Government

Carriage Barn Gets a New Roof; Lapham Next, Waveny House on Horizon

By |

Contractors are nearly finished re-roofing the 1895-built Carriage Barn at Waveny and soon will begin replacing the old slate roofing at Lapham Community Center, officials say. The town projects both are being paid out of the fiscal year 2015 capital budget, with the Carriage Barn job pegged at $225,000 and Lapham at $340,000 (see page 39 of the adopted budget here). The Lapham roof sections in need of replacement will get the same slate as the original, with identical colors and design, according to Bill Oestmann, superintendent of buildings with the New Canaan Department of Public Works. With a bid opening Thursday, the process of getting major capital repairs done at Waveny House also will begin, Oestmann said. The town for the current fiscal year approved $50,000 for an engineering and architectural renovation plan at the cherished town-owned structure.

New Canine-ites

‘A Very Good Dog’: Police Department’s New K-9, Apollo, Makes Waveny Debut

By |

New Canaan’s first K-9 Police dog in more than two years started his patrol on our nation’s birthday on Saturday, at the 35th annual Family Fourth celebration at Waveny. Apollo, a full-breed German Shepherd dog, has been with his partner, Officer David Rivera for 2.5 months, and lives with Rivera at his house. He is cross-trained as a patrol dog who also has a narcotics certification, the police officer said. Apollo will assist police in finding missing items, persons, and also locating narcotics. “His ability to find people, I would say, is the best tool that is going to be brought to the town,” said Officer Rivera.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

We’re hearing there’s a town DPW worker who enjoys Kahlúa in the morning. Locust Avenue resident Lauren Cerretani told NewCanaanite.com that she named her 4-year-old rescued Labrador retriever mix ‘Kahlúa’ as soon as she laid eyes on the dog, adopted from the Myrtle Beach, S.C. area at age 13 weeks. (Cerretani’s previous dog was named ‘Bailey.’)

Each morning after 7 a.m., Cerretani walks Kahlúa downtown, and there, during the summer months, she inevitably spots Walt Jaykus of the New Canaan Department of Public Works. Jaykus’ duties include watering the hanging baskets on the lampposts, and he’s had a connection to Kahlúa since the dog moved to New Canaan. “My dog either spots his water cart or Walt himself and she’s pulling me,” Cerretani said.

Around Town

Spotlight: The Story Behind Summer Theatre of New Canaan

By |

The sound of jump ropes cracking in succession echoes across the meadow where New Canaan High School meets Waveny. But this is no school fitness program—it’s group of seasoned actors from Connecticut and New York, practicing the choreography for the musical number “Whipped Into Shape” from the upcoming Summer Theatre of New Canaan performance of “Legally Blonde—the Musical.”

“It’s all really coming together,” Ed Libonati, executive director of STONC, said with a smile as he stands near the makeshift tent and stage that for 12 summers has transformed this bit of wilderness into a highly touted entertainment venue. Established by Ed and Melody Libonati, a New Canaan husband and wife who moved from New York 27 years ago and sought to bring a thriving performing arts scene to both the town and county, STONC is a nonprofit organization with a highly personal history for the family, and it’s become as integral a part of the summer scene as the water towers that loom over this landscape. Libonati, who holds many TV and theater directing credits, does not just work in theater but lives it—something his home life reflects. Melody herself has a number of Broadway credits to her name, including playing Sandra in the original company production of “Grease.” Their daughter, Allegra, is resident director of the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., and son Christian, runs a theater company in Chicago.

Around Town

New Flowers Beautify Area Outside Waveny Pool

By |

With summer just around the corner, the New Canaan Recreation Department has been making the Waveny Pool ready for the upcoming season. Recently, the Recreation Department added new landscaping outside the pool to the make the popular summer spot’s entrance more attractive. Recreation Director Steve Benko told New Canaanite that the town has been working through the past couple of years to make the area outside of the pool look nice, and thinks that they finally accomplished that this year. “Some of the plants [from last year], just from winter kill, didn’t really make it,” Benko said. “There’s an island [and] because of the subsoil in the island we had some birch trees that didn’t make it, and then we tried a couple crabapple [trees] and they didn’t make it so we took them out and put some annual flowers in because the subsoil is so wet it holds water.”

After working diligently to find a match for the area outside of the pool, officials decided that it would be best to swap out the trees for annual flowers.