NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/category/new-canaan-residents/page/7)
New Canaan engenders a strong sense of identity among its residents. In our “Local People” profiles and features, we celebrate that strength.
For this installment of “Street Style,” we caught up with Alice Gelhaus, New Canaan High School class of 2017 member. A very special thank you to our street style subject for participating. New Canaanite: What are you wearing today? Alice: A lilac patterned dress from H&M. My sandals are Kenneth Cole, and my favorite part of today’s outfit is my mother’s necklace that she got from Sweden.
The plan to rebuild with greater density the public housing units “up the hill” at Millport Avenue has gained traction since last November. The New Canaan Housing Authority board has held regular meetings—there’s another one scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday—to discuss and prepare for the physical work, when families that reside there will face a dramatic if temporary change in their lives. Some time soon, these New Canaanites will move into new units built within an expanded footprint at Millport while their homes are razed and rebuilt.
Although this will be adjustment for the residents of Millport, many are excited about the upside of the project, according to New Canaanite Kara Laviola. As a resident there trusted by her neighbors and well-attuned to what’s happening, Laviola has been appointed a resident representative during the project. We spoke to her about the rebuilding and her experience living in New Canaan. Here’s our conversation.
New Canaan Animal Control recently brought on a new officer, Allyson Halm. Born and raised in Greenwich, Halm is familiar with the Fairfield County and New Canaan area. Before joining the staff in New Canaan, Halm worked with Greenwich Animal Control for 12 years, then became the CEO of Adopt-A-Dog of Greenwich for seven years. Halm is excited to take on the position at New Canaan’s Animal Control. Here’s our exchange.
The sound of jump ropes cracking in succession echoes across the meadow where New Canaan High School meets Waveny. But this is no school fitness program—it’s group of seasoned actors from Connecticut and New York, practicing the choreography for the musical number “Whipped Into Shape” from the upcoming Summer Theatre of New Canaan performance of “Legally Blonde—the Musical.”
“It’s all really coming together,” Ed Libonati, executive director of STONC, said with a smile as he stands near the makeshift tent and stage that for 12 summers has transformed this bit of wilderness into a highly touted entertainment venue. Established by Ed and Melody Libonati, a New Canaan husband and wife who moved from New York 27 years ago and sought to bring a thriving performing arts scene to both the town and county, STONC is a nonprofit organization with a highly personal history for the family, and it’s become as integral a part of the summer scene as the water towers that loom over this landscape. Libonati, who holds many TV and theater directing credits, does not just work in theater but lives it—something his home life reflects. Melody herself has a number of Broadway credits to her name, including playing Sandra in the original company production of “Grease.” Their daughter, Allegra, is resident director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., and son Christian, runs a theater company in Chicago.
“You will always be in our heart … because in there you’re still alive.” —Angelina Hubertus, 8, writing to the apple tree ‘Margaret’ in her diary
The Hubertus family cannot say just how or when it settled on ‘Margaret’ in naming the apple tree by the driveway of this lovingly landscaped 4-acre Oenoke Ridge Road property. Yet at some point for Gregory and Linda Hubertus, and their 8-year-old daughter Angelina, Margaret’s eyes, nose and lips took shape in the tree’s knobby trunk, and there is something in the tree’s bearing and bark (the plant is estimated to be 300 years old) that animates, gives an impression of a living thing that is more than passive. Straightaway after purchasing this upper Oenoke property last summer and moving into its 1810-built house, the Hubertuses found themselves gathering near Margaret, turning toward her—Angelina and her friends pedaling their bikes around the tree last fall, family golden-doodle Barley playing on the snow piled up near the tree this winter, and Gregory just weeks ago voicing a plan to relocate some outdoor furniture in her ample shade. “Everybody loves this apple tree,” Linda told NewCanaanite.com on a recent morning.