Government

Kiwanis Beach Pass Sales Up 14% in 2022

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One of New Canaan’s most unique if somewhat unknown recreational facilities saw a steep rise in activity this summer, officials say. 

The town sold 505 beach passes to Kiwanis Park for the 2022 season, “more than in recent years,” Parks & Recreation Commission Hank Green said. The figure is up 14% over last summer, Green said during the appointed body’s regular meeting, held Sept. 14 at Town Hall. 

“It was a great summer for Kiwanis Park,” he said while presenting an update on the Old Norwalk Road park to the Commission. Recreation officials noted in July that new residents of New Canaan are discovering Kiwanis and enjoying its beach, spring water-fed swimming hole, basketball courts and general freedom. The 14-acre park also includes a pavilion, facilities such as restrooms, a deck with picnic tables and play structures for kids.

Bea Watkins

‘It’s Something Different’: Activity and Attendance Up at Kiwanis Park, Officials Say

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Though no formal numbers are available, officials say Kiwanis Park is seeing a higher level of activity that it has in years. 

Original programming for the Old Norwalk Road park and its special appeal to new residents coming from the city, with its beach and swimming hole, are behind the increase in attendance, officials said during this month’s Parks & Recreation Commission meeting. “New residents are excited about it,” Recreation Office Manager Bea Watkins said at the July 13 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “It’s something different. They’re coming from the city. The freedom and the basketball and everything else that it offers—they’re thrilled.”

The comments came during Parks & Recreation Director John Howe’s general update to the Commission. 

Commissioner Hank Green said, “I want to give a shout-out to Kiwanis Park.

Gabriel Almaguer

Jehovah’s Witnesses Seek To Set Up Cart for Personal Ministry in Mead Park

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Town officials said last week they need to tap legal counsel prior to allowing Jehovah’s Witnesses to use a section of Mead Park for their ministry. A representative from the South Salem, N.Y.-based congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their regular meeting last week that they’d like to set up a cart for “witnessing” for personal ministry at Mead. “The objective is Bible principles practical with family life,” Gabriel Almaguer told the Commission during its July 13 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. 

He brought a cart with him to the meeting to show the commissioners. It included a poster saying “Find Family Happiness” with pamphlets including “Awake! Six Lessons Children Need To Learn” “Your Family Can Be Happy” and “My Bible Lessons.”

“What we would do is set it up somewhere, stand next to it,” Almaguer said.

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‘You Have Been Exceptional’: High Praise for Rona Siegel as Parks & Rec Chairmanship Turns Over

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Members of the Parks & Recreation Commission offered high praise at their most recent meeting for Chair Rona Siegel as the leadership for the appointed body turned over in a close election. Parks & Rec chair for the past three years, Siegel has been “exceptional, just exceptional” in the role, Commissioner Hank Green said during the group’s Jan. 12 meeting, held via videoconference. “Your commitment, the time you’ve put in, your mastery of the issues—on behalf for town, thank you,” Green said. Siegel was elected chair of Parks & Rec in March 2019, succeeding fellow Democrat Sally Campbell in the role.

Gene Goodman

Parks & Rec Approves Commercial Ads for Proposed Rink at Waveny

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In a break with precedent, parks officials voted last week to allow commercial advertising on a single-season trial basis for a recreational facility planned for Waveny. A private group seeking to establish a seasonal outdoor ice rink at Waveny plans to install the 60-by-120 structure some time later this year in part of the parking lot that serves the Orchard softball field. By selling ad space on the rink’s “dasher boards”—the panels lining the inner wall of an ice rink—the private group could raise about $20,000 to $25,000 annually to help offset operational costs, one of its members, Gene Goodman, said during the Nov. 10 regular meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission. 

Goodman, who also is a Parks & Rec commissioner, joined Chair Rona Siegel and fellow commissioners Francesca Segalas, George Benington, Carl Mason, Hank Green, Jake Granito (also a member of the private group, officials say), Steve Haberstroh, Matt Konspore and Jack Hawkins in voting 10-0 to allow for the advertising for the upcoming season. (The Commission has one open seat.)

It’s unclear just when the ice rink would be installed or how long it would be in place.