Where is the news here? A Darien teenager, 18, while at home, screamed obscenities and banged on a wall with her fists, causing some damage to it, according to Darien police. She was charged with disorderly conduct and given a written summons to appear in court after police were called to the home last week, police announced Monday in a news release to various news organizations. The answer is that it isn’t news. News organizations covering Darien have no reason to tell the public about it.
A Darien woman dropped off one of her daughter’s 16-year-old friends — reportedly unconscious after drinking — at the friend’s home sometime past midnight on Sunday, according to police. The intoxicated girl’s condition caused her parents to call 911, and a Darien EMS-Post 53 ambulance took the girl to a hospital for evaluation. Police, who also went to the scene, said they later questioned the Darien woman, Amanda Smith, 45, of Gardner Street. Police said: Smith initially said she didn’t know where she’d picked up the intoxicated girl and her friends, then wouldn’t let police talk to her own daughter, then said she’d picked up the girls on Sunswyck Road, but she refused to go with police to help them locate the house where the teenagers were at. Smith was charged with interfering with an investigation, a misdemeanor, and was told to report May 23 to state Superior Court in Stamford.
A 21-year-old Darien man was intoxicated when he got into a minor one-car accident on Mansfield Avenue just before 1:20 a.m., Thursday, May 9, police said. Police described what happened with this account, which also includes accusations not proven in court:
After someone reported the accident to police, officers arrived at the scene and spoke with the driver, who was the only person in the car. Police determined that the driver didn’t need medical attention, but they also saw he was unsteady on his feet, and they could smell alcohol on him. The driver said he had just come from a local “establishment,” (police didn’t say which one or whether it was a bar or restaurant) where he had been drinking. The driver agreed to perform field sobriety tests but failed to perform them to an adequate standard, so he was charged with driving while under the influence and failure to stay on the right side of the road.
A “significant breakage” of a sanitary sewer near the intersection of the Post Road and Birch Road will result in closing off of all traffic at the intersection for periods of time during the day and into the early evening on Tuesday, May 14, Darien police announced Monday afternoon. The intersection is expected to remain closed from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The announcement describes the project as “emergency sewer repair work” to a “main sanitary sewer line in the area.” Here’s the full text of the announcement:
Darien Police Department
Traffic Advisory-Emergency Sewer Repair Work
Location: Boston Post Rd (U.S. Route 1) at Birch Road
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Projected Time: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Due to a significant breakage issue with the main sanitary sewer line in the area of US 1 and Birch Road, contractors working for the Town of Darien Department of Public Works will be performing emergency sewer line replacement on Tuesday, May 14 2019 starting at approximately 6 a.m. The work is expected to go until 8 p.m., Tuesday evening. Access into Birch Road from US 1 will not be available for the majority of the day and motorists will be required to detour into the Birch Road area via Richmond Drive or Brookside Road. Some egress exiting Birch Road may be available for some parts of the day. There will be periods during the work day where both ingress or egress into/out of Birch Road will be unavailable. Motorists are requested to avoid the Birch Road area if possible and to consider alternate routes to their destinations.
Editor’s note: This letter to Justine Mullin and Kate Mastellone of the Hindley Parents Association at Hindley School, was provided to Darienite.com for publication:
Dear Justine and Kate,
On behalf of Darien Human Services, I wanted to thank you and the Hindley Happening chairpersons and committee for your generous support. The Hindley Happening Committee provided gift packages to 13 families in town with admission to the fair, punch cards for rides, and food vouchers. These packages gave local children the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather, rides, carnival games and pizza at the Hindley Happening. The joy you brought to these children (and their parents) was priceless! Thanks, again, for helping us help others.
John Byron Dugdale of Darien died suddenly on May 6, 2019 at Yale New Haven Hospital after complications from a brief illness. He was 61. Born in Stamford Hospital on Aug. 30, 1957, he is survived by his parents, Byron and Lois Dugdale, third-generation residents of Darien; his sisters: Mary Danskin, Anne Gordon; and brother-in-law, Ken Gordon, in New Jersey; and his long time girlfriend, Catherine Beckmann. His younger brother, William L. Dugdale, predeceased him in 1969.
The YWCA Darien/Norwalk has announced the winners of the first annual Stand Against Racism Essay Contest for middle and high school students in Darien and Norwalk. — an announcement from the YWCA Darien/Norwalk
The YW named four winners, one each from both Darien and Norwalk at both the middle and high school levels. The high school-level winners were each awarded a $250 prize and the middle school winners each received a $100 prize. Stand Against Racism is a signature campaign of YWCA USA and is designed to raise awareness about the negative impact of racism in our communities. This campaign is one part of the YWCA’s larger national strategy to fulfill our mission of eliminating racism.
Looking for a fun 2’s program? Now is the time to sign up your child for the YWCA’s ever popular Toddler Time program. Toddler Time is a fun-filled two-hour drop-off program where children have free play, story time, learn new songs, create works of art and make new friends in a class of up to eight students, taught by two experienced teachers. — an announcement from the YWCA Darien Norwalk
It has served as the first drop off program experience for many children in the community. It takes place at the YWCA Darien Norwalk, 49 Old King’s Hwy.
Public transportation is a money-losing proposition. But Connecticut is home to one of the few profitable transit companies in the U.S. It’s not CT Transit or Metro-North, both of which are heavily subsidized. No, the operation that’s squarely in the black is the Bridgeport–Port Jefferson Steamboat Company, a.k.a. “the ferry.”
“If you tried to start this ferry company today, you couldn’t do it,” says the ferry company’s chief operating officer, Fred Hall. Today’s ferry is a legacy of the 1883 cross-Sound service run by PT Barnum. Hall has been on the boats since 1976 when he worked weekends as a bartender as a “side-hustle” to his advertising job in New York City. In those days they used to run a Friday and Saturday night “Rock the Sound” cruise leaving Port Jefferson at 10 pm. Complete with a live rock band and a lot of drinking (the legal age then was 18), the three hour cruise drew 600 passengers a night. From there Hall was promoted to general manager of the Bridgeport terminal, assistant general manager and finally to vice president in charge of the entire operation. And he thoroughly enjoys his work, commuting from his home on Long Island to inspect the three-vessel fleet several times a week. He’s not alone: the ferry carries almost 100 daily walk-on commuters, crossing in both directions, who are an important indicator of the economy’s strength to Hall.
The trails of Dunlap and Selleck’s Woods will be transformed into a magical place of exploration and discovery from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, May 19, Trails Discovery Day. The popular Trails Discovery Day has returned with a broad array of activities for families and individuals of all ages interested in having fun in the woods while learning about flora, fauna and the environment. A joint effort of the Friends of Selleck’s Woods, the Darien Land Trust and Darien Parks & Recreation Department, Trails Discovery Day is free and open to the public. It will be set up at the end of Parkland Drive with a reception area and plenty of parking. Ringside Grill Food Truck will be on location selling hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks.
Six Darien food-serving establishments each received an “A” — the best rating in the town’s A-B-C health inspection ratings system, and two others got a “B” in the nine most recent reports released Thursday by Darien Health Department. None of the inspections resulted in the worst rating — “C” — for any of the establishments. The eight inspections took place between April 24 and May 2. Keep in mind that a food-serving establishment with a history of good ratings may occasionally get a poor inspection rating, occasionally the best do, and every restaurant normally gets a few things wrong. Here’s an alphabetical list of the most recently released health inspection results (an explanation of how this list is put together is immediately below it):
—Bistro Baldanza — 1020 Post Road — April 29 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 91
—Browne & Company — 865 Post Road — May 1 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 97
—Driftwood Diner — 171 Post Road — April 26 — Town Rating: A — State Score: 97
—Mama Carmela’s — 1981 Post Road — April 29 — Town Rating: B — State Score: 91
—McDonald’s — Darien North rest stop, Interstate 95 — April 24 — Town Rating: A— State Score: 91
3 Glenwood Drive
Darien
$769,000
Sat & Sun, 2-4:00 PM
459 Hoyt Street
Darien
$749,000
Saturday, 1-3:00 PM
9 Pine Brook Lane
Darien
$700,000
Saturday, 2-4:00 PM
4 Catherine Street
Darien
$699,000
Saturday, 1-3:00 PM
15 Hale Lane
Darien
$525,000
Sunday, 1-3:00 PM
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Deirdre McGovern is a real estate agent who has called Darien home for more than 25 years. She has been involved in many local organizations. She can be reached at 203-554-0897or deirdre.mcgovern@raveis.com
In response to popular demand, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is making tickets available for individual films in this Saturday’s exclusive IMAX Theater presentation of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. —an announcement from the Maritime Aquarium
Tickets are $20 each for “Batman Begins” at noon, “The Dark Knight” at 3 p.m. and “The Dark Knight Rises” at 8 p.m., all playing May 11t on the Aquarium’s six-story IMAX screen, the largest in Connecticut. (As a bonus for ticket-holders to the 8 p.m. movie, a videotaped “Dark Knight” Q&A with Nolan will be shown at 7:30 p.m.)
Discounted tickets for the entire trilogy remain on sale as well, for $50. Guests buying tickets for the trilogy will receive a keepsake lanyard and rare “Dark Knight” collectible. The Maritime Aquarium is one of only five theaters in the U.S. offering this special IMAX engagement of the “Dark Knight” trilogy, presented to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Batman’s first appearance in a comic book.
Darien EMS-Post 53 announced it will begin pre-selling admission tickets for its annual Memorial Day Food Fair outside select stores and restaurants starting May 10. — an announcement from Darien EMS-Post 53
“Make this annual Darien tradition a breeze when you arrive following the parade with your tickets in hand! No waiting in line. Get right to the fun!” said Gayle Close, co-chair of ticket sales for the Post 53 Food Fair. “Thanks to select local retailers, tickets to the Fair will be on sale over the next few weeks,” Close said.
