News

Who Knew: A Beginner’s Guide to Winged New Canaan

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‘Who Knew?’ is sponsored by Walter Stewart’s Market. When facing the waning years of your (ahem) forties, you have two choices. You can learn all the Gen Z slang and TikTok dances to cling, Gollum-like, to your waning youth, or you can slide into the sensible, low-heeled comforts of the retiree lifestyle a couple of decades early and start caring about things like warblers, relaxed-fit pants, and the lighthouses of the Eastern Seaboard. Twenty-two-year-old you might not recognize 47-year-old you, and there’s no doubt she’d judge your dorky fleece vest and Investment Binoculars™, but there’s much to be said for shifting yourself into a less chaotic gear and finding moments of actual presence in the natural world. Life begins to look more like a Mary Oliver poem than a Bret Easton Ellis novel, and that’s a-ok with me.

Around Town

Residents Dedicate New Pavilion in Bristow Park

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. Residents and open space advocates gathered Thursday afternoon at one of New Canaan’s prized public open spaces to dedicate a new pavilion. 

About 20 people attended a ceremony in Bristow Park that featured live music and food. “It’s the third-oldest bird sanctuary in the country,” said Chris Schipper, chair of the Conservation Commission. “The fact that New Canaan, even 100 years ago, was thinking of conservation—this is an example of it. They set aside 17 acres, almost in the middle of town for birds and for wildlife, and for beautiful woods.”

The pavilion is the newest addition to Bristow, which is undergoing a major restoration ahead of its 100th anniversary in 2024.

Bristow Bird Sanctuary

Officials Push for Improved Walkway from Mead Park to Bristow Bird Sanctuary

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Town officials are pushing for improvements to a walking trail for one pedestrian entrance to an increasingly popular bird sanctuary in New Canaan. 

As it is the heavy pebble walkway leading from the parking lot at Mead Park’s little league baseball fields to the Bristow Bird Sanctuary is “not easy to push a stroller across” and “difficult for older people to walk across,” according to Conservation Commission Chair Chris Schipper. “If this is going to be part of our greenlink that will connect Waveny to Mead and Irwin and the Nature Center and that whole link, that pieces needs to be improved as will other pieces, but I would love to see that improved,” Schipper told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their July 13 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “It’s always been a back way into the park, but it’s never been very attractive from a park design standpoint. And I think working on that trail at some point would be a big plus.”

The comments came during a general update on Bristow from Schipper, who has spearheaded efforts in recent years to restore what had been a largely forgotten bird sanctuary and wildwood preservation ahead of its centennial in 2024. Parks & Recreation Director John Howe said he agreed with Schipper’s assessment.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves $65,000 Contract for More Improvements at Bristow [CORRECTED]   

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Town officials this week approved an approximately $65,000 contract with a New Canaan-based company to continue making improvements to a public bird sanctuary restored in recent years. The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday voted 3-0 in favor of the $$64,679.04 contract with Peter Lanni Inc. for improvemtenis at Bristow Bird Sanctuary ahead of its planned centennial. The work will include “additional trail installation and reconstruction, the installation of the hilltop destination and overlook, various fencing requirements and some related landscaping improvements,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

The work also will include putting in footings for a future pavilion that should arrive in February, Mann said. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and Selectmen Kathleen Corbet and Nick Williams voted in favor of the contract. 

Bristow is located between Mead Park and Route 106, with walkable entrances through the park as well as a pull-off by the main entrance on 106 (west of the intersection of Park and Bank Streets). The selectmen asked whether the funds for the work are in the fiscal year 2023 budget (yes).

Around Town

State Officials Investigate Oil Spill Polluting Bristow Pond, Bird Sanctuary

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State environmental officials are trying to find the source of an oil spill discovered Friday in an increasingly popular bird sanctuary that’s undergoing a major restoration ahead of its centennial. The New Canaan Fire Department responded at about 12:16 p.m. on Feb. 4 to the Bristow Bird Sanctuary “for and odor and visible oil in the pond,” according to Interim Chief Albert Bassett. Firefighters installed absorbent booms along the waterway to contain the oil, though the source of the spill could not immediately be determined, Bassett said. Inland Wetlands and Watercourses & Floodplain Manager Kathleen Holland said that multiple town departments continue to work with DEEP staff “to assist them in locating the source of a home heating oil leak discovered Friday flowing into the watercourse that travels under Old Stamford Road and into Bristow Sanctuary.”

“Through a process of elimination, the potential source has been narrowed down to an area between Douglas Road and Orchard [Drive] but has not yet been able to be verified,” Holland said.