Community Organizations
Susan Cator Emily Larkin Arocha

Community Fund of Darien’s Emily Larkin Arocha Named One of Fairfield County’s ’40 Under 40′

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Emily Larkin Arocha, who has led the Community Fund of Darien’s Thriving Youth Initiative, has been picked as one of Fairfield County Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” promising people in the county. Since October 2015, Arocha, who uses her maiden name professionally, has led the Thriving Youth Initiative with a mission of promoting healthy youth development by improving thriving indicators and reducing risk factors such as substance abuse and poor mental health. Her greatest accomplishment, according to an announcement from the Community Fund, has been her leadership of the innovative public health social media campaign, titled “06820,” to reduce teenage binge drinking in Darien. Susan Cator, president of the Darien Chamber of Commerce, nominated Larkin, who uses her maiden name professionally. “The Darien Chamber of Commerce nominated Emily for the 40 Under 40 award due to her contributions to the Darien community, especially the teens of our town,” Cator said.

Art Exhibits

Darien Student Wins 1st Place in Oils Category, Another Darienite Gets 3rd Place for Photo in Rowayton Art Exhibit

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“Dual Nature,” a painting by Lucy Armstrong, a student in Darien, has won first place in the oil painting category of  the “Focus Under Forty” exhibit and arts competition at Rowayton Arts Center. Amit Cherbuchaw also of Darien won 3rd Place the Color Photography, “Joy.” Lucy will be one of the featured artists in the upcoming, Artists Talk on Wednesday night at RAC.  

The show is for artists from the ages of 16 to 39, and it runs through this Sunday, June  24 (from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day). Armstrong will be part of the panel discussion on Wednesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. where the young artists will talk about their art and what inspires it.

Beyond Darien
Allison Molkenthin contributed photo

Darienite Allison Molkenthin To Be an Honoree at 2018 Fulbright Awards Dinner

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Allison Gushée Molkenthin, a YWCA Darien/Norwalk 2018 Woman of Distinction, will be honored on May 22 in New York City at One To World’s 2018 Fulbright Awards Dinner. A longtime Darien resident who has contributed to many important causes locally, Ms. Molkenthin was a Fulbright scholar to Morocco and earned her MBA from INSEAD in France. __________

— an announcement from One To World

__________

She has been a managing director at Bentley Associates L.P. since 1999, working on international transactions, and was previously president and COO of UI USA, the U.S. merchant banking arm of Crédit Agricôle. She began her career at Bankers Trust, working in New York, London, Milan and Paris. “We are proud to be honoring Allison as a business leader who has furthered the Fulbright vision by fostering respect and cooperation across borders throughout her career,” said Jen E. Clarke, Executive Director of One To World.

Darienites
YWCA of Darien/Norwalk Women of Distinction Logo

Meet the Six ‘Women of Distinction’ To Be Honored Thursday by YWCA of Darien-Norwalk

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These six Darien and Norwalk women will be celebrated Thursday by YWCA Darien/Norwalk and a crowd of well-wishers at the 2018 Women of Distinction Awards and Luncheon at Woodway Country Club. This year’s distinguished honorees at the annual event are Carrie Bernier, Tina Duryea, Scarlett Lewis, Allison Molkenthin and Wendy Ward, along with Emma Dahlquist, named this year’s Young Woman of Distinction, an award recognizing outstanding accomplishments of a woman under 21. The Women of Distinction Award is bestowed in recognition of the outstanding achievements of a select group of women. Local residents and business owners nominate women who live or work in Darien and Norwalk whose significant and unique contributions have made a difference in our community. The YWCA website is no longer accepting registrations for the lunch.

Darienites
Lenny Hunter VFW 6933 GoFundMe page

Darien VFW Commander Lenny Hunter Out of Hospital, Fundraising Continues

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Lenny Hunter, Darien’s VFW Commander and a longtime Post Office employee, is out of the hospital and continuing to recuperate, local veterans said on Veterans Day. Hunter suffered serious injuries when a car hit him as he worked as a school crossing guard in Bridgeport on Sept. 13. Both of his legs were broken and his skull received fractures. “He’s laid up right now, and he’s been laid up, and he will be laid up for quite a while,” Dave Polett told the crowd at the Darien Veterans Day ceremony on Saturday.

Darienites
Robert Fiske Jr. of Darien 10-26-17

Former Whitewater Special Prosecutor Robert Fiske Jr. Speaks Wednesday at St Luke’s

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It’s been 23 years since a White House staffer’s mysterious death, charges of corruption and rumors about the president led to a special prosecutor’s appointment. That was Whitewater in 1994, and that special prosecutor was Darien resident Robert Fiske Jr.

But Fiske’s illustrious legal career dealt with much more:  Three Mile Island, the Americas Cup, drug lords and yes, even doing legal battle with Donald Trump. _____

— an announcement from St. Luke’s Parish

_____

 

It’s all detailed in his 2014 book, Prosecutor, Defender, Counselor: The Memoirs of Robert B Fiske Jr.
Fiske is also a former member of the Darien Police Commission. Now Fiske will tell his own story — and answer questions — at 7 p.m., Wednesday Nov.

Darienites
Peter Eder thumbnail AARP award 08-16-17

Peter Eder of Darien Recognized by AARP Connecticut with Top Volunteer Award

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Peter F. Eder of Darien has been selected by AARP Connecticut to receive the 2017 Andrus Award for Community Service, the Association’s most prestigious state volunteer award, for his outstanding volunteerism and commitment to the community. Eder was recognized for his leadership as a community engagement specialist, focusing on home and community based elder programs.

____________

— an announcement, slightly adapted, from AARP Connecticut

____________

He is a founding and still active board member of At Home in Darien and currently serves on the Darien Commission on Aging and the board of directors of the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority. He has also been an AARP state and national volunteer since 2007. “I am so thankful to all the caregivers and care receivers who have trained and inspired me,” Eder said. “Individually and collectively, they have defined for me ‘the common good.’ It is on their behalf that I joyfully accept this honor.”

The Andrus Award will be formally presented to Eder at a local ceremony in October.

Darienites
Falkenrath Murphy Palace Theater 2017 04-07-17

Two Darien Teens Win Playwright Awards from Stamford’s Palace Theatre

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On May 1, two Darien teenagers will experience the joy of live theater in a whole new way — as playwrights — when professional actors perform stage readings of the original one-act plays the teens wrote in a competition for Stamford’s Palace Theatre. Here’s the Palace Theatre announcement of the awards:

Darien residents Olivia Falkenrath and Quinn Murphy, along with Ryan Polistena from Bethel were named winners of The Palace Theatre’s 2017 Ernie DiMattia Emerging Young Artist Scholarship Awards for their writing of an original one-act play. All three will witness their voices and visions come to life with a staged reading by professional actors at The Palace in Stamford. Olivia Falkenrath, a 10th grade student at Greenwich Academy, was awarded first place — a $1,000 scholarship — for her play, “New Beginnings.”

The Palace also recognized Brunswick School 10th grader Quinn Murphy with a second place scholarship of $500 for “Siblings” and Ryan Polistena, a graduating senior at Bethel High School, with a third place $250 scholarship for his work, “Dilemma of the Single Chair.”

The Palace has brought in Broadway veteran Luis Salgado to guest direct the staged reading, which will be attended by the playwrights’ parents, teachers and friends as well as Stamford Center for the Arts board members and Spotlight Soiree gala sponsors. A well-known performer, director, choreographer and producer, Luis Salgado’s 20-year career spans Broadway, film, television, and stages around the world.

Darienites
Women of Distinction 2017 invitation 04-05-17

Meet the Six ‘Women of Distinction’ for 2017 Announced by YWCA Darien/Norwalk

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Six women from Darien and Norwalk who have been active in various causes and institutions meant to improve the lives of people have been named “2017 Women of Distinction” by the YWCA Darien/Norwalk. An award luncheon is scheduled for May 4 at Woodway Country Club to honor these six women (information below is from the YW website, and we’ve included the full biographical information further down in this article:

Kara Nelson Baekey of Norwalk, founder of the Fairfield County chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Mindy Garcia of Norwalk, who works at Norwalk Community Health Center “is being recognized on behalf of the hundred[s] of staff members, clinicians and countless patients’ families she has touched […] for over 10 years.” Catalina Horak of Darien, brought a Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based group, Neighbors Link (now named Building One Community), to Stamford in 2011 to serve an immigrant community that now makes up 37 percent of the city’s population. When she first opened the office, she was the sole employee in Stamford.

Darienites
Chloe Sevigny by Arthur Kade 02-19-17

Actor Chloe Sevigny Talks Again About Growing Up in Darien, This Time Not as Harshly

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Five years after actor Chloe Sevigny dumped scorn on her hometown of Darien, she and a writer from “T” magazine, the New York Times fashion newspaper supplement, paid a visit to the town talk about her childhood. This time the criticism is vaguer and less harsh. The (fawning) article includes several pictures of various Darien landmarks, sometimes with Sevigny in the picture: Weed Beach, Middlesex Middle School, Puritan Stationery, Post Corner Pizza. She also was hanging out in New Canaan during those years, so there are pictures of her at a Mobil gas station and Waveny mansion, too. In this story there isn’t a quote blasting the town equivalent to some of the quotes she gave in an interview with the British newspaper, The Independent, in May 2012.

Community Organizations
Town Hall

Town Human Services Director Olive Hauser to Retire in April

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Olive Hauser, the town director of human services, plans to retire on April 3 after working in the Human Services Department for 26 years and heading it up since 2008. Her retirement was mentioned at the quarterly town department heads meeting with the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday morning. Hauser said in a brief interview that she’s at retirement age and wants to spend time as a volunteer working on activities related to social services, including At Home in Darien. “My plans are to continue to serve in the community,” she said. “I’d like to be able to take on some new things in human services that I haven’t had time to” because of time spent at work, she said.

Darienites
David Snow Lynette Snow Family 9-19-16

Snow Family of Darien Pledges to Match $1 Million in Clemson University Fundraiser

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David and Lynette Snow of Darien will match up to $1 million in funds raised through Clemson University’s student affairs advancement staff to complete the intramural field complex on Hartwell Lake. _____________

— an announcement from Clemson University in Clemson, S.C.

_____________

This latest pledge is in addition to the $2.4 million the Snows gave to this project in 2014. The Snows, whose daughter Ashley graduated from Clemson in 2015, serve on the vice president’s executive council for student affairs and served on the record-breaking “The Will to Lead” capital campaign committee. David also serves on the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism board. The Snows became the most generous Clemson parents who aren’t alumni in university history with their original gift.“We are very grateful to the Snow family for their continued support of Clemson,” said President James P. Clements.

Darienites
Dr. Karen Singer-Freeman

Darien Professor at Purchase College Heads up Program to get Under-represented Groups in Biomedical Sciences

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Dr. Karen Singer-Freeman of Darien is one of two professors at Purchase College heading up a campus program that aims to improve the participation of underrepresented groups in biomedical sciences. Under the direction of Singer-Freeman and Dr. Linda Bastone, the MARC U-STAR program is set up to develop the academic, social, and economic capital of underrepresented STEM students interested in pursuing careers in the biomedical sciences. The nationwide program’s name comes from “Maximizing Access to Research Careers” and “Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research.” According to a National Institute of Health Web page, “[U]nderrepresented students are individuals belonging to particular groups that have been determined by the grantee institution to be underrepresented in biomedical research.” The honors program is meant to prepare students for success by providing research opportunities, scholarships, and professional development.

Darienites
How to make a palm cross 3-20-16

How to Make a Palm Sunday Cross [Video]

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My father, the late Anthony Gurliacci of Darien, learned how to make crosses out of the palm reeds given out on Palm Sunday, and he taught me. In 2013, I wrote this article for Darien Patch, republished on various other Patch websites, and included this video, still on Youtube, so you can learn how to do it, too:

 

 

Darienites
Jamie Swiggart deployment thumbnail

Jamie Swiggart: Flying, Sailing, Service to His Country and His Community

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Former Darien resident Jamie Swiggart, whose life was cut short in a plane crash on Thursday, Dec. 17,  loved to fly, loved to sail and loved to serve others, his mother, Carolyn, recalled on Wednesday. “He loved people,” she said in an email. “Look at what he did during his life: Boy Scouts, Post 53, Navy — it was all about service to his country and to his community.” James H. Swiggart, 31, was flying a two-seater in Florida, his 18-year-old cousin, Maitland Harvey, in the passenger seat, when the plane went down in low-visibility conditions, according to news reports.