Darien Supper Club returns, Boot/Camp returns for 26th year, more news

The Darien Community Association, 274 Middlesex Road, is offering tickets for its second Secret Garden Supper Club offering, this time from 6:30-9:30 p.m. on July 25.

The dinner, limited to 16 people and priced at $185 for non-members and $175 for members, features “exquisite dining in this beautiful, private outdoor setting. These intimate, communal dinners include a signature cocktail upon arrival and an elegant four-course meal specially curated by Fine & Dandy and Leary’s,” the DCA writes.

This month’s menu features a starter of beef fillet with truffled pearl barley, broccoletti and mushrooms – with a vegetarian option of beef stroganoff, basmati rice and cucumber and tomato salad. It is served family style.

For more information, a full menu and reservations, visit the DCA website.

The annual boating/camping program for local boating enthusiasts and organizations, as well as underserved children of Fairfield County, returns for its 26th year on July 26. It runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and departs from the Noroton Yacht Club.

According to a press release about this year’s camp, the program introduced more than 1,500 campers to Long Island Sound.

Boat/Camp is partnering with ROSCCO, Person to Person and Darien Sail and Power Squadron to provide ROSCCO summer camp children with a safe experience on the water, the press release said.

Other participating organizations include Noroton Yacht Club, Darien Boat Club, Darien Police Marine Unit, Noroton Fire Department, Norwalk Seaport Association, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary-Norwalk Flotilla 72, Darien Masonic Lodge, Sea Scouts-Ship 6 and St. Luke’s Parish.

Campers will visit the Sheffield Island Lighthouse, meet “pirates” at Ziegler’s Cove, sail the Five Mile River, and perhaps visit Fish Island while driving down the coast to explore the scenery. The event ends with an ice cream party with volunteers.

The Mather Homestead Foundation has a suggestion for visitors to national parks this summer: take a selfie with a Stephen Tyng Mather plaque.

According to the foundation, there are more than 70 bronze plaques commemorating the legacy of Stephen Tyng Mather, the first director of the National Park Service. The plaques read: “He laid the foundation for the National Park Service by defining and establishing the policies by which its lands should be developed and protected so that they would remain unimpaired for future generations. The good he did will never end…”

The plaques are spread across the country and can be found at national monuments, parks, parkways, historic sites and recreation areas, including “a coastline, … a nature preserve, a battlefield, … three administrative buildings, a few state parks, a city park and two schools,” the foundation said.

To begin exploring the collection, your first stop is at the Mather Homestead, 19 Stephen Mather Road.

“We hope that on your travels you will find some of the others and take a photo of them to send to us for our memorial plaque wall!” the foundation said.

For more information about the challenge, visit www.matherhomestead.org.

The Bob Button Big Band will perform on July 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Grove Street Plaza, hosted by the Corbin District.

According to a press release from the Corbin District, the Bob Button Big Band has been entertaining audiences in the New York area with music from the big band era for 35 years. The 12-piece band with two singers has expanded its repertoire to include pieces from the “Great American Songbook.”

The band played outdoor concerts at the Tokeneke Club in Darien, the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Southport and the Greenwich Town Party this summer, the press release said.

Julia Lucak and Brett Vrooman of Darien were named to the Dean’s List at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, for spring 2024. Full-time students who complete 12 or more credits per semester and maintain a GPA of 3.4 or higher will be named to the Dean’s List that semester.