Around Town

May ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Downtown Canceled 

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The founder of a popular car show that draws thousands of people to New Canaan each year said Tuesday that he’s canceling the May event for health and safety reasons. 

Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets, said the May 17 Caffeine & Carburetors scheduled for downtown New Canaan would be canceled. The situation in town hasn’t changed much in the past month “and I think we all owe it to each other to keep ourselves healthy, and our neighbors healthy,” Zumbach told NewCanaanite.com. 

“In running a Caffeine & Carburetors event, there is just no possibility of keeping a social distance, and I just will not tax our systems—the police, EMTs, the town—just to run a car event,” he said. “We have to keep everyone safe and happy.”

He already canceled the April gathering, which had been planned for this past Sunday. As of Tuesday night, New Canaan had 152 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus and 21 residents had succumbed to coronavirus disease, according to the Officer of Emergency Management. Schools, parks and non-essential businesses all have been forced to shutter by orders of the governor and first selectman, while restaurants have switched to delivery- and pickup-only models, and retailers have pushed e-commerce channels.

Business

Local Businesses and COVID-19: Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee

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[Editor’s Note: In each daily newsletter this week, the New Canaanite is publishing Q&As with local business owners on how they are faring amid the COVID-19 emergency.]

New Canaan had 24 confirmed cases of the virus as of Saturday evening, according to town Emergency Management Director Mike Handler. For today’s Q&A, we interviewed Doug Zumbach outside his eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets. 

How are you all doing here at Zumbach’s? Doug Zumbach: The loyal customers are finding us again. I think everyone is adjusting their daily lifestyle, with kids being home. So slowly but surely we are getting clientele.

Business

Hundreds Come to New Canaan’s Karl Chevrolet for 2020 Corvette Stingray Unveiling

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Hundreds of auto enthusiasts visited one of New Canaan’s best established local businesses Tuesday for a milestone unveiling of a new specialty car. 

Supported by New Canaan businesses and designed to support local charities, the all-day unveiling at Karl Chevrolet of the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray marked the first time that people could see the American sports car in Connecticut. 

“Everybody has been waiting for a mid-engine Corvette, including myself, and here it is,” Gary Trombly of East Granby said as dozens of people sat in and took photographs of an orange Stingray in Karl Chevy’s Elm Street showroom. Trombly traveled nearly two hours to attend. “Beautiful car,” he said. “It’s gorgeous. Well set up.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Final ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ of 2019 Draws Thousands to Waveny

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Thousands of auto enthusiasts descended on Waveny early Sunday for the final ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ car show of 2019. Camera- and coffee-toting fans of classic and specialty cars moved through the Waveny House forecourt, parking lots and fields on a crisp, cool fall morning for the free event. New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach, the founder of Caffeine & Carburetors who started hosting car gatherings outside his eponymous Pine Street coffee shop about 25 years ago, said during the free event that it was going “very well.” “It’s under control, great participants and great cars,” Zumbach said. Sunday’s gathering marked the only show of 2019 held at Waveny. Three earlier Caffeine & Carburetors events were held in downtown New Canaan.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Thousands Attend Caffeine & Carburetors in Downtown New Canaan 

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Thousands of residents and auto enthusiasts headed to downtown New Canaan on Sunday morning for a popular car show now in its eleventh year. 

Featuring 700 specialty and classic autos, Caffeine & Carburetors on Pine and Elm Streets is “growing and growing and growing,” First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said. “A lot of people come to New Canaan just for this,” Moynihan said while mixing with the crowd opposite Pine Street Concessions on a clear, sunny morning. 

Moynihan, who conceived of the town’s Tourism & Economic Development Advisory Committee, said Caffeine & Carburetors creator Doug Zumbach is seeking to promote the show for New York City residents traveling by rail to New Canaan. Doug Zumbach launched the auto gathering outside outside his eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets in 2008, and it quickly drew crowds from about a dozen vehicles to 50 and more, outgrowing that small area. The final installment of this year will be held Oct. 20 at Waveny.