Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The Summer Theatre of New Canaan kicked off its 2016 season on Friday evening with a Broadway Stars gala featuring Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara, held at the Woodway Country Club. O’Hara was joined by fellow Broadway stars David Friedman, Robin de Jesus, Janelle Robinson, Jodi Stevens and Chip Zien. Scroll through the gallery above for images from the evening, including performances. ***

We’re hearing that Democratic Registrar of Voters George Cody won backing from New Canaan Democrats at Tuesday evening’s caucus, held at Town Hall. For the first time since his election to the office in 1994, Cody this time faced a challenger for the position, from fellow New Canaanite Bernard Simpkin.

Animal 411

‘She’s a Sweetheart’: Twice-Orphaned Senior Beagle Up for Adoption, Fostering

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A dog that had been set to be euthanized Thursday—a stray originally adopted in New Canaan who turned up in New York City last week—is now available for fostering or adoption through a partnership between New Canaan’s animal rescue group and the police department. The small, approximately 9-year-old beagle mix is being called “Ladybug-Stacey-Hannah” by Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section, because those three names all appear on various paper work associated with the dog. She initially had been adopted in New Canaan from the local Animal Control shelter in 2011, and it isn’t clear just where she was in the intervening years. According to Halm, the Stamford man who had adopted her only had the dog for a few months and gave her away to a since-forgotten party. Claudia Weber, founder of Strays & Others, learned of Ladybug’s plight and decided immediately to help the orphaned animal.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Scores of New Canaanites joined students of architecture and fans of the Midcentury Modern style at The Glass House on Saturday for the annual Summer Party, a fundraiser for the National Trust for Historic Preservation site. Sipping Taittinger champagne and bringing picnic baskets prepared by Campagna and The Bedford Post Inn, attendees roamed the 49-acre property on a bright, sunny day, entering buildings that include not just the famous Glass House but also Da Monsta and Philip Johnson’s painting gallery and library. Others lounged by a pond down the back of the property or by the pool near the main house. See photos above. ***

A woman who hurt herself after falling on the sidewalk in front of Dunkin Donuts on Elm Street in January has filed a letter of intent to sue New Canaan, according to a notice filed with the town. It happened at about 2:30 p.m. on Jan 12 at what the woman’s New Canaan-based lawyer is calling “a dangerous and unsafe pedestrian sidewalk which was improperly repaired, maintained, cleared of snow, sleet and/or ice and/or improperly treated with salt, sand or the like.” The woman hurt her “right fingers, right hand, right wrist, right arm, right elbow, right shoulder, neck back and buttocks,” according to the Notice of Intention to Commence Action Against Municipality.

Around Town

New Canaan Nonprofits Participating in ‘Giving Day’

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On Thursday, some 18 New Canaan nonprofit organizations will participate in a 24-hour fundraising blitz known as Giving Day. Hosted by the Fairfield County Community Foundation under the slogan “Give Where You Live” and with a goal of raising $1 million on a single day, Giving Day invites donors to give at least $10 to as many charities as they can. The organization that has the most individual donations will win an extra $25,000, while the organization that raises the most money will get another $20,000 (more information on prizes is available here). We asked participating local nonprofits to send us a single sentence communicating to NewCanaanite.com readers why they’re a great candidate for a donation on this day. Here are the New Canaan nonprofits, according to the Giving Day website, with their responses (those agencies that have not yet responded can email me directly at editor@newcanaanite.com and I will update this story):

A Better Chance of New Canaan: “The mission of the ABC of New Canaan is to offer capable minority youth the opportunity to learn in a superior educational program while also preparing them to assume positions of responsibility and leadership in American society.”
Carriage Barn Arts Center/New Canaan Society for the Arts: “Please support the New Canaan Society for the Arts/Carriage Barn Arts Center on this Fairfield County Giving Day and help us fulfill our goal of providing exceptional art exhibitions, accessible children’s art education, and cultural programs.”
Filling in the Blanks: “Your support will allow FILLING IN THE BLANKS to provide over 300 hungry children with meals on the weekend.”
Future 5: “Now with over 100 active members, Future 5 is helping motivated, low income high school students stay on track and connect to their full potential.”
Getabout
Hungry Kidzz: “We provide weekend bags of food during the summer, a 4th of July ‘Freedom (barbecue) Box’ and 1000s of holiday stockings in December.”

Animal 411

‘Miraculous’ Rescue of Cat Stuck in Schoolhouse Apartments Wall for Five Days

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A New Canaan nonprofit organization, carpenter and handyman are earning high praise this weekend after orchestrating what’s being called the “miraculous” rescue of a cat that was stuck in a wall for five days. Lady, a black-and-white domestic short-haired cat, went missing at about 11 a.m. Monday and was finally freed around 7 p.m. Friday from the very narrow wall space between a closet and bathroom at Schoolhouse Apartments, according to the South Avenue senior housing complex’s manager, Tatiana DeJesus. The young feline’s ordeal started soon after she apparently leapt onto an upper cabinet and then through a drop ceiling at the apartment of the resident who was fostering and seeking to adopt her, DeJesus said. “One of my residents came to me almost crying,” DeJesus recalled. Staff members looked hard for the animal but couldn’t find her for days until DeJesus spotted an area in the back that looked out of reach.