Darien Morning Briefing: Dec. 1, 2011

Today is Thursday, Dec. 1, the 334th day of 2011 and 24 days before Christmas.

HEADLINES

• Herve column:

EVENTS & REMINDERS

• Parent conferences for Darien's elementary schools are being held today and tomorrow.
• "Tips for Selecting a Preschool": YW Community Coffee at the Darien-Norwalk YWCA: 7:30 p.m. in the YWCA Community Room, 49 Old Kings Hwy. N., with Teri Manning, director of the First Congregational Church Nursery School. Coffees are free and open to the public. 
• Darien Senior Center: Ron Spataro plays: Come for lunch ($4) and stay to listen to Ron Spataro, a professional keyboard player and vocalist for more than 40 years. "Ron has performed with artists such as Tony award winner Frankie Michaels, Little Anthony and Mary Wells, [...] has graced the stages with great bands such as the Spinners, Orleans and the Grass Roots," according to the senior center.
• Film screening: "Fresh," 7 p.m., a 2009 documentary film (72 minutes) screened at the Darien Library with co-sponsorship by Darien Green Village Initiative. —IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes (Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s)
• FRIDAY: : Doors open at 3:30 p.m. for a 4 p.m. showing at : The annual "Community-Wide Movie" benefiting the Social Services Holiday Gift drive. While free, "in lieu of payment, each movie-goer is asked to bring donations as follows: gift cards [...] a new toy, books, etc. (All items should be new and unwrapped with a value of at least $10 each.)"  To get tickets, an adult should visit the Darien Youth Commission office in Town Hall between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday or Friday to get tickets for admission. Moviegoers should bring tickets and gifts to the theater.

TEENS

Darien High School: 

• Schedule: for a "Homeroom G Day": 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 5 | Homeroom | 6 |
• Holiday toy donations: "The EXCEL program is collecting new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots. We will be collecting toys in room G111 until December 19th," the high school website says.
• Free tutoring: The Darien chapter of the National Honor Society offers free tutoring every Thursday in the English/Social Studies Learning Connections Room—no appointment needed.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• The Muppets: 7 p.m. (1 hr. 38 min.) — IMDb—trailer—trailer—website—Rotten Tomatoes
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1: 7 p.m. (1 hr. 57 min.)—IMDb—trailer—website—Rotten Tomatoes

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

None today.

FORECAST (as of 7:04 a.m., Thursday)

• Thursday: "Sunny, with a high near 50. North wind between 11 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph."
• Thursday Night: "Clear, with a low around 30. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm."

INTERSTATE 95 TRAFFIC CAMS

• 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

• High tide: 3:42 a.m. (6.9')
• Sunrise: 6:59 a.m.
• Low tide: 10:07 a.m. (0.7')
• High tide: 4:05 p.m. (6.7')
• Sunset: 4:26 p.m.
• Low tide: 10:33 p.m. (0.5')

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