Around Town

Parks Officials Support May 22 and Oct. 16 Caffeine & Carburetors at Waveny

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Following a successful trial of two Caffeine & Carburetors gatherings at Waveny in 2015 that yielded zero complaints, the event’s founder on Wednesday night secured support from parks officials to pursue two more dates this year. The Park & Recreation Commission voted overwhelmingly in favor of May 22 and Oct. 16 for Caffeine & Carburetors at Waveny—both Sunday mornings. Commissioner Jason Milligan was the sole member of Park & Rec not voting in favor of the event. Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous gourmet coffee shop on Pine Street where Caffeine & Carburetors was born as a far smaller gathering of automotive enthusiasts, told the commission at its regular monthly meeting that he’s already garnered Police Commission support for April 17 and Sept.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Caffeine & Carburetors Wraps Up 2015 Season with Strong Turnout at Waveny

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Antique, classic, muscle, racing and speciality car enthusiasts descended on Waveny Park on a crisp, cool autumn morning Sunday for 2015’s final Caffeine & Carburetors gathering. Town officials had approved four installments this year of the popular event, launched by New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach and sponsored primarily by Bankwell (whose Lucy French provided us the photo at right), between April and October: two downtown and two at Waveny. After foul weather forced a cancellation of the September gathering downtown, thousands of spectators ventured to the park. Town resident and collector Peter Bush of The Fox 95.9 FM took to the microphone to emcee the event, tapping an encyclopedic knowledge of autos to describe many of the cars parked in the forecourt of Waveny House and elsewhere, while spectators sipped coffee—much of it purchased from Zumbach’s eponymous gourmet shop, which operated a stand near the center of the action—leash-walked their dogs, shot photos and video, talked shop and connected with fellow enthusiasts. Zumbach estimated the crowd at 3,000 to 3,5000 and the car count was at 800-plus.

Around Town

SLIDESHOW: Caffeine & Carburetors Opens 2015 Season Downtown

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Thousands of car enthusiasts joined local families, business owners and volunteers on Pine and Elm Streets Sunday morning for the first Caffeine & Carburetors of 2015. Sponsored by Bankwell and Hagerty Insurance, the popular gathering of classic and specialty car enthusiasts—founded by New Canaanite Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous gourmet coffee shop at Pine and Grove—saw camera-toting spectators, many of them families with kids and dogs, strolling around downtown New Canaan under clear, sunny skies. “I want to thank everyone who participated—CERT, New Canaan Police Department, all the commissions that approved us, Mother Nature and everyone who is enjoying the show,” Zumbach said, noting that the April gathering includes partners on Elm Street such as New Canaan Library, New Canaan Society for the Arts and the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce. “Bankwell is pleased to sponsor Caffeine & Carburetors,” said Elizabeth Buzzeo, branch manager in New Canaan. “It’s a great local event and a great way to get people out on a nice sunny day.

Around Town

Va Va Vroom: Carriage Barn Arts Center Embraces, Celebrates Waveny Heritage in Upcoming Exhibition

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Since starting as co-directors of the Carriage Barn Arts Center 18 months ago, Eleanor Flatow and Arianne Kolb have noted how visitors to the Carriage Barn gallery react strongly when they learn of its original function at Waveny. Though locals tend to know well the grounds, mansion and individual outbuildings at the park, Kolb said, the way that those pieces fit together and tell the story of the Lapham family—the longtime owners of the property through the first half of the 20th Century, who kept horses, carriages and cars in the Barn—animates the familiar landscape and structures in new, profound ways. “When we explain what the space was used for, people have an ‘a-ha’ moment, where it makes sense in the bigger picture,” Kolb said. Starting next month, Carriage Barn Arts Center/New Canaan Society for the Arts will pay homage to that heritage in a new exhibition. “Va Va Vroom!

Government

Park & Recreation Commission by 5-3 Vote Supports Caffeine & Carburetors at Waveny

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Parks officials on Wednesday night voted in favor of allowing the Caffeine & Carburetors gathering of classic and specialty auto enthusiasts at Waveny on two Sundays in 2015. Under an agreement between the Recreation Department and town resident Doug Zumbach, owner of a gourmet coffee shop on Pine Street and one of the popular event’s founders, Caffeiene & Carburetors will be held from 6:30 to 11:30 a.m. on May 10 and Oct. 18. Zumbach on Thursday is to go before an administrative team known as the “Special Events Committee” and Board of Selectmen approval is required for the contract. The commission asked Zumbach to ask exhibitors to register in advance (which they’re doing, 370 had signed up by Thursday, he said), restrict the number of cars in the park (460 exhibiting cars can park in Waveny), require a donation to the New Canaan Food Pantry in lieu of an admission fee “somehow work with the vendors and stress in town to promote them,” Chairman Sally Campbell said at the meeting, held in the Douglass Room at Lapham Community Center.