Several Darien Motor Vehicles Entered Overnight, Teens in Stolen Car Seen, Later Arrested in Clinton

Positive Train Control to Meet Dec 31 Deadline on Metro-North’s Connecticut Tracks

Darien Nature Center to Create Forest and Pond Exhibit with $50K Grant from Darien Foundation

Man Struck by Train Near Noroton Heights Station Identified as 50-Year-Old from New Canaan

Ring’s End Inc. Board Chairman Douglas Campbell Passes Away in Florida

Youth Vaping Discussion: What Can Be Done at the State, Federal, Local Levels

New Canaan Teens Found with Vodka, Marijuana, Just Over Darien Border

Letter: At Home In Darien Thanks Volunteers Helping Seniors by Raking Leaves

Wallets of Shoppers at Supermarket Targeted by Organized Thieves Last Thursday, Friday

Arguably the Most Famous Train in American History: Cameron on Transportation

Darien Community Wellness Extends Its Stay at Noroton Heights Shopping Center

Mountainside Treatment Center Offers New Therapy Group for Women

Series of Seasonal, One-Hour Music Concerts Coming to Grace Farms in December

DCA Offers 2 Options to Learn and Play Mah Jongg in January

Bridge 3 Classes at the DCA from January to February 2019

Events Calendar

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | December 19, 2018

Transportation

By DARIENITE.COM | December 19, 2018

Community Organizations

By DARIENITE.COM | December 18, 2018

Public Safety

By MICHAEL DINAN | December 18, 2018

Obituaries

By David Gurliacci | December 18, 2018

Beyond Darien

By GREENWICH FREE PRESS | December 18, 2018

Public Safety

By MICHAEL DINAN | December 18, 2018

Charity Events and Opportunities

By DARIENITE.COM | December 18, 2018

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | December 17, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | December 16, 2018

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | December 16, 2018

Healthy Living

By DARIENITE.COM | December 16, 2018

Holidays

By DARIENITE.COM | December 16, 2018

Darien Community Association

By DARIENITE.COM | December 16, 2018

Darien Community Association

By DARIENITE.COM | December 16, 2018

On Revere Road, a group of teenagers was seen checking whether cars were locked, at about 1:30 a.m., Saturday, police said. That night when several cars at different spots in town were entered and some items were stolen from them. A witness gave police the license plate number of the SUV the teens used when they left. Four teenagers were later arrested in Clinton early the same morning — inside the same SUV, which had been stolen in New Haven, according to police. Darien police gave this description of the various incidents that night, including accusations which haven’t been proven in court (and without charges yet filed by Darien police against anyone):

The first report of a vehicle being entered during that overnight period came from the owner of a 2018 Mitsubishi Outback, which was parked at 14 Midbrook Lane at 7:30 p.m.

By 11:30 p.m., the owner returned to the SUV to find that a backpack valued at $50 was missing, along with a U.S. passport.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday that every passenger rail line in Connecticut will have positive train control (PTC) installed on their systems by Dec. 31, 2018. — an announcement from Gov. Dannel Malloy’s office, followed by an announcement by the Commuter Action Group, reacting to the announcement. That fulfilling a recently enacted requirement by the Federal Railroad Administration for every passenger rail line in the country to implement the safety measure by the end of the year. [Metro-North rail lines in New York state have received approval for a postponement of PTC on rail lines in that state until 2020, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.]

PTC is a system designed to stop a train automatically before an accident occurs, including preventing train-to-train collisions, derailments caused by excessive train speed, movement of a train onto sections of track where maintenance work is taking place, and incidents when a track switch has been left in the wrong position.

Facebook size pic Shelly the Box Turtle at Darien Nature Center smiles

The Darien Nature Center will be getting a major upgrade to its Animal Exhibit Room, thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Darien Foundation. The Nature Center says it will create a New England Forest and Pond Ecosystem exhibit that will showcase native turtle species in their habitat along with other pond wildlife. — an announcement from Darien Nature Center

“We are so grateful for the Darien Foundation’s endorsement of our plans to bring the fascinating world of a typical New England pond to life,” said Nature Center Executive Director Leila Wetmore. “Our turtle tanks are the most popular elements of our Animal Room and we’ve been wanting to enhance them for a while now for the benefit of both the animals and our visitors.”

Plans for the 50-square foot ecosystem project include multiple viewing angles, including a window into the underwater area of the pond where visitors will have the opportunity to see from a turtle or fish’s perspective. There will be an illuminated cascading waterfall for ambiance and natural aeration of the pond.

Authorities on Monday identified the man fatally struck by a train in Darien last week as a New Canaan resident. John Hickey, 50, died after an eastbound train struck him near Noroton Heights station at approximately 7:35 p.m. Thursday, Metro-North Railroad spokesman Aaron Donovan told NewCanaanite.com. It isn’t clear why he was on the tracks. The Metropolitan Transit Authority Police and Darien Police Department are investigating. The New Haven-bound train had left Grand Central Terminal at 6:49 p.m.

Darienite.com will have more information as it becomes available.

Douglas Campbell passed away died obit square thumbnail

Douglas Campbell, a former member of the Darien Police Commission and chairman of the board at Ring’s End Inc., passed away Monday morning at his home in Sanibel, Florida, the company said in a brief announcement. First Selectman Jayme Stevenson noted his passing at Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting. Campbell started at Ring’s End, headquartered on West Avenue, 63 years ago, in 1955. At Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Stevenson said:

“I would like to sadly announce that former police commissioner and long-time resident and business owner Doug Campbell passed away, unfortunately. “He lived a great life; he was 90 years old; and I’m sure we’ll find out what […] services may be planned for him, but if you know his family, either Nancy Herling or any of the Campbell family, please extend your condolences.”

What the state Legislature and government in general can do to reduce vaping among teenagers was one of the main topics of a meeting Monday, where area legislators met with people on the frontlines of the effort in local communities: school officials, police

Although legislators sat at a table facing the audience, more than one participant in the crowd and at the table said that keeping teens away from vaping is primarily a local battle, and a lot of the discussion was about local efforts. — This article was published Monday by Greenwich Free Press. About 100 people were at the event, organized by Communities 4 Action, which also included area health officials, social workers, psychologists and local government leaders, including Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson. The meeting, a “legislative breakfast” at the Jewish Community Center in Stamford, was organized b y Communities 4 Action, a group that seeks to reduce substance misuse among youths and adults. Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling vapors and electronic (e-cigarettes) are the most widely used tobacco product among teens.

New Canaan police cited two teenagers from that town for infraction-level offenses midday Monday, Dec. 17 after finding them with alcohol and marijuana about a block north of the border with Darien, police said. — This article originally was published by NewCanaanite.com. New Canaan police provided this information, including accusations not proven in court:

At about 12:04 p.m., officers saw a 19-year-old walk into the woods off of South Avenue near Charter Oak Drive and retrieve a bag. He then stood near a parked vehicle.

Volunteers St. Luke's Parish At Home In Darien

To the editor:

At Home In Darien would like to thank the many volunteers who participated in this fall’s senior leaf raking program. Students in the St. Thomas More Youth Group of Darien, Church of Latter Day Saints Youth Darien Ward, Darien YMCA Adventure Guides and Princesses, the St. Luke’s of Darien’s Confirmands [those going through confirmation], Darien United Methodist Church and the Community Council from Darien High School all spent 400 hours raking, bagging and hauling numerous piles of leaves from the homes of 23 Darien seniors. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to these groups and individuals for their kindness and service to the community.

Thieves working together took wallets from two distracted shoppers at Whole Foods supermarket in Darien at least twice last week, in one case when a shopper was distracted when ordering sushi, and in another case when someone working with the other thieves distracted a shopper, Darien police said. Police didn’t say whether or not any of the thieves in one case were the same ones on both days. Police described each of the incidents with these accounts:
First Theft
The first theft was reported to police at 12:58 p.m., Thursday. Police reviewed store surveillance video, which showed a group of three women working together. One woman engaged the victim in conversation while the other two worked together to remove the victim’s wallet from her purse.

The 20th Century Limited was arguably the most famous train in American history, running between Grand Central Terminal and Chicago, offering the finest in accommodations and services for 65 years. The first of these trains ran in 1902, making the journey in 20 hours, four hours faster than before. By 1905, the running time was reduced to 18 hours. The operator, New York Central Railroad, offered each passenger $1 per hour for any delays because it was so confident in its on-time performance. That was when a one-way fare was about $50 for a sleeping section.

The co-proprietors of Darien Community Wellness, a holistic and integrative wellness center, have announced that they are extending the pop-up business’s stay at the Noroton Heights Shopping Center into 2019. Darien Community Wellness, at 300 Heights Road, next to Heights Pizza, offers a range of holistic and integrative therapies, BEMER Sessions, fitness classes, wellness workshops. It is a joint venture of Allison Stolar, CEO of Inspire Train Fit, and Margarita Xistris of Darien Community Wellness. Services currently offered at the center include corrective exercise, PNF stretching, fascia release therapy, fitness classes, yoga, aromatherapy, meditation, Reiki, and BEMER Sessions as well as wellness workshops and other events. Offerings coming in the New Year include yoga classes, stretching classes, wellness workshops, Reiki healing circles, meditation, dream board workshops, Thai massage, acupuncture sessions and additional BEMER sessions and training.

Mountainside Wilton continues to expand its offerings. As part of its Outpatient Services program, the treatment center now offers a dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) informed skills group for women in the community. — an announcement from Mountainside Treatment Center
These weekly 90-minute sessions are designed to strengthen each group member’s recovery by putting emotion regulation and stress management techniques into practice. Group members will learn how to be less emotionally reactive and recognize maladaptive behaviors that decrease their well-being. Through mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness techniques, emotion regulation practices, and distress tolerance skills, group members are empowered to navigate challenges even when they are living in invalidating environments.

Grace Farms Foundation offers visitors its Songs of the Season program, a series of free one-hour afternoon concerts featuring improvisational arrangements of seasonal music performed by local musicians. — an announcement from Grace Farms
Songs of the Season will take place on Dec. 19, 22, 26 and 28 from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Sanctuary, which overlooks Grace Farms’ 80-acre preserve at 365 Lukes Wood Road in New Canaan.

“Songs of the Seasons offers visitors a break from the holiday craze to reflect and contemplate in a welcoming environment,” said Chelsea Thatcher, director of communications & marketing at Grace Farms Foundation. “The diverse lineup of musicians lends unique voices to classic seasonal music, and we’re excited to showcase our community’s talented artists.” Concert Series Schedule

Wednesday, Dec.

Popular instructor and longtime Darien resident Donna Holt is at the Darien Community Association to teach two different classes to learn and play Mah Jongg based on your ability. Mah Jongg: Learn to Play classes

Try this four week session with longtime Darien resident and instructor Donna Holt.

Beginners will learn the basics: how to identify tiles and understand the Mah Jongg card, and how to select and strengthen a winning hand. Rules and strategies of play as well as game etiquette will be covered. Please order your 2018 card at nationalmahjonggleague.org once class is confirmed. This class is offered on four Tuesdays (Jan.

The Darien Community Association (DCA) is offering Bridge 3 classes starting in January. Bridge 3 will pick up where Bridge 2 left off starting with a review of basics. The new topics will include Stayman and Jacoby Transfers after NT openings. Also covered will be basic defense and play of the hand. — an announcement from the Darien Community Association

Each class begins with an oral lesson followed by play of the hand.

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