Q&A: NCHS Art Exhibition ‘Through Our Eyes XII’ Opens This Week at Carriage Barn

The annual New Canaan High School art exhibition opens with a reception to be held 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14 at the Carriage Art Barn Center. The exhibition, “Through Our Eyes XII,” runs March 15 to 30, featuring dozens of paintings, drawings, photography, mixed media and other work from 120-plus NCHS students. Sponsors include Williams Raveis, Anderson Kenny Architecture, HTG Advisors and NewCanaanite.com. 

We put some questions about the exhibition to Carriage Barn Executive Director Hilary Wittmann ahead of the opening. Here’s our exchange. ***

New Canaanite: Tell us about this year’s annual NCHS exhibition.

‘His Gentle Sparkle’: Family, Friends Remember Toby Woods at Well-Attended Funeral

When he was little, Toby Woods was very cuddly, his mom recalled Sunday. He’d give his parents “enormous tight hugs, wrapping his arms around us, and laying his head on our shoulder,” Kristina Woods told hundreds of people gathered at First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan for her son’s funeral service. “He loved snuggling with his stuffed animals, and climbing into our bed in the middle of the night,” she said. “As he grew older, he still gave the tightest, most wonderful hugs.”

Described by family and friends as intelligent, thoughtful, talented, compassionate, loving and fun, Toby Woods died Feb. 21 in Williamstown, Mass.

Did You Hear … ?

New Canaan Police at 6:39 p.m. on March 1 arrested a 39-year-old West Haven man by warrant and charged him with second-degree failure to appear, in connection with a number of motor vehicle-related charges from 2022. The same man faces four counts of second-degree harassment, according to Connecticut Judicial Branch records. ***

Here’s the new “Wine Minute” from Franco’s Wine Merchants on Elm Street:

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Police at 4:55 p.m. on Feb. 29 received a report of a motorist passing a stopped school bus on Smith Ridge Road. ***

Registration is open for the New Canaan YMCA’s summer camp.

Q&A: ‘Words from the Front’ Coming March 9-10 to Powerhouse Theatre

The Town Players of New Canaan this weekend presents a new multimedia production that organizers say “captures the effect of the war on real people—Russians, living in fear and moral outrage; a Ukrainian soldier, fighting for the life of his country and his family; a Ukrainian couple, shedding light on the war and on their immigration to the United States.” Using real correspondence (texts, emails, social media posts) that followed the invasion, “Words from the Front” so far has raised about $7,000 for the UNICEF Foundation’s Relief Fund for Ukrainian Children, and all proceeds from Saturday (8 p.m.) and Sunday’s (2 p.m., with a talkback after) performances will be donated to the same charity. (Tickets here.)

We put some questions to co-writers Nancy Herman and Lynda Sorensen. Here’s our exchange. ***
New Canaanite: What is “Words from the Front”? Nancy Herman: Words from the Front is a multi-media performance which began to take shape at the very beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022. It is composed of actual text messages, Facebook posts, IMs and emails that have been exchanged in real time between my Russian friends and me, and my daughter Olivia and a Ukrainian soldier who is fighting in the war.

NewCanaanite.com ‘Community Coffee’ Canceled for March; Next One April 4

The Community Coffee, held on the first Thursday of each month at New Canaan Library, has been canceled for March. Thank you to the library for offering to accommodate us this month, amid its first reopened week after a temporary closure due to flooding caused by a mechanical problem. However, we’ve decided that the smoothest and least disruptive course of action is to skip this month, and look forward to reconvening at our next coffee—to be held at 8:30 a.m. on April 4 in the Jim & Dede Bartlett Auditorium. 

Launched months after the news site went live—in partnership with the library and Zumbach’s Coffee, which supplies the brew—the monthly Community Coffee is an hour-long conversation among New Canaanites, local businesspeople and nonprofit and government leaders, moderated by NewCanaanite.com Owner and Editor Michael Dinan. Except during the pandemic, we’ve held it every month except July and August. 

We appreciate our readers and attendees, and hope to see you April 4. Those interested in receiving an Evite reminder about the coffee should email Dinan at editor@newcanaanite.com.