Around Town

‘You Have To Work At It’: Waveny Care Center’s Prized Volunteerism Receives Boost from Local Family

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As Diana Siano and Pickie Rosemond Harvey-Smith made their way through The Village  at Waveny Care Center on a recent afternoon, they catch sight of handsome Harry Sharlach. “Harry! Oh Harry!” They swoon. Sharlach turns but it is too late: He vanishes into a cloud of kisses. Both Siano and Sharlach are part of a vast network of volunteers that bolsters the day-to-day care at Waveny LifeCare Network, where Harvey-Smith resides.

News

Letter: ‘Thank You’ To Those Who Helped Decorate Waveny Campus for Holidays

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Dear Editor,

On behalf of Waveny’s residents, patients, and program participants, I want to thank the donors who helped us decorate our campus for the holidays by contributing to the purchase of new holiday trees and decorations this season. We adorned the Main Street area—a wonderful space that is the setting for therapeutic recreation activities every day for participants in our Adult Day Program and residents in The Village (our memory care assisted living program) – and common areas in our nursing home, the Care Center. These decorations are not only festive but comforting to those older adults in our care, for whom tradition and familiar themes are essential. Transforming our community’s space into a holiday wonderland is inspirational for our residents and program participants and sets the stage as they engage in meaningful enrichment programs. For those who spend the holidays living at Waveny, it is important to have their home here reflect the season – especially those whose families do not live locally and cannot spend the holidays together with them. Family members and volunteers also appreciate the holiday décor, as they visit and support those in our care during this special time of year.

Around Town

‘A Fairly Amazing Run’: Cynthia Gorey To Leave New Canaan Community Foundation After 14 Years

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Though it isn’t measurable by any single data point, Cynthia Gorey’s influence in leading the New Canaan Community Foundation for 14-plus years as its executive director, later president and CEO, may be sketched in terms of numbers. NCCF was 25 years old when the organization’s Board of Directors hired Gorey as its first full-time employee, in 2002, and at the time the nonprofit oversaw about $3 million in assets in three or four separate funds, according to current board President Leo Karl III. Today, NCCF controls a little more than $16 million, and for the last several years it’s distributed more than $1 million in annual grants, Karl said. NCCF also now counts nearly 40 separate funds—they vary from board-directed to donor-advised or agency funds set aside for nonprofits’ capital or long-term endowments—and they’re pooled and invested together. In total, NCCF in Gorey’s tenure has distributed more than $11 million—touching people’s lives with a breadth and depth that defies calculation.

News

NCCF, Town Officials Collaborate on New Firefighter Safety Initiative

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Wood Truss test Burn
This video was created to help show firefighters the dangers of wood truss roof assemblies when they are exposed to fire. The video contains excerpts of tests burns that were conducted on a wood truss assembly and also a wood “stick built” roof assembly. With the help of one prominent local nonprofit organization, town officials are launching a new initiative that’s designed to supply more information to firefighters arriving on the scene of a structure fire in order to help ensure their safety. Soon, when building permit applications come into the town, a note will be made if the new structure is using what’s known as “lightweight truss construction”—an efficient and increasingly common framework that relies on geometry for strength rather than mass. A trusted product for homebuilding, truss construction also has far a smaller surface area than typical framed construction, “so when it’s exposed to very high heat, such as in a fire, it fails far more quickly than dimensional lumber,” according to New Canaan firefighter John Aniello.