Around Town

In Demand: Three Sessions of Rec Department’s ‘Breakfast with Santa’ at Waveny Sell Out in One Hour

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When the Recreation Department launched its “Breakfast with Santa” event in 2007, about 50 participating kids—for the price of a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots program (more on that below)—in a single session, had breakfast with Mr. Claus himself and scored a photo with the big man. The event, a partnership for years with the Young Women’s League of New Canaan and now run by Rec with the support of generous sponsors, has grown so popular that this time around, three full sessions with 60 kids in each “sold out” (in truth, the event is free but requires advanced registration) in about one hour, Recreation Director Steve Benko said. “The kids, they just love it, and it’s great to have our sponsors on board,” Benko said of the event, which will run Saturday at Waveny House. This year’s sponsors are Lorenzo Colella of Joe’s Pizza and Mike Shullman of Russell Speeders (and Choose To Be Happy), Benko said. Among other perks for local Santa-seeking children, their contribution funds the purchase of goodie bags for the kids, including croissants, munchkins, cinnamon rolls and water.

Around Town

New Canaan Tradition: Fishing Derby at Mill Pond Set for April 12

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Town officials have set the date for a cherished community event at Mill Pond whose roots go back nearly 50 years in New Canaan. Derby Day—listed on the town’s website as the George Cogswell Memorial Fishing Derby 2014, named for a former New Canaan police officer—will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 12 (registration opens at 8:30 a.m.), according to a press release issued by New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tucker Murphy. The pond, which New Canaan has dredged every other year, will be stocked ahead of the event with 370 pounds of rainbow trout, Murphy said. The dredging of Mill Pond came up recently, at a March 19 Town Council meeting, during a presentation from Department of Public Works Director Michael Pastore and Assistant Director Tiger Mann. According to Mann, Mill and Mead Ponds (neither of which were skate-able this past winter) are dredged every other year at a cost of about $10,000 each time.