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, April 3 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. Those who would like to receive a friendly reminder email about the coffee—held the first Thursday of each month—should email Dinan at editor@newcanaanite.com.

Nancy Helle

A spark of joy left the world when Nancy Jane Schuleen Helle, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and dear friend to many, passed away on January 25, 2025. Surrounded by the love of her family, she died peacefully in her sleep, leaving a legacy of friendship, music, and caring. An eternal optimist, Nancy was known for her love of pink and red, high fashion, Broadway and Cole Porter music, and a clever turn of phrase. Born in 1933, in West Chester, PA, Nancy was the cherished daughter of Ernest “Red” Schuleen and Beulah “Ruth” Jones, and a devoted human to her wire-haired terrier Snips, whom she adored. Nancy grew up along the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, PA, first in Holtwood, where she attended the two room schoolhouse built especially for employees of the Holtwood Dam where her father worked, then later in Safe Harbor, PA, where her father served as General Manager of the Safe Harbor Dam.

Selectmen OK Demolition of Town-Owned 1900-Built House on Grove Street

The Board of Selectmen last week approved an approximately $54,000 contract to demolish a town-owned house on Grove Street. The town two years ago purchased the 1900-built house at 28 Grove St. for about $1 million, calling the .15-acre parcel a “strategic” property in that it backs up to the Lumberyard Lot. 

At their regular meeting on March 25, the selectmen voted 3-0 to approve $54,198 in contracts to raze the house and a shed and remove contaminants from the site. “The demolition would include the foundation of the building,” Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer with the Department of Public Works, said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “And then we would just level it off to make it safe.

CT Stage Company’s ‘Spelling Bee’ Set To Run April 5 and 6 at New Canaan Library 

A live theater nonprofit organization founded by two local women is readying for its next widely anticipated production at New Canaan Library. The Connecticut Stage Company is running “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at 7 p.m. on Saturday April 5 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 6. Founded by Kate Simone and Lorah Haskins, the CT Stage Company has already put on well-known shows in “Into the Woods,” “Little Women” and, most recently, “Hair.” They chose “Spelling Bee” this time “to introduce our community to one of our favorites that they may not have seen before,” according to Simone. “Spelling Bee also brings a bit of levity to our stage, after having three shows that dug deep and pulled at our heartstrings,” Simone said in an email. “This show is pure joy and comedic genius.

Juniper Road Colonial Sells for $3.1 Million

The following property transfer(s) were recorded recently in the Town Clerk’s office. For more information about each property from the assessor, click on the street address. To get the history of a New Canaan street name, click here. ***

March 20

116 Juniper Road

$3.1 million
Niraj Patel to Lauren Greenberg

March 19

31 Marvin Ridge Road

$2,514,365
Marvin Ridge Colonial LLC to Alyna McGeever

72-74 Locust Ave. $1,125,000
Deborah Hayden to SLE Property Management LLC

March 17

24 Orchard Lane

$1.9 million
Estate of Marian Morton Brown AKA Marian Ruth Brown to Lauren Prial

36 Apple Tree Lane

$2,186,500
The Audrey Shahnazarian 2008 Revocable Living Trust to Megan Ashforth