"This is just so convenient," said Mr. Moore, a Danbury resident who had arrived to pick up his son after a flight from San Diego.

But according to the Internal Revenue Service, Danbury has a higher percentage of noncitizens who pay federal income taxes than any other city in Connecticut; nearly 8 percent of federal income tax forms filed by Danbury residents contained no Social Security numbers.

At the table that Thursday, Jesse Amila, another young Danbury resident, said that some newcomers are drawn to veteran rats because they think they have status.

And Danbury residents are upset about hunting on private property on the outskirts of town.

Another staff member, meanwhile, is calling communities that had lent books to Danbury residents through the interlibrary system, trying to determine whether people had received the books, "or whether they were sitting on the desk, waiting to be picked up, and burned," Ms. deFrancesco said.

The 28-year old mezzo-soprano, whose award was bestowed in the name of the contralto and longtime Danbury resident, will sing the five "Sea Pictures" of Sir Edward Elgar.

"The lake is more than 75 years old and suddenly they begin charging for it," said Bill Fisher, a Danbury resident who lives on the lake and is a member of the lake authority.

The Ives Center sponsors the Marian Anderson Award, named for the beloved contralto who for many years was a Danbury resident.

Danbury residents are already coming to the ice arena asking where they can buy season tickets, Mr. McCormack said.

But a group of Danbury residents, including the developer, moved in to save it, led by Danbury Mayor Gene Eriquez and State Senator Mark Nielsen and State Representative Lew Wallace, who represent Danbury.