Once Around the City: Makerspace opening, highway work planned

NORWALK, Conn. – The Fairfield County Makers Guild is holding the grand opening of its Norwalk makerspace from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. today (Feb. 22) at 327 Main Ave.

FCMG is a non-profit, membership-based community workshop and fabrication studio that will provide access to specialized tools and equipment to enable its members to turn their ideas into reality. A product of the maker movement, FCMG’s mission is to establish a vibrant community of makers, inventors, tinkerers, hobbyists, and artists and a culture of learning and sharing with one another. By providing access to tools, knowledge, and community, FCMG hopes to establish a space that fosters innovation and creation.

FCMG will provide classes, workshops, study groups, and meet-ups for all ages and skill levels. These include 3D design and printing, learning to solder, Lego Robotics, intro to microcontrollers, electronics workshops, and much more.

The new makerspace will be equipped with 3D printers, 3D scanner, metal lathe, milling machine, soldering stations, work benches, drill press, miter saw, hand tools and much more as the organization continues to grow.

FCMG believes that democratizing access to tools and education will foster innovation and will open up tremendous new opportunities for our local community.

The organizers invite all interested individuals to stop by and have a look at the many projects that the members will be demonstrating including robotics, microcontroller projects, 3D printers and related technology and quadcopter development and demonstration.

The grand opening will be attended by Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling and state Sen. Bob Duff (D-Norwalk), as well as other notable individuals and companies representative of the rapidly growing maker movement including MakerBot, which was awarded Engadget Best of CES 2014 prize and Balam Soto, who was a 2013 TEDx guest speaker and winner of three Editors Choice awards at the World Maker Faire New York.

For more information see the website.

The fixes are in

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is announcing that a pothole repair operation will be performed on Interstate 95 Northbound and Southbound in Darien and Norwalk from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. today (Feb. 22.)

Motorists can expect lane closures on Interstate 95 North and South (alternating lanes) between exit 10 and exit 16 in Darien and Norwalk.

Motorists should be aware that modifications or extensions to this schedule may become necessary due to weather delays or other unforeseen conditions. Motorists are advised to maintain a safe speed when driving in this vicinity.

Nighttime Bridge Maintenance along I-95

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is announcing that a bridge maintenance project will take place along I-95 Northbound and Southbound in New Haven, Feb. 25-27.

• Tuesday, Feb. 25, and Thursday, Feb. 27: Lane closures from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on I95 S in Greenwich between exit 2 and the New York state line.

• Wednesday, Feb. 26: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (N), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (S) Stamford, single right-lane closures between exits 8 and 10.

• Thursday, Feb. 27: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Left-lane closure on Merritt Parkway (CT15) N between exits 40B and 41; right-lane closure southbound from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, go to the ConnDOT website.

Police to honor civilians in bus-train incident

The Norwalk Police Department will be presenting awards to four civilians who assisted 40 Silvermine Elementary School students on Dec. 18 when their school bus became disabled on the Broad Street railroad crossing in front of an oncoming Metro-North passenger train.

The ceremony will take place a the Police Commission meeting at 7:15 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, in the third-floor conference at police headquarters, 1 Monroe St.

March is Women’s History Month

In honor of Women’s History Month, “Someone Must Wash the Dishes,” an anti-suffrage satire, comes to the South Norwalk Branch Library’s stage from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 1.

“Dishes” was written by pro-suffragist Marie Jenney Howe, back in 1912. In the early 1900s, many women fought against getting the vote, but none with more charm, prettier clothes – and less logic – than the fictional speaker created by Howe. “Woman suffrage is the reform against nature,” declares Howe’s unlikely, but irresistibly likable, heroine. “Ladies, get what you want. Pound pillows. Make a scene. Make home a hell on earth – but do it in a womanly way! That is so much more dignified and refined than walking up to a ballot box and dropping in a piece of paper!”

“An Anti-Suffrage Monologue,” as it was initially titled, was published in 1913 by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (precursor of the League of Women Voters). This production was directed by Warren Kliewer for New Jersey’s The East Lynne Company, which he founded to revive American plays and literature of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “Dishes” premiered in March 1994, at New York City’s fourth annual Women-kind Festival.

The monologue is followed by a lecture that puts the Antis’ seemingly illogical, ludicrous-even elitist-arguments in their sociological, historical, and political context. (e.g., in 1912, a “truly womanly woman” really did not dare go to the polls.)

This event, sponsored by the Friends of the Norwalk Public Library, is free and open to the public. Registration is required and available online or by calling 203-899-2790, ext. 15902.