Seen and Heard in Norwalk: Stay inside

NORWALK, Conn. – Here are some items of interest that were seen or heard recently in Norwalk:

Under the thunderdome

Thursday’s storm was noted on Facebook by two prominent Norwalk residents in totally different ways. Bike/Walk Task Force co-chairman Mike Mushak posted the above photograph, taken from the porch of his home. What a view, huh?

“Now that’s what I call a summer thunderstorm that looks like the Apocalypse,” Mushak wrote. It was part of a 2,00- mile long front of storms from Nova Scotia to Georgia, Mushak wrote, adding that Norwalk needed the rain.

Town Clerk Rick McQuaid only had to post seven words and three question marks on Facebook to draw a lot of comments. “Is it safe to come out yet???” he wrote after the storm came through.

That drew a series of “Not for you” replies for McQuaid, now nicknamed Sparky after he was hit by lightning in 2011 and escaped major injury.

Other replies included, “Everything is all clear come out on the back porch and talk to me I never seen a man get struck by lightning tonight might be my lucky night,” from Frank Mauro, and “Rick my roof antenna got turned can u go up and fix? Gonna get cable next year” from Blake Billmeyer.

This was followed Friday by another post from McQuaid, shown at left. “Always thought you’ve been more electrifying since that scary night,” Bob Duff wrote. And later, Bryan Marucci posted “Severe Thunderstorm Warning was just issued! Stay inside Rick !”

Finally McQuaid posted, “This is not funny anymore. … I want to light sparklers, not be the sparkler!”

Sparks of friendship

Mushak attended the recent NancyOnNorwalk fundraiser where Mayor Harry Rilling lauded his efforts. “Mike is of the same mold as I am,” Rilling said. “(Fellow Bike/Walk task force member) Bruce Kimmel is, too, but we understand there are some people who want to maintain the status quo.”

Rilling also lauded Norwalk Superintendent Manny Rivera. “He’s the most visionary superintendent we’ve ever had,” Rilling said.

He went on to talk about the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (CCJEF) lawsuit against Connecticut. Norwalk joined it under former Mayor Alex Knopp, but former Mayor Richard Moccia withdrew Norwalk from the suit, he said.

But that was when Republican Jodi Rell was governor, he said. When Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, was elected governor, Moccia signed Norwalk up again.

Finally, a philosophical comment: “I don’t want Norwalk to be a Stamford,” Rilling said. “I want Norwalk to be a Norwalk.”

What’s in a word?

Also at the fundraiser, Mushak talked about how he met his partner, David Westmoreland, while living on the beach. They went on to buy a house together in Norwalk, where they got “a Homo Improvement Loan” to fund the renovations of the home, he said.

Busted

Republican Registrar Karen Doyle Lyons and Rilling were among those “arrested” recently at the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Lock-Up fundraiser. Rilling said he was only able to stay half an hour and raised $455 from nine people. No word on how much Doyle Lyons raised but she did relay a quip from her husband: “Will they keep you for four days if I don’t raise the bail?”