Government

Town: Fourth Of July Fireworks Attendance Drops Sharply Amid Heat, Storm Forecast

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. Attendance at New Canaan’s annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration at Waveny Park fell dramatically from last year, with town officials estimating only 2,000 to 3,000 people attended the event, according to Parks & Recreation Commission member David Shea. Speaking during the commission’s July 8 meeting at Lapham Center, Shea said unofficial attendance figures were far below the nearly 8,000 people who attended the 2025 celebration. “The unofficial attendance was really down from 2025,” Shea said. “The estimates that we have from parking cars, somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000, which is really well off the almost 8,000 of 2025.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson

More Than 5,000 New Canaan Customers Lose Power After Eversource Substation Issue

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. More than 5,000 in New Canaan lost power Wednesday around midday after a problem at one of Eversource utility’s substations caused a town-wide blackout, officials say. In a 1 p.m. update, Emergency Management Director Russ Kimes said Eversource reported that problems at the utility company’s substation caused the outage, affecting 5,302 customers—about 61% of households in town. “Eversource reports that crews are already on site working to fix the issue,” Kimes said. “They have not provided an estimated time for restoration.”

Around Town

Quiet Heroes of New Canaan: Josh Trepanier

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. For months, New Canaan resident and Eagle Scout candidate Josh Trepanier quietly worked behind the scenes to improve one of the town’s preserved open spaces. Trepanier designed and built a new interpretive kiosk at the New Canaan Land Trust’s Browne Preserve while organizing a volunteer day in which fellow Scouts removed more than nine large leaf bags of invasive plants and replaced them with native species donated by Copia Home & Garden. The project, which took more than six months of planning, will leave a lasting impact on both the preserve and those who visit it, according to Robin Bates-Mason, executive director of the New Canaan Land Trust. “Projects like these are incredibly valuable to organizations like the New Canaan Land Trust because this is going to be the next generation of young leaders,” Bates-Mason said.

Around Town

New Canaan Filmmaker Launches ‘Try Anyway’ Summer Creative Workshops for Young Writers

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Local filmmaker, writer and educator Claire Ayoub is helping young storytellers discover their voices through her new Try Anyway Creative Workshops, a summer program that blends creative writing, screenwriting and directing into an encouraging, hands-on experience for students in grades 4 through 7. Unlike traditional writing classes, Ayoub’s workshops focus less on grades and perfection and more on creativity, confidence and collaboration, she said. “I love creating a space for kids to just show up and not have to worry about grades or doing things right,” Ayoub said. “It’s about exploring themselves creatively.” The workshops grew out of creative writing classes Ayoub began teaching in New Canaan this spring.

Around Town

Chichester Road Historic District Becomes New Canaan’s First National Register Historic District

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. Six Midcentury Modern homes on Chichester Road have become New Canaan’s first historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places, marking a milestone in the preservation of the town’s internationally recognized architectural heritage, advocates say. Officially listed on March 2, the “Chichester Road Historic District” recognizes both the distinctive architecture and the natural landscape that helped make New Canaan a center of Midcentury Modern design. The new designation follows a nearly two-year effort led by the New Canaan Preservation Alliance, a nonprofit organization. “The goals were to inform the public of the importance of preservation; to recognize the significance of the terrain and architecture on Chichester Road that has been well preserved; to honor the original architects who designed houses in the district between 1956 and 1964; and to enable the owners of these houses to receive tax credits for restoration of their properties,” Susan Pollish, secretary of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance, told NewCanaanite.com.