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.

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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.

Doug Kerridge

Parks & Rec Approves June 11 ‘Pops In The Park’ Concert in Waveny

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Following a successful inaugural concert last summer, ‘Pops In The Park’ is on track to return to Waveny this year. The Parks & Recreation Commission at its most recent meeting voted unanimously in favor of a June 11 orchestral concert from the balcony at the back of Waveny House. Featuring the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, the event will be “very similar to what we did last year,” Pops In The Park Chair Doug Kerridge told members of the Commission at their Feb. 8 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. “It’s a week earlier than what we did last year, part of our thought being that we wanted to try it before the end of the school year which is the 14th [of June] this year, so we know we lost the families who went on vacation as soon as school let out,” Kerridge said.

Government

Parks & Rec Approves Oct. 22 ‘Caffeine & Carburetors’ Car Show in Waveny

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Parks officials last week approved the use of Waveny for a popular specialty and classic car show this coming fall. Caffeine & Carburetors will be held Sunday, Oct. 22 in the park following a unanimous vote by the Parks & Recreation Commission at its regular meeting, held Feb. 8 in Lapham Community Center and via videoconference. 

Referring to last October’s C&C in Waveny, Chair George Benington said, “I should note that the feedback from everybody there, especially the police, was that it was a much better organized event than in years previous, and that traffic flow both in and out worked a lot more smoothly.”

In addition to Benington, Commission Secretary Francesca Segalas and members Steve Haberstroh, Hank Green, Doug Murphy, Keith Richey, Timothy Klimpl, Gene Goodman and Jake Granito voted in favor. 

Launched by New Canaan’s Doug Zumbach outside his eponymous coffee shop at Pine and Grove Streets in 2008, the show quickly began drawing crowds from about a dozen vehicles to 50 and more, outgrowing that small area. In 2023, C&C will run three shows, according to its website—on May 21 and Sept.