After Two Years of Work, NCM&HS To Reopen ‘Rogers Studio’

The New Canaan Museum & Historical Society this week will reopen the 1878 Rogers Studio after more than two years of work. (It opens Saturday to the public.)
We put some questions to NCM&HS Executive Director Nancy Geary ahead of the Reimagined building’s unveiling. Here’s our exchange. ***
New Canaanite: Who was John Rogers? Nancy Geary: Known as the “People’s Sculptor,” John Rogers (1829-1904) was the most popular sculptor in United States history.  Between 1860 and 1893, Americans purchased approximately 80,000 of his putty-colored plaster “Rogers Groups” at an average price of $14.00.  These realistic works, which celebrated military, theater and domestic scenes, were fixtures in every Victorian parlor.  Why?  As David Wallace writes in his seminal biography, John Rogers, The People’s Sculptor, (Wesleyan University 1967) “No other American sculptor has ever been so completely at one with his contemporaries in taste, in spirit, and in human sympathies, and none has made his works so generally available to the general public.”
John Rogers was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1829, the son of John Rogers, a merchant in Boston, and Sarah Ellen Derby, whose grandfather Elias H. “King” Derby, had built a successful shipping empire.  By the time of John’s birth, however, the fortune in his mother’s family had dissipated.  His father had a series of disastrous forays into business.  During John’s childhood, the family moved from Massachusetts to Ohio to New Hampshire, before finally settling in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1841.  In Roxbury, John attended English High School where he studied mathematics, mechanics and surveying.  He left school a year early and chose to become an engineer, later holding jobs as a dry goods clerk, a master mechanic and a city surveyor.  This practical education and work shaped his artistic vision as a Realist in portraying the American scene.

New Canaan Man Bicycles 4,000 Miles for Charity

On Aug. 29, 58-year-old New Canaan resident Mark Thorsheim completed a 4,000-mile cross-country bicycle journey, successfully raising over $100,000 and counting for local charity Career Resources Incorporated. 

Starting his trip in Norwalk, Thorsheim would bike across 15 states, ascending 125,000 feet of elevation before reaching his final destination, Journey’s End Espresso, a coffee shop located in Astoria, Ore. “In the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to ride across the country,” Thorsheim told NewCanaanite.com. “I started riding actively again when I turned 50, I used to play a lot of soccer, and just probably wore a few too many joints down. I had my knee replaced a few years ago and my hip replaced in February.

New Canaan Old Timers’ Honoree Ceremony Set for Sept. 15 [Q&A]

A nonprofit organization that honors standout athletes from throughout New Canaan history is gearing up for its annual Honoree Ceremony. The New Canaan Old Timers will induct six new members during the Sept. 15 event (register here). We put some questions to Old Timers Vice President and Historian Terry Dinan ahead of the ceremony. Here’s our exchange.

Did You Hear … ?

The New Canaan Police Department’s animal control officer on the morning of Friday, Aug. 30 used a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich to draw in a skittish young dog, seemingly abandoned on Cedar Lane. 

Officer Sean Godejohn said he was going away that weekend and asked Greenwich Animal Control if they could watch the Black Tavern/Belgian Shepherd mix female. Greenwich agreed, and “the staff fell in love with the dog and asked if they could keep the dog and adopt the dog out,” Godejohn said. He agreed, and the dog will be up for adoption via Greenwich Animal Control on Saturday (Godejohn got the bacon, egg and cheese from Club Sandwich.)

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Now showing at The Playhouse movie theater on Elm Street: “Reagan” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”

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Two big art exhibition openings coming up: The Carriage Barn 2024 Annual Member Show has an opening reception 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 (runs through Oct.

Coffee’s on for Thursday

Join fellow residents and NewCanaanite.com editor Michael Dinan for the monthly Community Coffee, to be held 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 5 in the Jim & Dede Bartlett Auditorium at New Canaan Library. The Coffee is presented in partnership with the library, and the brew is supplied by Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee (thank you, Doug). The free, public coffee is a group conversation about what’s happening around town, moderated by Dinan. Topics come from attendees and we spend no more than 10 minutes per subject.