 As a little kid in Pound Ridge, the first I ever heard of Superman, was in the context of there being a real guy...who had fallen off a horse and was paralyzed in a wheelchair...who lived in Bedford...who was a dad just like mine...who had a boy who was only a couple of years older than me...who lived on the same street as three of my friends - all really close to home for me. That boy was Will Reeve and, although we didn’t know each other, I felt a definite empathy for him when his dad Chris passed, and an even deeper pain when his mom died of cancer less than two years later. Like everyone touched by the story, I’ve rooted for Will, and was pretty blown when he started at Good Morning America! Will became an Instagram sensation after having accidentally appeared on GMA in his underwear - he insists they were his running shorts - at the beginning of the pandemic. Will Reeve’s story is as positive and local as it gets!
This issue’s feature on Art @ The Glass House is an inside look at the amazing paintings and sculpture housed in two relatively obscure buildings on the property at The Glass House, Phillip Johnson’s masterpiece in New Canaan. We knew it would be interesting to bring the collection to light...and then we found hidden treasure! Since Covid remains, we thought it would be fun to start covering local escapes, that can be launched from home, and that can be accomplished in a socially distanced way. I got a ‘ticket to ride’ in The Porsche Driving Experience up at Lime Rock - and hope it makes you feel like you got out of the house and out onto the track - or at least gives you the impetus to take a road trip of your own. And our local charity feature in this issue is on Debbie McQuilkin and The Storm hockey team of the American Special Hockey Association she founded and runs. As I’ve noted before, it’s my hope that after reading each issue of Bedford & New Canaan Magazine each reader will take a moment to think positive, take stock of our community, and consider some act of giving to a local charity or other good cause. We hope you will consider giving to The Storm - and that maybe one or a few readers decide to adopt McQuilkin’s mission. Again, our magazine is mailed to you - for free! We’re grateful for the reviews we receive. Please let our advertisers know that seeing their ad in our magazine motivated you. Please go online at bedfordnewcanaanmag.com and to our Instagram @bedfordnewcanaanmag, and let us know what you like and don’t like, or if you have an idea about something local we should cover. Truly yours, CASEY KAPLAN President
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SAHSA LAWER & MARK NOONAN |
 | When Sasha Lawer and Mark Noonan got off the train in New Canaan one Spring morning in 1999, Sasha gave the tall order to Mark, like Oz telling Dorothy to go get the Wicked Witch’s broom: “I’m not moving from our New York City townhouse unless it’s to a very special home. I want great old architectural elements, big rooms with plenty of light, a pool, lots of land for the kids to play, and complete privacy...all walkable to Starbucks!” She figured the tall order would keep the family safely in their New York City townhouse forever. Instead, they bid on 55 St. John Place - known as ‘Acorn Hill’ - before getting back on the train that evening...and have now enjoyed over two decades as the ‘owners in residence’ of this beautiful estate. |
The couple knew New Canaan boasted some of the best schools in the State. Their three now-grown children, Kyra 25, Lainie, 24, and David, 22, all attended New Canaan’s public schools (thereafter, Kyra graduated from Duke and Lainie and David from Wake Forest).
Remarkably, Sasha and Mark are only the third owners of 55 St. John in the last century. Originally built in 1898 in the Victorian style and once home to a shoe factory; it was completely reconstructed by the Watts family in the 1940s, with Italian plasters by European craftsmen, and; again enhanced by Mr. & Mrs. Conrad Stein in the 1960s; from whose children Sasha and Mark purchased the home.
Sasha and Mark have managed to add a lot of modern history of their own to the life of the house. Mark, an avid gardener, immediately plumbed and heated the two green houses on the property and revitalized the landscape and garden management on the property. Together, they designed an addition to the home, including a family room, work out room and wine room, that blend seamlessly with the existing structure. Sasha, after spending years working for home design magazines, ensured that the design and architectural elements reflected the remainder of the house, while giving a new modern feel to the estate.
Remarkably, Sasha and Mark are only the third owners of 55 St. John in the last century. Originally built in 1898 in the Victorian style and once home to a shoe factory; it was completely reconstructed by the Watts family in the 1940s, with Italian plasters by European craftsmen, and; again enhanced by Mr. & Mrs. Conrad Stein in the 1960s; from whose children Sasha and Mark purchased the home.
Sasha and Mark have managed to add a lot of modern history of their own to the life of the house. Mark, an avid gardener, immediately plumbed and heated the two green houses on the property and revitalized the landscape and garden management on the property. Together, they designed an addition to the home, including a family room, work out room and wine room, that blend seamlessly with the existing structure. Sasha, after spending years working for home design magazines, ensured that the design and architectural elements reflected the remainder of the house, while giving a new modern feel to the estate.
 | Mark, now 61, who grew up in an Irish/Italian family in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, played soccer at Lawrence High School and at Duke, where he preceded his daughter Kyra, before getting his MBA at Wharton, was enjoying a successful career in investment banking at UBS in Stamford, when he was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in 2001. Emerging after one-and-a-half years of treatment, not knowing how much more time he had, Mark realized he was “bored to tears in banking, and didn’t want to spend the rest of my time just working in someone else’s business - and miss seeing my children grow up. I determined I could put my skill set as a tinkerer to work building products that make life easier”. Seventeen years and dozens of inventions later, Mark’s latest is a complex hardware and software package enabling remote nursing care. His company, Nootools, LLC, manufactures Noonan’s own product designs and offers new product consulting. Mark reflects, “my cancer changed our stars”. |
| The next change in plans came in 2017, when the Napa Valley Tubb’s Lane Fire engulfed the Lawer Estates Knights Valley Vineyards, owned by Sasha’s brother and sister-in-law, David and Betsy Lawer, on the heels of her brother being physically incapacitated. Sasha had already been charged with increasing distribution and sales for the emerging winery, but when the series of unfortunate events occurred, Sasha determined to take on a greater role. Betsy Lawer, President of Lawer Estates, runs the acclaimed California winery from Alaska, where she is the CEO and Chairman of the First National Bank of Alaska. While Sasha, splitting her time between New Canaan and California, more directly oversees the winemakers and has managed the development of the winery’s marketing, sales and distribution, and opened a Calistoga tasting room. |  |
Now, with Sasha spending more time at the winery in California, and all three kids living and working in California (David, in the wine business working for Thomas Rivers Brown, Lainie in tech in San Francisco and Kyra, as a television writer and producer in L.A.), 55 St. John is “just too big and quiet” ...so, Sasha and Mark are ready to sell. Notably, though, despite Sasha’s work at Lawer Estates and the three kids being in California, the couple plans to stay in New Canaan part-time. As Sasha reflected, “When we bought this house, we hadn’t expected all that life threw at us, nor the support we received from the community along the way...pitching in when Mark was ill, buoying us in good times and bad. We have friends and connections here and, at least for now, we’re not ready to leave. It’s odd to say our house helped to raise our kids, but it did. 55 St. John gave our kids their freedom. They could safely walk into town for pizza, ice cream, meet-ups with friends, to visit the library, attend tennis, ballet and music lessons...all from a very early age...this location was priceless. And we loved being able to go to a movie, enjoy dinner...or a few drinks...without having to worry about driving home. We never had to think about the 10 or 15 minutes needed to get to the train in the morning - or dropping off or picking up - or parking. We love the flavor of New Canaan. We always felt like we kept our city lifestyle...enjoyed suburban New Canaan’s great schools, parks and downtown...and got to live in a walk-to-town country house.”
 | 55 St. John stands elevated on the north side of the street, 2 blocks from the train station, situated with 10 wooded acres adjoining the backyard, allowing for incredible in-town privacy. |
The 5,300 square foot main house, with 6 bedrooms, 5 full baths and 1 half-bath, has rich historic details, high ceilings and walls of light throughout. The separate master suite consists of 2 rooms, 2 full bathrooms, and a dressing room. The library has detailed built-in shelving and a fireplace. The first floor also includes a private dining room and an oversized living room with a stunning fireplace and a built-in dry bar. Completing the first floor is a big open family room adjacent to the modern kitchen, with blended vintage cabinetry and top modern appliances (including 3 dishwashers), a butler’s pantry and an eat-in dining area with bay windows. The house has thick European plastered walls, state-of-the-art communications, and a variety of separate, quiet and private spaces on all 3 floors - making this a perfect home for multiple home offices - or school rooms.
| A second building, one of New Canaan’s prized remaining antique barns, includes a 3-car garage, greenhouse, potting area, half-bath, and a pool house (currently used as an additional home office). An additional open 1,000 square feet above the garage is also available for a separate apartment, great room or offices, and there are architectural plans and an open permit for creating this extra living area. |  |
The in-town estate also offers the fully-operational, plumbed and heated, (second) English greenhouse, which is currently used for housing tropical plants, early seeding of vegetables, and as another private hideaway.
The spectacular in-ground pool and wide-open play spaces in the backyard are set in ‘outdoor rooms’, framed by magnificently manicured perennial gardens and mature plantings.
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 | Brass escutcheons (key hole plates) reinforcing the acorn theme, which beings at the fence finials at the front entrance to the property.   |
  | ‘Terroir’ is a word that means the whole environment in which a wine grows, including climate, topography and soil, and is used by winemakers to reference the characteristic tastes and flavors that each wine gets from the ‘terroir’ where its grapes are grown. Lawer Estates calls their single-vineyard ultra-premium wines ‘terroir driven’, and boasts that their 110-acre vineyards in Napa and Sonoma have “...the ideal terroir and microclimates to nurture a diverse range of varietals... On summer days, coastal breezes make their way through the gap in the hills and up the creek that meanders through our vineyard. This cooling infuses our wines with unmistakable character. Complementing this ideal microclimate is a subterranean volcanic reservoir that nurtures our vines year-round, and provides essential hydration even in times of drought”. Winemakers Cary Gott and Kelly DeIanni take great pride in handcrafting the sustainably grown, limited annual production of about 3,000 cases in all of Lawer’s seven varietals. Lawer Estates Rosé has been heralded by Wine Enthusiast as one of the five best Rosés from California, while Robert Parker has awarded Lawer Estates Viognier with 92 points. The wines are currently available at Walter Stewarts, New Canaan Wine Merchants, Sipsters in Darien, and other fine wine stores, and can be purchased online at lawerestates.com. Sadly, there will be no 2020 vintage. Lawer Estates prides itself in only producing the highest quality wines. The smoke taint from both the Hennessy and Glass fires of 2020 have caused the Lawers to halt any further production from their 2020 harvest, as even the slightest hint of phenols such as guaiacol are not acceptable in a Lawer Estates wine. |
 | 55 St. John Place is offered at $3,495,000 by Hannelore & Co./Raveis (914-450-3880 / Hannelore.Kaplan@raveis.com)...a true find for the couple, or young family, or big family, or extended family...who want to be the new ‘owners in residence’, and the next lucky people to enjoy this unique and spectacular, walk-to-town, historic mansion. |
Coker Farm, at 69 Stone Hill Road in Bedford, just east of the intersection with Old Post Road, is a fixture in the landscape that makes Bedford so attractive. The glimpse from the road of big red barns, paddocks, and horses out to pasture is an image that shapes every passer-by’s sense of the area’s particular charm.
But for equestrians, Coker Farm is Judy Richter’s place. Judy and her late husband Max Richter bought the property in 1977 from Butch Savin, a developer who used the farm to mine gravel for the construction of I-684. Judy has been a fixture in the local equestrian scene ever since. She’s earthy and elegant at the same time, comfortable in her own skin, and happiest at home - at Coker Farm - in her own pastoral oasis.
Horses have always been Judy’s passion - maybe even her destiny. Judy’s parents, Philip and Mary (Kain) Hofmann, met at the Saddle & Sirloin in Kansas City. “That’s where the fast young crowd would go. They rode and dined and did a little carousing”, Judy recounts. Her father had started in Kansas City as a shipping clerk with Johnson & Johnson and rose to become the company’s first non-family CEO. Judy recalls: “When my father was promoted to Northeast Branch Manager, my parents brought their horses on the train to Boston. I don’t remember how they got the horses to New Brunswick when my father’s work moved there.” Her parents bought a 55 acre farm in North Branch, near Somerville. Judy and her sister, Carol (who went on to ride for the U.S. Olympic Show Jumping Team), grew up with 10 or 12 horses in their care in the barn.
But for equestrians, Coker Farm is Judy Richter’s place. Judy and her late husband Max Richter bought the property in 1977 from Butch Savin, a developer who used the farm to mine gravel for the construction of I-684. Judy has been a fixture in the local equestrian scene ever since. She’s earthy and elegant at the same time, comfortable in her own skin, and happiest at home - at Coker Farm - in her own pastoral oasis.
Horses have always been Judy’s passion - maybe even her destiny. Judy’s parents, Philip and Mary (Kain) Hofmann, met at the Saddle & Sirloin in Kansas City. “That’s where the fast young crowd would go. They rode and dined and did a little carousing”, Judy recounts. Her father had started in Kansas City as a shipping clerk with Johnson & Johnson and rose to become the company’s first non-family CEO. Judy recalls: “When my father was promoted to Northeast Branch Manager, my parents brought their horses on the train to Boston. I don’t remember how they got the horses to New Brunswick when my father’s work moved there.” Her parents bought a 55 acre farm in North Branch, near Somerville. Judy and her sister, Carol (who went on to ride for the U.S. Olympic Show Jumping Team), grew up with 10 or 12 horses in their care in the barn.
Judy grew up immersed in riding. Judy’s mother was Joint District Commissioner of the local Somerset Hills Pony Club, about which Judy reminisces, “That was one of the first U.S. Pony Clubs. It was a British organization that jumped the pond and became popular internationally. The U.S Olympic Team trained nearby and we would go over and get free lessons on Sunday afternoons. That Pony Club was one of the best in the world. I also did a lot of fox hunting with the Essex Fox Hounds. Those were good times. Warren Kennet, a reporter who wrote for the Newark Star-Ledger, used to say that we were ‘tops among the timber toppers’.”
For high school, Judy commuted daily from Far Hills, on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, to attend Kent Place, an all-girls private school in Summit. She went on to attend Smith College. She met Max, her husband-to-be, when home in New Jersey on vacation. “Max grew up in Hamburg, Germany, and was working in New York City for a paper company. He met his boss, our neighbor, at The National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden and was invited out to Somerville. My mother asked him to ride my horse, Mr. Coker, whom I’d left at home that season to rest. He later invited me to the opera in New York City, but I think he really wanted another chance to ride Mr. Coker. The opera was our first date but the horse was my first love. This is why we named the farm after Mr. Coker.”
Max and Judy married, and lived in Manhattan. Judy reverse-commuted to teach English at Rosemary Hall in Greenwich, Connecticut. “We moved to a garage-apartment in Greenwich, and later bought a cottage on four acres. We had two sons, Hans and Philip. We built a little barn and started a small business with six horses. A decade later, Max purchased the folding carton division of Riegel Paper, and in the same year we bought Coker Farm in Bedford. My father told us it was a foolish risk, with our young family, to take on a new business and a farm at the same time, but we didn’t listen.”
Judy ran the Coker Farm business until she was sidelined by cancer in the ‘90s. She turned operations over to her once working student and assistant, Andre Dignelli. About the cancer, she says, “They scheduled me to die…but I didn’t… thanks to Max’s devotion and care.”
About her tenure as one of Bedford’s best known equestrians, she says with a twinkle in her eye, “It was fun to have both little kids and adults riding with us. At horse shows we did everything from Short Stirrup to Grand Prix. I probably taught hundreds of kids how to ride, as well as the great qualities that go along with being an equestrian. And I’ve had students win championships like the USET Equitation Finals and the Maclay Finals in Madison Square Garden.”
In 1999 the couple became concerned about preserving the future of the property, so they put an environmental conservation easement on the farm with the Westchester Land Trust. “This was the same year that Max sold the company he had acquired from Riegel Paper, which is still called FoldPak. They made those cardboard Chinese food pails with the wire handles. They had to get the lawyers to get the easement done on New Years Eve, and I remember that was also the year everyone was panicked about Y2K.”
Max passed in 2008. Judy has two sons. Hans lives in California, with his wife Jennifer, and two daughters, Maxine and Margot, and is a school teacher and administrator. Philip splits his time between Bedford and Wellington, Florida, and is a partner at Katonah-based Hollow Brook Wealth Management. He built and maintains the Turtle Garage, hidden away on the Coker Farm property, to house his car collection and share that passion with others. Hans and Philip are both avid equestrians, and it is Judy’s hope that “the boys will keep Coker Farm forever.”
For now, Coker Farm includes two first class operations. “They have separate barns lending themselves to separate businesses. Peter Lutz and Mary Manfredi, who were working students of mine, do everything: boarding, training, buying and selling of horses. Cynthia Williams, a colleague of mine for years, has a separate top-notch business and does everything as well.
Judy admits, “With Covid, I don’t get off the farm much.” Pressed to name her local eating spots, she says in her understated way, “I’ve been to The Bedford Post.” — while the restaurant is right around the corner! “I’m blessed with a strong support team. Besides my sons, my friends and neighbors on the hill overlooking the farm, Wyatt and Beth Crowell, watch our for me, as does my friend and neighbor Richard Ten Dyke. For day to day help, I rely heavily on my barn manager, Geralyn Campbell, and my maintenance man, Ramon Aquilera. They have been with us for over 20 years. And my dogs are good company and active watchdogs.”
Asked what four people - dead or alive - she would like to have to dinner, Judy revealed: “My husband Max, of course, then Abraham Lincoln and Robert Frost, and then George Morris - he was really important in the equestrian world and a mentor in my life.”
2020 will be remembered for the Covid pandemic. It was a game changer for almost everyone. Whether impacted directly by the disease, or more generally as a local, national and global citizen, Covid has been a game changer for almost everyone. Aspects of economy, sociology and politics are forever altered.
Yet…there is a ying to the yang…a circle of life that rolls on inextricably…necessity being the mother of invention…and an inherent and natural instinct to endure, adapt and overcome. Like the greenery that grows in the path of a volcano and metal forged in the hottest fire…some special businesses were Born In 2020!
Yet…there is a ying to the yang…a circle of life that rolls on inextricably…necessity being the mother of invention…and an inherent and natural instinct to endure, adapt and overcome. Like the greenery that grows in the path of a volcano and metal forged in the hottest fire…some special businesses were Born In 2020!
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It’s not just legal...it’s good for you! Your CBD Store was born in New Canaan in 2020, at the corner of Elm and South Streets, and is the only store in New Canaan selling CBD. Owner, Anthony Pisano, a Connecticut native, whose kids go to St Aloysius School in New Canaan, was happy to open Your CBD Store - even, right in the middle of pandemic - because, “I believe in the product, and know there are young and old who can really find health benefits from it, including pain and stress relief. And I couldn’t pass up the visibility of our location - right in the center of town.”
Your CBD Store New Canaan is a part of the largest CBD retailer in the country, Sunflora, which has over 450 individual ownership locations. Sunflora grows all its own hemp (not marijuana!) in the choicest locations in Oregon and Colorado and are the only national CBD company to be Certified Organic by the USDA. Sunflora is at the forefront of work with the government on regulations and testing, including a current partnership with the USDA examining CBD’s effect on the liver. Beyond industry standards, every batch of every product is tested for quality, including the absence of heavy metals, pesticides and any other harmful chemicals. Your CBD Store New Canaan carries only Sunflora products which have won best CBD topical, tincture, and pet tincture from CBD Expo.
Anthony explains, “Our company is built on transparency. We offer the highest quality, finest CBD products available anywhere, and it’s all about education in terms of people starting to find the benefits. We’re available to every person who walks through our door to explain CBD and its effects on the endocannabinoid system. CBD and other cannabinoids bind to receptors in the endocannabinoid system, which balances other systems in the body. This is why you hear people talking about how CBD helps with so many things.”
Your CBD Store New Canaan is a part of the largest CBD retailer in the country, Sunflora, which has over 450 individual ownership locations. Sunflora grows all its own hemp (not marijuana!) in the choicest locations in Oregon and Colorado and are the only national CBD company to be Certified Organic by the USDA. Sunflora is at the forefront of work with the government on regulations and testing, including a current partnership with the USDA examining CBD’s effect on the liver. Beyond industry standards, every batch of every product is tested for quality, including the absence of heavy metals, pesticides and any other harmful chemicals. Your CBD Store New Canaan carries only Sunflora products which have won best CBD topical, tincture, and pet tincture from CBD Expo.
Anthony explains, “Our company is built on transparency. We offer the highest quality, finest CBD products available anywhere, and it’s all about education in terms of people starting to find the benefits. We’re available to every person who walks through our door to explain CBD and its effects on the endocannabinoid system. CBD and other cannabinoids bind to receptors in the endocannabinoid system, which balances other systems in the body. This is why you hear people talking about how CBD helps with so many things.”
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Jacco de Bruijn and Mohamed Elzomor co-founded Nines in 2020 intending to modernize the household staffing and management industry, and have assembled an impressive management team to get it accomplished. They got funding to launch and support Nines from Marc Lore and Mike Hanrahan, who co-founded the incredibly successful e-commerce company jet.com in 2014, and hit it big when they sold to Walmart in 2016. Looking to invest in another industry-changer, Lore explains: “Until now, there’s been no easy way for heads of households to find the best service professionals for their needs, and no socially responsible organization supporting qualified household service professionals. Nines answers both issues by matching very talented people to its member households, managing their employment, and acting as a support system for everyone involved.”
Nines was launched in September 2020, with headquarters in New York City, and, reflecting their focus on serving the B&NC MAG area, hired local Adrienne Friedman (adrienne.friedman@ninesliving.com) as Vice President of Sales.
Nines was launched in September 2020, with headquarters in New York City, and, reflecting their focus on serving the B&NC MAG area, hired local Adrienne Friedman (adrienne.friedman@ninesliving.com) as Vice President of Sales.
Nines recruits, hires and supports childcare providers, housekeepers, chefs, drivers, and other service professionals - each qualified with experience and references in their field - providing them with benefits, insurance and personal development opportunities; thus relieving the household employer from the labor-intensive, time-consuming and legally nuanced process of hiring and managing household staff.
A Nines membership starts with the appointment of a Chief of Staff for each household (exclusive to only a few members), who will get to know the member, the home, the household’s preferences, tailor a team of service professionals to meet every expectation, and train and manage the team required. The Chief of Staff is always available - 24/7 - and will serve as a direct and single point of contact for all household and estate requirements. Ivone Vallejo, Executive Chief of Staff, understands that, “Professional families and high-net-worth households are no longer looking for ‘staff’ per se, but to bring people into their households as trusted teammates. And no one has the bandwidth to deal with recruiting, hiring and managing all the different professionals you need to run a house and a household or a full estate. Particularly in these times of pandemic, as families have moved households, are adjusting the time they allocate to different homes, and are acutely challenged in managing staff - and especially those who have a role inside the home. Nines is the answer!”
A Nines membership starts with the appointment of a Chief of Staff for each household (exclusive to only a few members), who will get to know the member, the home, the household’s preferences, tailor a team of service professionals to meet every expectation, and train and manage the team required. The Chief of Staff is always available - 24/7 - and will serve as a direct and single point of contact for all household and estate requirements. Ivone Vallejo, Executive Chief of Staff, understands that, “Professional families and high-net-worth households are no longer looking for ‘staff’ per se, but to bring people into their households as trusted teammates. And no one has the bandwidth to deal with recruiting, hiring and managing all the different professionals you need to run a house and a household or a full estate. Particularly in these times of pandemic, as families have moved households, are adjusting the time they allocate to different homes, and are acutely challenged in managing staff - and especially those who have a role inside the home. Nines is the answer!”
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Maybe more than being born in 2020, the Sama Yoga Center was reincarnated. Although Sama has been located at 45 Grove Street since 2015, Covid-related health requirements and increased demand were the catalyst for Sama’s substantial physical expansion and program adaptations in 2020.
Rebekah Jacobs, Sama’s founder/owner/operator, is a Connecticut native, who returned to the area after 12 years working and studying abroad. She and her husband have two sons, Samuel 7, and Eli 5, who both attend The Montessori School in Wilton, about which Rebekah comments, “The Montessori model is a constant source of inspiration for my own work - I like the philosophy, pedagogy and commitment to mindfulness”. Before opening Sama, Rebekah served as Director of Richard Gere’s yoga studio at The Bedford Post, helping to earn the accolade ‘Best Yoga Studio Westchester’ from Westchester Magazine and recognized on CNN and in Travel & Leisure and W Magazine among others.
Sama’s 2020 expansion and renovation included the installation of a new HVAC system, with Molecule Air Purification and UV Light sub-systems, and industrial fans for added ventilation - all exceeding CDC standards. Sama instituted a 6-feet-in-every-direction rule for all in-person classes, limited the in-person schedule so the studio can be thoroughly cleaned between each class, provided hand sanitizer stations, pre-disinfected bins, contactless entry and exit, and reserved spots for immunocompromised students. One Sama student, a psychotherapist, stated “I go to Sama and home - and that’s it! Those are the only places I feel safe!”
Rebekah Jacobs, Sama’s founder/owner/operator, is a Connecticut native, who returned to the area after 12 years working and studying abroad. She and her husband have two sons, Samuel 7, and Eli 5, who both attend The Montessori School in Wilton, about which Rebekah comments, “The Montessori model is a constant source of inspiration for my own work - I like the philosophy, pedagogy and commitment to mindfulness”. Before opening Sama, Rebekah served as Director of Richard Gere’s yoga studio at The Bedford Post, helping to earn the accolade ‘Best Yoga Studio Westchester’ from Westchester Magazine and recognized on CNN and in Travel & Leisure and W Magazine among others.
Sama’s 2020 expansion and renovation included the installation of a new HVAC system, with Molecule Air Purification and UV Light sub-systems, and industrial fans for added ventilation - all exceeding CDC standards. Sama instituted a 6-feet-in-every-direction rule for all in-person classes, limited the in-person schedule so the studio can be thoroughly cleaned between each class, provided hand sanitizer stations, pre-disinfected bins, contactless entry and exit, and reserved spots for immunocompromised students. One Sama student, a psychotherapist, stated “I go to Sama and home - and that’s it! Those are the only places I feel safe!”
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Most important, Sama pivoted to accommodate the growing number of students (now working from home, home from school, or simply with more time for self-care) by adding Sama Academy Online - Teacher Trainings, Live Online classes, Instant Sama on demand classes, and Sama Connect online subscription offerings. As one result, the Sama Yoga Academy, which was co-founded by New Canaanite Angie Mandl (whose boys both row for New Canaan Crew), has grown in 2020 to be a leading program in the region; from one to four teacher trainings per year and including nationally accredited Kids Yoga Teacher Trainings and 200-Hour Teacher Trainings. Angie commented, “Our last training included people aged 13 to 68. Teens who’ve graduated from Sama are now leading their peers in college and beyond. I feel like we’re helping students of all ages to breathe a little deeper. And with our new online capabilities, we can reach people all around the world.” In addition, Sama’s Private ‘Pod’ Yoga has also become quite popular for families, teens and kids.
Also reincarnated in 2020, with an enhanced Studio at the Sama Yoga Center and with a new e-commerce site at samayogacenter.com/store, Sama offers a curated selection of locally sourced goods, including: hand-poured ritual candles, sea glass jewelry, hand-made masks, and organic cotton clothing - all made by women.
Sama is a Sanskrit word for ‘same’ or ‘even’. Rebekah chose that name because, “At Sama, we are steady, we are even, we are here, we see you, and we are here for you. We’re a team of teachers and experts, dedicated to providing safe, mindful, traditional yoga for every body, age and ability. At this time, with so many unknowns, our community knows that they can come to Sama to connect safely, unwind, and step into the day with a fresh perspective. We believe in Yoga for every body, age and ability!”
Also reincarnated in 2020, with an enhanced Studio at the Sama Yoga Center and with a new e-commerce site at samayogacenter.com/store, Sama offers a curated selection of locally sourced goods, including: hand-poured ritual candles, sea glass jewelry, hand-made masks, and organic cotton clothing - all made by women.
Sama is a Sanskrit word for ‘same’ or ‘even’. Rebekah chose that name because, “At Sama, we are steady, we are even, we are here, we see you, and we are here for you. We’re a team of teachers and experts, dedicated to providing safe, mindful, traditional yoga for every body, age and ability. At this time, with so many unknowns, our community knows that they can come to Sama to connect safely, unwind, and step into the day with a fresh perspective. We believe in Yoga for every body, age and ability!”
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“I opened a store in Westport last year, and met so many nice people from New Canaan that I felt that it was a better fit for me and my look. I love that new Canaan has a lot of privately owned stores and still has charm and individuality. I opened my store here in September. I decided to open the store because I wanted to showcase the things that I love and bring things to people they cannot find in other places. I primarily carry home decor, and also have beautiful European totes and bags, some Italian sweaters, and scarves.”
 | THE FAMILY LAW FIRM |
With more than three decades of experience between them practicing exclusively in the areas of matrimonial and family law, Lauren Healy and Andrew Eliot are seasoned attorneys who opened their new firm, The Family Law Firm Healy + Eliot PLLC, at 125 Elm Street in New Canaan, in October 2020.
Andy grew up in Westport, where he now resides with his wife and two little kids. Lauren also grew up in Connecticut, where she now resides in Fairfield with her husband and two little kids. Lauren and Andy met while partners at a prominent matrimonial law firm located in Westport when they decided, right in the middle of the pandemic, to start this firm of their own. Relating to Covid, Andy remarked: “We had been thinking about it for a while and when Covid hit, and new divorce filings virtually came to a halt, it freed up some time for us to really devote ourselves to launching our own firm. New divorce filings have definitely picked up again and the Courts are now running most processes remotely. That said, cases are still generally moving slower than usual in the Court system, and so we are seeing more of our clients gravitate towards various types of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration, in an effort to bring their matters to conclusion more quickly. Notably, there are some upsides to spending less time in the courtroom than we’re used to as a result of the pandemic – for example, it allows us more time to really focus on connecting with and servicing all of our clients on a daily basis. I think it also affords us an opportunity to be more creative and innovative in crafting settlement alternatives.”
“We love being in New Canaan! Being on Elm Street makes us feel a part of the village and the community. I like the feeling of coming to work here. It’s a really easy commute for each of us, and as the bulk of our cases are in Fairfield County, with a majority in the Stamford Courthouse, it couldn’t be more convenient. And it’s terrific being able to walk to lunch at so many different great restaurants. We’ve been to Rosie’s - a lot!”, Lauren commented. “But, frankly, one of the big reasons we chose to make our home in New Canaan was because we felt the market was underserved, and that we could serve as the community’s primary firm dedicated to matrimonial practice. From what we can tell so far, we were right. There’s a demand for local, available, discrete, compassionate and experienced divorce lawyers in New Canaan - and now we’re here in New Canaan to serve that need.”
Andy grew up in Westport, where he now resides with his wife and two little kids. Lauren also grew up in Connecticut, where she now resides in Fairfield with her husband and two little kids. Lauren and Andy met while partners at a prominent matrimonial law firm located in Westport when they decided, right in the middle of the pandemic, to start this firm of their own. Relating to Covid, Andy remarked: “We had been thinking about it for a while and when Covid hit, and new divorce filings virtually came to a halt, it freed up some time for us to really devote ourselves to launching our own firm. New divorce filings have definitely picked up again and the Courts are now running most processes remotely. That said, cases are still generally moving slower than usual in the Court system, and so we are seeing more of our clients gravitate towards various types of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration, in an effort to bring their matters to conclusion more quickly. Notably, there are some upsides to spending less time in the courtroom than we’re used to as a result of the pandemic – for example, it allows us more time to really focus on connecting with and servicing all of our clients on a daily basis. I think it also affords us an opportunity to be more creative and innovative in crafting settlement alternatives.”
“We love being in New Canaan! Being on Elm Street makes us feel a part of the village and the community. I like the feeling of coming to work here. It’s a really easy commute for each of us, and as the bulk of our cases are in Fairfield County, with a majority in the Stamford Courthouse, it couldn’t be more convenient. And it’s terrific being able to walk to lunch at so many different great restaurants. We’ve been to Rosie’s - a lot!”, Lauren commented. “But, frankly, one of the big reasons we chose to make our home in New Canaan was because we felt the market was underserved, and that we could serve as the community’s primary firm dedicated to matrimonial practice. From what we can tell so far, we were right. There’s a demand for local, available, discrete, compassionate and experienced divorce lawyers in New Canaan - and now we’re here in New Canaan to serve that need.”
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Eva Scrivo is a well known celebrity hair and make-up artist and New York City 5th Avenue salon owner. She’s an expert in hair coloring, cutting, styling, and make-up, who is best known for her balayage and masterful makeovers. Eva was a long-standing Resident Beauty Expert on NBC’s Martha; hosted her own radio show, Beauty Talk, on Sirius; has made numerous appearances on TV shows including The Dr. Oz Show, Extra, CBS Early Show, Good Morning America, Good Day New York and the Katie Couric Show; authored Eva Scrivo on Beauty: The Tools, techniques and Insider Knowledge every woman needs to be her most beautiful, confident self (Atria Books / Simon & Schuster), and; counts locals Martha Stewart and Samantha Bee among her many celebrity clients.
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“I’ve lived in Katonah for fifteen years and when Covid hit, and I had to shut down NYC for three months, and I started seeing many of our clients moving to this area, or just making their weekend homes here permanent residences, I realized it was time to pull the trigger on opening locally. When I found 56 and 60 Westchester Avenue, I knew it was right!. Scotts Corners is a wonderful village for shopping and dining, with plenty of parking, and the new Market right across the street from my new salon. It’s right in the middle of the whole Armonk, Bedford, Katonah and New Canaan area. I even have Manhattan and New Jersey clients telling me they’d be happy to drive up to Pound Ridge to get their hair done…and make a day of it with a meal at the Inn at Pound Ridge or at Bedford Post, and some shopping in New Canaan.”
56 Westchester has three socially distanced salon chairs and two shampoo stations. Eva and her staff of stylists and colorists will offer what she calls ‘The Painted Cut’, which is Eva’s proprietary approach to blending cut and color, and; Eva and her Danish collaborator will offer non-surgical, all-natural hair restoration services, as they do in Manhattan.
60 Westchester houses Eva’s new custom color lab and a retail and online boutique (evasbeautystore.com) stocked with the same products sold at her NYC salon. It will also be used as the primary hair and makeup studio for bridal parties.
“In addition, with Eva Scrivo Custom Color, I personally formulate base colors and glazes for existing and new virtual clients based on their natural hair color, skin tone, eye color and personal preferences, just like I would in the salon. Because I can consistently supply the right shade for each client, our regular salon clients have been thrilled to be able to maintain their color at home, while many of our new virtual clients rave that they’ve finally achieved the color they’ve always wanted.”
56 Westchester has three socially distanced salon chairs and two shampoo stations. Eva and her staff of stylists and colorists will offer what she calls ‘The Painted Cut’, which is Eva’s proprietary approach to blending cut and color, and; Eva and her Danish collaborator will offer non-surgical, all-natural hair restoration services, as they do in Manhattan.
60 Westchester houses Eva’s new custom color lab and a retail and online boutique (evasbeautystore.com) stocked with the same products sold at her NYC salon. It will also be used as the primary hair and makeup studio for bridal parties.
“In addition, with Eva Scrivo Custom Color, I personally formulate base colors and glazes for existing and new virtual clients based on their natural hair color, skin tone, eye color and personal preferences, just like I would in the salon. Because I can consistently supply the right shade for each client, our regular salon clients have been thrilled to be able to maintain their color at home, while many of our new virtual clients rave that they’ve finally achieved the color they’ve always wanted.”
 | THE ADIRONDACK STORE & GALLERY |
In a triumphant return to New Canaan, the Lake Placid-based Adirondack Store & Gallery opened at 39 Elm Street in 2020...and it’s already an established fixture in the New Canaan retail landscape.
The Adirondack Store practically sets the Lake & Lodge style, offering everything to decorate, outfit and finish any home with that ‘Lake Placid look’, and owner/operators Christopher English and Stephen Shin run a substantial business offering decorating services and dealing in fine art. Like parents of every newborn, Christopher and Stephen have a major success on their very busy hands!
“We couldn’t be happier about the decision to open in New Canaan in 2020, and weren’t deterred when Covid hit. We’re thrilled to be here! The community support is tremendous! I can’t tell you how many people have come in and told me their family made a conscious decision to shop locally this year.” remarked Stephen. And Stephen and Christopher have already become supporters of numerous local charities, including The Young Women's League of New Canaan, The New Canaan Library and The New Canaan Mounted Troop to name just a few.
The Adirondack Store practically sets the Lake & Lodge style, offering everything to decorate, outfit and finish any home with that ‘Lake Placid look’, and owner/operators Christopher English and Stephen Shin run a substantial business offering decorating services and dealing in fine art. Like parents of every newborn, Christopher and Stephen have a major success on their very busy hands!
“We couldn’t be happier about the decision to open in New Canaan in 2020, and weren’t deterred when Covid hit. We’re thrilled to be here! The community support is tremendous! I can’t tell you how many people have come in and told me their family made a conscious decision to shop locally this year.” remarked Stephen. And Stephen and Christopher have already become supporters of numerous local charities, including The Young Women's League of New Canaan, The New Canaan Library and The New Canaan Mounted Troop to name just a few.
The store’s Cafe has become a most popular stop. It’s open every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and more than just for a cup of joe, a bunch of people have taken to working or reading pretty regularly in the comfortable space. “We are very careful to make the space be and feel safe, so it’s very roomy and socially distanced. Among other things we constantly wipe down surfaces and have installed three IQ Industrial Air Purifiers.”, said Stephen.
For a special ‘treat’, The Adirondack Store is serving free drip coffee, cold brew and iced tea, every Thursday from Noon to 3 p.m.! Stephen said, “It’s a great chance for people to take a break, and for us it feels like friends coming to visit!”
For a special ‘treat’, The Adirondack Store is serving free drip coffee, cold brew and iced tea, every Thursday from Noon to 3 p.m.! Stephen said, “It’s a great chance for people to take a break, and for us it feels like friends coming to visit!”
By: Marc Fleisher
Marc is a big-league sports agent, who played hockey at Denison. Marc and his wife, Joanne, raised their kids Sean and Julia in New Canaan. Marc did his time as a Hockey Dad, with Sean playing organized hockey in New Canaan, and then at Millbrook and Trinity. Marc runs Entersport, which has a 30+ year track record representing professional athletes in America and Europe in all facets of their development, draft, contract negotiation, management and marketing. Marc has represented over 100 NBA players, including dozens of first and second round draft picks, and five Hall of Famers, including Vlade Divac and Dino Radja. Marc is widely recognized for bringing the first wave of international players to the NBA, starting in 1989, forever changing the League.
Marc is a big-league sports agent, who played hockey at Denison. Marc and his wife, Joanne, raised their kids Sean and Julia in New Canaan. Marc did his time as a Hockey Dad, with Sean playing organized hockey in New Canaan, and then at Millbrook and Trinity. Marc runs Entersport, which has a 30+ year track record representing professional athletes in America and Europe in all facets of their development, draft, contract negotiation, management and marketing. Marc has represented over 100 NBA players, including dozens of first and second round draft picks, and five Hall of Famers, including Vlade Divac and Dino Radja. Marc is widely recognized for bringing the first wave of international players to the NBA, starting in 1989, forever changing the League.
Debbie McQuilkin grew up in Lakewood, Washington, the daughter of a commercial fisherman. “Sometimes there was lots to eat, sometimes not so much.” A roommate in Spokane introduced her to her husband, Kevin McQuilkin, and the young couple moved East in ’87, married in ’88, and moved to New Canaan in 1990. Their first house in New Canaan was on Millport Road, then a decade in a bigger house on Ponus Ridge, before they ‘bought the farm’ in 2011 - They’re the folks who own the Abby Normal Farm on Oenoke Ridge - the Federalist red brick mansion with the great red barns and the alpacas. Their four kids, Colin (’89), Austin (’92), Kieran (’93), and Molly (’97), all started in the New Canaan public schools and then went to King Low Heywood. Colin went on to Kevin’s alma mater Gonzaga, Austin to Loyola Maryland, Kieran to Washington & Lee, and Molly is currently a senior at Gonzaga.
All three McQuilkin boys played hockey at the Winter Club, and Colin and Kieran played for King…while Debbie played the dutiful ‘hockey mom’. She was managing a team at the Winter Club in New Canaan in 2006, when she filled a garage with used hockey equipment from a charity drive. A round of calls led her to the American Special Hockey Association’s then President, Mike Hickey, who suggested Debbie use the equipment to start a team within ASHA. Debbie told Hickey “But I don’t have a child with a disability”; Hickey responded saying “Right, if you did you wouldn’t have time to run one of these teams”, and; Debbie, on that first call, and immediately impacted by Hickey’s point, determined “OK, I’ll do it!”
“I knew I needed someone to actually run the hockey, so my first call was to John Corcoran, who played pro hockey in Sweden and who I knew as a hockey dad around town. That first Summer in 2006: we got ice for a couple of weeks in Darien; we had 6 kids, who we put in the equipment from the Winter Club charity drive and some other borrowed stuff; we had a couple of coaches, and; my boys helped out. It was magical for sure! The next step was to find ice for a regular season, and the rinks in Darien and Stamford couldn’t find time that would work for our kids. John and Mike Ferguson, who run Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, right away allocated our coveted Sunday afternoon ice time, and we ran a program with 10 kids in 2007. That grew to 15 in 2008, and 30 in 2009, and now we’re stabilized at around 60 kids playing every year.”
All three McQuilkin boys played hockey at the Winter Club, and Colin and Kieran played for King…while Debbie played the dutiful ‘hockey mom’. She was managing a team at the Winter Club in New Canaan in 2006, when she filled a garage with used hockey equipment from a charity drive. A round of calls led her to the American Special Hockey Association’s then President, Mike Hickey, who suggested Debbie use the equipment to start a team within ASHA. Debbie told Hickey “But I don’t have a child with a disability”; Hickey responded saying “Right, if you did you wouldn’t have time to run one of these teams”, and; Debbie, on that first call, and immediately impacted by Hickey’s point, determined “OK, I’ll do it!”
“I knew I needed someone to actually run the hockey, so my first call was to John Corcoran, who played pro hockey in Sweden and who I knew as a hockey dad around town. That first Summer in 2006: we got ice for a couple of weeks in Darien; we had 6 kids, who we put in the equipment from the Winter Club charity drive and some other borrowed stuff; we had a couple of coaches, and; my boys helped out. It was magical for sure! The next step was to find ice for a regular season, and the rinks in Darien and Stamford couldn’t find time that would work for our kids. John and Mike Ferguson, who run Wonderland of Ice in Bridgeport, right away allocated our coveted Sunday afternoon ice time, and we ran a program with 10 kids in 2007. That grew to 15 in 2008, and 30 in 2009, and now we’re stabilized at around 60 kids playing every year.”
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“Our whole thing is ‘Life Skills Through Ice Hockey’. Our application asks only: ‘Please provide a short description of your athlete’s disability - this will only be used by our coaching team to better connect with your athlete’. Mostly we have kids with autism, including all ranges on the spectrum. We have a lot of kids with Down Syndrome. Several kids with severe physical challenges. And a few kids with severe ADHD - they sometimes move on to play on a typical team. We have kids from all over Fairfield county and upper Westchester. We break the kids into two groups, so we can accommodate those who are struggling to skate or who have trouble following instructions in the group that starts every Sunday at 3:30, and then have a group of more advanced skaters and bigger kids in the group that goes at 4:30.”
The size and quality of the program is impressive! Many kids stay on for multiple seasons, but Debbie estimates there may now be about 500 Storm alum! John Corcoran runs The Storm’s 9 person coaching staff (as a tribute to how rewarding the experience is, everyone who has tried coaching is still on the staff). Then, John McCormack runs our mentoring program - mentors are assigned one-on-one to a different player each week. There’s 90 mentors, who are hockey players from local high schools and colleges, many of whom work for several years and beyond the requirement for a resume entry. Debbie estimates that by now The Storm has involved over 1,000 mentors!
The size and quality of the program is impressive! Many kids stay on for multiple seasons, but Debbie estimates there may now be about 500 Storm alum! John Corcoran runs The Storm’s 9 person coaching staff (as a tribute to how rewarding the experience is, everyone who has tried coaching is still on the staff). Then, John McCormack runs our mentoring program - mentors are assigned one-on-one to a different player each week. There’s 90 mentors, who are hockey players from local high schools and colleges, many of whom work for several years and beyond the requirement for a resume entry. Debbie estimates that by now The Storm has involved over 1,000 mentors!
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“For some of our kids, this will be the first time in their life they will play on a team or wear a team jersey with their own name on it. For many it’s the only organized sports team they have tried and a chance to be around other kids like them. Trying something new can be scary, but these kids rise to the occasion! I can’t tell you how many parents say to me ‘Until now, my child would watch hockey, now he gets to play! Kids get on the ice and relax, have fun, make friends, learn skills and make real physical strides! It’s life changing. It makes them feel good about themselves and their many achievements. We play other teams in the area and throw a pizza party after each home game. The kids learn a lot of important social and basic life skills that we take for granted, and they build lifelong friendships.”
“We go on trips to play away games as well, like against the Raptors in Mamaroneck, but we’ve also had trips to places like Albany, Buffalo, Lake Placid and Maryland. We get buses, and everyone who wants to go and participate, can go. We try to keep the hockey - and the whole experience - as typical as we’re able. Players take ‘shifts’ in ‘lines’ and spend the rest of the time on the ‘bench’, but we don’t have ‘icing’ or ‘offside’, as those are difficult concepts for a lot of our kids. All the teams and coaches are basically in the same mind set and do their best to match opposing player capabilities, and allow players of every level to have some role in the competition. The kids talk about these trips all year long.”
“We go on trips to play away games as well, like against the Raptors in Mamaroneck, but we’ve also had trips to places like Albany, Buffalo, Lake Placid and Maryland. We get buses, and everyone who wants to go and participate, can go. We try to keep the hockey - and the whole experience - as typical as we’re able. Players take ‘shifts’ in ‘lines’ and spend the rest of the time on the ‘bench’, but we don’t have ‘icing’ or ‘offside’, as those are difficult concepts for a lot of our kids. All the teams and coaches are basically in the same mind set and do their best to match opposing player capabilities, and allow players of every level to have some role in the competition. The kids talk about these trips all year long.”
  | “Sam’s been with The Storm for 9 years, the first 6 as a player, and now as a mentor. He processes slowly, but he’s really determined. He likes to be around for his brother, Mikey, who has Ataxia and can hardly walk and struggles to stay up on his skates, but who is sharp as a whip. They love being able to do this together. The Storm has been a blessing for us! It’s the highlight of the week for my boys and, in different ways, has been critical for each of them.” -Dr. Harvey Bluestein (Sam & 'Sweaty' Mike's Dad)  The Storm has an expensive piece of equipment called a Kaye Trainer, which holds an athlete in a sling over the ice and allows as much gravitational pressure to be placed on the legs as desired. That’s ‘Sweaty’ Mike Bluestein getting out on the ice in “The K”. |
There’s a $400 admission fee, but scholarship is generously available. Remarkably, The Storm provides the helmets, pads and all other equipment required for every athlete that needs it. They furnish the skates in conjunction with Ferguson’s at Wonderland of Ice, who handles the storage and fittings. (Unusually, The Storm prefers used skates over new, as they tend to be more comfortable.) Debbie amalgamates donated equipment and buys whatever else is necessary, and keeps the equipment inventory in a storage unit on Route 7. Every athlete gets a shell that goes over their own pants, and a jersey with their own name on the back. “I hear from lots of parents that their kids got their first Storm jersey and didn’t take it off for two weeks”, Debbie said, “it’s their pride and joy.” Each athlete gets an equipment bag, and about that Debbie declares, “That’s one of my only rules. Every kid has to pull his own bag.” There are occasional goodies like a team beach towel or hat, and everybody gets a trophy. “The trophies are really important. It’s a symbol of their accomplishment and makes them feel like a winner. The bigger the better. With their name on it.”
But all this doesn’t come cheap, and The Storm needs to raise about $25,000 a year to make ends meet. For years, New Canaan resident Boyd Hardin held an annual golf outing at the Country Club of New Canaan, with the proceeds going to The Storm, but that ended in 2019. Debbie is not shy about fundraising, parents solicit contributions, and Board Members, including John Corcoran, Jeff Engborg and New Canaan resident Terry Connors, do what they can to raise funds.
Still, donations are required to keep what is formally known as Southern Connecticut Storm Special Hockey, a 501(c)(3), alive and flourishing.
As important, having established The Storm as an institution, Debbie is looking to retire as President, Program Director and the force behind The Storm, and for someone new to take the helm. It may take a new hockey super-mom, or it may take a small committee of dedicated volunteers, but Debbie feels it’s time to transition to new leadership.
Debbie talks about her 15 years of dedicated hard work on The Storm as though she was the one ‘getting’ all that time. She says, “I feel like I’ve got 60 kids in addition to my own, like I’ve been the hockey mom to each one of them, and shared in the reward of each of their successes”. She has a special humility and grace, and a calm smile that hides the thousands of details she has to bring together to produce The Storm each week and each year. She only directs attention to the Board Members, coaches, mentors and others who’ve helped her make it happen. And Debbie’s husband, Kevin, who has carried a lot of bags of equipment, and showed up just about every Sunday to help out, and chaperoned on all the trips…and kicked-in the bucks to fill the gaps - he says, “It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Just being around what’s happening out there on the ice makes you feel good. These kids are really inspiring.”
Still, donations are required to keep what is formally known as Southern Connecticut Storm Special Hockey, a 501(c)(3), alive and flourishing.
As important, having established The Storm as an institution, Debbie is looking to retire as President, Program Director and the force behind The Storm, and for someone new to take the helm. It may take a new hockey super-mom, or it may take a small committee of dedicated volunteers, but Debbie feels it’s time to transition to new leadership.
Debbie talks about her 15 years of dedicated hard work on The Storm as though she was the one ‘getting’ all that time. She says, “I feel like I’ve got 60 kids in addition to my own, like I’ve been the hockey mom to each one of them, and shared in the reward of each of their successes”. She has a special humility and grace, and a calm smile that hides the thousands of details she has to bring together to produce The Storm each week and each year. She only directs attention to the Board Members, coaches, mentors and others who’ve helped her make it happen. And Debbie’s husband, Kevin, who has carried a lot of bags of equipment, and showed up just about every Sunday to help out, and chaperoned on all the trips…and kicked-in the bucks to fill the gaps - he says, “It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Just being around what’s happening out there on the ice makes you feel good. These kids are really inspiring.”
 | Andrew Blackwell, 14, is a New Canaan resident. Drew unabashedly rushed Kreider (with no penalty called for 'holding')! |
| Lucas DiGiacomo, 13, a Pound Ridge Resident |  |
| By: Rachael Palacios Photography By: Carlos Marques Chris C. Shaffer Hudson Michael Biondo Robin Hill www.theglasshouse.org Most in the area are familiar with the gem that is The Glass House; Philip Johnson’s modernist landmark residence gracing the New Canaan landscape. Few, however, may be aware of the treasures buried deep, quite literally, beneath the bucolic compound. |  |
Andy Warhol kissing Philip Johnson, 1979 Over a period of forty plus years, Johnson acquired a massive paintings and sculpture collection with the assistance of life partner and artworld insider David Whitney. Whitney worked at MoMA, Green Gallery, Leo Castelli gallery, (the noted art dealer who launched and established the illustrious careers of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, among others), was a studio assistant to Jasper Johns, held curatorial positions at several distinguished institutions including the Whitney Museum of Art (no relation to the name) and even ran his own gallery. As a champion of contemporary art, he had a knack for recognizing emerging talent and his keen eye and knowledge informed Johnson’s collecting. And on a personal level, Whitney’s close relationships and friendships made their way into the Johnson/Whitney creative partnership. The Glass House became a contemporary salon of sorts, with Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, Brice Marden, Merce Cunningham, John Cage, among other talents, spending many a weekend discussing artistic thoughts, processes, music, dance, etc. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall….or an art student...or art collector...or society columnist...
Whitney’s role as art advisor to Johnson cannot be understated. Johnson is notably quoted as saying: “David is my contemporary art. I don’t pretend to have an original eye.” Thirty-three years younger than Johnson, Whitney brought a fresh perspective to the architect. During their forty-five years together, they amassed a collection of over two thousand paintings, drawings and sculpture. Most of the works were donated to MoMA during Johnson’s lifetime, a move that shaped and cemented the Museum’s Post-War collection. Fortunately, art enthusiasts in our area don’t have to trek to Midtown, as several dozen significant artworks remain on the 49-acre property for all to delight.
Whitney’s role as art advisor to Johnson cannot be understated. Johnson is notably quoted as saying: “David is my contemporary art. I don’t pretend to have an original eye.” Thirty-three years younger than Johnson, Whitney brought a fresh perspective to the architect. During their forty-five years together, they amassed a collection of over two thousand paintings, drawings and sculpture. Most of the works were donated to MoMA during Johnson’s lifetime, a move that shaped and cemented the Museum’s Post-War collection. Fortunately, art enthusiasts in our area don’t have to trek to Midtown, as several dozen significant artworks remain on the 49-acre property for all to delight.
photo: Carlos Marques
photo: Chris C. Shaffer Hudson In 1965 Johnson designed and built the Painting Gallery to exhibit and store the growing collection. More suitable to hang art than the transparent Glass Home allows, the building is a climate-controlled bunker-like structure, pressed into the earth, looking more like an ancient crypt than a traditional art gallery. A vestibule leads to an open rotunda, where six expansive walls display monumental works alongside smaller ones. What lies hidden behind these carpeted walls (a practical surface masking installation marks from swapping works out) are three round chambers acting as oversized carrousels. Each contains racks holding an impressive collection of oversized and smaller-scaled works. In all, there are forty-two panels - with six on display in the gallery. This brilliant movable storage system ensures the art can safely be viewed and switched with minimized risk.
photo: Chris C. Shaffer Hudson
photo: Michael Biondo Behind one such rotating wall is Robert Rauschenberg’s Recital from 1980. This work belongs to the Spread series, a grouping that references earlier Combines, (the Cardboards, Hoarfrosts, and Jammers), bringing together the artist’s famed motifs, techniques and materials. The impetus for the creation of this series was a mid-career retrospective held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. in 1976. In preparing for this exhibition, Rauschenberg re-visited works he had not seen in twenty-five years, an exercise that was to take him on an eight-year trip down memory lane (1975-1983.) His newly found inspiration translated to oversized autobiographical panels: the solvent transferred media images mixed with brighter blocks of fabric and assembled with found objects (in this case the working fan) reflect his then current life in Captiva Island. Recital was not the first Rauschenberg Philip Johnson owned. He acquired the Combine First Landing Jump years earlier and donated it to MoMA, making it the first Rauschenberg to enter the museum’s collection.
Every so often works like Recital, usually hidden in the racks, make their way to the outer walls in the gallery, or are loaned out to exhibitions in other locations. In the gallery, large work by David Salle and Frank Stella can be mixed with personalized smaller works by Jasper Johns. Andy Warlhol’s Philip Johnson, 1972, serially portraying the celebrated architect on nine panels is a reminder of whose domain we are in. Additionally, The Glass House holds special exhibitions, such as Enoc Perez revisiting Philip Johnson’s Lipstick building in 2015. These shows revitalize the collection and re-contextualize the dialogue between the architect and contemporary artists.
Every so often works like Recital, usually hidden in the racks, make their way to the outer walls in the gallery, or are loaned out to exhibitions in other locations. In the gallery, large work by David Salle and Frank Stella can be mixed with personalized smaller works by Jasper Johns. Andy Warlhol’s Philip Johnson, 1972, serially portraying the celebrated architect on nine panels is a reminder of whose domain we are in. Additionally, The Glass House holds special exhibitions, such as Enoc Perez revisiting Philip Johnson’s Lipstick building in 2015. These shows revitalize the collection and re-contextualize the dialogue between the architect and contemporary artists.
 photo: Carlos Marques  photo: Michael Biondo |  photo: Carlos Marques  photo: Carlos Marques |
A more astute, if not cerebral, installation is Frank Stella’s pin-striped silver Averroes, 1960, one of the artist’s first shaped canvases. Situated on the back wall, the painting is the first work visible when opening the gallery doors. Stella famously stated the Minimalist credo, “What you see is what you see” and that is exactly what this is. Averroes was the first artwork Whitney advised Johnson to acquire when they saw it hanging in the Four Seasons restaurant. Today, The Glass House has sixteen works by Stella, dating from 1960 to 2004, ranging from smaller works to larger paintings and sculptures. The artist’s development from rigidly painted canvases to additive wall-mounted reliefs, sculptures, structures and maquettes were to become an influence in Johnson’s architecture, most notably in Da Monsta, 1995, the last structure built on the property.
photo: Carlos Marques
photo: Carlos Marques
photo: Carlos Marques Moving on to the Sculpture Gallery, built in 1970, an angular, skylit building, which functions as just that, a place to view sculpture. Safety codes prevent the visitor from venturing down the rail-less steps, but the top level affords a good view of Stella’s Raft of the Medusa, Part I, 1990, and Robert Morris’ L-Beams (1965-70). Be not dismissive of the less impressively scaled Neon Templates of the Left Half of My Body Taken at Ten Inch Intervals, 1966, by Bruce Nauman. This is arguably The Glass House’s most important work in the collection, a neon wall-mounted sculpture that reveals the artist’s preoccupation with his own body as medium and subject matter. Whitney organized Nauman’s first solo exhibition at Leo Castelli gallery back in 1966, a show that launched the artist’s career and took him onto the international museum stage. This work has been exhibited in over 45 national and international venues ever since.
Johnson and Whitney were great visionaries and patrons of the arts, bequeathing the vast majority of their collections to MoMA, the Menil Collection and other institutions. But what lies below at The Glass House - in the Painting Gallery - remains itself an important museum of modern art.
Johnson and Whitney were great visionaries and patrons of the arts, bequeathing the vast majority of their collections to MoMA, the Menil Collection and other institutions. But what lies below at The Glass House - in the Painting Gallery - remains itself an important museum of modern art.
photo: Carlos Marques
photo: Carlos Marques BURIED TREASURE!
...Down the rail-less steps in the Sculpture Gallery, beyond the Nauman, and turning back under the top level viewing area...there’s an underground gallery, housing additional works, that has never been open to the public. Buried treasure! Completely hidden from public view, are Stella’s Grajau I, 1975, from the artist’s Brazilian series, New Caledonian Lorikeet, 1977, from the artist’s Exotic Birds series and (currently out on loan) Khar Pidda, 1978, from Stella’s Indian Birds series. H.A.W.K., the salvaged assemblage from 1959, by John Chamberlain, is the only work not reliant on a wall for placement.
...Down the rail-less steps in the Sculpture Gallery, beyond the Nauman, and turning back under the top level viewing area...there’s an underground gallery, housing additional works, that has never been open to the public. Buried treasure! Completely hidden from public view, are Stella’s Grajau I, 1975, from the artist’s Brazilian series, New Caledonian Lorikeet, 1977, from the artist’s Exotic Birds series and (currently out on loan) Khar Pidda, 1978, from Stella’s Indian Birds series. H.A.W.K., the salvaged assemblage from 1959, by John Chamberlain, is the only work not reliant on a wall for placement.
BEDFORD-RAISED WILL REEVE COMES BACK TO VISIT HIS OLD SCHOOL (RIPPOWAM CISQUA) AND SITS DOWN FOR A CHAT WITH B&NC MAG
by: Michael Kaplan |  |
an author, actress, singer, and activist, and Christopher’s champion, herself succumbed to lung cancer at 44, less than 2 years after Chris’ death, leaving Will an orphan at 13.
Knowing that she was dying, and planning for Will’s future, Dana chose neighbors Ralph and Ann Pucci to adopt Will. And Will was embraced and supported by the community as a whole, and particularly by the folks at Rippowam Cisqua, and then Brunswick. Then Will followed in his mother’s footsteps choosing Middlebury College, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in English and American Literature.
Fast forward to the present...Will is living his dream as a broadcast journalist at Good Morning America. He’s smart, positive, genuine, humble, socially conscious...lives in Gotham and was named one of Town & Country’s TOP 50 BACHELORS, and...looks a whole lot like Clark Kent.
B&NC MAG: What’s it like to be Superman’s son?
REEVE: I’m not, I’m Christopher and Dana’s son. And I know that my dad is beloved around the world for the role that he played. But I certainly don’t think of myself as Superman’s son. Just like if your mom or dad is a lawyer or accountant or teacher, they don’t come home and go over that day’s work in detail. We weren’t analyzing movies or watching my dad’s clips, we were talking about my homework and whether my room was properly cleaned, and all the things you deal with in every family.
I didn’t really grow up around lots of other celebrities – I grew up here in Bedford… although I hear now that lots of famous people like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively and whoever else live here…but, I was not part of a celebrity culture, and that was an intentional choice by my parents. They never lived in L.A. or subscribed to the Hollywood lifestyle or mentality - in fact they rather loathed it. My parents did everything they could to give me the most normal and healthy childhood they could. That included school, friends, sports, extracurriculars...repeat. I always felt as a kid here that people really respected our privacy and normal lives.
My parents were obviously public figures and I’m extremely conscious that there have been inherent perks and advantages that have come along with that. But my parents always instilled in me that we were incredibly lucky and must always be grateful. They taught me not to use our name to get something and never to expect special treatment, and it seemed to me they rejected special treatment more often than not. My mom’s mantra was that ‘you had to give more
than you take’.
And my dad was paralyzed from the time I was 3, so it’s involved in all the memories I have of him. I did recently watch a documentary he did just before his accident, about the grey whale migration from the Baring Straight down to Baja Mexico. He did that for National Geographic, and I used to watch that with him all the time as a kid. That was probably the closest I came to thinking of my dad as a movie star, or anything more important than being my dad...and whales are still my favorite animal.
I did once get to be on Sesame Street when I was in second grade. That was nepotism at work, I was terrible, and I never really had much of an interest in acting. We had a good time – that was a good day, Big Bird and Zoe, me and my dad. But my very famous dad didn’t feel like a celebrity to me.
I didn’t really grow up around lots of other celebrities – I grew up here in Bedford… although I hear now that lots of famous people like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively and whoever else live here…but, I was not part of a celebrity culture, and that was an intentional choice by my parents. They never lived in L.A. or subscribed to the Hollywood lifestyle or mentality - in fact they rather loathed it. My parents did everything they could to give me the most normal and healthy childhood they could. That included school, friends, sports, extracurriculars...repeat. I always felt as a kid here that people really respected our privacy and normal lives.
My parents were obviously public figures and I’m extremely conscious that there have been inherent perks and advantages that have come along with that. But my parents always instilled in me that we were incredibly lucky and must always be grateful. They taught me not to use our name to get something and never to expect special treatment, and it seemed to me they rejected special treatment more often than not. My mom’s mantra was that ‘you had to give more
than you take’.
And my dad was paralyzed from the time I was 3, so it’s involved in all the memories I have of him. I did recently watch a documentary he did just before his accident, about the grey whale migration from the Baring Straight down to Baja Mexico. He did that for National Geographic, and I used to watch that with him all the time as a kid. That was probably the closest I came to thinking of my dad as a movie star, or anything more important than being my dad...and whales are still my favorite animal.
I did once get to be on Sesame Street when I was in second grade. That was nepotism at work, I was terrible, and I never really had much of an interest in acting. We had a good time – that was a good day, Big Bird and Zoe, me and my dad. But my very famous dad didn’t feel like a celebrity to me.
B&NC MAG: Tell us about the Pucci family
and about your half-siblings.
and about your half-siblings.
 from left: Will Reeve, Ralph, Ann, Nicole, and Michael Pucci | The Puccis are… lifesavers. They are the very best people. They are my adoptive parents, my guardians, my counselors, my cheerleaders. They are the reason that I was able to emerge from the darkest period of my life – relatively unscathed. |
Dana, Will, Christopher, Matthew and Alexandra Reeve They were our next door neighbors. Michael and Nicole are both very close to me in age. Michael was my first best friend, and our parents were really close. Michael and Nicole would come over in one of those little red plastic Jeeps and pick me up when we were little. I’ve been tagging along with the Puccis for as long as I can remember. So, ultimately, when my mom was very sick and had to make a decision about what was going to happen to me, she made what was the best decision she ever made as far as I’m concerned...she asked the Puccis to be my guardians...and they said yes! They took me in, and they loved me, not even like a son, they loved me, and do love me, as a son. The Puccis are my family and they always will be. I think their legal jurisdiction over me expired when I turned 18 – which was a decade ago… but when I say ‘I’m going home’ - it’s their house.
And I’m really close with my brother Matthew and sister Alexandra, who are my dad’s kids from his relationship with Gae Exton before he met my mom. They’re my half-siblings, but we always say, ‘there’s no half’! They were born and raised in London, but went to college in the U.S. My sister lives in D.C. and my brother lives in L.A., but we try to get together as often as possible. They each have two kids and I think I’m doing a pretty good job being an uncle. It’s really not that hard being an uncle to kids under the age of 5, because I just get to do the fun stuff. But I will say that I’m more than adequate at feeding them, and changing diapers, and even getting them down for naps… I can do the full thing!
And I’m really close with my brother Matthew and sister Alexandra, who are my dad’s kids from his relationship with Gae Exton before he met my mom. They’re my half-siblings, but we always say, ‘there’s no half’! They were born and raised in London, but went to college in the U.S. My sister lives in D.C. and my brother lives in L.A., but we try to get together as often as possible. They each have two kids and I think I’m doing a pretty good job being an uncle. It’s really not that hard being an uncle to kids under the age of 5, because I just get to do the fun stuff. But I will say that I’m more than adequate at feeding them, and changing diapers, and even getting them down for naps… I can do the full thing!
B&NC MAG: What are your favorite memories from growing up here?
REEVE: Too many to condense into a usable answer, but I think, in an overarching sense, that my memories are of community, the laughter and the love, and coming to school - here at Ripp - where I felt heard and celebrated and understood. I felt so encouraged in every aspect of my life.
Driving around here, everything I see reminds me of something – an experience with my parents or my friends. Going to movies at the Playhouse was such a treat. And there was nothing better than a half-day Friday at Ripp! My mom would pick me up from school, usually with some friends, we’d stop at the Bedford Village Deli, get my sandwich - the ‘Mr. T’, and eat on the Village Green, and then go to some extra-curricular. It was so innocent and pure… and a whole lot of fun.
Driving around here, everything I see reminds me of something – an experience with my parents or my friends. Going to movies at the Playhouse was such a treat. And there was nothing better than a half-day Friday at Ripp! My mom would pick me up from school, usually with some friends, we’d stop at the Bedford Village Deli, get my sandwich - the ‘Mr. T’, and eat on the Village Green, and then go to some extra-curricular. It was so innocent and pure… and a whole lot of fun.
Doing anything with my dad required a lot of planning, so we couldn’t really be spontaneous. But it didn’t deter my parents from living as normal a life as possible. We would go to Dinardo’s in Pound Ridge, and Spacarellis in North Castle, and Luna in Mt. Kisco (I think it became Woody’s on Main). My dad’s 50th birthday party was there, and my mom sang at it.
More than any one particular memory growing up here, I remember mostly how growing up here made me feel. I love this town, I love this school, and I love the memories here.
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Will visits the auditorium at Ripp, where he reminisced on many early 2000s performances. In addition to playing all-season sports, Will was also a drama kid - and starred in some Ripp plays and performances.
B&NC MAG: How did you get to be a broadcast journalist? Anything to do with your dad having worked at The Daily Planet?
Will's parents, Christopher and Dana Reeve
REEVE: I’ve pretty much always known I wanted to do something pretty much like what I’m doing. The real joke is that I wanted to be a professional athlete...until I realized that I couldn’t be one… so I figured that the next best thing would be talking about sports on TV! I grew up with ESPN on in the house pretty much 24/7, and my parents were huge sports people. I always dreamed of anchoring Sports Center.
Through a whole bunch of lucky breaks, I got an internship at Good Morning America in the summer of 2012 - and I was hooked. Being behind the scenes in the organized chaos at GMA, and then putting out this immaculate product, was intoxicating. And I remember the specific day that I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do. I was in the control room during a breaking news situation - it was the Colorado movie theatre shooting. Seeing the reporters’ act aggressively in pursuit of the facts and the truth, while maintaining respect and sobriety, and putting all of these whirling, whizzing, disparate pieces into a cohesive product - live on television- was like magic! Being a part of that… I realized, yeah, that’s the thing I want to do!
REEVE: I’ve pretty much always known I wanted to do something pretty much like what I’m doing. The real joke is that I wanted to be a professional athlete...until I realized that I couldn’t be one… so I figured that the next best thing would be talking about sports on TV! I grew up with ESPN on in the house pretty much 24/7, and my parents were huge sports people. I always dreamed of anchoring Sports Center.
Through a whole bunch of lucky breaks, I got an internship at Good Morning America in the summer of 2012 - and I was hooked. Being behind the scenes in the organized chaos at GMA, and then putting out this immaculate product, was intoxicating. And I remember the specific day that I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do. I was in the control room during a breaking news situation - it was the Colorado movie theatre shooting. Seeing the reporters’ act aggressively in pursuit of the facts and the truth, while maintaining respect and sobriety, and putting all of these whirling, whizzing, disparate pieces into a cohesive product - live on television- was like magic! Being a part of that… I realized, yeah, that’s the thing I want to do!
| I didn’t think I had the skill set, temperament or patience to go into production, and I’ve always loved to tell stories and write and entertain and perform. I’ve always felt comfortable with public speaking. In my second summer as an intern at GMA, I stuck around late about once a week or so, and became good friends with the camera crew and stage managers. I would show up with a suit on, and ask the team |  |
to stay an extra ten minutes, and I would sit at the anchor desk and have someone run the prompter for me. I managed to make a really professional reel I could send out to news organizations. Lot’s of networking and resumes later, I was introduced to the head of talent at ESPN, who said they were willing to take a chance on me and gave me a start right out of Middlebury.
I worked at ESPN for a few years, and I’m so grateful to the folks there, and for my time there, for so many reasons. I was a bit of an oddity starting out there because I wasn’t a seasoned broadcast professional or a former athlete or coach. Because that meant there wasn’t always a natural assignment for me, I invented a role. I created this thing we called ‘The Will Reeve Experience’. It was a series of all the cool things that you would dream of getting to do as a sports fan, but would never get to do because you don’t get the access. ...I was a groundskeeper for a day at Wrigley Field, I was a tour guide at Yankee Stadium, I was a cheerleader at Clemson, I was a RUFF/NEK at Oklahoma, I was a yell leader at Texas A&M, I was a bull wrangler at Colorado, I was a ticket taker and pretzel vendor at Michigan, I was a part of the Ohio State Band, I was the Eagle handler at Auburn. ...And I got to anchor Sports Center occasionally!
Will interviews Patrick Mahomes
| Then there was this one time I remember I was anchoring, and during commercial break I noticed the floor crew, the producers in my ear, the cameramen, my co-anchor - they were all doing their own thing, focusing on whatever was up next in the show. Nobody was treating me with kid gloves. I had a moment where I was looking around the studio, and I said to myself ‘Wow… I’m a part of this… they’re treating me as an equal and I am doing this’. And it wasn’t just a dream. That was a really special moment for me. I’m doing the thing that I’ve really always wanted to do. |  |
B&NC MAG: What’s the coolest part of being with Good Morning America?
REEVE: One feature I did that was particularly meaningful for me was getting to meet Chris Barr – who was paralyzed surfing in California and received a cutting edge treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. We were granted access to Barr’s final appointment at the Mayo Clinic... before he was happily kicked out the door.
I met with Barr, in his wheelchair, and his wife, and I couldn’t help but think of my parents, who had given so many interviews in that exact context... and here I was as the interviewer. They told me about his story, then we met with his doctor, and we did all the perfunctory elements of a day-long TV shoot. ...As things wrapped up, Barr rolled up to me in his wheelchair and… GOT UP!… AND WALKED DOWN THE HALLWAY WITH ME! These were among the first steps he had taken without assistance. I was blown away! I was thrilled for him, and thrilled to have been a personal witness. It was something that I always hoped and dreamed that I would get to see my own dad do...and he never got the chance. Seeing Barr leave his wheelchair left me speechless...and I really don’t remember the rest of the interview.
That, and getting to do the final leg of Janne Kouri’s wheelchair ride across America. Janne is an alum of Brunswick, where I went to high school, who went to Georgetown and played football there... and was later paralyzed. He did a ride across America, and I got to join him for the final leg! Robin Roberts had profiled him at GMA a couple times before in his journey to try to walk again, and she so graciously passed the baton to me to tell this part of his story. I got to do the final 40 miles with him – him in his power chair and me on a bike. We finished at the Georgetown Library and I conducted the interview, still all sweaty from the ride! Awesome!
Getting to do my job at GMA and bring attention to the spinal cord community at the same time is a highlight of my career and life.
I met with Barr, in his wheelchair, and his wife, and I couldn’t help but think of my parents, who had given so many interviews in that exact context... and here I was as the interviewer. They told me about his story, then we met with his doctor, and we did all the perfunctory elements of a day-long TV shoot. ...As things wrapped up, Barr rolled up to me in his wheelchair and… GOT UP!… AND WALKED DOWN THE HALLWAY WITH ME! These were among the first steps he had taken without assistance. I was blown away! I was thrilled for him, and thrilled to have been a personal witness. It was something that I always hoped and dreamed that I would get to see my own dad do...and he never got the chance. Seeing Barr leave his wheelchair left me speechless...and I really don’t remember the rest of the interview.
That, and getting to do the final leg of Janne Kouri’s wheelchair ride across America. Janne is an alum of Brunswick, where I went to high school, who went to Georgetown and played football there... and was later paralyzed. He did a ride across America, and I got to join him for the final leg! Robin Roberts had profiled him at GMA a couple times before in his journey to try to walk again, and she so graciously passed the baton to me to tell this part of his story. I got to do the final 40 miles with him – him in his power chair and me on a bike. We finished at the Georgetown Library and I conducted the interview, still all sweaty from the ride! Awesome!
Getting to do my job at GMA and bring attention to the spinal cord community at the same time is a highlight of my career and life.
| I was moved by the experience of covering the California wildfires last year. We were right in the thick of things and I got a real appreciation for the tremendous work the firefighters are doing. And then there’s the universe of fun and different assignments! ...I’ve gotten to climb glaciers, and descend to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. I’ve travelled far and wide. I’ve interviewed Will Farrell and Julia Louis Dryfus together, and Billie Eilish. Every day is a new opportunity, and I have to pinch myself and remind myself that this is real. |  |
B&NC MAG: Tell us about your work on the
Board of the Reeve Foundation?
Board of the Reeve Foundation?
REEVE: My dad’s ultimate dream was a world of empty wheelchairs. I’m really proud to continue my parents’ legacy and to further their mission to find cures for paralysis, and provide quality of life care for affected individuals and families.
The spinal cord community is hyper-focused right now on something we call ‘The Big Idea’. Tens of millions of dollars in research in epidural stimulation have led to a device that’s placed at the base of a patient’s spine and sends signals to electrodes that are also surgically implanted in the patient. The technology has already proven successful in resuscitating functions including temperature regulation, bowel and bladder regulation, and sexual function, and even in getting walking muscles working as a part of a rehab regimen with some patients. And right now, we like to say that we are in the ‘1980s cellphone’ version of the stimulator...with all technology improving according to Moore’s law...and the 5G version - and the getting patients up to walk again part - just around the corner.
The spinal cord community is hyper-focused right now on something we call ‘The Big Idea’. Tens of millions of dollars in research in epidural stimulation have led to a device that’s placed at the base of a patient’s spine and sends signals to electrodes that are also surgically implanted in the patient. The technology has already proven successful in resuscitating functions including temperature regulation, bowel and bladder regulation, and sexual function, and even in getting walking muscles working as a part of a rehab regimen with some patients. And right now, we like to say that we are in the ‘1980s cellphone’ version of the stimulator...with all technology improving according to Moore’s law...and the 5G version - and the getting patients up to walk again part - just around the corner.
Will, Alexandra, and Matthew Reeve
What we’re doing right now at the Reeve Foundation is having a tangible, visible, obvious, and incredible impact on peoples’ lives, in a way I think my mom and dad could have only dreamed of. It’s incredibly exciting to be an agent of hope in that way.
B&NC MAG: You’ve obviously faced a lot of adversity and tragedy in your life, but you come across as a really positive person with a very positive outlook. Everyone we’ve spoken to about you lights up at the mention of your name and has nothing but positive things to say about you. Is it a conscious decision?
REEVE: As you can imagine, much like anyone else’s life, my life isn’t a string of one green light after another. But I grew up in a house where optimism and positivity were the rule. My parents projected an air of hope and calm. My mom often said ‘there’s not enough time in the day to sit around feeling sorry for yourself’. Does that mean that I don’t have my moments of extreme self-doubt or bad moods? No, I’m very much a human-being, and I have my moments just like anyone else. It’s not a conscious decision for me to be any one way or the other. I think I’m inherently positive.
I believe that hope is what sustains humanity when it’s at its best, and I learned that from my parents for sure. When you’re in a house where tragedy is right around the corner at any moment, you have to have hope that things are going to be okay, because there is no other way to move forward. I’ve been so exceedingly fortunate in my life, despite anything bad that has occurred, I still think that I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I was born to the two greatest parents that anyone could have, and I’ve had all the advantages handed to me. I was born on third base... it’s up to me to get home. I’m a gainfully employed, straight, white male… I realize I’m privileged. That’s how I try to think of things. What I can control is how I behave, and how I act, every day. I don’t always succeed at doing the right thing at the right time and I’m nowhere near perfect, but I live trying to be the best person that I can be.
My dad had a framed needlepoint Abraham Lincoln quote hanging in his office that’s in my apartment now. It says: “When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad. And that’s my religion.” My dad organized his entire life around that principle, and I try to do the same. Not just in bringing attention to finding cures for spinal cord injury, or cancer, but more generally bringing focus to the fundamental issues of equality for all people.
B&NC MAG: So...‘Underwear-gate’…. It went viral on Instagram...Last March, when the nation was newly adjusting to Covid, you were doing a segment on GMA whence the camera panned down and revealed...
https://www.nydailynews.com/snyde/ny-gma-contributor-goes-pantsless-zoom-20200428-okqn7le72jc5vctzbdbrkqjlwq-story.html REEVE: I swear they are gym shorts. I should have brought them to prove it to you! I literally wore them on a run the other day. Nike gym shorts.
B&NC MAG: Then...the irony...that your dad came out of the phonebooth and went to work in his underwear...is not lost on you…
REEVE: ...I get it. But it was just an unfortunate sequence of technical events that led to my frame being a little too wide on national television for a blip, but I’m glad that it made some people smile during a difficult time. I’m so grateful to ABC and the public for being supportive, and seeing it as nothing more than a harmless, even funny, and definitely embarrassing moment. It’s a moment I’ll always remember...and that several of my friends and colleagues will anyway never let me forget.
REEVE: ...I get it. But it was just an unfortunate sequence of technical events that led to my frame being a little too wide on national television for a blip, but I’m glad that it made some people smile during a difficult time. I’m so grateful to ABC and the public for being supportive, and seeing it as nothing more than a harmless, even funny, and definitely embarrassing moment. It’s a moment I’ll always remember...and that several of my friends and colleagues will anyway never let me forget.
B&NC MAG: Who are the 3 people you’d have to dinner tonight if you could?
REEVE: Just my mom and my dad if I could, but otherwise: Sasha Baron Cohen, Andrew Sorkin, and Maya Angelou. If you don’t come away from that dinner a better writer and a better person, then you’re hopeless.
REEVE: Just my mom and my dad if I could, but otherwise: Sasha Baron Cohen, Andrew Sorkin, and Maya Angelou. If you don’t come away from that dinner a better writer and a better person, then you’re hopeless.
LISA FAITH SHER & JOHN WESLEY CHAMBERS
BACKYARD BEDFORD NUPTIALS 8/8/20
Lisa Faith Sher (daughter of Michael and Susan Sands and Carol Sands Kaminski) and John Wesley Chambers (son of Louise Chambers and the late Theodore E. Chambers) were married on August 8, 2020, in their backyard in Bedford, by Town Supervisor, Chris Burdick (who was recently elected to the New York State Assembly). John is the President of H.C. Wainwright, a New York City-based investment bank, and Lisa is a Managing Director at Stern Investor Relations, a New York City-based investor relations firm. John has one daughter Hayley Jewel Chambers (age 20), and Lisa has two daughters, Rachel Melina Sher (age 30) and Lindsay Brooke Sher (age 27).
Lisa and John were set on the date 08/08 because they are both interested in numerology, and 8 means balance and harmony and also represents the infinity sign. But, when they contacted the town clerk, who typically officiates marriage ceremonies in Bedford, she was not available to officiate on that day, so Chris kindly offered to perform the nuptials. What a way to become town residents!
The event was small and intimate, which was exactly what the couple wanted - pandemic or not. Other than the officiant and photographer, they celebrated with one guest/witness - a close college friend of Lisa’s. Lisa’s passion for fashion and style (and internet browsing) led her to: David Austin ‘Juliet’ roses from Bedford Village Florist; Badgley Mischka shoes; a dress from Neiman Marcus online; and, hair accessories from Twig & Honey. Her resale Jimmy Choo handbag arrived in the nick of time from the RealReal. John chose his style online by Ralph Lauren. And Bedford-based photographer, Jennifer Mullowney, captured the magic of the day.
Lisa was living in California when the couple got engaged, and moved back to New York City to be with John. In Summer 2019, the couple rented a weekend place in Bedford, which they chose because John has been a member at Glen Arbor Golf Club since the early 2000s. That summer, they began looking for a home to call their own for weekends and made the big purchase in December 2019. When the pandemic hit, and given that both Lisa and John would be able to work remotely for the duration, the couple made the move full-time to their new home (where the wedding took place). Now that they are full-time residents, still working remotely, spots like Lucia’s and Truck in Bedford, Spiga in New Canaan, and Tengda in Katonah, have become the couple’s go-to favorites.
  |   |
BECOMING MR. & MRS. RUSHTON
by: Ashley Rushton aka The Stylee Lyst
https://www.styleelyst.com/
For those of you that do not know, I am a CT-based Lifestyle Blogger – I specifically curate beauty and fashion centric content. I started STYLEE LYST in 2018, and took the brand and business full time in 2019. My website is home to my favorite beauty products, go-to fashion staples and travels alike – I also cultivate content on my Instagram and Pinterest as an influencer.
by: Ashley Rushton aka The Stylee Lyst
https://www.styleelyst.com/
For those of you that do not know, I am a CT-based Lifestyle Blogger – I specifically curate beauty and fashion centric content. I started STYLEE LYST in 2018, and took the brand and business full time in 2019. My website is home to my favorite beauty products, go-to fashion staples and travels alike – I also cultivate content on my Instagram and Pinterest as an influencer.
I’m a New Canaan native, and went on to study at Arizona State University for my undergraduate degree, and later a master’s in business marketing at Cornell. Each of the jobs in my early career were building blocks for my lifestyle brand. I started in Special Events at Calvin Klein and then transitioned into agency and in-house PR/Marketing for both big box and indie beauty brands. My brand became a natural extension of my interests and strengths, and I’ve worked hard to keep it authentic as it grows and changes.
I met my husband, Bobby Rushton, in July 2014, and Bobby and I became official on September 19, 2014. He’s from West Islip, Long Island, but now he’s got a pretty good claim on the “Mr. New Canaan” title in addition to the labels “Coach” and “Mr. Rushton” by which he’s commonly known around town. He’s a tenured Third Grade Teacher and Team Leader at South School, the Executive Director of the New Canaan Athletic Foundation, runs the entire New Canaan Wrestling Program, is a Director and a Coach for Eclipse Lacrosse Club, is a Varsity Coach for New Canaan Lacrosse, and sits on the Football, Lacrosse and New Canaan Athletic Foundation Boards.
We got our first place together - in New Canaan - with our yellow lab, Zeus - in 2016, and were engaged on November 3, 2018. I was already developing STYLEE LYST, and as it grew into my full-time career, the brand also became more intertwined with the wedding.
I met my husband, Bobby Rushton, in July 2014, and Bobby and I became official on September 19, 2014. He’s from West Islip, Long Island, but now he’s got a pretty good claim on the “Mr. New Canaan” title in addition to the labels “Coach” and “Mr. Rushton” by which he’s commonly known around town. He’s a tenured Third Grade Teacher and Team Leader at South School, the Executive Director of the New Canaan Athletic Foundation, runs the entire New Canaan Wrestling Program, is a Director and a Coach for Eclipse Lacrosse Club, is a Varsity Coach for New Canaan Lacrosse, and sits on the Football, Lacrosse and New Canaan Athletic Foundation Boards.
We got our first place together - in New Canaan - with our yellow lab, Zeus - in 2016, and were engaged on November 3, 2018. I was already developing STYLEE LYST, and as it grew into my full-time career, the brand also became more intertwined with the wedding.
| Throughout 2019, Bobby and I worked meticulously to plan each aspect of what was going to be our perfect day. Feeling that we’d chosen the best vendors for a rather lavish wedding, we were psyched to celebrate in June of 2020. We could envision our ceremony on the vast manicured grounds of the Country Club of New Canaan, and a reception in the high-ceilinged ballroom. |  |
I chose a classic ‘A-line’ gown from a beautiful shop in Darien, A Little Something White. It wasn’t what I had expected to like, and it was the first dress that I tried on in the store, but after trying on about twenty others, I knew it was the one. ALSW was amazing through the tailoring process, and I grew more and more excited with each fitting. I worked with ALSW to create a custom veil, and chose gorgeous earrings from their ‘Something Old’ collection. Ditching the typical NYC wedding dress shopping was an amazing decision - the ladies at ALSW were extremely knowledgeable, efficient, and kind. And, it felt even better to be working with a local, women-owned business.
The rest of the winter was filled with selecting a DJ, photographer, videographer, florist, and so many other vendors for our big day.
The rest of the winter was filled with selecting a DJ, photographer, videographer, florist, and so many other vendors for our big day.
We hired Irene from Soiree Special Events in the home stretch of the planning process, in February 2020, to help with some of the final touches and day-of.
Little did we know, COVID would have other plans…
It became apparent early in March that our date, and maybe even our wedding, was in jeopardy. I immediately called Irene and we worked with vendors and our venue to pick a new date as we rushed to make lots of COVID-adjustments. It just so happened that the New Canaan Country Club had September 19th available, as did all of our vendors - and it was our dating anniversary; it felt serendipitous!
Little did we know, COVID would have other plans…
It became apparent early in March that our date, and maybe even our wedding, was in jeopardy. I immediately called Irene and we worked with vendors and our venue to pick a new date as we rushed to make lots of COVID-adjustments. It just so happened that the New Canaan Country Club had September 19th available, as did all of our vendors - and it was our dating anniversary; it felt serendipitous!
At our tasting in July, we were told that we’d have to drastically cut-back the size of our guest list. Our originally planned 210-person wedding was cut back to just family; our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We painstakingly had to let our friends and extended family know the news, and it was the hardest part of the adjustment, but everyone was so graceful, empathetic, and understanding.
As the day inched closer and closer over the summer, I continued to work on the final touches. After many makeup trial mishaps, I decided to do my own bridal makeup - but not without the help of Melba. Melba owns Eye Coco Studio in Ridgefield and is a lash and brow expert. She worked with me on lash extensions for a few months prior to the wedding, and perfected a set for the big day.
I got ready with my wedding party - my Maid and Matron of Honor, my two cousins (who are much more like sisters), Bobby’s two sisters, my Mom, and my 95-year-old Nana. Although it was a much smaller group than my originally intended bridal party of 13 people, it was intimate and lovely. And, despite some of my closest friends not being able to celebrate in-person, I was able to FaceTime with them while I got ready and still felt like they were part of the process. I also still sent each of them luxe goody bags filled with beauty products, monogrammed makeup bags from the Quilted Koala, bracelets from JL Rocks, custom silk robes, and gorgeous silk pillowcases from
As the day inched closer and closer over the summer, I continued to work on the final touches. After many makeup trial mishaps, I decided to do my own bridal makeup - but not without the help of Melba. Melba owns Eye Coco Studio in Ridgefield and is a lash and brow expert. She worked with me on lash extensions for a few months prior to the wedding, and perfected a set for the big day.
I got ready with my wedding party - my Maid and Matron of Honor, my two cousins (who are much more like sisters), Bobby’s two sisters, my Mom, and my 95-year-old Nana. Although it was a much smaller group than my originally intended bridal party of 13 people, it was intimate and lovely. And, despite some of my closest friends not being able to celebrate in-person, I was able to FaceTime with them while I got ready and still felt like they were part of the process. I also still sent each of them luxe goody bags filled with beauty products, monogrammed makeup bags from the Quilted Koala, bracelets from JL Rocks, custom silk robes, and gorgeous silk pillowcases from
| Fisher’s Finery - a brand I adore and wanted my girls to experience.   |   |
I was a ball of nerves on September 19, but everyone at the CCNC worked through the constraints of COVID to make us feel completely comfortable, safe, and as normal as possible. Bobby and I even got to walk through the Club dining room...where friends of ours from the Club and around New Canaan who did not make the family-only cut to attend our wedding had taken all the tables to help share in our celebration in any way they could!
It was truly the best day of our lives! Sometimes what you get in life is what you never knew you wanted. I certainly wouldn’t have wished for a COVID wedding, but I’m so grateful that I got to celebrate in a town that means so much to me and surrounded by our closest family! And we couldn’t be happier to be Mr. and Mrs. Rushton!
It was truly the best day of our lives! Sometimes what you get in life is what you never knew you wanted. I certainly wouldn’t have wished for a COVID wedding, but I’m so grateful that I got to celebrate in a town that means so much to me and surrounded by our closest family! And we couldn’t be happier to be Mr. and Mrs. Rushton!
Having acquired the 16-year old Bedford Magazine in May, I was very proud of our September/October first issue of BEDFORD & NEW CANAAN MAGAZINE! I thought the interview with the two Congressmen who represent our readers in New York and Connecticut emphasized that the greater Bedford and New Canaan towns are a part of the same community. Our article Major League Locals about our four local kids, Griffin Dey (Detroit Tigers), Curt Casali (Cincinnati Reds), my friend from growing up around the corner Richard Slenker (Houston Astros), and Henry Davis (Louisville Sluggers), written by Dey, is just the kind of local feel-good story we want to bring you. And I felt like we got B&NC MAG readers something better than even a seat inside the ropes at golf’s PGA Championship, with the terrific diary by Rob Labritz.
It’s my mission to make every issue as interesting and meaningful, and our commitment to keep it all local and always positive...and I think this November/December Holiday issue is another winner!
We’re honored to have Martha as the B&NC MAG cover feature. And we’re already working with some of the other biggest bold face names and most intriguing people in our area for upcoming covers and features. Our business features on each of Tata Harper and Andrew Tow give you some private time with these two business giants - who you might just run into at the local market. Watch It! is a ‘timely’ look at the vintage timepiece market, focused on Bedford locals Tania Edwards and Cooper Zelnick. And our look at Clare Murray and the Community Center of Northern Westchester is the kind of exposure we intend to bring to at least one local charity in each issue. (Along with the ads we give to charitable organizations, like Make-A-Wish and Paul Newman’s Hole In The Wall Gang Camp.)
Our magazine is mailed to you - for free. My hope, particularly with this Holiday issue, is that every reader will take a moment after each read to think positive, take stock of our community, and consider some act of giving to a local charity or other good cause.
We couldn’t be more appreciative for all the raves we’ve received. Please let our advertisers know that seeing their ad in our magazine motivated you. Please go online at bedfordnewcanaanmag.com or to our Instagram @BedfordNewCanaanMag, and let us know what you like and don’t like, or if you have an idea about something local we should cover. And, as Yogi Bera might say, if you live in Armonk, Bedford, Bedford Hills, Katonah, Mt. Kisco, Lewisboro, Pound Ridge, North Salem, Waccabuc or New Canaan, and for some reason you aren’t reading this, then please let us know.
Truly Yours,
Casey Kaplan
It’s my mission to make every issue as interesting and meaningful, and our commitment to keep it all local and always positive...and I think this November/December Holiday issue is another winner!
We’re honored to have Martha as the B&NC MAG cover feature. And we’re already working with some of the other biggest bold face names and most intriguing people in our area for upcoming covers and features. Our business features on each of Tata Harper and Andrew Tow give you some private time with these two business giants - who you might just run into at the local market. Watch It! is a ‘timely’ look at the vintage timepiece market, focused on Bedford locals Tania Edwards and Cooper Zelnick. And our look at Clare Murray and the Community Center of Northern Westchester is the kind of exposure we intend to bring to at least one local charity in each issue. (Along with the ads we give to charitable organizations, like Make-A-Wish and Paul Newman’s Hole In The Wall Gang Camp.)
Our magazine is mailed to you - for free. My hope, particularly with this Holiday issue, is that every reader will take a moment after each read to think positive, take stock of our community, and consider some act of giving to a local charity or other good cause.
We couldn’t be more appreciative for all the raves we’ve received. Please let our advertisers know that seeing their ad in our magazine motivated you. Please go online at bedfordnewcanaanmag.com or to our Instagram @BedfordNewCanaanMag, and let us know what you like and don’t like, or if you have an idea about something local we should cover. And, as Yogi Bera might say, if you live in Armonk, Bedford, Bedford Hills, Katonah, Mt. Kisco, Lewisboro, Pound Ridge, North Salem, Waccabuc or New Canaan, and for some reason you aren’t reading this, then please let us know.
Truly Yours,
Casey Kaplan