Darien Morning Briefing: Wed., Jan. 4, 2012

Today is Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012.

***

***

How many New Year's resolutions have you broken so far? Great bloggers think alike:

• Darien Patch's Andrea Cragin, in "[T]rying to be the best one can be should be everyone’s daily objective not a special resolution made on January 1st."
• Silver Hill Hospital's Sigurd Ackerman, in : "Look for smaller, incremental actions where it is possible to find success. If you can’t accomplish it on one day, you will have the opportunity to try again."

HEADLINES

• (check out the pictures)

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults:

• Sidewalk replacement at Noroton Heights Station: "Sidewalk Construction will begin at the Noroton Heights Train Station on Jan. 3, 2012 weather permitting. The sidewalk affected connects Heights Road sidewalk to railroad platforms on the north side of the tracks (southbound side). Work is expected to take one week to complete."—from
• 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 announcement on the library website.

Kids:

• Toddler Tales: Stories for toddlers who can walk, up to 36 months old, and their caregiver. 10:30 to 11 a.m. in the Storytime Room at Darien Library.
• 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.
• JAN. 28-29: Cinderella on stage—Tickets available now: Darien Town Hall Auditorium, 4 p.m. Presented by the British Amateur Theatre Group as a benefit performance for the YWCA Darien/Norwalk. Tickets are $10 in advance (available by calling the YWCAat (203) 655-2535 or online at YWCADarienNorwalk.org) or $12 at the door.

TEENS

Darien High School:

• Schedule: Today is an "A" day. The schedule of periods: 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
• Neirad is out.
  
• Final auditions for West Side Story will be held after school in the Little Theatre.

Darien Library:

• We Love Wednesdays: Crafts and cool things to do, 3 to 4 p.m. in the Teen Room.
• 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.
• BANDS & ACTS COMPETITION: JAN. 28: 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 library website. Here's the application form to download and fill out.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked: 7 p.m. (1 hr., 27 min.) —IMDb—trailer—trailer—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
• War Horse: 5 and 7 p.m. (2 hrs., 26 min.)
  
  

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

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

No town government meetings are scheduled for the rest of the week.

FORECAST as of 9:41 p.m., Monday (update)

• Wednesday: "Increasing clouds, with a high near 28. West wind between 9 and 11 mph."
• Wednesday Night: "Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. West wind between 9 and 13 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

• Low tide: 1:16 a.m. (0.8')
• Sunrise: 7:19 a.m.
• High tide: 7:27 a.m. (6.7')
• Low tide: 2:03 p.m. (0.5')
• Sunset: 4:38 p.m.
• High tide: 8:01 p.m. (6.0')

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