Week in Review

Temperatures remained unseasonably low this past week, but the energy was high as Homecoming week rolled through Darien and the Municipal Election nears. Here's a recap of the week's top stories:

Monday, Columbus Day:
Hundreds gathered at Pear Tree Point Beach for the JR Forever 2nd Annual Memorial Walk, Sunday. We learned that at the Chamber of Commerce Wine Tasting and Auction event, Thursday prior, First Selectman candidate Dave Campbell was the unlikely top bidder on “A Day with the First Selectman.” Another auction and art exhibition, Rural Remembrances: Barns in Our Landscape will take place later in the month at the Darien Historical Society. Home burglaries and car theft topped the police blotter, resulting in high-speed chase.

Tuesday:
Good news from Cushman & Wakefiled: while the Fairfield county commercial real estate market forecast remains dim, Darien’s market brightens. Over at the Meadowlands mansion, the Darien Community Association’s Garden Club was hard at work, preparing the flower beds for winter. Tuesday evening at the Town Hall, the Planning and Zoning Commission met for a characteristically long evening of deliberation. On the agenda: a public hearing on an affordable housing application under 8-30g, and one final discussion on the Board of Education and Darien Junior Football League applications for lights at the stadium field.

Wednesday:
Midweek we took a trip up to Blue Jay Orchards in Bethel, Connecticut to check out this season’s bumper-crop of apples. Then it was back to the kitchen where we took note of ways to rock your bake sale—before they’re banned (it’s true!). Ending the day on a sweet note, we profiled the women of the Social Services Department at Town Hall who work year-round to help Darien families in need.

Thursday:
We brought you our second edition of our Picks & Pans at the Darien Library series, a Michael Moore festival; and introduced a new series, Bite-Sized Politics, where we hear from First Selectman Candidates their stance on said issue (in this case practice lights), in a few easy-to-digest sentences.

Friday:
More Bite-Sized Politics; this time we heard from candidates on 35 Leroy Avenue. In a second property-related story, we met Marian Castell, Darien’s historic home preservation doyenne. Friday afternoon, P&Z held a special meeting where the commission unanimously approved the DJFL and Board of Education proposals for practice lights at Darien High School stadium field. Friday night, we headed over to Dig Pink at the DHS gym, where the Blue Wave volleyball team swept the Wilton Warriors 3—0 in a match to raise breast cancer awareness.


Weekend:
After the parade, we headed over to the stadium field at the high school for the Homecoming game, an impressive 35—6 win over Trinity Catholic for the Blue Wave. We took lots of photos and looked on proudly as our own James Payne walked in the Homecoming Court.

Saturday afternoon we were back in the kitchen, whipping up a comforting fall feast of fresh pumpkin bundt cake and pumpkin and sage risotto. Delicioso! Saturday night was a German, Brit hybrid: a quick stop at Oktoberfest for beer and a pretzel with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and then to the Meadowlands mansion for the British Invasion Party.

Sunday brought heavy wind and rain, so we spoke with candidates on flooding in Darien in another edition of Bite-Sized Politics: Candidates on Flooding.