Chris Schipper

Officials Report Vandalism at Mead Park [UPDATED]

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[Note: This article has been updated with information from New Canaan Police.]

Officials said last week that Mead Park was recently hit by vandals. They “melted part of the one the slides” in the playground area, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “We’re waiting for the new piece to come in,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their May 10 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “We’ll replace it,” he said. “Since that happened we haven’t had any more vandalism recently.

Footer Featured Widget

Town To Work on Parking Lot at Mead Following Rise in Pickleball Court Use

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Though they’ve been open less than two years, the pickleball courts at Mead Park have become so popular that the town is looking at ways to get more parking spaces into the lot that serves the facility, officials said last week. All five courts were in use at lunchtime on April 12, Parks & Recreation Director John Howe told members of the Parks & Rec Commission during their regular meeting that night. “It’s caused a parking issue down there,” he said during the meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. The warmer weather and busier season at Mead—clay tennis courts, Mead Park Lodge, baseball and playground visitors—are expected to exacerbate the parking crunch, commissioners said. The parking configuration is “going to have to change,” Parks & Rec Secretary Francesca Segalas said.

Government

Officials: Mead Park Tennis Courts To Open Later This Month

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All of New Canaan’s athletic fields are open and the increasingly heavily used tennis courts at Mead Park are on track to open this month, officials said last week. The company that helps ready the clay courts at Mead for the season has done its prep work, according to Parks & Recreation Director John Howe. “We don’t want to do what we did last year, though,” Howe told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their April 12 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “We opened too early,” he continued. “I’m not saying we are not opening up until June or anything like that, but we want a few weeks where we can water and roll the courts and have the surface firm up more.

Board of Selectmen

Town Approves $35,000 Contract for Fireworks at Waveny; ‘Family Fourth’ Set for July 1

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a $35,000 contract with a Douglassville, Pa.-based company to put on this year’s fireworks at Waveny. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with the town’s longtime vendor, International Fireworks Mfg. Co., during its regular meeting. “I think they do a fabulous show,” Tom Stadler, chair of the New Canaan Family Fourth Committee, told the selectmen during their meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

This year’s Family Fourth, the hugely popular picnic and fireworks show at Waveny, will be held on Saturday, July 1 with a rain date of July 2 (and, if necessary, a further backup of July 8), Stadler said. Though in years past the Family Fourth has been held on July 4, the Committee decided unanimously to have it on the weekend, he said.

Animal 411

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

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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.