Around Town

Q&A: ‘Juneteenth’ Celebration Set for June 19

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Building on the success of last year’s inaugural event, New Canaan-founded Stand Together Against Racism, or STAR, has scheduled its Juneteenth celebration for 1 to 5 p.m. on Monday, June 19 at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society. Sponsors include Walter Stewart’s Market, Bankwell, NCM&HS, New Canaan Library and NewCanaanite.com. 

We put some questions to Juneteenth Co-Chairs Shona Goldenberg and Shandia Mitchell. Here’s our exchange. New Canaanite: What is the significance of Juneteenth, and why did the STAR organization decide to celebrate it? Shona: Juneteenth holds immense historical importance as it marks the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans in the United States.

Alyssa MacKenzie

Q&A: Residents Launch ‘New Canaan Pride 2021’ for June

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Dozens of rainbow flag signs and window clings featuring the hashtag #NewCanaanPRIDE are appearing on residential and commercial properties throughout town—the result of a local grassroots effort to mark Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or LGBTQ Pride Month here in New Canaan. New Canaan’s Hilary Ormond, Julia Stewart, Marley Thackray, Tami Wilkinson, D.J. Kornell, Alyssa MacKenzie, Shona Goldenberg and an organizing committee of 10 others have launched a “New Canaan Pride” Facebook page that has swelled to 360 members in just two weeks, and have sold dozens of the signs (to cover the cost of producing them). In all, more than 150 lawn signs and 75 window clings have been sold. We put some questions to Stewart to learn about how the idea to bring Pride Month to New Canaan started, how it’s being received and what the organizing group plans. New Canaanite: Tell us about “New Canaan Pride 2021.”