Darien Morning Briefing: 4.18.12, Wednesday

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Today is Wednesday, April 18, 2012.

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HEADLINES:

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults

• Lecture: Bats, Bats, Bats: 7 p.m., free (but suggested donation: $5). Beardsley Zoo, 1875 Noble Ave, Bridgeport. "Dave LaMarche from Southern Connecticut State University has studied the feeding behaviors of Vampire bats, including the colony at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo. Celebrate the AZA's Year of the Bat at the Zoo with this batty lecture. $5 suggested donation. Refreshments will be served. This program, taking place in the Hanson Exploration Station, is part of the Evening Lecture Series, sponsored by Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo Volunteer Association."— on Darien Patch.
• THURSDAY: Meet the Author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking: 7 p.m., Darien Library. "Did you know that nearly half of Americans are introverts? If you’re not an introvert yourself, you are surely raising, managing, married, or related to one. Cerebral, quiet, perceptive to nuance, and emotionally complex, introverts are often discounted or undervalued. Yet many of the greatest achievers of the twentieth century have been introverts [...]—from  on Darien Patch
• Buy tickets for the Library Spring Gala: $130. Saturday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. "Join us at Light Up the Library at the Imagination Gala! We will have cocktails, Hors D'oeuvres, entertainment, silent art auction and a live auction. Funds that are raised will be used for Library materials (all books, movies, computers, magazines, books on cd, information resources, and programs are paid for by private donations)."—library announcement

Parents:

• at the Darien Nature Center

Kids:

• Children's Earth Day Fair: 3:15 to 5:30 p.m. White Barn Campus, 440 Newtown Avenue, Norwalk. "This special afternoon will include outdoor games and activities led by CFS middle school students, as well as a number of presentations including: African Drumming with Brother Kojo Bey of Sounds of Afrika; Live Animals from the New Canaan Nature Center; Storytelling & Earth friendly tales told by Tom Lee"— on Darien Patch
• Crickets Spring Vacation Program: $75 per day. Continues Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Darien Nature Center. "Join us for a fun filled spring vacation program.  Ideal for children ages 3, 4, 5, and 6.  Children will hike on the trails searching for new signs of spring, the flowers, animals and much more.  They will be creating crafts, singing songs and discussing all of their new discoveries."— on Darien Patch
• THURSDAY: Bat Awareness Celebration: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Beardsley Zoo, 1875 Noble Ave, Bridgeport. "Come learn all about the amazing world of bats! Activities will include scavenger hunts, crafts, story times, and bat box raffles. Program will begin in the Research Station. FREE with paid admission to the Zoo."— on Darien Patch
• 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

Teens:

• Lecture: Bats, Bats, Bats: 7 p.m., free (but suggested donation: $5). Beardsley Zoo, 1875 Noble Ave, Bridgeport. "Dave LaMarche from Southern Connecticut State University has studied the feeding behaviors of Vampire bats, including the colony at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo. Celebrate the AZA's Year of the Bat at the Zoo with this batty lecture. $5 suggested donation. Refreshments will be served. This program, taking place in the Hanson Exploration Station, is part of the Evening Lecture Series, sponsored by Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo Volunteer Association."— on Darien Patch.
•   "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
• Depot April Calendar

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• The Three Stooges: 1:30, 3:30, 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., PG (1 hr., 46 min.)—IMDb—trailer—even stupider trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
• The Hunger Games: 1, 4 and 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:

• Commission on Aging, 9 a.m., Room 119 (PDF of agenda)

• Darien Police Headquarters Building Committee, 3 p.m., Conference Room, 1441 Post Rd.

• CANCELLED: Darien Police Commission, previously scheduled for 5 p.m.

FORECAST as of 6:55 p.m. Wednesday (update)

• Wednesday: "Partly sunny, with a high near 60. North wind at 8 mph becoming southeast."
• Wednesday Night: "Partly cloudy, with a low around 46. South wind between 5 and 7 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: 6:09 a.m.
• Sunset: 7:37 p.m.

• Low tide: 4:27 a.m. (0.1') 
• High tide: 10:24 a.m. (7.0')
• Low tide: 4:37 p.m. (0.3')
  
• High tide: 10:40 p.m. (7.8')
  

HOW TO USE PATCH:

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