Parks officials last week approved the use of Waveny for a popular specialty and classic car show this coming fall.
The late Wilbur Dinan attended the Oct. 18, 2015 Caffeine & Carburetors gathering at Waveny Park. Credit: Michael Dinan
Caffeine & Carburetors will be held Sunday, Oct. 22 in the park following a unanimous vote by the Parks & Recreation Commission at its regular meeting, held Feb. 8 in Lapham Community Center and via videoconference.
Referring to last October’s C&C in Waveny, Chair George Benington said, “I should note that the feedback from everybody there, especially the police, was that it was a much better organized event than in years previous, and that traffic flow both in and out worked a lot more smoothly.”
Scenes from the Oct. 18, 2015 Caffeine & Carburetors gathering at Waveny Park. Credit: Michael Dinan
In addition to Benington, Commission Secretary Francesca Segalas and members Steve Haberstroh, Hank Green, Doug Murphy, Keith Richey, Timothy Klimpl, Gene Goodman and Jake Granito voted in favor.
Launched by New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach outside his eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets in 2008, the show quickly began drawing crowds from about a dozen vehicles to 50 and more, outgrowing that small area. In 2023, C&C will run three shows, according to its website—on May 21 and Sept. 17 downtown, and then the Oct. 22 event at Waveny. Past sponsors include Bankwell, BMW of Darien and Lamborghini of Greenwich.
Scenes from the Oct. 18, 2015 Caffeine & Carburetors gathering at Waveny Park. Credit: Michael Dinan
“Last October was a great show,” Zumbach told the Commission. “I think the town really enjoyed it. I was very proud of my crew. I think I had 26 volunteers. We worked within soccer games, baseball games, weddings and a rainstorm that came in late in the afternoon.”
Zumbach added that he has received permission for the event from an administrative team of the town that works to ensure there are no public safety or major traffic issues with overlap of community events, and that he has insurance for it.
Caffeine & Carburetors—Waveny, Oct. 19, 2014. Credit: Michael Dinan
“Each show we look back and we tweak the next one,” he said. “I will increase the amount of volunteers. I think we’ll go up to about 30, maybe even more, to just orchestrate the event. We used walkie-talkies. I think we’re up to 12 or 14 now, which gives us great communication throughout the acreage. So we’re pretty well orchestrated. I don’t think we had many complaints last October. We always get one or two [show car owners who do not follow instructions]. There’s always a bad apple in the bunch sometimes.”
Zumbach said that organizers are looking into whether making more use of the Lapham Road exits from Waveny will help with traffic flow.
“We think it will be better getting cars out of the event in that direction,” he said.
After the vote, Segalas said, “Look forward to it.”