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First Selectmen: Memorial Day Parade, Waveny Fireworks Canceled 

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New Canaan’s highest elected official said Friday that the town is canceling two of its most cherished annual community events due to the COVID-19 virus public health emergency. An “appropriate alternative ceremony” will be held Memorial Day instead of the parade, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan, and municipal leaders are taking suggestions on how to hold a safe alternative to the traditional July 4 fireworks at Waveny. As of Sunday evening, 25 people in New Canaan had succumbed to coronavirus disease, officials said. “We grieve for these losses and our thoughts and prayers are with their families,” Moynihan said. The news of cancellations came days after local leaders reopened public parks for trail-walking only, and as the community pursues what Moynihan called the “measured and disciplined reopening of our local economy.” 

Gov. Ned Lamont last week sketched out a plan that would see businesses including “nonessential” retail shops, salons and outdoor areas at restaurants reopen as long as coronavirus disease hospitalizations decline, more testing is made available and a program for contact tracing is established.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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New Canaan Police said that at 9:02 a.m. Wednesday a 2019 Volvo SUV was reported stolen from a Rosebrook Road home. Unlocked with a key fob inside, it was later recovered in Waterbury. At 12:23 p.m. that day, a 2016 Ford SUV was reported stolen from a Parade Hill Road driveway, while another vehicle there was entered and cash stolen from inside, according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. Both vehicles were unlocked, and the owner didn’t know whether the key was left inside the stolen SUV or if someone took it from an unlocked mudroom door, the chief said. ***

New Canaan CARES Executive Director Ellen Brezovsky posted Thursday on the nonprofit organization’s Facebook page that it was her last day there.

Andrew Walsh

‘I Don’t Think It’s Very Realistic’: Committee Mulls Postponement or Cancellation of July 4th Waveny Fireworks [UPDATED]

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Members of the volunteer committee that organizes the annual fireworks celebration at Waveny said Wednesday that the popular family gathering likely won’t happen in any form on July 4 and that it remains to be seen whether a postponed event is feasible. The Family Fourth Committee stopped short of making a formal recommendation to postpone or cancel the event. Yet even in a modified fireworks show—for example, where attendees are told to park on the lawn at Waveny and remain in their cars—members of the group voiced concerns about people ignoring such instructions. 

“Here’s an example—the parks got closed for a reason,” Committee member Wendy Dixon Fog, who also is a volunteer EMT with New Canaan Emergency Medical Services, said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “And they got closed because people refused to social distance and you had a lacrosse game and you had a little bumble bee soccer game and these parents were already told, ‘Social distancing, no games.’ So if we can’t control what they are doing in small numbers, I don’t know how we are going to be able to do this.”

Chair Tom Stadler said the Committee would meet weekly until it reached a decision. Committee member Robin Bates-Mason said Norwalk, Westport, Enfield, West Haven, Hartford and Windsor Locks already have canceled their Independence Day fireworks.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The condo-and-apartment complex known locally as “Merritt Village” is now “The Vue New Canaan.” Here’s its Facebook page. ***

We wish all the best to 2015 New Canaan High School graduate Lucas Niang during the NFL draft, which opened Thursday night and runs through Saturday. ***

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan opened Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting with a moment of silence, saying, “I’d like to start by having a brief moment moment of silence for our 21, perhaps now 22 New Canaan victims of this COVID virus and I would also like to note, as many of you know, that our own superintendent of schools, Dr. Bryan Luizzi’s father passed away over the weekend after only four days of illness, of COVID. This is a very sad time, and I would just like to take a few moments to remember these victims.”

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New Canaan Police at 12:40 a.m. Monday cited an 18-year-old Stamford man for marijuana-related infractions after stopping his car on Cherry Street because it didn’t have a front marker plate. ***

The Town Council on Wednesday approved a 90-day local tax deferral program for qualified property owners.