Community
Take A Stand Against Racism
Written by Erica B on 04/18/2011
Each of us can make a difference.
The Stand Against Racism is a movement of the YWCA, with the goal of bringing people together from all walks of life - across the country - to help eliminate racism. Friday, April 29th is "Stand Against Racism Day," and the YWCA Darien/Norwalk, along with 60 YWCA's and approximately 1,500 organizations, will celebrate diversity and raise awareness that racism still exists and should not be tolerated. Click the attachment at the end of this post to read about 10 simple ways each of us can make a difference.
Please visit Darien Library this month as we host programs and activities throughout the day in support of the Stand Against Racism:
One Page Poetry Circle – Poetry & Change
Wednesday, April 20 at 7 PM in the Conference Room
Civil rights. Ideas. Rebellion. Beliefs. Bring a single page of poetry by an established poet that is inspired by the evening’s theme, plus your enthusiasm, thoughts, questions, and curiosity about the poems that others bring. The discussions will be led by Madge McKeithen, faculty member of The Writing Program at The New School.
Color Me Beautiful!
Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29 in the Children's Library
Like the many colors of crayons in a box, children come in all colors, too! Children of all ages are invited to color and design their own die cut people of all colors, shades, and hues to be displayed throughout the Children's Library.
Preschool Storytime
Monday, April 25 at 1:30 PM in the Children’s Library
For ages 3 to 5. The stories we read today will feature a "Celebrate Diversity" theme!
Toddler Tales
Tuesday, April 26 at 10:30 AM in the Children’s Library
For walkers up to 36 months and a caregiver. The stories we read today will feature a "Celebrate Diversity" theme!
Film Screening - Hairspray
Friday, April 29 at 2 PM in the Community Room
In this screen version of the Broadway play Tracy Turnblad is a heavy weight teenager with huge hair who is obsessed with Link Larken on the Corny Collins Show. She sings and dances her way into his heart and onto the show. However, she decides that the segregation of the show is not fair so she and her friends fight to integrate the show. (2007) Starring John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Allison Janney, Nikki Blonsky, Christopher Walken, and Michelle Pfeiffer; Rated PG; 117 minutes.
Racism - No Way!
Friday, April 29 from 3 PM to 4 PM in the Teen Lounge
Teens, we'll have a variety of puzzles and group activities that explore issues relating to racism and cultural diversity. Bring a friend and join the discussion on what racism means to you.
Film Screening – A Class Divided
Wednesday, May 11 at 7 PM in the Community Room
In 1970, an innovative teacher attempted a daring experiment in her elementary school classroom. To evaluate how racial stereotypes affect young children, Jane Elliott divided her class between those with blue eyes and those with brown and gave blue-eyed children preferential treatment. This classic program presents the long-term effects of racial stereotyping in schools and suggest how new approaches can make a positive difference with students and teachers. Discussion to follow film screening. Co-sponsored by the YWCA Darien/Norwalk.
Town of Darien Plans Another Unwanted Drug Disposal Day for April 30, 2011
GET RID OF UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS!
On April 30, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Darien Health Department in conjunction with the Darien Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public another opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your medications for disposal to the Darien Transfer Station & Town Garage at Ledge Rd.
The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
For more information, click here to read today's press release from the David Knauff, Health Director, Darien.
A Message from Darien Health Department and Connecticut Department of Public Health
David Knauff, Darien's Director of Health, has forwarded the following information from CT - Depeartment of Public Health.
The attached is a message from the CDC HAN* info service regarding Radioactive Material in the US as a Result of the Incident with the Fukushima Nuclear Incident in Japan.
(*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Health Alert Network (HAN))
Darien Library: The Great Good Place
The documentary, Darien Library: The Great Good Place, was recently awarded Best in Show in the 2010 Connecticut Library Association (CLA) Publicity Awards Contest! Click below for a preview. Click here to learn more and to view the full-length feature.
Art on View: All-Schools Student Art Exhibition
Written by Barbara T. on 03/10/2011
The annual All-Schools Student Art Exhibition is now on display!
Featuring the artwork by grades K-12, the exhibition will be presented at two different sites – here, at Darien Library, and also, at Town Hall.
Each site will have a sampling of art made by all grades in a variety of media from some very talented students.
On display at the Library will be the work of students from Holmes School and Ox Ridge School, and some from Middlesex Middle School and Darien High School. Visitors to the Library can view the exhibit in the Art Gallery, which is located on the Lower Level.
(Students from Hindley School, Tokeneke School, and Royle School and some from Middlesex Middle School and Darien High School will exhibit their art projects on the first and second floors of Darien Town Hall.)
The exhibition will run through April 25, 2011.
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One-Time Performance! Staged Readings of Selected Plays from the Catherine Lindsey Memorial Actors/Playwrights Workshop
Written by Barbara T. on 03/06/2011
First Public-Staged Reading of Selections from the Catherine Lindsey Memorial Actors/Playwrights Workshop Series at Darien Library
On Sunday, June 12 at 2 p.m., the Catherine Lindsey Memorial Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present the first public-staged reading of selections from the Workshop plays in the Library’s Community Room.
Now in its 19h year, the Actors/Playwrights Workshop offers local and regional playwrights and actors the opportunity to work together to produce original theatrical works in a supportive and creative environment. Co-founded by the late Catherine Lindsey and her husband Robert, the goal of the workshops is to encourage collaborative efforts in developing new plays, culminating in staged readings of scenes from full-length, one-act plays, musicals, and monologues before an audience. Catherine Lindsey was a beloved friend of Darien Library and director of the Darien Library Theater for over 25 years.
Under the direction of Robert Cusack, the public-staged readings mark the conclusion of the 2011 Workshop series, which began in February.
The plays to be featured are:
Dream Catcher by Marlene Gaylinn
The Trouble with Rhonda by Bob Liftig
The Family Room by Robert Lindsey and adapted by Margaret D. Lindsey
E.R. by Jill Sapenoff
Vatican 3G by Joe Starzyk
An Untitled Me by June Whittaker
Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. A reception will follow the performance.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).
CT DOT Announces Road Closures on Route 1 - March 4 to March 18
Written by JudyS on 03/04/2011
Contact: Judd Everhart (860) 594-3062
Road Closures on Route 1 Darien at
Metro-North RR Bridge
To Begin On or About Friday, March 4, 2011
RESCHEDULED FROM FEBRUARY 25 DUE TO WEATHER
Darien, Connecticut – Connecticut Department of Transportation officials have announced that there will be nightly road closures, weather permitting on Route 1 in Darien, under the Metro-North Railroad Bridge, between West Avenue and Tokeneke Road to erect a new portion of the railroad bridge.
- Beginning Friday night, March 4 through Friday night, March 18
The roadway will be closed from 10:00PM to 6:00AM each night for work to be performed in order to erect the new bridge steel for Track 4.
To erect the steel, a crane will be in position on the street level to hoist the steel in place. The contractor will require a 3-day consecutive window over the weekend (Friday –Sunday night) to secure the steel. If unfavorable weather conditions are predicted over the 3-day window, the steel placement will be postponed to the following weekend. The Department will provide weekly updates as necessary on the work progress.
During the week (Monday-Thursday), construction work will be performed on the top of the tracks, with limited vehicle and pedestrian access below. The Route 1 underpass will be open each day by 6:00 a.m. to vehicle traffic and pedestrian access.
Drivers will need to follow the posted detour signs during this time.
- Westbound Route 1 traffic will turn right onto Sedgewick Avenue and then left on Leroy Avenue to return to Route 1.
- Eastbound Route 1 traffic will turn left onto Leroy Avenue and then right onto Sedgewick Avenue to return to Route 1.
During this time, local traffic will be permitted to access the railroad facilities and residences, but no traffic will be allowed to pass below the bridge. Traffic control personnel will be on site directing motorists and pedestrians during the construction operations. Pedestrian traffic below the bridge will also be restricted.
Please allow for extra time to reach the train station and board your train. The Connecticut Department of Transportation understands the inconvenience of these closures and will complete this work as quickly as possible. Your patience and cooperation are greatly appreciated.
This work is part of an ongoing project by the Department to replace bridges and catenary on the Metro-North New Haven Line between South Norwalk and Stamford.
Important Health News from Darien Town Hall
LYME DISEASE & TICKS: SOME PREVENTION TIPS.
Please see the attached document for important information from David Knauf, Director of Health, Darien.
"Bag It" at the Library
Written by Barbara T. on 03/01/2011
On Sunday, March 6 at 5:30 p.m., we will present, in an event co-sponsored by Choose to Reuse in Darien, a special screening of the documentary film Bag It.
Choose to Reuse in Darien promotes the use of reusable bags in every aspect of everyday life and seeks to eliminate disposable bags in Darien.
BAG IT – Documentary feature; Not rated; 65 minutes
Jeb Berrier is an average American guy who is admittedly not a “tree hugger.” He makes a pledge to stop using plastic bags. This simple action gets Jeb thinking about all kinds of plastic as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world. When Jeb’s journey takes a personal twist, we see how our crazy-for-plastic world has finally caught up to us and what we can do about it. Today. Right now.
“Bag It” is a film that examines our society’s use and abuse of plastic. The film focuses on plastic as it relates to our society’s throwaway mentality, our culture of convenience, our over consumption of unnecessary, disposable products and packaging – things that we use one time and then, without another thought, throw them away. Where is AWAY?? “Away” is overflowing landfills, clogged rivers, islands 
of trash in our oceans, and even our very own toxic bodies. Jeb travels the globe on a fact-finding mission – not realizing that after his simple resolution, plastic will never look the same again!
To learn more about the film and to watch the trailer, please click here.
A wine and cheese reception will follow the screening.
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s)
Interesting Piano Lesson at Yale Rep
"The Piano Lesson,” is one of many plays about the African American experience that the late August Wilson produced during his long collaboration with Yale Repertory Theatre. Happily, it is currently being revived with a top-notch cast under the superb direction of Liesl Tommy and includes original music by Elsa Davis. The story takes place during the 1930’s in an area of Pittsburg where many Black folk have migrated to from the South. It’s a haunting, morality play that weighs a proud, ancestral heritage against survival, and letting go of the past.
Anyone who has watched “Antiques Road Show” can understand a person’s amazement at learning the high value of an inherited treasure and the subsequent dilemma of whether to insure the object and keep it in the family or to sell it for what it is worth. Sometimes the object’s monetary value is more than the owner’s house. What would you do? In this African American family’s case, an antique, hand-carved piano depicting images of departed relatives means much more than its monetary worth. Its spiritual symbolism and psychological impact evolves into haunting ghosts representing slavery, white ownership and present day guilt.
When “Boy Willie” (LeRoy McClain) accompanied by his friend “Lymon” (Charlie Hudson) invades his sister Berniece’s (Elsa Davis) household and announces that he wants to sell the family’s heir loom piano, half of which is his, in order to buy the land that their family once worked on as slaves, he unleashes a highly emotional drama that affects his sister and the rest of the family which consists of Berniece’s young daughter, “Maretha” (Malenky Welsh) who is expected to inherit the piano, and uncle, “Doaker” (Keith Smith), who is a rail road employee and part time resident. Other members of the cast are Charles Weldon as an itinerant musician, “Wining Boy,” Tyrone Mitchell as Berniece’s new suitor, a minister called “Avery,” and Joniece Pratt as Lymon’s loose girlfriend, “Grace.” The entire cast is outstanding. Several members are multitalented singers and musicians who break out into some piano “Boogie-Woogie” and rhythmic, table slapping, railroad/convict work songs. The recently included “Berta Berta,” is a fine example of a stirring, seldom seen, African American song-style that is certainly worth the hearing and seeing for its own sake.
Be prepared to accept that the play is 3 1/2 hours long with one intermission. Much of it could be cut, but then, part of its prose would be lost. Speaking of language, some members of the audience (alas, truth be said that most attendees were not African American) were standing in line for the women’s rest room and comparing notes. They found it difficult to understand the fast-paced dialect and misinterpreted how some of the characters were related. It would help to further identify the characters in the program notes and slow down the dialogue until the audience gets its drift.
“The Piano Lesson” is a play about the African American experience, but it contains a universal message for all cultures that had to struggle in a new land in order achieve success. The acting is so real that you will feel part of this slice of life. Don’t miss this rare experience.
Plays until February 19. For more information and tickets, call the Box Office: 203-432-1234.
Darien Library, 1441 Post Road, Darien, Connecticut, 06820-5419 · 203-655-1234Directions and Contact Information. Twitter: darienlibrary. AIM & Y!M: deweydarien.