Around Town

‘Just a Fun, Family, Social Activity’: Wednesday Night Concerts at Waveny in Full Swing

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Since 1980, scores of New Canaanites each summer have descended on the grounds behind Waveny House for free, weekly concerts that are sponsored by local businesses. Featuring a wide array of music genres—from jazz and country to classic rock and oldies—the series is organized through the New Canaan Recreation Department and has emerged over the years as a staple of family-friendly summertime activity in town. Though the kickoff concert this year was held on the same evening as New Canaan High School graduation and the even of the last day of school for the district, some 400 or 500 people still turned out for the show, according to Recreation Director Steve Benko. Since then, the weekly crowds have climbed upwards of 800 attendees, he said. “It’s just a nice night out with the family,” Benko said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Police have told an out-of-town man to keep his 5-year-old female golden-doodle out of the dog park at Waveny until he gets the animal spayed. The dog (her name is Amber) is in heat and on a recent weekday evening her owner upset other Spencer’s Run users when he got angry about male dogs in the park trying to mount her. We’re hearing that the man grabbed the male dogs and yanked them off of his fetching female, as though it was their fault. Officials say that if the out-of-towner returns with the dog un-spayed, he’ll be ticketed and his PIN number to enter Spencer’s Run revoked. ***

Though the property owner at the Bank of America building on Elm Street could not be reached for comment after town officials blasted the condition of the planters out front, he appears to have taken at least one major step toward addressing the problem. Within days of a meeting of the Plan of Conservation & Development Implementation Committee that saw some members refer to the area as a “non-garden,” a crew appeared in the morning to install new flowers, topsoil, gravel and plants there.

Around Town

‘We Are Part of the Community’: Glass House Spotlights, Bolsters Tour Offerings for Locals

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Christa Carr recalls the tremendous anticipation that surrounded the opening to the public of the Glass House in 2006. Handed over to the National Trust for Historic Preservation 20 years prior, it opened to tourists following the passing of its world-renowned architect and occupant, Philip Johnson, in 1985, and those tours essentially “sold out for the first two years,” said Carr, communications director for the Glass House. “Everybody knew Philip Johnson,” she recalled on a recent afternoon in downtown New Canaan, at a coffee shop around the corner from the Visitor Center and Design Store downtown, where buses depart 12 times per day on weekdays for the 47-acre Ponus Ridge property. “It was a real treat to be invited to Philip Johnson’s house when he was alive.”

And it’s a treat to go now, though to this point, the overwhelming majority of visitors are out-of-towners. In 2014, statistics from the Glass House shows, during the site’s May 1 to Nov.

Bankwell

‘I’m Hoping To Get Experience’: 80 NCHS Seniors Set for Internships through Popular Local Program

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In some ways, New Canaan High School senior Fiona Risom already has gained plenty of work experience. A competitive sailor, she’s been a junior instructor for seven summers and has her sights set this year on getting paid to run her own class at a yacht club in Westchester. Risom also worked as a paid coach for the New Canaan Lacrosse Association last spring. Yet—until now—she’s never worked in an office setting before. “I’m hoping to get experience,” Risom said after school Thursday, speaking of her participation in the NCHS Senior Internship Program.