Category: Westport In Focus

Monique Hodges is the current President of the Westport Young Woman’s League which she joined in 2016. A Wethersfield native who works as a Dermatological Sales Representative, Hodges moved to Westport last Fall from Norwalk where she lived after graduating from the University of Connecticut, Storrs in 2009. She credits her experiences as a member of the WYWL with her love for Westport and choice to make the town home.   

I have been a member of WYWL since 2016, serving on the Board of Directors as PR Co-Chair and Vice President. The WYWL is a Member funded nonprofit organization which has been a pillar in Westport since 1956 and I am the first African American person to be President of the league—that’s very exciting to me but I hope more that it’s motivating to other persons of color. Westport is an amazing community for many different reasons but there is a lot of room to grow in terms of diversity. Being a part of a community that is open to inclusion is the first step. Westport residents understand that inclusion isn’t a pie with limited pieces. Opportunity should be looked at as unlimited. Having persons of color in leadership roles matters and representation matters.   

The WYWL has been greatly impacted by COVID-19. Neither of our 2020 Flagship fundraisers provided us with funds for our grants program. The Minute Man Race was canceled and CraftWestport was virtual to promote the artists; some who have participated in the show for decades. Historically, these have been the only sources of funds we pull from for our WYWL Grant Program.   

We see what people (and organizations) are made of in challenging times and this year will prove to be no different. Our Membership has rallied together, supporting each other, and creating new fundraisers throughout the year. We hope these events will uplift and unite our community in these uncertain and stressful times. Visit our website for more information and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to stay in the know about our events.   
  

COVID-19 has taught us all to be more flexible. It has shown us that in this day in age, transformation is necessary. I believe that nonprofits and cultural institutions should get used to becoming more innovative. Tradition is beautiful and should be honored, but it should go hand-in-hand with transformation—both can exist. As long as the people in charge of nonprofit groups keep the organization’s mission as its guide, there might be minor setbacks but longevity is about constant purpose. 

Personally, COVID-19 has greatly impacted my daily life. Working in Dermatology for a pharmaceutical company, I am responsible for supporting four prescription products and a consumer line for over 137 health care providers and their staff throughout CT, MA, and RI. By March, I went from logging over 4,500 miles a month for work in my car to zero. The day-to-day aspect of work became emails, virtual meetings and making sure my providers, who most had to temporarily close, were ok. Now things are more back to normal than not but there’s still a ways to go. 

My family, who I’m greatly close with, moved to Zoom only face to face contact. Both of my parents are high risk and worrying about them constantly was the hardest. I quarantined with my partner as he and I didn’t have family close.   

Work travel has been limited and sporadic. The impact to closures of Dermatology offices has been varied; some closed completely while others never closed. As the individual mandatory quarantines are lifted in the surrounding states, it takes a lot of pre-planning to rout my week and months across three states.  

     
Both COVID-19 and racial inequality and injustice have really highlighted the challenges we face as a nation. People need jobs, and they need those jobs to be able to pay for their cost of living no matter what economic class they’re in; that includes healthcare and education. I hope to see changes in how much people are paid for their time, and have access to healthcare, and education.    

I’d like to thank the WYWL Membership in these difficult times. As a member-funded nonprofit, our members are the gears behind the organization. They are like a second family to me and we lean on each other for more than just our nonprofit duties. We have many levels of Membership: Past Presidents who give me guidance and offer encouragement and invaluable advice to me, Sustainers who have been Members anywhere from 50 to seven years, who have seen the organization grow through many seasons, General Members and New Members who are looking for a new connection. We have a special group and I am very proud to be a part of the Westport Young Woman’s League.  

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Will Haskell made news in 2018 when he was elected in as Connecticut’s youngest state senator. Haskell represents District 26 of which Westport is a part. 

I grew up in Westport and graduated from the Westport Public Schools. As did my dad, actually! I think those of us who are fortunate enough to grow up in this town have a tremendous responsibility to give back. We benefited from a first-rate education, so now we need to roll up our sleeves and make sure every school in Connecticut has the resources to help students succeed. 

In school, I wasn’t involved in student government, but I was always interested in politics. I majored in Government in college, which has come in handy! And I minored in French, which… hasn’t yet.  

In high school, I used to knock doors for Senator Chris Murphy and Congressman Jim Himes before I was old enough to drive. Of course, I certainly didn’t expect to run for office right out of college. But I felt there was an urgency to many of the problems we were facing, and my generation often didn’t have a seat at the decision-making table. I disagreed with the incumbent state senator on a variety of issues, from gun violence prevention to Paid Family and Medical Leave. So, I decided to come home and start knocking on doors again –this time for my own campaign. 

I really love being a state senator, and in the face of everything that’s happening in Washington, DC, I believe state governments will play a critical role in defending access to healthcare, protecting our environment and promoting dignity and equality. There are so many pressing problems with the state of our state and, more broadly, the state of our politics that I haven’t given much thought to a long-term plan. 

I believe strongly that Connecticut needs workforce housing. Every year, tens of thousands of college students earn their degree in this state, and then they pick up and start their careers elsewhere. Connecticut, and Fairfield County in particular, isn’t affordable or appealing to the next generation of taxpayers. As a 24-year-old, I can tell you first-hand how challenging it can be to find a place to live in town. And this isn’t just a problem for recent graduates –it’s a problem for our local economy. Businesses, both small and large, often tell me that they can’t find a young, diverse, tech-savvy workforce to fill 21st century jobs. So, while I support local control of zoning decisions, I believe communities like ours can only benefit from creating more diversity in housing options. Teachers, firefighters and police officers who serve this community ought to be able to afford to live in this community. 

When I was growing up in Westport, my world extended from Exit 17 to Exit 19. I think a lot of folks who are lucky enough to grow up in town forget that a 10-minute drive on I-95 can carry you across a $100,000 difference in median income. Of course, income inequality is a problem across the country, but nowhere is it more acute than Fairfield County. That’s why I supported an increase in the minimum wage, which will give more than 300,000 Connecticut residents (the majority of whom are women) a raise this year. Representing this community in the State Capitol means spending a lot of time listening to and learning from my colleagues who represent communities that are very different from Westport. 

When it comes to major social issues like COVID preparedness and safety and to racial justice, Westport was hit early on by COVID-19, and I think that jarring experience left a lasting impression on our community. These days, we understand the importance of wearing a mask, heed the advice of public health officials and continue to wash our hands constantly. We all knew someone who was impacted, and we understand the stakes of this moment are simply too high to allow politics to get in the way of science. I give the team at Town Hall a lot of credit for their tireless work to contain the virus, and I think the state as a whole has done a pretty good job as well. Although we’re not out of the woods yet, Connecticut hasn’t shied away from making tough decisions. 

There’s a ton of work to do in the months and years ahead. One issue that particularly interests me is increasing the number of teachers of color in Westport. Research indicates that having even one Black teacher in an elementary school increases the likelihood that a Black student will graduate by 39%. Having a more diverse faculty is beneficial to students of all races and ethnicities, but sadly less than 7% of Connecticut teachers are people of color. I don’t remember many people of color at the head of the classroom during my time in the Westport Public Schools, and I hope the state can play a role in changing that. 

I spend a lot of time talking with our campaign interns about how their lives have changed so dramatically, and my heart breaks for all the sacrifices they’ve made. I know it’s tempting to flout the rules and return to some sense of normalcy. All I can say is the decisions we make today will either save lives tomorrow or put them into jeopardy. Our generation tends to feel invincible to the threat of COVID-19, but keep in mind that the safety of our parents and grandparents’ rests on our shoulders. The more we adhere to the advice of public health officials, the sooner we can turn the page and begin a better chapter in life. 

This public health crisis has become an economic crisis, with too many small businesses struggling to keep their doors open. Take a walk down Main Street and you’ll see all the work that lies ahead to make this community more hospitable to entrepreneurs. If I have an opportunity to continue serving, I’ll be focused on extending a helping hand to small businesses and lowering the cost of healthcare. With the price of healthcare skyrocketing, more than 50% of small businesses in Connecticut can’t afford to provide their employees with healthcare coverage. I hope that Connecticut will enact a public option next year, introducing competition into the insurance marketplace and helping small businesses thrive. 

If I were to sum it up what keeps me up at night, it’s the fact that some people are so frustrated by what they see on TV, they are retreating from politics. Regardless of your political beliefs, this is a moment that calls for rolling up your sleeves, not throwing up your hands. We can’t sit back and wait for somebody else to restore decency, respect and reason to our government. As President Obama said, “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” I hope this terrible year inspires people to lean in, not step back.  

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Rev. Dr. John T. Morehouse, Senior Minister of the Unitarian Church in Westport has lived in Westport since 2015. 
 

The Morehouses have been living in Fairfield for centuries. Some are undoubtedly distant relatives. I am also a descendant of Noah Webster who has roots in this area. I find that fact especially ironic because I am such a terrible speller. My great grandfather the Rev. Daniel Webster Morehouse served as a Unitarian field secretary for Western MA and CT American Unitarian Association in the late 19th century. I grew up in Croton-on-Hudson NY.  

I see myself as a transformer and feel honored to be here now. 

Over the course of COVID, we quarantined with my daughter and her partner. With two very different generations in the house we all have learned a great deal.  As a father and husband, I want to do all I can to protect my family but as a minister that focus is much wider. I had to constantly balance my desire to protect the ones I love with the need to reach out to those I serve. This balance becomes harder to maintain as we begin to open up as a congregation at this important time in history.  

When it comes to re-opening we must keep our options open. We will continue our on line worship and add small gatherings. We need to continually connect with one another in order to bring one another along. There is no normal here. It’s hard work and it will lead to a new community.

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On September 23, 2020, Reverend Dr. Morehouse offered a letter to his Westport congregation reflecting upon the importance of the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who died on Friday, September 18^th. Read his letter here.

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Diane Sembrot has many centuries of roots in Westport through her Wakeman ancestors. Today she is the editor of Westport Magazine, which shares all aspects of town life, from arts and culture to business and more.

“Over the years, I’ve worked in academic books, medical journals, children’s book packaging, health and business newsletters and, now, magazines and digital content. I got into this during college—I was looking for an internship, and I wanted only Westport. I had spent a lot of time in town as a teen. At that time, summer internships were hard to come by, so I just started introducing myself to local publishing and marketing companies—just walked in the front door and asked. Then, downtown, I ran into a paper sales rep who told me to go Greenwood Publishing Company, just a short walk up the hill. I did. They were a bit surprised, but said yes. I was their first intern. I stayed, doing freelance work at school, and, after graduation, went fulltime. I stayed for years because they were wonderful—and I enjoyed every minute in Westport.

I’ve worked in Westport since back when since Klein’s [Department Store] was here.  I did laps in what is now Anthropologie when it was the YMCA. I’ve worked here since Ship’s was a popular Chinese restaurant [located at 23 Jesup Rd opposite the library]. I was living here when I met my husband. We were rowers at Saugatuck Rowing Club, and I met him at the Commadore’s Ball. Actually, I saw him across the room. Sounds romantic, but he’s six-foot, three, so it’s hard to miss him. We had our wedding reception in Westport to celebrate where we met.

I’ve worked at three Westport companies: one on the Post Road, one on Riverside and one on Main Street.  The Post Road one felt like I was in a neighborhood, because I often ran a quiet loop on the backroads. Riverside was all about creative daydreaming because I had a river view (yes, I was very lucky). Main Street is about people-watching and trying to keep up with the comings and goings of downtown—it’s always changing. There are big stores and small ones, but you can always find a bit of the history if you look. Literally, look up at the top of the buildings—you’ll see some history. I enjoy the mix of current life and the long view of the town’s story. In a way, my industry and Westport changed alongside each other.

With COVID we were hit with a shock, like everyone. I certainly was. It felt like one day we were steaming along and the next I’m packing up my desk and throwing my computer in the back of my car. The team realized and accepted quickly that we would have to change how we were doing things. We knew it was a crisis—our ability to produce pages depends on the health of the town and its restaurants, shops and service businesses. We also knew the people who live here were in shock, just like us.

When the town closed down in March, the more practical matter for the creative team was what to do about the next upcoming issue. Would we publish it? We talked and agreed to go forward— we wanted to act as a connection point for our readers and we wanted to support our advertisers, who are mostly small businesses like us.

The entire staff started working remotely with no notice but set up remarkably fast. Part of the reason it worked is because we’ve worked together for so many years—we know what needs to get done. We picked up the pieces and just figured things out. Everyone was proactive and focused.

I had to alter some of the content to make sense for COVID-19 and for the general mind-set of a pandemic. What do you tell people when their whole world has changed? I tried to be authentic. We published our story on women who took the risk of becoming fulltime bloggers—and what they learned from it. That seemed helpful, because we were all connecting digitally now. The story made sense. And we tried to produce a cover that felt authentic to the time. We chose an iconic image of the town. We thought it would be reassuring, anchoring, a comfort, in a time when the way we saw the world was just spinning.

Anyway, our team found new ways of working…and we owe a lot to Zoom and Slack.

As for re-opening, we’re not in any great rush to open the offices. We want it to be safe and for everyone to feel comfortable. Because we’re not a store or a restaurant, we’ve learned that we can do business remotely. We can call and email people or set up small meetings when needed.

Next to getting out our next issues, the first question we asked ourselves was: How can we be useful? We knew we wanted to help connect people and to tell stories. We also wanted the magazines to be a break from the alarming news hitting everyone’s newsfeeds constantly. We aren’t trying to be a newspaper. We take a longer view. Being a local magazine means knowing our readers and honestly caring about them. That’s why we try to do a mix of issue pieces and celebratory stories. Of course, a big part of it is photography and design—the way the pages are presented is part of the pleasure. Of course, we had to halt photo shoots. We’re just starting to do very small ones. And our staff is doing more writing, though I hope to make assignments again.

Also, we are more than a magazine. We also run events and digital properties. We postponed big events, including a new Women in Business forum, which I had helped re-launch. I was deep into it and very excited about what it meant for us. We had great speakers and workshops lined up; I hope it comes back. And we’re postponing our Best of the Gold Coast party, which we’ve always had. That, too, was getting a fresh re-boot when COVID-19 took us all by surprise. We’re hoping to do them; we’re creative, we’ll work with the times.

As for our digital properties, I started immediately posting more web articles and collected and shared Instagram posts about local businesses that were trying to get the word out about their curbside or delivery options. This for everyone, not just our partners, to send the message that we understood, as a small, local business. We face challenges, too, and we know we are a community and need one another. Now, more than ever, we celebrate every win that comes our way, and we hit the jackpot when the talented Dave Briggs stepped up to do an Instagram Live series for us—it’s been amazing.

In general, I find that Westporters want to be engaged. They are politically and culturally aware and enjoy a good debate or cause—they will show up, they will speak out. I think it comes from being well educated and affluent, generally, but also from an arts identity or history or mind-set to think and express. Also, they can and do use their connections and privilege. Personally, I think Westport looks its best when it uses its strengths and advantages to address issues, especially complicated, painful ones like racial justice. My roots go back to Samuel Wakeman and other local families, and I am digging into what that means—their stories. And I want the real stories. Direct. That’s how you start to learn.

I like people who face challenges, and you don’t have to be loud about it; it can be behind the scenes or creative. Time and time again I’ve seen people here do extraordinary things for others facing crises, including homelessness, poverty, health, and the environment—just amazing dedication and generosity to help move obstacles, provide for immediate needs or talk about things. For me, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are role models for this way of living—honest goodness. This needs to get done, let’s do it. I see it in the people making the farmers’ market run, Wakeman Town Farm, Aspetuck Land Trust, our beautiful Westport Country Playhouse, the library, the Levitt, this museum, town events and on and on. Look at this year’s outdoor movies.

Westport likes to look quiet, but it attracts people with an inner fire to get things done. They don’t call it power, but it is. Maybe they don’t even see it that way—they just see a way to help and do. I have seen too many examples of the heart behind that strength to not believe in it.

When someone tells me about discrimination or feeling excluded or even threatened, I believe that, too. It’s painful, because I have to reconcile that with my own lifetime of experiences here. Westporters have always, and literally, thrown their arms around me, and I want that for everyone.

As for Covid, the town did what it does—it got to work, as realists will do. We wore masks. We stopped the parties. The roads emptied out. I know Westport hit the national news, but I’m grateful to see a great deal of sensible people acting responsibly for one another.

I think talking is important. We don’t all come to every issue with the same knowledge and experiences. Allowing for an open discussion is hard, but I think in that space is where we grow. I hope Westport Magazine serves as a space to do that.

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Mrs. Margaret “Peggy” Henkel moved to Westport in 1965 and was part of a group of locals who revived the largely-defunct Westport Historical Society (now Westport Museum for History & Culture). Created in 1889, the Society changed names and iterations several times, petering out and restarting over the course of the century meeting in members’ homes. By 1965, it was largely a memory. Peggy was instrumental in helping the Society obtain its current headquarters, the Bradley-Wheeler House on Avery Place. Today the vibrant 93-year-old lives in Stratford. 

“I was born in China, but didn’t live there long. My parents met in Peking—now it’s Beijing of course. My father was working for an American company and my mother was taken there on what was to be an around the world trip by two aunts and an uncle. Before she left her mother told her “No smoking, no drinking cocktails, and no getting married.” Well she got married in a town called Titzen (sp) and then moved to WuHu, on Yangtze river, where I was born. 

I grew up in Marietta, Ohio, where my mother’s family was from. Marietta was the first settlement in the Northwest Territory. I spent my first 12 years in my grandmother’s house there and then moved to Columbus. After college, I worked in Columbus as a fashion coordinator with Lazarus Department Store where I did displays, hired models and put on fashion shows.  I even met my husband at Lazarus. He came there to do publicity. Later we had our baby in Columbus—Elizabeth. 

We traveled a lot with my husband’s job and eventually we moved to Pittsburgh and then to Connecticut when he joined a big ad agency in New York City. After a lot of house hunting, we chose Westport. When I got to Westport, I thought, “This is a very interesting town, it must have a lot of history but where is the historical society…?” 

On Reviving the Society & Buying Wheeler House 

When we moved to Westport in 1965, I became part of a group that revived the historical society. One thing led to another and lo and behold I ended up being put on the board and then eventually I was elected president. I began to start putting together ideas to make us more well-known and one thing led to another. 

At one point, before my time, the Society met at Adam’s Academy because we had no building. Eventually, we were able to meet in the house across the street from the current headquarters—the McClury House. For the first time we had someplace to have activities and, it was in that house that I asked Martha Stewart to do exhibits. It was a riot. 

One of the things that Martha did was contribute a square to our bicentennial quilt, which was my baby. We publicized the idea and got signups. A teacher taught volunteers to make appliquéd and quilted squares and the lessons were taught in the basement of Christ & Holy Trinity Church, where I attended. We organized the group of people who did the squares. We publicized that we would do it. It was done in time for the bicentennial and we had a huge part at the McClury house and invited the town. I think that was when people came to really know that we were there and we were doing things. The funny thing was we couldn’t keep quilt there at the house because the ceilings weren’t high enough! That’s when they decided to put it in town hall.  

The whole time we were at that little house across the street a group of us kept looking longingly at Wheeler House [the Museum’s current headquarters.] How we eventually were able to get the house is a funny story: 

At the time, Charlotte D’Arby owned the house. She had been the Houskeeper for Dr. Wheeler and he left it to her. I became friendly with Mrs. D’Arby and used to make her cherry pies which were her favorite. She often said “everyone will be very happy when they see whom I left the house to”. At that point, I was too shy to come right out ask and for the house for the Society. Well, in the end she left the house Christy & Holy Trinity—my church. 

I wasn’t president then, but a group of us got together and met with the Church. Mr. Kennedy was the rector and I knew him very well. We presented to them our proposal that we would like to buy the house from them if they would let us use it as a headquarters while we were fundraising. We had this big fundraising committee-Eve Potts was involved, Dottie Fincher was there and I was heading up the committee. We met in our “meetings room” which then was turned into a gift shop, [and is today, again, a meetings/programs room]. We realized we had a big job ahead of us, so that’s when we decided we’d create a newsletter to let people know about the Society and what we do for the town. 

When we bought that house, there was only one piece of furniture left by the previous owners—a cabinet. Everything else that was in those rooms was acquired later. We had decided to create period rooms to the best of our ability because we visited a lot of historical societies and learned that, in those days, that’s what historical societies did.  

 
I think that as a society we are too impatient, that’s why we need functional historical societies and museums to remind us. That’s why I got involved [with Westport Historical Society] way back when and spent a lot of time and money when I should have been working–because I felt it was important. I mean that I’m proud of the Westport Historical Society and what it does today. I think that’s good they changed the name– we always wanted to be a Museum first. I think that the things they are doing now are of the moment and that’s as it should be. 

On COVID-19  

There has never been a period of time that felt like this. I think this pandemic is a very, very unusual occurrence.   I think about living through World War II versus this pandemic: I was in high school during the war, so of course I remember Pearl Harbor and what a shock that was–and everyone wondering where in the world was Pearl Harbor? I lived in Ohio, far from the coast, but I did take a course in plane-spotting.  It was something we had to do, so that was interesting.  

My mother had a victory garden, I remember the rationing and my mother grew a lot of foods and that’s how we got along. I don’t recall hoarding but I may not have known, I knew there were shortages and we had to curtail certain foods. I do remember rationing books. When we graduated in 1944 the yearbook said some of the boys were going to the army and that seemed so foreign– to me at least. 

Even during the War, it was more possible to feel like life was somewhat normal. There wasn’t a constant feeling of danger at least where I lived, like we have now with the virus. You could almost forget there was a war on. 

We would get news about what was happening in war, but it seemed so far away, it really didn’t hit America. Since I lived in the Mid-West although there wasn’t too much danger. I did see planes fly over that I did recognize from my plane-spotting. We did have a sense that feeling that we would win and eventually the war would end because the whole country was converted to war time status. We worked together and we kept getting news of victories–wherever they were–and the American spirit prevailed.  

 We can only pray that things will get better and I’m trying to be hopeful and positive. 

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