Summertime in Westport, Weston and Wilton is that highly anticipated season we all await throughout the year. It’s a time when we are able to truly celebrate the best of our coastal towns, eat al fresco, spend languid days on the water, enjoy our homes en plein air, ride around with the tops down and spend time in town exploring all that is new and noteworthy, from retail to restaurants. Newness abounds with the opening of countless restaurants from NYC’s Tacombi and Emmy Squared to local additions from The Blonidinst and Zucca Gastrobar. Fresh retail hits Main Street with men’s shops Rhone and Bird Dog. Being at the helm of Westport, Weston & Wilton Magazine is a responsibility I take seriously, and with it the commitment to celebrate the future and respect the past, understanding the deep roots of the community while discovering the trailblazers ready to enact change and impact the future of our area.
Our feature on Martha Stewart allowed me, in my second interview with the icon (the first was in 2015), to talk about where her career truly began, right here in Westport! Stewart’s mom, Big Martha, lived in Weston until she was 94 years old, and Martha herself has deep roots here. She lived on her farmstead from 1971 to 2007. She is working on her 100th book, a collection of essentials from gardening to cooking on Amazon called The World of Martha, three series on Roku now streaming on The Martha Stewart Channel — Martha Cooks, Martha Gardens and Martha Holidays, her Skechers x Martha Stewart Collection (designed to emulate a Day in the Life of Martha), a namesake wine in partnership with 19 Crimes called Martha’s Chard, and iHeartMedia has partnered with her to produce a new iHeartRadio original podcast.
But what we really focus on is her return to Turkey Hill, where it all began, and raising funds for Positive Directions, a behavioral health organization providing a continuum of prevention, counseling and recovery support to adults and adolescents. Stewart’s continued commitment to successful living is seen in the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Hospital, which provides resources for older adults to enhance the public awareness of aging. And if anyone is redefining the concept of aging, it is Stewart herself who, at 81, is SI Swimsuit’s oldest cover star. With a whopping 60 billion impressions at publication, that truly shows the power of Martha, at any age!
Samantha Yanks
Photography: Portrait of Yanks by Brook Road Photography; right photo by Ashley Skatoff Armstrong; the others contributed