NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/tag/stewarts-spirits)
For today’s installment of our local holiday shopping series, we met up with Larry Klem, store manager at Stewart’s Wine & Spirits. Here’s our conversation. ***
New Canaanite: Tell me about Stewart’s Wine & Spirits and its customers. Larry Klem: We have a really, I would say, vibrant customer base. Pretty wine savvy customers.
Two of New Canaan’s best-established businesses are supporting a locally run nonprofit organization with a “donation day” Wednesday. On Dec. 8, 10% of all proceeds at Stewart’s Wine & Spirits will go toward Feeding 500, which raises money for the food program at Open Doors in Norwalk. Additionally, T-Bill customers of Walter Stewart’s Market can donate their T-Bills to the organization all day. New Canaan High School junior Oliver Tuff, founder and president of Feeding 500, said the local support is “crucial” to the organization’s success.
“We started as a way to get local high schoolers and the New Canaan community more involved in community efforts so the money and food we have raised so far has been due to the support we’ve gotten from the community,” Tuff told NewCanaanite.com in an email.
This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Doug Stewart of Walter Stewart’s Market, about how the past year of COVID-19-related restrictions has gone, what are store policies now that many of those state-mandated restrictions for businesses are lifting and how the Walter Stewart’s team is faring. Stewart also offers praise for New Canaan Health Director Jenn Eielson and her team of volunteers and support staff, including Anna Valente-Krolikowski, Tracey Karl and Jenny LaFond. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:
The new cell tower at the end of Soundview Lane in northeastern New Canaan is on track to be operational by May, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan said during Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Town Council. ***
Some upcoming events to pencil in:
“Success with Hydrangeas with Lorraine Ballato” from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 3—from the New Canaan Beautification League;
Stepping Strong: Lowering Your Risk of Falls from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 11—from Waveny LifeCare Network;
Lenten Season with the United Methodist Church of New Canaan, 10 a.m. Sundays via Facebook Live. ***
The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday afternoon held a special meeting with a single agenda item: “Executive Session to discuss potential litigation to protect the Town’s legal standing.” It came hours after the selectmen approved another $2,000 in legal fees related to the proposed “God’s Acre Platform.” Among other things, the charges reflect a Jan. 19 Zoom meeting with Moynihan, Nicholas Bamonte, an attorney for the town, and Tucker Murphy, a staffer in the first selectman’s office. Murphy also served as a member of a committee that proposed the year-round flagstone terrace at the top of God’s Acre.
Municipal officials on Thursday denied a request to view a legal opinion rendered by the town attorney’s firm regarding New Canaan’s volunteer firefighters. The following line items and billing hours appear in a legal bill approved Feb. 11 by the Board of Selectmen, detailing what are described as professional tasks achieved by Berchem & Moses lawyers Christopher Hodgson, Kyle Roseman, Meredith Diette and Rebecca Goldberg, between Jan. 6 and 24 (New Canaan taxpayers fund an $8,5000 monthly retainer with the firm):
“Follow up re: volunteer firefighters (.5 hours);
“Discussed strategy for payment of volunteer firefighters advice letter (.3 hours);
“Drafting advice letter re: payment of volunteer firefighters (.6 hours);
“Research volunteer firefighter issue (1 hour);
“Drafting advice letter re: payment of volunteer firefighters (2 hours);
“Review volunteer opinion memo; forward first draft to [Town Human Resources Director Cheryl Pickering-Jones] (.7 hours);
“Drafted advice letter re: use of volunteer firefighters to cover for career firefighter shifts (4 hours);
“Edited advice letter (1 hour);
“Emailed letter along with summary and additional memos of law for review (.4 hours);
“Research, review and revision of opinion letter re: volunteer firefighters (2 hours);
“Interoffice communication re: volunteer firefighter issue; research recent law re: same and draft language for opinion letter re: same (1.1 hours);
“Research re: definition of volunteer firefighter; interoffice conference re: same (1.5 hours);
“Continued research for volunteer firefighter opinion; revise draft letter (1.7 hours);
“Interoffice communication re: volunteer firefighter issue (1.3 hours);
“Research, review and revision of opinion letter re: volunteer firefighters (1.3 hours);
“Interoffice discussions re: volunteer firefighters; review and analyze DOL opinion letters re: same (.7 hours);
“Final revisions to opinion letter re: volunteer firefighters (.8 hours);
“Interoffice communication re: volunteer firefighters (.7 hours);
“Conference with C. Jones to follow up re: volunteer firefighter issue (.3 hours);
“Reviewed final draft of letter re: compensation of unpaid firefighters (.5 hours);
“Draft memo re: volunteers; telephone conference with C. Jones.”
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The Town Clerk’s office on Feb. 20 recorded a notice of a $13,398.51 state real estate tax lien for the White Oak Shade Road home whose owners include a husband and wife who pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with a health care fraud scheme.
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The Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting for March 2 to conduct a “student disciplinary hearing” in executive session.