New Canaan Week in Review: ABC, C&C, ‘Bitz’ with a Z

The week leading into Memorial Day weekend—and one of New Canaan’s most cherished annual events, the parade—brought a major change to what has emerged as a more recent community event, saw improbable, dramatic wins for our baseball and softball teams, and closed the loop on a closely followed storyline among townies.

Here’s the Week in Review.

Town talker

Caffeine & Carburetors has made big headlines since even before its 2014 debut in April, as this year marked the first that the grassroots car enthusiasts gathering expanded from Pine to Elm Street.

Yet downtown neighbors, police, CERT volunteers and town officials could not realistically foresee continuing a 5,000-plus person event six times per year. A compromise was reached this week, with Caffeine & Carburetors to be held in New Canaan in April and September only.

Our downtown

Staying right in the heart of New Canaan’s village, we’ve seen two owner-on-site businesses take shape on Main and Elm in the past week or so—Gingerbitz up toward Park Street (owned by a New Canaan couple—see the article to get the compelling backstory on how the shop was named) and Kids Home Furnishings down by Connecticut Muffin (owned by a Stamford man in the third generation of operating that business).

We’re estimating that with Gingerbitz opening, we have all of the street-level commercial storefronts on Elm between Main and Park full and operational. Lots of retail means lots of deliveries. This week, the Police Commission addressed what’s been judged to be an emerging truck delivery/double-parking problem by designating two additional loading zones downtown. Both 7 to 10 a.m. weekdays, the loading zones are on Forest Street and Elm (right in front of Gingerbitz, in fact).

The other big news to come out of government meetings this past week was an update on the $18 million renovation of Town Hall, which is on schedule and budget. Very soon, the steel frame of the “new” building will be up for residents to see, and a spring 2015 re-opening is still planned.

Things past

Anyone who’s been through New Canaan High School in the past 41 years knows our local ABC program—“A Better Chance,” where students are brought from low-performing public school systems, into New Canaan’s, to get a chance at a better education.

This week, we saw a meaningful reunion up at the Locust Avenue house, with major figures from the program’s founding—principal, guidance counselor, student advocates—gathering with the current co-directors and student residents.

Separately, while a 1900-era Colonial on Church Street sold for about $1.4 million this week—something that makes many local preservationists hold their collective breath these days—those same preservationists have launched an effort that would see New Canaan’s beloved Waveny House placed on national and state historic registries.

Faces of New Canaan

Turning once again to the future, one of the most-read stories this week was a profile of a remarkable New Canaan boy and his family.

South School first-grader Andrew Blackwell was born with Down syndrome, and he has also developed Childhood Apraxia of Speech—a disorder that impairs his ability to communicate.

We met with mom Rhonda and dad Houston downtown, together with Andrew and their family dog, and talked not just about what the boy faces day-to-day, but how it has inspired his own parents and galvanized a caring community here in New Canaan.

Animal 411

Finally, we had big news on the dog front—two months after a 6-month-old Chihuahua was found abandoned at CVS on Park Street, starving and screeching, he’s been placed in a loving local home.

 

Catch up here with Señor, stepchild of New Canaan Veterinary Hospital.

We met another Chihuahua downtown this week (cared for by the same vet, Dr. Paul Potenza)—this one a soon-to-be resident. And finally, we heard an unusual, compelling report from Animal Control about a golden retriever up on South Bald Hill Road that rescued a smaller dog from a coyote that had attacked and was in the process of dragging off the little pooch.

Coming Up

• Books, Blues & BBQ: A major fundraiser for New Canaan Library, “Books, Blues & BBQ” returns for its third year (and it’s Dinosaur BBQ, which is frankly amazing) from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday at the library. Register here, and we’ve got more information right here in our NewCanaanite.com calendar.
• Wine & Cheese Tasting Fundraiser: Carriage Barn Arts Center (home of the New Canaan Society for the Arts) and Rotary Club of New Canaan announce a Wine and Cheese Tasting Fundraiser Event. The event will take place on Saturday, June 14^th, 6 – 8 pm and will feature wines from New Canaan Wine Merchants, cheeses from The Darien Cheese Shop and a variety of sandwiches from Connecticut Sandwich Company, New Canaan. Event tickets are currently available for purchase online at carriagebarn.org or contact the Carriage Barn Arts Center at 203.972.1895 to purchase tickets.
• Y’s 60^th Birthday Bash Community Party: From 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, the YMCA will hold its 60^th birthday party—free and open to the public—featuring “The Zany Zone Obstacle Challenge,” “Water Safety Fun in the Pool” and “Dunk our Coaches.”
• Heads-Up, CT Challenge Fundraiser: From 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday June 3rd, 20 percent of all the proceeds at Peachwave froyo on Forest Street will go towards the Camp Rising Sun cycling team, which is riding in the 10th annual CT Challenge bike ride.  The CT Challenge is an annual family friendly bike event which raises money for cancer survivorship programs around CT. In 2006, they provided the funds to start CT’s first adult cancer survivorship clinic at Yale New Haven Hospital. They have also opened their own, stand alone Center For Survivorship in Southport, which offers yoga, Pilates, spin classes and personal training for cancer survivors and their caregivers in a nurturing environment. They continue to fund survivorship programs at Norwalk Hospital, St. Vincent’s Medical College, and others.  This year’s ride is Saturday, July 26.