Did You Hear … ?

Police fined an Elm Street business $200 after it was found noncompliant during an unannounced tobacco and electronic cigarette inspection. A-1 Cellars, a liquor store at 282 Elm St., was cited for sale of tobacco to a minor and sale of an e-cigarette to a minor following the Oct. 20 inspection, which the New Canaan Police Department conducted with the state. Retailers found to be in compliance included Stewarts Spirits, Walgreens, Vegetable Barn Mobil Marts on South Avenue and the Merritt Parkway, Veggie Barn, Acme and Gulf station. ***

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved 3-0 the hiring of Christopher Wegrzyn as town sanitarian in the New Canaan Health Department, succeeding Carla DeLucia in the role.

PHOTOS, VIDEO: New Canaan Memorial Day Parade 2015

New Canaan’s Boyd Harden gained his greatest appreciation for what Memorial Day means in 1995, about one year after flying dozens of international relief missions to Somalia as a U.S. Marine Corps aviator and officer. As a member of the “Thundering Third”—the third battalion, fourth Marines—the 1983 NCHS graduate went to the island of Iwo Jima, a small volcanic island that had seen some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II in February and March 1945. Addressing hundreds of New Canaanites gathered at Lakeview Cemetery for a solemn ceremony following the annual Memorial Day Parade on Main Street, Harden asked the crowd to envision what those Marines had faced in what would be a pivotal battle of WWII. Imagine, Harden said, that loaded with 120 pounds of combat gear, it was the job of those gathered to get from Lakeview Cemetery to the water towers at Waveny, with 22,000 Japanese soldiers lying in wait in every home along the way. “They [the Japanese] have been practicing for months and their sole intention is to kill all of us,” Harden said.

Memorial Day Parade Starts 9:30 a.m. Monday; Guest Speaker, Line of March Set

The Memorial Day Parade will start at 9:30 a.m. Monday, following Main Street from St. Mark’s Episocpal Church and concluding with a ceremony at Lakeview Cemetery whose guest speaker is a 1983 New Canaan High School graduate and deeply involved resident of the town who is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. Boyd Harden, after earning degrees including an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, went on to serve as a U.S. Marine Corps officer, officials say. He attended naval aviation flight school and was designated as a U.S. Marine Corps aviator in April 1992. “He is a rotary wing and a fixed wing pilot,” according to a press release issued by the Office of the First Selectman.

Did You Hear … ?

To help promote the 2015 Books, Blues, and BBQ party to benefit the New Canaan Library, the event’s committee members are encouraging residents to post on the library’s Facebook page photos of themselves wearing a favorite cowboy hat. “Over the years, cowboy attire has become associated with this important fundraising event,” Holly Parmelee, committee co-chairperson, said in a press release. “It is common that party-goers come decked out in cowboy hats and boots. So we thought it would be fun to encourage community members to show their support for the library and the event by posting a photo of themselves wearing their favorite cowboy hat.” See the gallery above for some familiar faces around town that are already participating. ***

Some disturbing news here: We’re hearing that some residents of Spring Water Lane last Wednesday discovered ‘#WhiteLivesMatter’ flyers, in Zip-loc bags and weighed down with rocks, on top of their mailboxes.