Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan Police say residents have reported multiple break-ins of unlocked vehicles, including overnight last Friday. Several items were taken from a Mill Road vehicle, unlocked in its driveway, and two more cars on Silvermine Road were illegally entered. Darien saw 22 motor vehicle burglaries in a three-night stretch. Officials are urging residents to safeguard their valuables and lock their cars. ***

There are about 514,000 gallons of water in Waveny Pool, Recreation Director Steve Benko said during a Parks & Recreation Commission meeting Wednesday night.

News

Letter: Grace Farms Lifts Silvermine Arts Center, Community

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Dear Editor,

Sometimes I cannot believe how fortunate we are to have in New Canaan, an institution dedicating itself to bringing forward issues that affect us as a culture and a global community; and that does this on an open preserve of environmentally protected property that they share with the community. There is serenity, peace, education and understanding emanating from this one oasis from our busy lives. As a not-for-profit, Silvermine is particularly supported by Grace Farms. As an arts school and arts center, we fortunately fall into two of Grace Farms’ five initiatives. Grace Farms has lifted us to new heights. First of all, they hosted a gathering of local 501c3 organizations where we sat together and told about each of our initiatives.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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A 12-year-old Labradoodle on Wednesday finished its legally required 2-week home confinement after biting a young boy on the leg on Jan. 11, officials said. The Saxe Middle School student stepped onto a private property on Canoe Hill Road after getting off the bus and the dog, a resident there, bit him in the calf, according to a police report. The incident wasn’t reported until the following day, when the boy’s leg began to ache and swell at school, according to the Animal Control section of the New Canaan Police Department. ***

Here’s a big ‘Congratulations’ to 2015 New Canaan High School graduate and All-State First Team baseball player Zack Smith on a rare honor achieved as a sophomore at Newport, R.I.-based Salve Regina University: captain of the school’s baseball team.

Around Town

Kiwanis Club of New Canaan Is Now Accepting Local Nonprofits’ Requests for Funding, Feb. 29 Deadline

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A local civic organization whose mission is “serving the children of the world” announced Wednesday that it’s opening its annual season for funding requests from nonprofit organization. The Kiwanis Club of New Canaan will be able to allocate up to $2,000 per applicant and will take applications through the end of this month (Feb. 29—it’s a Leap Year). “Those interested should submit a letter with the agency name, contact information, mission statement, detailed description of program, proposed use for funds and amount requested,” Kiwanis said in a press release. “Explanations of how your mission fits within the Kiwanis mission.”

Last year, with funds raised mainly through its summertime Zerbini Famiy Circus—presented in partnership with the New Canaan YMCA—Kiwanians gave a total of $16,000 to 16 local nonprofit organizations.

Around Town

Three New Canaan Organizations Collaborate on Art Therapy

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Silver Hill Hospital has launched an integrated art therapy experience this summer for patients from its Adolescent Transitional Living Program at the Silvermine Arts Center, thanks to a $5,000 grant by the New Canaan Community Foundation. The program, a collaboration between Silver Hill Hospital and the Silvermine Arts Center, enables patients to leave the Silver Hill campus once a week in order to learn new visual artistic skills, as well as enhance preexisting skills, according to those involved in it. “We started prior to the grant working with Silvermine Arts Center, because they are the preeminent arts guild in Fairfield County and they are right up the street from us, and I was struck by the fortuitous colocation of our two facilities,” said Dr. Aaron Krasner, chief of the Adolescent Transitional Living Program. “I was also developing our internal art therapy program at the time, and I thought it was match made in heaven.”

Krasner found the arts to be an important part in his patients’ recoveries, a conclusion grounded in scientific basis and study. Thanks to the NCCF grant, Sunday sessions will see participants work in various media, including hand-built ceramics, printmaking, sculpture and multimedia painting. “Creative expression and what I like to call adjunctive therapeutic activities are very important for adolescents who are engaged in serious psychotherapy and other psychosocial interventions,” Krasner said.