0684-Radi0

0684-Radi0: School Start Times in New Canaan

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free weekly podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Karen Willett, a creator and leader of Healthy School Start Times New Canaan, about the group’s formation and mission, and its assessment of where things stand now with respect to the start times of New Canaan Public Schools. This installment of 0684-Radi0 is sponsored by Ally-Bally-Bee, a gift and home store with high quality and on trend handcrafted goods and fine art. Located on Elm Street in the heart of downtown New Canaan, Ally-Bally-Bee will host a trunk show on Friday, May 3rd for Hip V Modern Vintage Jewelry. There will be discounts and a raffle for a vintage piece, so be sure to stop by from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Here are some recent past episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Ally-Bally-Bee

Meet New Canaan’s Suzanne Nardi, the New Owner of Ally-Bally-Bee on Elm Street

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New Canaan’s Suzanne Nardi had been looking at a commercial space in Westport to launch a new art- and home-oriented business when an opportunity popped up here in town just a few months ago. A former online brand marketer who developed her own interior decorating business while raising two kids, Nardi heard from a friend that the owner of Ally-Bally-Bee on Elm Street had taken a new job and was looking for someone to take over the handcrafted gift shop. Nardi had been a patron of Ally-Bally-Bee and liked the co-op model shop at 134 Elm St., and saw an opportunity to assume an established business in a commercial space already fit out where she could make her own mark. 

“I felt like it was meant to be,” Nardi said Tuesday morning as deliverymen dropped off a package of the carefully selected merchandise that she’s laying out in a reimagined sales floor. “I am feeling very nervous and very excited,” she said. “I just want to open the door.

Business

Elm Street’s Ally-Bally-Bee in ‘Hibernation’ While Owner Seeks Partner To Continue Gift Shop

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Handcrafted gift shop Ally-Bally-Bee on Elm Street is “hibernating” for January and February, its owner said, while she seeks a new partner interested in taking over the business. Morag Grassie recently accepted a position at Yale University in her previous field of biomedical research and, as a consequence, cannot devote enough time to the co-op model shop at 134 Elm St. in New Canaan. Asked what she would tell a prospective partner about Ally-Bally-Bee, Grassie said it’s “an absolutely great way to get involved with lots of small local businesses, to help them promote their ideas and help them polish what they have.”

“It’s a way to help their art businesses flourish, because that is what I see happening with all of the artists who have been with us so long,” Grassie said. “You’re a part of the community, and it’s almost a combination of business and philanthropy, because as a business you absolutely have to make money, but you’re also helping people develop their passions, as well.”

Ideally, Grassie said, the new partner would be a local New Canaan artist who can “be the face of the store” for patrons to connect and identify with, she said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The Traffic Calming Work Group this week released the following data captured by speed sentries in New Canaan. The following figures represent the 85th percentile of speeds among all motorists—the standard used in determining whether motorists are driving too fast. Dan’s Highway—29.6 mph (eastbound), 28.4 mph (westbound)
Gerdes Road—33.6 mph (eastbound), 31.8 mph (westbound)
Oenoke Ridge Road—41.4 mph (southbound)

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Talented New Canaan High School graduate Thomas Throop, furniture maker of Grove Street and owner of Black Creek Designs, is exhibiting at the Architectural Digest Design Show in New York City this weekend. ***

New Canaan Police made two pot busts on Wednesday. At 3:43 p.m., a 32-year-old Norwalk man was cited for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia after he in advertently activated a burglar alarm at New Canaan Library.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Urged by local leaders, dozens of New Canaanites attended Tuesday night’s ConnDOT hearing in Stamford on proposed service cuts to the New Canaan branch of Metro-North Railroad—reductions that government and business officials both have called potentially devastating. Scroll through the gallery above for photos and a transcription of First Selectman Kevin Moynihan’s comments at the hearing. ***

South School failed the most recent surprise health inspection of its cafeteria kitchen, and East School and New Canaan High School, as well as St. Luke’s School, also failed recent inspections. Food items in a 2-door Hobart at South were discarded after the cooler was found to be at 63.7 degrees—far higher than required—during a May 2, 2017 inspection.