June will be busting out all weekend in Ridgefield, with more than a dozen ways to celebrate the ‘first month of summer.’

• “I Do! I Do!” opens Friday and Saturday at the Ridgefield Theater Barn.
• Hot Shoes will dance at the Playhouse Friday and Saturday.
• A juried art exhibit by RHS students opens Friday at the Guild of Artists.
• Trails Day is Saturday, with a nature walk at Weir, Page 5A, and a geocaching walk at Bennett’s Pond.
• Evening Under the Stars benefits Woodcock Nature Center Saturday.
• Three writers will read from their works at the library Saturday.
• A dialogue on art is set for Saturday at the Aldrich. Page 3C.
• The MacDonald-Pin dancers will mark their 40th anniversary Saturday and Sunday.
• Gardens will be open Sunday.
• The TriRidgefield race is Sunday morning.
• Chefs will battle Sunday at Founders Hall.
• Ridgefield will remember those who have died on Sunday.
• Broadway songs will be sung Sunday at Jesse Lee.
• The Bacon Brothers are in town Sunday.

Details on all of these events will be found in this week’s Press. The basics on many are in the Datebook.

For information on regional events, see Arts & Leisure’s This Weekend listings.

The town is attempting to limit the buildup of plastic bags full of advertising that end up sitting at the end of people’s driveways.

“We’re getting quite a few people quite irate with these plastic bags,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi told the Board of Selectmen at the end of the May 15 meeting.

The green bags are familiar sights along town roads, often many days after they were delivered.

The pale green bags are delivered to many homes in town.

“It’s a plastic bag full of inserts,” Mr. Marconi said.

They contain “The Savings Source,” a collection of ads from an area daily, The News-Times of Danbury.

As Mr. Marconi explained it, the daily paper offers a program in which advertisers are promised a certain amount of coverage, and seeks to achieve it in part by delivering the bagged inserts to homes that don’t subscribe to the paper.

If people are away a few days, or don’t pick them up, the bags sit at the end of the driveway.

“It really is an eyesore,” he said.

Mr. Marconi said he’d had a meeting with the publisher of The News-Times to ask that the indiscriminate distribution be limited.

“I’d met with the publisher two other times,” he told the board. “If it doesn’t stop, we’re going to start issuing littering violations.”

Planning and Zoning Commission member John Katz, a regular in the audience at selectmen’s meetings, had his own suggestion.

“If those of you as irate as I am were to collect them and deposit them in the lobby of The News-Times,” he said, “this would stop.”

(Note: After the appearance of this story in the print edition of The Press, reader Dorothy Wright wrote: “When this practice  first started, I called the non-circulation number of the News-Times, 203-744-5100, asked to speak with the manager of ‘The Savings Source’ program, and asked that manager to have my address taken off their distribution list.  Deliveries stopped the following week, and have not resumed.”)

Carrie Pin, director of The MacDonald-Pin Dancers (center), is pictured with some of her students. Clockwise from back row: Fiona Cooper, Carly Lindsay, Karena Landler, Tara Krishna, Kate Wagner, Allie Cauchon, Rico Froehlich, Sydney D’Orso and Madalyn Migliorino.

The rhythmic sounds of tap, graceful movement of ballet and lyrical and pulsing beat of jazz take center stage this weekend as The MacDonald-Pin Dancers presents its 40th Anniversary Recital.

Performances featuring dancers as young as three years old, through advanced students and adult dancers will be held at Ridgefield High School at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 1 and 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2.

“The dancers prepare all year for this performance and are looking forward to delighting this year’s audience,” said Carrie Pin, director of The MacDonald-Pin Dancers.  “They devote their time throughout the school year to perfecting their technique and improving their performance skills and then apply what they learn to the specific choreography which will be performed at the show.”

The MacDonald-Pin Dancers offers a comprehensive school-year dance program and summer camps at the Ridgefield Recreation Center.

Following a professional dance career that included dancing in USO shows, half-time shows for the Washington Redskins football team and a position in the famous Rockette kickline as a member of the summer touring troupe, Joan MacDonald began teaching dance in her Ridgefield home in 1971.

Throughout the next decade she taught tap, ballet, and jazz after school to students in Ridgefield and the surrounding towns as a parks and recreation program.

Ms. MacDonald was joined by her daughter Carrie Pin as soon as she earned her bachelor of fine arts in dance education and together they expanded the studio to include classes for pre-schoolers and adults.

In the mid-90’s mother and daughter formed a new business partnership and a new name for the studio — The MacDonald-Pin Dancers. Ms. MacDonald retired in 1999 and Ms. Pin continues to fulfill her vision of a dance studio that offers a variety of dance disciplines for aspiring dancers young and old.

“We are proud to celebrate our 40th year of providing dance education,” said Ms. Pin. “I owe all of the joy I feel in working with dancers to my mother’s example of dedication, hard work and love for dance.”

‘We’re in the Money’ with the Middle School Tap Class will feature, back row, left to right, Julia Healy, Annie Helmes, Rico Froehlich, Fiona Cooper, Rosie Staudt; front row, left to right, Madalyn Migliorino, Tara Krishna and Allie Cauchon. —Carrie Pin photo

“For the Love of Dance” celebrates a variety of music and dance, featuring production numbers from our 40 year history such as “One,” “It Don’t Mean A Thing,” and “That’s Entertainment,” as well as new choreography to “King of New York (from the musical Newsies),” “Sweet Inspiration (an iconic Barbara Streisand hit)” and a Harry Potter inspired ballet.

Tickets for the 40th Anniversary Recital at $15 will be available at the door.

For more information, visit www.mpdancers.com.

The Tetrastichus planipennisi wasp was discovered in China and lays eggs inside the beetle’s larvae.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station   reports that small, stingless, parasitoid wasps were released Thursday by Dr. Claire Rutledge in the towns of Prospect and Middlebury for the biocontrol of the emerald ash borer.

This biocontrol release is conducted in cooperation with Juli Gould of the USDA Animal Health Inspection Service  under specific guidelines for the release of emerald ash borer parasitoids. The female  Tetrastichus planipennisi wasp lays eggs inside the beetle’s larvae where the developing parasitoid larvae kill the ash borer larvae.

The emerald ash borer is responsible for the death and decline of tens of millions of ash trees from the Midwest to New York State and south to Tennessee. Ash makes up about 4% to 15% of Connecticut’s forests and is a common urban tree.

This destructive insect was first detected in Connecticut in the town of Prospect in July 2012 and was subsequently found in eight other towns, all in New Haven County, as part of surveys conducted by Agricultural Experiment Station, The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension or from reports by the public.

The other eight towns are Naugatuck, Bethany, Beacon Falls, Waterbury, Cheshire, Oxford, Middlebury, and Hamden. Emerald ash borer has also been identified in Dutchess County, N.Y., Berkshire County, Mass., and Merrimack County, N.H.

“The release of this natural enemy of emerald ash borer is another valuable approach in our efforts to manage and slow the spread of the emerald ash borer” said State Entomologist Kirby C. Stafford III.

Another parasitoid, Oobius agrili, which can kill up to 80% of emerald ash borer eggs laid in the summer, will be released at a later date by Dr. Rutledge.

Each female wasp can parasitize up to 62 emerald ash borer eggs in her lifetime.

So far, these two wasps have been released in 14 of the 19 states where emerald ash borer has been found. The wasps, which are extremely specific to emerald ash borer, were discovered in China, where emerald ash borer originated. They are being reared by the USDA in a laboratory in Brighton, Michigan.

In Connecticut, a quarantine has previously been established that regulates the movement of ash logs, ash materials, ash nursery stock, and hardwood firewood from within New Haven County to any area outside of that county. The quarantine currently applies to only that part of the state and mirrors a federal quarantine also imposed on New Haven County.

In addition to the quarantine, regulations are in effect regulating the movement of firewood from out-of-state into Connecticut or within Connecticut. These regulations were put in place to ensure that emerald ash borer and other invasive insects are not carried into Connecticut, or spread throughout New England, through the shipment of firewood.

Detailed information about the quarantine and the firewood regulations can be found at www.ct.gov/deep/eab  or www.ct.gov/caes .

The emerald ash borer is a regulated plant pest under federal (7 CFR 301.53) and state (CT Gen. Statute Sec. 22-84-5d, e, and f) regulations. For more information about the emerald ash borer,   visit   www.emeraldashborer.info. A fact sheet providing guidelines on the treatment of ash trees to protect them from EAB is also available at www.ct.gov/caes.

A factsheet on the biological control of the emerald ash borer is available at  www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/emerald_ash_b/downloads/eab-biocontrol.pdf

Annie Wendel, which just graduated summa cum laude with a degree in public and community service studies, has worked in Australia, South Africa, Mexico, and the Solomon Islands.

Annie Wendel of Ridgefield, a member of the Class of 2013 at Providence College, has received a grant from the Fulbright Program, the flagship international educational exchange program of the U.S. government, to Nepal.

She will spend a year teaching English and learning the Nepalese language while also developing a community service project.

Ms. Wendel spent eight weeks during the summer of 2011 working in social justice ministries in Australia and teaching at a boarding school in the Solomon Islands. During the spring semester in 2012, she studied in South Africa while teaching seventh graders and visiting Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Ms. Wendel, who just graduated summa cum laude with a degree in public and community service studies, selected Nepal as her destination because of her fascination with other cultures.

“I’ve had family friends tell me about their personal experiences traveling there, stories about the beauty of the landscape and people,” Ms. Wendel told a local newspaper. “I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the culture and learning another language, and to my home stay with a family.”

She is one of about 1,700 U.S. students selected to receive a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grant. She will be one of six students teaching in Nepal, chosen from among 56 applicants.

Dr. John B. Margenot III, professor of Spanish and Providence College’s Fulbright Program adviser, said, “Annie is a highly empathetic candidate with a very positive attitude who is wise beyond her years. She thinks pragmatically, is inquisitive and keenly interested in cross-cultural dialogue. She is an articulate and thoughtful speaker, and is intensely interested in her major as well as her professional goals.”

Ms. Wendel arrived at Providence College with plans to study English. But during her freshman year she discovered public and community service studies, a program that requires students to participate in service projects outside the classroom. It attracts “a really great group of students who are passionate and inspired and want to make a change,” Ms. Wendel said.

As a freshman, she began volunteering at YouthRAP, a program offered by the Smith Hill Community Development Corp. that provides homework help, field trips, and after-school and weekend activities for neighborhood youth. She tutored students in science and healthy eating and served as the Providence College liaison during her sophomore and junior years.

In Sydney, Australia,  she worked in social justice ministries with the Las Casas Centre for Justice, Peace, and Care of Creation at Santa Sabina College. In the Solomon Islands, she  taught at a Christian boarding school.

This past March, Ms. Wendel participated in an alternative spring break trip to Tijuana, Mexico. Working with Esperanza International, she joined other students in building a house for a needy family, from the foundation to the concrete cinder block walls.

Her experiences convinced her that she would like to work in international education, focusing on global youth development and literacy.

Ms. Wendel was introduced to international travel by her family. She remembers that during a trip to Italy, Greece and Turkey, she was most intrigued by Turkey — probably because it was so different from the other countries.

Her eight-month stay in Nepal will begin in July. She will teach English to students in a government school and develop a project that introduces them to community service, leadership and civic engagement — she just isn’t sure exactly where.

“You have to be very flexible,” she said. “It could be rural, it could be urban. I’m excited for both.”

The whole $7 million, returned to taxpayers? Maybe.

With a zone change for multifamily on 10 acres in the works, and potential buyers looking at three other areas, First Selectman Rudy Marconi believes the town may be within reach of recovering its $7-million investment in the former Schlumberger property.

“All of it, and more — potentially, optimistically speaking,” he said Tuesday.

Townspeople approved spending $7 million on the 45-acre property in late 2011 — a $6-million purchase price and $1 million for costs such as surveying, lawyers, and demolition of the firm’s abandoned research complex.

A significant step toward recovering something close to the $7 million is the zone change proposed for 10 acres along Sunset Lane — an area the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) deems suitable for development without concern about pollution on the site.

The town has proposed a zone change to the Multi-Family Development District, or “MFDD zone,” currently on the Planning and Zoning Commission’s books. The zone change application was put together by Glenn Chalder of Planimetrics, a consultant to the selectmen, and has been scheduled for a June 11 public hearing by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The zone, which was used to build the nearby Quail Ridge condominiums, allows up to six units an acre, with an option allowing eight units an acre if 20% are affordable, which allowed the construction of Ballard Green.

But Mr. Marconi envisions a process under which the selectmen might prefer something less dense, and could enforce their preference with deed restrictions.

“Let’s say we got an approval for the zone change,” he said. “We’d put together an RFP calling for bids with plans showing the architectural renderings of the type of buildings, number of units, number of bedrooms, locations, etc., along with a proposed purchase price … an ‘RFP’ — request for proposals — that will call for concept plans, along with a bid for the 10 acres,” he said.

“Once that concept plan is reviewed by the Board of Selectmen, and any changes or modifications are made to it as required by the Board of Selectmen, the contract for sale would specifically detail the approved plan: number of units, location, style, all of that.”

Further zoning approval would still be needed.

“The applicant would then need to proceed with an application to P&Z for approvals to construct,” he said.

With the state DEEP having already ruled that the 10 acres along Sunset Lane may be marketed without further pollution studies or cleanup, the selectmen have been focused on that.

“Hopefully, we can make it through the Planning and Zoning Commission’s process by the end of July,” Mr. Marconi said.

There’s also been progress on roughly 30 acres between Sunset Lane and Old Quarry Road, Mr. Marconi said. The area includes the bulk of Schlumberger’s old research “campus,” and needs environmental cleanup, or “remediation,” mostly because of old heating oil tanks that leaked.

The cleanup is being done at Schlumberger’s expense, with its consulting firm, GZA Environmental, preparing a “remedial action plan” under the oversight of the DEEP.

“Things are moving along the channels that we’d hoped they would,” Mr. Marconi said last week. “We’re expecting approval of the ‘RAP’ — remedial action plan — by the DEEP sometime in the beginning of June, I’d say, the next three to five weeks.

“That approval will allow us to commence with the remedition plan that hopefully will be completed in the next year, along with necessary demolition.”

The cleanup is being handled by Schlumberger, its consultants, and the DEEP, but demolition is a town job.

“The demolition specs have been put together by our town engineer, Charles Fisher, and they are quite extensive,” Mr. Marconi said.

The goal, eventually, is to see if portions of the 30-acre area can be sold.

“We are having many discussions with different parties about possible sales,” Mr. Marconi said. “But, remember, we cannot really sell anything until the remediation has been completed and signed off by the DEEP.”

Mr. Marconi couldn’t say how much time that may take.

“A lot of it is going to be dictated by DEEP and the remediation that has to take place,” he said. “The remediation issue has to do with leaking oil tanks. There were several tanks, some minor locations, but one major area.

“This does not impact the 10 acres located along Sunset Lane,” he added.

The town is still talking to a potential buyer who is interested in about 13 acres of the old Schlumberger campus with the thought of saving some of the buildings — including the Philip Johnson building, the library and, possibly, the theater — for use housing a large art collection.

“We continue to move forward with negotiations,” Mr. Marconi said.

But the town doesn’t want to go through with a sale of this part of the property until after the environmental cleanup has been completed and approved by the state — to do so would increase the town’s legal responsibility over the environmental work. So the selectmen are looking for an arrangement that would protect everyone’s interests.

“We want a full contract to purchase, with an understanding the occupancy would take place prior to the actual purchase date under some kind of special arrangement in consideration for some type of mandatory down payment,” Mr. Marconi said.

“I’m in the process of negotiating. But progress is being made,” he said.

The first selectman said he has also been approached by a potential buyer for a five-acre parcel across Old Quarry Road from the rest of Schlumberger, between the Ridgefield Fitness Center and the town sand and salt barn overlooking the highway garage.

“We have an offer on the five acres. And negotiations continue for that particular parcel,” Mr. Marconi said.

The town has been approached about one other area, part of the larger 40-acre area between Sunset Lane and Old Quarry Road, which also includes the 10-acre being rezoned, the area the art collector is interested in, and some open space.

“I haven’t discussed it with the Board of Selectmen, but I have an inquiry: Would it possible to do this? We’re interested,” Mr. Marconi said.

There remains the issue of whether some land should be kept for later “town use” — a police station, a fire station?

“The question that begs is, Do we want to sell everything we have, other than some open space and wetland area, without considering the future demands of the town, whatever those many be 25, 30 years from now?” Mr. Marconi said.

The price land brings in from developers depends on how much can be built there. That’s why the town wants multifamily on Sunset Lane.

The first selectman said he’s looked at possible scenarios with Assessor Al Garzi, with an eye toward reaching the $7 million spent acquiring the 45-acre property.

“I always sit with a calculator and begin estimating: The 10-acre parcel, let’s say we’re in the 32-to-35-units range, and you can get $125,000 a unit — Al feels that should not be any problem, I was at $100,000 but he feels $125,000 is certainly feasible. That’s $4 million,” Mr. Marconi said.

“If we can generate $2.5 to $3 million for the 13 acres, another $750,000 to $1 million for the five acres, I think we’ve covered ourselves. …

“But again, this is speculation at this point,” he said. “We won’t really know until the ink dries on the contracts — none of which exist at this point.”

Ridgefield Remembers commemorates the lives of lost loved ones and includes a balloon ceremony — the above is from a past Ridgefield Remembers.  The fourth annual event will take place Sunday at the Boys & Girls Club.  —Steve Coulter photo

Losing somebody close is never easy.

However, remembering that person keeps his or her spirit alive.

And that is the goal of Ridgefield Remembers, a communitywide event organized by Ridgefield High School graduates, the Boys & Girls Club, and RHS’s Teen Talk counselor.

“This is a day where we try to make people feel a little bit better about their loss — losing somebody close is something everyone can relate to,” said Victoria Bonitatebus. “It’s become a very meaningful day for the families and the friends who come and participate.”

The fourth annual Ridgefield Remembers will be held on Sunday, June 2, at the Boys & Girls Club from noon to 4.

Last year, about 100 people attended the event, which this year will feature an inflatable obstacle course, a dunk tank, face-painting, and plenty of fun games for kids.

The event was started by a group of RHS seniors who lost their friend Thiago Andrade in a car accident in 2009.

Thiago’s stepfather — Marcio Figueiredo — came to the students with his vision for an annual memorial for Ridgefield teens who had died.

What began as an idea for teenagers has grown into an event that celebrates the lives of all who have passed away.

“We’ve definitely grown since our first year,” said Ms. Bonitatebus, whose son Joe was good friends with Thiago. “We saw more high school students last year, and not having the event on prom weekend should help our turnout even more this year.”

Ridgefield Remembers has had people of all ages attend.

Committee members encourage those who plan on attending to register online beforehand and to bring a framed photograph with a remembrance note or poem.

The committee has changed the event schedule this year, starting with a one-hour reflection period at noon followed by another hourlong period that includes sharing memories.

“Last year we started the idea of sharing memories, and it’s a tradition we want to continue,” said Ms. Bonitatebus. “It was the most powerful part of last year’s event, and it was really special for all of us who were there.”

The culminating ceremony involves releasing biodegradable balloons into the sky to honor those who have died.

In previous years, the balloon release was held at the end of the ceremony. This year it will be at 2 p.m. and the festivities will continue after it.

“It’s better to have it in the middle of the event,” said Kaitlyn Mohr, who was a good friend of Thiago. “It will be nice to celebrate and to support one another after the balloon release, which hasn’t been the case in the past.”

In addition to changing the event schedule, the committee will have 50 drawstring bags on sale with the Ridgefield Remembers logo.

Other gifts the committee will be offering are bracelets, bag-tags, gift cards, and a Boys & Girls Club pool pass.

The committee is trying to collect more prizes and urges people to donate gifts to give away at the event.

Except for the balloon release and the dunk tank, the event will take place inside this year.

“It has rained two out of the three years we’ve hosted this event, so we thought we’d bring it inside and keep everyone close together,” said Mike Flynn, the director of the Boys & Girls Club.

DJ Eddie Leahy of Southington will be performing at the event.

For more information or to commemorate a friend or family member, call Marcio Figueiredo at 203-948-3756 or James McGinn at 203-438-3785, ext. 1388. Emails may be sent to ridgefieldremembers@gmail.com.

To register, go to the Boys & Girls Club website and click on “Ridgefield Remembers.”

There is a $3 registration fee per person attending. All fees and collections go to underwriting the cost of the memorial and future events.

John V. Valluzzo of Ridgefield, a retired executive and veteran of the Korean Conflict, died Friday, May 24, at Danbury Hospital.  He was 75 years old.

Born in Danbury, he was a son of the late George and Matilda Radlow Valluzzo.

He attended St. Joseph School in Danbury and was a 1955 graduate of Fairfield College-Preparatory School. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut in 1962.

A veteran of the Korean Conflict, he served in the U.S. Army and was the recipient of the Good Conduct Medal and was recognized as the 1st Calvary Division “Soldier of the Month” three times.

A Danbury area resident for his entire life, Mr. Valluzzo had lived in Ridgefield since 2009.

He was the former president and owner of Danbury Centerless Grinding Company, a manufacturer of precision metal components and assemblies founded by his father in 1943. He retired in 2002.

Mr. Valluzzo was the president and chairman of the board of the Military Museum of Southern New England, in Danbury, which he founded in 1985.

“The Military Museum was John’s passion, stemming from his in-depth knowledge and love of World War II history,” his family said. “John wanted to ensure that all World War II veterans were recognized in a way befitting their heroism and sacrifice.”

A member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Catholic War Veterans, Mr. Valluzzo was also active for many years with the Danbury Industrial Softball League, serving as president, vice president, and member of its advisory board.

He was a former member of the Palm Beach Yacht Club, the Redding Men’s Club, the Redding Country Club, and the Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury. He was a former member of St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown, where he served as a eucharistic minister.

Survivors include a son, David L. Valluzzo of Easton; two daughters, Carla Ann Valluzzo of Linden, Va., and Joan V. Mazzella of New Milford; a grandson, Donny James Mazzella of New Milford; a brother, Lionel Valluzzo of East Hampton; a sister, Linda Kompare and her husband, Wayne, of Sarasota, Fla.; and several nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church, Newtown. Burial will be at the convenience of the family.

Friends will be received on Sunday from 2  to 5 p.m. at the Green Funeral Home, 57 Main St., Danbury.

Contributions in his memory may be made for Donny James Mazzella, c/o Savings Bank of Danbury, 220 Main St., Danbury, CT or the Military Museum of Southern New England, 125 Park Ave., Danbury, CT.

For further information or to express  condolences, visit www.thegreenfuneralhome.com

One of the greatest challenges Ridgefield has ever faced is overcoming complacency toward prescription drugs and their potential harm.

Many offer opinions on what to do, including increasing communication between parents and children, eliminating the free sources of prescription drugs, and participating in the drug takeback.

But that’s not enough.

What the town needs is citizens who have the courage to speak.

If we see behavior that suggests someone may be misusing drugs, we shouldn’t ignore it. As uncomfortable as it may be, we need to say something to get that person help. It may mean that we have to tell friends that their child may be using drugs, or even tell a wife that her husband is abusing drugs.

The courage to speak will help save lives — both young and old.

Before prescription drugs claim another life, more action must take place at a neighborhood level.

The way to resolve this problem is to understand that drug addiction may affect everyone, even the people who aren’t using. Those who ignore the problem are the ones exacerbating it.

Prescription drug use continues to be an ongoing battle with no promise of respite. Those who practice acceptance of substance abuse — or choose to ignore it — seek to buy peace with their tolerance. But they, or their loved ones, may pay a terrible price.

St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church celebrated Pentecost by confirming six of its young adults recently. Those pictured are, back row from left: Donna Case, teacher; Drew Arfine; Simon Lindberg; John Thrasher; the Rev. Gaylon Barker, pastor; the Rev. Carla Meier, pastor. Front row from left: Kristen Mannel, Lauren Simonides, Abigail Brown. 

Dr. Margaret Thompson and Lynette Mathias at the Rides for Ridgefield office in town hall. —Macklin Reid photo

Ridgefield’s wooded waysides and landscaped lots can function as a lovely leafy prison for people who don’t drive. Rides for Ridgefield is trying to free them.

“I don’t think there’s enough rides for elderly people in Ridgefield,” said volunteer Lynette Mathias. “They can’t drive themselves to the store, to the doctor, or the hairdresser.”

Ms. Mathias was on a two-hour shift, answering the phone in the Rides for Ridgefield Rides office in town hall.

“We’re getting a couple of calls almost every day,” said Dr. Margaret Thompson, a medical sociologist who helped organize the service.

The opening this month of what is officially being called the Rides for Ridgefield Mobility Management Center is part of an effort to support the quality of life for senior citizens and “mobility challenged” people in Ridgefield — whether they’ve got a permanent disability or are recovering from some accident.

Monday through Friday, between 10 and 2, people may call the Rides for Ridgefield number — 203-894-7433 or 203-894-RIDE — or e-mail RidesForRidgefield@RidgefieldCT.org for help with transportation problems.

They can expect three things:

• Information on transportation available to Ridgefield seniors and people with mobility disabilities;
• Counseling on transportation needs and the available options;
• If needed, assistance making reservations for rides.

“At this point we’re an information center,” Dr. Thompson said. “We’re providing information about the transportation that’s available currently to seniors and folks with mobility disabilities — who can’t drive.”

When people call, the volunteer will ask them for their name, contact information, and any limitations they may have getting in and out of a vehicle, or equipment they may bring such as a wheelchair or crutches.

Callers should also be prepared to tell the volunteer: the destination they need to go to; the purpose of the appointment; pick-up or appointment time; estimated length of the visit; desired return time.

The hope is that later this year Rides for Ridgefield will have a corps of volunteer drivers who can be called upon to fill in and take care of needs that aren’t served by the hodge-podge of providers currently available.

“We know there are gaps in what we currently provide. There’s not a lot, but there are gaps,” Dr. Thompson said.

“So in the future, by the end of the year if we can manage it, we’ll set up our volunteer driver program.”

Rides for Ridgefield is a non-profit organization, created to ensure that Ridgefield seniors and people in town with “mobility disabilities” can find “transportation that is affordable, acceptable to the rider, adaptable to rider needs, and allows access to all the activities and services that are needed to maintain quality of life.”

Even before Rides for Ridgefield get its volunteer drivers operation going, there’s a considerable array of groups currently offering rides that can be recommended to callers.

Volunteers taking phone calls at Rides for Ridgefield are provided with sheets that have a grid listing 11 different providers that offer rides — nine of them for free — along with the days and hours each group’s rides are available, if there’s a fee charged, and various limitations on their service.

The American Cancer Society offers rides for free, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for cancer patients going to cancer treatment.

The Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association offers rides without charge, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but only to RVNA clients and for medical purposes.

Of the 11 services listed on the grid, five provide rides only for medical appointments of one sort or another.

Rides to worship services for “congregation members” are available through the “interfaith community,” according to the grid.

A couple of private for-profit services are listed without any limitations — not even hours. But they charge for services.

More services are available than people may know about, Dr. Thompson said, and that’s the value of Rides for Ridgefield’s call-in office.

“There’s FISH. There’s the American Cancer Society, they have a ‘Road To Recovery’  program. The RVNA’s ‘Friendly Driver,’ ” Dr. Thompson said. “Ridgefield Social Services has a ‘Friendly Shopper program. Almost all of our religious institutions have some kind of a driver volunteer program. And some of the community groups, as well.”

With Rides for Ridgefield, people can dial one number, learn all that’s available, and figure which service best suits their needs.

Most of the groups offering rides require advanced reservations — they don’t have people sitting around waiting for calls like a taxi company.

If an elderly or disabled caller is having some difficulty calling to make reservations, the Rides for Ridgefield phone volunteer will try to help out.

“The providers are still scheduling their own drivers and rides and all of that, but we would help people who need to make a reservation,” Dr. Thompson said.

“Say there were three or four choices of providers and someone was not able to make all those calls, we would help them with that,” she said.

“If people are having difficulty making their own reservations, we would help them.”

As an idea, Rides for Ridgefield dates back to late 2011 when Eloise Barron, director of community health and wellness at the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, brought volunteers together to discuss opportunities to serve.

Among the needs they identified was transportation, particularly for seniors and people, of all ages, who have disabilities or are “mobility challenged” for some reason.

Dr. Thompson, with her medical sociologist’s background, and Founders Hall Director Grace Weber, began working with Ms. Barron and organized task force and a working group of citizens interested in the issue.

The opening of the Rides for Ridgefield office earlier this month is the result of their work.

Birgitta Stone of Local Social Media met recently with one of her clients, Mario Galeano of Milillo Farms. —Macklin Reid photo

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn. How does someone trying to run a small business — keep the doors open and the floor staffed, meet payroll, do the ordering, the inventory, the bookkeeping, pay taxes — find time to tweet and twiddle and Google and ’gram?

Even if business owners can do social media, how do they manage the regularity needed to keep their business in people’s minds?

Where do they find the time?

They don’t. Or they don’t have to. That’s where Local Social Media, Brigitta Stone’s new Ridgefield-based business, comes in.

“We work with local businesses to update and administer their social media sites,” Ms. Stone said. “We write content. We work with them to put up content they’ve provided.”

With the burgeoning social media world, businesses need to keep up. But it’s a nagging task overworked businesspeople may be happy to offload.

“The big thing for my business is people don’t have the time to do it. Even if they like doing it, they don’t have the time to do it,” she said.

In assisting her clients, Ms. Stone draws on years of experience in sales and media, such as radio advertising.

“This is the first product I’ve sold where they don’t roll their eyes when I come into the store. They just think it’s a really good idea, because they know they don’t have time,” she said.

“It’s kind of interesting,” she said. “I find one of three things:

• “They do it, they like it, and they’re good at it — that’s really rare.

• “Or they do it, but they’re inconsistent at best — and that’s a good spot for me.

• “And also they know what it is, they’ve heard of it, but they have no idea how to do it — and that’s another good spot for me.”

It began last fall. She was updating social media sites — for another business she has, and for the Ridgefield League of Women Voters chapter, of which she’s president.

“I realized local businesses don’t have time to update and constantly maintain their social media sites,” she said. “I said, ‘I’m too busy to do all of this. Everybody else must be too busy to do all of this.’”

It just seemed to fill a need.

“I had the whole business plan written down within 10 minutes,” she said.

Her initial instinct — that there’s a niche to be filled — appears to have been sound.

“It just has taken off so well,” she said. “I have three salespeople now, I have a part-time administrative assistant, and an intern from the high school.

“And I’m hiring, if anyone’s looking. I’m looking for more salespeople. There’s so much business out there.”

Local Social Media has something over 30 clients.

“And we’re expanding our line of services,” she said.

“The second question I get after ‘I’m so glad you can do my social media’ is ‘Do you do websites?’ So then we expanded our line to include websites, website updates.”

People may create a website — or hire someone to do it — and then think, ‘Well, that’s done …’ It’s not done.

“Some people have their winter menu of 2011 still on their website,” she said.

Local Social Media also offers consulting, and integrates its social media services into the context of more traditional marketing.

“We do email marketing, we do press releases, we do consulting now,” Ms. Stone said. “We also do promotions. We do blogs, too.”

The consulting may be attractive to clients who don’t want to simply offload the whole social media effort.

“If someone likes doing it, but they’re not doing it effectively, we can consult, we can instruct them on how to do it,” Ms. Stone said.

“I’ve been doing this for a while, so I know when is a good time to post for certain shops, for restaurants. Don’t post your dinner menu at 9:30 a.m. — no one’s going to remember it.

“I wouldn’t post something at 4 a.m. in the morning, because it goes away. It goes to the bottom and then you can’t see it.”

She offers clients what she views as a bargain:

“The Facebook, Google+ and Twitter updates are $25 a week. You get three to five posts per week in each social media site,” she said.

“I don’t recommend more than that, because it’s too much. It becomes spammy and people ‘unlike’ you.”

She sees social media as part of larger media world.

“I recommend to all of them that if they’re doing other advertising they continue doing other advertising. I’m a big advertising fan,” she said.

She advocates “cross-promotion” between businesses.

“Cross-promotion, I think, is the key to saving local businesses. That’s why I kept my prices so low, at $25 a week, because then they can cross-promote each other,” she said.

Her client base is largely local, but it’s expanding — in numbers and in type.

“I work with Realtors, I work with restaurants, I work with delis,” she said.

“One of my salespeople is a professional writer, and she’s fluent in Spanish, which is something I’m looking for to expand the market and help Spanish-speaking clients as well, reach different audiences — or English-speaking clients reach Spanish-speaking audiences,” she said. “I have a couple of clients that heard that we do Spanish and English and hired us on the spot. One is a Caribbean restaurant in Danbury — half of her clientele is Spanish, so we run specials in both.

“And I also have two national accounts.”

“They get excited about it. Social media is fun, it’s quick. They can get their message out. We can post a special menu for tonight.

“It’s really fun,” she said. “It’s a fun thing to do what we’re doing right now.”

Ms. Stone’s business may be telephoned at 230-788-8252 or emailed at info@localsocialmedia.biz.

The website is www.localsocialmedia.biz.

Liberal Democrats and their allied special-interest groups freaked out the other day when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker addressed the Connecticut Republican Party’s annual awards dinner.

The rap against Walker, as articulated in newspaper advertisements placed by the state teachers union, the Connecticut Education Association, was that he “divides rather than unites.”

Of course Walker is known for having enacted legislation reducing the privileges of Wisconsin’s government employee unions and for surviving a union-inspired recall election, which explains the CEA’s antipathy. But the CEA’s ad never mentioned that, instead denouncing Walker for opposing more restrictive gun laws.

And of course “dividing” is what advocates of change do. It is the prerequisite for progress. Among the country’s great dividers were George Washington, Susan B. Anthony, and Martin Luther King Jr. They also were accused of divisive tactics by people who did not want to have to defend a questionable order.

It’s no wonder that the CEA would prefer to argue gun control than the privileges it has achieved for its members, like the exemption of teacher performance evaluations from disclosure under freedom-of-information law.

“This is a state where bipartisanship brought us gun safety legislation this year and school reform last year,” the CEA’s anti-Walker ad said.

In fact bipartisanship — the agreement of the state’s political class to overlook crucial issues — has brought Connecticut to financial ruin, its economy declining faster than that of most states, in large part because the compensation of state and municipal employees has been moved, quite bipartisanly, outside the democratic process and into a system of binding arbitration, in which the public’s interest is subordinated to that of its supposed employees and every budget cannibalizes public services so that employee pay may be increased.

Walker, the CEA ad said, “has had dinner with a long list of right-wing extremists.” That charge is not an argument; indeed, back when such a charge was often leveled against liberals, it was called guilt by association.

But while Walker’s choice of dinner companions is supposedly a crime, it is OK for Connecticut Democratic Party leaders not just to attend a dinner honoring a leader of the state’s Communist Party but also to propose spending state government money to renovate Communist Party headquarters.

Apparently there is no extremism is advocating, as communists do, the liquidation of the private economy. After all, under Democratic administration Connecticut is halfway there already, between businesses moving out and the biggest companies lining up for corporate welfare.

Now that Connecticut Republicans have dared to dine with Governor Walker, maybe they will dare to raise the issue with which he has begun reviving (“dividing”) Wisconsin — restoring the public’s sovereignty over government.

Holding no statewide or congressional offices and comprising an irrelevant minority in the General Assembly, Connecticut Republicans have little to lose by trying something besides “bipartisanship,” which in Connecticut is only a euphemism for not making trouble.

Given the caliber of Republican state legislators, maybe serious issues can be raised only by the party’s nominee for governor next year. But even without taking sharp positions, just posing the right questions might be sensational.

For example, other than accommodating a government workforce that can’t be fired even for thievery, exactly how does Connecticut benefit from collective bargaining and binding arbitration for public employee unions?

Why have poverty and urban living conditions worsened despite decades of increasing appropriations in the name of ameliorating them?

Why have decades of “education reform” failed to improve schools?

Why is Connecticut’s economy doing so badly?

Only “dividing” Connecticut in an election can identify the causes and perpetrators of this failure.

Chris Powell is managing editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.

Wooster School honors five

Five students from Ridgefield who attend Wooster School in Danbury have been recognized for their performance in national foreign language exams.

Kathryn Madaloni ’16, received a bronze medal in Spanish. Charles Snow ’19, received outstanding achievement in Latin. Sabrina Blanton-Rich ’17, received summa cum laude in Latin, Oliver Brown ’17, received magna cum laude in Latin, and Justin Hahn ’17, received maxima cum laude in Latin.

Students who participated in these exams were recognized during a recent assembly.

Superior jazz commended

Corinne Kingdollar of Ridgefield High School and her jazz ensemble from the Regional Center for the Arts in Trumbull competed in the Music in the Parks competition in Holyoke, Mass., on May 11. The competition involved 15 ensembles, of which seven were jazz.

Regional Center for the Arts jazz ensembles took first, second and third place in the jazz ensemble competition and the first place ensemble also won the “over all superior” title over all 15 competitors. Ms. Kingdollar was one of two lead singers in the winning ensemble.

Phi Beta Kappa for Keating

Shannon Keating, a member of the class of 2013 at Connecticut College in New London, was inducted into the college chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, May 18. Ms. Keating is a 2010 graduate of Ridgefield High School and is the daughter of William Keating of Ridgefield.

Phi Beta Kappa is the national honor society of undergraduate higher education. Admission to the society is based on exemplary academic scholarship over four years of college; members are in the top 10% of their graduating classes.

Ms. Keating was also awarded the Film Studies Theory/Criticism Prize, given to a senior film studies major for outstanding achievement in writing film studies theory, history or criticism.

Two win Barberi awards

Seniors Erin Ceconi and Cleo Papadopoulos will received grants from the Nick Barberi Scholarship fund,  established by Mr. Barberi’s wife, Berenice Barberi, upon the death of her husband earlier this year.

Nick Barberi taught art at East Ridge Middle School for many years and was a source of inspiration.

Next year, Ms. Ceconi will study art at Pratt University, Mr. Barberi’s alma mater, and Ms. Papadopoulos will be studying television production at NYU’s Tisch School of Arts.

Nelson inducted into Phi Beta Kappa

Ridgefielder Erik Nelson was one of 75 Wake Forest University students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in an April 2 ceremony. Phi Beta Kappa celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.

Gutman in Beta Gamma Sigma

Emily Gutman of Ridgefield was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma National Honor Society during ceremonies conducted by the School of Business Administration at the University of Vermont in Burlington earlier this spring.

Beadon is inducted into Phi Kappa Phi

Christopher Beadon of Ridgefield was recently initiated into Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Mr. Beadon is pursuing a degree in marketing at Plymouth State University.

Beadon is inducted into Phi Kappa Phi

Christopher Beadon of Ridgefield was recently initiated into Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Mr. Beadon is pursuing a degree in marketing at Plymouth State University.

Collegiate scholar

Clara T. Howley of Ridgefield has accepted membership in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She is a 2012 graduate of Ridgefield High School and a member of the Class of 2016 at Lehigh University. She is the daughter of Melanie and Jim Howley.

The society is the nation’s only interdisciplinary honors organization for first-year and second-year college students. Membership is by invitation only.

Providence honor societies

Two Ridgefielders were recently inducted into the Providence (R.I.) College chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the national honor society for economics: Tomothy Bruns, Class of 2013, who is pursuing a degree in business, and Michael Wasenius, Class of 2014, quantitative economics.

Cai is U.S. Scholar semifinalist

Stanley Cai, a graduating senior at Ridgefield High School, has been named one of approximately 550 semifinalists in the 2013 U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.

The announcement came from the U.S. Department of Education’s Presidential Scholars Office last week. Only 10 students are selected from each state as semifinalists, five males and five females from Connecticut.

 Commendation for Bishop

Dezmond Bishop, a freshman at Connecticut College in New London, was awarded the Freshman Julia Wells Bower Prize, for distinction in mathematics offered by an anonymous donor in honor of Julia Wells Bower, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics. Bishop, a 2012 graduate of Ridgefield High School, is the son of Gretchen and Thomas Bishop of Ridgefield.

Dean’s lists

Keene (N.H.) State College reports three Ridgefielders are on the dean’s list for the spring semester 2013: Jack Ryan Anderson, Emily C. Kenney and Laura Theresa Richards.

Bryan Mazzola, the son of Steven and Lori Mazzola of Ridgefield, has been named to the dean’s list at Randolph-Macon Academy’s Front Royal, Va., for the third quarter of the 2012-13 school year.

John Ethan Wilson of Ridgefiled, has been named to the dean’s list at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, in Charleston, for the spring semester. Mr. Wilson is working toward a degree in physics.

Chloe Slawson has been named to the spring dean’s list at Champlain College, Burlington, Vt. She is the daughter of Maureen and Ned Slawson and is majoring in psychology.

Two Ridgefielders at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., have earned dean’s list status for the winter term: Colleen Moore, and Joseph Scalzo. Both are members of the Class of 2013.

A Catoonah Street house currently on the market: Grounds should look neat and tidy, work that should be done before the house is put on the market and photographed for the Web. —Steve Coulter photo

Home sellers won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. And that makes staging and pricing important when selling a home in a market where the buyers have an edge.

“It’s not a seller’s market,” said Lonnie Shapiro of Coldwell Banker. “The buyers have more of an edge but it’s not as great as it used to be — their edge is slipping…

“Younger buyers are very difficult and very demanding in this market, so it’s important to have your house in absolute great shape before you put in on the market.”

Ms. Shapiro, who has written two books about home selling in Fairfield County, added that the first viewing of a home is on the Internet, making it essential for sellers to have their homes stick out online.

“The difference between a home that sells and a home that doesn’t sell in today’s market is how it shows online,” she said. “The old saying, ‘you don’t get a second chance at a first impression,’ holds true to showing your house online — it needs to be shown off in the very best light because buyers can look at photos online as long as they want and pick out flaws in and around the house.”

Ms. Shapiro recommends home sellers hire a professional photographer.

While Ms. Shapiro believes sellers should invest in staging in order to get top dollar for their house, other local Realtors say there are other methods home owners can apply without spending a fortune to improve their home before it goes on the market.

Laura Freed-Ancona of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty stresses her clients neutralize their homes so that prospective buyers see a home that is “not personalized” and is “decluttered.”

She adds that doing a lot of the work individually, without professional help, can help save a homeowner money.

“It might not appeal to a broad audience, but people can do their own work before their home goes on the market,” Ms. Freed-Ancona said. “The first impression is obviously most important, but there’s way too much money invested in landscaping and other areas of home improvement — landscaping can be personal. There’s no need to do major exterior renovations unless its completely necessary.

“Presenting the exterior of your house in the strongest and best light involves stuff any home owner can do — mulching, putting in flower pots, trimming the bushes and cutting the lawn.”

Jeanne Rowella, who owns the Gilded Nest in Branchville and teaches a class on staging, also believes neutralizing is a key factor when staging a house for a prospective buyers.

“Before the seller puts the house on the market, they have to neutralize everything — neutral floor, neutral paint color, neutral furniture,” Ms. Rowella said. “The buyers want to do the least amount of work possible and if they see something that they don’t like, they will move on to the next house.”

She believes spending money on staging is worth it for home sellers.

“The buyer’s eye is drawn to a house where everything is updated and fresh, because they don’t want to spend their own money to do the work,” she said.

As for furniture, Ms. Rowella says that homeowners don’t have to go out and buy new furniture to impress prospective buyers. A less expensive solution is to buy slip covers to freshen up what they have and maybe invest in decorations surrounding the furniture, such as pillows.

“You need to give your furniture an update and make it presentable because faded couches can undo everything you’ve done in other areas of the house,” she added.

Ms. Rowella said painting both the interior and exterior of the house is the “best bang for your buck.” She recommends light, neutral colors such as beige or light blue. She tells her clients to avoid yellows, reds and oranges, as well as any dark colors.

Ms. Freed-Ancona agrees that modest changes such as light fixtures,  and paint produce a large return on investment when a home sells.

Ms. Rowella said that 90 to 93% of prospective buyers look up houses online before physically walking on the property, which makes pictures very important. Realtors  can’t “turn around buyers once they’ve been turned off” by pictures they’ve seen online.

Ms. Shapiro recommends paying the cost for a professional photographer, but only once the house is ready to be put on the market.

“It’s almost impossible to reel back a prospective buyer and often times changing out photos is an extra cost that doesn’t yield anything in return,” she said. “Before you have photos taken of your house, get the staging and presentation work done first.”

Preparing a home for presentation is a “six-month process,” Ms. Shapiro said. The first step is to bring out an independent, professional stager to give the house an objective look, she said.

“A pre-home inspection before you do anything can go a really long way, because a professional stager will be critical of what you have and what you don’t have,” Ms. Shapiro said. “This way you know what your house’s flaws are and then it’s your choice on how to improve them or what to do with them.”

Ms. Shapiro, Ms. Freed-Ancona and Ms. Rowella all agree comparables — “what do houses that have sold have?” — are something every home seller should take into consideration before putting their house on the market.

Some of these features include: hardwood floors, updated faucets, granite countertops, roofing, and kitchen cabinets.

“Cabinetry is what separates the men from the boys,” Ms. Shapiro said. “You can’t really go wrong with a bedroom, but a lot of buyers are sold or not sold in the kitchen.”

One popular feature Ms. Shapiro has noticed in homes that have sold are kitchens than open into the family room without any wall or divider.

“Everyone wants their house to be open and bright, and this room can illuminate a lot of space,” she added.

When she shows houses, Ms. Shapiro said, the four most important rooms to prospective buyers are the family room, the master bedroom, the kitchen and the bathrooms.

She added that she usually stages the bedrooms with bedspreads and pillows, but sometimes uses an air mattresses in a vacant rooms so buyers can see how the room looks spatially.

While she acknowledges presentation is key to selling a home, Ms. Freed-Ancona believes that not every house needs additional accessories to sell.

“Staging is important to the process, but sometimes bringing in accessories and additional furniture isn’t what the prospective buyers want to see,” she said. “It depends on the condition of the house — I bring in additional help when it’s necessary, but that varies from property to property.”

Ms. Rowella agrees.

“You’re not selling stuff in a room, you’re selling real estate,” she said.

But what about pricing?

When the house is finally ready to go onto the market, Ms. Freed-Ancona says sellers must understand the market and where their competition is in it.

“There’s no one pricing strategy, but in order to price competitively the seller must be able to present well and know what they have to offer and how that differs from other houses in the same price range,” she said.

Ms. Shapiro is adamant that the seller still has control over pricing and presentation, even though it’s a buyers market. She added that sellers can’t control the location of their home and the state of the economy, but they do control the marketing process.

“Showing a house that isn’t ready to be shown is a crucial mistake,” she said. “But the most important part of selling a home is pricing. If the listed price is over the top, then that could really make all the preparation work be for nothing.”

Ms. Rowella adds that the first 30 days on the market is the most important for a new house and that, similar to Ms. Shapiro’s point, over-listing can ruin the whole preparation process.

“You have to have a product that gets both the buyer and the Realtor excited — you have to be able to sell to the Realtor first, because if you can’t entice them — then you won’t sell to the prospective buyers,” she said. “Price can kill an initial listing if you’re overreaching and not listening to professional advice. I’ve always taught listening to Realtors and listing property close to the number they recommend.

“Price is so key in the process — you always have to be thinking about the competition and what you’re home offers comparatively — the money you spend to prepare your house will go to waste if you mess up the pricing.”

Matthew and Eliza Baker

Eliza Behymer, daughter of Meg Rooney and Andy Behymer of Ridgefield, was married to Matthew Baker, son of Dolly and Jeff Baker of Mt. Laurel, N.J. on Sept. 29, 2012.

The Rev. David Stoner performed the double-ring ceremony at Candlelight Farms Inn in New Milford.

Given in marriage by her father, the bride wore an ivory silk gown and carried a bouquet of roses and dahlias.

Ashley Sjolund of New Haven was the maid of honor. Bridesmaids were Courtney Doak of New York, N.Y., Lily Nelson of Washington, D.C., and Elisabeth Roche of Boston, Mass. They wore burnt orange lace dresses and carried colorful bouquets of roses and dahlias.

The best man was Brian Koller of Wayne, Pa. Ushers were Greg Baker of Boston, brother of the groom, and Sam Behymer of Stamford, brother of the bride.

The bride is a 2005 graduate of Ridgefield High School and a 2009 graduate of Villanova University with a degree in human services. In 2012, she received her master of science in school counseling from Villanova University. She is an eighth grade counselor in the Wallingford school district.

The bridegroom is a 2005 graduate of Lenape High School in Medford, N.J. and a 2009 graduate of Villanova University School of Business with a degree in finance. He is an associate with Casey, Quirk and Associates in Darien.

The reception immediately followed the ceremony at Candlelight Farms Inn.

The couple lives in Milford.

7:28 — Fire marshal has been called to investigate.

7:27 — Firefighters are now looking for any remaining pockets of fire in the walls of the kitchen and venting smoke from the house.

7:25 — Firefighters on the scene report the fire has been “knocked down.”

Monday, 7:20 p.m. — The Ridgefield Fire Department is on the scene of a working general alarm house fire at 16 Beechwood Lane.

The fire apparently started in the kitchen of the house at the Twin Ridge neighborhood in the southeast part of town.

Fire units on the scene report a “working fire.”

All occupants are out of the house.

Ridgefielders Anna Kuhn (foreground) and Lila Cumming work with the cake decorating tools and supplies campers will use this summer at Camp Cake Box.

Cake Box camp for young bakers

This summer, budding bakers can don aprons and roll up their sleeves at The Cake Box at 1 Big Shop Lane, Ridgefield’s cake and cupcake bakery, in order to learn the art of cake decoration.

With instruction and guidance from the bakery manager, Anna Burns, Camp Cake Box campers will create their own two-tiered cake, which they will take home at the end of the camp. Jordan Gregory, co-owner of The Cake Box and executive pastry chef, will also spend time with the campers, sharing her knowledge and expertise.

Campers will learn about making buttercream, working with fondant, applying frosting, making decorations by hand, and putting it all together into a delicious masterpiece. In addition, campers will receive a free Camp Cake Box T-shirt and free beverages.

Camp Cake Box will have two sessions, each Tuesday through Friday, 9 to 11:30 a.m.: July 16 to 19, and July 23 to 26. Register at The Cake Box or by phone at 203-403-2558. Campers must be 8 years of age or older. The fee is $250 per camper per session. There is a 10% discount for enrolling multiple siblings.

For more information, thecakeboxofct.com.

Collapse-A-Pail is redesigned

Last year mompreneur/inventor Allison Brush-Stern began selling her collapsible beach pails, Collapse-A-Pail.

Since that time she was invited on the Anderson Cooper daytime talk show in New York City, where she won the contest for best invention and innovation and was awarded a $10,000 check by AJ Khubani, chief executive officer and founder of Telebrands. He is also known as the “as seen on TV infomercial guru.”

The money went toward continuing to develop Collapse-A-Pail, a product of Collapse-It-All LLC.

Ms. Brush-Stern has since redesigned the pails and expanded the line in bright colors. She has sold her first batch of pails to the owner of the Toy Chest, and they will be sold here in Ridgefield and in the Wilton and New Canaan stores this summer. The pails will also be sold on her website, www.collapse-a-pail.com.

Colors are watermelon pink, kiwi green, apricot orange, big apple red, and nautical navy.

She is planning more shapes and sizes for the kids and will also exhibit in the launch area at the International Toy Fair in New York City and possibly the Surf Expo in Orlando, Fla.

A percentage of her proceeds goes to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Bike ride covers Ridgefield history

The Ridgefield Bicycle Co. will pay tribute to the Keeler Tavern Museum, which is celebrating its tricentennial, with a community ride for cyclists of all ages and skill levels. The ride will benefit the museum and the Ridgefield Historical Society.

Three levels of rides Saturday June 15 start at 9 a.m. and will all originate and end at 22 Catoonah Street, former quarters of the Ridgefield Bicycle Co.

The rides include:

• Family Fun: This will be 1.5 miles on flat ground along Main Street. Most historical sites will be included in this ride.
• Midlength Meander: This 8.5-mile loop will include some hills and a visit to the longest-standing farm in Ridgefield history, originally operated by the Lounsbury family.
• All In, All Sites: This 39-mile ride will challenge even serious cyclists, with several notable climbs, and includes ride-bys of more than a dozen homes of Ridgefield residents famous in business, broadcasting, publishing, entertainment, and more.

The cost will be $15 per person and $25 per family. All but $5 goes to the museum and society.

Routes have been created and will be led by Tom Steinert-Threlkeld of Weston.

Paul Davis Restoration helps project

Ed Nardella, owner of Paul Davis Restoration at 679 Danbury Road (Route 7), will donate $1,000 along with the company’s expertise and construction work to the New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association Foundation in commemoration of the Sandy Ground Project: Where Angels Play playground projects.

The donation will apply to the newest projects at Long Lots Elementary School, 13 Hyde Lane in Westport, and another slated to be built at the Penfield Pavilion Complex, 323 Fairfield Beach Road in Fairfield.

Twenty-six 100% handicapped-accessible playgrounds will be built in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut coastal areas that were hit by Hurricane Sandy.

In addition to Mr. Nardella’s office’s participation, Paul Davis franchise owners in the region have donated their expertise and construction work to the projects.

Lynn Nussbaum joins center

Lynn Nussbaum, a pediatric nurse-practitioner, has joined the Center for Advanced Pediatrics, 901 Ethan Allen Highway.

Ms. Nussbaum has more than 20 years of experience working with children of all ages and varied socioeconomic backgrounds and clinical settings.

After working for many years as a registered nurse in the NICU at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, she obtained a master’s degree from Boston College and became a clinical nurse specialist and pediatric nurse-practitioner.

She led the NICU transport team at North Shore University Hospital, worked as a nurse manager at a sleepaway camp, acted as triage nurse at a pediatric office, and taught classes on infant care to expectant parents. Most recently, she has been working at Bridgeport Hospital, providing primary care to high-risk adolescents from low-income urban areas.

The Center for Advanced Pediatrics will have a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, June 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. All are welcome and may enjoy a custom cake by Carlo’s Bakery.

Coldwell gets a top ranking

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage reports that its parent company, NRT LLC, was again ranked the No. 1 residential real estate brokerage firm for the 16th consecutive year by the REALTrends 500.

Coldwell Banker, combined with residential brokerage firms in Fairfield County owned by NRT, ranked first in sales volume in Fairfield County and among the top real estate firms in the region for closed transactions on the REAL Trends 500 list, with more than $2.5 billion in closed sales volume and 2,901 closed transactions sides.

“In the real estate industry, the REAL Trends 500 ranking of companies is among the most prestigious, and we are proud of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s placement on this list,” said Cathleen Smith, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y.

For more information, visit ColdwellBankerMoves.com.

Astaire Studios plans show

The students and staff of Fred Astaire Dance Studios Fairfield County will be at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Sunday, June 9, at 3 p.m. when the pros and their students put on a dance show.

“It will be a high-stepping trip through ‘Tinsel Town’ with a special presentation of ‘A Night at the Movies,’ a ballroom dance production,” said Susan Dumont-Bengston of the Playhouse.

A post-performance cocktail reception with cash bar from 6 to 7 p.m. will include a meet-and-greet with the staff and students of Fred Astaire Dance Studios.

For tickets ($25), call the box office at 203-438-5795 or order online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

A valve wasn’t open all the way?

Low flow from fire hydrants that had plagued the Ridgefield Knolls area is no longer the worry it was — for years, dating back, at least, to the fire that destroyed a home on Seth Low Mountain Road in 2007.

And a big reason is a valve that workers discovered, not fully open, after Bridgeport-based Aquarion Water Co. bought the Topstone Hydraulic Co. and began cleaning up problems with the small neighborhood water system.

“The major discovery that has allowed an improvement of service and water pressure was the discovery of a valve located along the main that was not open entirely,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.

“In fact, it appeared that the valve itself had not been located or opened or closed in many years,” he said. “So that discovery definitely increased pressure to the hydrants.”

The forgotten valve was at the top of the hill on Aspen Ledges Road, Mr. Marconi said.

Fire Chief Heather Burford said the improvement in the pressure at the hydrants is significant for firefighting.

“That’s a 275,000-gallon tank up there, and we feel very comfortable we have enough water sources,” Chief Burford told the selectmen, meeting May 15 as the town Fire Commission.

The water system in the area serves 412 residences, and includes 12 fire hydrants, “none of which we could actually use,” Chief Burford told the selectmen.

In 2011, Aquarion Water Co., the big Bridgeport-based firm serving more than 600,000 people in 47 Connecticut towns and cities, took over the Topstone Hydraulic Co. and the Ridgefield Knolls water system.

Aquarion has done a lot to improve the system.

“We’re all very fortunate that Aquarion has taken over the ownership of Topstone Hydraulic,” Mr. Marconi said. “… Emergency power has been installed at the pump station, at the well, which is huge priority alone.”

Chief Burford said in an interview last week that Aquarion has been working throughout the system.

“The way the system is, there’s a well field that has five well pumps in it off Bennett’s Farm Road. Those five well pumps feed a tank up at the top of Old Stagecoach that stores 200,000 gallons of water. That tank, because it’s elevated, then feeds the domestic water system into people’s homes, and also the hydrants, through a combination of gravity and a pump system they have up at the tank.

“… Aquarion put a significant amount of work into the well fields, the tank and hydrants themselves,” Chief Burford said.

“When they were done with the work they asked us to come out and see for ourselves the improvements,” she said. “And that was important to us, because we have such a long history of not using those hydrants.”

As on a frigid night in February 2007.

“That’s the perfect example, the Twixt Hills fire that was on Seth Low Mountain,” Chief Burford said.

“In that case, we set up portable water, understanding we were not going to be able to get the amount of water we needed to put out that fire from the hydrant system.”

The memory is vivid.

“That was a fully involved structure fire. It was five degrees. There were winds blowing 25 miles per hour. The home was located at the top of the hill. And it was 25% involved upon arrival and within minutes it was fully involved — very hard to contain.”

The Fire Department has long been aware of the hydrant system’s shortcomings.

“For years, if not decades, the Fire Department has known those hydrants to be unusable for reliable fire protection,” Chief Burford said.

“Under the old system, we had identified two hydrants that could be used to supplement our portable water system — when I say ‘portable’ I mean tankers, fire tankers, bringing water in,” she said.

“… So the policy up in the Topstone area for water supply has been similar to the policy for the whole north end of town, which has no hydrants, which is to rely on portable water, water we bring to scenes.

“We had identified two hydrants — one at Ridgebury School and one other — that we said, ‘OK, these hydrants have sufficient flow and water pressure to be able to be used to supplement our tanker shuttles. But even those two we did not consider the primary water system.

“Even the hydrant in front of the firehouse was unusable for fire protection, and we found that out during the fatal fire on Hawthorne Hill.”

Chief Burford catalogued improvements Aquarion has made.

“There’s a new backup generator at the well field. All five wells have new pump motors, they’ve replaced all of the well pumps,” she said, “… and they’ve replaced most of the pipe in the wells.

“Up at the tank, they’ve done a few things as wall. They improved the pumps at the tank. They have installed a propane backup generator up there as well. …

“They said eventually the entire system will be electronically connected and monitored remotely from their offices,” Chief Burford said.

“Since that hasn’t happened yet, they make daily stops at both the well field and at the tank.”

Under state law the town pays water companies for fire protection service. According to Jerry Gay of the town finance department, the town pays both per hydrant and by the length of pipe the company has feeding hydrants. He said the town had long paid Topstone Hydraulic about $18,000 a year for the Knolls area’s 12-hydrant system.

Aquarion’s main system, which has some 338 hydrants throughout the village area, costs in the vicinity of $300,000 a year, he said.

Chief Burford said that after Aquarion did the work on the Topstone hydrants, it invited the Fire Department to test them.

“Aquarion had done what’s called hydrant flow testing on all of the hydrants, and that’s where they evaluate the hydrant for its flow in terms of volume, and the pressure that it can maintain, and they presented us with all of the documentation.

“And then we went out and tested for ourselves,” she said.

“We physically went out and worked with various hydrants in the system, meaning we connected engine two to the hydrants and flowed water, large amounts of water, to see for ourselves if the pressure and volume were remaining constant. And they were.

“So at that point, the internal policy changed, and all members of the department have been notified that those hydrants can be used for the purpose of fighting fires.”

“I think that the Keeler Tavern instilled a love of history and a love of Ridgefield in me that I carry with me to this day,” said Tom Pesce.

Tom Pesce is a teacher and magician who has lived in Ridgefield all his life. From 12 to 4 p.m. on June 15, he will awe audiences with a performance at the Keeler Tavern Museum’s 300th birthday party.

“Performing for the museum’s birthday is both a thrill and an honor,” said Mr. Pesce, who has been to the museum many times as a child and adult.

“I think that the Keeler Tavern instilled a love of history and a love of Ridgefield in me that I carry with me to this day.”

Admission to the event is free and everyone is welcome.

Mr. Pesce has been doing magic since he was just 12 years old.

“I was completely intrigued by it,” the 31-year-old magician explained. “I really went into magic for the same reason I went into teaching — I love people. I view magic as teaching; I’m trying to sell something to my kids like I’m trying to sell something to my audience.”

Mr. Pesce’s experiences as a fourth grade teacher in Rye Brook, N.Y., have helped him grow as a magician, and his greatest joy comes from instilling people with wonder and fun-on stage and in the classroom.

Disappointed by many “hokey” magicians he saw as a kid, Mr. Pesce decided early on that he wanted to truly make an impact on his audiences. He doesn’t like cheesy magic, “where the joke is always on the viewers.”

The magician said that he wants his audience to love his magic and “feel great about themselves.” For Mr. Pesce, magic “pushes our minds to ask questions and stirs positive emotions inside the human heart and imagination.”

With his routine, he said, “you’ll never know what to expect.”

Mr. Pesce said his show is appropriate and entertaining for all ages, and he describes it as a combination of Disney, Nickelodeon and Vegas.

“I’m really big on music and bright color and being very professional,” Mr. Pesce said. “It’s very fast-paced with lots of visuals and sound effects.”

On June 15, Pesce will have a few set show times but he will also walk around the museum’s campus, engaging children and adults all day. He hopes that people who see his performance will be inspired “not just by magic, but by the magic and history of the museum” as well.

Magic is just one component of the events planned for the Keeler Tavern Museum’s big, family-style celebration in June. The museum will offer vintage car and bicycle shows, pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, period crafts such as pottery and hat making, food, an amateur birthday cake contest and silent cake auction, local live music, and many other birthday surprises.

A special highlight will be guided walking tours of the property, called “A Walk Through History,” where party-goers can hear costumed re-enactors discuss the colorful lives of past residents who have lived on the site in the last 300 years. People can sign up for tours ahead of time  keelertavernmuseum.org.

The Keeler Tavern’s birthday party is part of a year long celebration of the centuries of history the museum embodies. “The stories of the people who lived or visited here really illuminate Ridgefield’s, as well as our nation’s evolution, politically, economically and socially,” said Joel Third, president of the museum. “That’s what makes the Keeler Tavern Museum the most significant historic site in Ridgefield as well as the town’s oldest gathering place. Mr. Pesce will honor this town’s and this country’s history at the birthday party with his performance.”

For more information on Mr. Pesce and his magic, visit “The Magic of Tom Pesce” on Facebook.