Around Town

Industrial-Grade Umbrellas, New Seating Coming To Pop Up Park, AKA ‘The Launchpad’

By |

The volunteers who oversee the soon-to-return Pop Up Park downtown say they’re upgrading the furniture there this summer and partnering with nonprofits to help the organizations gain visibility. As requested, the Pop Up Park’s organizers have checked with New Canaan’s Special Events Committee and are ready to run the makeshift park continuously from Aug. 5 to 28, according to Martin Skrelunas. Merchants have come to the Pop Up Park Committee requesting participation in the space this summer and “they are starting to refer to it as ‘The Launchpad,’ ” Skrelunas told members of the Police Commission at their meeting Thursday, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. “I think we also have a grant opportunity that we are going to apply to add to the furnishings that we have.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

Seven women with direct connections to New Canaan—see the gallery above—will share their leadership experiences and encourage women and girls to pursue their goals in “Being Queen: Thoughts from the Throne,” a panel discussion hosted by NC Women Mean Business that will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at New Canaan Library. Read here for more information to this free, open event. ***

A New Canaan woman spotted a bobcat on her Canoe Hill Road property on Saturday morning—the sixth such sighting in one month of the reclusive feline. “I happened to be in the kitchen and turned and looked out the window and saw a bobcat on the front lawn,” Carol Miller said of her sighting at about 4:35 p.m. Saturday. “It meandered across the driveway and headed into the woods, and not a minute later there were six prancing deer that followed it.

Around Town

Beautification League, Garden Club Create Large Wreaths That Adorn Major Buildings through the Holidays

By |

More than two dozen volunteers from a pair of the town’s longest-serving and most hands-on nonprofit organizations gathered at the New Canaan Nature Center on Thursday to create the giant wreaths that adorn major buildings in town through the holidays. Officials say the New Canaan Beautification League and New Canaan Garden Club have collaborated for some 50 years to create the wreaths—an effort that’s also supported by the town in that public works supplies evergreen cuttings and mounts the creations each year. “It’s a tradition. This is really a tradition,” Beautification League President Faith Kerchoff said from the bustling, sunlit Sturgess Room, which smelled sweetly of the wide variety of evergreens used for the wreaths, including holly, arborvitae, spruce, boxwood, pine, cedar and juniper. Buildings that will get large wreaths include New Canaan Library, the Railroad Station, Police Department, Outback and Town Hall.

Government

Decorative Lampposts, Hanging Baskets Extending to Locust Avenue Between Main and Cherry

By |

The decorative lampposts that adorn much of the “magic circle” downtown soon will grace both sides of Locust Avenue from Main to Cherry Street, following allocation of a state grant. The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved a $59,440 contract with Danbury-based F&M Electrical Supply Company to purchase 16 of the lampposts. The lampposts take 10 to 12 weeks for delivery, so town officials “need to jump on this now,” Tiger Mann, downtown captain and assistant director of the New Canaan Department of Public Works, said during the selectmen’s meeting, held at Town Hall. Funds for the project will be drawn from a $215,000 state grant—New Canaan is one of 14 Connecticut towns that received a grant in 2013 from the Main Street Investment Fund. The five lampposts installed on Morse Court last week by well-established local New Canaan business Santella Electric, and new stretch of connecting sidewalk along the south side of Heritage Hill Road, both had been funded by the grant.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

It’s Spirit Week at New Canaan High School, and Tuesday was “Costume Day.” The photos above were snapped at ABC House of New Canaan Tuesday morning (thanks, John). ABC House is set to hold its 42 annual fundraiser at the Country Club of New Canaan. The gala will include a live auction and raffle, and will be attended by ABC scholars, their families and host families. Here’s more information on the event and how to get tickets. ***

Boston, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Tulsa, Detroit … New Canaan.