COVID-19 New Canaan

Local Businesses and COVID-19: New Canaan Toy Store

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For today’s Q&A with a local business owner navigating the COVID-19 public health emergency and related restrictions, we hear from Nathan Shapiro of the New Canaan Toy Store. Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: What are New Canaan Toy Store’s hours of operation and services you are offering at this point in terms of ordering/delivery? Nathan Shapiro: We are open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We are offering curbside service and free same day home delivery. My sister Annie, our store manager, and I are staffing the store ourselves. We are helping customers over the phone during store hours, texting photos and even FaceTiming to get as close to an in-store experience as possible.

Business

Local Businesses and COVID-19: Groove

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For today’s Q&A with a local business, we hear from Judi Anders, store manager at Groove, a clothing, accessories and gift shop that opened three years ago on Elm Street. Groove is open for curbside pickup or local delivery, and the store is staffed 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: How are you doing at Groove? Judi Anders: I will tell you some background because that helps.

COVID-19 New Canaan

Letter: ‘Incredible Generosity and Community Spirit’ in Supporting New Canaan Seniors

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Dear Editor:

Over the past few weeks, I have been in a privileged position to witness the incredible generosity and community spirit of the members of our town toward our senior population. From volunteers who have been keeping seniors safe by doing their grocery shopping, to Grace Farms donating delicious soup to some of our members every week, to other volunteers making friendly calls, the outpouring of caring has been heartwarming to see. Someone once told me that events like this pandemic happen to remind all of us how to be human. If that is true, then that humanity was on full display this past Easter weekend. Janeen Socci, a town resident, along with her entire family and a number of friends, delivered beautiful flowering plants to all of Staying Put’s 150 families on Sunday.

Business

Local Businesses and COVID-19: New Canaan Bicycles 

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For today’s Q&A with a local business navigating this COVID-19 public health emergency, we hear from town resident Lou Kozar, owner of New Canaan Bicycles. Here’s a continuously updated list of what’s open and closed in New Canaan. 

Here’s our exchange with Kozar:

New Canaanite: Tell me about your hours and service offerings now during the COVID-19 emergency, when the physical store there on Cherry Street is closed to the public. 

Lou Kozar: We are offering a two-step for sales and repairs. We encourage our customers looking for bikes or gear to visit our website, where they can find our up-to-date inventory. Those in need of repairs can select a service option and drop off the bike at our front door bike rack or arrange to have the bike picked up from their home. We are in the shop building bikes and completing repairs Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please call during hours with any questions, 866-629-2453. 

How are you faring at New Canaan Bicycles amid these restrictions? What has the response been like from the community? 

Like all local businesses, we pride ourselves on highly personalized customer experience. Doing business through emails and Facebook is a new challenge we are working on. It is reassuring to see that so many folks in town are looking to cycling as a fun family activity. What is the biggest part of your business right now?

Board of Education

Superintendent: 4th-Quarter Grading Will Depend on Duration of School Closure, State Guidance

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New Canaan Public Schools’ decision on how to grade students during the fourth quarter of the academic year will depend on how long schools are closed, officials said last week. Until the district knows what that duration will be, “it’s very difficult to make a final decision around what the grading structure should be,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi told members of the Board of Education. 

“I do believe that the guidance from the [Connecticut State Department of Education] commissioner will be relatively strong, because I think that districts are struggling with this question,” Luizzi said during the Board of Ed’s April 6 meeting, held via videoconference. 

“As far as what the Board of Education’s role will be in making that decision and as far as what the district team’s role will be in making that decision, I think we need to wait to see what comes out from the commissioner’s office and from the governor in this regard.”

New Canaan schools have been closed since March 12. Students here have been participating in the district’s continually refined e-learning or “remote learning” program, and school will reopen no sooner than April 20, Luizzi has said. Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday that he intends to sign an order keeping all Connecticut schools closed through at least May 20. The district has already been forced to cancel the popular Senior Internship Program scheduled for this spring, and state officials said they intend to meet next week to discuss the spring varsity sports season.