Around Town

‘A Pit Stop’: Organizers Rule Out ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ in 2017

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Caffeine & Carburetors, the popular gathering of auto enthusiasts in downtown New Canaan and, more recently, at Waveny Park, will not be held in 2017, according to the New Canaan resident who launched the events six years ago. Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous gourmet coffee shop on Pine Street where informal gatherings of fellow specialty and classic car enthusiasts in 2010 swiftly outgrew the area immediately around his business, said he and fellow founders Peter Bush and Todd Brown are “putting Caffeine & Carburetors in a pit stop” for now. “After 24 or 25 shows over the past six years, it’s time to just revaluate the operation of it all,” Zumbach told NewCanaanite.com. “It takes a tremendous amount of effort, time, town resources, et cetera, to put successful shows together. I have other personal and professional projects I would like to approach this year.

Government

Rec Director on Caffeine & Carburetors: Spectators, Not ‘Show’ Car Owners, Driving Higher Attendance at Waveny

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On the heels of similar comments from parks officials, members of New Canaan’s legislative body this week said that while volunteer-run Caffeine & Carburetors gatherings are fun events that showcase the town, it now must be regulated in some fashion due to its rapid growth and size. Steve Karl, vice chairman of the Town Council, said during the group’s regular meeting Wednesday night that the auto enthusiasts gathering is a “great event” and “attraction to New Canaan” that creates a lot of enthusiasm. “But by the same token … we are a small town and you’ve to regulate it a little bit,” Karl said at the council’s meeting, held at Town Hall. “And I love it. But we need to be careful.

Government

‘It Is Probably Getting Too Big’: Parks Officials Seek To Control Size of Caffeine & Carburetors at Waveny

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Though Caffeine & Carburetors operates smoothly and safely, the auto enthusiast gathering has grown so popular that it’s reached a tipping point where controls on attendance must be considered, parks officials said this week. On the heels of a the largest-ever Caffeine & Carburetors at Waveny—a gathering that saw an estimated 1,300-plus people attend—Park & Recreation Commission Chair Sally Campbell said Wednesday that “it is probably getting too big.”

“Things grow to a point and then you really have to look at them, and they have come to a point,” Campbell said during the group’s regular meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. Launched six years ago as a modest gathering of specialty and antique car enthusiasts by New Canaan resident Doug Zumbach, the owner of the eponymous coffee shop on Pine Street, Caffeine & Carburetors swiftly outgrew its original location. It drew an estimated 400 cars in November 2013, and the following spring expanded to Elm Street downtown. It debuted at Waveny that fall of 2014, and parks officials approved two events downtown and two at the park for 2015.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Huge Turnout for 2016 Season’s Final Caffeine & Carburetors at Waveny

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In what likely was the largest-ever Caffeine & Carburetors, an estimated 1,300 auto enthusiasts gathered at Waveny on Sunday morning. The final installment of this year’s season saw six rows of classic and specialty cars line the lawn west of Waveny House, as camera-, baby-, leash- and coffee-toting spectators milled about there, on the circle in front of the 1912-built mansion and in the lots leading down to the Powerhouse and Carriage Barn. Launched by New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach out front of his eponymous gourmet coffee shop on Pine Street and emceed by town resident Peter Bush of FM95.9 The Fox, Caffeine & Carburetors is sponsored in part by Bankwell. “We are super-excited to be a sponsor again this year,” said Bankwell Marketing Assistant Lucy French. “We love supporting these kinds of events—especially that bring people into the community and bring more awareness to all the local businesses.”

Around Town

PHOTOS: Another Successful ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Downtown as Rain Holds Off

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Thousands of auto enthusiasts joined baby stroller-pushing and dog leash-wielding New Canaanites downtown on Sunday morning for this season’s third installment of Caffeine & Carburetors. With a handful of sponsors that include Bankwell and Rand Insurance, the popular gathering of antique and specialty car enthusiasts featured somewhere between 900 and 1,000 autos for the second of two installments located in New Canaan’s business district (the fourth and final Caffeine & Carburetors will be held Oct. 16 at Waveny), officials said. “The car gods were looking out for us,” said Doug Zumbach, owner of Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee on Pine Street and founder of the event. “The weather changed dramatically from 80 percent thunderstorms to the sun is out.”

Though clouds threatened to soak the “show” mid-morning, the rain held off and a partly sunny, comfortable morning greeted visitors to Pine and Elm Streets, closed to pedestrian traffic and overseen by New Canaan Police and volunteers.