Around Town

‘A Safe Place To Nest’: Local Teen’s Project Aims To Help New Canaan Bats

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A local teen’s Girl Scout Gold Award project has seen the creation and installation of nesting habitats in three New Canaan parks for a largely misunderstood and threatened mammal. Celia Sokolowski, a 2019 graduate from New Canaan High School has hung five bat houses in trees at Kiwanis, Mead and Waveny Parks. 

A Girl Scout since the first grade, Sokolowski completed the project for her Gold Award, the highest achievement possible in the organization. To receive a Gold Award, candidates must complete 80 hours of service, Sokolowski said. She added that the project must be sustainable, and it must educate the public on an issue the candidate is passionate about. Sokolowski, who is headed to Indiana University in the fall to study business, had the idea to hang the bat houses after taking an AP environmental science class during her senior year at NCHS.

Around Town

Happy Birthday: Three New Canaan-Based Nonprofit Organizations Turn 80

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Three well-known local nonprofit organizations this year will mark 80 years in operation. The New Canaan Chapter of the League of Women Voters, New Canaan Mounted Troop and the New Canaan Beautification League are united by their focus on community engagement and service. The League of Women Voters is the local chapter of a national organization that helps register citizens to vote, and provides voter education about candidates and issues, according to LOWV Chapter President Miki Porta. 

“We’re really all about civic engagement,” she said. “A lot of us are just history and civics and government geeks who really believe that the more of us who volunteer and get involved, the better life is.” Porta said that running the candidates’ debate prior to Election Day is the LOWV event that makes the biggest difference in the lives of New Canaan residents. 

“Because the League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization…I think that the candidates themselves and also the people coming to the debate feel that it’s going to be fair, it’s going to be substantive, and it’s going to be balanced,” she said.

Around Town

‘We Need to Give Back’: Local Teen’s Project to Honor New Canaan Veterans

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A New Canaan teen is working on an Eagle Scout project to honor local veterans. Jack Goetz, a rising New Canaan High School junior, said he plans to hang 35 banners featuring veterans from lampposts in the downtown for three weeks around Veteran’s Day in November. 

A Boy Scout for around five years, Goetz is seeking to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, and is required to complete a service-related project. 

“This was a project I chose because it’s a visual way to represent all that the veterans have done for our country,” Goetz said. “I think they don’t get enough credit—we don’t see it on a daily basis, how much they’ve served and I think we need to give back.” His project, titled “New Canaan Honors Our Veterans,” also has personal relevance. Goetz said that many of his family members have served in the military. 

“It’s an important issue to me,” he said.

Local People

Street Style: Monochromatic Trends

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For this installment of Street Style, we stopped Darien resident Kitty Crosby, a member of University of Michigan’s Class of 2021, on Elm Street to ask about her classic summer style. NewCanaanite: What are you wearing today? Kitty Crosby: I’m wearing a black cropped sleeveless top from Aritzia, black and white gingham pants from Lulus.com, and some sandals I’ve had forever-they’re likely Steve Madden. How would you describe your usual style? I really try to mix it up and dress to the occasion, kind of a fashion chameleon if you want to put it that way.

Local People

‘It’s the Best Gig In the World’: New Canaan’s Doug Williams Shines in TV Spotlight

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Growing up in New Canaan there was nothing Doug Williams enjoyed more than playing baseball at Mead Park. “That feeling was just the best in the world for me,” Williams recalled on a recent afternoon when asked to name a significant childhood memory of New Canaan. “Weekdays or weekends, spring or summertime, it didn’t matter when I played, I just loved playing there. The nice weather, my family cheering me on from the stands, and getting food with them after the game there—I remember it all so well.” And during those games at Mead, Williams dreamed of a time when he would be able to share his enthusiasm and passion for baseball with an audience larger than the stands at Mead could hold.