Ridgefield Public Schools will have early dismissal today due to the expected bad weather.

The high school was scheduled to be dismissed at 11:30, the middle schools at 11:05, Branchville, Ridgebury and Scotland elementary schools at 11:40, and Barlow Mountain, Farmingville and Veterans Park at 12:10.

Weather.com said there was 100% chance of snow, 1-3 inches, this afternoon, possibly turning to rain this evening.

The Prospector Movie Theater announced it will be open with movies starting at 1 p.m.

“Our movies kick off at 1 p.m. today Race is at 1 p.m., Hail, Caesar! at 1:30, Kung Fu Panda 3 at 2 p.m. and Zoolander 2 at 2:30. Tickets online, movies.prospectortheater.org or at the box office.

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Lili Schroppe, left, marketing and public relations manager at the RVNA, and Ros Harris, administrative manager, stand at the new entrance of the RVNA at 27 Governor Street, which is now open for business, having moved from the Venus Municipal Building on East Ridge.

The new quarters allow the RVNA to offer additional services, including physical therapy and nutrition education and counseling

There is also expanded space for staff training and development in its clinical competency lab.  Additionally, the clinical exam rooms, which are used for travel medicine consultations, well-child physical exams, and other medical appointments are now modern and spacious.

And the new Volunteer Center provides meeting and work space for RVNA volunteers.

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SCORE Fairfield County will present a free SCORE live webinar powered by Readytalk, “What do Most Successful Small Businesses Have in Common? on Tuesday, March 8, from noon-1:30 p.m. EST.

The most successful small businesses in the world have some surprising things in common. And they often have little to do with the things you read about in business books.

Presenter Cliff Ennico, B.A., J.D., former host of Public Television’s popular MoneyHunt show for entrepreneurs, is a leading small business expert and author of the nationally syndicated newspaper column Succeeding in Your Business. He is the author of several books on small business law and finance, including The Crowdfunding Handbook and Small Business Survival Guide, and has lectured nationwide on entrepreneurship and related topics to business groups and bar associates.

Questions/comments: score.fairfieldcounty@gmail.com or call 203 831 0065 or visit the website www.scorefairfieldcounty.org

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Trumbull-based Cooperative Educational Services (C.E.S.) is welcoming educators from throughout New England and the New York metropolitan area to the Fairfield County Professional Educator Recruitment Fair Saturday, April 23, at 8 a.m., at Roger Ludlowe Middle School, 689 Unquowa Road, Fairfield.

Interviewers and human resources professionals from 16 different school districts or charter schools are scheduled to attend, as well as hundreds of job seekers.

C.E.S. Associate Executive Director Christopher La Belle said the annual fair has proved an invaluable opportunity for employers and prospective teachers alike. Over the years, hundreds of people have been hired by participating districts after making good impressions at the event.

“The C.E.S. Fairfield County Educator Recruitment Fair is a terrific opportunity for aspiring educators to meet with administrators from 16 area school districts in search of a teaching position,” said La Belle. “Attendees will have a unique, in-person opportunity to promote their candidacy to some of Connecticut’s highest performing school districts.”

The fair is comprised of two sessions. The first, from 8 a.m. to noon, is an informal meet-and-greet where job seekers can meet with the district or charter school representatives and schedule on-site interviews. During the second session, from noon to 3 p.m., invited candidates will meet with interviewers in designated rooms at Ludlowe Middle School.

This year’s participating districts include Bridgeport, C.E.S., Fairfield, Greenwich, Milford, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stamford, Weston, and Wilton. Special or charter schools include Eagle Hill Special Education Private School (Greenwich), New Beginnings Family Academy (Bridgeport), Park City Prep Charter School (Bridgeport), and the Connecticut Technical High School System.

There is no charge to attend. Food and drink will be sold in the middle school cafeteria.

Advance registration is requested. Those who attend without prior registration will be required to register during or after the event. To register, visit ces.k12.us.

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Odeen’s Memphis Pit Barbeque was the winning bidder to operate the food concession at the town golf course.

Marshall Odeen and partner John Lloyd won the concession on a 3-to-1 vote of the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night, Feb. 17. Odeen and the other finalist, Hoo Doo Brown’s on Route 7, made presentations to the board in executive session before the vote. Odeen had the recommendation of the Town Golf Committee.

“We’re excited,” Odeen said after the selectmen’s vote. “…It’s a beautiful facility.”

Odeen currently runs the food operation at the Elks Club facility on Route 7 in Danbury, and Odeen’s barbeque has been on sale at many town events, such as the Chamber of Commerce organized Summerfest celebrations.

Odeen’s bid package included a sample menu with sandwiches from $6 to $8, “healthy salads” ranging from $8 to $14 and a variety “small bites” from a hot dog for $3 to a shrimp and avocado cocktail for $12.

“The plan is offer a quality menu at value prices,” he said.

The breakfast menu ranges from toast or muffins for $2 to an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich for $4 to a “full English” breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms and toast for $10.

Proposed drink prices range form $1 for bottled water and $2 for canned soda to $4 for canned beer, $5 for premium draft beer — five varieties of draft are planned, he said — $6 to $10 for a glasses of wine, and drinks form $5 to $10.

“A priority for us, for the junior golfers, we’re going to offer healthy smoothies,” Odeen said.

Odeen also said he hoped to have a service cart out on the course, and to offer “call boxes” for advance ordering from the tees on holes nine and 18, as golfers are finishing their first nine.

“As you approach the turn you can order, and by the time you come off the green we’ll have your food for you, which will speed up play,” Odeen said.

The hope is to seat about 45 people inside and 60 outside, Odeen said.

Lloyd said the entrepreneurs were considering an awning or tent for the deck at the course restaurant.

“We’ll look at the potential for shade on the deck,” he said.

Odeen has lived in town since 1997, and Lloyd has been in town five years.

The golf restaurant was called ‘Odeen’s Shank and Duff’ in his proposal, but he said the name could change.

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The Ridgefield Historical Society has installed the first of a series of exhibits devoted to the 100th anniversary of the “War to End All Wars.”

Entitled So the War Begins, the installation uses photos, newspaper articles and maps to present the events leading up to and immediately following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.

It discusses the tense relationship between the European powers, and how treaties originally intended to prevent war actually encouraged it.

As with most things that happen in the Balkans, there’s more than one interpretation.

One Ridgefielder with Croat roots took issue with the implied conclusion that Germany was largely responsible for the escalation from a small regional terrorist event to the greatest war the world had ever known. In his opinion, Russia was far more culpable than the exhibit suggests.

After 100 years, it’s still open to debate.

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Mercorella, who has been with Morgan Stanley since 2013, is a native of New York City. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Colgate University, a DBS from the London School of Economics and a juris doctor from Fordham University School of Law.

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The Rev. John Morrison

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is presenting a discussion of C.S. Lewis’s novella The Great Divorce on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 3:30. The Rev. John Morrison, a C.S. Lewis scholar and teacher of literature, will lead the discussion. The free event will take place in the church at 351 Main Street. Copies of the book are available at Books on the Common and the Ridgefield Library.

According to Morrison, Lewis’s premise is that hell is a choice, and without that self-choice there could be no hell.

“In the end only two things are possible: those who say to God … and those to whom God says,” he said.

Morrison holds degrees from Dartmouth College, Hofstra University and SUNY Stony Brook. He taught English at Bay Shore High School for 36 years. His published writings include To Love Another Person, a spiritual/theological study of the correspondences between Hugo’s Les Misérables and the Broadway musical Les Mis. He lives in Brightwaters, N.Y., with Susan, his wife of 50 years.

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The Ridgefield Library is asking the town for $1.882 million for fiscal year 2016-17, up 2.5% from the current fiscal year’s $1.837 million.

The library is asking for $45,045 more, $44,369 of which is to cover the increase in wages and benefits.

“I think the selectmen understand this is a facility that offers a lot to the community and is a selling point for Ridgefield,” Chris Nolan, director of the library, told The Press when asked about the budget.

The Ridgefield Library has kept itself foremost in the public eye and remains a powerful draw for patrons.

“We have programming,” Nolan said. “Part of the reason we’re able to grow our attendance is we have a team room, we have technology labs, computer labs, two children’s program rooms,” she said, pointing out that the library moved into expanded facilities a couple of years ago.

“We’ve been able to expand programming because of the building,” she said. “We have always wanted to offer classes, technology classes, different programs for teens, but we didn’t have the space. That is the main thrust.”

On a recent Sunday, the library hosted a talk by finance author Jane Bryant Quinn that drew more than 160 people. Nolan cited this as an example of the library’s popularity.

“So it’s the space we have, we have a strong programming staff, and we have librarians who understand this community and what the people want.”

In its budget request, Nolan said, the library staff is trying to show the library is a resource that is widely used by Ridgefielders.

“It’s no longer a place to pick up a new mystery and then not come around until the new one comes out six months later,” she said. “People are here for multiple reasons, several times a month. It’s really a lot of activity, the kinds of programs we offer, the services we do.”

There are about 11,000 card holders, she said. Since many people use one card for a family, that represents many thousands of library users.

The money from the town is more than two-thirds of the library’s funding. The rest comes from private fund raising.

Under an agreement between the town and the library, the Board of Selectmen generally has the power to determine the amount of the town’s contribution, within a 2% increase cap. But the selectmen cannot make line item decisions within the budget put together by the library board — as they could within the fire department’s or highway department’s budgets.

The Board of Finance has overall authority over town and school budget totals, but doesn’t adjust by line item within the budgets, leaving that to the selectmen and school board.

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Front row: Tim Salem (principal, SRMS), Noelle Aronson (RPS PTA), and Kelly Siegrist (SRMS). Back row: Scott Roberts (RHS Guidance Department), Marty Fiedler (principal, ERMS), Judy Silver (RHS Student Life Office), Karen Baldwin (RPS superintendent), Ellen Brezovsky (Silver Hill Hospital), Anne Blood (RPS PTA), and Denise Qualey (Ridgefield Youth Commission).

Following Frank Bruni’s talk “Where You Go Is Not Who You Will Be: Becoming a Successful Adult” on Sunday, March 6, at Ridgefield High School, a set of three workshops will be available for parents and teens.

In the first workshop, “I Don’t Know What I Want to Do When I Grow Up: Career Pathways,” a panel of six professionals will describe their career journeys, as well as offer insights into choosing a career path.

The panelists include Suzanne Nelson, a children’s book author who began her career as an editor in New York City; Kristen Mahlstedt RN, a nurse in the psychiatric emergency room at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City; Dave Griffin, a teacher at RHS who began as a paralegal specialist at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; Glenn Wilkin, an RHS graduate who took a gap year, changed his major three times, and is now a marketing executive at Major League Soccer, and Mike Principi, otherwise known as the “Hot Dog Man,” an entrepreneur who operates Chez Lenard on Main Street.

The second workshop, “Gaining the Freshman 15: The Essential Habits for Success in College,” offered by AnnMarie Puleo, assistant director of academic advisement at Western Connecticut State University, Lori Bran, an RHS guidance counselor and Karen Baldwin, Ridgefield superintendent of schools, will address the non-academic skills students need to succeed during college.

“Ready for Takeoff: Managing Stress in College,” the third workshop, will be given by Dr. Aaron Krasner from Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan. Dr. Krasner will talk with parents and teens about managing emotional stress in college.

Dr. Krasner will discuss the importance of using various support systems offered by colleges for any high school student heading off to college who has had educational, medical or mental health challenges during adolescence.

The workshops will be held in two consecutive 45-minutes sessions beginning at 1:30 p.m. Admission for the day is $10 per adult; teens are admitted free but registration is required — visit www.ridgefieldlibrary.org.

Sponsored by Ridgefield Public Schools, Ridgefield PTAs, Ridgefield Library, Ridgefield Magazine, Ridgefield Youth Commission, Books on the Common, Silver Hill Hospital, and Project Resilience, the program is the final event in a yearlong series of parent education workshops entitled “Parenting the Selfie Generation: Raising Successful Adults.”

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Blaney

Roger and Sandy Grannis of Ridgefield entered their dog into a pet calendar contest to raise money for the Connecticut Humane Society. Blaney, a Siberian Husky, was selected as Mr. January. Blaney is an 8-year-old who was rescued at age 2 through Pet Harbor Rescue in Virginia. His human siblings include Rachel, Kendall and Ben. He is widely known around Rainbow Lake, where he feels everyone is family.

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To the Editor:

March 10th marks Fairfield County’s biggest charitable event of the year, Fairfield County Community Foundation’s annual online Giving Day. This year’s goal is to raise more than $1 million dollars in 24 hours through online donations for more than 400 local nonprofit organizations. I’m writing to encourage participation and support from my neighbors in Fairfield.

Spearheaded by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, with Bank of America as lead sponsor, Fairfield County Giving Day encourages every community member to “give where you live.” Last year, more than thirteen thousand people donated over $1 million dollars to 386 nonprofits, all serving Fairfield County. This year, we are challenging our communities to do even more.

Whether you give $10, $100 or even $1,000, you’ll be helping to support the work of organizations making a real difference in the community — and helping them compete for cash prizes and matching funds. Giving is fast, easy and secure through fcgives.org, and anyone ages 18 or older may donate between midnight to 11:59 p.m. on March 10, selecting nonprofits by town, cause or name.

Our local nonprofits feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, give books to children, train the unemployed for new jobs, protect our environment, and more. But they need our support to continue strengthening the communities we call home.

Whatever your favorite cause, I hope you’ll join me in supporting Fairfield County Giving Day 2016!

Barbara Tartaglio

Financial Center Manager, Bank of America

Fairfield resident

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Girl Scouts of Connecticut will host a fundraising event, “A Little Schmooze with Faith” on Wednesday, April 13, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the New Haven Lawn Club, 193 Whitney Avenue, New Haven.

Emmy award winner Diane Smith will lead Faith Middleton in a conversation celebrating girls and women today. Special guest, WNPR’s Chion Wolf, will emcee the event.

For details on sponsorship and ticket pricing, contact Matthew Southward at msouthward@gsofct.org, or visit gsofct.org/pages/SchmoozewithFaith.php.

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Carroll Brewster, his daughter Dina with her son Crispin and his new library card.

Carroll Brewster is the second generation of his family to have a Ridgefield Library card. Dina Brewster is the third generation to have one and her son Crispin is the fourth.

It was Carroll’s mother, Dr. Blandina W. Brewster, who was the first generation of the family to get a card, joining the library upon moving to Lounsbury Road from New York City in 1936. Carroll not only recalls getting his own library card as a 10-year-old but remembers “as clear as if it was yesterday” the first book he took out. He had seen an owl on their Lounsbury Road farm and wondered what kind it was. His mother took him to the library and he began looking for a reference book on birds.

It was librarian Phyllis Paccadolmi, beloved by generations of library-goers for her friendly and helpful nature, who directed him to a copy of Studer’s Birds, an illustrated volume on the discount rack (owing to a missing binding) available for $5. The book was purchased, the bird of prey identified (a barred owl) and the beginning of a lifelong love of books and nature had begun. And the encounter with Paccadolmi showed him that a library is not just a building with books in it but is really about the people in it.

Brewster went on to serve for many years on the board of directors of the library and was involved in the new library building project. His daughter, Dina, whose husband, Garth Harries, is the superintendent of schools in New Haven, runs The Hickories, an organic farm on Lounsbury Road where the farmland used has been protected in perpetuity from any development.

Carroll Brewster still has his copy of Studer’s Birds, which, he recalled, his father had rebound, having been sufficiently impressed with his son’s purchase of the reference book.

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Mary-Jo Duffy with Rooney, a Border Collie mix, and, on her lap, her French Bulldog, Dixie.—Ben Shaw photo

When a badly abused pit bull named Ellie came into Mary-Jo Duffy’s life, everything changed. Instead of a career in fashion merchandising, she went toward a new life — one that led her to a job as the dog trainer for Ridgefield Organization for Animal Rescue.

Duffy grew up in the farmland and tobacco fields of Simsbury, where there were plenty of animals.

“I always loved animals. I never thought of being a veterinarian, or a vet tech, however, as I was not good in math and science,” she said.

Since most of her friends were getting a business degree, she did so as well. Since she also enjoyed fashion, she decided on merchandizing sales.

“People are shocked to see my closet full of fashionable suits, when I now seem to wear nothing but jeans and sweatshirts.”

To relieve the stress from her job in sales, Duffy decided to volunteer at the largest ASPCA unit in the country, in New York City. “When I walked into this facility, I immediately knew that this is where I belonged, even though I had to keep my regular job to survive in the city,” she said. After being at the facility for a while, Duffy became certified as a dog trainer and then a paid employee.

While working at the ASPCA, Duffy saw Ellie, an abused pit bull, and it was love at first sight for both. Ellie took a lot of work, but it was all worth it.

“I have loved all of my rescue dogs, but there has never been a dog in my life like Ellie.” (See her blog, pawsuppdt.com.)

Ellie went on to be a role model for many dogs, showing city children that all pit bulls are not bad. Ellie was also in a fashion show wearing fashions by Betsey Johnson and was a friend to Mary Tyler Moore, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker.

The same week that Duffy adopted Ellie, she met the man who would become her husband, Matt. She knew that he was the man for her when they returned home from a date and found that Ellie had destroyed his couch due to separation anxiety. When Matt was not upset about what Ellie had done, she knew she had found her soulmate.

When Matt’s job took Duffy and their two children to Maryland, she continued to work as a dog trainer. She had a way with these animals that no one else did. She was able to take the most difficult dogs, understand them, and teach them to be good pets through holistic means.

Duffy also began to train the volunteers in animal behavior so that they were doing more than just feeding or walking dogs.

When the Duffy family decided to move back to Connecticut, she opened a store in Georgetown called Paws Up, where she worked with dogs and their owners, and sponsored playdates.

She enjoyed her new business, but needed to find a new location when the building had to be torn down.

The new open door in Duffy’s case was the discovery of ROAR and acting as its volunteer dog trainer. For 10 years now, she has been training dogs and volunteers and establishing new programs for therapy dogs.

She currently has 30 dog-and-partner teams that go into all six elementary schools in Ridgefield, schools in the surrounding towns, nursing homes in Ridgefield and other towns, and the hospitals.

In addition to her reading therapy dogs, Duffy recently started a veterans program where she now has two teams successfully working.

There is no end to the ideas Duffy has for building better relationships between people and animals.

“My goal is to train dogs to have good manners so that people will want to adopt them and give them good homes. The sooner that these dogs are adopted, the sooner we are able to bring in new dogs and find good homes for them as well.”

Duffy has never met a dog that she did not like, nor one for which she has found no potential.

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This branch that blocked part of Silver Spring Road was one of the more minor problems this morning following high winds and rains overnight.

Last night’s severe thunderstorms have caused widespread power outages from the heavy winds and rain.

As of 6 a.m., many roads closed. Ridgefield Public Schools are closed today.

Eversource was reporting nearly 1,000 customers without power.

The following message was posted on the school website:

Due to four schools without power, significant road closures, and hazardous road conditions we will be closing all schools today.

Offices at Ridgefield High School, Scotts Ridge Middle School, Scotland Elementary School, and Barlow Mountain Elementary School offices will be closed as well.

All other school offices and Central Office are on a two-hour delay for safety.

The following school offices will open on a two-hour delay:

Branchville Elementary School

East Ridge Middle School

Farmingville Elementary School

Ridgebury Elementary School

Veterans Park Elementary School

RPS Central Office

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Practicing with the Ridgefield High School orchestra for the upcoming production of Cabaret are violinists Danielle Schwartz, Emily Kerr and Alice Townsend (left to right), and cellist Nicholas Carey. — Ginger Cutter photo

With set construction underway behind them, Juniors Rosie Staudt (Rosie) and Rico Froehlich (Victor) rehearse a dance from the upcoming Ridgefield High School production of Cabaret. — Ginger Cutter photo

The Visual and Performing Arts Department of Ridgefield High School will present the musical Cabaret on March 10-13 in the Anne S. Richardson Auditorium of Ridgefield High School.

Set in 1930s Berlin, with the Nazi party gaining strength, Cabaret was first performed on Broadway in 1966 and is the story of the young entertainer Sally Bowles, the Kit Kat Klub where she works, and her relationship with the writer Cliff Bradshaw. Junior Sarah Thorn is Sally Bowles, senior Michael Shofi plays writer Cliff Bradshaw, and junior Casey Wishna is the Master of Ceremonies at the Kit Kat Klub.

Sherry Cox is directing the show and David Gomez is Musical Director. Student musicians playing the Kander and Ebb score are Chris Auslander, Nicholas Carey, Andi Chakraborty, Lauren Chakraborty, Brendan Donnelly, Patrick Francis, Abby Freeman, Christian Hunt, Emily Kerr, Clara Lerchi, Brianna LoCicero, Danielle Schwartz, Matthew Shannon, Raymond Sun, Alice Townsend, Kimberly Wroblewski, and Brandon Ye. Producer Ginger Cutter praises the dedicated and talented actors, dancers and musicians in the show as having “beautiful musicality.”

Cabaret will have three evening performances, March 10-12 at 7:30 p.m., and two matinee performances, March 12-13 at 2:00 p.m. The snow date for all performances is March 20 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for college students and younger, and $10 for seniors age 60+. Ridgefield seniors who have a Gold Card may enjoy one show for free, but must have the Gold Card with them for admission. Tickets will be sold at the door. Advance tickets sales online begin February 25 at http://www.rhsperformingarts.info/

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In the wake of a projected 9% increase in 2015 traffic fatalities, a new AAA study has found an estimated 87% of drivers have engaged in at least one risky behavior while behind the wheel within the past month.

These behaviors include driving while distracted, impaired or drowsy; speeding, running red lights or not wearing a seat belt, according to the Foundation’s latest Traffic Safety Culture Index study.

According to the AAA Foundation of Traffic Safety, these disturbing results come as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports the number of 2014 fatalities hit nearly 33,000. The agency also projects a 9% increase in auto deaths in 2015.

Meanwhile the National Safety Council, while reviewing its preliminary figures, contends 2015 is the deadliest driving year since 2008.

“There’s a culture of indifference for far too many drivers when it comes to road safety,” said Peter Kissinger, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety president and CEO. “The vast majority of motorists believe they’re more careful than others on the road, although most don’t make safe decisions while behind the wheel.”

These findings continue to be problematic for the American driver especially since car crashes continue to rank among the leading causes of death in the United States. What’s also disturbing is that drivers, in the study, admit to engaging in these behaviors regularly.

The Foundation’s Traffic Safety Culture Index identifies attitudes and behaviors related to safe driving. Although the full report is available online at www.aaafoundation.org, here are some key findings categorized by unsafe behaviors which drivers reported they regularly participated in within the last 30 days.

Seatbelt Use

• Nearly 1 in 5 drivers (18%) report driving without a seatbelt;
• More than 1 in 7 (15%) admit to doing this more than once.

Distracted Driving

• More than 2 in 3 drivers (70%) report talking on a cell phone;
• Nearly 1 in 3 (31%) report doing this regularly;
• More than 2 in 5 drivers (42%) admit to reading text messages or emails;
• Nearly 1 in 3 (32%) admit to do this regularly

Speeding

• Nearly half of all drivers (48%) report going 15 mph over the speed limit on a freeway;
• 15% admit doing this regularly;
• About 45% of drivers report going 10 mph over the speed limit on a residential street
• About 11% admit doing this regularly

Red-light Running

• More than 1 in 3 drivers (39%) admit to having driven through a light that had just turned red when they could have stopped safely.
• About 1 in 4 (26%) admit doing this regularly

Drowsy Driving

• Nearly 1 in 3 drivers (32%) say they’ve driven when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.
• 1 in 5 (22%) admitted doing this more than once during that time.

Impaired Driving

• More than 1 in 8 motorists (13%) report driving when their alcohol level might have been near or over the legal limit within the past 12 months.
• About 9% admit doing this more than once over the past year.

The data are from a sample of 2,442 licensed drivers ages 16 and older, who reported driving in the past 30 days. The AAA Foundation, the educational and research arm for AAA, issued its first Traffic Safety Culture Index in 2008.

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A wind storm with gusts of 43 miles per hour tore through town overnight on Feb. 25, leaving a mess of branches in the roads and nine roads blocked and nearly 900 Ridgefield power customers still out by 3 p.m.

At 2:49 p.m., 8 percent of the utility Eversource’s electricity customers in Ridgefield, 873 houses and businesses, remained out of power. The company was reminding drivers to not try and move downed power lines, and treat all downed lines as if they are live.

The customers would mostly be restored by 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 26, spokesman Mitch Gross said.

He said the downed lines and outages were statewide, with 40,000 customers out as of 2:49 p.m. Severe weather caused problems for the utility across the state.

“There were wind gusts as much as 70 miles per hour,” Gross said. “The saturated ground and high winds took trees down.”

The public schools cancelled for the day because of the storm damage, which made bus travel difficult.

“It gets complicated for school buses when lines are down,” said Fire Department Assistant Chief Jerry Myers.

“We had about six responses for storm-related stuff, from power lines down to a possible lightning strike,” Myers said.

He also reported six false fire alarms because of storm activity and power surges.

By 10:30 a.m., several roads were still blocked by trees, Myers said. He could understand why school was cancelled for the day. The Police Department was warning drivers to not attempt to pass areas taped off.

There were many cases overnight of officers moving branches out of the road on their own, said Capt. Jeffrey Kreitz, spokesman for the department.

The roads that remained closed at 4 p.m.  were  Saunders Lane; Barrack Hill near Continental Drive; Peaceable Street near Westmoreland; Wilton Road East near 209; Nod Road between Branchville and Whipstick; North Street, near Barlow Mountain; Washington near Rochambeau,Oscaleta Road near West Mountain Road, on east side; Lounsbury Road near Blackman Road; Branchville between East Ridge and Main; Jefferson Drive near number 42; and Nutmeg Ridge.

Several other roads were passable with one-way travel.

The post Many still without power appeared first on The Ridgefield Press.

The Press recently mentioned a noted artist named Ross who built the Ward Acres house. I thought he lived in Ridgebury, not in the south part of town.

Ridgefield has had two notable artists named Ross — they were not related to each other, though both came from the United Kingdom.

As a portrait artist, C. Chandler Ross painted many of the captains of industry during the first half of the 20th Century, including F. W. Woolworth of the store chain, and also produced portraits of senators, governors and presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S Truman.

“The American business executive is not the hard, crusty individual he is supposed to be,” Ross once said. “Invariably I find that he is most delightful when he drops the guard that modern business forces him to maintain during office hours.”   

A native of England, he studied art in Paris and Munich, and under Anders Zorn, a Swedish master.

When not painting portraits, Chandler Ross turned to flowers, and his floral paintings were well known and often reproduced. In Ridgefield, he built the Peaceable Street house that later became the center of Ward Acres, home of philanthropist and horseman Jack Boyd Ward.    

Chandler Ross died in 1952 in Sarasota, Fla., at the age of 64.

Ridgebury was home to Alexander Ross, who, especially late in his career, loved painting nature. He was “obsessed with the celebration of all the joys of nature, especially spring and summer — the profusion of wildflowers, the burst of buds into full-blown petals, the murmur of voices from the young children and young nudes lone with their thoughts in sylvan settings,” wrote art critic Martha B. Scott.

A native of Scotland, Alexander Ross was born in 1909, and came to western Pennsylvania when he was 5. He studied at Carnegie Tech and began working as a commercial artist in Pittsburgh in the 1930s.

One of his first big breaks came in 1941 when Good Housekeeping commissioned him to paint a cover, and he wound up doing 130 more covers for the magazine over the next 12 years. His work also appeared in Saturday Evening Post, McCall’s, Cosmopolitan, and Collier’s — often including some or all of his four children who early on learned to model for him.

He retired from commercial art in 1965 and began painting in a style reflecting his interest in abstract expressionism and French Impressionism, which he called “inventive realism.” “Realism and abstraction strike a dream-like balance,” said one critic of his work.

His paintings were exhibited widely and he won many awards, but his work went beyond canvases. In 1969, he designed a U.S. commemorative postage stamp marking the 100th anniversary of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. Late in life he became interested in religious art, and designed the stained glass windows for a church in Danbury and also illustrated three religious books.

Alexander Ross moved here in the 1970s and died in 1990 at the age of 81. —J.S.

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