Bethel Daily Briefing: Thursday, April 12, 2012

Today  is Thursday,  April 12, 2012

TODAY'S WEATHER from the National Weather Forecast

Thursday: Scattered showers, mainly between 11am and 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. North wind between 8 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 33. North wind between 3 and 7 mph. 

GARDEN HINTS 

I have tried bringing my Boston ferns inside for the winter, but they dry out too fast. How should I protect them?

Boston ferns need temperatures of 68 to 75 degrees F during the day and 50 to 69 degrees F at night. They also require humidity between 50 and 80 percent, and they don't like drafts. Boston ferns stop growing from fall to winter and should be kept at 50 degrees during this dormant stage, with minimal watering so the soil is barely moist, and no fertilizer. During the dry winter, mist the leaves twice a day. The fern's root system can occupy up to three quarters of the solid space in the pot without harm, and in fact, the plant does not like to be repotted.

that should go in when it's cool.

QUOTE OF THE DAY from Brainy Quotes

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Anais Nin

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Student Achievements

Eastern Connecticut State University student Morgan Osiecki '15 from Bethel, CT, participated in an alternative Presidents Day weekend trip to Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center in Greenfield, NH. Osiecki is a Psychology major.

During the five-day alternative break, Eastern students, led by Brit Cava, the AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer and Event Coordinator in Eastern's Center for Community Engagement, worked alongside Crotched Mountain staff and visited residents with brain injuries. Students visited both an adult and children's hospital, where they interacted with patients by talking and reading to them. Some patients taught the students card games. Students and residents participated in arts and crafts projects, including making postcards to send to families. They also sang karaoke and had a movie night together. During a beach-themed party in the Crotched Mountain gym, students helped decorate, played volleyball and danced with residents.

Students also helped clean and paint five rooms in a house in Greenville owned by Crotched Mountain that is used as an adult day center.

"All of the students on the trip were highly engaged with the activities and wanted to participate in those that were not even planned," said Cava. "I was really impressed by how much they all wanted to continue volunteering. The staff offered the students opportunities for future internships due to their hard work over the weekend.

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Derek Schmuecker '12 of Bethel, CT, was one of 11 students representing the Eastern Connecticut State University campus chapter of the American Marketing Association at the 34th Annual International Collegiate AMA (American Marketing Association) Conference in New Orleans, LA, on March 22-24. Schmuecker's major is History and Social Science.

"We've had a lot of new and innovative ideas and have worked hard to stay consistent with our original plans for the academic year," said AMA Club President Robert Regan of Enfield. "I'm very proud of our dedicated executive board and committed members."

Eastern's AMA chapter took home a number of awards, including Outstanding Chapter Plan, Outstanding Annual Report, Outstanding Community Service and Outstanding Professional Development. The chapter also received awards for raising organ donor awareness through AMA Saves Lives by placing fourth in both Video Uploads and Facebook Posts.

The awards were the result of a year-long competition in various categories among other universities' AMA chapters. This year also marked the 75th anniversary of the conception of the American Marketing Association. The conference brought together more than 1,400 students and their faculty advisors so that students could learn about career paths within the marketing field from experienced representatives of top companies.

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 Danbury State Legislators to Hold Town Hall Meeting

If you mised the legislators visit to Bethel, you have a second chance to tell your politicians your views.

State Representatives Jan Giegler (R-138) and Dan Carter (R-2) and State Senator Michael McLachlan (R-24) will host a Town Hall Meeting in Danbury on Monday, April 16, from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm.

The legislators will be discussing the Jobs Bill passed in 2011 and policy for the 2012 legislative session. They will also be taking questions from the audience on these and other state and community matters of concern.

Due to the possibility of the legislature being called into session, please check www.RepCarter.com or www.RepJanGiegler.com for any cancellations prior to the scheduled meeting date.

The event will be held in Room 3C on the 3rd Floor of Danbury City Hall, which is located at 155 Deer Hill Avenue, Danbury, Conn. The event is free and open to the public.

UNITED WATER will be doing annual flushing of the fire hydrants in our Bethel systems starting Tuesday April 10th through Friday April 13th.

We will be sending out a rapid alert to our Bethel customers to notify them of the hydrant flushing.  Please email or call me if you have any questions. Kenneth Skov Operations Support Manager, UNITED WATER CONNECTICUT - ken.skov@unitedwater.com Phone: 860-354-4118

Bethel Garden Club Meeting & Program Open to All

The Bethel Garden Club holds monthly meetings and programs, except for January, February, July, and August. The next meeting will be Friday, April 13 at 10:00 a.m. in Meeting Room B of the Bethel Municipal Center. A special program follows at 11:00 a.m. entitled “Beatrix Farrand, Rediscovered.” Local garden writer and speaker Colleen Plimpton entertains and enlightens with a one-hour presentation of the life, times, and work of Farrand, the distinguished American landscape-gardener. The Bethel Garden Club cordially invites the general public to all meetings and programs. For more information, please call Club President Karen de Leon at 203-798-8156 Free, Municipal Center

Northern Fairfield County Blue Star Mothers

Welcome! To the Northern Fairfield County, Blue Star Mothers, CT Chapter 4.　 We are a chapter, based in Bethel, of ALL (mothers,  step-mothers & Mothers-in-laws) who currently have or have had Active Duty and Honorably Discharged Service men and Women. 

This is an open invitation to any mother who now has, or has had, children honorably serving in the military from within the Upper Fairfield County, CT or Putnam County, NY area to join a new, local chapter of Blue Star Mothers of America (BSMA).

The Northern Fairfield County Chapter of Blue Star Mothers meets monthly on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at the Stony Hill Fire Department, 59 Stony Hill Road, Bethel, at 7:00 PM for socializing and support and 7:30 for a business meeting. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 10th at 7:00 PM. For more information,

Cooking Together (for kids 3 - 5 years old... and parents too) Thursdays, 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM Classes run for 6 weeks (4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3 & 5/10)

Cooking is a great skill for children of any age. You’re never too young to have fun in the kitchen! In these classes Chef Robin will work with you and your children to create delicious meals. Emphasis will be on introducing kids to healthy, new foods. It’s amazing what they’ll taste when they prepare it themselves!

$20 each class. $110 if you purchase all 6 in advance.

5K War Memorial Tribute Run Early Registration Period

Bethel’s Joseph W. Tarrant, Jr. American Legion Memorial Post 100 has finalized plans to host its inaugural 5K War Memorial Tribute Run in honor of our nations fallen war heroes.The event is scheduled to start at 8am, Saturday May 19th 2012 at the Bethel Municipal Center.

 Proceeds from the event will benefit the American Legion Scholarship Fund which aides veterans and children of veterans through individually awarded scholarships to offset the cost of higher education, books, supplies, and institutional fees. For more information, click here:

Western Connecticut State University Community Events

APR. 12 CHILD CARE CABARET: WCSU will present the Child Care Cabaret at 7 p.m. in the Westside Campus Center Ballroom on the university’s Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. This fundraiser for the WCSU Child Care Center will bring performers from all corners of the campus together in an uplifting combination of music, dance and comedy. The public is invited; tickets will be $15. WCSU students with valid I.D. will be admitted for $5. For more information, call (203) 837-8266.

APR. 12 COFFEEHOUSE: WCSU will present the Midtown Coffeehouse at 8 p.m. in Alumni Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. The coffeehouse will include an all-night open mic. Admission will be free and the public is invited. Donations to sustain the Coffeehouse will be accepted. Call (203) 837-9700 or visit www.wcsu.edu/stuaffairs/Coffeehouse.aspfor more information.

APR. 13 “UNITING AS ONE” EVENT: WCSU will host the “Uniting as One” event to serve the homeless population of Danbury from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Bill Williams Gymnasium in Berkshire Hall on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Multiple agencies will provide a wide array of free services, including lunch, to people without homes. For more information, send an email to williams280@connect.wcsu.edu.

SCHOLARSHIPS

BETHEL VISITING NURSE ASSOC. SCHOLARSHIP NEWS

Applications for the Mary Edna Cargill Scholarship offered by the Bethel Visiting Nurse Association is available at www.bethelvna.org.  This scholarship is awarded to one or more Bethel residents enrolled in or accepted to a degree program in a health-related field.  Applications must be completed by May 1st, 2012

For more information,  

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 The Bethel Public Library Board of Directors is offering a one-year $500 scholarship to a high school senior who is a resident of the Town of Bethel and who plans to attend an accredited degree-granting institution.

Applications are now available at the Bethel Public Library and at the guidance offices of Bethel High School, Immaculate High School, Henry Abbott Tech, and the Wooster School, as well as online at www.bethellibrary.org.  Completed applications and all required supporting documents must be submitted before 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday April 25, 2012 at the Bethel Public Library, 189 Greenwood Avenue, Bethel.   For more information, please contact the Library at 203-794-8756 ex. 6.

SCHOOL DATE REMINDERS

 April 12 – Conference Day – Early Dismissal – JS

April 12 – Professional Development Day – Early Dismissal – BMS & BHS

April 16-20 – Spring Recess

TODAY IN HISTORY from On This Day

 1096 - Peter the Hermit gathered his army in Cologne. 

 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople. 

 1606 - England adopted the original Union Jack as its flag. 

 1770 - The British Parliament repealed the Townsend Acts. 

 1811 - The first colonists arrived at Cape Disappointment, Washington. 

 1861 - Fort Sumter was shelled by Confederacy, starting America's Civil War. 

 1877 - A catcher's mask was used in a baseball game for the first time by James Alexander Tyng. 

 1892 - Voters in Lockport, New York, became the first in the U.S. to use voting machines. 

 1934 - F. Scott Fitzgerald novel "Tender Is the Night" was first published. 

 1945 - In New York, the organization of the first eye bank, the Eye Bank for Sight Restoration, was announced. 

 1945 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Warm Spring, GA. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63. Harry S Truman became president. 

 1955 - The University of Michigan Polio Vaccine Evaluation Center announced that the polio vaccine of Dr. Jonas Salk was "safe, effective and potent." 

 1963 - Police used dogs and cattle prods on peaceful civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, AL.

 1969 - Lucy and Snoopy of the comic strip "Peanuts" made the cover of "Saturday Review." 

 1982 - Three CBS employees were shot to death in a New York City parking lot. 

 1983 - Harold Washington was elected the first black mayor of Chicago. 

 1985 - Federal inspectors declared that four animals of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus were not unicorns. They were goats with horns that had been surgically implanted. 

 1988 - Harvard University won a patent for a genetically altered mouse. It was the first patent for a life form. 

 1992 - Disneyland Paris opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France. 

 2002 - A first edition version of Beatrix Potter's "Peter Rabbit" sold for $64,780 at Sotheby's. A signed first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" sold for $66,630. A copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," signed by J.K. Rowling sold for $16,660. A 250-piece collection of rare works by Charles Dickens sold for $512,650. 

 2002 - It was announced that the South African version of "Sesame Street" would be introducing a character that was HIV-positive. 

 2002 - JCPenney Chairman Allen Questrom rang the opening bell to start the business day at the New York Stock Exchange as part of the company's centennial celebrations. James Cash (J.C.) Penney opened his first retail store on April 14, 1902. 

Have an announcement or an interesting bit of news?  Let us know!  Click here or email Christine Rose at RosepetL5@aol.com