Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Sponsor ‘New Canaan There & Then’ Local History Feature

May 9, 2025—NewCanaanite.com today announced Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Joanne Santulli, Bettina Hegel, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz as sponsors of the local history feature “New Canaan There & Then,” written by the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society. Building and expanding on its predecessor feature called “Now & Then,” which focused on structures and properties around town, “New Canaan There & Then” will also touch on the people, organizations, events and businesses behind defining moments in New Canaan history. “As Realtors and longtime residents of New Canaan, we are so excited to sponsor this beloved and important record of our town’s rich history,” Santulli said. “In examining New Canaan’s past, ‘New Canaan There & Then’ brings our history to life in a way that is both educational and fascinating.”

The local history feature launches with its first installment headlining the Friday, May 16 newsletter. New Canaan Museum & Historical Society Executive Director Nancy Geary said, “I am very pleased that Joanne Santulli, Bettina Hegel, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz of Brown Harris Stevens have partnered with the New Canaanite to sponsor the ‘There & Then’ column.

‘A Beautiful Facility’: Officials Cut Ribbon on ‘Coppo Field,’ New Home of NCHS Varsity Baseball

Hundreds of New Canaan Baseball players of all ages, family, friends and supporters gathered at the new Coppo Field on Wednesday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting and inaugural game at the widely anticipated facility in Waveny. Named for the late Joe Coppo, the turf field will serve as the new home of the New Canaan High School varsity Rams, whose first-ever game (also against Darien) had been played nearly 100 years ago when NCHS first played at Mead Park. 

Coppo himself “was a longtime resident of New Canaan and ardent supporter of New Canaan Baseball who graciously volunteered his time coaching and was an active board member,” the emcee of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Terry Dinan, told those gathered at the field on a comfortable, sunny day. 

He continued: “Joe Coppo tragically lost his life on Sept. 11, 2001. His spirit and legacy lives on in all who take the field to play. We know Joe would be excited, and proud, to see the unveiling of the renovated Coppo Field today.”

Those in attendance included municipal officials such as First Selectman Dionna Carlson, Selectman Steve Karl, Public Works Director Tiger Mann, Parks & Recreation Director John Howe and Superintendent of Parks Ryan Restivo, district representatives such as Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi, NCHS Principal Bill Egan and Athletic Director Jay Egan, and New Canaan Athletic Foundation founding Chair Mike Benevento and Board President Ian MacAllister. 

Also in attendance were members of the Coppo family, including Joe Coppo’s son John who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Rosebrook Road Dog Bites Local Woman 3 Times

A Rosebrook Road dog finished a home quarantine last week after biting a New Canaan woman out for a walk. It happened at about 11:25 a.m. on April 17 (a Thursday), according to an incident report written by Officer Sean Godejohn, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. The victim told Godejohn that she’d been out walking “when she came upon another person walking a dog on leash,” he wrote in the report, obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

The victim “was going to say hi to the dog when the dog bit her three times,” it said. “Once to her inner thigh, once to her left shin and once to her left hamstring.”

The woman told police she didn’t need medical care, the report said. She told police where the biting dog lived, on Rosebrook Road.