Ridgefield's Talk of Our Town

SCENE ON MAIN

Just checked out Main Street; it’s like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory but BETTER!  Instead of one factory, there are multiple, with each “scene” and each “treat” outdoing the next.

My favorite Main Street scene, and this was a very tough decision, is The Aldrich Museum with it’s portrayal of tremendous rats invading the museum’s interior.  The house across from the fountain (the Haynes residence) is as amazing as always, I think it says something like “The Dead Tavern” (don’t quote me on that).  The house on New Street…were they playing a trick on us? We have to wait until tomorrow? What’s up with that?

Ah, to be a kid in …

Photo of the Day, Halloween

Photo courtesy of Susie Buckley

NO MORE THE NEWCOMER

By Charlotte Alston Legg

My family is new to Ridgefield.  We’re just marking our first anniversary living in town, and a year in my lexicon is an age.  I have shuffled around a fair bit, and in this later iteration of family-of-five, my Husband and I have moved our children around, too.  We’ve lived in the US and abroad, we’ve rented and owned, and finally, we’ve landed in Ridgefield to stay.

This first year is particularly age-seeming because of the transition and ramping up period that comes with any new place.  But I’d say the average response to the Ridgefield tenure question (“How long have YOU lived in Ridgefield?”) is about 8 years.  There are the couples who went to high school together and never saw a reason to leave.  There’s the family who inherited their parents’ home and have …

COSTUMES, CANDY, SPOOKY SCENES, BUT WHY?

Did you know that Americans are not the only folks in the world that celebrate Halloween on October 31?  Ireland, Canada, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom as well as  some areas of Australia and New Zealand dress-up in costume and trick or treat.

Halloween traditions began two thousand years. The festival of Samhain (pronouned sah-win) is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. During Samhain, the ancient pagans would buckle down and prepare for the winter months. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the dead would …

Swine Flu or Seasonal Flu? It May Be Hard to Tell

With the upcoming East Ridge Middle School (ERMS) 8th grade field trip to Ellis Island being canceled, as well as future ski trips, questions arise as to the danger and ramifications of being diagnosed with either H1N1 (Swine flu) as well as seasonal flu.  Trish Gunther, ERMS PTA president, said in her school-wide bulletin, We are doing this [canceling Ellis Island and ski trips]as a preventative measure to support the concept of “social distancing” in an effort to avoid transmitting the H1N1 virus.  Our ultimate goal is to avoid having to close a school.

Each year, the US is bombarded with cases of Influenza, of which there are …

Will First Selectman Rudy Marconi Be Our Next Governor?

First Selectman, Rudy Marconi with his Lassa, Bailey.
Photo courtesy of Kristen Jensen Photography
www.kristenjensen.com

YES, WE ALL KNOW HIM HERE IN TOWN, BUT RUDY MARCONI  SPREAD HIS NAME AND MESSAGE THROUGHOUT THE STATE? DOES HE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE THE NEXT GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT?
WRITE IN AND TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

How Well Do You Know Ridgefield’s First Selectman?

Anyone can go to www.rudymarconi.com to learn about Marconi’s bid for Connecticut Governor.  They can also type  www.ridgefieldct.org to find out about his role in town politics, organizations and events, among many other things.  But what about Rudy behind the scenes?  What about Rudy, the man, the husband, the “townie”, the dad, the dog owner?

Rudy Marconi has lived in Ridgefield all of his life.  He attended Ridgefield schools and was a star athlete.  He worked at Squashes (a soda fountain at the time).  He earned his BBA from Nichols College in Massachusetts, an all boys school.  His mom and dad were very hard workers.  His mom held many jobs, she cleaned houses, was a teller at the bank, …

A Little Italy Has Arrived on Big Shop Lane, Welcome TerraSole!

A wine bar that’s open all day? Did some one say “Siesta”?  TerraSole Cheese WineBar Ristorante is open for lunch and dinner and for everything  “in between”.  Talk of Our Town will be featuring a story on this great new restaurant soon, but until then, we wanted to let you know that TerraSole has amazing weekly special that you will not want to miss. 

Sunday – Chef Silvia Bianco Family Dinner 3 to 8
Monday – Retail wine night (selection of wines from our wine list at a retail price)
Tuesday – Corkage free night (bring your own bottle, no corkage fee charged)
Wednesday – Ladies Night (first drink …

Sighted on Main Street

No, he is not dressed up for Halloween.  He goes by the stage name “Zarzan” and hasn’t cut his hair in 27 years.  My interesting interview with him appears in this issue of Ridgefield Magazine.  Check it out.

THE TALK OF OUR TOWN: A NEW INTRODUCTION

By Charlotte Alson Legg

Ridgefield CT.  Trivia time.  Latitude: 41.305 N, Longitude: -73.501 W.  Elevation: 659 feet.  Population: 23,643 – as of the 2000 census – and 31% of us are under the age of 18.

Ridgefield is like so many communities in this country, it both heaves with life and groans with exasperation.  There’s an acquaintance made every day, a deal struck on the hour, a confluence of opinion every couple minutes, and no doubt, a laugh every nanosecond.

Our town may be like many others, but think back over the countless conversations you’ve shared (or overheard), on the sidelines and in the bank lines – about how Ridgefield is different –  how …