Andrew Walsh

‘I Don’t Think It’s Very Realistic’: Committee Mulls Postponement or Cancellation of July 4th Waveny Fireworks [UPDATED]

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Members of the volunteer committee that organizes the annual fireworks celebration at Waveny said Wednesday that the popular family gathering likely won’t happen in any form on July 4 and that it remains to be seen whether a postponed event is feasible. The Family Fourth Committee stopped short of making a formal recommendation to postpone or cancel the event. Yet even in a modified fireworks show—for example, where attendees are told to park on the lawn at Waveny and remain in their cars—members of the group voiced concerns about people ignoring such instructions. 

“Here’s an example—the parks got closed for a reason,” Committee member Wendy Dixon Fog, who also is a volunteer EMT with New Canaan Emergency Medical Services, said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “And they got closed because people refused to social distance and you had a lacrosse game and you had a little bumble bee soccer game and these parents were already told, ‘Social distancing, no games.’ So if we can’t control what they are doing in small numbers, I don’t know how we are going to be able to do this.”

Chair Tom Stadler said the Committee would meet weekly until it reached a decision. Committee member Robin Bates-Mason said Norwalk, Westport, Enfield, West Haven, Hartford and Windsor Locks already have canceled their Independence Day fireworks.

Board of Selectmen

Family Fourth: Officials Approve $31,000 Contract for Fireworks at Waveny

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Town officials on Tuesday approved a $31,000 contract with a Douglassville, Pa.-based company for this year’s Independence Day fireworks at Waveny, the 40th Family Fourth celebration at the public park. Selectmen Kit Devereaux and Nick Williams voted 2-0 in favor of the contract with International Fireworks Manufacturing Company. Tom Stadler, chair of the Family Fourth Committee that oversees the popular show, said revenues from sales of passes have risen following efforts to educate the attending public that the fireworks are not town-funded but rely on monies collected privately through the passes. “This past year we were able to fund not only the whole entire show but also give some money to the Emergency Medical Services so they could buy that golf cart and there’s a stretcher on it—it’s equipment for the emergency medical people which we were renting each year from Norwalk so deiced to help them buy it,” Stadler told the selectmen at their regular meeting at Town Hall. “Also we helped the Police Department with some work on their trailer.

Government

‘They Have a Purpose’: Owner Likely Has Plans for Contiguous Properties Downtown, Officials Say

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Officials said Tuesday that they’re expecting the owner of a .2-acre parcel downtown that the town uses as a permitted parking lot to combine that property with two others for some type of project, possibly very soon. The town has sold 28 annual permits at $436 apiece for what long has been known as the “Telephone Lot” on Cherry Street. Last April, a limited liability company whose principal is a New Canaan man purchased the property for $625,000. 

Robert Cuda and his family also own numbers 21 and 25 Burtis Ave. under different companies, according to local tax and state business records. Located in the Business A zone, those two properties total .3 acres combined, meaning the Telephone Lot makes a half-acre total.

Footer Featured Widget

‘Thank You’ from Family Fourth Committee Chairman

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Editor:

On behalf of the Family Fourth Committee, I would like to thank all who supported the 39th Annual New Canaan Family Fourth Celebration at Waveny Park by purchasing an entrance pass and attending this Independence Day celebration. Your financial support makes this great New Canaan tradition possible; whether you drove in or walked in, thank you for buying an entrance pass and supporting the event.  

The fireworks show was spectacular.  It was another memorable 4th of July celebration….an outstanding evening of family fun, wonderful music, great food and a fantastic fireworks display.  

We offer a big thank you to the New Canaan Family Fourth volunteer Committee—Robin Bates-Mason, Steve Benko, Scott Cluett, Chris Cody, Wendy Dixon Fog, Win Goodrich, Sue Holland, Suzanne Jonker, Steve Parrett, Doug Richardson, Andrew Walsh, Maria Weingarten and Pat Wood—as well as all of the following. The show could not have gone on without their endless energy, hard work and commitment:

Fire Department and Fire Marshal
Police Department and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
New Canaan EMS
Master of Ceremonies Dan Taylor
Town Band and Mind the Gap Band
Kidz on the Go soft-play activity centers 
The gourmet food trucks and vendors
The Exchange Club of New Canaan
Our special benefactors
Town Parking, Parks, Public Works, Recreation and Information Technology Departments
All of the volunteers who worked from early morning, to very late at night, to set up and take down the necessary infrastructure and equipment.

Around Town

Family Fourth Committee: Purchase Passes So That Waveny Fireworks Can Continue

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The volunteer committee that organizes one of New Canaan’s favorite annual events is urging those planning to attend to purchase passes beforehand. Though passes to the annual Family Fourth gathering will be available Thursday at Waveny Pool, they may be purchased now online (on the newly relaunched municipal website) or at several physical locations throughout town, according to Tom Stadler, chairman of the committee that oversees the event. At a cost of $35 per family for residents and $65 for nonresidents, the passes generate the only revenue that supports the Family Fourth, whose highlights include the celebrated fireworks show as well as a bouncy castle for kids and other amenities for attendees. “The fireworks show is put on by selling entrance passes and by some very generous people that give us donations every year,” Stadler told NewCanaanite.com. “Ninety-five percent of it comes from passes.