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New Canaan There & Then: The Annual Yule Window Contest, New Canaan’s Holiday Tradition

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‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. Long before online shopping and digital displays, New Canaan merchants had a special way of welcoming the holiday season. The Yule Window Contest brought together shopkeepers, civic organizations, and neighbors in a celebration that made downtown New Canaan the place to be each December. The storefront decorating contest was one of New Canaan’s holiday traditions dating back to the 1940s. Local shopkeepers participated in this charming competition which was organized and sponsored by local organizations, primarily the Lions Club and the New Canaan Garden Club.

New Canaan There & Then

New Canaan There & Then: The Life of a Freemason—Remembering My Grandfather Gabriel Alexander

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‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. When I began my work at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society, I was unaware that I would be occupying the same space once utilized by the Freemasons Fraternity until 1950. This was the very society my own grandfather joined when he lived in New Canaan from 1964 until his death in 1997. 

The Masons are the world’s oldest extant fraternal organization with its origin in the late 17th century masonic guilds in England and continental Europe. Freemasons developed a reputation for upstanding moral character and were widely respected. Their mission was and remains to promote self-improvement and a better world through the application of moral values, intellectual development, and mutual respect, fostering a brotherhood of men united by shared principles.

New Canaan There & Then

New Canaan There & Then: The Town Takes Flight—1920 Aviation Exhibition

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‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. In 1920, three veteran pilots brought a new perspective to the people of New Canaan. 

Captains Bob Gordon and Dean Lamb, along with Lieutenant M. Lee came to New Canaan to share the joy of flying with the townspeople. The trio were decorated aviators who had flown missions in WWI and stayed in New Canaan for three weeks doing exhibition flights, taking passengers up to 1,000 feet at a cost of $10 for 10 minutes. Gordon and Lamb served with the Canadian Flying Corps before the United States joined the war. Both Lamb and Gordon were shot down in flames five times in pursuit of the Germans.

New Canaan There & Then

New Canaan There & Then: A Life of Firsts—Marion Dickerman’s Legacy of Equality and Service

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‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. Marion Dickerman, born in New York in 1890, was a woman truly ahead of her time, and served as a pillar of equality, education, and historical preservation. From suffragette to educator to wartime nurse and beyond, Dickerman’s legacy lives on. She is one of the exceptional women who have been residents of New Canaan. During her college years first at Wellesley and later Syracuse, Dickerman was a strong advocate for women’s suffrage, as well as protective labor legislation for women, and the abolishment of child labor.

New Canaan There & Then

New Canaan There & Then: The Artist and the Activist—Alice King’s Dual Legacy

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‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. While many knew Alice King (1890–1979) as an upstanding citizen, proponent of the arts, and talented vocalist, few realized she orchestrated one of New Canaan’s most significant social transformations. Realizing the housing challenges for minorities and refugees, she welcomed them to stay with her family on their Silvermine property until they could find other opportunities. Most notably, in 1941, Alice bought 12 houses on East Avenue and Cherry Street (then known as Baldwin Avenue) and first rented and then sold homes to Black families. For those who had only a down payment, she provided the financing.