New Canaan Week in Review: New Park in Town, Singular Obsessions, Hockey Title

 

We began the week by jack-hammering at the frozen snow and finished by besting our rivals and neighbors on the ice.

Town Talker

Many of us learned a new word this week: ‘coywolf.’ Also known as a ‘red wolf’ and spotted up in the Tobys Lane area in December, it’s a cross between an eastern wolf and western coyote that turned up in town again, this time at Proprietors Crossing.

After we reported the Sunday sighting, we heard from another resident, in the area between Kiwanis and Route 123, who saw what appears to be the same species on her own property on Thursday morning (hers are the photos you see in this article).

We’re told that the species is about 100 years old and came down to this area from Canada about 50 years ago.

Quality of Life

New Canaan Library is planning a pocket park for the corner of Maple Street and South Avenue, and it could include not only benches and landscaping, but the ability to download e-Books to mobile devices.

New Canaan’s highest elected official talked to us about a cherished town tradition that’s been missing this winter: Pond skating at Mead and Mill Ponds. Though we’ve seen a brutal January and February weather-wise, with snow and ice storms and bitter cold, the town hasn’t been able to give skaters the all-clear—perhaps as First Selectman Rob Mallozzi notes, because we’ve had to put so much salt down, and it’s washing into our storm drains and preventing the ponds from freezing over.

Another big quality-of-life matter that’s facing New Canaan residents is the prospect of getting natural gas service here. What’s clear is that Yankee Gas is targeting downtown New Canaan (our local experts on this say that, on average, a commercial customer will use about 10 times the amount of gas than a homeowner) first. Gas service will be less expensive for residents, and safer for businesses who now use propane tanks, officials say. What we don’t know is just when the service will arrive, though we expect a timetable to shake out in the next month or so if Yankee Gas expects to get into the ground for main lines before next winter.

Finally, our town’s Department of Public Works is looking to improve safety at two roadways. Officials say they are going to determine whether traffic-calming measures are needed to slow down motorists coming into the S-curve on White Oak Shade Road between Putnam and Overlook, and they’re also petitioning state officials to get some more warning signs on the Route 106 rail overpass (which truckers are still driving into, despite existing signage).

Business

We asked Heidi at New Canaan Olive Oil, a great little shop halfway up Elm Street, about local favorites at other downtown businesses, and she gave a nod to Ten Thousand Villages. Take a look at the item she chose. In case you’re not familiar with Ten Thousand Villages, it’s a nonprofit-cum-storefront that is worth reading about. And as store manager Shawn Webber likes to say, if you don’t know where they are, it’s “the old Wire Whisk” space.

Police Activity

A New Canaan teen and new driver turned herself in on a misdemeanor charge after striking a parked car downtown and leaving the scene, and we also heard that $8,650 worth of tools and equipment went missing from a Hawks Hill Road home under construction.

Our police department’s Animal Control Unit helped rescue a baby possum from some dogs that must not have been paying attention—the little animal had wriggled through the chain link fence at the Waveny dog park in the middle of the day, but was captured and released unharmed. Police also confined a pair of New Canaan dogs for two weeks at a local vet after the canines bit people.

Features

0684-Old

Terry’s history article this week takes a look at the remnants of “The Great Wall of New Canaan.” The “Perambulation Line” predates New Canaan itself—it marks the old border between Norwalk and Stamford. This is a must-read for townies.

Street Style

Tori from Pimlico gave us the lowdown on her own style and offered up some keen observations about New Canaan’s in this week’s edition of ‘Street Style’—thanks again for being a good sport, Tori. Her tip on being comfortable in what you wear is well put.

5 Things I’m Obsessed With

Another group of good sports, all seventh-graders at Saxe, told us about their obsessions and—it must be said—this was the first time any of our subjects for this feature mentioned Federal Express trucks or gas station mini-marts.

The Little Things

Our first installment of “The Little Things” anticipated the blooming of 5,000 daffodils planted at Irwin Park. Well, about the time that’s happening, we’ll start to see activity on our baseball and softball diamonds—much of it thanks to the time and effort of volunteers and sponsors of the New Canaan Baseball/Softball Inc. leagues, including Karl Chevrolet. In one of this week’s installments of “The Little Things,” we give them a nod for that strong community work.

Our other installment this week gives a shout-out to New Canaan Library’s first-ever teen library, Cheryl Capitani, who is giving the teen area there a refresh, with new paint and furniture, thanks in large part to a generous donation.

New Canine-ites

Meet our fellow residents Sir Charles and Gregory Melnitsy—each with Russian in their blood. Charles is a Borzoi or Russian wolfhound, and Gregory is a Moscow native who has been the dog’s owner for all of the canine’s five years. We asked Gregory about what Charles likes to do in New Canaan, among other things, and his answers seemed appropriate to dogs and human residents alike.

Finally, if you read this far, it’s my 39^th birthday tomorrow. The first NewCanaanite.com reader to wish me a Happy Birthday in the comments thread will win a gift card to a locally owned New Canaan business!