Connecticut Postings

BRIDGEPORT –– The 33rd annual celebration by Bridgeport Black Pride of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will this year feature the Rev. James D. Peters, Jr., who both worked with King and preached in Bridgeport in the 1960s and early 1970s.

The event is set to begin Monday at 8:30 a.m. at Mount Aery Baptist Church, 73 Frank St.

Peters, the retired leader of the New Hope Baptist Church in Denver, was in the thick of the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and the 1960s. He was at the founding meeting in 1957 of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and he worked directly with King during the marches in Albany, Ga., and in Selma and Birmingham, Ala. He also participated in the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963, when King delivered his “I Have a Dream’’ speech.

Peters was pastor of East End Baptist Church in Bridgeport from 1960 to 1973.

The two-hour celebration at Mount Aery usually attracts more than 600 people, including a number of VIPs from the region.

It will be followed at 10:30 a.m. by a community breakfast in the lower level of the church. Tickets for the breakfast are s $12 for adults and $7 for youth 17 and under. Tickets may be purchased at Ms. Thelma’s Restaurant, 140 Fairfield Ave., or by calling 203-526-8086. There will also be a coat drive during the event.

Bridgeport’s Holiday Inn today announced that the celebration honoring Maestro Gustav Meier’s 40th anniversary at the artistic helm of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony will include a Nov. 12 dinner prior to the orchestra’s “Gustav and Mozart” concert.

An Austrian-themed buffet will be offered in honor of Meier’s favorite composer: Mozart. Cost is $35 (reduced from $40), including tax, with a portion of each ticket benefiting the GBS.

Seatings will take place from 5 until 6:30 p.m. so that diners will be able to travel the short distance between the 1070 Main St. hotel and the 8 p.m. concert at the Klein Memorial Auditorium, 910 Fairfield Avenue.

The buffet, say hotel officials, will include such Austrian specialties as potato pancakes, spaetzle, Wiener schnitzel with lingonberries, beef goulash with paprika, bratwurst, broiled salmon and sauteed cabbage. Desserts will include apple strudel and Linzer cookies. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate will be included. For reservations, call 203.334.1234, extension 5181.

The 8 p.m. concert, “Gustav and Mozart,” will feature violinist Elena Urioste performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Turkish. Tickets for the concert, $20 to $50, may be purchased by calling 203.576.0263 or visiting www.GBS.org.
The concert will be repeated at a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Nov. 13, also at the Klein.
Urioste and GBS Executive Director Benjamin Loeb, a noted pianist, will be featured at the inaugural event in the Guest Artist Recital Series on Monday, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at First Church Congregational, 148 Beach Road, in Fairfield. Tickets, available at the door, are $40.

From the arts desk:

The Fairfield Museum and History Center announced this morning that it will extend the run of its current exhibit in memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America that killed nearly 3,000.

The exhibition was to have closed on Sunday, Sept. 18, but museum officials said today that the show is “not coming down now until after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21, because “is has been so well attended and received.”

Admission to the museum is free during the run of the exhibit. Featured in the show are several photographs taken at Ground Zero by the renowned Westport photographer Stephen Wilkes shortly after two commercial airliners were crashed by terrorists into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers, destroying them both.   

The museum presents exhibitions on the history of the Greater Bridgeport area, as well as topics of general interest to the region. It is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends noon to 4 p.m. For additional information: www.fairfieldhs.org; 203-259-1598.

Fairfield Ludlowe High School remembered 9/11/2001 with a ceremony dedicated to those who lost their lives. All 1400 students and teachers filled the field and gave a moment of silence, together.

- Photo and caption by Michele Hermsen, photography teacher

A community-minded Fairfield youth is helping Bridgeport Rescue Mission fight poverty from the inside out.

Sixteen-year-old Connor McGuiness, a member of Boy Scout Troop 199, selected the Mission as a service project in working toward the rank of Eagle Scout.  In two weeks time, he collected 2,400 pounds of food through drives at two local Stop & Shop supermarkets and 1,500 pounds of clothing through his church, St. Pius X Parish in Fairfield.  He also collected $1,900 in cash, which was used to purchase urgently needed underwear for the Mission’s guests and residents and, under the direction of the Mission Head Chef Paul Byron, specific food items from Restaurant Depot.

McGuiness selected the Mission for the project after conducting an online search and learning of the number of people the Mission serves and their need for food and clothing.  The Mission provides nearly 40,000 meal per month to its residents and guests and struggling families in the community and 100 beds each night—along with clothing and case management—to homeless men and women and students working toward sobriety and independence in the Mission’s long-term recovery program.

From the arts desk . . .

Because of  complications resulting from last weekend’s Tropical Storm Irene, the Fairfield Museum announced this afternoon that the opening of  its 9/11 commemorative exhibition will be delayed by a few days.

In Thursday’s Go section, which was printed prior to the announcement, an article on Page 16 pointed out that events would run from Sept. 3-18 at the museum at 370 Beach Road. They now will run from Tuesday, Sept. 6, through Sept. 18.

Featured will be a small collection of photographs taken by Westporter Stephen Wilkes at Ground Zero, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The museum also clarified another point:  The commemoration will include an ABRIDGED version of the Connecticut Historical Society’s traveling show that pays tribute to the 153 men, women and children from Connecticut who lost their lives, as well as the state residents who responded to the tragedy. 

A Sunday, Sept. 11, interfaith service, at 3 p.m.,  in memory of those who perished, will proceed as planned.

The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends noon to 4 p.m. Admission will be free for all Sept. 6-18.

For additional information, call 203-259-1598; www.fairfieldhs.org.

Rescue efforts continued into the evening Sunday on Fairfield Beach Road, where at least three structures were destroyed by the tropical storm-force winds, driving rain and raging tide that came with Hurricane Irene earlier in the day.

Police said there were no reported injuries during the storm or its aftermath.

“We are still receiving reports of live wires down in the roadways, as well as trees and branches creating hazards,” said police spokesperson Sgt. Suzanne Lussier. “Please use extreme caution and severely limit your travel.”

Police spokesperson Sgt. Suzanne Lussier said Fairfield Beach Road west of Reef Road remained closed as of 5 p.m., while all other roads leading to the beach area were opened to residents only.

“Residents are warned if they choose to return home and find damaged due to flooding, they may see broken water and gas lines,” Lussier said.

The majority of beach residents heeded advice from town officials and evacuated from the area prior to the storm’s arrival. Most left the beach front by noon Saturday. Lussier said some residents decided to stay and had to be evacuated at the height of the storm.

As high tide meshed with the Irene storm surge, Fairfield officials announced Sunday morning that the flood zone would be increased from Edward Street south to Old Post Road south, leading to further evacuations.

The Long Island Sound waters pushed more than a half-mile inland at the peak of Irene’s impact, putting numerous homes at risk.
Water spread from the coast as far as One Rod Highway off of Reef Road.

In the aftermath of the flooding, around 1 p.m., emergency crews were forced to use jet skis to get to the site of one of the houses that collapsed.

At 5 p.m., a rescue effort was continuing, according to Lussier. The town’s building department began to move out to assess the structural damage in houses in the 2000 block of Fairfield Beach Road. Structural engineers could be consulted to determine if residents can return to their homes and if power can be restored.

The final assessment should be made by mid-morning Monday, Lussier said.

As of 5:30 p.m., more than 14,000 Fairfield residents remained without power, according to United Illuminating.
Lussier said 70 people remain in the town’s shelter at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.

FAIRFIELD –Three structures on Fairfield Beach Road collapsed as Hurricane Irene slammed into the town’s beach area Sunday morning right as high tide rushed in.

Residents fled the area, most on Saturday, and officials were not immediately aware of whether anyone was injured or not during the storm.

The storm surge pushed the Long Island Sound waters more than a half-mile inland.

Water spread from the coast up as far as One Rod Highway off of Reef Road, damaging numerous houses.

Fairfield emergency crews used jet skis to get to the site of one of the houses that collapsed around 1 p.m.

Police spokesman Sgt. Sue Lussier said rescues were underway at the Fairfield Beach Road area where several homes had already collapsed. She urged residents to stay away from the area.