Around Town

DAR Honors World War II Veteran Edith Linger

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Edith Linger, 103, thought she was attending a regular meeting of the Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution last Thursday. It’s an organization her own daughter, Patty Beyer, had joined in October. Except this was a special gathering of the nonprofit organization, designed to surprise and honor Linger and especially her service during World War II as a member of the Women’s Army Corps or “WAC,” the first New Canaanite to do so. “I’m surprised—I didn’t know anything about all this, but I’m glad there’s some of us left in New Canaan,” Linger, a 1938 New Canaan High School graduate and resident of Canaan Parish, said from beside a table and easel featuring articles, photos and memorabilia from her time in the service. “I think I’m about the last one of a native of New Canaan that’s left.

Business

‘I’m Going To Miss Coming Here’: Longtime Customers Visit Baskin Robbins on Final Night

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After more than a half-century in business, Baskin Robbins closed Saturday night after a New Canaan woman put in for a last paid order—a small peanut-butter-and-chocolate milkshake. Gretchen Russell had entered the Main Street ice cream store with husband Stephen moments before 10 p.m., when beloved longtime owner Anna Valente-Krolikowski locked the door for the final time. “It’s sad,” said Russell, née Gretchen Meyer, a 1978 New Canaan High School graduate who has patronized Baskin Robbins all her life. “It’s sad to see Anna go. It’s sad to see something we’ve known for so long go.