Government

‘Our Flagpole Should Not Be a Speech Mechanism’: Selectmen Pass New ‘Flag Policy’ for Town Buildings

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New Canaan’s highest elected official this week instituted a new “flag policy” for town buildings. 

First Selectman Dionna Carlson in introducing a draft policy Tuesday for the full Board of Selectmen to review noted that it wouldn’t apply to school buildings. Carlson said that during her first week in office she “had an individual come up to me and asked to fly another country’s liberation flag.”

“And I guess my predecessor allowed a week of flying that flag,” Carlson said at a regular Board meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“And I feel very strongly that the only flags that should be flown in municipal buildings are the American flag, the state of Connecticut flag and any town flag,” she continued. “I was thinking about school flags, and I really do believe that those should be reserved for the schools. The other thing that I’m trying to avoid is who gets to fly what flag when?…  If we did the school flags at the municipality, do we fly it for a football win? Then do we fly it for every debate [team] win?

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Letter to the Editor

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NewCanaanite.com recently received the following letter. Send your letters to editor@newcanaanite.com to have them published here. ***

I think Brad & Vandy Reh Fine & Estate Jewelry is an incredible resource , sort of hidden away, like a hidden gem. I feel like they are a throwback from a time when you were greeted by name with personalized care by gracious and kind owners Van and Brad Reh. I only learned about them from a friend.

Around Town

DAR Honors World War II Veteran Edith Linger

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Edith Linger, 103, thought she was attending a regular meeting of the Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution last Thursday. It’s an organization her own daughter, Patty Beyer, had joined in October. Except this was a special gathering of the nonprofit organization, designed to surprise and honor Linger and especially her service during World War II as a member of the Women’s Army Corps or “WAC,” the first New Canaanite to do so. “I’m surprised—I didn’t know anything about all this, but I’m glad there’s some of us left in New Canaan,” Linger, a 1938 New Canaan High School graduate and resident of Canaan Parish, said from beside a table and easel featuring articles, photos and memorabilia from her time in the service. “I think I’m about the last one of a native of New Canaan that’s left.

Government

‘I Don’t Want Town Funds Being Used for This’: Carlson Pushes Back on Contract for Stanchion Repair

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Town officials decided Tuesday to wait for an insurance claim to be processed prior to repairing a low painted brick column that marks the start of a public road near the Merritt Parkway. One of the two columns located at the start of White Birch Road—opposite the off-ramp from Merritt Parkway Exit 37 northbound—was struck and damaged by a vehicle in December, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The “stanchion” is in the public right-of-way and helps delineate White Birch, a residential street, for motorists exiting the parkway, Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting by way of seeking approval of a $5,350 contract to repair it. Yet New Canaan’s highest elected official pushed back on spending taxpayer dollars on the project. “I’m just going to throw it out there: Why are we reconstructing this?” First Selectman Dionna Carlson said during the meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.

News

Erin O’Brion Page, 67

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Erin O’Brion Page, of Austin,TX and formerly of New Canaan CT, passed away after a long and courageous battle with AML leukemia on March 21, 2024. Her faith, hope and positive spirit carried her through until the very end. Erin was born on May 29, 1956, in Austin, TX, daughter of Frances Van Meter deButts Page and George Matthews Page whose family lived in Texas for generations. Although Erin was born and raised in Texas, she considered herself to be very much a Virginian, summering with family in Upperville, VA and graduating from The Madeira School in McLean, VA.  Erin attended the University of Texas at Austin, was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, and graduated with a BFA in Studio Art and minor in art history from Ithaca College. Upon graduation, she spent twelve years working on 7th Avenue in the heart of NYC’s Fashion District.