Town Council member Hilary Ormond said during the legislative body’s Dec. 14 meeting that she and Councilman Tom Butterworth are looking at an ordinance that will allow for creation of an Affordable Housing Committee “and hope to have a proposal in January.”
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New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski reported this week that larcenies from motor vehicles declined 30% year-over-year through the first 11 months of 2022, from 40 to 28. The welcome reduction is due to increased checks at public parks, as well as increased pressure on those who commit the thefts and the “great work of our officers,” he told the Police Commission during its regular meeting Monday.
Lights in the trees on Elm Street.
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If you are enjoying the lights in the trees downtown this holiday season, consider donating to the New Canaan Chamber Charitable Foundation’s’ Lights Campaign. The lights are professionally installed each fall to provide some warmth during the darkest days for the year. Each year the Foundation raises funds from residents to keep the lights glowing from Thanksgiving through mid-January.
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Krolikowski, in speaking to the Town Council last week, told members to ask how he was feeling about his impending retirement. When they did, he answered with a smile, “A little bit ‘blue.’ ” He referred to the Blue Wave, the varsity team name for Darien High School. The police chief is taking a job as security director with Darien Public Schools.
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The Historical Review Committee met Wednesday to discuss an objection to the planned demolition of a structure at 30 Maple St. The appointed body’s secretary, Rose Rothbart, attended via videoconference though no Zoom link or access was provided to the public, as per the meeting’s agenda.
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The town since July has spent $10,413 in legal fees on the West School “Cell Tower Lease,” according to a legal bill approved Dec. 13 by the Board of Selectmen.
L-R: Kathy Lapolla, Faith Kerchoff, Dan Eng, Bob Strong, Barbara O’Shea and Peter Murphy from the NCBL, with encouragement from Jack the dog. Credit: Ty Tan
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Members of the New Canaan Beautification League met Monday to add white pine roping and red bows to the bandstand in anticipation of caroling on God’s Acre on Christmas Eve.
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That’s a good reminder that Christmas Eve caroling will start at 6:30 p.m. on God’s Acre—here’s the song list with lyrics. Local churches are sharing their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day service offerings. They include:
Dec. 24.—4 p.m. Family Service with Nativity Pageant; 6 p.m Worship Service; 6:30 p.m. Caroling on God’s Acre; 7 p.m. Worship Service; 11 p.m. Candlelight Worship Service.
Dec. 24—5 p.m. The Story of Jesus’s birth; 10 p.m. A Service of Lessons and Carols.
Dec. 25—10 a.m. Christmas Day Service.
Dec. 24—4 p.m. Service with Scripture readings, traditional carols, children’s choir and Christmas message.
Dec. 24—5 p.m. The World’s Greatest Christmas Pageant with Holy Eucharist; 6 p.m. Carillon Serenade; 6:30 p.m. Caroling on God’s Acre; 9:30 p.m. Prelude with Organ, Bass, Timpani and St. Mark’s Choir; 10 p.m. Festival Holy Eucharist with Organ, Bass, Timpani and St. Mark’s Choir.
Dec. 25—10 a.m. Christmas Day Holy Eucharist, Baroque Ensemble with Ryland Angel, tenor.
Danny and Emily Schwedel of New Canaan have a tradition of donating their birthday gifts to the Person-to-Person Toy Store each year. Emily recently celebrated her 9th birthday and is photographed with her brother Danny and Toy Store volunteers donating her gifts. Contributed
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Speaking of Christmas, several New Canaan organizations and families were involved in the 27th Annual Person to Person Toy Store held Dec. 15 in Darien. The Toy Store is one of P2P’s most popular and anticipated events, with hundreds of Connecticut residents and area businesses donating toys, books, board games, gift cards and money. This year, over the course of three days, P2P distributed toys to more than 2,000 lower Fairfield County children. The effort included ninth-graders from the New Canaan Country School “Community Service Club,” which held a teddy bear drive and collected 1,013 stuffed animals, and the National Charity League New Canaan Chapter, whose members organize toys and set up displays. This year’s NCL volunteers included Saxe Middle School seventh-graders Abby Dunlap, Ally Dunlap, Kate Ulrich, Elizabeth Ulrich and Sophie Dunlap.
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The New Canaan Building Department on Dec. 14 received an application to demolish a house at 150 Woodland Road.
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On Dec. 13, two residents of a Millport Avenue apartment responded to an eviction filing in state Superior Court by denying their landlord’s claims that they haven’t paid rent since October.
Lucy LaGattuta
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Congratulations to New Canaan’s Lucy LaGattuta, a ninth-grader at The Harvey School in Katonah, N.Y., on making the fall term’s head’s list with a GPA of 3.7 or higher.
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The town in November spent $1,147 in legal fees on a zoning enforcement issue regarding 151 Butler Lane, according to the bill approved Dec. 13 by the selectmen. That’s the South-of-the-Y residence where three puppies died in an animal cruelty case involving Catherine Palmer. The legal work includes email correspondence with town officials regarding a “rooming house investigation,” the bill said.
Skip Hobbs’s Belted Galloway cows at Mountain Falls Farm, feasting on New Canaan pumpkins after Thanksgiving. Photo courtesy of Robin Bates Mason
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Planet New Canaan brought truckloads of pumpkins from the town after Thanksgiving to Mountain Falls Farm—located in Sheffield, Mass. and owned by New Canaan’s Skip Hobbs—where grass-fed cows devoured them.
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Finally, here’s a blog post by Robin Bates Mason on Planet New Canaan‘s website titled “Last Minute Panic Buying? Shop Local and Sustainable in New Canaan.”