We celebrated the 51st anniversary of Green Up Day in Weston on Saturday, April 26, 2025. The Kiwanis Club of Weston played an early and continuing role in Weston Green Up Day observances, and Kiwanis is now the lead organization in Weston.

Saturday afternoon, Tom Failla delivered eight lawn bags full at the transfer station: one collected by Dan and Luke Lerner from Weston Road, two by Girl Scout Daisies at town hall, and five by the Weston Cub Scout pack at Bisceglie-Scribner Park. Tom Watson took care of his bags from Georgetown Road. Lisa Brodlie’s neighbors took care of Birch Hill and Alwyn. This is before checking Greenfield.

Immediate Past-president Amy Jenner, although not in Weston this weekend, extended Kiwanis participation in the spirit of Green Up Day to Wickford, Rhode Island, her current domicile. Amy and colleagues from Historic Wickford, a “USA Today” best historic small town, collected 2,000 pounds on a one-mile section of the Post Road.

Photographs contributed by Dan Lerner, Tom Failla, and Amy Jenner. View the Green Up Day 2025 album here.

Earlier, Tom Failla set up Eversource representative(s) outside our breakfast meeting venue at Norfield Congregational Church parish hall around 8:30 a.m. to distribute trees and shrubs to participants in the Green Up Day litter collection. The utility has provided a variety of trees and shrubs, including white and pink dogwood, sweet bay magnolia, Okemo and other cherries, viburnums, witch hazel, and spice bush. Lawn bags were available for the green-up clean-up after the meeting.

Weston Girl Scouts arrived around 9 a.m.

At breakfast, we honored Millie Best. Millie brought Green Up Day to Weston, and with Weston Kiwanis members, State Representative John Stripp, and State Senator Judi Freedman, worked to make the last Saturday in April a statewide event after the passage of Public Act 95-67 in 1995.

The act requires the Governor of the state of Connecticut to proclaim the last Saturday in April “Green Up Day,” to encourage people to clean up their communities, plant trees and flowers, and enhance the physical beauty of the state’s communities and countryside.

Weston’s first and many subsequent Green Up Days were led (until her death) by the late Millie Best and supported by her associate Mila Grieb. Millie was inspired by volunteer efforts to clean up trash along Vermont’s roads.

Weston Kiwanis has worked for decades to promote and organize Green Up Day, collaborating with Millie and Mila, as well as scores of volunteers from schools, neighborhood groups, the Scouts, the Weston Garden Club, and many other organizations.

Since 2005, the Kiwanis Club of Weston has presented the annual Millie Best Environmental Award, “Honoring Her Establishment and Continuance of Green Up Day,” to volunteers who have made outstanding contributions to the environment. Their names and years of service are added to the award plaques in Weston Town Hall. The 2025 awardee will be recognized at a future meeting.

Green Up Day efforts have helped maintain Weston’s pristine natural beauty for the enjoyment of its residents, visitors, and future generations.

About Pulling Together

The Kiwanis breakfast meeting program this Saturday, March 29, 2025 is “Pulling Together,” a community plan to teach invasive plant management and other restoration strategies in Weston.

Pulling Together members Lisa Brodlie, Sarah Hutchison, and Mike Aikenhead will discuss the volunteer group’s work. The group aims to educate neighbors and show them how to respect existing wetlands, identify and remove invasive plants, and encourages the use of native plants to decrease soil erosion, improve wildlife habitat, and protect water quality.

Pulling Together partners with Lachat Farm and Weston Public Schools to host invasive removal workshops. In five years, they have accomplished more than 1,200 hours of invasive removal work on town property.

The Speakers

Lisa Brodlie

Lisa Brodlie is a retired registered nurse with a botanical background and an interest in invasive plants. Lisa has been a member of the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group since its inception and now serves on the steering committee, outreach and education committee, and most recently, the advisory board for the invasive plant certificate program.

Lisa has spent the last two decades volunteering with local conservation organizations, like the Nature Conservancy, where she has volunteered her time and expertise on community outreach events, invasive removal sessions, and advocacy opportunities.

Her latest invasive removal project involves restoring the riparian buffer at Lachat Town Farm at the Juliana Lachat Preserve in Weston.

Sarah Hutchison

Sarah Hutchison is a retired cost engineer with a passion for ecological gardening. She was born in Scotland and moved to the United States in 2001, where she put down roots in the invasive plant community when she participated in the University of Connecticut Extension Master Gardener Program.

Her interest in native plants inspired her to launch the Weston Pollinator Pathway in 2019, leading to her current partnership with Lachat Town Farm and the Weston schools to plant pollinator gardens and remove invasive plants on town property.

Sarah was a member of The Sustainable Weston Committee from 2019-2024, where she focused on increasing education and awareness among town residents about land stewardship practices that support wildlife and protect our natural resources.

Mike Aikenhead

Mike Aikenhead is a passionate educator who has transformed environmental science at Weston High School since joining in 2017. In 2023, he launched Sustainable Solutions, an innovative project-based learning class that empowers students to tackle real-world environmental challenges within the school and local community. Mike was named Weston’s Teacher of the Year that same year and honored as a Connecticut State semi-finalist.

Weston Kiwanis meets most Saturdays from September through June at Norfield Congregational Church parish hall. Doors open at 8 a.m. for coffee and conversation, with the breakfast meeting beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 10 a.m. After breakfast, we have a speaker or community service activity.

Meetings are open to all, drop-ins are welcome, and your first breakfast, $10 for members for a full breakfast or $5 for a continental, is on us.

Jane Doe No More, a Connecticut not-for-profit devoted to erasing the stigma of sexual abuse, recognized Weston Kiwanian Lisa Wexler with the 2025 Dr. Henry C. Lee Award, presented by the award’s very first recipient and namesake, internationally-renowned forensic pathologist Henry Lee, PhD, and Jane Doe No More founder Donna Palomba on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at JDNM’s 14th annual gala at The Waterview in Monroe.

The Henry C. Lee award honors individuals and organizations that exemplify Dr. Lee’s passion to advance education and prevention of sexual crimes as well as advocate and support survivors to ensure that all victims of sexual crimes are treated with dignity and respect.

Lisa, Westport/Weston District Probate Judge, attorney, advocate, author, public speaker, and host of The Lisa Wexler Show, was recognized for her work on the radio and in court to bring awareness and empathy to the victims of sexual violence. In accepting the award, Judge Wexler delivered remarks advocating establishing at least one women-only psychiatric unit in Connecticut. Currently, there are none. Judge Wexler believes CT women deserve to heal in a setting free of triggering sexual advances by men who are admitted to the same psychiatric unit.

Karen Chrisley and Lisa Wexler contributed to this article.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Kiwanis Clubs of Weston, Bridgeport, and Norwalk treated veterans experiencing homelessness to a Super Bowl feast on gameday. Continuing a tradition begun over a decade ago, Kiwanians prepared or purchased food and decoration and served the veterans at two residences of Applied Behavioral Rehabilitation Institute, Inc. (ABRI): Homes for the Brave and The PFC Nicholas A. Madaras Home, Connecticut’s first and only community-based transitional home exclusively for women veterans experiencing homelessness and their young children.

The Kiwanis Super Bowl menu included spiral sliced ham, roast turkey, pulled pork barbecue, chili, macaroni and cheese, mixed greens salad, Italian hard bread, crudité, tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa, popcorn, cakes, fruit platters, brownies, and cookies. Beverages – milk, juice, and assorted soft drinks were provided by The Kiwanis Club of Bridgeport. Each veteran received a hand-decorated snack bag that The Kiwanis Club of Norwalk prepared.

Weston Kiwanis Past President Steve Thomas organized this year’s event and provided thematic serving ware and decorations for the dining room. Kiwanis members delivered their contributions to the feast to Norfield Congregational Church on the snowy Sunday morning. From Norfield, a contingent of volunteers traveled with the food to Homes for the Brave in Bridgeport, where they set up in the commercial-grade kitchen (upgraded with a commercial-grade stove in 2014 by Kiwanis clubs) and served the residents through the serving window.

Photographs contributed by Geoff Hollander.

By Dan Gilbert

The Kiwanis Club of Weston and Weston High School Key Club members were out in full force Saturday, January 25, 2025 receiving donations of shelf-stable food and personal care products for clients of the Weston Food Pantry.

With temperatures in the mid-teens, Kiwanians and Key Clubbers reached out to Westonites shopping at Lily’s Market and the Weston Pharmacy.  The Community Food Pantry President Anne Bigin noted:

“For years, Kiwanis has been a steadfast partner to the Weston Food Pantry, helping to ensure that families facing food insecurity have free access to vital resources.  Thanks to the collective effort of the Kiwanis members and dedicated students from Weston High School, the drive was a tremendous success. Over 40 bags of shelf-stable food, pet food, toiletries, and household products were gathered to replenish the pantry’s shelves. 

The generosity didn’t stop at the physical donations. Residents of Weston also gave generously in the form of cash donations, raising a total of $416.  The event not only provided essential items, but it also reinforced the sense of community spirit that defines Weston.”

The Community Food Pantry, Inc.‘s (d/b/a Weston Food Pantry) mission is to stock non-perishable items so that no one in Weston goes hungry. The Weston Food Pantry’s most significant activity is providing free supplemental food weekly to those with food insecurities.

In the photo (Photo credit to Jim McMorris), from left to right are Leka Mustafa, Julien Horovitz, Genevieve Small, Dan Gilbert, Anne Bigin (President Weston Food Pantry), Steve Thomas, Karen Chrisley, Phyllis Gary, Dallas Kersey, and Ryan Bigin.  Not pictured above are Kiwanis volunteers Reed Ameden, Dave Burns, Tom Failla, Frank Ferrara, Jim McMorris, Judy Stripp, Ed Hutchins and Key Club volunteers Tabi Cappella (President Weston High School Key Club), India Kreger, Eleni Perez-Christoforidis, Charli Marto, and Antonina Chmiel, as well as, Justin Lisbon who helped move donated items to the food pantry.

Next up for our club is the Super Bowl party the club sponsors for veterans experiencing homelessness at Applied Behavioral Rehabilitation Institute’s transitional residences in Bridgeport: Homes for the Brave for men and The PFC Nicholas A. Madaras Home, Connecticut’s first and only community-based transitional home exclusively for women veterans experiencing homelessness and their young children.. 

Chef Alison Milwe Grace is a lifelong Connecticut resident and AMG Catering and Events owner. In addition to teaching adults in her Wilton catering kitchen, she is the culinary arts teacher at Staples High School in Westport. Alison has received a James Beard Scholarship, has appeared on the Food Network’s “Kitchen Casino” and “Supermarket Stakeout”, and her recipes have appeared in numerous publications. She says she is her “best self” in the kitchen and that she “loves through food.” 

With 30 years of food industry experience under her toque, Alison decided it was time to add “cookbook author” to her career accomplishments.“ So many of my adult cooking school clients have asked, ‘Why don’t you have a cookbook?’” she recalls. “These words have stuck with me for over a decade, and I have been trying to carve out the time.” One day in the fall of 2023, Alison woke up and realized as a person who always does what she says she is going to do, “it was time to get this cookbook started!”

“Savor” is a carefully curated collection of Alison’s favorite recipes, themed classes, and menus for enthusiastic home cooks to create festive gatherings for friends and family and will be on sale at the meeting.

Alison lives in Weston with her (very patient) husband, Bob Grace, three children, Conner, Kellan, and Hadley, and their two rescue dogs. Savor is her first cookbook.

Meetings are open to all, drop-ins are welcome, and your first breakfast, normally $10 for a full breakfast or $5 for a continental,  is on us.

The Kiwanis Club of Weston meets weekly from September through June on Saturday mornings at Norfield Congregational Church parish hall, 64 Norfield Road Weston, Connecticut.

Weston Today publisher and editor Edward (Ted) Craft spoke at the Kiwanis Club of Weston meeting on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Ted recapped the history of Weston’s digital news publication, which is coming up on its seventh birthday at the end of January. Ted created Weston Today to address the news desert created when The Weston Forum, a weekly broadsheet published on Thursdays, ceased publication.

As far as Ed can tell, the last Weston Forum print issue was on January 4, 2018. A week later, on January 11, 2018, Hersam Acorn Newspapers announced the closure. Weston Today launched on January 31, 2018.

Hersam tried a sort-of regional paper, the Aspetuck News, to replace the Weston, Easton, and Redding papers. The Aspetuck News lasted only nine months. Hersam later sold the four papers to Hearst, who apparently weren’t interested in the Weston, Easton, and Redding papers.

Ted took questions from an appreciative Kiwanis audience on a variety of content covered since the birth of Weston Today, how Weston Today’s editorial policy maintains objectivity in reporting and guides authors of letters to the editor and guest essays, the potential and impact of artificial intelligence, and challenges and opportunities for local journalism in the coming years.

Juan Negroni contributed to this article.