Pat Garrity and Terry Hanratty. Credit: Terry Dinan
As it’s nearly St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a shout-out to a pair of Notre Dame Fighting Irish standouts who went on to exceptional careers as pro athletes: Terry Hanratty and Pat Garrity make New Canaan home, and they’re both coaching our kids in youth sports here.
Quick, effective investigative techniques by New Canaan police in November led this past week to the first arrest in the brazen larceny of a downtown business, while a fondly remembered South School-area home went on the to-be-demolished list and the municipal budget process churned on, with a push for placing a police officer at our middle school appearing to gain support. (Can’t help but say: NewCanaanite.com itself had a big week in our own field, participating in interviews and appearing in both the American Journalism Review and Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University.)
Town Talkers
A sense of looking back—to our town’s history and in some cases, even nostalgia—pervaded New Canaan this week.
Dantown Cemetery. Credit: Terry Dinan
First, Terry met up with a descendant of the family that gives Dan’s Highway its name, in capturing what we know of the “Atlantis of New Canaan”: Dantown. Now submerged in the Laurel Reservoir, the stone foundations of buildings that made up the village there are sometimes exposed when the water is low.
As often happens with our history posts in the “0684-Old” section, we saw a good discussion happen on the “If You’re Really from New Canaan You’d Know …” Facebook group.
There, we heard one former resident about long-ago snorkeling in the reservoir in the summertime with the aid of a map from the New Canaan Historical Society, in search of the legendary “Devil’s Rock” or “Satan’s Footprints.”
Dr. Mary Kolek, Superintendent of New Canaan Public Schools. Credit: Michael Dinan
New Canaanites also looked back when, on Tuesday morning, Dr. Mary Kolek—10-year New Canaan Public Schools veteran and superintendent of schools for the past two years—announced that she’d retire after this academic year.
She looked back at her close collaboration with parents and staff with us, and earned high praise from New Canaan’s highest elected official as well as the Board of Education chair.
Finally, we saw strong response on Facebook to our article detailing how this home at 59 Fairty Drive is coming down. Neighbors remember a longtime South School teacher and his wife raising their family in the Cape on the corner of Park Place. A 5,000-square-foot home is planned for the .25-acre lot.
St. Patrick's Day dinner 2013 from the New Canaan Kiwanis Club, at St. Aloysius Church. Credit: Terry Dinan
Coming Up
The New Canaan Kiwanis Club’s popular St. Patrick’s Day dinner is around the corner, scheduled for 5 to 7:30 p.m. today—Sunday, March 16—in St. Aloysius School’s dining hall.
A community staple for years, the event features Irish dancing and is sponsored by New Canaan’s Hoyt Funeral Home, Harrigan’s Insurance (great-looking Labrador retriever pictured on their homepage),Nurenu Marketing,Baskin-Robbins and New Canaan Chamber of Commerce.
Quality of Life
We captured some video footage here of the 9 a.m. drop-off at a popular preschool program on God’s Acre. Concerned for the safety of parents, teachers and especially children there, representatives from the nursery school had contacted town officials about exploring traffic-calming measures. We have an update on where that stands.
New Canaan resident Maureen Shankar, owner of FreshDine. Credit: Michael Dinan
Here’s a profile of New Canaan mom and business owner Maureen Shankar, who in November launched FreshDine—where residents can order locally cooked, nourishing meals online for doorstep delivery. We talked to Maureen about her journey from finance to taking care of others through food.
New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous gourmet coffee shop on the corner of Pine and Grove, approached all concerned parties about how best to handle the rapidly growing popularity of Caffeine & Carburetors, the Sunday classic car gatherings. This season, starting with the debut event on April 6, overflow from Pine Street will come to Elm (starting at Starbucks, then moving down toward Main). Business leaders say that’s an opportunity for the normally quiet street to take advantage of some serious foot traffic.
Robert Ubaldo, chef and owner of The Farmer’s Table on Forest Street, is moving from No. 21 to 12, and he’ll open with an expanded space—and appetizers’ menu.
Henry C. Reid & Son on Elm Street in New Canaan. Credit: Michael Dinan
The week just past was marked by major developments in existing cases and what appear to be lapses in judgment by local teens.
On the strength of a DNA match from a smashed window at an Elm Street jewelry store, they made their first arrest following a brazen November larceny in broad daylight.
Police arrested four 16-year-old boys for underage drinking and then arrested a 17-year-old New Canaan girl for “sexting” a boy four years her junior.
Ray Parry, science teacher at New Canan High School. Contributed photo
We profiled a pair of town residents with deep ties to the community.
Ray Parry is a retired New Canaan High School science teacher of 30-plus years who has endured huge losses in his personal life the past four years. His son, Tim, is calling on former students to help remind the recent widower of the impact he had in town by sending a note or video clip saying Hello.
George Baker. Credit: Michael Dinan
George Baker is a New Canaan-based lawyer whose lifelong interest in the performing arts has culminated in an ever-evolving re-enactment show that connects him to one of our nation’s founders. (Residents can check him out March 25 at New Canaan Library.)