Op-Ed: New Canaan Rotary Club’s Efforts to Combat Polio

Thursday, October 24, 2019 is World Polio Day. What do we care about Polio here in New Canaan? Plenty. Today there are many local residents who have been personally affected by polio or who know of a family member or friend who has been affected. We have other neighbors who may be completely unaware of polio’s impact on the world.

Did You Hear … ?

New Canaan Public Schools as of Monday night had 273 kindergarten sign-ups for the fall, compared to 231 at the same time last year, district officials said during this week’s Board of Education meeting. ***

The company hired by the town last summer to address the rat problem behind The Playhouse on Elm Street, Stamford-based Aavon Pest Control Inc., charged New Canaan $145 per month for three months to tend its “rodent safety bait stations” and inspect for “rodent burrowing activity,” according to the agreement. ***

The Rotary Club of New Canaan is now taking applications for its 2019 Grant program. Applications will be taken from registered nonprofit organizations in New Canaan and neighboring areas in two categories only: “Health and Wellness” and “Education and Literacy.” The deadline for applications is April 5, and full details can be found by clicking on “Rotary Grant Application” under the “Club Documents” tab on the left side of the Rotary Club of New Canaan website. ***

Congratulations to New Canaan’s Jaime Sneddon and The Sneddon Team on earning recognition from William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty as the company’s top producing agent and top producing team, based on total closed volume for the year 2018.

Letter: ‘Thank You’ from Rotary Following Successful Lobsterfest

Editor,

The Rotary Club wishes to thank all those who participated in this year’s Lobsterfest, especially the New Canaan Historical Society for allowing us to hold it on their grounds, and all our many sponsors and ticket holders who came to help make it a lively, colorful and successful event. In addition to supporting many very worthy local organizations with our proceeds, we wish you to know that your continual support of us has reached deserving people well beyond our immediate area. In 1987, when there were 350,000 known cases of polio, Rotary International set out on a mission to help eradicate polio worldwide. Since then Rotarians, through their clubs across the globe, have all been contributing to this effort, so that four years ago there were only 359 recorded new cases anywhere, and last year only 21. This year, we understand that there have been no new recorded cases.

Did You Hear … ?

A New York state man on Aug. 30 collapsed while leash-walking his dog on Oenoke Ridge Road near Logan Road, officials say. The leash was still in the man’s hand when medical and emergency response teams arrived at the scene. Officials identified the man through the microchip implanted in his dog, a black-and-white hound that was being fostered through a rescue group called ‘Last Chance Rescue.’ The dog, which had a history of biting other canines, was impounded by New Canaan Police and ultimately released back to the rescue group. It wasn’t immediately clear why the man collapsed or how he’s faring.

Did You Hear … ?

The arraignments of Joanne Pascarelli and Marie Wilson, charged with felony larceny in connection with the theft of nearly $500,000 in cash from Saxe Middle School and New Canaan High School cafeterias, have both been pushed to Sept. 4. Pascarelli is represented by attorney Darnell Crosland, Wilson by attorney Mark Sherman, both of Stamford. ***

In the wake of the sisters’ arrest, this Tweet came in from the popular ‘Overheard on the New Canaan branch” Twitter account:

A: “My wife told me she wants to go back to work”
B: “there’s a couple of openings in the school cafeteria, if you know what I mean”
A: “damn that’s brilliant. If those two idiots could scam half a million, she could def do better.