November 5: Mark Shanahan, Artistic Director at Westport Country Playhouse

Shanahan was named Westport Country Playhouse incoming artistic director for 2023-24. He assumed the position in February 2024. Since 2018, he has been the curator of the Playhouse’s popular Script in Hand series originated by Annie Keefe. Shanahan is the writer/director of The New York Times Critics’ Pick A Sherlock Carol (Off-Broadway Alliance nomination, Best New Play 2021), which played two seasons in New York and annually at London’s Marylebone Theatre. He directed his own adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in partnership with Agatha Christie Ltd. in a World Premiere production at the Alley Theatre. Additionally, he is the author of A Merry Little Christmas Carol, See Monsters of the Deep, the Off-Broadway and regional hit comedy The Dingdong, and numerous radio plays as creator of the White Heron Ghost Light series, featuring Christopher Plummer, Judith Ivey, Rhonda Ross, and other notable actors. As an actor, he has appeared on and Off-Broadway (The 39 Steps, Tryst, The Shaugraun, and others) and at many celebrated regional theaters.

October 22: Erick Russell, Connecticut Treasurer

October 15: David Newberg, Chairman of the Westport Housing Authority –  “Westport Housing Authority” 

David Newberg has lived in Westport since 1987 with his wife Cecile.  Their two daughters, Katharine and Amanda, were raised here and now live in Lafayette, CA (with 2 grandkids  – grrh) and Monroe, CT, (with one grandkid) respectively.  David has been practicing law for many years in the corporate, securities and real estate development areas in White Plains and NYC.  He was appointed Chairman of the Westport Housing Authority in around 2004 and has served in that capacity continuously since then.

October 8: Shannon Calvert, President of the Westport Astronomical Society 

Shannon Calvert is an award-winning professional graphic designer / photographer / copywriter based in Easton, CT. He’s a graduate of North Carolina State University’s School of Design and president of the Westport Astronomical Society. Shannon has been an amateur astronomer for decades, and an avid photographer since the pre-digital era when people had to develop film and carve cameras out of rocks. For the past 8 years, he has welcomed stargazers to public nights at our local observatory and become one of the most prolific astrophotographers in the state.

October 1: Jaime Hastings, Executive Director of Arthur Miller Foundation – “Equitable Access to Theater Education in Public Schools”

Jaime Hastings is the Executive Director of the Arthur Miller Foundation. She has been working alongside writer/filmmaker Rebecca Miller for well over a decade. As Miller’s associate for her production company, Round Films, Hastings was Associate Producer of the Emmy nominated HBO Documentary, ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER. She also produced the benefit event ONE NIGHT – 100 YEARS at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway to honor the centenary of Arthur Miller and celebrate the launch of the Arthur Miller Foundation’s public school theater education initiatives. Hastings was instrumental in developing the Foundation’s programs in partnership with the New York City Public Schools Arts Office, The City College of New York Graduate Program in Educational Theatre, Bridgeport and Norwalk Public Schools. She holds a BA in Musical Theater and Business Management from The State University of New York College at Geneseo, and a Certificate of Business Excellence from Columbia Business School’s Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. Hastings is a guest lecturer for Belmont University and Teachers College, Columbia University.