Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Monday, May 31, 2010
Quick Article Index . . .
Leo St. Onge gets a promotion!
New Westport business brings gourmet cupcakes to Westport.
Westport woman goes “buggy” over UMass-Dartmouth quilt show.
“Head to Toe” - the great cover-up at the Westport Historical Society!
Leo St. Onge gets a promotion!EverythingWestport.com
Monday, May 31, 2010
After 66 years, six wars and countless Memorial and Veterans Day parades, Westport’s most decorated war veteran was promoted to Sergeant, United States Army, in a moving ceremony at Fall River’s Bank Street Armory. The 89-year-old Silver Star recipient had little to say, but spoke volumes through his tears as he accepted the promotion presented by Colonel Joe Lydon.
Sergeant St. Onge was the honorary Grand Marshall for this year’s Westport and Fall River Memorial Day parades.
St. Onge, sitting to the right of Fall River’s mayor William Flannigan and U.S. Representative James McGovern (far left) listened to the retelling of his brave acts on Hill 69 by master of ceremonies Manny Dupont, Veterans’ Agent for Fall River.
Machine-gunner Leo St. Onge didn’t set out May 11, 1944 to be a hero. He didn’t see himself as Captain America, or an avenger of the wronged and weak.
He was simply an American doughboy trying to do what he was told to do it. And therein lays the uncomplicated truth of what makes a genuine hero. Commitment to duty, doing what’s right, having the courage to fulfill one’s responsibilities. Make no mistake about it; this young infantryman man was just as scared of dying as the next young recruit climbing a hill in the face of enemy fire. He just didn’t let that stop from fulfilling his duty.
When his comrade got tangled up in a mass of communication cables while crossing a storm-swollen creek, and was drowning, St. Onge pulled him out, not because he was a hero, but because he needed the ammunition to support his company’s charge up the hill. “They needed my machine gun and all the men,” St. Onge said. “And a machine gun without bullets is no damn good.”
Six enemy pillboxes had St. Onge and his buddies in a cross fire.
“I needed that man’s bandolier (ammunition belt),” St. Onge said.
Click here to read about Leo St. Onge’s bravery that won him a Silver Cross and Croix de Guere. The French War Cross is the third highest French wartime honor given to Americans and Britons.
Click here to read about St. Onge’s heroics and his Silver Star.
St. Onge received a battlefield promotion to Sergeant that day in 1944, but he turned it down. “I couldn’t read or write,” St. Onge recalled the day. “I was afraid and embarrassed that I couldn’t fill out the reports required of a non-commissioned officer.”
All that was made right this Memorial Day, but it wouldn’t have happened without the monumental effort of long-time friend and veteran Lino Rego of Westport.
Left:Lino Rego of Westport. Right: St. Onge receives his promotion from Colonel Joe Lydon and watched by Mayor Flannigan.
Left: World War II hero St. Onge being adored by Miss Fall River (left) and Miss Bristol County. Right: Mayor Flannigan and State Representative Michael Rodrigues with Leo.
Many federal, state, and local officials were on-hand to witness the presentation of the promotion of Leo St. Onge to Sergeant by Colonel Joe Lydon (right).
Lino Rego, Commander of American Legion Post 145 in Westport, took an interest in St. Onge four years ago when he met him through his father-in-law, who also had fought in World War II.
Rego began researching the 85th Infantry Division and the 339th Infantry Regiment to learn more about St. Onge. It was during this research he discovered the Croix de Guere. Rego’s efforts were directly responsible for St. Onge receiving the French War Cross, the third highest French wartime honor given to Americans and Britons, that was awarded St. Onge’s unit 64 years ago.
It was during this research that he became aware of the battlefield promotion refused by St. Onge. Rego worked on restoring that rank, culminating in today’s presentation. “We had some very influential people working on it,” Rego said.
St. Onge, in his remarks to the packed armory auditorium, recalled the pile of German bodies in front of him during the assault on Hill 69. “It’s something you never forget, never get over,” the Sergeant said. “I was lying in their blood, firing my weapon. The nightmares never leave me.”
The price paid for being a hero.
New Westport business brings gourmet cupcakes to Westport.
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Mix a few creative ingredients with a pinch of imagination and a touch of class and, voila, handmade designer cupcakes too stunning to eat. The truth is, however, you will not be able to resist these tempting concoctions with luscious names like: chocolate raspberry burst, sinful chocolate, dreamsicleorange, satiny red velvet, chocolate mint surprise and, oh well, you get the idea.
Left: Jen Dias of Westport, Village Cupcakery’s first customer, is served by proprietor Kathy Ferreira.
Kathy Ferreira of Village Pizza fame opened Village Cupcakery located at Village Commons Thursday, June 3rd to a line of customers waiting to get a glimpse of her handmade, glamorous small cakes.
Everyone loves a cupcake, and what’s there not to love. But Kathy’s cupcakes are a notch above the ones Betty Crocker® puts in a box.
Each one of these cute little cakes is a designer treat. Handmade with a flair and taste sensation unique to its name. Enticing and alluring, they brings back memories of childhood days gone by.
Village Cupcakery offers special order decorations, and varieties are subject to change daily. The store will also feature related sweets and treats sure to spice up your next unique event, whether it is a corporate meeting or an anniversary. Special deliveries are available.
For more information please call Kathy at (508) 636-5945. Indulge yourself. Give her a call when planning your next graduation, birthday, wedding, bridal or baby shower, or for whatever you have in mind.
Westport woman goes “buggy” over UMass-Dartmouth quilt show.
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Westport resident and popular local realtor Suzanne Alden has had a love affair with quilting since her first child 38 years ago.
“I now have several works in progress,” Ms. Alden said as she was hanging her second baby quilt “Buggy Business” for the upcoming Shining Tides Quilt Guild show starting this Friday, June 4 and running through Sunday at UMass-Dartmouth.
Left: Suzanne Alden attaching a description of her quilt “Buggy Business.”
“I started a queen-sized quilt for my first baby, and one for each of my next five children. Now as a grandmother of four with two more on the way, I have a baby quilt either finished or in progress for each of them. I guess you might say I’m a quilting nut.”
“My next two baby quilts will be for two grandsons that are coming this year. I can’t tell you hard it is to pick a design for a baby boy!”
Meeting weekly with a small group of Westport quilting buddies, Ms. Alden and other local quilters will display their passion and love of quilting this weekend at UMass.
The Shining Tides Quilt Guild kicks of their bi-annual quilt show this Friday, June 4th starting at 10:00 a.m. in the Woodland Commons building at UMass-Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road. You can park in Parking Lot 10, and walk up the path to the left and follow the balloons to the Woodland Commons building.
All Hands on Deck!
There will be over 100 hand and machine made projects and quilts on display from some of the best quilters in the area. Several Westport women will be featured. Also vendors, door prizes, and a fabulous quilt raffle(pictured below, left). The raffle quilt was made by members of the Guild. It was machine quilted by their member Janice Macomber.
Scores of quilters like Ms. Alden, some with award-winning designs, will display their handiwork not for prizes or glory, but for the simple delight of taking pride in their hand stitching and artistic ability, and also for the fun of networking with other quilters throughout the area.
There will be wall, bed/lap and art/contemporary styles, appliqué and much more. Decorative gift baskets will be available. A portion of the proceeds from the raffle quilt will benefit the Women’s Center in New Bedford.
This year’s show theme is based on a fabulous 52 deck of cards design, each card quilt block made by a separate member (see picture below, right.)
The show will be held Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is only $5.
Woodlawn Commons’ building, UMass-Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, Dartmouth.
Click here to read about and view photos from their 2008 Quilt Show at UMass.
Left: Setting up the quilt show Thursday Morning. Right: Five of the All Hands on Deck block pieces.
Left: Ms. Alden with her baby quilt, “Buggy Business.” Right: Finishing her quilt, “Autumn Pennies,” also on display at the show.
“Head to Toe” - the great cover-up at the Westport Historical Society!
EverythingWestport.com
Saturday June 5, 2010
19th century women left everything up to the imagination; a far cry from what we see today.
“Head to Toe: A Century of Westport Fashion 1800-1900” explores the transformation of fashion during the 1800’s. Worn by women in the Westport area, the outfits on display reflect the everyday fashion of the average countrywoman, rather than the finery of city dwellers. Working from the undergarments outwards, WHS’ newest summer exhibition shows the layers of garments needed to dress a woman in the 19th century.
Exhibition curator, Blair Walker, a textile consultant and graduate of the Textiles Department at University of Rhode Island, has selected 12 outfits for display. She commented: “Country clothes, which are rarely found in museum collections, are well represented in the Westport Historical Society’s collection. The clothes on display were definitely well worn and show the marks of use by real people more than a century ago. Signs of alterations and adaptations to changing styles give the garments a personal connection to the past.”
The exhibition explores specific features of dress, such as the shape of a sleeve, which can help to pinpoint when a piece of clothing was made. Highlights include a brown silk “leg o’ mutton” sleeves dress with matching “pelerine” from the1830s, corsets and stays, hoop and bustle and a bathing costume from the 1890s.
Also on display are shoes, boots, hats, and bonnets from the 19th century, and many of the undergarments that provided structure and shape for the changing fashions. The exhibition includes objects on loan from the collection of Little Compton Historical Society and Freetown Historical Society as well as from private collections.
Curator Blair Walker presents “The 19th Century Westport Woman: Exploring her Life through her Clothes.”
On Thursday June 24th, Blair Walker, curator of “Head to Toe,” will present a program “The 19th Century Westport Woman: Exploring her Life through her Clothes.” This program will begin at 7 p.m. at Westport Public Library and is free and open to all.
The exhibition is located at 25 Drift Road and will be open until September 4th. The exhibition is supported by the Westport Cultural Council through a grant from the Helen E. Ellis Charitable Trust administered by Bank of America. For more information please call the Society at (508) 636-6011, or visit
Summer exhibition opens Saturday, June 12 until September 4th at the Society’s Bell School, 25 Drift Road. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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