Run, jog or walk for a cause in the 16th Annual New Canaan Turkey Trot. Organized and by a team of New Canaan and Weston students, all proceeds from this 5k run will benefit the Open Door Shelter in Norwalk, a non profit that provides critical support to individuals and families in need.
Congratulations to West School third-grader Angelina Hubertus, 8, who on Dec. 20 played at Carnegie Hall (see video above). Though she’s only played piano for three years, the New Canaan resident this year was the “Honorable Winner” of the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition. In addition to Music, Angelina loves skating, swimming, tennis and golf, and is a member of New Canaan YMCA basketball Junior Eagle team. New Canaanite readers may remember her from an article that ran this past summer, after a 300-year-old apple tree fell on an Oenoke Ridge Road property.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, most New Canaanites are gearing up for the Turkey Bowl, receiving guests, or traveling to spend the holiday with loved ones. Even so, for many less fortunate families in surrounding communities, the days leading up to Thanksgiving might not be so carefree. Many homeless Fairfield County residents will be spending the holiday in area shelters, relying on volunteers and donations in order to stay warm and fed. On Sunday, November 22nd the 12th annual Turkey Trot 5K run/walk will commence at Waveny Park to benefit one such establishment—Norwalk’s Open Door Shelter, a 95-bed facility located at 4 Merritt Street. According to its website, the Open Door operates primarily from private donations, making community events like the Turkey Trot—chaired by Paige Lord and co-chaired by David Tamburri, Morgan Connelly and Teddy Schoenholtz— that much more important.
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.