James Peacock's Website

By James Peacock 

New Canaan, Connecticut is a town where 85% of the population is under 65, and the median household income is $214,977 (U.S. Census Bureau). It is a vibrant, picturesque New England town full of affluent young families. However, as Martha Lane sees it, the town is also a place that is “a real gem” for the elderly. That is because of organizations like New Canaan Meals on Wheels.  

Martha is the president of New Canaan Meals on Wheels, an organization that has been a staple in the New Canaan community for more than 50 years. New Canaan Meals on Wheels serves two nutritious meals per day (one hot meal and one cold meal), five days a week, to an average of 55 clients. With the help of local volunteers and Get About, another New Canaan organization, meals are delivered directly to the homes of clients.  

This clientele is “usually elderly, sometimes disabled physically or a little mentally, [and] maybe can’t shop or cook [for themselves],” Martha explained.  

New Canaan Meals on Wheels is “completely self-funded,” and exists independent of the Meals on Wheels of America, a national organization. This is thanks to the help from a variety of donors, ranging from individuals to civic groups to local businesses such as Gates Restaurant & Bar, who pledged to donate all the proceeds from ticket sales of the final heat of their “Battle of the Bands” competition to Meals on Wheels. Other local organizations that contribute to Meals on Wheels include local churches; Walter Stewart Market, a local market; J. McLaughlin, a women’s clothing store; and Rock Paper Scissors, a local party planning organization. Rock Paper Scissors sponsors the “Battle of the Bands” event and has designated Meals on Wheels as the beneficiary for the past two years. 

According to Martha, 53% of Meals on Wheels funds come from individual donors, 31% comes from local organizations, and 14% comes from clients paying for their meals. This outsized proportion of funding coming from individuals and local businesses allows the organization to subsidize some, if not all, of the cost to their clients to receive these meals. These subsidies allow 58% of Meals on Wheels’ clients to receive their daily meals at no cost, while the remaining 42% pay $9 per day, while the organization subsidizes the remaining $5.  

A key component of the work that Meals on Wheels does, aside from the supply and delivery of food itself, is the way in which its volunteers engage with their clients. Often serving as “windows into the community,” volunteers have personal relationships with their clients that go far beyond simply delivering them meals. 

“Most seniors are on a tight budget and these meals being subsidized helps, but it’s the actual fact of hot nutritious food being delivered into homes, with real care and attention to the clients, and the daily check in, that I think is at least as important” Martha explained. 

Like virtually every other business or organization, the onset COVID-19 pandemic was tremendously disruptive for Meals on Wheels. The number of available volunteers decreased, while the number of clients in need increased. Additionally, Waveny Care Center, the kitchen that prepares the meals for the organization could no longer prepare meals in their kitchen. However, what could have been a potentially catastrophic occurrence for the organization instead turned into an example of the town of New Canaan rallying together to help Meals on Wheels.  

This is when their association with Get About began, who offered their services to deliver meals, offsetting the pandemic’s effect on the number of volunteers able to deliver meals. At the same time, a supervisor from the New Canaan School District offered the school’s cafeteria and the services of the cafeteria staff to make meals for the organization while schools were closed.  

“That was game changing,” Martha Lane said, “while I have no doubt at all that we would have kept it going, I’m not sure how!”  

It is certainly not lost on Martha how the town of New Canaan and the local community have, and continue to, make possible the work that Meals on Wheels does.  

“We cannot thank the town of New Canaan enough. They care about so many things, and they definitely care about their elderly and others who receive our meals… it’s a spectacular town, chock full of love and very talented people who know what to do with that love!” 

New Canaan Meals on Wheels likes to say that they “deliver love.” That is the key to understanding the work that they do and their relationship with the town. Their organization is an embodiment of the love that the citizens of New Canaan have for their town, and Meals on Wheels simply seek to share that love, one meal at a time.

By James Peacock

Even as the crowd at Gates Restaurant and Bar roared in approval and support of local band Rock Paper Soul on Saturday night, their noise level pushing the group into the final round of the fourth annual “Battle of the Bands” competition, the group seemed unperturbed. It was as if they had completed just another rehearsal at a member’s home, rather than an hourlong set in front of a raucous, standing-room-only crowd.  

That cool and calm attitude was not an act, but rather a microcosm of the general tenor of Rock Paper Soul, a group whose joy comes from playing the music that they love, with the people that they love. Being showered with love from an audience is certainly nice, but it is not why Dana Gordon and her bandmates formed their group in 2017.  

“…Covering the best music from the 60s to today with people I deeply care about, respect, have a blast with, and love was why I wanted to form this band” says Dana, the founder, co-lead vocalist, keyboardist and manager of Rock Paper Soul says.  

Rock Paper Soul is a group that covers soul and classic rock from the 60’s and 70’s, playing over 25 gigs in 2022 across Fairfield County, Connecticut. They say that since first forming their group, they now have “50-plus” songs in their repertoire. On Saturday night alone they covered Queen, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, and many more different groups.  

“The timelessness of those genres, the beauty of the lyrics, the emotional impact of the unforgettable melodies are what underscore the love of covering songs from those eras,” Dana explains. 

“Personally, I love so many types of music. Soul speaks to me specifically through melodies and harmonies; classic rock brings a great energy into the mix,” says fellow co-lead vocalist Caroline.  

Their choice of music blend was received well enough to move them past Alter Ego Band into the final heat of the “Battle of the Bands” competition, next Saturday, February 4. The final heat will be the only one in which admission tickets are sold, with the proceeds going directly to New Canaan Meals on Wheels. 

One may wonder what the level of competitiveness is like between Rock Paper Soul and the other bands competing in the contest. According to the band, who first met each other and consequently other local bands in the adult program at the New Canaan School of Rock, there’s more to the “battle” than simple competition.  

“We like seeing what everyone else is up to – it’s competitive in one way but not in another; we each have our own niches and there are lots of opportunities for everyone,” Caroline explains, “generally speaking, we tend to support each other, going to each other’s shows…many of us still play together there [New Canaan School of Rock].”  

It was at the New Canaan School of Rock that Dana first met Caroline and the band’s drummer Rob, more than seven years ago. In 2017, Dana learned about the Greenwich Town Party, a yearly event held in Greenwich, Connecticut that attracts world famous artists such as James Taylor, Paul Simon and, most recently, Billy Joel. The event also chooses five local bands every year to play as openers for that year’s heavy hitters. It was this opportunity that inspired Dana.  

“I reached out to Rob, Caroline, and several other friends in the adult program to ask if they wanted to form a band for the express purpose of trying to get selected to be one of the 5 local bands chosen…although we didn’t get selected that year, we had such a great time forming our own band that we wanted to continue with it.”  

The love and passion that began to be forged for the purpose of playing that specific event has persisted ever since, as various other band members came and went, and the COVID-19 pandemic forced the band to adapt in ways they had never imagined.  

“Covid definitely didn’t help. We had to be very creative with outdoor practices and very spread-out open practices for people to come and listen to us,” Dana recalls.  

That persistence has paid off, as evidenced by the following that the band has accumulated in the area, which was out in full force on Saturday night. Throughout the performance, clearly devoted fans danced along to songs played by the band, and even took the time in between songs to scream out their affection for Dana and the band. Such treatment is usually reserved for bands of global fame and prestige, but to know Rock Paper Soul, and to have witnessed their performance on Saturday night, adulation of this sort was more than warranted.