Now & Then

Mead Park Mystery: The Colonnade

By |

It looks to be something out of ancient Greece or Rome or even the Old South rather than New Canaan. The colonnade that sits amid the Mead Park tennis courts on a perch overlooking Mead Pond serves no other function these days than as a picturesque background for pre-prom or family photos. A relic of some bygone era, many patrons of the park pass it by every day, oblivious to its significance. So what exactly was it for? The history of the colonnade dates back to the Great Depression, which according to the New Canaan Historical Society’s publication Landmarks of New Canaan, was actually a period of substantial growth for Mead Park.

Now & Then

A Brushy Ridge Mystery: New Canaan’s ‘Mount Lebanon’

By |

If you’ve ever taken a ride up Brushy Ridge Road, you might have noticed an ancient stone arch on the side of the street framing a rusted wrought-iron gate. It is seemingly a gateway to nowhere, as looking beyond it one can’t see a house, cemetery, steps or anything of apparent significance. Adding to the mystery is another arch at the top of Brushy Ridge that looks like something out of Stonehenge. Rewind about 140 years. Local history says that William H. Thomson was a doctor in New York City in the mid-late 19th century.

Around Town

Tony’s Deli: ‘New Canaan Landmark’ Consistently Delivers

By |

 

With its warm staff and dazzling array of inventive sandwiches, wraps and salads, Tony’s Deli has carved a special niche as a destination for hungry New Canaanites since opening on Pine Street in 2007. While Tony’s certainly has broad appeal, it specifically has forged a unique place with youth and high school sports programs. Take a look around the interior of Tony’s and you’ll see “thank you” posters from various Rams teams, from cheerleading to hockey to football. “Tony’s is a New Canaan landmark,” NCHS senior Connor Buck told NewCanaanite.com. “Going back to youth football, after a long game our team would always go to Tony’s. Everyone loves them.”

A major part of Tony’s synergy with the high school kids in particular is due to some old-fashioned features they’ve instituted in recent years.

Around Town

New Canaan Week in Review: Fighting Irish, Lost District & New Business Opportunities

By |

As it’s nearly St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a shout-out to a pair of Notre Dame Fighting Irish standouts who went on to exceptional careers as pro athletes: Terry Hanratty and Pat Garrity make New Canaan home, and they’re both coaching our kids in youth sports here. Quick, effective investigative techniques by New Canaan police in November led this past week to the first arrest in the brazen larceny of a downtown business, while a fondly remembered South School-area home went on the to-be-demolished list and the municipal budget process churned on, with a push for placing a police officer at our middle school appearing to gain support. (Can’t help but say: NewCanaanite.com itself had a big week in our own field, participating in interviews and appearing in both the American Journalism Review and Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University.)

 

Town Talkers

A sense of looking back—to our town’s history and in some cases, even nostalgia—pervaded New Canaan this week. First, Terry met up with a descendant of the family that gives Dan’s Highway its name, in capturing what we know of the “Atlantis of New Canaan”: Dantown.

Around Town

New Canaan Week in Review: New Park in Town, Singular Obsessions, Hockey Title

By |

 

We began the week by jack-hammering at the frozen snow and finished by besting our rivals and neighbors on the ice. Town Talker

Many of us learned a new word this week: ‘coywolf.’ Also known as a ‘red wolf’ and spotted up in the Tobys Lane area in December, it’s a cross between an eastern wolf and western coyote that turned up in town again, this time at Proprietors Crossing. After we reported the Sunday sighting, we heard from another resident, in the area between Kiwanis and Route 123, who saw what appears to be the same species on her own property on Thursday morning (hers are the photos you see in this article). We’re told that the species is about 100 years old and came down to this area from Canada about 50 years ago. Quality of Life

New Canaan Library is planning a pocket park for the corner of Maple Street and South Avenue, and it could include not only benches and landscaping, but the ability to download e-Books to mobile devices.