Around Town

Recognizing New Canaan’s Volunteers: Locals, Community Foundation To Continue Town Tradition

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A group of locals is seeing to it that an important and longstanding tradition—of recognizing those in New Canaan who give of their time through volunteerism—will continue. For nearly 20 years, local volunteers had been honored through a spring program that involved the United Way. When that organization no longer was able to support the effort, locals who served on a committee overseeing the volunteer awards decided to find another way to get recognition for those who have earned it. “We’re talking about the person who usually flies under the radar, who has been doing something for a long time out of the goodness of their heart,” said Tucker Murphy, a member of the committee. Now, with generous support from the New Canaan Community Foundation, the awards will go on, with a Nov.

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Ram Spirit Fund: Formal Planning, Fundraising Efforts Underway for Two New Turf Fields at NCHS

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Nearly two years after receiving municipal approvals, a plan to create two additional turf athletic fields at New Canaan High School is gaining momentum this week, as a website, formal fundraising effort, renderings and timetable for the project have materialized. Through the newly created “Ram Spirit Fund,” a committee that includes the NCHS athletic director, recreation director of the town and officials from youth field hockey, football, lacrosse and soccer groups are seeking to raise $2 million by the end of this month. With those funds in hand, the committee would put the project out to bid in May, start work in June and have the fields ready for when the next academic year kicks off in September, according to a timetable published on the website. The fields would be located across the parking lot from Dunning Field, running from the tennis courts toward Waveny. Nick Williams—both a selectman who voted in favor of the project in July 2013 and a longtime youth sports parent who has launched a website dedicated to NCHS soccer teams—said the new turf fields are “something we need in town.”

“One of the trends continuing trends that we’re seeing in New Canaan is really the explosion of girls’ sports.

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Letter: Bankwell ‘A Wonderful Role Model’ for Community Banking

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Dear Editor,

Community is more than where we live; it’s how we live. In New Canaan, we are so fortunate to live in what I call a community of choice. We choose to work together with our neighbors to make our Town the best it can be. In the spirit of community banking, Bankwell in New Canaan is a wonderful role model. The leadership of the Bank understands our special community and seeks to highlight what is unique and extraordinary about New Canaan.

Around Town

SLIDESHOW: NCCF’s ‘I [Heart] New Canaan’ Photo Contest Entries

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More than 30 residents, including several talented photographers, gathered in the gallery area at Bankwell on Elm Street on Thursday to mark the installment of the New Canaan Community Foundation’s “I [Heart] New Canaan” photo show. The first-ever show from the nonprofit organization asked locals to submit pictures that captured what was special to them about New Canaan, and scores of photographers came back with more than 120 entries, said NCCF Executive Director Cynthia Gorey. “We are so pleased to promote the ‘I [Heart] New Canaan’ idea,” Gorey told the crowd during a brief break in the wine-and-cheese event. “We love New Canaan the Community Foundation is an important part of this town. This was just an idea that came into our minds and we said we’d see if we get any photos, and were astounded by how many we got and how wonderful they were.”

The photos were judged by professional art appreciators from Carriage Barn Arts Center, Silvermine Arts Center and New Canaan High School.

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Anonymous Local Donor Funds ‘Kay Timmis Award’ for New Canaan High School Students

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Since news of the passing of Kay Timmis broke this week, scores of New Canaan Public Schools students who through four decades had come to know the cherished substitute teacher have shared remembrances and tributes to a singular educator and human being. Now, thanks to a local parent whose kids went through the schools here and whose family is feeling the loss deeply, generations of future students will be touched by Kay’s spirit and legacy. This spring, through a fund administered by the New Canaan Community Foundation, the first-ever “Kay Timmis Award” will be presented to a deserving student. “Mrs. Timmis will be remembered this spring and every spring after that,” said New Canaan Community Foundation Executive Director Cynthia Gorey, who on Wednesday morning took a call from the town woman behind the fund—a New Canaan resident who wants to remain anonymous. “It’s a parent whose kids went through the schools and her kids had Ms. Timmis as a substitute teacher and they just were really touched by this woman and were moved to do something to honor her legacy and help people to keep remembering her for the good that she did,” Gorey said.