visa gift card was Scott Schaake of Southbury, CT; second was Nick Clarke of Westport, taking a $1,000 gift card; and third was Westporter Andy Boas, earning a $500 gift card. The top three decorated duck winners were retailers Melissa & Doug, Vintage Virtuosa and Ranney Michaels.

Despite the feather-ruffling weather, a ducky time was had by all.

Pequot Campout Kicks Off Summer Reading Programs

Pequot Campout Kicks Off Summer Reading Programs:

Library’s Great Lawn transforms into family playground

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Fairfield Citizen News)

6/11/11

Fairfield, CT – As the sun set behind the red tile roof of the stone building, “Summer Wind” was the tune floating in the air, kids ran about with hula hoops and badminton racquets, and adults sat in sports chairs visiting with each other. It was good old-fashioned family fun.

Held Friday evening into Saturday morning, Pequot Library’s Annual Potluck Supper and Campout attracted over a dozen families. They pitched tents on the facility’s Great Lawn and enjoyed contributed food, a bonfire with marshmallow roasting, live music performed by Chris Merwin, badminton, Pop’s ice cream truck, a limbo contest and a sail cloth that adults waved up and down while kids ran under it. The event marked the start of the library’s summer reading programs for adults, tweens/teens and children.

Executive Director Dan Snydacker commented on how suitable the site is for the event. “This is a great place to camp out,” he said. “It’s nice and flat, and the grass is nice and soft. The bears are also well behaved – much better than the Canadian Rockies,” he joked.

Snydacker added, “We love this event and Susan Ei, the Children’s Librarian, does such a great job organizing it. It’s a great use of the Lawn.”

Leslie Mahtani, a library services helper, spoke highly of Ei’s efforts as well. “Susan, who’s worth three times her weight in gold, created this event,” she said, “and my daughter Sitara and I started coming here right from the get-go. I like how many people come out and all the activities.”

Sitara, 18, chimed in, “And it’s a festive way to kick off summer.”

Ei noted that the event is the sixth annual and, historically, the weather has been cooperative. She also commented on how it has grown in popularity. “We went from three tents at the first event to 18 last year,” she said.

Lori Mediate, sitting on the perimeter of the lawn watching all the fun, was another attending who had been coming to the event since its inception. “This is small-town Connecticut Americana,” she said. “And they’re making S’mores – you can’t beat that.”

Struggling to assemble his tent, Fairfielder Tom Lawlor said, “We bought our tent for this event initially. Some years, it’s the only occasion it comes out. And every year I forget how to put it together. I have to relearn every time.”

Lounging along a pathway with several neighbors, Yogesh Sadarangani said the event has become a group destination. “We’re all from Osborne Lane,” he said about his counterparts. “We began this tradition three years ago. It’s a great way to bond. Sure, some of us parents would rather be in our beds, but our kids make us come,” he smiled.

While the weather remained clear and warm through mid-evening, gusts of wind began to kick up and, ultimately, rain arrived after midnight and pummeled the temporary shelters. No doubt its patter on the tents kept light sleepers awake, but then that’s just part of the camping experience.