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New CanaanLocal Event

Sat, May 4, 2024 at 9:00 PM

Carriage Barn Arts Center, 681 South Ave, New Canaan, CT, 06840

New Canaan Garden Club Presents "Reimagined Market": A Plant Sale Extravaganza

The New Canaan Garden Club (NCGC) is thrilled to announce its inaugural event, "Reimagined Market," a unique Plant Sale and Market extravaganza to be held at the Carriage Barn Arts Center front terrace on Saturday, May 4th, from 9am to 2pm. This one-of-a-kind event promises to delight plant enthusiasts, gardeners, featuring a diverse array of live plants, cut flower arrangements, succulent creations, herb boxes, organic heirloom tomatoes, photocards, pot de fleur, as well as a selection of gently used garden and botanical items, books, and more.

"This is a milestone moment for the New Canaan Garden Club," says Club Co-President Julie Marcus. "We're excited to showcase the exceptional talents of our members and offer the community an opportunity to acquire unique, handcrafted items just in time to celebrate Mother's Day."

Known for its dedication to conservation and beautification projects in the community, NCGC is committed to preserving and enhancing the natural beauty of New Canaan's public spaces. Funds raised from the "Reimagined Market" will go toward the NCGC's Civic Fund supporting initiatives such as Irwin Park, New Canaan Museum and Historical Society Colonial Garden, Waveny Walled Garden and our Horticultural Therapy programs.

"By participating in the 'Reimagined Market,' attendees will not only find exquisite botanical treasures but also contribute to our ongoing enhancement of Irwin Park," adds Wendy Dewey Club Co-President. "It's a wonderful opportunity to showcase our club members’ talents, indulge in garden-inspired delights, and give back to our community."

The creativity of NCGC members is boundless, ensuring that the "Reimagined Market" will feature an array of high-quality, handcrafted items that will thrill attendees. Whether you're seeking the perfect gift for Mother's Day or looking to add a touch of greenery to your home, this event promises something for everyone.

Don't miss your chance to experience the magic of the "Reimagined Market" and support the New Canaan Garden Club's vital civic initiatives. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 4th, and join us at the Carriage Barn Arts Center front terrace from 9am to 2pm for a day of botanical bliss.

For more information about the New Canaan Garden Club and its upcoming events, please visit https://ncgardenclub.org

WEST HARTFORD — The New Canaan boys swimming team won the Class L championship meet for a fourth season in a row Tuesday at Cornerstone Aquatics Center.

The New Canaan boys program has now won 15 class state championships all-time, as well as one State Open back in 2007.

New Canaan led the field with 760 cumulative points and was trailed by runner-up Fairfield Prep for the second straight year. Fairfield Prep finished with 648 team points and Ridgefield placed third with 552 points.

"I am feeling really good, a win is always so exciting," New Canaan coach Kat Munson said. "This was one of our goals throughout the season and a lot of boys stepped up really big. We had a little bit of a challenge with our 100 butterflier getting disqualified which was pretty brutal. That could have been something that defined the meet for us, but we rallied and made sure to lock it down. I am really proud of them."

New Canaan was led by senior Deacon Mascarinas, who won each event he competed in for a second year in a row.

Mascarinas earned gold medals in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.00, the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.17, and as part of both New Canaan's first-place 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay teams. He is a repeat champion in all four events.

"(Mascarinas) is quite possibly the most talented athlete to come through our program," Munson said. "I could have put him in several other events and he likely would have been state champion. He is a kid who works insanely hard and has natural talent, but more than that he is somebody who swims for the team. He really is the heart of our team."

Juniors Eric Huang and Jack Haley each earned two gold medals as members of Ridgefield's two first-place relay teams with Mascarinas.

Senior Nate Codd also took home gold for New Canaan, claiming the Class L title in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.41.

Mascarinas, Codd and their fellow seniors will graduate high school having been state champions every year of their careers.

"Winning every year is really special to me, it is the experience that everyone wants," Mascarinas said. "I am just really proud of us for making it happen. The progression I have seen on this team since I started has only gone up, and I hope that continues even when I am gone."

Broken Records

The New Canaan 200-yard medley relay team of Eric Huang, Mascarinas, Jack Haley, and Oliver Carr broke the Class L meet record with a time of 1:34.33. The previous record of 1:34.91 was set by Pomperaug in 2017.

"I was really excited about that," Mascarinas said. "Us four guys, we have been training together all season so we really have had a connection all year. I felt like this was kind of bound to happen."

Two swimmers broke the previous 200-yard freestyle record of 1:40.06 set by Simsbury's Matthew McLean in 2008, but only one stands as the new record holder. Ridgefield senior Jack Clancy clocked in at 1:39.59 to set the record and earn gold, while New Canaan junior Jack Haley finished in 1:39.75.

Multiple Golds

Ridgefield senior Jack Clancy won two individual gold medals in events he had won last year at the Class LL championships. Clancy was the Class L state champion this year in the 500-yard freestyle (4:32.86) and broke the meet record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:39.59).

Clancy also added two silver medals to his day as lead leg of Ridgefield's second place 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams.

Fairfield Prep junior Owen Tharrington won two individual gold medals as well, finishing first in both the 200 IM (1:54.69) and the 100-yard backstroke (50.93).

Tharrington's teammate, freshman John Cunningham, earned gold medals in the 50-yard freestyle (21.46) and as the lead leg in Fairfield Prep's winning 200-yard freestyle relay team.

CIAC Class L Swimming and Diving Championships

Team scores: 1. New Canaan, 760; 2. Fairfield Prep, 648; 3. Ridgefield, 552; 4. Amity, 365; 5. South Windsor, 310; 6. Hall, 299; 7. Darien, 293; 8. Conard, 274; 9. Daniel Hand, 249; 10. Farmington, 212; 11. Newington, 205; 12. Plainville, 193; 13. Shelton, 171; 14. Naugatuck, 132; 15. Foran-Law, 113; 16. Barlow-Bethel, 103; 17. New Milford, 88; 18. Waterford, 79.

Individual Results

200-yard medley relay: 1. New Canaan (Eric Huang, Deacon Mascarinas, Jack Haley, Oliver Carr), 1:34.33; 2. Fairfield Prep (Owen Tharrington, Gabe Swarowsky, Timothy King, John Cunningham), 1:37.23; 3. Ridgefield (Derek Yin, Shaun Li, Edward Westcott, Noah Floegel), 1:39.43; 4. Amity (Patrick Yang, Adam Liu, Markiyan Yukhno, Tyler Derosa), 1:41.47; 5. South Windsor (Ryan Nguyen, Aaron Park, Isaac Gonzalez, Quinn Yanaway), 1:41.81; 6. Conard (Nathan Lowney, Nicholas Hall, Luke Schenifeldt, Andrew Filotto), 1:42.19.

200-yard freestyle: 1. Jack Clancy, Ridgefield, 1:39.59; 2. Jack Haley, New Canaan, 1:39.74; 3. Cyrus Xu, Hall, 1:43.91; 4. George Wang, New Canaan, 1:45.01; 5. William Trotman, Ridgefield, 1:46.18; 6. Mathttew Michitti, Farmington, 1:46.80.

200-yard IM: 1. Owen Tharrington, Fairfield Prep, 1:54.69; 2. Shaun Li, Ridgefield, 1:55.98; 3. Evan Vanvelzor, Fairfield Prep, 1:59.21; 4. Finn Greiner, New Canaan, 2:00.90; 5. Thomas Goertel, Darien, 2:01.07; 6. Nicholas Hall, Conard, 2:02.12.

50-yard freestyle: 1. John Cunningham, Fairfield Prep, 21.46; 2. Brandon Bonilla, Fairfield Prep, 22.02; 3. Nate Codd, New Canaan, 22.16; 4. Marko Katra, Ridgefield, 22.27; 5. Oliver Carr, New Canaan, 22.30; 6. Filip Szymczyk, Plainville, 22.31.

Diving: 1. Jake Simon, Darien, 428.55; 2. James Auciello, Conard, 409.00; 3. Nick Montini, Naugatuck, 334.35; 4. Griffin Wilson, Darien, 302.45; 5. Gianmarco Barrato, Fairfield Prep, 296.95; 6. Quinn O'Neill, Hall, 295.65.

100-yard butterfly: 1. Nate Codd, New Canaan, 51.42; 2. Timothy King, Fairfield Prep, 51.67; 3. Derek Yin, Ridgefield, 52.83; 4. Markiyan Yukhno, Amity, 54.09; 5. Benjamin Hauptman, Fairfield Prep, 54.17; 6. Adam Signorello, Hand, 54.41.

100-yard freestyle: 1. Deacon Mascarinas, New Canaan, 46.00; 2. John Cunningham, Fairfield Prep, 47.18; 3. Marko Katra, Ridgefield, 49.12; 4. Jacob Collette, Foran-Law, 49.68; 5. Giancarlo Rubio, Shelton, 49.89; 6. Rohan Thung, Fairfield Prep, 50.07.

500-yard freestyle: 1. Jack Clancy, Ridgefield, 4:32.86; 2. Jack Haley, New Canaan, 4:36.06; 3. William Trotman, Ridgefield, 4:48.49; 4. Matthew Michitti, Farmington, 4:48.71; 5. Evan Vanvelzor, Fairfield Prep, 4:49.36; 6. Jack Ackerman, Hall, 4:53.04.

200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Fairfield Prep (John Cunningham, Brandon Bonilla, Oskar Sulkowski, Timothy King), 1:27.23; 2. Ridgefield (Jack Clancy, Shaun Li, Marko Katra, William Trotman), 1:27.72; 3. New Canaan (Nate Codd, Oliver Carr, Finn Greiner, George Wang), 1:28.91; 4. Hall (Jack O'Neill, Cyrus Xu, Quinn O'Neill, Jack Ackerman), 1:29.23; 5. South Windsor (Aaron Park, Gregory Bouvier Kratz, Quinn Yanaway, Brian Garver), 1:31.83; 6. Amity (Adam Liu, Jack Winzer, Tyler Derosa, Julian Virgil), 1:32.08.

100-yard backstroke: 1. Owen Tharrington, Fairfield Prep, 50.93; 2. Eric Huang, New Canaan, 51.26; 3. Cyrus Xu, Hall, 52.90; 4. Derek Yin, Ridgefield, 53.17; 5. Markiyan Yukhno, Amity, 55.43; 6. Filip Szymczyk, Plainville, 55.45.

100-yard breaststroke: 1. Deacon Mascarinas, New Canaan, 58.17; 2. Shaun Li, Ridgefield, 1:00.37; 3. Matthew Gentil, Hand, 1:00.58; 4. Kuba Latawiec, Newington, 1:01.17; 5. Adam Liu, Amity, 1:01.23; 6. Aaron Park, South Windsor, 1:02.11.

400-yard freestyle relay: 1. New Canaan (George Wang, Eric Huang, Jack Haley, Deacon Mascarinas), 3:10.21; 2. Ridgefield (Jack Clancy, William Trotman, Derek Yin, Marko Katra), 3:12.20; 3. Fairfield Prep (Evan Vanvelzor, Oskar Sulkowski, Rohan Thung, Owen Tharrington), 3:15.81; 4. Hall (Jack Ackerman, Dominic Roussos, Thomas Le, Cyrus Xu), 3:19.23; 5. South Windsor (Isaac Gonzalez, Gregory Bouvier Kratz, Ryan Nguyen, Brian Garvery), 3:20.73; 6. Hand (Adam Signorello, Justin Li, Brandon Beaudoin, Matthew Gentil), 3:24.31.

The town has provided a detailed release regarding the Affordable Housing Committee and its work in New Canaan.

RJ Scofield, Patch Staff

NEW CANAAN, CT — The town has provided a detailed release regarding the Affordable Housing Committee and its work in New Canaan.

The following information was provided by Chairman of the New Canaan Affordable Housing Committee John Goodwin

Last year the New Canaan Town Council passed an ordinance establishing an Affordable Housing Committee. The Committee's mission is to work with the New Canaan Housing Authority and other Town bodies to increase the number of affordable housing units in New Canaan, with a goal of achieving local control of housing decisions via successive moratoriums under Connecticut's 8-30g statute.

Find out what's happening in New Canaanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Our Affordable Housing Committee has determined that to maintain successive moratoriums the Town will need to construct 70-100 additional affordable housing units within the next four to five years. In determining the number of affordable units needed, the Committee assumed that the Town's 2024 moratorium proposal, currently being evaluated by the State, will be approved in late May. The Town is also in litigation with the State on the previously denied 2022 moratorium application. To be conservative with the estimated number of new units required, the Committee assumed the Town will not prevail in that litigation.

Given the time necessary for site identification, design, approvals, construction, etc., four to five years is a challenging timeline. Despite the need to work expeditiously, we understand that any site proposals will not be without controversy, and it is part of our mandate to include the public in all stages of the process. We aim ultimately to recommend multiple affordable housing proposals to all the relevant town bodies for their evaluation, and one of the criteria to be considered in each recommendation will be the level of public support.

Three Tracks

So, what is the Committee doing? We are moving ahead on three tracks. First, recognizing the complexity of affordable housing economics, financing, legislation, regulations etc. we are bringing in experts to our regular monthly meetings for educational purposes. So far, we have heard from developers, the Town Attorneys, the Town Planner and financing experts. After just two such meetings, the input has been critical to understanding how potential project proposals will need to be shaped. At the next meeting on May 13 at 7pm (Town Hall and via Zoom), we expect to hear from an affordable housing advocacy group, colleagues from neighboring towns on some of their initiatives, and a planner who has worked with both New Canaan and other towns on affordable initiatives. Our goal here is to equip ourselves in the evaluation process and to educate the community.

Second, we have established a Project subcommittee. Its mission is to establish criteria for future affordable housing project sites and to start actual potential site identification. Key criteria being considered include project size, density and location impacts, land ownership, and composition of affordability (i.e., whether the project is to be 100% affordable or 'mixed income' etc.)

Third, we have established a Financing subcommittee. Affordable housing is typically financed by a complex ecosystem that includes federal and state tax credits, local financing, and debt. The subcommittee will examine different approaches to get this done most cost effectively. Both subcommittees are meeting between our regular meetings, and all meeting schedules can be found at the Affordable Housing Committee landing page of newcanaan.info .

The Affordable Housing Committee encourages and welcomes all community input. We are in the early stages of considering a Town-wide forum in the early Fall at which sample renderings and sites could be shared for more formal community feedback before compiling recommendations for the Town’s decision-making bodies. As noted earlier, this will not be an easy process, and we anticipate strong feelings in our community. Please be assured that the Committee’s focus is on increasing New Canaan's affordable housing supply in a manner that reflects community input, discussion, and control.

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In three seasons in the NFL and just 25 years old, New Canaan alumnus Lucas Niang has won two Super Bowls with the Kansas City Chiefs, and his high school coach couldn’t be happier for him.

New Canaan football coach Lou Marinelli said Monday that he dropped a line to Niang on Sunday night to congratulate him after the Chiefs became back-to-back champions with a 25-22 overtime win over San Francisco at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.

“I dropped him a line last night to congratulate him and be careful in Vegas,” Marinelli said with a laugh.

“He’s just a great kid,” he added. “Once he realized how big and strong he was going to be, there was no stopping him, especially in high school.”

Niang, now 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds, played five special-teams snaps Sunday, according to the NFL’s game summary. He was a third-round draft pick of the Chiefs in 2020 – New Canaan threw him a drive-by parade in those early days of the COVID-19 pandemic – but exercised his option to sit out of the season that fall.

He has had less playing time since a knee injury at the end of his rookie season.

“I know he’s dying to be more involved,” Marinelli said, “but that’s professional football. He’s got two Super Bowl rings, and he really likes the guys there.”

Marinelli said Niang’s parents were at the game Sunday, and they’re a great family, he said.

“He always keeps in touch. When he goes home, you always see him,” Marinelli said. “He’s very involved in the community, as is his family.”

Niang drew plenty of college interest as a member of New Canaan's Class of 2016 but expressed his own interest in Oregon and Texas Christian, partly because, Marinelli said Niang told him, those school’s uniforms were “‘the baddest I’ve ever seen.’” A contact at TCU got him a look, and he earned his way there.

And now he has two rings.

“He’s a determined kid,” Marinelli said, “a great kid to have around.”

FAIRFIELD — Lightning was the only thing that managed to stop Alex Benevento and the New Canaan football team in its game against Ludlowe.

Benevento scored on a 71-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, the first of three TDs for the Ram captain, and No. 10 New Canaan romped over Ludlowe 43-0 in rain-shortened FCIAC game Friday at Taft Field.

The Rams had already scored six touchdowns when lightning chased the teams off the field with 1:54 remaining in the first half. The game was subsequently called.

The storms limited the Falcons passing attack, while New Canaan thrived in the adverse conditions.

“We love playing in the rain,” Benevento said. “We had to play in it last week (against Windsor) and it really brings out the best in us. Everything kind of gets messy and it’s the kind of football that we really love. Kudos to the offensive line and defensive line – they were in the trenches the whole game and games like that are won on the line and they did a phenomenal job.”

New Canaan is now 11-0 versus Ludlowe since the Fairfield school district split into two high schools in 2004.

The Rams, who have won three straight since a Week 1 loss in Shelton, reentered the GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll after their Week 3 win against Windsor.

For Ludlowe, the 3-0 start was a first for the program and included an eye-opening 35-14 victory over Hamden in Week 3. The Dragons were 10-3 since the start of the 2022 season and had qualified for the Class LL tournament last fall.

But the Falcons ran into a New Canaan buzzsaw on Friday.

“We’re not quite at their level yet and it was a combination of events happening today,” Ludlowe coach Mitch Ross said. “We’re not going to match up great if we can’t pass the ball against a team that outweighs us by about 50 pounds per position at the line. It was a tough mountain to climb on a perfect day.”

Benevento touched the ball on offense just four times, but three of those resulted in touchdowns

It was the first one, a 71-yard bolt through the middle of the line just 20 seconds after the opening kickoff, that set the tone.

“He’s a special kid,” New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli said of Benevento. “He’s not only a great baseball and football player, he’s such a competitor.

If you want to play football, baseball or anything, he’s going to compete. He’s a fighter.”

The Rams also held the Ludlowe defense and quarterback Grant Stupak in check, as the Falcons struggled to get any momentum going.

Michael Smith had two interceptions, one a pick six of 41 yards, lineman Miles Chisholm also had an interception after a tip at the line, and Owen Lydon had a sack.

Player of the game

Alex Benevento, New Canaan: The senior ran through the rain and the Falcons with four carries for 125 yards and touchdowns of 71, 19, and 29 yards.

Quotable

“We started out slow with Shelton (in Week 1) and the fact that Ludlowe was 3-0, our kids felt like they had to come out and prove something. We happened to get up them early and it just kind of kept on going and next thing you know you’re up by 40 points. It’s really not an indication of how good Ludlowe is. If they keep playing well, they’ll get to the playoffs.” - New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli.

No. 10 New Canaan 43, Ludlowe 0

Game was called with 1:54 remaining in first half due to lightning