Darien Morning Briefing: Dec. 16, 2011

Today is Friday, Dec. 16, the 350th day of 2011, nine days before Christmas. This weekend is the last full weekend before Christomas, two Sundays from now.

Look at these that have been contributed to Darien Patch. Just look.

HEADLINES

Holiday-related:

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• Gift idea: "Amid the Cold of Winter": "The Darien Tudor Singers' Holiday CD "Amid the Cold of Winter" is available now for $15. Featuring studio recordings of 16 holiday and seasonal favorites performed by the 2008-2010 Tudor Singers, the album is a great way to celebrate the season while supporting choral music at DHS. The CD may be purchased from Mr. Andrade and is also available at Barrett Bookstore. Checks should be made payable to 'DHS.'"—Darien High School website (and you can listen to a short mix here.)
• Gift idea on Video: Miss Elisabeth & Children's Library suggest three books that make great gifts.

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults:

• Holiday Gingerbread Tree at Town Hall "decorated with colorful paper Gingerbread people describing various ways to help  children, families and seniors in Darien, who are in need.  There is also a Gingerbread tree at the Darien Rowayton Bank on the Post Road Pick a Gingerbread tag, fill a wish, and drop it off at Social Services, Rm. 109. For more information on making a donation you can call 203-656-7328."—Town website
• Festival of Lighthouses Display . From our events listing: "through Jan. 16, 2012, Aquarium visitors can follow these homemade beacons through the galleries and then cast a vote for their favorite.  The lighthouse with the most votes wins $1,500." 
• 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 Library website.
• Dec. 28: "Stamford Hospital's Mobile Wellness Center, a clinic in a large bus, will visit the Darien Rowayton Bank for convenient, fast, digital mammograms from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 28."—from our events listing.

Kids:

• IMAX movies at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk: 12 p.m.; , 1 p.m.
• "Thomas & Friends Ultimate Christmas" a movie for kids at Darien Library: 10 a.m. (60 minutes)

Teens:

Darien High School: 

• Schedule: for an B Day, periods will be: 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 5
• Friday's announcements:

• DHS Music Honors Society's Musical Instrument Drive: "Dec. 12-23 to benefit 'Horns for Kids.' Instruments may be dropped off before school to the DHS Band Room or MMS Rotunda. The will also accept instruments on Dec. 17-18."

The Depot:

• SATURDAY: Pancakes for Planks fundraising event from 8 to 11 a.m. at Phil's Grill. Proceeds go toward fixing the Depot dancing floor. $10 per person. 
• STARTING SATURDAY: Giftwrapping at the Depot from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. You supply the gifts and the Darien Depot Elves supply the wrapping paper and the "elves" to do wrapping. Through Dec. 23.

Darien Library:

• JAN. 28: Talent Competition of bands and other acts from Darien High School. The free event will feature free food. "A $350 first prize and $150 runner up prize will be offered to the best acts, chosen by members of the Darien Teen Advisory Board (Caroline Farrington, Katherine Feehan, and Dylan Gabriel ). Come to see all of your friends perform or come and be in the show! If you are interested in being an act, talk to any of the judges, Caroline Farrington, or Danielle Tilford."—from the Darien Library website. Here's the application form to download and fill out.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked: 7 and 8:45 p.m. (1 hr. 27 min.) —IMDb—trailer—trailer—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
• New Year's Eve: 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. (1 hr. 57 min.)—IMDb—trailer—website—Rotten Tomatoes

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

All meetings take place in Town Hall, 2 Renshaw Rd., unless otherwise noted.

• Special Education Committee of the Board of Education, 7:45 a.m., Board Meeting Room, Darien Public Schools' Administration Offices in the Town Hall Annex (agenda).
• Darien Beautification Commission, 9:30 a.m., Room B3
• RTM District V, 7:30 a.m., Room 213: "The purpose of this meeting is to interview prospective candidates for the open position in District V.
  Candidates should be in attendance to meet with District V RTM members to discuss their interest in the position and answer questions. Questions should be directed to James Patrick, District Chair, at 203-655-4465."—from the agenda
• RTM District II, caucus, 7:30 p.m., Room 119
• Representative Town Meeting (RTM) regular annual State of the Town meeting. See top of page for description, 8 p.m., Auditorium
  

FORECAST as of 6:25 a.m., Thursday (update)

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• Friday: "Sunny, with a high near 47. Breezy, with a northwest wind 22 to 25 mph decreasing to between 14 and 17 mph. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph."
• Friday Night: "Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Northwest wind between 9 and 11 mph."

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: 3:01 a.m. (7.0')
• Sunrise: 7:12 a.m.
• Low tide: 9:20 a.m. (0.4')
• High tide: 3:17 p.m. (7.0')
• Sunset: 4:26 p.m.
• Low tide: 9:48 p.m. (-0.0')

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