Darcy Pennoyer Smith

Nature Takes Over Waveny’s Nooks

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Nature Takes Over Waveny’s Nooks

Poodle Skirts on Parade Hill: Halloween, 1980

Visit the Little Red Schoolhouse with alum Steve Gravereaux

Planet New Canaan Tree*Cycle

Around Town

By Darcy Pennoyer Smith | November 2, 2014

Around Town

By Darcy Pennoyer Smith | November 2, 2014

Now & Then

By Darcy Pennoyer Smith | October 12, 2014

Darcy Pennoyer Smith

One of many in the multi-generational Pennoyer family from New Canaan, Darcy Stiles Pennoyer grew up down the street from the Dinans, and she is an alum of Center School, Saxe and NCHS. Currently a New Canaan resident and now Darcy Pennoyer Smith, she is a freelance writer and blogger. She volunteers with various organizations such as the West School PTC, Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk, and New Canaan Cares. Her sons attend New Canaan Public Schools, and her husband Jud is a managing partner of Smith Hanley Associates LLC. The Smiths recently rescued two kittens, and the litter mates are settling quite nicely into their new home. Darcy attended Ohio Wesleyan University and studied French, English, and politics & government before working as a journalist's assistant at the United Nations, an assistant in a law firm, a marketing associate at a healthcare company, and an independent floral designer (she's done flowers for over 100 events). Her longest stint with an employer other than herself was with New Canaan High School, where she worked first as a chemistry lab aide to see if she liked working with teenagers all day (the answer was yes), an intern in the English and world language departments, and then as a certified English and French teacher. Darcy earned a Master of Science in education from the University of Bridgeport in 2000, and she resigned from NCHS in 2014 in order to have more flexibility to care for her family. She still likes working with teenagers, so she tutors students in reading, writing, and the college essay. Darcy loves New Canaan, and some of her favorite spots are the NC Nature Center, Waveny, Elm Street Books, Cherry Street East, and Gates. She enjoys all the Next Station to Heaven has to offer although the parking in town is a bit out of control, and she does like a stable post office.

First in a series titled “The Nature of New Canaan.” New Canaan’s parks are picturesque in all seasons, but autumn especially presents us with a blend of what one admires in a New England suburb–flashes of red, yellow and orange foliage here one day and gone the next–and unexpected moments of time standing still among rock walls that used to be property lines. A town favorite landmark year-round, but especially in fall, is Waveny Park, complete with woods, trails, wildlife and an estate of yesteryear. Beyond the recent manmade additions to the park, visitors should take note of the weathering of the bricks and stone, the fading hues of pink and orange that frame the sky at dusk, and the swaying tall grasses (likely full of ticks, but as New Englanders, we have to take the good with the bad between weather and ticks). If you only visit Waveny for its sports fields and exercise equipment, go again with the purpose of exploring its natural beauty.

Poodle Skirts on Parade Hill: Halloween, 1980

Mr. Gabe Jeantheau, beloved fifth grade teacher at Center School, nicknamed us the “Tea Party Ladies.” We were the last people anyone would pick to be on a kickball team because we were terrible at fielding kickballs (I tended to get hit in the head with the reddish rubber globe). He gifted us that moniker because we stood in the outfield chatting. We stood in the kicking line and chatted. I recall him saying, “Ladies!

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