Westport Rotary Club

People of Action

Rotary is where neighbors, friends, and problem solvers share ideas,
join leaders, and take action to create lasting change.

Westport Rotary Club Celebrates Local Heroes With Annual Awards Ceremony

On Tuesday, June 3, Westport Rotary Club held its annual Community Service and Public Protection Awards luncheon at Green’s Farms Church in Westport. Rotary Club members presented Community Service awards to 11 local activists and volunteers, as well as Public Protection awards to Westport Police, Westport EMS, and Westport Fire Department personnel. Among the honorees were Harold Bailey, Jr. and Bernicestine McLeod Bailey of TEAM Westport and Compo Playground Committee Co-Chairs Bridget Flynn and Samantha Owades and Site Manager R.B. Benson.

Westport Rotary Club Gives Back With $285,000 in Local Grants

Westport Rotary Club’s 2025 annual Community Giving Day was held on Tuesday, May 6, at Green’s Farms Church in Westport. This year, the club awarded 46 community grants totaling an impressive $285,000. For 2025, 17 of the grant recipients were Westport-based not-for-profit organizations; the other 29 are located in nearby Fairfield County towns, primarily Bridgeport and Norwalk. These grants represent the sum of funds raised during the previous year’s LobsterFest, a signature community event that is held at Compo Beach the third Saturday of every September.

Please refer to the Community Giving page for the full list of recipients.

SAVE THE DATE

LobsterFest Saturday Sept. 20, 2025 Compo Beach 3pm – 7pm

Rotary Peace Poles

“May Peace Prevail on Earth”

Honoring the global Rotary initiative, Westport and Sunrise Rotary Clubs joined together to create Peace Poles displayed on Westport entrance roads.

Upcoming Speakers For Tuesday Lunch Meetings

June 10: Robert Cohen, Blau Gardens & Estates

Blau House & Gardens (BHG) is a nonprofit public charity dedicated to preserving Westport’s rich cultural and architectural heritage. Nestled on two scenic acres, the mid-century “Carpenter Modern” home and gardens reflect the artistic legacy of Ralph Alswang, a renowned stage set designer, and Barry Blau, a visionary marketing entrepreneur. Through engaging programs and preservation efforts, BHG celebrates Westport’s artistic history while fostering its creative future.
 

Chair of Blau House & Gardens and Principal of Robert Cohen Architect LLC, Robert has over 30 years of architectural experience designing homes to cultural and educational institutions. A graduate of The Cooper Union, he worked with Edward Larrabee Barnes and Cossutta Associates before starting his own firm in 1990. He has held leadership roles in arts and architectural nonprofits, led mid-century modern house studies and tours, and served on a Westport housing subcommittee. Robert has been a professor and guest critic at several interior design and architecture schools. As a dedicated steward of Blau House & Gardens, he actively preserves its legacy and visio

 

June 17: Erika Eng, Executive Director of the SHU Discovery Science Center and Planetarium 

Erika Eng joined Discovery in 2016, becoming Executive Director in 2021. Upon graduating SUNY New Paltz in 2004, she pursued an aerospace career before following her dreams in non-profit work.

Her passions lie in leadership, community, inclusivity, and education. She is Chair of the Women’s Leadership Network of Greater Bridgeport, on the Board of Directors for Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC), Leadership Greater Bridgeport (LGB) , and CORE Advisory Board for Bridgeport’s STEM Ecosystem.

An LGB alumna, she received 2022’s Rising Star Award. As a child, she attended a museum magnet school, and notes the unique perspective it provides her role.

July 8: Dr Dee Unterbach, Discussion on Aging

There comes at a point in our lives when one of our DEVELOPMENTAL tasks is LIFE REVIEW, which Bernice Newgarten labeled young-old (65-74), middle-old (75-84) and old-old.

As a kid, my passion and talent was playing sports. I enjoyed working hard. Training and practicing would hopefully give me a head start.

After co-founding a residential therapeutic community for teens (VERITAS), I began working in the then-emerging field of gerontological social work: first, in-home care matching poor older woman with poor younger, often immigrant, women of color; then we founded the first geriatric mental health clinic (SPOP) in New York City.

My good fortune came when my mentor, Dr. Rose Dobrof, invited me to join the training faculty of Hunter-Brookdale Center on Aging. We developed training for senior center, home care and nursing home workers.

As an athlete, I figured I would get a good head start at 25 learning from those aged 85. I’ve learned that our time on earth is brief and therefore we have earned the right to use our time as we uniquely desire.

Now that I’ve aged in Aging, and treat older people in supportive psychotherapy, my purpose converges. I work, in part, to counteract the stereotyping and isolating reductionism of the social pathology of Ageism (see “Why Survive” by Butler).

As I retrospect, introspect and prospect the goal of conserving my energy to invest in Freud’s suggestion, “to work and to love” becomes more underscored.

Hopefully I’ll do both in my 8th decade as a gerontological social worker in Wilton, CT, and in all of my personal and professional relationships.

July 15: Bob Mazzone, Sound Waters 

SoundWaters is a recognized and trusted organization locally and in the Long Island Sound region. We have sustained relationships built on shared value and trust for over three decades that includes community, school, business, and political leaders. We are financially sound and committed to to accountability and transparency.

We are committed to ensuring that no child or school will be excluded from our programs due to an inability to pay. Knowledge about, and access to, educational enrichment and the benefits of Long Island Sound are far too limited already for so many in our region. The generosity of our supporters enables our work, whether it’s an education sail aboard the Schooner SoundWaters, summer camp scholarships for children, STEM education or workforce development at our Coastal Education Center and the Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center. Typically, around 50% of the students we teach are from low-income communities and receive full or partial scholarship assistance.

 

July 22: Ian Tapsall, Staples Field Hockey Coach 

Varsity Head Coach: Ian Tapsall

    • Lifetime member of USFHA since 1997
    • Level 2 certified USFHA Coach
    • Played for Hounslow and Southgate Hockey Clubs in the UK; 2 time European Club Champions
    • Captained Greenwich CT men’s team to 4 US National Club Championships
            • Member of the United States Men’s Masters National Team that competed in The Hague Netherlands 2014, Barcelona Spain 2018 and Tokyo Japan 2022
            • FC United FHC Coach 2008 – 2017
            • Head Coach UVA summer Camp 2013, 2014
                          • Head Coach Princeton Elite Camp 2015, 2016

    Want to Join the FUN of Westport Rotary LobsterFest?

     The Goal of LobsterFest

    All funds raised at LobsterFest are donated to local and international charities. Giving to the Westport Rotary Club is “one-stop shopping”. Donations support a wide range of both local nonprofit organizations and many international humanitarian projects. The Westport Rotary Club Charitable and International Giving Committees vet each grant application determining suitability and the greatest levels of need.

    Interested in becoming a LobsterFest sponsor?

    Please contact one of our Co-Chairs of Fundraising:

    Kenny Epstein – [email protected]

    Leslie Roberts – [email protected]

    Westport Rotary Is Co-Sponsoring the Compo Beach Playground Renovation

    What Is Rotary?

    Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.4 million business, professional, and community leaders spread throughout 37,000 Rotary Clubs in more than 200 countries.

    Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. As signified by the motto Service Above Self, members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, share the main objective of service — in the community, in the workspace and throughout the world.

    Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world.  Membership is by application or invitation.

    Westport Rotary Club invites you to join a meeting to learn more

    Meetings are held every TUESDAY except the last Tuesday of the month in person at 12:00 pm. For more information please contact the club president or member chair.

    In person lunch meetings are held at: Greens Farms Congregational Church – 71 Hillandale Rd Westport, CT 06880  

    Member Chair: Audrey Demetres – [email protected]

    Mailing Address:

    Westport Rotary Club

    P.O. Box 743

    Westport, CT 06881-0743

    AVENUES OF SERVICE

    We channel our commitment to service through five avenues, which are the foundation of club activity.

    Club
    Service

    A thriving club is anchored by strong relationships and an active membership development plan.

    Vocational Service

    Rotarians work with integrity and contribute their expertise to the problems and needs of society.

    Community Service

    We find ways to improve the quality of life for people in their communities and to serve the public interest.

    International Service

    We promote peace & understanding globally by sponsoring or volunteering on projects around the world.

    Youth
    Service

    Rotarians work to empower young people through leadership development programs, encouraging the next generation of leaders.