Around Town

Retired New Canaan Lawyer Turns To Fungi Farming

By |

Pondering what to do after 50 years of practicing law, fourth-generation New Canaan native Richard Stewart turned to YouTube. 

It was 2019, and on the global video-sharing platform, he stumbled upon an unexpected hobby: growing culinary mushrooms.

“I knew I was ready to step away from law, and I needed something new to dive into,” Stewart told NewCanaanite.com on a recent morning. “I found a YouTube video that said you could gut your basement, grow mushrooms for 15 hours, and make $500 a week. That sounded like the perfect retirement plan.”

Stewart continued with a laugh: “Five years later, I’m working 50 hours and losing $500 a week.”

A member of the New Canaan High School class of ’61, Stewart has spent nearly 50 years living in New Canaan and now operates a small mushroom farm in North Salem, N.Y., called Stewart-Watson Farm. A graduate of Beloit College in Wisconsin, Stewart served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era before earning his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1972. After 11 years practicing in the courtrooms of West Hartford and Stamford, he returned to New Canaan to open his own firm, where he worked until his recent retirement.

News

Did You Hear … ?

By |

New Canaan Police at 11:11 p.m. on June 28 received a report of a car (unlocked, keys inside) stolen from the Roger Sherman Inn. It was recovered by the New York City Police Department. ***

The Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s production of “The Little Mermaid” opens this weekend at the New Canaan High School auditorium. Tickets here. ***

Firefighters responded to Rosie on Elm Street last Thursday following an electrical fire with the wiring to the exhaust fan for the restaurant’s cooking exhaust system, officials say.

Around Town

Annual ‘Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale’ Set for July 18-19

By |

[The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Karp Associates.]

One of New Canaan’s most anticipated events of summer is set to take place this month. The New Canaan Chamber of Commerce’s annual Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale will run July 18 and 19 downtown. Spanning the commercial centers of Elm, Forest and Main Streets, the Sidewalk Sale will feature nearly 100 stands of local businesses and merchandise from all over New Canaan, according to Laura Budd, the Chamber’s executive director. 

“Our Sidewalk Sale is two days long,” Budd said. “Friday, July 18th features our local stores on the sidewalk. Merchants see products in their store that they just want to move along, so this gives them the opportunity to come outside in the summer and make room for all the great new products they want to get for the holidays and rest of the year.”

The stores that will have their stands up on the 18th will be up during their usual store hours, and will not interrupt the flow of traffic, Budd said.  

On Saturday, the full Sidewalk Sale opens and the one-way stretch of Elm and parts of Main and Forest will be made pedestrian-only, for residents to shop, walk around and enjoy food, she said. 

“On Saturday, July 19th, the Sidewalk Sale hours will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but we start closing down the streets at around 7:30 a.m. because vendors have to come in and set up their booths.” Budd said. 

The New Canaan Sidewalk Sale is so popular because it always has a wide variety of stands, from clothing to The Society of Santas, for visitors to enjoy, Budd said.  

“What makes our Sidewalk Sale unique versus other communities is that it’s both a Village Fair and a Sidewalk Sale,” she said.

Around Town

Playhouse To Premiere Jaws’ 50th Anniversary Documentary

By |

The New Canaan Playhouse this week will host a premiering event for the documentary “Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story.”

The Elm Street movie theater will do a one-time screening of the National Geographic documentary celebrating Jaws’ 50th anniversary at 9 p.m. Thursday. “We obviously wanted to show the movie, but we also wanted to make an event out of it,” CinemaLab CEO Luke Parker-Bowles said. “People should wear beachwear; with their admission, they will get luxurious Playhouse swag bags and other things like a photo opportunity with a shark suit.”

When asked why this documentary was so special, Parker-Bowles described Jaws as a near-perfect movie. “It’s an extraordinary symbiosis of documentary and narrative,” he said. “I think some people are scared of documentaries, but this is one you can’t miss.”

The documentary details the making of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 summer blockbuster that set box office records and redefined the cinematic landscape.

Around Town

New Canaan Resident Launches Free Fitness Boot Camp at NCHS

By |

For the past nine weeks, a budding local tradition has been cultivated at the New Canaan High School track every Friday morning at 5:45 a.m. 

In scorching heat or overcast gloom, longtime town resident and physical therapist Nick Rutigliano has shown up at the track to lead his free-for-all fitness class, “The New Canaan Fitness Boot Camp.”

What started as simply Rutigliano’s morning workout is now developing into a symbol of town unity as he leads a committed group of almost 10 people every week. “My passion is to try to help people and motivate them to move safely and prevent injury,” Rutigliano said. “My passion and love as a physical therapist is to help people recover, move better, and reclaim their strength. I’ve always believed that prevention and community support are just as important as treatment.”

He continued: “I saw this as an opportunity not only for me to continue my workout journey, but also to bring people together through movement. I wanted to create something that blended fitness, connection, consistency, and a space where people of all ages and backgrounds could show up, feel welcome, and grow stronger together.