Around Town

House of Telos Sponsoring ‘Combine’ To Benefit The Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer [Q&A]

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House of Telos, founder of the New Canaan Combine, is a major sponsor of the 2023 event benefiting the Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer. Created by New Canaan’s Falsetta family—here’s an interview with dad Chris about the effort— the Gracie Fund is named for the Falsettas’ 12-year-old daughter who was diagnosed with leukemia last year and is undergoing treatments. House of Telos owner Rebecca Kimball, a 2004 New Canaan High School graduate (podcast here) founded the Combine, a fun athletic competition between the New Canaan Police and Fire Departments that also brings in community members to fundraise for a good cause. We put some questions to Kimball about the Combine and Gracie Fund. Our exchange follows.

Business

Area Couple Takes Over as New Canaan’s ‘Town Greeter’

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. Moving to a new town can be stressful for many reasons, including when it comes to meeting your new neighbors. For one area couple, making that process easier for move-ins is a business. David Saunders and his fiancée, Christine Santori, of Ridgefield, recently took over the job of “Town Greeter” from Steph Radman. “It seemed like the perfect thing,”  Saunders told NewCanaanite.com. 

With careers in the print and promotional marketing business under their belts, the couple took over as town greeter in their hometown of Ridgefield in 2019.

Business

‘Everyone Can Do It’: Local Mom Launches New Canaan Candy Co.

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A local mom is starting a candy company to create “Sweet Possibilities” through competitive employment for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Jen Connelly has worked with individuals with special needs her whole life. Her older brother struggled with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and Tourette Syndrome, both of which resulted in unwanted attention. 

“Having him as my sibling drove me to the profession that I have done for my career,” Connelly told NewCanaanite.com on a recent afternoon. She has experience as a special education teacher, a behavioral analyst, and even opened a charter school in the South Bronx designed to serve individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Connelly observed that while many of the kids she served moved through adolescence and adulthood being exposed to internships and job sampling, they were unable to find work.

Business

Gulf Station Owners: ‘We Have No Deal with the Town’

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Contrary to what New Canaan’s first selectman recently claimed, the owners of the Gulf station downtown say they haven’t reached any deal to sell to the town. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan “has been talking to us for two years about trying to buy it but we never came to anything,” according to Lenny Fugaro, a co-owner of the gas station and repair shop at 36 South Ave. “Who knows, at some point we might sell to them if it ever came up to the right price,” Fugaro said. “We have no deal with the town at this point.”

He addressed a comment that Moynihan made during a pre-Republican Caucus debate on July 18. There, the first selectman said, “We’re working on a transaction—since there’s no press here—we’ve reached a deal to acquire the Gulf Station, to get the Gulf Station next to the library.

Business

‘I Feel Great’: Sean Brennan Takes Over as Owner of C&H Auto

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. One of New Canaan’s most trusted auto repair shops has a new owner. Steve Gaeta, longtime owner of C&H Automotive and Towing, recently sold the Main Street business to longtime General Manager Sean Brennan. Brennan began working at C&H during high school. “I started off pumping gas, he told the New Canaanite on a recent afternoon.