Government

Post Office Selects Locust Avenue for Permanent New Canaan Location

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A future New Canaan Post Office will be located on Locust Avenue, occupying contiguous .18- and .21-acre properties just below the municipal parking lot. Town officials said the United States Postal Service informed them Monday that it had selected 18-26 Locust Ave. over the other candidate (on Park Street, next to Mrs. Green’s). First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said in a press release that he looks forward “to the public dialogue and review of the plans for the new facility at that location.” “Like so many of you, I am most anxious to have a permanent home for our Post Office,” Mallozzi said. It isn’t clear just when the Post Office expects to make the move, how much capital work is required to prepare the site or just when or how, long-term, the plans will affect the commercial property at 26 Locust Ave.

Business

SLIDESHOW: 20 Things You Only Know If You Shop and Dine in New Canaan

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New Canaanites have plenty of reasons to shop and dine locally, and those reasons go far beyond the fact that the village center has scores of independent businesspeople—retailers, restaurateurs, service providers—who work here and have had a tough go with the weather these past few weeks. Our owners-on-site specialize in their fields and offer a wide range of expertise. They support most every community event that locals associate with the town—fishing derby, Waveny summer concerts, Santa’s visit, little league, Holiday Stroll, ice cream social, Halloween Parade. It’s hard to find two important community events in a row in New Canaan that aren’t sponsored in some way by Walter Stewart’s, Karl Chevy or both. Because familiarity breeds conversation and rapport, we can come to know our local small business owners and workers better than we may at, say, out-of-town chains. The slideshow above is a testament to that strong connection—click through to learn more about some of those who make up the economic lifeblood of the business district.

Around Town

New Canaan’s Top-10 Sandwiches

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There is an amazing ratio of sandwiches to people here in New Canaan. So amazing, that a couple of places (most notably the Best Würst and the Forest St. Deli) closed while we compiled this list. It’s important to note that this specific list was relegated to counter service restaurants or delis only. We are well aware of many of the amazing sandwiches that are served at traditional sit-down restaurants here in town.

Around Town

In Demand: Three Sessions of Rec Department’s ‘Breakfast with Santa’ at Waveny Sell Out in One Hour

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When the Recreation Department launched its “Breakfast with Santa” event in 2007, about 50 participating kids—for the price of a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots program (more on that below)—in a single session, had breakfast with Mr. Claus himself and scored a photo with the big man. The event, a partnership for years with the Young Women’s League of New Canaan and now run by Rec with the support of generous sponsors, has grown so popular that this time around, three full sessions with 60 kids in each “sold out” (in truth, the event is free but requires advanced registration) in about one hour, Recreation Director Steve Benko said. “The kids, they just love it, and it’s great to have our sponsors on board,” Benko said of the event, which will run Saturday at Waveny House. This year’s sponsors are Lorenzo Colella of Joe’s Pizza and Mike Shullman of Russell Speeders (and Choose To Be Happy), Benko said. Among other perks for local Santa-seeking children, their contribution funds the purchase of goodie bags for the kids, including croissants, munchkins, cinnamon rolls and water.

Around Town

New Canaan Tradition: Fishing Derby at Mill Pond Set for April 12

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Town officials have set the date for a cherished community event at Mill Pond whose roots go back nearly 50 years in New Canaan. Derby Day—listed on the town’s website as the George Cogswell Memorial Fishing Derby 2014, named for a former New Canaan police officer—will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 12 (registration opens at 8:30 a.m.), according to a press release issued by New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tucker Murphy. The pond, which New Canaan has dredged every other year, will be stocked ahead of the event with 370 pounds of rainbow trout, Murphy said. The dredging of Mill Pond came up recently, at a March 19 Town Council meeting, during a presentation from Department of Public Works Director Michael Pastore and Assistant Director Tiger Mann. According to Mann, Mill and Mead Ponds (neither of which were skate-able this past winter) are dredged every other year at a cost of about $10,000 each time.