RECORD-REVIEW "Talk of the Town - August 20, 2011

 August 20, 2011

"TALK OF THE TOWN"
 By Bonni Brodnick

Here’s another reason to drive the speed limit on Westchester Avenue. Along with reasons of safety to all, you won’t want to miss looking left as you drive the 30 mph speed limit on your next foray to New Canaan. Lions Park is growing and growing.

      Pound Ridge Lions and the Pound Ridge Garden Club (PRGC) members have set up a rotating watering schedule in the pumpkin patch. With hoses and sprinklers generously donated by PRGC and friends, the pumpkin patch is thriving (even in this August heat). “The weeds have gotten a bit ahead of us, but we hope to catch up with a day of weeding soon,” said Sebastian Vinci, chair of the Lions Park Committee. “We have lots of pumpkin plants actively growing with numerous buds and even a few small pumpkins. In addition, we are proud of the beautiful display of sunflowers. The buds are just opening and the display is ready to burst out. Imagine a Van Gogh painting in our own little park.” The decorative corn is also growing well. “While we strive to grow our own pumpkins for this season, we look to the future and work to build up the soil and establish a good base for future crops,” he continued. The Lions and PRGC have worked hard to transform the site from a construction staging area to a fertile mini-farm. Anyone wishing to donate topsoil and compost, or volunteer to water or pick a weed or two (or three or four), please contact Sebastian at 764-5442.

At Conant Hall, a summery luncheon for 24 esteemed Pound Ridge seniors was hosted by PRGC, with assistance from the Pound Ridge Girls Scouts, who put on an entertaining skit and helped make herb and flower table arrangements. Garden Club members Patricia Napoli (chair of the event), Karen Aarts, Deb Benjamin, Connie Marchetti, Mary Miranda and Virginia Todars were delighted to bequeath their floral and herbaceous knowledge to scouts Ruby Cuddy, Emma Kolsky, Sinead McSpedon, Morgan Tunnell, and former scout Juliette Miranda.

The luncheon menu, which reflected the theme of event, "Cooking with Herbs," featured butternut squash and mango soup with basil, tortellini with ham, peas and dill, lemon verbena pound cake, orange basil cookies, and berries with mint. In addition to the homemade sachets as take-home gifts, each guest was also presented with a potted basil plant.

PRGC, founded in 1941, is a community service and educational organization that welcomes anyone interested in horticulture, floral design, environmental planting and resource conservation. Programs take place monthly from March through December on the second Tuesday of the month, and are generally held at Pound Ridge Library beginning at 10:30 a.m. For more information, please contact Anne Lyman, membership committee chair, at 764-5487. Along with learning more about flora and fauna, the Garden Club is a way to meet a terrific group of ladies who do many things on behalf of beautifying our town.

Put that stuff away! We can’t even look at it. Was that Brach’s candy corn by the check out at the market? Ask cashier Ilyssa Weingarden about it and you’ll get an earful. “It’s torture to work next to candy corn and the M&M’s Fall Leaves,” said the Fox Lane grad. I didn’t even see the M&M’s, my eyes averted so quickly from the triangle-shaped duo-tone October confectionary. “It’s just an awful reminder that fall is coming,” she continued. “When they brought out the candy, everyone was glaring and saying, ‘Put them away!’” Ilyssa will head back to George Washington University to pursue her studies in international affairs. She also has a scholarship for voice and is studying opera and classical music, as well as joining jazz and gospel choirs.

I guess it’s not too early to start planning your Halloween costume. Could goblins be lurking in your Echinacea? If this is all a smeary mingling of global warming, bring on the Valentine’s Day chocolates, too.