Aye Aye Thant, a Westport resident and daughter of the late United Nations Secretary-General U Thant, speaks to Monday’s UN Day observance outside Town Hall. / Photo by Dave Matlow

WESTPORT — The 76th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations was marked Monday during a Town Hall ceremony.

The UN Day observance — the international organization was founded Oct. 24, 1945 — was another milestone in Westporters’ longtime support for the institution.

The relationship spans more than six decades when Ruth Steinkraus Cohen founded the International Hospitality Committee of Fairfield County. Cohen spearheaded local events over the years with the UN Association of Southwestern Connecticut, including the annual jUNe Day, when hundreds of United Nations officials and their families are hosted in town by residents.

Aye Aye Thant, a Westport resident and daughter of the late UN Secretary-General U Thant, was the featured speaker at Monday’s ceremony on the steps of Town Hall.

Bill Hass, president of the UN Association of Southwestern Connecticut, also spoke to the gathering, joined by First Selectman Jim Marpe and a bipartisan delegation of local officials.

First Selectman Jim Marpe, left, speaks with actor James Naughton, second from right, and his wife Sara Sessions Naughton, and Bill Hass, president of the UN Association of Southwestern Connecticut, after the UN Day ceremony at Town Hall. / Photo by Dave Matlow

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