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Author: Claire Menard

Focus On Jen Tooker: Getting Through & Getting Stronger

by Claire Menard

Jen Tooker has lived in Westport with her husband Mo since 2008. The couple has three kids: A college freshman, a high school junior and a sixth grader. After a 22-year career in the marketing and underwriting side of the reinsurance business she is now Westport’s Second Selectperson. Jen has been working around the clock as part of the town’s leadership response team to the Corona Virus Crisis. 

“As Westport’s Second Selectwoman, I’m working 24/7 alongside First Selectman, Jim Marpe, to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. We are working in different locations from each other and from our amazing department heads so we can all stay healthy to lead and support our residents and local businesses through this unprecedented time. The information is moving at record pace. Our responses must be equally rapid. I’ve had some high-pressure jobs in my almost 25-year career in finance, but this experience has redefined pressure. We work every day to ensure the health and safety of our residents and the economic viability of our businesses. It’s a pleasure and an honor, but can be a little tiring! 

When I’m not working, I’m helping my three kids find a schedule with school and life and trying to keep them out of my husband’s home office where he is also working 12 hours a day. We have a very disappointed college freshman who is back home for the school year, an anxious high school junior who can’t figure out how this will affect her future and a restless sixth grader who misses her friends but loves having the attention of her older siblings. I have to admit, I love having the kids home. We have family dinners, family movie night, family game night, family walks and, best of all, family house cleaning day – including toilets!  

I now do everything via email, phone, Zoom, GoToMeeting or FaceTime. While those platforms are all important, especially right now, I got into public service because I love people. I am energized by speaking with, learning from, interacting with and problem-solving for our residents. It’s just not as fun doing this job via technology. I miss seeing everyone in person! And I simply can’t wait to see everyone again soon – when the time is right.  

I’m very proud of Westport. We are focused on stay safe, stay home. If you have to go out, practice virus distancing. Many of our businesses and non-profits (like Westport Museum!) have been forced to close or drastically alter the way they bring their products and services to their clients. This Westport in Focus project is a fantastic example of the creativity of our community. Thank you! It takes a village to “flatten the curve” and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than Westport.

My husband and I were both raised in families that believed in “figuring it out”. Life didn’t always go the way we expected. There was no obvious path and knowing how to rise to the occasion for family and friends was a priority. I’m staying true to these principles. We will get through this together and be stronger for it. I’m sure of that.

…We will get through this together and be stronger for it. I’m sure of that. 

Explore More of “Westport In Focus”

To read more of the museums long lens oral histories please visit the Westport In Focus page.

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Focus On Donisha Diagne: Ultimately, We’re Going to be Ok

by Claire Menard

For the last 11 years, Donisha and Alie Diagne have made Westport their home and where they’ve raised three children, Bilal 9 and Leyla 7, and Gary (2018 Staples graduate). Donisha describes the Diagnes as,  “a resilient, small, close-knit family,” for which she credits her heritage and history as well as that of Alie. Born and raised in Connecticut, Donisha’s family migrated here from the South during the Great Migration and Alie emigrated to America from Senegal. 

“There is a level of resilience that comes from our backgrounds and a level of understanding of how much energy we put forth and how we interact with others. For my family, coming up from the South in the industrial boom times and being able to build themselves up has been helpful to us in our ability to think. Not just in the present, but about the future and how we navigate from this environment with its scary levels of uncertainty. It’s about how do we continue to look toward the future, understanding where we are, and knowing ultimately, we are going to be ok. 

Most people in town know our oldest son, Gary who is 20, from the YMCA. Alie and I have had opportunities to support A Better Chance of Westport in different capacities. When you see us, we are often with our younger children Bilal and Leyla at their school or sports events. Although we have lived here for more than 10 years, we are still discovering the town. 

Juggling between work and homeschooling is the biggest change to our professional and daily lives now. Finding ourselves working from home full time – with a full house – definitely requires an adjustment. Previously, we worked from home one to two days a week based on our family needs. We find ourselves being more intentional about our daily calendars, syncing meetings, and working together to ensure one of us is available for Bilal and Leyla when the other is in meetings. We are also trying to find our new normal by sticking to a new schedule and switching to “family time” at the end of the work day. 

As a financial regulator, the content of Alie’s work has not changed as it relates to COVID- 19. However, he has joined the videoconference revolution! He uses video chat check – ins to stay connected with his team. I am a business psychologist working in HR with a focus on employee engagement, development and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Although my role remains the same, the content of my role pivoted slightly to include a focus on helping employees to increase their effectiveness while working virtually and providing leaders with the tools to manage remotely. 

Gary is helpful in taking the kids outside for breaks from homeschooling and being another adult in the home. After work or homeschooling ends, we go on walks, read, listen to music, dance, and cook together. We’ve always had a lively home; however, we’ve stepped up the energy during this time. I’ve also started running again now that the gyms are closed.

Overall, the community is doing well coping with the crisis. We appreciate the daily updates from our town leaders and schools, as well as the opportunity to engage with other members in our community via social media. We are looking forward to meeting individuals we have met online in person once the crisis is over. It’s really impressive to see how the town has rallied together in support of the retail businesses, local hospitals, and first responders. We couldn’t be prouder to live in Westport at this time.

We’ve always had a lively home; however, we’ve stepped up the energy during this time.

Our greatest hope is that we will continue to work together to reduce the impact [of Corona Virus] to our town and extended communities. We also pray that a useable vaccine is discovered quickly that reduces the impact to everyone’s lives to the greatest extent possible. 

We are connecting with our friends and family frequently and making ourselves available to offer support and an ear to listen. For our community, we have reached out to our neighbors to offer grocery shopping and support, as needed. Sometimes it’s just calling to say hello.”

Explore More of “Westport In Focus”

To read more of the museums long lens oral histories please visit the Westport In Focus page.

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Beef Pasties

by Claire Menard

While it’s not definitively clear when meat turnovers were invented, meat pies have been referenced in a 13th century royal charter by England’s King Henry III and 14th century French cookbooks, which referred to the encompassing dough as paste. This is likely where the word “pasty” came from. 

In earliest versions, a stiffer version of the pastry dough itself served as a baking container for the meat filling. These later evolved into the popular “standing pies” which were eaten into the 19th century. The dough in these weren’t usually eaten because they were too tough. This standing pie dough was also called a “coffin”. 

As the pasty moved through the centuries, it became a go-to street food or fast food of days of yore. In English versions, potatoes, carrots and other ingredients joined meat in the pie so they ate like a full meal. The most well-known of these is the “Cornish Pasty” a popular, one-handed food for miners in Cornwall. As England expanded her colonial reach, outposts of the empire adopted the pasty and made it their own. The best example of this is the popular Jamaican Beef Patty. 

Ingredients

Puff pastry cut into 5 inch squares to total 8  (2 10”x 15” sheets), keep chilled or 1 14 oz package large inch empanada dough discs such as Goya or follow our recipe for pie dough below. 

  • 1 tablespoon butter 
  • 1 small onion, minced 
  • 1 small carrot, peeled, diced small 
  • ½ stalk celery, minced 
  • ½ pound ground beef 
  • 1 teaspoon tomato paste 
  • 1/8 teaspoon allspice 
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 
  • 2 teaspoons Madeira, port or sherry (optional) 
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 
  • 1 sprig thyme 
  • 1 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced small 
  • Salt and pepper to taste 
  • 2  eggs beaten well with 1 tablespoon water 

Directions

1.     Melt butter in large fry pan over medium heat and add onion, carrots and celery. Fry until onions are softened, about 6 to 7 minutes. 

2.     Stir in the ground beef, breaking apart the chunks with a wooden spoon and fry until browned, about 10 to 12 minutes.  Stir in the allspice and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute. Mix in the tomato paste and stir well, cooking for 1 more minute. 

3.     Add the Madeira, port or sherry, and cook for 1 minute while mixing. Add the Worcestershire sauce and ½ cup water. 

4.     Add the thyme sprig and potatoes and lower heat to medium-low. Cover and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. 

5.     Assemble the pasties, Method 1: Hold a puff pastry square like a diamond. Lightly roll with a rolling pin to thin slightly. Brush all edges with egg wash. Place roughly 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons meat mixture on one side. Use as much filing as will fit comfortable a puff pastry square.  Fold the unfilled side up and over the meat mixture to make a triangle shaped turnover. Press down with a fork along the edges to make a seal. The egg wash will help. Repeat until all the pastry squares are filled. 

6.     Method 2: Using empanada disc, use a rolling pin to roll out the discs so they are about 25% larger all around. Fill as you would a puff pastry diamond—but these will be half-moon shaped. Place roughly 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons meat mixture on one side of the disc. Fold the side without filling up and over  the meat mixture to make a half-moon shaped turnover. Press down with a fork along the edges to make a seal. The egg wash will help. Repeat until all the discs are filled. 

7.      Method 3: Line a greased cupcake tin with the empanada discs and gently press into place. Fill  each tin ¾-full with the meat mixture. Gently fold over the overhanding dough. Use a 3-inch round pastry cutter to cut circles out of another empanada dough disc. Brush one side with egg wash and gently press onto the top of the filled cupcake tin. 

8.     Method 4: Roll one recipe pie crust (below) into to a rectangle of 10 inches wide by 15 inches long. Cut into eight squares. Brush all the edges with egg wash. Hold the square like a diamond and place roughly 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons meat mixture on one side.  Fold the side without filling up and over  the meat mixture to make a triangle shaped turnover. Press down with a fork along the edges to make a seal. The egg wash will help. Repeat until all the pastry squares are filled. 

9.     Prick each finished pasty with a fork and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill again for 15 minutes. 

10.  Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush each pasty with egg wash and bake the pastries for 15 to 30 minutes or until the crust is risen and golden brown. Serve hot. 

Flaky Pie Crust 

1 ½ cups all purpose flour 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 stick very cold butter or vegan butter, cut into small cubes 

Ice water as needed 

1.     Place flour and salt in a food processor and add the butter. Pulse lightly until you have a crumbly mixture. Alternatively, you may do this in a bowl using a pastry cutter or a sturdy fork to break up the butter in the flour and achieve a crumbly consistency. 

2.     Add ice water in small amounts (not more than 2 tablespoons at a time) until the dough just comes together without being dry. 

3.     Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least ½ hour before using. 

Dimensions, Dickens, and Descendants: Reviews for March 30th

by Claire Menard

A review of a classic Twilight Zone episode, rediscovering Great Expectations, and a novel for genealogy nerds.

If you are a genealogy nerd, like I am, this book has a little bit of everything you’ll love. The main character, Peter Sefton, is an amateur genealogist who finds a marriage certificate from 1900 for sale in an antique mall. Why would he purchase it? As a person who knows how hard marriage records can be to find, I know exactly why he bought it: He knew there was someone who was going to be interested in it, and he just had to find them! With that purchase Peter’s adventure begins. Through twists and turns, he researches the couple identified in the certificate and finds out that a professional firm is also researching them because someone’s financial future is at stake. The story shifts perspective from Peter Sefton to the maid of honor at the marriage in question, whose own journey helps to shape the story playing out over 100 years later. This novel features a marriage, an accident, a gruesome death, and genealogical research–what’s not to love? With plot twists and intrigue waiting around every corner The Marriage Certificate was a page-turner that I couldn’t put down. Highly recommend for anyone who loves a good mystery and if you’ve got the genealogy bug like me, you’ll love it even more! Now I’m just waiting for the movie adaption! Download on Kindle Unlimited for free!
Book Review: The Marriage Certificate by Stephen Molyneux Sara Krasne
Great Expectations takes place over nearly thirty years from 1812-1840 and is about an orphan named Pip who struggles through life as a member of England’s underclasses. We follow him through his younger years where he meets mysterious criminals in graveyards and as he falls in love with the upper-class girl, Estella. Later when he comes into a great sum of money from an anonymous benefactor, we join Pip’s new quest: To become a gentleman. This book is detailed and thoughtfully written. It will leave you astonished about the way of life so long ago. You will fall completely in love with the wacky characters that help Pip through his journey. No stranger to hardship in his youth, Charles Dickens used his novels to reveal the desperate plight of those who were most unfortunate in his society. This 19th-century novel is an international classic and definitely worth your time to read.
Classic Book Review: 
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens  Staples Sophomore, Sydney Griffiths
Among Westport’s notable residents was writer-producer Rod Serling whose famed television series The Twilight Zone invited viewers into the shadowy interstitial realm of the “Fifth Dimension” where inexplicable–and often odd–things took place. In the 1960 episode entitled A Stop In Willoughby, Serling paid homage to Westport in both subtle and overt ways. The main character, Gart Williams, is a beleaguered and disillusioned ad-man with an overly-ambitious wife. Each night Williams takes the commuter train home with (pre-climate change!) November snow swirling outside its windows. When he dozes off after the conductor calls “Stamford!” he has a lucid dream about a stop called Willoughby where it is sunny and warm (the new conductor tells him it’s July) –but it is also 1888. He awakens just before the conductor calls “Saugatuck-Westport!”  
At home, Williams quarrels with his ambitious wife, Janey, noting that “Some people aren’t built for competition or big, pretentious houses they can’t afford, or rich communities they don’t feel comfortable in, or country clubs they wear around their neck like a badge of status.” After telling Janey about his peculiar dream on the train she angrily retorts “You were just born too late! You’re the kind of guy who could be satisfied with a summer afternoon or an ice wagon being drawn by a horse.” (Sounds like our kind of guy!) Vowing to eventually get to Willoughby, Williams looks forward to his evening commute and his dream-land visits to the idyllic 19th century town but then, in true Twilight Zone fashion, things take a bizarre turn. A Stop in Willoughby and all other episodes of the Twilight Zone are available as part of Hulu and Netflix streaming plans.
Classic TV Review: 
The Twilight Zone, A Stop At 
Willoughby Ramin Ganeshram

Focus On Alisyn Camerota: A Comforting Morning Presence

by Claire Menard

Journalist Alisyn Camerota is the anchor of New Day: CNN’s morning news show. She has lived in Westport for seven and a half years with her husband, three children (ages 13, 15 and 15), and Savi, their beloved longtime nanny/house manager, who helps control the chaos. 

While the family is following stay at home orders, as a journalist, Alisyn is considered an essential employee and gets a special dispensation from the city to go into Manhattan to do her job. 

“COVID-19 has certainly impacted my work. Our New York City office looks like a ghost town as we all are forced to keep our distance from each other. My producers, writers, bookers, camera crews, and makeup artists are no longer in the building.  My co-anchor and I are normally share an anchor desk, but now we’re both alone in individual studios. It’s strange. I continue to work and report on the situation, hoping that my reporting is helpful and my daily morning presence is comforting to viewers.  

When reporting on this story, it would be impossible for me to pretend that it isn’t hitting close to home. I don’t feel the need to try to insert artificial distance. My town has been hard hit. I’m talking to neighbors everyday who are anxious and confused. I think the proximity to the story gives me more understanding and makes me a better reporter.  It reminds me of reporting from Ground Zero after 9/11. There was no way not to feel close to the story and I accepted that it was ok to feel personally frightened and devastated but still able to get facts and information out. 

Westporters seem to be heeding the warnings to “socially distance” from each other. Even walking our new dog, neighbors stop to say, ‘Hello,’ but stay six feet apart.  Shopping and dining out have ended. The library is closed. I think that once Westport realized it was a hotspot, residents became vigilant about trying to flatten the curve here. 

[At home] we’re doing our part to contain the virus. And we’re thinking of anyone who is sick and battling COVID-19. We can’t wait to see everyone out in the world again.  

My hope is that once these challenging days are behind us, we can preserve a bit of the family time we’ve experienced.

My hope is that once these challenging days are behind us, we can preserve a bit of the family time we’ve experienced. I’ve enjoyed the Monopoly marathons and Scrabble nights. I hope this moment helps us scale down our hyper-scheduled lives and appreciate some good old-fashioned reading and Yahtzee-playing.” 

We decided this would be a good time to finally say, ‘Yes,’ to the kids’ desire to get a dog. Knowing the kids would be home from school indefinitely, it seems like they’d have a lot of time on their hands to walk her, train her, and get to know her. She’s been a godsend. It’s fun sharing this stressful time with a super enthusiastic little being. 

Explore More of “Westport In Focus”

To read more of the museums long lens oral histories please visit the Westport In Focus page.

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