‘I Don’t Think He Likes Pugs’: Local Woman Calls for Separate Large- and Small-Dog Areas at Spencer’s Run

Saying her pug was attacked twice in the dog run at Waveny, a local woman last week asked parks officials to consider creating separate “large” and “small” dog areas within Spencer’s Run. Kathryn Quirk told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission last week that her 1-year-old pug is “very friendly and she’s great with the other dogs and this one dog just jumped all over her and was very vicious” on two separate occasions. “Fortunately my husband was there and he was able to grab her,” Quirk told the Commission during its regular meeting, held Nov. 9 at Lapham Community Center. “He’s done this twice and I’ve watched him do it to another dog on a different day and I’m sort of reluctant to take her there now,” she said.

Rec Department To Relaunch After-School Programs at the Schools

The town’s Recreation Department plans to relaunch its after-school programs at New Canaan Public Schools following an unexpected lapse this fall, officials say. The municipal department “for years has been doing after-school programs at mainly the elementary schools but also Saxe,” according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. But due to a mistake or misunderstanding, “Whatever you want to call it,” Howe said, “we didn’t do them this fall.”

“There has been some outcry from parents, talking to the superintendent of schools, they’d like us back, and so we’re shooting to go back to do parent conferences which are at the beginning of December,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their regular meeting, held Wednesday at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We’ll have outside contractors go in there to run some programs just to keep the kids busy, and then back in January, we’re planning on being right back in the schools, running programs.”

Howe spoke during his regular monthly update to the Commission. In addressing Parks & Rec, he also reported that the restoration work on the gazebo at Waveny has been completed and came out very well, that part of the dog run at Waveny has been closed off for re-seeding and will reopen in the spring, reviewed some of the Rec Department’s popular Halloween-themed events and said next year’s Color Drop fundraiser for the New Canaan High School Scholarship Foundation will be held March 25.

‘A Very Stressful Year’: Parks Department Pushes Through Unusually Dry Summer

An unusually dry summer that featured moderate to severe droughts throughout the state took its toll on New Canaan, parks officials say. “This has been a very stressful year as far as plant materials are concerned in the parks,” according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “Luckily, the Highway Department has been out watering a lot of our trees, up until recently,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting, held Sept. 14 at Town Hall and via videoconference. Howe spoke during his regular monthly update to the Commission.