Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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For the first time ever, May Fair will open its rides to visitors on the Friday night of the weekend that the hugely popular event runs. “Friday Night Lights” will run from 5 to 9 p.m. on May 8—featuring just the rides, a performance stage and select food vendors Baskin-Robbins, Joe’s Pizza and Chicken Joe’s—and the full, cherished annual fair running about 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. the following day, said Richard DePatie, parish administrator at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. “We’ve been talking about it, off and on, for a number of years, and weather is a factor,” DePatie told NewCanaanite.com. He explained that in recent years, foul weather has caused organizers to hit pause on May Fair for periods of time on the selected Saturday, and that affects how much money can be raised (the fair benefits charities through the St.

Around Town

‘Doing Good’: St. Mark’s Launches Accessible Outreach Program; Open Door Shelter Is First Beneficiary

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The funds that support St. Mark’s Episcopal Church’s outreach program long have come primarily from one of New Canaan’s iconic and most treasured community events: May Fair. The 500-plus volunteer effort to organize and operate May Fair is intense and weeks-long—so much so that many New Canaanites with typically demanding schedules are excluded from participating in the celebrated fundraiser, according to members of St. Mark’s Outreach Commission. And according to one commission member, Miki Porta, many perfectly wonderful volunteer opportunities—such as giving a weekend day to help build a house somewhere in the county—are equally demanding of scarce available time.

Around Town

‘America’s Wake-Up Call’: Q&A with New Canaan’s Stephen Roach, Economist and Author

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When we heard that economist, scholar, author and New Canaan resident Stephen Roach was coming to New Canaan Library to talk about his widely discussed new book — “Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China” — we immediately sought to put some questions to Roach himself: His history and involvement in our town, entry into the field of economics (where he is a prominent figure), and a bit about the book itself. We discovered that Roach is a fixture in the chicken line at New Canaan’s well-loved and recently held May Fair, and found him frank and engaging: “In a codependent relationship, the scorned partner usually ends up in serious trouble,” Roach says of the relationship between the two nations in his book. “Call it America’s wake-up call.” Our full exchange can be found below. A senior fellow at Yale University and former chairman of Morgan Stanly Asia, he’sspeaking at 8 a.m. next Wednesday, May 21 as part of the library’s “Distinguished Authors Series on Economics,” presented in partnership with the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, Alliance of Business Professionals and Elm Street Books. Register here.

Around Town

May Fair Connects Community, Generations; Runs Rain or Shine Saturday

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Karen Malner grew up on Parade Hill Road—a short, steep walk from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church—and each year at just this time, she and her friends had a little tradition. They’d head out on the Friday before the May Fair to check out the rides, then after a sleepover at Malner’s house, return for the fair itself. On Thursday, the 1985 New Canaan High School graduate (then Karen Corker) collected her grand nephew Dylan Laviola from school, and during the ride home they talked about the May Fair, including the boy’s fear that it would rain Saturday. So, she brought Dylan to the pesticide-free, ride-filled field at St.