Around Town

Steve Benko Pool Rebounds After Unusual Start To Summer Season

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The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club. After a slow start brought on by colder weather, the Steve Benko Pool in Waveny is settling into a busy summer season, officials say. Aquatics Manager Steve Dayton said attendance has fluctuated so far, with colder days keeping some swimmers away before a recent stretch of heat brought crowds back. “The summer has been OK,” Dayton said. “We’ve had some cold weather, which kept people away, but then we had some really hot weather.

Bill Kapp

Parks & Rec Approves ‘Summer Theatre of New Canaan’ for 2022 Season in Waveny

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For the second straight year, parks officials have approved use of Waveny Park for the long-established Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s shows and programs.

Following discussions at its Feb. 9 meeting, the Parks & Recreation approved an approximately monthlong use of the southwest corner of the soccer fields at Waveny. Summer Theatre of New Canaan, known locally as “STONC,” offered up a pandemic-shortened season last summer in the same area. STONC will launch its Thursday-through-Sunday shows around July 7, following a unanimous vote by the Commission at its regular meeting. The traditional Family Fourth picnic and fireworks are scheduled to be held in Waveny on Saturday, July 2, with a first rain date of July 3 and backup rain date of July 9.

Government

Parks Officials Approve New Softball Batting Cages for Waveny

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Parks officials this month approved the installation of expanded new softball batting cages at Waveny that also will include warmup mounds for pitchers. The Parks & Recreation Commission voted 9-0 in favor of the project, to be funded almost entirely by New Canaan Softball. The cages will be installed on an approximately 70-by-45-foot concrete pad, with granite curbing, east of the “Water Tower Field,” where a single softball batting cage now sits, according to Parks Superintendent John Howe. “The girls could definitely use it,” Howe told members of the Commission during their regular meeting, held Oct. 13 via videoconference.

Government

Local Woman: Out-of-Towners Are Violating Rules in Use of Paddle Tennis Courts at Waveny 

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Nonresidents are using New Canaan’s platform or “paddle” tennis courts at times when attendants are not there to monitor registrations, including Fairfield County league players, according to a local woman who holds a permit to play at the Waveny facility. There are “there are quite a few people from other towns that know when our offseason starts and they are using our paddle courts,” Terri Hott told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission during their regular meeting last week. “All of us that have passes—and that’s revenue for the town—make our reservations,” Hott said during the March 10 meeting, held via videoconference. “If these other leagues are not paying for the use of the courts and they are reserving the courts, I mean, what revenue is collected on that?”

“One Sunday I was there, there were just people driving by and they jumped on the courts with their kids. And just to throw a ball or something with their child.

News

Local Moms Succeed in Push for New Canaan’s First Official Girls-Only Flag Football Program

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Mariella Montoni Scofield, a Brazil native who’s lived in New Canaan for eight years, wants her daughter to be tough. An 8-year-old who soon will enter the fourth grade at South School, Gabriella Scofield plays softball and swims with the New Canaan YMCA Caimans, “but I want her to do this,” her mom said. “I want my daughter to be tough and it’s a sport that makes you tough,” Montoni Scofield said. “You have to be tough and fast and you have to think ahead … I want her to learn so she can play with her brother and friends. And to stand up for herself.