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Carla Gambescia, author of “La Dolce Vita University,” April 27, 2022

January 19, 2022 /

Carla Gambescia is an award-winning author, travel journalist, lecturer, and avid photographer with a special focus on Italy. She spoke to the DMA several years ago about her then-new book entitled, “La Dolce Vita University: An unconventional guide to Italian Culture from A to Z.” We’ve invited Carla back for an encore so she can share with us her latest thoughts about Italian culture.

Carla’s passion for Italy began early, with her mother’s love of the Renaissance masters and her father’s discourses on Italian geniuses of every calling. In the ensuing decades, she’s written about and toured every region of Italy on foot or by bicycle. Carla was a former partner in the Ciao Bella Gelato Company, conceived and co-led the Giro del Gelato bicycle tour which won Outside Magazine’s “Best Trip in Western Europe,” and, for a decade, owned and operated Via Vanti! Restaurant & Gelateria in Mount Kisco, New York. Via Vanti! received a “Very Good” from The New York Times and many plaudits for its innovative Italian cuisine, its delicio gelato (named “Best Gelato Shop in New York”), and for its culinary and cultural special events.

Carla’s success as an entrepreneur, cultural educator, and engaging storyteller reflects not only her knowledge, but also her passionate and joyful spirit.

Video Presentation begins at 08:07

Arranged by Charles Salmans

Megan Palmer Rivera, “Five Generations and 100 Years of a Local Business, Palmer’s Market,” April 20, 2022

January 19, 2022 /

Megan Palmer Rivera, a fifth-generation member of the Palmer’s family, will tell the story of Palmer’s Market, one of Darien’s most enduring retailers, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. As a Darien institution that generates tremendous customer loyalty, Megan says Palmer’s owes its success to decades of evolution to meet the changing needs of area shoppers as well as its reputation for community service. Her great-great-grandfather Rocco Palmer established Palmer’s in the old Noroton Heights Center in 1921, although its roots go back to the early 1900s as a family-owned butcher shop in Stamford. Few family-owned businesses survive into the 3rd generation. Now the 4th and 5th generations of Palmer’s are running the business and the family’s vision over the years transformed a simple market into a supermarket in the 1950s and in more recent years as a one stop shopping destination including groceries, restaurant-quality prepared foods, flowers, a bakery, gift baskets, catering, and even guided tours to Italy and other destinations around the world.

Megan grew up working alongside her mother and grandfather at Palmer’s Market and always dreamed of becoming a chef. After high school, Megan attended The Culinary Institute of America, where she received her Culinary Arts Degree. She went on to study at the CIA’s St. Helena Campus, where she graduated as Class Valedictorian, adding a Baking and Pastry Arts Degree to her resume. After graduating, she opened Palmer’s Bakery, and four years later took over as Executive Chef, overseeing the production kitchen at the market and, the following year, launched Palmer’s Catering & Events. She has added 30 new positions to the company. In 2018 she took over as Palmer’s Managing Director. At the helm of a company that just celebrated 100 years in the business, her main focus is ensuring that Palmer’s will be around to support 100 more years of service to customers, employees, and local non-profits and charities. She will be sharing a documentary that was created for their anniversary.

Arranged by Charles Salmans

Video Presentation 

James Campbell, author, “Madoff Talks,” April 13, 2022

January 19, 2022 /

No name is more synonymous with the evil side of Wall Street than Bernie Madoff. Jim Campbell is author of “Madoff Talks,” the result of extensive correspondence with Bernie Madoff and those close to him.  Arrested for fraud in 2008 — during the depths of the financial crisis — the 70-year-old market maker, investment advisor and former chairman of the NASDAQ had orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in world history, fleecing thousands of investors across the globe to the tune of $65 billion. To this day, questions remain: Why did he do it? How did he get away with it for so long? What did his family know? Who is the elusive Bernie Madoff?
Jim Campbell is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show Business Talk with Jim Campbell and his crime show Forensic Talk with Jim Campbell. Campbell’s extensive corporate, consulting and entrepreneurial business background includes roles at KPMG Consulting, Dean Witter Financial Services (now Morgan Stanley) and IBM. He is founder and president at JC Ventures, Inc., a management consulting business.

 

Presentation Video

Charles Salmans, “The B-29 and the Defeat of Japan,” April 6, 2022

January 19, 2022 /

Japan surrendered after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945. DMA member Charles Salmans points out that the B-29 was also essential to the defeat of Japan because the U.S.  needed a way to deliver such bombs. No aircraft had that capability before the B-29 and the design of this aircraft was revolutionary, only to be superseded as a World War II technological achievement by the development of the atomic bomb itself. Under the pressure of war, both the design and production of the bomber took place concurrently, beginning in 1940. Major design and engineering modifications were still taking place through 1945 with air crew, in effect, becoming test pilots. The B-29 was a huge technological advance, the first aircraft with a pressurized cabin. It had three times the bomb load and twice the range of any other bomber at the time, made possible in part by a revolutionary wing design. But it required the most powerful engines ever built, and these were its Achilles heel. Furthermore, it was designed for high level, precision bombing before there was understanding of the high-altitude jet stream, which was at its most powerful at the latitude of Tokyo and which blew bombs off target. Thus, bombing was anything but precise. Consequently, General Curtis LeMay had to alter the tactics to low-level firebombing and in a single night a raid on Tokyo caused more civilian casualties than either of the atomic bombs.

Video Presentation

B-29 AIR RAID BOMBING IN TOKYO FILM NARRATED BY RONALD REAGAN “TARGET TOKYO” 74382

Book Club: The Great Halifax Explosion by John U. Bacon. March 9, 2022 @ 2:00

January 12, 2022 /

The Great Halifax Explosion : a World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism

From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author, a gripping narrative-nonfiction account of the world’s largest manmade explosion before the atomic bomb. In December 1917, a freighter carrying 3,000 tons of explosives sailed from Brooklyn bound for the trenches of World War I—en route, a cataclysmic disaster awaited . . .

Entering World War I’s fourth demoralizing year, the Allies hoped to break the grueling stalemate by sending thousands of fresh American troops and more munitions than ever to the trenches of France. Before the French freighter Mont-Blanc set sail from Brooklyn on December 1, 1917, with a staggering 3,000 tons of explosives, the captain banned his crew from lighting a single match, and secured the volatile cargo with copper nails because they don’t spark when struck.

For four harrowing days, the floating powder keg bobbed up the Eastern seaboard, plowing through a wicked snowstorm and waters infested with German U-Boats, which had already torpedoed a thousand Allied ships that year alone. On December 6, the exhausted crew finally slipped into Halifax Harbour—just as the relief ship Imo was rushing to leave. At 8:45 a.m., the Imo struck the Mont-Blanc’s bow, knocking over barrels of airplane fuel. Fire swept across the decks, sending the Mont-Blanc’s crew scurrying to their lifeboats, while Halifax longshoremen, office workers, and schoolchildren walked down to watch it burn.

At 9:04:35 a.m., the Mont-Blanc erupted, leveling 2.5 square miles of Halifax, killing 2,000 people, and wounding 9,000 more—all in one-fifteenth of a second.

In this definitive account, bestselling author John U. Bacon recreates the recklessness that caused the tragedy, the selfless rescue efforts that saved thousands, and the inspiring resilience that rebuilt the town. Just hours after the explosion, Boston alone sent 100 doctors, 300 nurses, and a million dollars. The explosion would revolutionize ophthalmology and pediatrics; transform Canada and the U.S. from adversaries to allies; and show J. Robert Oppenheimer, who studied Halifax closely, how much destruction an atomic bomb could inflict on a city.

Bacon brings to light one of the most dramatic events of the twentieth century, exploring the long shadow the world’s first “weapon of mass destruction” still casts on our world today.

Hike Sherwood Island Park, Monday Jan 24, 2022 at 10:00 Weather Permitting

January 12, 2022 /

HIKING SHERWOOD ISLAND

          WESTPORT, CT

      JANUARY 24, 2022

10:00 AM

We will meet in the parking lot closest to the pavilion and hike the perimeter of the park which is about 2.5 miles. 

If the weather is good, the hike is on. If it turns out to be a day that you would not go out on a walk, don’t come and I probably won’t either! There will be no announcement but you can email or call me as below to check on whether or not it is on. 

Sherwood will most likely be windy so layer up!

There will be no lunch after, just a walk on the beach!

Dogs on a leash and guests welcome.

 

Sherwood Island is off of Exit 18 on I-95.

David McCollum

 

Recap:

After a little semi-threatening snow on a Monday morning the weather turned mostly sunny but cold for 18 (count ‘em 18) DMA hikers and friends to walk and talk for 90 minutes at beautiful Sherwood Island State Park in Westport. 

For those who have not been to Sherwood Island there are trails through wooded areas in addition to the vast open expanse of lawn and beach. The Park contains a 911 Memorial to all those Connecticut residents who died in the attacks. The memorial is sited on a point of land which has a direct line of sight to Manhattan.

The next hike is scheduled for Monday, February 14 at 10:00 at Greenwich Point. Bring your Valentine!

 

Dave McCollum and Bob Plunkett

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Book Club: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, Feb 9, 2022

January 2, 2022 /

Originally published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises is Ernest Hemingway’s first novel and a classic example of his spare but powerful writing style. A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, the novel introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. Based on Hemingway’s experiences, ‘The Sun Also Rises’ is the story of a group of American and English expatriates living in Paris who take an excursion to Pamplona, Spain. The novel has forever associated Hemingway with bullfights and the running of the bulls. This powerful work of modern fiction, filled with memorable characters and universal themes, is summarized in this volume, which is enhanced by thought-provoking critical extracts, focused biographical details, and an annotated bibliography. This book helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century

Cobb, Chet

December 28, 2021 /

Chester L. Cobb (“Chet”) was born in New York City in 1952 and grew up in the suburb of Pelham Manor, New York.   He graduated from Pelham Memorial High School in 1970, where he was co-editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and played varsity soccer and tennis.  He graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1974 with a B.A. in economics and was editorial editor of the Yale Daily News.  He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1977.  After graduation from law school, Chet began his legal career as an associate at Milbank Tweed in New York City.  He was an associate and then a partner at Winstead McGuire in Dallas, Texas between 1984 and 1990.  Chet and his wife Mary Kay moved to Darien in 1990, when Chet joined Phillips Lytle as a partner in the firm’s New York City office.  He has practiced law at Phillips Lytle during the past 31 years until retiring at the end of 2021.  Chet served as partner-in-charge of the firm’s New York City office between 1992 and 2007 and as a member of the firm’s governing committee.   Chet and Mary Kay have three daughters, two of whom are married and reside in Darien and Denver, Colorado, and one of whom is unmarried.   They also have three grandchildren.  Chet is a member of the Country Club of Darien.  His interests include reading, travel, golf, racquet sports, spending time with his family and skiing.        

Liguori, Steve

December 22, 2021 /

Stephen (Steve) Liguori, and his wife Susan have lived in Darien for 20+ years. Steve was born in Brooklyn, moved to upstate NY and post college lived in Wisconsin, California (2X) and Texas, before settling in Darien. He has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Southern California. They have three children: a daughter and two grandchildren living in Washington, DC, a son in Chicago and daughter in Oakland, CA. Susan is a Clinical Pastoral Educator, which means she trains and certifies all denominations of religious, to give spiritual care in hospitals, nursing homes, etc. They are both long time members of St. John’s of Darien.

Steve served as GE’s Executive Director – Global Innovation when GE was headquartered in CT. He was instrumental in GE’s then highly regarded Innovation efforts such as the digital “Industrial Internet” transformation. Also, at GE he was a marketing VP in GE Capital.

Prior to GE Steve held senior Advertising, Marketing and Strategy roles at Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Kraft Foods. He even ran a cookie company for a short time.

Steve is the Founder and CEO of Liguori Innovation, a boutique consulting firm that helps large firms transform their leadership to enable new sources of growth. Steve is also Co-Founder of the Corporate Entrepreneur Community or “CEC” with Eric Ries, best-selling author of The Lean Startup. The CEC is a private peer-to-peer network of large enterprises. 

Steve’s distinctions include being named Marketer of the Year, a published article in the Harvard Business Review, and Chairman’s Award winner at both Citigroup and General Electric. And yes, he launched the original Super Bowl Halftime show with none other than Michael Jackson!

Bora, Doug

December 21, 2021 /

Douglas (Doug) A. Bora, Jr. was born in 1953 and grew up in Rowayton. He graduated from St. Lawrence University and earned a B.A. in Economics. After graduation, he worked in commercial real estate finance to develop major real estate projects throughout the nation, working broadly as a lender first, an intermediary second and a principal third. He started his career working at the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (MONY, now AXA Insurance) where he was in charge of real estate lending and acquisitions for the Northeastern United States and then worked in Citicorp’s Investment Bank where he ran institutional finance and acquisitions in the Midwestern U.S. Following that, he worked as an intermediary at the nation’s largest commercial mortgage banking company, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler (now JLL, Jones Lang LaSalle), and finally as Managing Director of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, a major commercial and residential real estate development firm. 

Doug and his wife have lived in Darien since 1989, have two adult children and two grandchildren. He has served as Chairman or President of several real estate industry trade associations in New York and Connecticut and as Chairman of SoundWaters, a non–profit organization which teaches over 35,000 young people each year and connects them with Long Island Sound to protect and preserve the Sound through education. Doug is an avid boater and a member of Noroton Yacht Club. He enjoys skiing, pickleball and gardening and is believed to be the longest continuous seasonal paddle tennis player in Darien (over 30 years). 

 

Christmas Bell Ringing at Palmers, 9-5, Dec 12 & 20th, 2021

December 7, 2021 /
Chairman: Frank DeLeo

Bell Ringing at Palmer’s for Darien Human Services

Raising funds to help needy Darienites by soliciting donations from Palmer’s shoppers at Christmas has been a long-standing DMA tradition.  Due to COVID-19, we couldn’t perform this important service in 2020. Fortunately, we were able to re-start this activity this year with teams of 2 (and one team of 3) ringing a handbell and greeting shoppers on their way in and out of the store on Sunday, December 12 and Monday, December 20. We had 25 people participate, including 3 members who rang on both days as well as a wife and granddaughter who joined their respective DMA members. Thanks to all who helped and to Palmer’s for letting us use their space and leverage their shoppers.

For several reasons, our historical relationship with the Salvation Army for this activity was no longer an option. So, we partnered directly with the Darien Human Services Department (DHS) (who had been our historical benefactor and go-between with the Salvation Army), focusing on their direct funding activities related to housing, energy, food and clothing assistance.  We also had brochures about DHS at our table to help publicize the breadth of services they provide. By partnering directly with DHS, we were able to ensure that the funds raised would go 100% to Darien residents.

We were blessed with good weather on both days (sunny and not too chilly). Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Darien residents/Palmer’s shoppers (and the warmth and engaging demeanor of our bell ringers – many of whom enhanced the spirit of the season by wearing Santa hats), we raised $1,350 on the 12th and $1,125 on the 20th, for a grand total of $2,475. The DHS Director was thrilled and extremely appreciative since past years’ daily donations were typically in the $400-$800 range. What a great way to re-institute one of our traditional Community Service activities. We not only made a significant contribution to our neighbors, but we also raised the bar for future holiday fund raising at Palmer’s!

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