News

New Trees Grace Entrance to Irwin, Thanks to Garden Club and Town DPW

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[Editor’s Note: The following information was submitted by Katie Stewart of the New Canaan Garden Club, a nonprofit organization that’s been doing this type of great work in town for more than a century. Find out more about membership here.]

The three photos below were taken on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 by Judy Neville when the New Canaan Garden Club Irwin Park Committee installed five new trees at the Park entrance with the help of the town backhoe and Parks Superintendent John Howe, Highway Superintendent Mose Saccary and Tiger Mann. In 2005 the garden club members accepted the stewardship of New Canaan’s newest park on Weed Street from the Irwin Family when the club members were given an endowment fund to continue the beautification of the property/park and improve the quality of life in our already special town. The garden club gladly collaborates with the Park and Recreation Commission, the Office of Selectman and the Public Works crew on the maintenance and beautification. Annually improvements and new projects have been undertaken using the funds.

Around Town

Family, Friends Gather to Remember Ben Olmstead: ‘Dad Really Was the Mayor of New Canaan’

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More than 300 relatives, friends and colleagues—including dozens of New Canaan municipal employees and officials—on Wednesday gathered at St. Jerome Roman Catholic Church in Norwalk to remember Ben Olmstead as a man of rare and dependable strength in character that showed itself in qualities of consideration, love and generosity of spirit. A native and lifelong resident of Norwalk who worked as a surveyor in the New Canaan Department of Public Works for 37 years, Olmstead died July 24 following an accident. He was 71. Olmstead is survived by his wife of 40 years, Donna Pollastro Olmstead, daughters Kim Olmstead Dennehy and Lisa Olmstead Weed and their husbands, granddaughter Julia Grace Dennehy, sister Patricia Weaver and her husband and many extended relatives.

Government

Re-Paving Coming to Stretches of Ponus Ridge, Valley Road

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Town officials say they’re prioritizing the re-paving of two local roads, the conditions of which New Canaan motorists steadily complain. Ponus Ridge from Greenley Road to Clearview Lane, and Valley between Ferris Hill and Mariomi will see milling, reclaiming and re-paving following approval of the Department of Public Works’ request for funds at the most recent Board of Selectmen meeting. The town is getting “multiple complaints” on both of the popular north-south arteries, Tiger Mann, the DPW’s assistant director, said at the Wednesday meeting, held in the Lapham Community Center’s Douglas Room. “Since we have received a substantial number of complaints on Valley and Ponus, we wanted to get out early and get them done,” Mann said. Part of the approximately $2.25 million that New Canaan will spend on road maintenance and repair this year, the board unanimously approved of $485,939.60 for the project (that includes a contingency of $63,500).

The Little Things

High Praise for New Wildflower Field at 123 and Parade Hill

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An avid tennis player at the New Canaan Field Club, town resident Suzanne Jonker drives up Route 123 all the time. Prior to this summer, nothing much caught Jonker’s eye as she passed the (harrowing) intersection at Parade Hill Road. That’s all changed, with the creation this year of a bright wildflower meadow that’s drawing high praise from locals. Here are a few photos that Terry took on Thursday, article continues below:

“It used to be all weeds, so it definitely caught my eye and I thought, ‘Wow, that is so nice,’ ” Jonker told NewCanaanite.com. “Really good work.

Government

Decision Nears on Old Norwalk Road Sidewalk Extension to Kiwanis

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Residents last week voiced support for a proposed, 825-foot sidewalk extension that would finish connecting Main Street and Kiwanis Park, saying it’s a much-needed safety measure for pedestrians already traveling in the roadway along the eastern leg of Old Norwalk Road. Kiwanis is a popular spot for kids with its playground, basketball courts, YMCA summer camp and preschool, making the sidewalk extension—from the Old Norwalk Road Bridge (over the Fivemile River), along the south side of the street—“essential,” Main Street resident Mary Flaherty said at the June 18 Town Council meeting. “As it stands now, it’s going to attract nuisance. It’s so close to the schools, you are going to have kids walking there no matter what you do,” Flaherty said during a public comment period at the meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center’s Visitors Center. “And I see them now walking down, ducking around the bushes like this”—here she pretend-shuffled sideways—“so it is really just fabulous that this is before you and I encourage you to move it on its way as quickly as possible.”

“We’re kind of in a dangerous situation now, so the sooner the better,” Flaherty added.