New Canaan’s alpaca owner, Debbie McQuilkin, has lived in three houses in New Canaan, and their street numbers follow a pattern: 141 Millport Ave., 585 Ponus Ridge and 757 Oenoke Ridge Road (Crajah House).
Ben Olmstead. Contributed photo
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Ben Olmstead, the 37-year DPW worker with an encyclopedic knowledge of the town who was killed July 23 in an accident while on the job here, is missed for his generous spirit, smile, positive attitude and companionship. He also knew so much that his position—a part-time job for him—will be a challenging full-time job for his eventual successor. In presenting the department’s proposed budget Feb. 3 to the Board of Finance, DPW Assistant Director Tiger Mann said that the job must change to full-time “since it will be a large learning curve for whoever comes in. Ben knew everything in his head. He could actually tell you where everything was without going out onto the job site. So we are feeling that a lot of work will have to be done behind the scenes as far as research and history for any individual who comes in, so we need to change this position from a part-time position, back to a full-time position, which it had been since its inception.”
Congratulations to New Canaan senior captains Katherine Luciano (L) and Bridget Callahan (R), who were named to the All-FCIAC cheer team on Saturday, Feb. 7. Contributed
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Congratulations are in order: Two senior captains of the New Canaan High School varsity cheerleading squad, Bridget Callahan and Katherine Luciano, earned All-FCIAC honors following an individual competition Jan. 29 in Fairfield. Coached by Lisa and Alyssa Cellini, they earned spots on the 24-member All-FCIAC squad. Results came in Feb. 7 for the individual routine scores, which consist of an individual cheer, three jumps and a tumbling pass, parents say. The NCHS winter team includes senior captains Bridget Callahan, Morgan Campbell, Katherine Luciano and Caitlin Morley; seniors Isabella Giardina and Samantha Johnson; juniors Tanajiah Carrafiello and Ashley Verissimo-Pinto; sophomore Lauren Meyers; and freshman Rosemary O’Neil.
Saxe Building Committee members braved flurries last Thursday to make a meeting. Credit: Michael Dinan
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Town officials on Tuesday morning will vote on whether to appropriate $45,000 for a consultant to help determine whether the best way forward at Saxe Middle School is not only a renovation of the 1957 building’s auditorium, but also an expansion of the building up toward South and Farm. The Board of Selectmen meeting starts at 9 a.m. and can be watched on Channel 79. Jim Beall of the Saxe Building Committee said during that group’s meeting Thursday that the consultant’s work will help “answer the question as to whether there is an need for expansion.” “Nothing will go forward until that happens, Beall said. “Without that, we don’t have enough information to make a story. No matter what the story is, this is vital.”
This rendering from SLAM Collaborative represents the final approved facade of the proposed mixed-use structure at 16 Cross St.
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The rendering at left represents the final, approved façade for 16 Cross St. a mixed use retail-and-residential structure that for a time had been a candidate or the permanent home of the New Canaan Post Office.
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Police Chief Leon Krolikowski and the Town Council introduced some levity in last week’s budget discussion. While reviewing the crimes that had been occurring downtown and led to the creation of a police officer dedicated to the business district, Krolikowski mentioned the 2013 jewelry store theft, larcenies and frauds. When a Town Council member mentioned “graffiti”—in reference to recent graffiti at Baskin-Robbins on Main Street, owned by the chief’s wife—Krolikowski quipped: “That was probably the quickest case ever solved. Cost-benefit analysis right there.”
Audrey Schwarz
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Audrey Elizabeth Schwarz, a 2014 New Canaan High School graduate and a current freshman at the University of Alabama, has been named to the Dean’s List at the University of Alabama as a result of her first semester grades there. Audrey has also been elected to the University of Alabama chapters of several prestigious honor societies, including Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Lambda Delta, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She’s also a member of the zeta chapter of Kappa Delta sorority at the university.
This Cheshire-based company’s van could be seen parked Friday in the Elm Street crosswalk between the Playhouse and BoA. Note: It isn’t clear whether the way that other motorists had parked somehow “forced” this individual into this awkward, illegal position. Credit: Michael Dinan
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It goes without saying that nobody knows the circumstances—unimaginable though they may be—that could have forced the motorist here to park directly in the Elm Street crosswalk, forcing pedestrians into the roadway.
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New Canaan’s highest elected heaped praise on the town’s Department of Public Works (aka “Keepers of the Aesthetic”) during the Feb. 3 Board of Finance meeting. Addressing DPW Director Mike Pastore and Assistant Director Tiger Mann, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi talked about how several highway crew members gave up their Super Bowl Sundays to come to work and start treating town roads at 5:30 p.m. “It’s just amazing dedication we are getting from all of your guys, so on behalf the town, we certainly thank you.”
Randy the brindle Chihuahua whose first adoption out of the New Canaan Animal Shelter did not last has found a loving, forever home in Norwalk. Here he is. Way to go, Randy! Contributed photo
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Check out the photo of Randy the brindle Chihuahua whom police picked up last summer roaming on Carter Street. He was placed in a home in the fall, but it didn’t last and he ended up back at the shelter. Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said he was adopted again and absolutely loves his new home in Norwalk. He lives there with sisters, one of whom keeps him constant company, and the other of whom goes to work until 4 p.m., when Randy ends up looking for her out of this window. Way to go, Randy!
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As of the latest update, New Canaan’s first-ever “tax sale”—an auctioning off of properties whose owners are delinquent in paying their local taxes—will go on as scheduled, on March 5. The properties in question 54 and 56 Forest St., 527 Smith Ridge Road, 61 Sturbridge Hill Road and1032 Silvermine Road—the first three of which are owned by the same party, according to documents on file with the Town Clerk.