Darien Morning Briefing: 2.2.12, Thursday

Today is Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, Groundhog Day in the United States and Canada.

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This morning: Girl Scout Alumnae Open House: All former Girl Scouts are invited to the open house at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at , 14 Brookside Rd. Come reconnect with fellow alumnae and learn more about our 100th Anniversary celebration this year!"—from the Darien Patch announcement.

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HEADLINES

Sports

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults:

• at Giovanni's
• Girl Scout Alumnae Open House: All former Girl Scouts are invited to the open house at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, at , 14 Brookside Rd. Come reconnect with fellow alumnae and learn more about our 100th Anniversary celebration this year!"—from the Darien Patch announcement.
• Self-publishing with Darien Library's Espresso book printing machine: Panel discussion, 7 p.m.. "Have you ever dreamed of publishing your own novel, memoir, or cookbook of herring recipes passed down from your Norwegian grandmother? Well now you can! And you can do it all using Darien Library's brand new Espresso Book Machine." Facebook RSVP appreciated but not required—from the on Darien Patch.
• FRIDAY: "The Laramie Project": A play presented by Bridgeport Theatre Company, 8 p.m. Runs (at different times), Feb. 3-12. "On October 7, 1998, Matthew Shephard, a young gay man, was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. This act of brutality and hate shocked the nation. The Laramie Project is about the reaction to this murder [...]"—from on Darien Patch.
• SATURDAY: Sample Day at Palmer's: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's free. "Make sure to stop by Palmer's Market this Saturday to taste all of our great offerings for Game Day Sunday!!"—from on Darien Patch.
• Darien Summer School online registration has begun. A copy of the course catalog is posted with on Darien Patch.
  
• The Catherine Lindsey Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present a series of workshops at Darien Library in February, March and April. "Interested playwrights should submit ten pages of their scripts to Robert Cusack at robert.cusack1@att.net by Feb. 1, 2012. [...] The workshops will allow the playwrights to refine their scripts, which will then be submitted to the Darien Library Selection Committee. On Sunday, June 10 at 2 p.m., the Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present the first public-staged reading of selections from the plays in the Library’s Community Room."—from the announcement on the library website.

Kids:

• FRIDAY: Meet South American Animals: Stamford Museum & Nature Center: 6 to 6:45 pm (Ages 3 - 6)
  7 - 8 pm (Ages 6 & older) "Join Chris Evers, director & founder of Animal Embassy, for this exciting look at the incredible and varied wildlife of South America. Meet a variety of South American Animal Ambassadors."— on Darien Patch
• Two free swiming classes at the YMCA: "For two weeks in February (February 6 - 10 and Feb 13 - 17) the YMCA's aquatic department will be offering complimentary parent/child swim classes on weekday mornings."— on Darien Patch.
• Darien Summer School online registration has begun. A copy of the course catalog is posted with on Darien Patch.
  
• Create a video about a book you like, and enter it in the StoryTubes competition to win a prize. This week, Darien Library will have video equipment available for kids and teens from 5 to 18 years old to create their video, which can be entered into a competition from Jan. 20 to Feb. 20. The video equipment is available today from 1 to 6 p.m.

Teens:

• Darien High School Schedule for an "H" day: 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7
• February doings at the Depot—from the Depot website.
  
• Neirad's Valentine's Day Compatiblity Survey: "pick up a copy [...] during your lunch period today in the cafeteria. Drop your completed survey off in the box in front of the main office."—announcement on the Darien High School website.
• Useless Trivia: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., Teen Room, Darien Library—library announcement
  
• WRITING COMPETITION: For this third annual event sponsored by library, there is "$100 for the winner in each age group and category, You will also have the opportunity to meet with published authors and have your work printed and read by a large audience. And can you imagine putting this on your college applications?" Poetry, fiction and nonfiction are all accepted. If you have any questions, call Erica at 669-5225. [...] To enter email your entry along with the application form to teenstaff@darienlibrary.org beginning on Jan. 1.  Participants have until Feb. 28 to enter for a chance to win cash prizes.  An awards ceremony will conclude the competition on Saturday, March 31."—from the Darien Library website.
• VIDEO COMPETITION: Create a video about a book you like, and enter it in the StoryTubes competition to win a prize. This week, the library will have video equipment available for kids and teens from 5 to 18 years old to create their video, which can be entered into a competition from Jan. 20 to Feb. 20. The video equipment is available today from 1 to 6 p.m.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: 7 p.m. (2 hrs., 9 min.)—IMDb—trailer—HD trailer—Rotten Tomatoes—Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor: Max von Sydow
• The Descendants: 7 p.m. (1 hr., 55 min.)—IMDb—trailer—HD trailer—Rotten Tomatoes—Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, George Clooney; Best Director, Alexander Payne; Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Editing

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

All meetings take place in , 2 Renshaw Rd., unless otherwise noted. Since Darien town government provides no reliable, centralized list of town government meetings, and there is not enough time in the day to go searching for them, this list may well be incomplete:

No known government meetings are scheduled for today.

FORECAST as of 11:53 p.m., Wednesday (update)

• Thursday: "Partly sunny, with a high near 48. North wind between 7 and 11 mph."
• Thursday Night: "Partly cloudy, with a low around 27. North wind between 10 and 14 mph."

INTERSTATE 95 TRAFFIC CAMS

See also Darien Patch's "Traffic & Gas Prices" page.

• Stamford: southbound, Exit 8 - Elm St.

• Stamford: northbound, south of Exit 9 - Lockwood Ave.

• Darien southbound, north of Exit 9 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien northbound Exit 12 - Tokeneke Rd.

• Darien northbound, south of Exit 13 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien southbound, Exit 13 - Rt. 1 (Boston Post Rd.)

• Norwalk southbound, Exit 15 - Stuart Ave.

• Norwalk Rt 7 south of Exit 1 - Connecticut Ave.

• Norwalk northbound, Exit 15 - Rt. 7

TIDES & TIMES

• Sunrise: 7:04 a.m.
• Sunset: 5:11 p.m.

• Low tide: 12:32 a.m. (1.0') 
• High tide: 6:43 a.m. (6.4')
• Low tide: 1:21 p.m. (0.7')
• High tide: 7:21 p.m. (5.9')

HOW TO USE PATCH:

Forecast obtained from the National Weather Service; tide information obtained from saltwatertides.com (calibrated to Long Neck Point).