Brian Granskog

With Town’s Approval, New Canaan Softball Plants Apple Trees by ‘Orchard Field’ at Waveny

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Local softball families seeking to replace an iconic tree recently felled at their showcase field have planted several apple trees there, after beating their fundraising goal for the project twice over. New Canaan Softball rapidly raised $10,250 for the estimated $5,000 project that includes not just three Norway maples behind the backstop at Waveny’s Orchard Field, but also two honey crisp apple, two traditional, one yellow delicious and one Granny Smith apple tree, according to town resident Jeff Fortmann, a parent who serves on the organization’s board. Asked for his reaction to the strong response from local families involved in the sport, Fortmann said, “I’m just astonished.”

“It was an absolute thrill to get this support from the softball community,” he said. The Parks & Recreation Commission in October approved New Canaan Softball’s proposal to fund and help loan for the tree plantings. The area had been the site of an orchard, maintained by the Lapham family, owners of Waveny prior to the town’s acquisition of the property in 1967.

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Parks Officials Vote 11-0 To Support New Canaan Softball’s Proposal To Plant Trees by ‘Orchard Field’ at Waveny

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Parks officials last week voted unanimously in favor of a youth sports organization’s proposal to fund and help plan for the planting of trees by a softball field in Waveny. An iconic tree located behind the backstop at the “Orchard Field” at Waveny recently came down, prompting New Canaan Softball parents to plan for its replacement, according to Jeff Fortmann, a town resident and father of two children who serves on the organization’s board and who swam short-distance events in the early-1990s for the New Canaan Y team. “That tree was beloved,” Fortmann told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting, held Oct. 14 via videoconference. Softball parents consulted with Recreation Director Steve Benko and Parks Superintendent John Howe, and have developed a plan to raise $5,000 toward purchase of trees.

Business

New Sponsors Step Up To Support NC Softball; Program Sees Rapid Growth

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For decades, iconic New Canaan business Karl Chevrolet has sponsored—and continues to sponsor—little league baseball teams in town. The national Chevrolet company runs a program that distributes funds to specific youth leagues through the 1927-established Elm Street business and local Chevy dealers. This summer, Karl Chevy is expanding its support to include one of New Canaan’s rapidly growing sports for girls: softball. “We’ve met a couple of families from the program and they asked for help,” said Steve Karl, a VP at Karl Chevy and former Bantam league Huron who graduated in 1980 from New Canaan High School. “We said yes, we would do it this year.”

Sponsors for softball have nearly doubled year-over-year, according to Jeff Fortmann, a town resident handling community relations for New Canaan Softball.