Every year the parade draws more than 100,000 people from Stamford and around the region, so plan on arriving early to find a spot along the route. The route starts on Summer Street at Hoyt, proceeds south on Summer, east on Broad, and then south on Atlantic Street before ending at Federal Street near UBS.

This year the Master of Ceremonies for the parade will be Alan Kalter – the announcer for the David Letterman Show and the Grand Marshals will be Stamford’s Hurricane Sandy Heroes. Alan as well as bleachers for the VIP’s will be located on Broad Street at Bedford. It’s a pretty crazy place to be along the route so if you want to be part of this scene plan on arriving extra early and being packed in with lots of others on the sidewalk, unless of course you’re a VIP. Not sure how you secure that status without being a sponsor of the parade.

So, a fun event in connection with the parade is the balloon inflation party held the afternoon and evening before the parade, on Saturday the 17th from 3 to 6pm. The party will be held on Hoyt Street at Summer and is a great place to bring the kids. There will be all kinds of entertainment, live music, and of course the balloons – the showstoppers of the parade, will be coming to life. This year the Lorax and Red from Fraggle Rock will be making their debut. Come on down and check it out.

The balloons in this year’s parade include: Big Bird, Billy Blazes, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Fred Flintstone, Garfield, Hagar the Horrible, Kermit, The Lorax, Mr. Potato Head, Oscar the Grouch, Paddington Bear, Popeye, Red from Fraggle Rock, Super Grover, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

The parade begins at noon and usually lasts 2 or 2.5 hours.

Save the date! Join us Sunday morning, May 19th from 9-12 at the Glenbrook Train Station for the annual Glenbrook Neighborhood Association Spring Planting, Swap, and Clean-Up. Get rid of almost anything you don’t want – useful or not. Throw it in the dumpster, shred it in the shredder, or swap it for one of your neighbors’ treasures. Start setting things aside now.

After grabbing some coffee and donuts volunteer to help beautify our neighborhood by filling and planting planters, pruning and weeding the train station, and cleaning up trash and graffiti. Come on out and meet some of your neighbors and support the Association’s largest event of the year.

Stamford’s 2012 summer sculpture exhibit, called ‘Horsin’ Around Stamford Downtown’ is getting set to hit the streets in June. The outdoor sculpture exhibit themed around horses will include 40 oversized fiberglass horse sculptures painted and decorated by a total of 32 area artists. Horsin’ Around will be on display for three months through August 5th, throughout downtown Stamford on sidewalks, parks, and in the Stamford Towne Center. At the end of the summer the each of the horses will be auctioned off with a portion of the proceeds going to Stamford’s Ferguson Library. Artists were selected for Horsin’ Around from a pool of more than 200 for the work through a juried and sponsor selection process. Artists submitted their designs to the Downtown Special Services District (DSSD) in February – the best and most relevant designs were selected.

Horsin’ Around Stamford Downtown 2012 will be the fifth year of Stamford’s sculpture exhibits. Themes for prior years included: Cow Parade, Art-O-Mobiles, Stamford Safari and It’s Reigning Cats & Dogs. This year the DSSD commissioned world renowned pop artist Charles Fazzino to design the logo and identity for the exhibit. He is also painting one of the forty horses to be displayed himself.

Many of the Forty horses in connection with Horsin’ Around are presently being painted and designed at Stamford Downtown’s public art studio at 61 Broad Street. The remainder of the horses are being designed at private studios. We stopped by the studios on Saturday to view the progress, talk with some of the artists, and of course shoot some pictures. Things are looking excellent.

On June 6, The DSSD will be hosting a kickoff party and viewing for sponsors, artists and the public, at the Stamford Marriott. For more information on the event call DSSD at (203) 348-5285 or visit the Stamford Downtown  website.

Get your taco on for Cinco de Mayo at Picante Fresh Mexican Grill in Stamford. Picante, at 148 Bedford Street in downtown Stamford is holding its first annual taco eating contest from 3-5pm on Saturday May 5th in their back parking lot. Contestents will be going for the win scarfing down grilled chicken & ground Beef tacos until all but one gives up. The Last of the ten contestants standing is the winner.

1st place will take a $100 Gift Card to Picante and more importantly, bragging rights to the never ending stomach. 2nd place will take a $50 gift card.

Come early or stay late and grab a little of Picante’s goodness for yourself. Check out Picante’s full menu here.

Update:

Here ya go. If you weren’t able to make it today, this is it. Just make sure you stop by Picante sometime on your way by. I have to admit, today was my first time, but certainly well worth the visit. Fresh food, a wide variety of salsas, kick-ass tacos, and friendly staff. Take advantage of this downtown Stamford gem.

Add a little Japanese to your Cinco de Mayo. This upcoming Saturday, the Mill River Collabrative in conjunction with the Japan Society of Fairfield County will hold their annual Cherry Blossom Festival called Sakura Matsuri. The festival will be held in Stamford’s Mill River Park along Washington Boulevard and adjacent to Columbus Park in the City’s downtown.

The festival will feature live music and dance performances, samurai and martial arts demonstrations, a variety of workshops, sake tasting, and more. This is what’s scheduled throughout the day:

Performances
11:40 Karate Demonstration
12:00 Shamisen Music Performance
12:30 Samurai Sword Soul Performance
1:00 Genbukan Iaido Demonstration
1:45 Taiko Masala Performance – drumming
2:15 Aikido Demonstration
2:40 Shidogakuin Kendo Demonstration – bamboo swords

Workshops
Manga Workshops with Misako Rocks – world famous graphic novelist at 12:00, 1:00 and 2:00
Japanese Tea Ceremony at 11:30, 12:50 and 2:10

Arts & Crafts
Kimono Dressing with photo booth
Origami – Japanese paper folding
Gyotaku – Japanese Fish Printing
Sumie Black Ink Painting
Magna & Anime on display

So what’s the significance of cherry trees and Mill River Park? During the late 1950′s, Japanese immigrant Junzo Nojima planted nearly 100 cherry trees. He cared for these trees for years. Every spring for more than 50 years the park has been filled with the beautiful pink blossoms of the trees. The City has celebrated this amazing display for years as the Cherry Blossom Festival.

As most are aware, the Mill River Park has been undergoing a massive restoration. The realignment and reconstruction of the Mill River that has been happening required the removal of nearly all of the existing cherry trees. Fortunately, the festivals will continue. The project will result in a new cherry tree grove and big improvements to the cherry tree walks in the northern end of the park.

The festival is being held Saturday, May 5th from 11am-3pm. Enter on Washington Boulevard across from Columbus Park. See ya there!

Update:

A little sample from today’s festival – Taiko Masala drumming Performance. Enjoy:

Chelsea Piers Connecticut will be opening its doors July 2012 in Stamford at One Blachley Road in the Cove.  The new facility will share the old Clairol site with NBC Sports, which is also presently being developed. Access to the site will be derived via Route 1 – there isn’t going to be an entrance from Cove Road. Chelsea Piers’ Stamford location will be an extension of the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex that opened in the summer of 1995 in New York City.

Chelsea Piers Front Elevation

Chelsea Piers Connecticut is a 400,000 square foot sports facility consisting of a huge range of sporting centers and programs – more so than really any other facility or complex in our region. The complex consists of the following:

• Fitness Center – A 5,000 square foot fitness center
• Ice Rinks – Two skating rinks for hockey and figure skating
• Aquatics Center – An Olympic-sized pool, an instructional and exercise pool, and a 6,000 square foot Splash Zone with three water slides
• Gymnastics Center – A 15,000 square foot gymnastics training center
• Baseball/Softball Center – Batting cages and turf field for fielding and pitching instruction
• Adventure Center – A trampoline park and rock wall
• 

  First Floor Plan

  Squash Club – Eleven singles courts, one hardball doubles court, private locker rooms and a private bar and lounge

• Tennis Club – Seven indoor courts, private locker rooms, and an outdoor terrace
• Field House – A 100-yard indoor turf field for soccer, lacrosse, football, field hockey, softball, and baseball; Two courts for basketball and volleyball; and a 1/5 mile track
• Sports Training Center – A 7,000 square foot high-level athletic training center
• Pro Shops – A full service sports retail shop and a racquets shop
• Party Rooms – Eight party and meeting rooms
• Childcare and Preschool – A 5,000 square foot early learning facility
• Restaurant & Bar and Cafe – A 150-seat restaurant and bar and a quick serve cafe for snacks and meals

Second Floor Plan

In addition to the facilities themselves, Chelsea Piers will offer summer camps, sports instruction/training, competitive teams, and leagues and tournaments for adults and youth alike.

Mezzine

Membership will not be required to use most of the facilities at Chelsea Piers; however, they will be offered as a way to take advantage of everything Chelsea Piers has to offer. The three Memberships types are: Club, Tennis, and Squash memberships. For additional information, take a look at the Chelsea Piers website.

It’s likely that the Glenbrook CVS on Hope Street in Stamford will be getting a facelift in the very near future. Facelift as in a complete teardown of the existing CVS building and redevelopment of the entire site. The smaller building on the site that includes the Hope Street Pharmacy and Mike’s Megamat Laundromat as tenants will remain; however, it has yet to be determined if these two tenants will remain. Representatives of CVS met with neighbors and interested parties on Wednesday night at the Stamford Marriott to present the newly proposed plans. About 35 Stamford residents attended the meeting.

Next week, CVS will be  submitting an application to the City for development approvals – approvals are needed from the Stamford Planning and Zoning boards for the development to move forward. As part of the approval process, the public will be given multiple opportunities to comment and make their voices heard on the Glenbrook CVS application.

Existing Glenbrook CVS

The new building constructed will be of similar size to the existing structure and as presently proposed would include a drive-thru pharmacy. Unfortunately, the other existing small businesses adjacent to CVS would be eliminated completely. These businesses include: Enzo’s Fine Italian Foods, Hua Lin Chinese Restaurant, and State Farm. All three of these businesses have been long standing tenants of the center and object to the application. The residential neighbors directly east of the site on Morris Street also object to the development. The drive-thru is proposed around the rear of the building and would likely impact adjoining residences to an extent. The upside is that the redevelopment would result in an additional 1/2 acre of landscaping on the site. A portion of this landscaping would result in a greater buffer between the residences than what currently exists. As most Glenbrook residents know, the present site isn’t the most attractive. Landscaping improvements would certainly be a asset to the neighborhood.

Proposed Glenbrook CVS

Partly as a result of additional landscaping, the plans as presently proposed would result in a reduction in parking from  approximately 115 existing parking spaces to less than 80 spaces. This reduction in parking by more than 35 spaces in my opinion is a concern. From my experience parking on the site is already a problem, particularly during the evening hours. I don’t believe the elimination of three small stores will make much of a difference in this regard.

Glenbrook CVS hopes to begin construction during the spring of 2013. It is anticipated that the construction phase will last approximately eight months. We’ll keep you updated on the approvals.

The 2012 Alive @ Five line-up was announced by the Stamford Downtown Special Services District (DSSD) today. The popular concert series will be held every Thursday starting at 5pm for seven weeks between June 21st and August 2nd in Downtown Stamford’s Columbus Park. Alive @ Five will kick off with Los Lonely Boys on the 21st and will conclude at the end of the summer with Foreigner. Here is the line-up for the headlining acts:

• June 21 – Los Lonely Boys
• June 28 – G. Love & Special Sauce
• July 5 – Creedence Clearwater Revisited
• July 12 – Matisyahu
• July 19 – Hot Chelle Rae
• July 26 – Javier Colon
• August 2 – Foreigner

Each week two local or regional bands open for the headlining acts. Attendees can purchase beer, wine, non-alcoholic drinks, and food from the DSSD.

Some important information to know about Alive @ Five:

• Everyone over the age of 12 pays $10 to attend. Children under 12 years old are free, but must enter the concert area before 7pm.
• You must be 21 or older to enter the concert area after 7pm. Anyone in before 7pm is permitted to stay for the entire concert.
• Entrance to the concert area is located on Main Street just East of Clarke and lower Summer Streets.
• Attendees are not permitted to enter with coolers, chairs, bicycles, liquids, alcohol, pets, or audio/video recorders. Bags will be searched.

Coming to the event can be a nice way to spend the evening, but its has gotten more expensive and restrictive over the past couple of years. Several years ago it was free to attend the concerts, then it went to $5 and now it’s $10 to attend. With entry and a couple of drinks and/or some food plan on dropping between $25 – $40 per person. Also, this year is the first that attendees aren’t permitted to bring chairs to the event – now this doesn’t make any sense to me.

A good alternative to entering the concert area is to visit one of the many restaurants fronting Main Street and West Park Place. Most if not all of the restaurants have patios and outdoor seating facing Columbus Park and the stage. The restaurants offer good deals and in my opinion is much easier to enjoy dinner or a couple of drinks while listening to the music in what can be a more relaxed atmosphere. Some of the restaurants facing Columbus Park and the Alive @ Five stage include:

• 84 Park
• Bar Q BBQ
• Black Bear Saloon
• Bobby Valentine’s Sports Cafe
• Columbus Park Trattoria
• Curley’s Diner
• Fin II Japanese
• Kujaku Japanese
• Layla’s Falafel
• Patrizia’s
• The Palms
• Riviera Maya
• Tiernan’s Bar & Restaurant

This upcoming May 14th thru the 18th, the New England Culinary Group (NECG) will be hosting ‘Eating Stamford Uptown’. This week long event will be a welcome complement to Downtown Stamford’s longstanding and popular ‘Restaurant Weeks’ held bi-annually during the summer and winter in downtown Stamford.

Sixteen restaurants, all outside of downtown Stamford will be participating in the first time event. The restaurants will be offering prix-fixe menus and special offers representing a sampling of the establishments’ best bites at prices sure to attract the masses. Mid-range establishments will offer $10.12 lunches and $20.12 dinners, while the high-end restaurants will offer $18.12 lunches and $30.12 dinners.

Restaurants participating in the event will include:

• Bacco Restaurant & Pub – 522 Glenbrook Road, in Glenbrook
• Nick’s Pizza – 522 Glenbrook Road, in Glenbrook
• Chili Chicken – 19 High Ridge Road, in Bull’s Head
• Coalhouse Pizza – 85 High Ridge Road, in Bull’s Head
• Crab Shell – 46 Southfield Avenue, in Waterside
• John the Baker – 30 Long Ridge Road, in Bull’s Head
• La Fontanella Ristorante – 844 High Ridge Road
• Mackenzie’s Bar & Grill – 970 High Ridge Road
• Madonia – 1297 Long Ridge Road, in North Stamford
• Minettos’s – 299 Long Ridge Road, in the Mid Ridges
• Riko’s Pizza – 170 Selleck Street, in Waterside
• Rizzuto’s – 1980 West Main Street, on the West Side
• Spice Affair – 26 Mill River Street, on the West Side
• Tabouli Grill – 59 High Ridge Road, in Bull’s Head
• Villa Italia Ristorante – 812 East Main Street, on the East Side
• Vinny’s Backyard – 1078 Hope Street, in Springdale

In addition to the deals offered during the event, NECG has announced a ‘Keep Eating’ incentive. Support one or more of the restaurants between May 14th and the 18th and receive a 15% off gift certificate good at all participating Eating Stamford Uptown restaurants from May 20th thru June 13th. Sounds like a good way to support one of our local restaurants and be awarded with a little bonus.

This upcoming fall, Stamford South End developer, Building & Land Technology will welcome the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que as a new tenant of Harbor Point, one of the country’s largest redevelopment projects. This is great news for BBQ lovers and foodies in general as Stamford and most of lower Fairfield County is severely lacking in this department.

The Dinosaur, originally from Syracuse, NY first opened its doors in 1988 and has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades over the years for its southern-style BBQ. In addition to its authentic barbeque and creative sides, the Dinosaur is also well know for its wide selection of craft beers and live entertainment. It’s certainly going to be a welcome addition to Stamford and the South End.

The Stamford South End restaurant will be Dinosaur Bar-B-Que owner and pitmaster, John Stage’s sixth location and first location in Connecticut, expanding from other locations in New York and most recently in New Jersey. The restaurant will be located at 845 Canal Street, a block from Fairway Market in one of Yale & Towne’s original factory buildings. Keep an eye out for additional Stamford South End projects in connection with Harbor Point right here in the coming months.