Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | December
The Gault Family Barn weathering its 109th winter season in Westport.
December marked the beginning of the season of light, and the start to The Westport Local Press. A month of adventure and excitement - December was a month long awaited by the World as 2020 came to an end. We saw COVID-19 cases begin to spike, but we also saw the introduction of vaccines into the community. December will always be a month of light for our community.
All photos by Jaime Bairaktaris
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Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | November
Al’s Angels Volunteers look up at their work as they replace the Cribari Memorial Bridge Christmas Lights overnight on November 21st.
Photos by Jaime Bairaktaris
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Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | September
The wildfires destroying millions of acres in California created so much smoke, that for a few days, it was visible over Westport. This picture shows the sunset shining through the gray haze of the high-altitude smoke on September 15th.
Photos by Jaime Bairaktaris.
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Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | August
Members of the community, many without power, wifi, or cell service, flocked to Jesup Green surrounding the Westport Library to use its emergency wifi signals.
On August 4th an EF1 tornado touched down in Westport, causing massive destruction to the community - including its cell service and internet infrastructure. With a community working primarily from home now without internet, the green filled with dozens of people every day - remaining apart, while working together. Each night families would meet each other and sit for hours chatting once their work was done, with people bringing their instruments for jam sessions for the public to enjoy and children playing soccer in the fields. It was the first time many Westporters saw their neighbors since the pandemic began, and in a moment of true darkness came the light of the community coming together.
Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | July
Compo Beach Lifeguards were mandated to wear mask for their shifts on the chair this summer. Photo taken July 15th by 12 year old Uzi Greenman.
Photos by Jaime Bairaktaris unless otherwise noted.
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Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | June
Staples Senior Niah Michel protests on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen bridge, Post Road, on June 5th as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Michel penned a letter regarding the issue of racism at Staples High School.
After a letter about racism at Staples High School and the national Black Lives Movement gained traction, Westport hosted two separate movements - with the second event drawing thousands in support of the cause, including many local celebrities, politicians, and families. Members lay down on the Post Road Bridge, chanting “I can’t breathe” for nine minutes to symbolize the nine minutes that George Floyd did the same before his death. There were no acts of violence or problems at either movement. Photos by Jaime Bairaktaris, June 5th.
Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | April
In celebration of the new year, The Westport Local Press is looking back at the past 12 months in Westport. Throughout the day, viewers can follow the year through published photographs representing the community.
In a year filled with so much sadness, not all things were bad as the community grew together during what will forever be known as the year of the pandemic.
Happy New Year.
Shoes forgotten by a local child as the Compo Beach Playground closed.
With families home and children wishing to be outside, many used the playground at Compo Beach as a way to enjoy the outdoors and regain a sense of normalcy. When the Compo Beach Playground was suddenly shut down in March, these shoes were found sitting on the boardwalk. Each week they could be seen sitting there on the wood, waiting to be retrieved by the two little feet who belonged to them, who most likely forgot them as they rushed off to the car; their playground surrounded by plastic fences and warning signs.
Each week passersby would straighten them out, or move them onto a nearby bench, or balance them on the wall of the lifeguard shack, or dust off the dirt from the winds or rain - in hope that they little feet would come back for their shoes one day. This went on for several weeks, the random strangers seemingly taking care of these shoes left behind in the rush of a child’s moment. This was the last photo I was able to take of them.
Photos by Jaime Bairaktaris
Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | March
In celebration of the new year, The Westport Local Press is looking back at the past 12 months in Westport. Throughout the day, viewers can follow the year through published photographs representing the community.
In a year filled with so much sadness, not all things were bad as the community grew together during what will forever be known as the year of the pandemic.
Happy New Year.
Bedford Middle School 6th grader Lukas Snow catches a fast ball from his father Matt Snow, both finding themselves without school and work on what would be known as the first days of the pandemic in Westport.
This photo was taken on Friday, March 13th - just one day after schools closed, and businesses sent their workers home due to the virus striking nearby communities. Many families flocked to Compo Beach to enjoy the unseasonably warm day, not yet knowing anything about mask wearing or social distancing, or what the following weeks would include. When this photo was taken, the closing to schools was for cleaning and planned as temporary. It would be the last time any child stepped foot into their classrooms until September.
Photos by Jaime Bairaktaris.
Looking Back: 2020 in Photos | February
In celebration of the new year, The Westport Local Press is looking back at the past 12 months in Westport. Throughout the day, viewers can follow the year through published photographs representing the community.
In a year filled with so much sadness, not all things were bad as the community grew together during what will forever be known as the year of the pandemic.
Happy New Year.
Owner Ellie Kim of Compo Farms Flowers, 392 Post Road East, went home at 3:00 AM after preparing for Valentine’s Day 2020, and was back in time to open the shop later that same morning. She estimated selling almost 10,000 roses that day, although Mother’s Day would have typically been their busiest day of the year.
Exactly one month after this photo, Westport joined the world in shutting down and going home because of the coronavirus. No word on how the pandemic affected the local florist’s business, which remains open and filled with flowers still today.
Photos by Jaime Bairaktaris.
