Letters to the editor, March 10

Memorial Day Parade float contest

The Westport Veterans Council and the Westport News announce that the theme for the Memorial Day Parade float contest will be "A Salute to our Defenders of Freedom."

There will be certificates awarded in the following categories: best development of theme, best youth organizational float, most creative, best community organization, most colorful and best overall float.

The parade will begin on Riverside Avenue at 9 a.m. The memorial services will be on Veterans Green immediately following the parade.

William Vornkahl,

President,

Westport Veterans Council

Thanks for helping

me recover

Hello -- I am a freshman at Staples High School. A month ago on Jan. 24, I had a skiing accident in Vermont. I was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and was in the hospital for about three weeks.

While I was in the hospitals and after I got home, I received an incredible amount of letters and calls and support from people who live in Westport. It was unbelievable how many people gave me hope and helped me through a tough recovery.

Being that encouraged helped me fight through the recovery and be able to get home in three weeks. Also, one of my friends made a group on Facebook and within a few days, more than 2,300 people had joined it. It is incredible.

So I just wanted to thank everybody in Westport who supported me so much. My family and I appreciate all your support and prayers. Thank you so much.

Zack Pensak

Westport

Free concert

at senior center

The Friends of the Westport Senior Center are once again delighted to host the Doc Wallace Trio for a free concert with refreshments Sunday afternoon, March 14, at the senior center. Doors open at 1 p.m., food and beverages will be served until 2 p.m. when the show starts.

The Doc Wallace Trio has been voted the No. 1 bluegrass and country group in Connecticut. They feature some mean fiddles, fast banjos and great vocals that will have the audience clapping in time.

To reinforce the country theme, refreshments featuring chicken wings and chili will be catered by Bobby Q's, Westport's No. 1 restaurant for this style of cooking. Of course, there will be chips and dips, beverages and maybe more food surprises, too. Vegetarian items will also be available.

So tell your friends to join us for a country "hoe down" Sunday, March 14 at the senior center. You won't be disappointed. Once again, this concert is presented free, thanks to a grant from the Mortimer Levitt Foundation.

John Klinge

Westport

`Too much government gone astray'

I suggest that at the recent hearing of our town's Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z), an all-time low was achieved. Not for a decision on a land-use issue, since no decision was made, but for the conduct board members displayed with the disregard to our freedom of speech. Members of the public were forced to be silent when they only and simply held a sign to their chest saying: "NO." They were made to remove the signs or to leave the auditorium. Precedents clearly have been established for this peaceful show of support for other groups such as the Y or the town's employees on issues that would directly affect their lives. In the past members of the public wore colorful shirts to show support and solidarity. These precedents were set with P&Z as well as other town boards. I find the ruling to have free speech taken away from us, the residents, citizens and taxpayers, to be appalling, wrong and too much government gone astray.

Stephen Rubin

Westport

Inn's run need

• ot have ended

With great dismay I write to you regarding the latest chapter in the saga of a true gem too lightly treasured. I am one of only a few who have worked for all three of the past owners of The Inn At National Hall.

The closing of the Inn this week marks what may be the end for the cornerstone of Arthur Tauck's vision when he restored the historic district. It is such a special place. I do not say this because of the exterior, which is protected due to its inclusion in The National Register of Historic Places. Instead, it is because of the inn that was created within its shell. Anyone who has walked through the halls and rooms would know exactly what I mean. It is very hard to believe that it may go the way of just an average renovation project. Forces outside the Inn have been pushing for this for quite some time. Some of those same forces used to be pushing from within.

I followed very closely the arguments that were being used to justify changing the use of the building. Frankly, I feel that those arguments came from either an outright plan to circumvent the zoning regulation which stuck to the town plan, or it was from people who really never understood anything regarding hotel and restaurant business, and perhaps should never have entered it in the first place.

The Inn has always had a potential which few as small as this can claim. The second owners squandered that through so many poor decisions totally out of the hands of the day-to-day management. The recovery from the effects of Sept. 11 were thwarted by the closure of the Miramar Restaurant about six years ago. Then, the very public exposure of a plan to change the property to luxury condominiums knocked the business down again.

During this time, about four years ago, Paul Newman suggested to me to try to contact some of the wealthy individuals I knew to try to group together to try to save the Inn from such a plan -- to keep it as a special place, for special events in peoples' lives. He even offered to act as point man for such a group. Fortunately, the last owner, Antares, arrived on the scene and purchased it. They, from the start, expressed a desire to maintain it as an inn. Unfortunate events within the global economy lead to troubles which have brought us to this point.

However, recent decisions to close the Inn, supposedly due to the high costs of running the building/business are not totally justified. Many decisions on where to invest money never dealt with investment in what would have decreased some of the largest monthly expenditures: Utilities. Technology has existed and has been used for more than 30 years which could have reduced utility costs as much as 50 to 60 percent. So, those excuses just don't fly with me.

The historical list of notable clientele, whom we have had the pleasure of accommodating, goes on and on, and would have surely continued. But the fact that such a special place may be lost to our own use for those special occasions in our lives is a greater loss. After 15+ years of working at "Arthur's" places, it really saddens me to see it end when it need not have.

Raymond Prezkop,

Former Night Manager,

and Maintenance Chief,

The Inn at National Hall

Blatant disregard for the Fourth Amendment

A visit to Bow Tie Cinemas, Royale 6, on Westport Avenue in Norwalk was once a fun time for all; however, that was before the "new policy" was instituted, making a mockery of the Fourth Amendment. (The Fourth Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized.")

This past Saturday night, employees of Bow Tie Cinemas targeted women with pocketbooks demanding that its contents be shown -- to guarantee outside food and drink was not being brought into the theatre. The employees did not ask people with bulky coats or jackets -- only women bearing purses and we did not see a single man with a purse.

The manager and employee citing the new policy insisted it was posted in the lobby. We had seen no such posting, albeit one for cell phones and cell phone usage and one small sign that informed people "No outside food beyond this point." No mention of searching women's belongings.

While we thoroughly enjoy going to the movies, we revere the Constitution and are deeply concerned about Bow Tie Cinema's policy and ask that they stop the unreasonable searches and targeting of women.

Devon Pfeifer, Fairfield;

Barbara Reynolds, Weston;

Harriette Heller, Weston

It will come back stronger

Homes With Hope, formerly known as Interfaith Housing Association (IHA), withdrew its application for the much-debated 75-year lease on the Linxweiler property at 655 Post Road E. in Westport. It is our neighborhood's belief that the IHA withdrew its application in the hopes of buying some time to revamp it. At last week's Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) meeting, there was talk of pulling the application and having the IHA re-submit it at a later date when more of the details have been ironed out.

We suspect the IHA will submit a new application for the Linxweiler property sooner rather than later. And, since the IHA has pointed out they are most interested in the Linxweiler homestead at this point, and not the other properties that would have been affected by the proposed text amendment, the target of the new application will likely be entirely focused on the Linxweiler property.

The IHA is buying time. Make no mistake about it -- it will come back stronger. It has heard our pleas at the recent P&Z hearings; it knows our arguments; it knows our weaknesses. When the IHA returns, their proposal will undoubtedly taste a little sweeter. Westporters opposed to the IHA's recent proposals for the Linxweiler homestead should heed this warning: The most recent go-round was a little tremor ... a slight rumbling in the belly of the monster. There will be a quake of greater magnitudes coming our way, and we need to be ready as a town, a neighborhood, a community united.

When you think about it, pulling out amidst all the media exposure, the frenzy, the chaos is a brilliant move on the IHA's part. Here's what happened at last week's meeting:

Around 50 members of the concerned Westport public showed up at Town Hall to speak up against the IHA's proposal. When members of the public weren't at the podium, they were seated. Some chose to hold yellow pieces of 8x11 papers with the word "NO" on them in bold letters. Mark Fischer has a wife and two young kids. He lives in a home on Sue Terrace -- close in proximity to the Linxweiler property. Fischer sat quietly with the paper tucked between his arms and at lower chest level. About an hour-and-a-half into the meeting, Ron Corwin (P&Z Chairman) interrupted the meeting and requested that Fischer put down the sign. Actually, Corwin demanded the sign be out down. The same signs were held at the meeting the week before, and according to Commissioners Catherine Walsh and Michael Krawiec, who objected to Corwin's order and challenged the chairman to a vote, this was not the first time the public used signage or shirts to demonstrate an opinion during a public hearing.

The town attorney was present in the audience, but Corwin declined to request his council on the constitutionality of the ruling. The commission voted 4--3 that the signs would not be allowed, and residents said they would remove them, "in protest."

Members of Crescent Road and surrounding neighborhoods felt bullied out of their right to freedom of speech (or signage, for that matter). Those of us who were silenced at the meeting and stood in opposition to the IHA's proposal wondered if the commission's order was simply a move to "hush" us into submission.

Also at the meeting, members of the Linxweiler family traveled long and far just to speak on Joanna's behalf. Their pleas were that the property remain green as Joanna Linxweiler clearly expressed in her will. Linxweilers, who could not show up at the meeting, sent letters, which were read out loud by concerned Westport residents who also wanted to see this property preserved as a park or recreational area.

Other community members expressed dire concerns regarding the environmental impacts a project of this magnitude would have on such a small property. Mark Fischer of Sue Terrace showed pictures of the 3 feet of sewage inundating their driveway and home when it rains. Jeffrey Staw of Crescent Road showed pictures of his basement after 1,500 gallons of water permeated the foundation of his home six times in only the past four months. The IHA claimed its current plans allowed for only 25 percent development on the 1.3-acre Linxweiler property. According to a conversation Staw had with Westport's Conservation Department before the meeting, any more than 10 percent development on the Linxweiler property could have had a negative effect on town water quality.

If you were the IHA, what would you have done? Leave the eye of the storm and come back to calmer seas? Perhaps. And, that's exactly what concerned residents fear may happen.

If we are wrong, we invite the first selectman as well as members of the IHA to come forward and clearly state that not only is the application a dead issue, but the Linxweiler property will be left as is -- a home with green space for all the Post Road and surrounding neighborhoods to enjoy (at least for the next 75 years). We are ready to assist the town in the pursuit of preserving green spaces on the Post Road, and because we believe in what the IHA does -- we are more than happy to help find alternative properties so the IHA can continue the good work they do.

Amy Staw

Westport

Highlight healthier options

Consumers are looking for more detailed information about the food they eat and the time is right for restaurants of all sizes to start providing nutrition information. As obesity rates rise and more consumers are seeking a healthier lifestyle, food-service establishments that provide nutrition information will not only comply with pending national legislation, but will appeal to health-conscious customers.

According to the National Restaurant Association, a uniform national nutrition standard will allow consumers access to detailed nutrition information that meets their needs while providing clarity, consistency and flexibility for restaurants in how that information is provided. They are urging members of Congress to co-sponsor the Labeling Education and Nutrition Act (LEAN Act) which will provide a national nutrition labeling standard for foodservice establishments with 20 or more locations.

By highlighting healthier options, restaurants can distinguish themselves by meeting the growing demand for nutrition information, establish a competitive edge over their competitors and, most importantly, provide an important service to their customers.

Laura Walsh, R.D., L.D.N.,

President and Founder,

Walsh Nutrition Group,

Illinois