Caffeine and Carburetors

Parks & Rec Unanimously Approves Oct. 17 ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ at Waveny

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After all four installments of a popular antique and specialty car show were canceled one year ago due to the pandemic, parks officials on Wednesday night approved ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ for Oct. 17 at Waveny. It’s founder and organizer, New Canaan resident Doug Zumbach, owner of the eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets, “always does such an amazing job, and all the events that he has had in the past have been pretty problem-free,” Parks & Recreation Commissioner Laura Costigan said during the appointed body’s regular meeting, held via videoconference. “And I can’t think better way keep jumpstarting things after the pandemic than approving” the event, she said. The Commission voted 11-0 to approve it. 

Zumbach in proposing the event—and also noting that he hoped in the future for a possible Sept.

Francesca Segalas

After Lengthy Discussion, Parks & Rec Votes 8-1 To Have Kiwanis Sign Repainted

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Parks officials last week voted 8-1 to repaint the sign at the entrance of Kiwanis Park on Old Norwalk Road. The approximately 20-year-old sign—the first in what has become New Canaan’s standard for public parks, brown with white lettering—is “gorgeous” though also “old and faded and dilapidated,” Parks & Recreation Commission Chair Rona Siegel said during the appointed body’s regular meeting, held May 12 via videoconference. Recreation Director Steve Benko and Public Works Director Tiger Mann proposed retaining the brown post and frame of the sign while changing its inset to the same blue as a sign by Kiwanis Park’s swimming hole, and going over its lettering with white reflective paint. Commissioner Francesca Segalas—whose house is located 433 feet from the entrance to Kiwanis, according to Google Maps—led a 23-minute discussion about the sign. 

She opposed the change. “I know that every one of our park signs are brown with white writing and the Kiwanis sign, when we talked about it popping, we talked about just reflective white paint going where the writing is,” Segalas said.

Government

Parks Officials Recommend Waveny Athletic Fields for Summer Theatre of New Canaan 2021 Location

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Saying a proposed location near the walled garden won’t work, parks officials last week suggested Summer Theatre of New Canaan figure out a way to put on its 2021 performances on the main athletic fields. Members of the Parks & Recreation Commission voted 10-1 at their April 14 meeting to have town officials and a designee from the appointed body work with the organization to arrange for a stage, tents and audience seats to be located near the southwest corner of Waveny’s main athletic fields, north of the main road through the park. “I think that field is amazing,” Chair Rona Siegel said during the meeting, held via videoconference. The area is flat, with good access to parking and restroom facilities, she said. It also will be visible to those using the park and especially motorists entering from Lapham Road, she said.

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Parks & Rec Recommends Locating Proposed Open-Air Ice Rink at Waveny

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Parks officials this week voted to recommend that a proposed seasonal outdoor ice rink be located in Waveny. Based on the findings of a subcommittee, the Parks & Recreation Commission voted 10-0 in favor of trying out a winter “mini rink” in the parking lot that serves the Orchard Field softball diamonds. 

One commissioner abstained from voting during the April 14 meeting, held via videoconference. Commissioner Jake Granito, who helped lead the Ice Rink Committee, said the group looked in depth at three possible locations—tapping Public Works Director Tiger Mann, Parks Superintendent John Howe and Recreation Director Steve Benko for their expertise—and concluded that the Waveny site “is best suited for the town.”

It’s a large area that’s “also good because you have the grass fields behind it,” Granito said. “The bathrooms are right there. There’s still plenty of parking.