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This week, we talk to Wendy Dewey of the New Canaan Garden Club. Together with Alice Wyman, Wendy is co-chair of the club’s Conservation Committee, and is one of the people responsible for the Irwin Park goats project. Introduced two summers ago to a cordoned-area at the western end of the park, the goats have been grazing on invasive plants, and their three summers of work will wrap up in September. We talk to Wendy about what prompted the Garden Club to get the goats, the job the goats have done and what’s planned for the area.

This week we talk to Laura Budd, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, about the Sidewalk Sale, which will be held this Saturday, July 17th, on Elm and Forest Streets, after local merchants kick it off outside their storefronts on Friday night. We hear from Laura about what to expect this year in terms of vendors, as well as activities, food, and Sidewalk Sale do’s and don’ts. All parking is free on Saturday. 

This week, we talk to Doug Zumbach, owner of Zumbach’s Gourmet Coffee at Pine and Grove Streets downtown, and founder of Caffeine & Carburetors, the popular car show that is to return to New Canaan at Waveny this October, after taking a year off due to COVID-19. Zumbach tells us how his business navigated the pandemic and what the community response has been like, and he hints that there may be more than one Caffeine & Carburetors this year.

This week, we talk to Aaron Lefland, executive director of the New Canaan Land Trust, about the organization’s “Firefly Sanctuary.” Located off of Sleepy Hollow Road, the Sanctuary is now at its most active, and has grown so popular that the donor-supported Land Trust for first time has set nightly attendance limits for those seeking to view the unique meadow when the fireflies come out. Lefland says the Firefly Sanctuary is probably the first of its kind in the nation.

This week, we talk to Sonny Yi, the well-known owner-on-site of Swirl, a frozen yogurt shop on Cherry Street that just turned 10 years old, and spent the stretch of that time navigating the pandemic, outlasting a nearly 60% decline in revenue at one point and changing his operation meet the public health restrictions that just now are lifting. 

This week we talk to Melody Libonati, artistic director of the Summer Theatre of New Canaan, about the 2021 season which kicks off July 16 with a benefit barbecue and features a new venue in Waveny Park that many of our listeners likely have already spotted, with the big tent on the soccer fields. Summer Theatre’s big show this year is The Honky Tonk Angels, and we hear from Melody about that, as well as You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and StoopKids Stories Live. 

This week, we talk to Cynthia Rivera, department chair of school counseling at New Canaan High School, about the highly unusual and stressful college search, application and admissions processes for the class of 2021. Scheduled to graduate next Tuesday, the seniors had just started preparing for the big college push—with searches, test prep and scheduling—when the pandemic hit in march of their junior year, throwing everything into uncertainty for the students and for the counselors who stood by helping them navigate an important and suddenly extra difficult time. 

This week, we talk to Alicia Meyer, president of A Better Chance of New Canaan, known locally as ABC House. Meyer tells us about the organization’s mission, how its scholars come to the New Canaan program, how ABC House navigated this past year of pandemic-related restrictions, and what she learned from a webinar series that ABC scholars and alumni put on last year in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis. Here’s a link to “A Chance To Unpack,” a webinar series presented by ABC students and alumni last year that we talk about during the interview. 

This week, we talk to Doug Stewart of Walter Stewart’s Market, about how the past year of COVID-19-related restrictions has gone, what are store policies now that many of those state-mandated restrictions for businesses are lifting and how the Walter Stewart’s team is faring. 

This week we’re talking to New Canaan Music owner Phil Williams, as the state lifts most of its COVID-19-related restrictions for businesses. We hear from Phil about the mask policy at his own Main Street shop, what he’s learned from the pandemic and about a rise in the popularity of musical instruments and lessons in the past year.