Exciting news: We’re hearing that New Canaan’s defunct Outback Teen Center is being renamed ‘The Hub’ by the re-formed board charged with developing new uses for the structure behind Town Hall. Word is, the board is looking at a mix of human services, as well as wellness and possibly food providers to generate revenue at the disused building. New info: New Canaanite Bob Albus, head of the board, told us a program for special needs adults in town will run in the lower level of The Hub on weekdays, and that other activities could include after-school tutoring and mentoring and babysitting for parents who are shopping or dining downtown, and notable local agencies such as Getabout and Staying Put In New Canaan are part of the conversation. “We want to touch virtually every life in town from infants to seniors and really have an expansive program that addresses what are some unmet needs in town,” Albus told NewCanaanite.com. An online fundraising campaign is underway here—designed both to secure some “start-up” money for The Hub and to engage the community, Albus said. The new activities could animate The Hub as early as June or July, he said. Read more about The Hub here.
Sammy Ericson hails from the Lewis family on his paternal great-grandmother’s side, a clan that’s been in New Canaan for six generations and dates to pre-Revolutionary America in the Pound Ridge/Vista, N.Y. area. Here he is with a Lego design and a blue ribbon. Contributed
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Congratulations to sixth-generation New Canaanite Sammy Ericson, first place winner of the pre-K division in the popular town Lego contest. Run by the New Canaan Recreation Department on Saturday at South School, the contest yielded winners from pre-K to fifth grade.
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Got plans Wednesday night? Consider checking out Phil Williams and Jim O’Neill from New Canaan Music at South End on Pine Street. The tunes start flowing at 8:30 p.m.
Scenes from New Canaan’s 52-14 win over Norwalk, October 30, 2015. Credit: Terry Dinan
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There’s plenty of college recruiting buzz around NCHS senior and football standout Lucas Niang, who has narrowed his options to Auburn, Miami and TCU. Best of luck to the 6’-6”, 295-pound offensive tackle as he weighs some great options—we’ll be watching and cheering no matter where you end up.
New Canaan’s Colleen Hann at the 2014 Walk to End Lupus Now. Contributed
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New Canaan’s Colleen Hann (NCHS ’92) has launched her personal page for the Walk to End Lupus Now, the major annual fundraiser from the Lupus Foundation of America. Colleen has already raised $335 toward her $5,000 goal—check the page out here. The Walk will be held May 14 in New York City. Here’s more background on Colleen’s fight.
Dante Melucci. Contributed
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Kudos to teenager Dante Melucci, a student for three-plus years at New Canaan School of Rock, on being cast as Freddy the drummer for “School of Rock” the Broadway musical, which opened last month at the Winter Garden Theatre in Manhattan. The Norwalk resident was one of more than 22,000 kids who auditioned, and he credits the New Canaan school for helping him to achieve this dream. Way to go!
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We hear from Halstead Property Realtor Jeanne Rozel that although the total number of condos sold in 2015 dropped year-over-year from 83 to 57, the average selling price of those units went up more than 10 percent (and ’14 was a very unusually high year for condo sales). Here’s more on the 2015 condo market in New Canaan, and the overall trends.
The New Canaan CARES Leadership Challenge Program graduated a class of 21 New Canaan High School students in December. Contributed
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Congratulations to the 21 NCHS students who graduated the New Canaan CARES Leadership Challenge Program last month: Paulina Cortina, Will Gervase, Jane Jiang and Betsy Marsh led the KidPOWER! Program that mentored elementary school students; Wesley Farley, Caroline Grogan, Spencer Reeves and Sandra Sigurgeirsdottir led the Leadership Coalition initiative that addressed high-risk behaviors among youth in our community; Jacqueline Lampert, Annie Minaglia, Sofia Paloka, Molly Rochlin, Russell Walker and Stasia Morales-Middleton led the Mentoring Through Drama program working with middle school students; Kyle DeMayo, Anne Farley, Maeve Selvaggi, Claire Tierney and Margaret Wise planned and executed events for the seniors at Schoolhouse Apartments with the Elder Buddies program; Sydney Britt, DJ Morse, Kiara Roeder-Yika developed activities to engage middle school youth with fellow peers with learning challenges in the Community Service Ambassadors program.
Cynthia Badan of New Canaan. Contributed
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Finally, Cynthia Badan of New Canaan has joined the staff of locally based Competitive Edge College Advisors, as an educational advisor to students applying to college or considering a “gap year” before college, as well as advising those applying to private secondary schools.