Celebrate

Benchmarks in Central Village

By Elaine Ostroff – Chairman

Westport Cultural Council

November 7, 2007

The two major funders of the Westport Cultural Council spoke at Celebrate the BenchMarks in Central Village event held on Wednesday, Nov 7 at Lees Community Room. Anita Walker, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Karen Hibbert, Vice President of the Bank of America and administrator of the Helen Ellis Charitable Trust complimented the Westport Cultural Council on the successful completion of the installation of the BenchMarks.

Walker also announced that the Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE) recently recommended that the State Board of Education make the arts a required part of the Core Curriculum for high schools. She said, “This is an outstanding move that elevates the arts from an elective to an integral part of the curriculum, equal to the sciences, history, foreign languages, and physical education. Inclusion in the ‘core’ is a victory for all of those who believe the arts are essential to a quality education for our young people.”

Mary Ellen Guptill, Westport artist and exhibit designer presented little-known information about Helen Ellis, the person, her love for the Arts, her friends and her community. She also showed two of Ms Ellis’s sculptural carvings along with a hand-carved sign that Ms. Ellis had made for Allen Haskell, landscape designer, over 50 years ago. Sixty people, including the BenchMark designers, participated in the recognition event designed to thank the hundreds of individuals, associations, and businesses that made the installation and construction of the BenchMarks possible.

Elaine Ostroff, Chair of the Cultural Council thanked the attendees and said, “Many of you participated in multiple ways. Some were volunteers, others contributed money, and others provided food and services for the Family Event at the Town Hall Annex in July 2006. Everyone here has helped make Central Village safer and more pedestrian friendly.” Elizabeth Collins, treasurer of the Cultural Council presented a large sign that will be hung in Town Hall to Select Board Chairperson Veronica Beaulieu. The sign shows the Benchmarks and lists all of the contributors.

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