Town officials on Tuesday night approved plans for a new business’s sign and awning at 31 Vitti St.—known for two years as the home of Eclectic, which recently closed (locals may recall chef Robert Milano’s delicious cheesesteak, which recently made our Top-10 New Canaan Sandwiches list).
Work is underway getting 31 Vitti St. ready for Good2Gourmet. Credit: Michael Dinan
With a planned launch about two weeks away, the new business at 31 Vitti, Good2Gourmet, according to its website, will offer convenient home delivery and curbside pickup from foods on its “tantalizing menu providing maxim flavors with minimum sodium and no additives.” Led by a renowned chef and founded by a mother of four, Good2Gourmet has joined the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce and defines its mission as providing “a variety of healthy and delicious dishes for the entire family.” Read more about the company here.
This male Maltese mix was found on Lakeview Avenue more than one week ago. Nobody has claimed him and he’s up for adoption. Contributed
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The male Maltese mix found on the night of June 15 on Lakeview Avenue is up for adoption as of Wednesday, June 24 through New Canaan Animal Control. He’s about two years old and Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said she’s calling him ‘Finnegan.’ “Finn for short,” Kleinschmitt told NewCanaanite.com. “He is so cute.”
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The New Canaan Board of Education on Monday night bid farewell to two administrators who earned high praise at their final school board meetings.
Here’s what school board Vice Chair Scott Gress had to say about Interim Director of Finance and Operations Nancy Harris: “We were not only fortunate that she came along—we were in desperate need for you to come along. You really have turned things around and gotten us on the right road. What’s always been so impressive to me is that your competence has taken away all of the superfluous arguments as we go through budget season, and your confidence has allowed you to quietly but sternly keep the discussion where it needs to be, and I think that has helped us in our budget process so much in the last couple of years. We’re going to miss you.”
And here’s part of what school board Secretary Dionna Carlson had to say about Director of Digital Learning Dr. Robert Miller, who is taking a job with the Ridgefield Board of Ed: “You have contributed so much to this district, from the big website changeover this year and obviously you are in the forefront of what is going on educationally right now.”
The New Canaan Police Department Animal Control van. Credit: Michael Dinan
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Tough story here out of Animal Control: A female deer found in the woods on a Frogtown Road property had to be put down after a failed birth. On the afternoon of June 13, a resident came upon the animal mid-birth with her calf half-in and half-out of her body, where the newborn apparently had become stuck and was deceased, with maggots and flies crawling over its corpse. Police estimate that the would-be mother had been lying there for about two days. Beyond saving, the animal was dispatched by police.
Placing the new maple tree at Waveny.
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Two newly planted trees grace prominent spots on public property in New Canaan.
The volunteer committee that plans the New Canaan Family Fourth at Waveny last year started planning for a successor tree when it became clear that the longstanding maple just off of the balcony out back of the main house was dying. So one maple is going in near that spot.
This tree just outside the new addition at the back of Town Hall is to be dedicated to Ben Olmstead. Credit: Michael Dinan
Another tree has been planted just outside the new “northern” entrance to the Town Hall extension, and the word is that the town will hold a ceremony later to dedicate the tree to beloved longtime DPW worker Ben Olmstead, who died following a tragic accident last summer.
New Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
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The New Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps is planning an EMT training class that will run from Aug. 31 to Dec. 19. Classes will be held at the NCVAC headquarters on South Avenue and will run Mondays/Wednesdays from 6 to 10 p.m. and some Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuition is $995 plus the cost of a textbook. Those interested should phone Kelly Daniel at 203-554-6907 or email info@ncvac.org.
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Denied by the New Canaan Board of Assessment Appeals, the First Taxing District of Norwalk is turning to state Superior Court for a reduction in its property assessment following a recent revaluation of a 54-acre parcel on Valley Road described as “water supply land … known as the Grupes Reservoir.” The town assessed the property at $605,920. According to an April 1 filing in state Superior Court in Stamford, the valuation was “excessive, disproportionate and unlawful.”
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Members of the Planning & Zoning Commission weighed in on the question of whether promotional signs should be allowed on the front lawn of Town Hall after its careful landscaping plan from the New Canaan Beautification League is in place: P&Z doesn’t want signs allowed there.
The New Canaan Beautification League was singled out for high praise for all it does for the town at the June 17, 2015 Town Council meeting. L-R: Roger Williams, Sven Englund, Carol Seldin, Sara Hunt, Faith Kerchoff and Joe Zagarenski. Credit: David Hunt
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The Town Council at its June 17 meeting led a rousing standing ovation for the New Canaan Beautification League. The nonprofit organization—represented by Carol Seldin, Faith Kerchoff and Sara Hunt—received recognition for all the work it does around New Canaan.
“We really just cannot thank you enough,” Town Council Chairman Bill Walbert said. The NCLB citation read: “Recognition and thanks to the New Canaan Beautification League for their contribution to our Town and efforts performed each year—including, among others, the design, planting and maintenance of 32 roadway triangles and other civic areas; nearly 150 hanging baskets in the Village during the summer months; holiday decorations for Town Hall, Police Station, Train Station; and, the maintenance of other prominent areas, including the Lee Garden, Train Station, God’s Acre, Vine Cottage, Center School Bell area and the Morse Court parking area.” Seldin said: “The New Canaan Beautification League has enjoyed 76 years of working hand-in-hand with the town for beautification projects. It started with a rock garden on Weed Street. It progressed, in 1945, we did some planting at Town Hall, Mead Park, throughout town, the triangles. We enjoy the relationship we have with the town and we are happy to contribute to the beautiful landscape that we have in New Canaan.”
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Rabies tests for a woodchuck killed June 10 by a mixed-breed dog on Ponus Ridge came back negative, officials say.
Waveny Rehab assistant Yolette Milord presents the gifted chair to New Canaan firefighters. Contributed
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When New Canaan firefighters finest asked Waveny LifeCare Network for help in locating a wheelchair to use for teaching and training purposes, Waveny happily donated one of its own. “New Canaan Fire Company No. 1 helps to keep us safe around the clock,” Waveny administrator Ron Bucci said in a press release. “It’s our pleasure to help support those who support us each and every day.”
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Spectacles on Main Street is planning an extensive interior renovation, according to a building permit application filed June 15 with the town. The work will include new lighting, display cases, flooring and paint in three rooms at 127 Main St., the application said. The work will cost a total of about $60,000, it said.
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A mixed-breed dog from New York City last Friday night bit a Valley Road woman on her finger, prompting a trip to the Norwalk Hospital emergency room where she received minor stitching. The bite was not an act of aggression, according to Animal Control officials: The dog went to pick up a ball that it had been playing with and inadvertently nipped the woman. As per its protocol, officials contacted health officials in New York.
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Congratulations to Kathy McShane, CEO of Ladies Launch Club, as she has been named president-elect of the Connecticut chapter of the National Speakers Association, a national organization with chapters in a number of local markets. “I am honored to have been selected to be a part of this great organization,” McShane said.
Known as ‘the River’ because of the way it meanders through the rolling terrain, the SANAA building at Grace Farms begins on a knoll and then flows down the long, gentle slope in a series of bends, forming pond-like spaces on its journey. Contributed
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Sharon Prince, President of the New Canaan-based Grace Farms Foundation, has announced that the 80-acre Grace Farms, will open to the public on Oct. 9. “Developed as a gift of open space for the people of New Canaan and a platform for initiatives in the nonprofit Foundation’s program areas, Grace Farms features a purpose-built 86,000 square foot multi-use building by the Pritzker Prize-winning firm SANAA, designed to blend almost transparently into woodlands, wetlands and meadows with a landscape design by SANAA in collaboration with OLIN,” according to a press release.