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Visit Copps Island Oysters, Oct 29, 2021 at 9:30

October 11, 2021 /

The Social Events committee has arranged a visit to the processing and laboratory facilities of Copps Island Oysters by Norm Bloom at 7 Edgewater Place in Norwalk commencing 9:30 am on Friday, October 29nd . The visit will include a ride on one of their oyster boats to see oysters being harvested – as long as weather permits.  After the event we will go to Knot Norms seafood restaurant for lunch where you can sample oysters in a variety of dishes – raw or cooked – or try their chowder or one of their lobster dishes. The address is 10 1st Street in Norwalk.

There is a limit of ten people that Copps Island Oysters can accommodate, so we will accept reservations on a first-come basis and then maintain a reserve list. Should the trip be oversubscribed we will attempt to arrange a follow-up event, as we did in 2019. We welcome those not attending the tour to join us at Knot Norms for lunch around 11:30 am.

All those members who have been fully vaccinated are invited to join the group, and masks are required for the tour of the facility. Please contact Jan Selkowitz to reserve your place. We will need to car-pool since there is limited parking in the area and we welcome volunteers for this task: let Jan know if you can be one of the drivers. We will meet at the DCA carpark and leave around 9:00 am to drive to Norwalk.

Wandering Union and Washington Squares, December 2, 2021

October 5, 2021 /

On Thursday, December 2, DMA member Greg Glashan will lead the Happy Wanderers on their final outing of the fall semester for an informative and eye-opening trek in Manhattan: South from Grand Central to the neighborhood of Washington Square. They plan to depart on the Metro-North commuter train leaving for Manhattan at 8:10 am (Darien station) and 8:13 am (Noroton Heights station). Participants should plan to bring a face mask and a copy of their vaccine card. Upon arrival at Grand Central Terminal, the group will gather at the Information Booth at the center of the Upper Level main entrance hall, and then head south.

We will walk through Madison Square Park, Union Square and Washington Square. Some highlights will be more than a dozen historic statues, monuments and memorials. Some short stops at several churches to take in their outstanding stained glass and design, a stop for lunch in the lower Fifth Avenue district, and then past some more historic sights and back to Grand Central and home.

Our plan is to end our walking at Union Square, at 14th Street near Park Ave, where there is a public market area of booths and boutiques, many with Christmas seasonal motifs. Our walkers will then have the option of browsing in the seasonal market, taking the nearby Lexington Ave. subway to Grand Central or walking back to Grand Central. Those planning to take the Subway should have their Metro Cards.

For further information on this outing, check with David Mace or Joe Spain.

Shaker, John

October 4, 2021 /

John Shaker grew up in Darien. He graduated from Berkshire School. He earned a B.S. degree from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. 

He moved to Los Angeles where he held positions at CBS TV Network, KTTV (now a FOX station), and created a 90-minute ABC Network Television special, “The World Championship of Trivia” airing in 1976. 

He returned to NY to join the founding management team at MTV. He became SVP Affiliate Sales/Marketing and co-ran MTVN ’s distribution division representing the MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Night, TV Land, VH-1, Comedy Central and The Movie Channel cable networks. 

He went on to lead BMI/Broadcast Music’s licensing, sales and marketing division as SVP, Licensing. BMI represents the public performance rights of 12 million musical works of songwriters, composers, and music publishers. Over his 13 years, BMI grew into the world’s largest revenue producing performing rights organization. In 1995, he signed the internet’s first ever commercial music license. 

Following BMI, he formed his own media and music consulting firm working with AT&T Interactive, USA Networks, Discovery Networks, Comedy Central, ASCAP, and many early/mid-stage companies. He has served on the non-profit boards of the IRTS/International Radio & Television Society, Radio Mercury Awards, AWRT/American Women of Radio & Television, Person to Person and as a volunteer at Future 5. He enjoys traveling, theater, art, hiking, skiing, and loves ice hockey. He’s a member of the Darien Winter Club, the CT Olde Crabs Hockey Club, Darien Boat Club and Silvermine Golf Club. His two children live on the west coast.

Sponsors: Bob McGroarty and Ed Sweeney

Hike Devil’s Den in Weston on Monday October 25, 2021

October 1, 2021 /

HIKING DEVIL’S DEN PRESERVE

WESTON, CT

MONDAY OCTOBER 25, 2021

    10:00 AM

The Devil’s Den Preserve’s original 1,400 acres  was purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 1966 using funds donated by Katherine Ordway, a local philanthropist. Today it encompasses over 1,700 acres and is the largest preserve in SW Connecticut. The history of the property goes back to 1767 when it was first used as a sawmill during the Revolution. Forestry was the principal use of the property until the 1930s but the many stone walls on the land indicate its use for agriculture as well. For about 80 years during that time span, charcoal was produced at over 30 sites on the property. There are woodlands, wetlands, ponds and streams on the acreage.

We will be hiking a trail of about 4 miles which we rate as easy to moderate. The trails are mostly wide and well maintained but often have rocks and roots as you would expect. There are no serious ups and downs but there is a fair degree of elevation change. We estimate the hike will take 2 ½ to 3 hours.

There will be no lunch after this hike.

As usual we welcome friends, spouses and others to join us. These hikes are a great way to meet new members and to have a chance to converse in an outdoor environment. NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED AT DEVIL’S DEN.

 

Devil’s Den is accessed off of Exit 42 on the Merritt Parkway. The address is 30 Pent Road, Weston but Google Maps and Waze recognize Devil’s Den as a destination.

 

Contacts: Dave McCollum  and Bob Plunkett 

 

Not deterred by an overnight rain which left the trails a bit wet, a hardy group of
10 DMAers hiked about 5 miles in three hours over the Perry, Godfrey and
Aspetuck trails at the 1700 acre Devil’s Den Preserve in Weston. The damp ground
was offset by very mild and occasionally sunny weather. The trail markings and
signage at DD re very good and we navigated the course with nary a wrong turn.
Oh, wait a minute, the navigation excellence was actually more the result of
various hiker’s backwoods savvy and a nose for the correct direction!
The Preserve’s ownership by The Nature Conservancy dates to 1966 but the
property records go back to 1767. While forestry and agriculture were the
principal uses of the land, for eight decades the property was chiefly used to
produce charcoal. The accompanying photo shows one relic of that period. Again
on this hike, as was the case at Trout Valley last month, we saw very few humans
and only a worm and a toad for wildlife. These animals, which surely reside in
preserves like DD, must somehow know we are coming and spend the day in
hiding.
The next hike is scheduled for The Zofnass Family Preserve in Pound Ridge, NY on
Thursday November 18.
As of now, we plan to resume the optional lunch after this hike.
Spouses, friends and any others are encouraged to join us and dogs on a leash are
allowed at Zofnass.
Dave McCollum and Bob Plunkett

Larson, Steve

September 30, 2021 /

Stephen “Steve” Larson

Steve Larson was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1958.  He grew up on the south side of the city and went to Marist High School where he played baseball.  He went on to receive an accounting degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign in 1980.  He is a certified public accountant who started his career at Arthur Andersen & co.  He continued his education at the University of Chicago where he received an MBA with a concentration in finance graduating in 1985.  He moved to New York and started a career in private equity.  He worked for ten years at CF Capital a merchant bank focusing on mergers and acquisitions.  He joined Cornerstone Equity, the private equity arm spun out of the Prudential, in 1997.  While semi-retired he continues to serve on the board of portfolio companies.  Steve and his wife Kate have lived in Darien since 1989 and have two adult children.  He is an avid sports fan and follows all “non-Cub” Chicago sports teams.   Steve is the former president of the Fairfield County Paddle Tennis League.  He is a member of the Silvermine and Woodway Country Clubs, and enjoys reading, golf, paddle and travel.

Book: The Great Mistake by Jonathan Lee, Nov 10, 2021

September 22, 2021 /

From the acclaimed author of High Dive comes an enveloping, exultant novel of New York City at the turn of the twentieth century, a story of one man’s rise to fame and fortune, and his murder in a case of mistaken identity. On Friday the 13th of November, 1903, a famous man was killed on Park Avenue in broad daylight by a stranger. It was neither a political act nor a crime of passion. It was a mistake. The victim was Andrew Haswell Green, the “Father of Greater New York,” who shaped the city as we know it. Without him there would be no Central Park, no Metropolitan Museum of Art, no Museum of Natural History, no New York Public Library. His influence was everywhere, yet he died alone, misunderstood, feeling that his whole life might have been, after all, a great mistake. A work of tremendous depth and piercing emotion, The Great Mistake is a portrait of a self-made man–farm boy to urban visionary; the reimagining of a murder investigation that shook the city; and the moving story of a singular individual who found the world closed off to him, and, in spite of all odds, enlarged it.

Wandering Brooklyn Heights, October 7, 2021

September 18, 2021 /

On Thursday, Oct 7, DMA member Mark Shakley will lead the Happy Wanderers on an entertaining and informative trek to the world of Brooklyn Heights. They plan to depart on the Metro-North commuter train leaving for Manhattan at 8:10 am (Darien station) and 8:13 am (Noroton Heights station). Participants should plan to bring a face mask and a copy of their vaccine card. Upon arrival at Grand Central Terminal, the group will gather at the Information Booth at the center of the main entrance hall and then head to Brooklyn Heights via subway. For further information on this outing, check with David Mace or Joe Spain.

Garvin, Jim

September 16, 2021 /

James “Jim” Patrick Garvin was born in the Bronx in 1948. He worked summers at Yankee Stadium selling hot dogs while attending Cardinal Hayes High School. Jim received a BS in Economics from the University of Dayton. He later received an MBA in Finance and Investments from Baruch College, CUNY, and a Post Grad degree in Accounting, NYU Stern Graduate School of Business. Jim is a CPA, having worked at Coopers & Lybrand in NYC. He worked for 30 years at Citigroup’s Corporate and Investment Bank. When his division relocated to Stamford in 1983, the family moved to Darien. For many years, he was an Adjunct Finance Professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Business at Lincoln Center. After 30 years at Citigroup, Jim changed careers. As University Bursar, for The City University of New York (CUNY), he is involved in setting tuition policies and related student matters.

For the past 25 years, Jim has been serving as an Admissions Officer for the United States Naval Academy. He was a Unit Commissioner for the CT Yankee BSA Council and the Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust Charter Organization Representative for the Darien’s Scouting Units.

Kolakowski, Daniel

September 16, 2021 /

Daniel Kolakowski was born in Hartford and raised in Wethersfield, CT. He received his BS in Civil Engineering in 1975 from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. He served in the military for five years at a Strategic Air Command base in Maine and left the service as a Captain.

Dan moved to Darien in 1980 and began his career with Skanska USA, a large international construction management firm where he became Senior Vice President. He received his MBA from the University of Connecticut. Dan was responsible for major construction projects in NYC, including the US Air Terminal at LaGuardia, Terminal One at JFK, all the AirTrain stations at JFK, Howard Beach and Jamaica, most of the new piers and parks in and along the Hudson River for the Hudson River Park Trust and the complete renovation of the United Nations Headquarters along 1st Avenue. Dan retired in 2016, but still consults with Delta Airlines on construction projects at LaGuardia.

Dan and his wife Pam live in Darien and are active members of Noroton Presbyterian Church, where Dan has served as an Elder. They have two daughters (Julie Sweeney and Tracy King) and one son (Keith) and seven grandchildren. Both daughters live in Darien and their son lives in Orlando, FL. Dan’s interests include most sports, but especially golf, as well as traveling.

Reis, Tim

September 16, 2021 /

Tim Reis grew up on Long Island (Wantaugh, Syosset and mostly Garden City, with Yorba Linda, California briefly wedged in between).  He attended Fairfield University and graduated in 1983 with a degree in English.  Tim spent 35 years in the media business, selling advertising at magazines including Fortune and Forbes, founding an independent rep firm in Atlanta and ultimately spending 12 years at Google before retiring at the end of 2019.

Tim, his wife Patty and their two (adult) children have lived in Darien for 20 years.  Tim continues to guest lecture at Columbia Business School, he loves to travel, holds black belts in karate and aikido, is an avid gardener, golfer and an unsuccessful singer/songwriter (you can hear his work on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc.).

Zipser, Howard

September 16, 2021 /

Howard Zipser is a lawyer specializing in the area of land use and zoning and has worked on many of the largest and most complicated zoning approvals in New York City. Included in this list of projects are the Hospital for Special Surgery expansion over the FDR Drive as well as the Citigroup Center.

Howard received his B.A. from John Hopkins University in 1962. He attended law school at Washington University School of Law receiving the J.D. degree in 1966 and his LL.M. in 1968. Howard is a past Vice President of the NY Junior Tennis League and the current President of Inside Broadway, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the theater arts to public school students. He has been married to his wife Marsha for 54 years and has two children living in southern Connecticut and four grandchildren.

Hike Trout Brook Valley Preserve Sep 30, 2021 at 10:00

September 13, 2021 /

 TROUT BROOK VALLEY HIKE

      WESTON, CT

          SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

                10:00 AM

On our first hike of the fall, we will return to the Trout Brook Valley Conservation area in Weston, an 1100 acre preserve that is part of the Aspetuck Land Trust, where we last hiked in 2019. Trout Brook Valley classifies their trails  as hard, medium and easy and your DMA hiking team discovered  that on our pre-hike where we tested a “hard” trail and found the description very accurate! We will not be using that trail for our hike of about 3 miles over easy and medium terrain. The preserve is still quite lush and green in September so it will be mostly shady. The trails are well maintained and the trail markings are excellent. There is some traversing of mostly flat rocky areas. This hike should be a great way to start off our fall season!

As always, friends, spouses, etc are welcome to join us. Dogs on a leash are permitted. There will be no lunch after the hike.

We will be using the Bradley Road entrance to the preserve in Weston. On Google maps or Waze enter Trout Brook Valley Preserve or 18 Bradley Road, Weston. The parking lot is not large so car pooling would be a good idea. If you let either of us know you will be joining us, we can arrange pools. The drive takes about 25 minutes from Darien.

Dave McCollum or Bob Plunkett

 

A small but enthusiastic group of seven spent a delightful two hours hiking the Green and Orange Trails at Trout Brook Preserve this morning, a cool and invigorating day to be in such beautiful woods. 

The 730 acre Trout Brook Preserve was purchased in 1999 by the Aspetuck Land Trust from the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company which was planning to sell it to a developer who wanted to construct over one hundred luxury homes and a golf course. The $11.3 million purchase price was raised jointly by the State of Connecticut and Aspetuck. Actor Paul Newman was among the contributors.

The trails we hiked were well maintained and of variable difficulty but nothing our group could not handle. We pretty much had the whole Preserve to ourselves as we saw very few other hikers which contributed to the quiet attractiveness of the trails. We crossed three brooks, one of which must have been Trout Brook, but saw no trout or other fauna other than a worm or two. So much for wild kingdom!

As usual on our hikes, the opportunity to talk to each other was a highlight. 

We hope a larger group of DMAers will join us on our next hike at Devil’s Den in Weston on Monday October 25.

 

Dave McCollum and Bob Plunkett

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