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Did You Hear … ?

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We’re hearing that the wonderful New Canaan Beautification League hosted its second annual Mead Park Breakfast on a recent sunny morning, as a way to say ‘Thank You’ to town employees including many DPW crewmen for their support and partnership in making our village lovely throughout the year (see gallery above). The event was held in the colonnade at Mead Park (a popular spot that had been WPA-era children’s wading pool, originally). Recognized at a recent Town Council meeting for its effective local work, the nonprofit organization creates the hanging baskets downtown and manages many of the traffic triangles around New Canaan. “This non-profit organization of volunteers is open to all, whether for social, civic-minded or educational purposes,” league memberts tell us. “No green thumb is necessary.

Around Town

Club Connecticut To Host ‘Four on The Fourth’ Road Race in New Canaan on Saturday

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Although summer is viewed by many New Canaanites as a time of relaxation, the local running community never stops. Club Connecticut will host the 33rd annual Four on the Fourth road race this Saturday at 9 a.m. starting at St. Mark’s Church. The four-mile race travels up Oenoke Ridge Road and onto West Road, continuing down West for a good stretch before turning around and heading right back to the church, and it usually has a few hundred participants, organizers say. “The Four on the Fourth, the last couple of years has [had] a couple hundred [participants],” race director Jim Gerweck told the New Canaanite.

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PHOTOS: 2015 May Fair

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The 66th annual May Fair went off without a hitch, as a festive crowd enjoyed rides, games, food and entertainment under sunny skies on Saturday, May 9. It was also the first year fairgoers were able to experience the event under the stars, as St. Mark’s Episcopal Church presented the premiere edition of “Friday Night Lights”, which proved to be a huge hit.

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Holy Smokers, May Fair Volunteers Prep for Big Day at St. Mark’s [PHOTOS, VIDEO]

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The Holy Smokers—St. Mark’s men of prolonged vowels and serious barbecue—typically wait until 5 a.m. on the Thursday prior to May Fair Saturday to light the fires whose smoke will flavor their famed brisket and pork. This year, with more than 600 pounds of each, the guys—supplying their own smokers, including at least one built from scratch—lit the flames at midnight and put the first of 37 shoulders on about 90 minutes later, according to Holy Smoker and New Canaanite George Wright, a native Virginian who doubles as a coordinator with CERT, a key organization in helping May Fair run well. “We rub the first of the meat on Wednesday night and they are coming off now, most of them are off for that first turn,” Wright said Thursday afternoon from what soon will transform into the hub of the May Fair Food Court, a portable stereo playing country music nearby. “They are gong to cool down, and then we will pull them and sauce them.”

This year, visitors will enjoy the first-ever “Friday Night Lights” at the 66th annual May Fair—rides, live music and some food (pizza, burgers, dogs and ice cream “up top” on the wholly pesticide-free fairgrounds), running 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday.

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Did You Hear … ?

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For the first time ever, May Fair will open its rides to visitors on the Friday night of the weekend that the hugely popular event runs. “Friday Night Lights” will run from 5 to 9 p.m. on May 8—featuring just the rides, a performance stage and select food vendors Baskin-Robbins, Joe’s Pizza and Chicken Joe’s—and the full, cherished annual fair running about 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. the following day, said Richard DePatie, parish administrator at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. “We’ve been talking about it, off and on, for a number of years, and weather is a factor,” DePatie told NewCanaanite.com. He explained that in recent years, foul weather has caused organizers to hit pause on May Fair for periods of time on the selected Saturday, and that affects how much money can be raised (the fair benefits charities through the St.