Darien Morning Briefing: 4.12.12, Thursday

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Today is Thursday, April 11, 2012.

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THIS MORNING:

Health Fair: 9 to 11 a.m. Free, no reservations required.  "Stamford Hospital will return to the DCA for their Public Health Fair [...] This is a great opportunity to have various basic health tests run, speak to a doctor, and gain information on various medical issues. An ‘Ask the Doctor’ station will be open, as well as various stations and information covering: • Cholesterol & Glucose testing • Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT) • Cardiac/Stroke Risk assessments / Blood Pressure • Orthopedics • Weight Management options • Diabetes • Hand Hygiene • Chair Massage • Posture analysis."—from  on Darien Patch

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HEADLINES:

"The Titanic, 100 Years Later" series:

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults

• Health Fair: 9 to 11 a.m. Free, no reservations required. "Stamford Hospital will return to the DCA for their Public Health Fair [...] This is a great opportunity to have various basic health tests run, speak to a doctor, and gain information on various medical issues. An ‘Ask the Doctor’ station will be open, as well as various stations and information covering: • Cholesterol & Glucose testing • Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT) • Cardiac/Stroke Risk assessments / Blood Pressure • Orthopedics • Weight Management options • Diabetes • Hand Hygiene • Chair Massage • Posture analysis."—from on Darien Patch 
• FILM: "Gangs of New York": 7 p.m. Community Room, Darien Library. (2001) with Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, and Liam Neeson; Rated R (2 hrs. 47 mins.) Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.  "Legendary director Martin Scorsese helms this historical epic about the Irish and Italian gangs that settled into New York’s five points from the period between 1846 and 1863."—library announcement—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
• Reserve a seat: Beds & Borders talk on gardening: "Heather Stephenson, head of product development at Beds & Borders, national leaders in container gardens, will be holding a talk at Nielsen's Florist on Sunday, April 15 at 1 p.m. She will be discussing cold weather plantings and how to combine, annuals, bulbs and perennials to create beautiful containers. You'll also learn how to select plants with a variety of colors and textures [...]"—from on Darien Patch
• Donation Drive: Gently used blankets and towels for pets: All day at The Hairy Barker Inn & Spa, 21 Tokeneke Rd. The store "is collecting GENTLY USED towels and blankets for BLANKETS AND BOWLS. These are among the most asked for items at shelters. Blankets and Bowls will distribute these items to any shelter in need."—the on Darien Patch.

Parents:

• Parent Film Series: "Race to Nowhere": Free. PG-13 (1 hr. 25 mins.), 2009. 10 a.m. Community Room, Darien Library. "'Race to Nowhere' points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace; students are disengaged; stress-related illness and depression are rampant; and many young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired."—from the library's announcement—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes

Kids:

• The Games We Played: 3 p.m. Darien Library. "Go back in time with us to the turn of the 20th century. We’ll take a nostalgic look back at some of the games that were popular during this time. Then we’ll try our hand at playing games like Cat’s Cradle and Jacks."—from the library announcement
  

• IMAX movies at the Maritime Aquarium: 10 North Water St., Norwalk. Sea Rex (11 a.m., 2 p.m.), Born to be Wild (noon), Search for the Great Sharks  (1 and 3 p.m.)—from an aquarium Web page

• Meerkats exhibit at the Maritime Aquarium: "These are active animals with very charismatic faces and highly interesting social structures, so they are a lot of fun for visitors to watch.”—Jack Schneider, the Aquarium’s curator of animals, quoted on this aquarium Web page.

Teens:

• Schedule:"Homeroom C" Day. Periods: 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 5 | Homeroom | 6
• THERE ARE TWO DAYS LEFT UNTIL APRIL RECESS!
• Techies: Minecraft Time: 3 to 4 p.m. Darien Library. "Tech time is a weekly program just for teens! Each week will we feature a new tech-centric program. We will delve into new apps, games, and other techie stuff."—library announcement
• CAS Bandjam Comes to Darien High School "The deadline for the submission of registration materials is Friday, April 13, 2012."— on Darien Patch.
  
• Direct a one act play: "Anyone interested in directing a Student One-Act Production must submit two copies of their form and script to Mr. Speiser or Ms. Herman by Friday."—announcement, Darien High School website.
• "Trashless Tuesday" is April 24 during Earth Week."There will be a  “Swap, don’t Shop” event in the vending area of the café.  Staff and students are invited to bring in a gently used item – and take home a new treasure!  Anything that can be carried out by hand is welcome.  For more information, see Katie Maccarone or Felicia Knise."—Darien High School announcement
• Don't ask her from a ladder truck. It's been done: "The Junior-Senior Prom will be held Friday, May 18th at the Greenwich Hyatt. Admission to the prom may be purchased Monday, April 23 through Monday, May 7th.  Admission purchased after that time will incur a late fee. Complete information and permission forms will be mailed to junior and senior homes during break week.  Questions?  See Mrs. Ricci in the Main Office."—Darien High School website
• Recycle your sneakers: "The Ecocitizens Club and The Darien Environmental Group are collecting old sneakers to make “Nike-grind”  – a recycled, sustainable surface for athletic surfaces and playgrounds.  Please bring in your old sneakers (no cleats!) and deposit them in the box in the front lobby during April and May."—announcement, Darien High School website.
• Depot April Calendar

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

Why are there matinees on a Monday? Probably because Darien public schools are closed for a "staff development" day.

• Mirror, Mirror: 7 p.m., PG (1 hr., 46 min.)—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
• The Hunger Games: 7 p.m., PG-13 (2 hrs., 22 mins.)—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes

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 today.

FORECAST as of 12:14 a.m. Tuesday (update)

• Thursday: "Scattered showers, mainly between noon and 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. North wind around 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent."
• Thursday Night: "Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 37. North wind between 8 and 10 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: 6:18 a.m.
• Sunset: 7:31 p.m.

• High tide: 4:27 a.m. (7.8') 
• Low tide: 11:06 a.m. (-0.1')
• High tide: 5:07 p.m. (7.0')
  
• Low tide: 11:28 p.m. (0.5)
  

HOW TO USE PATCH:

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