Business

PHOTOS: 2015 New Canaan Sidewalk Sale

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The 2015 Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale from the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce overcame a bit of rain Saturday morning to draw thousands for deals, family fun, live music and food. Anchored at either end of Elm Street by New Canaan mainstays Walter Stewart’s and Karl Chevrolet, and running for segments of Main and Forest Streets, the 50-year-old New Canaan tradition saw scores of local and nonlocal businesses and organizations alike set up tents in all-pedestrian zones in the heart of the village. NewCanaanite.com launched a Facebook contest, asking locals to don wigs, sunglasses and boas and pull a goofy face. Our three winners are:

Gavin Tong—Gavin and his family win a gift card to Connecticut Sandwich Co. on Pine Street.

Business

Preview: 50th Annual Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale

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It’s been a tradition for many New Canaanites over the past half-a-century, and this year’s New Canaan Village Fair and Sidewalk Sale is shaping up to be one of the biggest yet. Running 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, July 18, the event run by the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, and sponsored this year by William Raveis, is an installment that organizers say will have all generations talking. “It’s the 50th year of the event, and what we always have appreciated is that during that time it’s always been called the Village Fair and Sidewalk Sale, because it is a fair as well—entertainment for all shapes and sizes,” Laura Budd, marketing associate for the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, told NewCanaanite.com. “That’s something that differentiates New Canaan’s event from other surrounding towns.” “We have over 115 confirmed vendors for the day. There’s no bad seat in the house.

Around Town

Sidewalk Sale: ‘One of the Best Ones I’ve Ever Seen’ [SLIDESHOW]

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[acx_slideshow name=”Sidewalk Sale 2014″]

[Editor’s Note: The photos in the slideshow above include participants in a Facebook photo contest that we ran together with Swirl froyo. For information on each picture, just hover over it with your mouse. Thank you to everyone for making New Canaanite’s first-ever Sidewalk Sale so much fun.]

Thousands of deal-seekers descended on downtown New Canaan under a mercifully overcast, even breezy morning and afternoon Saturday for the annual Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale. Visitors shopped, dined, gathered information about New Canaan nonprofits and gave to charitable causes on what many vendors agreed was the best New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Sidewalk Sale in memory. Parts of Elm, Forest and Main Streets were cordoned off for pedestrians during the popular all-day event, as was the Pop Up Park, featuring special dishes from local restaurants and music from groups including the New Canaan Town Band and School of Rock.

Business

Sidewalk Sale Saturday: Great Shopping Deals & Local Charitable Causes

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Saturday’s annual Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) will feature local businesses offering great deals on products and services (as well as giveaways)—we previewed some of them here and include a fuller list at the end of this article (full vendor list here). The hugely popular annual event also is a time when many businesses partner up to support charities, and a time for nonprofit organizations to raise money and boost memberships. In partnership with Walter Stewart’s, New Canaan’s Lou Kozar, owner of New Canaan Bicycles in the Bob’s Sports lot, will ride a specially rigged stationary bike from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. called a “Fender Blender” that will mix up ice and lemonade that will be sold for $5 a glass with all proceeds going to the CT Challenge. The effort, which centers on a long bike ride, raises money to empower cancer survivors to live “healthier, happier and longer lives.”

“It’s a great event and I unfortunately wont’ be able to do any bike riding this year because of the time it takes place,” Kozar said. “But I love being a part of it in this way that I can, to spin my legs and contribute to the cause.”

Down Elm Street at Main, the New Canaan Veterinary Hospital will set up a table and take donations that will go toward a fund for the New Canaan Police Department’s K9 unit.

Around Town

Sidewalk Sale Sneak Preview: What to Expect This Saturday

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, Connecticut Sandwich Co., Joe’s Pizza and Mackenzie’s. In advance of Saturday’s annual Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), NewCanaanite.com ventured to different shops throughout downtown New Canaan to get some insights into what to expect to see at the different booths this year. One such store is New Canaan Olive Oil located on Elm Street across from the New Canaan Playhouse. The store’s owner, Heidi Burrows, told us that her store will be giving out samples of a variety of products and will offer deals on certain items. “We’ll be doing sales on all of our local jams, all of our sea salts will be on sale for $5, we’re doing gift boxes like a bread-dipper gift box, a salad dressing gift box for $15, and then we’re also doing a buy one get 25 percent off any oil or vinegar,” Ms. Burrows said. New Canaan Olive Oil is not the only local store that will be joining in on the festivities.