News

Letter: Waveny Park Conservancy Thanks Community for Supporting Tailgate Party

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To the Editor:

The Waveny Park Conservancy would like to express our appreciation to all the individuals who helped make our 2nd Annual Tailgate Party a huge success. We would like to thank the following members of the community, without whom the event would not have happened:

Louise Havens, BJ Flagg and Nurenu Brand Marketing, Elm Street Books, School of Rock, New Canaan Police Department, Becky Walsh, Diane Hannauer, Tangled Vine Band, New Canaan Wine Merchants, The New Canaan Library, The Chamber of Commerce, New Canaan Advertiser, The Rotary Club of New Canaan, Elm Street Books, New Canaanite, The Town of New Canaan and Mose Saccary and the Town’s Highway Department. Special thanks are extended to Steve Benko, who of course invests countless hours to ensure that every event that happens at Waveny goes off without a hitch. We are especially appreciative to everyone in the community that purchased a ticket and turned up for the Tailgate as the proceeds raised will assist the Conservancy’s efforts to restore and enhance the 130 acres of open space surrounding Waveny. Lastly, we encourage those that still want to show their support to go to our website to donate.

Around Town

Second Annual ‘Tailgate Party’ at Waveny To Be Held Saturday

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One of New Canaan’s most active and effective nonprofit organizations is counting down this week to a unique social gathering at Waveny Park that doubles as an important fundraiser. The Waveny Park Conservancy’s second annual Tailgate Party is to be held 4 to 10:30 p.m. on the lawn out back of Waveny House. Launched last fall, the event sees ticket-holding New Canaanites park in rows out back of the stately 1912-built Waveny House for an hours-long classic tailgate, mixing with each other over loads of food and drink, around a fire pit and in front of a live band—this year it’s Tangled Vine—and giant inflatable screen featuring college football games. “We had incredible success last year at the first annual tailgate and we look forward to people from New Canaan turning out again in support of the Waveny Park Conservancy’s cause,” co-chair Brock Saxe told NewCanaanite.com. “Growing up in New Canaan, I never appreciated the incredible asset that Waveny is to this town and so the Conservancy is working hard to restore trails and the cornfields and to take on a bunch of projects in collaboration with the town of New Canaan.”

Those projects include the creation of new trails that are getting high marks from park goers, renewal of the the pond located at the foot of the sledding hill and in the cornfields, a plan that has received enthusiastic support from town officials.

Business

Future of ‘Pop Up Park’ Uncertain After Some Merchants Voice Concerns

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After a handful of merchants voiced concerns about how the Pop Up Park at South Avenue and Elm Street affects traffic and business, members of the municipal body that oversees street closures in New Canaan said Wednesday night that they’ll take the feedback into consideration in deciding on the future of the downtown amenity. No immediate decision is needed regarding the Pop Up Park, which saw part of the South Avenue’s first block cordoned off as a pedestrian-only space—with tables, chairs, WiFi, planters, grass, fountain and events—from the July 15 Sidewalk Sale to Labor Day. However, approval from the Police Commission is needed each “offseason” to get the volunteer-run Pop Up Park in place. Launched five years ago, the town had approved an all-summer run in 2015, but the Pop Up Park didn’t run at all that year after some merchants raised concerns. During the commission’s regular meeting Wednesday, some of those who long have said the park creates problems that hurt the downtown and its businesses reiterated their concerns.

Government

Police Commission Votes 2-0 To Extend On-Street Parking on Main and Elm to Two Hours

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Municipal officials on Wednesday night voted unanimously to extend on-street parking limits in the center of downtown New Canaan to two hours. Changing to two-hour limits both the one-way stretch of Elm Street and a central piece of Main—both 90 minutes now—will not only give motorists more time to shop and dine, but also create more consistent parking times overall by bringing them in line with areas just beyond the “magic circle,” officials said during the Police Commission’s regular meeting. “I would go for it,” Commissioner Paul Foley said of the change, recommended last week by the Parking Commission. Foley and fellow Police Commissioner Sperry DeCew voted 2-0 to make the change. Chairman Stuart Sawabini was absent.

Around Town

Foursomes Needed for Sept. 25 Annual Golf Outing, Supporting the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce

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The local organization that puts on some of New Canaan’s most cherished local events—Holiday Stroll, Halloween Parade, Sidewalk Sale, Taste of the Town and Pop Up Park, for example—is calling on residents and local businesses that enjoy those perks to support it through a major fundraiser slated for later this month. The New Canaan Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Golf Outing, to be held Sept. 25 at the Country Club of New Canaan, is “a large part of our budget that allows us to do what we do on a daily basis,” according to Tucker Murphy, the organization’s executive director. “While it is a great networking event and it’s a great day and a lot of fun, it’s also a big part of the fundraising efforts that keep us going.”

Specifically, the Chamber is eager to see more foursomes (see details here) sign up for the Golf Outing, which includes a buffet lunch, 18 holes of golf in shamble tournament format and then cocktail reception, dinner and prizes. Jenny Esposito, a town resident and past president of the Chamber Board of Directors who also has arranged to have foursomes from her workplace—she’s store manager at TD Bank—participate in the Golf Outing called it a “great event.”

“Everyone I’ve ever had from TD as a foursome has really enjoyed it,” she said.