Around Town

Annual Fishing Derby Set for Saturday at Mill Pond

By |

New Canaan’s young anglers will descend on Mill Pond Saturday morning for one of the town’s most cherished community traditions—the annual fishing derby. Registration will start at 8 a.m. for the popular free event—a competition for special prizes—and fishing will start at 8:30 a.m. The fishing derby is open to kids 15 and younger, and 10-and-unders must be accompanied by an adult.

“We are always so thrilled to see so many families come out together to take advantage of such a beloved event,” said Tucker Murphy, president of the Kiwanis Club of New Canaan. “We really want to thank the Police Benevolent Association. They really stepped to help pay for the re-stocking. Without the help of police, fire and DPW, this event would not happen.

Around Town

Kiwanis Club’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Social To Be Held Sunday

By |

The New Canaan Kiwanis Club’s popular St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Social is around the corner, scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 11 in St. Aloysius School’s dining hall. A community staple for years, the event features Irish dancing and is sponsored by New Canaan’s Hoyt Funeral Home, First County Bank, Bankwell, Kiwanis Division 20, Karl Chevrolet, Sperry DeCew, Nurenu Brand Marketing, Baskin-Robbins, Walter Stewart’s Market, Stewarts Spirits, NewCanaanite.com, Hawthorne Ackerly & Dorrance, Anam Cara School of Irish Dance and Harney Pender Keady School of Irish Dance. Tickets are $10 for children, those under age two are free, $15 for adults ($20 at the door) and are available at the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, 91 Elm St.; Walter Stewart’s Market, 229 Elm St.; Baskin- Robbins 103 Main St.

Around Town

Fishing Derby at Mill Pond Scheduled for Saturday Morning

By |

New Canaan’s young anglers will descend on Mill Pond Saturday morning for one of the town’s most cherished community traditions—the annual fishing derby. Registration will start at 8:30 a.m. for the popular event—a competition for special prizes—and fishing will start at 9 a.m. The fishing derby is open to kids 15 and younger, and 10-and-unders must be accompanied by an adult.

“Personally, it is one of my favorite events because it seems to attract a lot of New Canaan families,” said Tucker Murphy, president of the Kiwanis Club of New Canaan. “It’s a lot of people that we don’t see on a regular basis that come out for it, and I love that. I love to see these kids with all of their little lines, all ready to go, we are so grateful to all of our sponsors. At 9 a.m. they’ll drop the lines in.

Around Town

‘It Finally Feels Like Summer’: Locals Head to Downtown, Parks As Temps Soar into 70s

By |

Olive Gallagher, a West School third-grader, on Monday afternoon joined her friends Phoebe Mellick, a West School second-grader, and Morgan Tusa, an East School third-grader, on the bench outside of Baskin-Robbins on Main Street. The trio had spent part of the morning at a beach in Westport, where they participated in a photo shoot on the fabulous Beachmate system (a local family’s invention), and then came back to sun-dappled New Canaan for their cool treat. “This is one of my favorite spots,” Phoebe told NewCanaanite.com before going back to her Icing On the Cake-flavored ice cream cone. “We’re just enjoying the weather.” (Olive also got Icing On the Cake—asked what flavor she had, Morgan answered, “I have no idea.”)

As temperatures climbed into the 70s in New Canaan—and less than one month after a winter storm dumped about a foot of snow here—locals enjoying April break at home headed into town and out to the public parks to relax and reconnect with nature and each other. “Everyone comes out of the woodwork and enjoys the beautiful day—it finally feels like summer is here,” New Canaan’s Andrea Reid said from a favorite family spot, Irwin Park, where she joined a friend and watched over her kids, 5-year-old Asher, a New Canaan Community Preschooler, and Morgan, 2, who attends the preschool at United Methodist Church (the writer’s alma mater).

Business

Baskin Robbins Earns High Marks on Unannounced Health Inspections

By |

Baskin Robbins has earned an average score of 95.5 out of 100 on health inspections through the past nine years, records show. A fixture of Main Street in New Canaan, the candy and ice cream shop has scored 92 and higher through 16 unannounced inspections conducted by sanitarians with the New Canaan Health Department since October 2008, according to a review of the organization’s files at Town Hall. Sanitarians use a state Department of Public Health standard, citing eateries for violations that range in seriousness and corresponding weight from 1 to 4 points. A “failed” inspection is triggered either by one or more 4-point violations or a total score of less than 80 points. Owned by New Canaan resident and 1987 NCHS grad Anna Valente, employing a number of local teens and residents and site of the most-read NewCanaanite.com article of 2016, Baskin Robbins consistently has earned the equivalent of A’s and A+’s in its inspections (article continues below):

 

Officials in the health department said a score that consistently comes in at or near perfect is “optimal for any establishment.”

Speaking to such high scores generally and not to Baskin Robbins specifically, Sanitarian Carla DeLucia said it would the establishment is “without any four-point violations, without temperature violations and likely without any critical violations.”

“Sanitarians work to help food establishments maintain compliance and, as a result, New Canaan on the whole fares well on inspections,” DeLucia said.