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New Canaan High School’s former assistant food director, Marie Wilson, appeared Wednesday in state Superior Court in Stamford before Judge Richard Comerford in connection with the felony larceny charges in what has become known as the “lunch ladies” case. An attorney representing Wilton said she’s still in the discovery phase of the case, and the matter was continued to Nov. 27. No formal plea has been entered on Wilson’s behalf. Her sister, Joanne Pascarelli, who had overseen the food services program at Saxe Middle School, has pleaded not guilty.

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Studio Elan, an established business on Burtis Avenue, is moving into the former Candy Scoop space on Elm Street, up the alley by Chef Luis and next to New Canaan Music. ***

New Canaan Public Schools cafeterias recently earned the No. 1 “Best Food Ranking” from Niche.com. Here’s a peek at the top-10 (Darien is No. 23—nanny nanny boo boo):

New Canaan
Middlefield
Weston
Westport
Wilton
Chester
Killingly
Waterford
Simsbury
Glastonbury

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Police responded to a call at 1:28 p.m. last Saturday that a dog near Forest Street and Locust Avenue was “going crazy in a car.” The dog’s owner, who was inside the nearby New Canaan Diner, paid her bill and left the restaurant to take care of the barking animal.

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Egan exudes excellence in all facets of life at Loyola
Loyola senior swimmer and education major Cara Egan reflects on all of her accomplishments as a Greyhound. Congratulations to 2012 New Canaan grad Cara Egan, a record-breaking swimmer at Loyola University Maryland whose educational, athletic and civic accomplishments are celebrated in the Patriot League Network YouTube channel video above. They include what officials are calling the highest student-leader honor that can be bestowed at Loyola, the Diane Geppi-Aikens Service Award. We heard about the video from NCHS teacher and swim coach David Fine, whose Y Nationals-qualifying 1,650-yard freestyle swim in 1991 in the Payne-Whitney Gymnasium at Yale University remains an essential part of New Canaan Y swimming lore. ***

Officials never did find a raccoon that was behaving erratically, perhaps because it was sick, on Feb.

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Congratulations to the New Canaan High School varsity girls’ soccer team on a 2-1 victory over Amity on Monday. The girls advance to play No. 7 seed Middletown at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Best of luck! ***

Though some bridled after Audit Committee members issued a list of “action items” they said they required in order for the volunteer group to feel comfortable signing off on New Canaan’s financial statements, it appears local officials—including the first selectman, Town Council, school and finance boards and Audit Committee itself—have worked together to move forward as one.

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New Canaan Nonprofits Participating in ‘Giving Day’

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On Thursday, some 18 New Canaan nonprofit organizations will participate in a 24-hour fundraising blitz known as Giving Day. Hosted by the Fairfield County Community Foundation under the slogan “Give Where You Live” and with a goal of raising $1 million on a single day, Giving Day invites donors to give at least $10 to as many charities as they can. The organization that has the most individual donations will win an extra $25,000, while the organization that raises the most money will get another $20,000 (more information on prizes is available here). We asked participating local nonprofits to send us a single sentence communicating to NewCanaanite.com readers why they’re a great candidate for a donation on this day. Here are the New Canaan nonprofits, according to the Giving Day website, with their responses (those agencies that have not yet responded can email me directly at editor@nctest.proxy02.mageenet.net and I will update this story):

A Better Chance of New Canaan: “The mission of the ABC of New Canaan is to offer capable minority youth the opportunity to learn in a superior educational program while also preparing them to assume positions of responsibility and leadership in American society.”
Carriage Barn Arts Center/New Canaan Society for the Arts: “Please support the New Canaan Society for the Arts/Carriage Barn Arts Center on this Fairfield County Giving Day and help us fulfill our goal of providing exceptional art exhibitions, accessible children’s art education, and cultural programs.”
Filling in the Blanks: “Your support will allow FILLING IN THE BLANKS to provide over 300 hungry children with meals on the weekend.”
Future 5: “Now with over 100 active members, Future 5 is helping motivated, low income high school students stay on track and connect to their full potential.”
Getabout
Hungry Kidzz: “We provide weekend bags of food during the summer, a 4th of July ‘Freedom (barbecue) Box’ and 1000s of holiday stockings in December.”