Government

Waveny Disc Golf Course Undergoing Major Renovations

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One of New Canaan’s hidden gems, Waveny’s disc golf course, is in the midst of a major overhaul thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers. When it first opened for play in 2007, the course had just 12 holes, and would remain that way for more than a decade. It wasn’t until 2020 that an additional six holes were added, bringing it up to a full 18-hole course. While more minor improvements have been implemented over the years, such as drainage ditches and additional tee areas, 2025 may mark some of the biggest improvements to the course yet. Six of the holes have been “entirely or significantly redesigned, to the extent that we actually changed the layout of the course,” according to avid disc golfer and volunteer course groundskeeper Mickey Stayman.

Government

‘Coppo Field’ Turf Baseball Stadium at Waveny To Open Next Month

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The creation of a widely anticipated new baseball stadium at Waveny is on budget and nearing completion, according to the head of the nonprofit organization driving the project. The Coppo Field project, an approximately $5 million job—$2 million of which is coming from the town, while the nonprofit New Canaan Athletic Foundation is paying the roughly $3 million balance—is expected to significantly increase both the turf footprint and seating surrounding the field in an effort to create more space for the town’s youth athletics programs, NCAF Chairman Mike Benevento told members of the Parks and Recreation Commission last week. “Our biggest bottleneck from youth all the way through varsity sports is getting access to turf fields,” Benevento told Parks & Rec during its regular meeting, held March 5 in Lapham Center and via videoconference. “Especially in the busy spring. We had a wonderful fall last year but the fall prior to that was a total washout.

Around Town

Parks & Rec Approves Oct. 19 Caffeine & Carburetors at Waveny

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The Parks and Recreation Commission last week voted unanimously in favor of an Oct. 19 date for the Caffeine & Carburetors 2025 Waveny Park car show. While the popular car show will function similarly to past years, the 2025 show will take additional steps to alleviate congestion by expanding visitor parking to the downtown commuter lot and Talmadge Hill, in addition to requiring visitors to register for parking in advance, according to Claire Drexler, director of business development at C&C and Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee on Pine Street, where the event was born. 

Buses will be provided for visitors parking outside of Waveny, she told Parks & Rec during its regular meeting, held March 12 at Lapham Center and via videoconference. “You must register to come to this event,” Drexler said during her presentation. “It’s grown to the size where we need people to know where they’re going in advance.”

To help manage traffic flow, unregistered vehicles arriving at Waveny on Oct.

Government

New Canaan ‘Community Garden’ Proposed for Kiwanis Park

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Led by residents who live in the neighborhood, a group of locals is seeking permission to create a “community garden” for New Canaan in a largely disused area of Kiwanis Park. An expanse of grass in the northeastern part of the Old Norwalk Road park could lend itself to an approximately 6,000-square-foot garden that town residents could use to grow mostly vegetables as well as fruit and flowers, New Canaan’s Lisa Creighton told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their Nov. 13 meeting. “The garden itself will increase the appeal and usage of Kiwanis Park,” Creighton said at the appointed body’s regular meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. During a presentation to the Commission, Creighton listed some of the expected benefits of the garden, including community beautification, social connection, educational opportunities, food security and sustainability. 

Creighton, who’d been involved with community gardens in Washington, D.C. in the past said that in her experience such gardens “build social cohesion,” bringing together people who normally wouldn’t interact. 

She added that a community garden such as what’s envisioned for Kiwanis lends itself to wide “peer-to-peer education” where adults learn from each other “about the stewardship of land, planting and seedlings.”

Though the organic plants grown in a community garden are designed to serve those who have secured plots, there often is excess, Creighton said.

Government

Eagle Scout’s ‘Cornhole Area’ Installed at Mead Park

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A local park is now benefitting from an Eagle Scout project that town officials approved earlier this year. Troop 70 Life Scout Jason Generalis received unanimous approval from the Parks & Recreation Commission when he came before the appointed body in March seeking approval to install a cornhole area at Mead Park. At the Commission’s most recent meeting, Generalis reviewed the work that went into creating the new area, which on completion immediately began drawing passersby and players, he said. “I hope the town can get a lot of use out of it,” Generalis told Parks & Rec members during their Oct. 9 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference.