LEGO expo at Discovery Museum
Bridgeport-based Discovery Museum and Planetarium displayed the LEGO creations of 30 teams of 6- to 9-year-olds, March 15, 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport. The event was sponsored by Patriot Bank, supported by Girl Scouts of Connecticut and Stamford Robotics and featured guest presentations by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and Sheryl Sleeva of Girl Scouts of Connecticut.
Discovery Museum is offering a four-week series of LEGO WeDo workshops, Saturday mornings, April 11 to May 2. Pre-registration is required. For more information, visit discoverymuseum.org.
Sandy Hook ”˜Ride on Washington”™ march
Newtown cyclists are riding from Sandy Hook to Washington, D.C., from March 28-31 in the third annual Sandy Hook “Ride on Washington.” The rally, created to raise awareness about gun safety and to honor the victims lost in the Sandy Hook school shooting, is holding a kickoff 8 a.m. March 28 in Newtown. For more information, visit sandyhookrideonwashington.com.
Fairfield County”™s Giving Day raises $1 million
Fairfield County”™s second annual Giving Day recently raised more than $1 million for 386 Fairfield County nonprofits. The money was raised from 14,022 online donations and 13 business and foundation sponsorships.
Initiated last year by Fairfield County”™s Community Foundation, Giving Day is a 24-hour period when everyone in Fairfield County is encouraged to donate to participating nonprofit organizations.
Cultural Alliance presents ”˜Accessible Art”™
The Cultural Alliance of Western Connecticut presents its seventh annual “Accessible Art” series, showcasing seven exhibitions by seven artists at seven hosting businesses, April 6 to June 4. Artists include Ted DeToy of New Fairfield, Jean Fagernes of Danbury, Viorica Ghetu-Vuono of Norwalk, Jane Herslag of Danbury, Lilane Migliorino of Redding, Peach Pair of Sherman and Ival Stratford-Kovner of Bethel.
For more information, call 203-798-0760 or visit artswesternct.org.
UWWC holds annual benefit dinner
Danbury-based United Way of Western Connecticut hosted its second annual Hometown Heroes Benefit Dinner on March 7 at the Ethan Allen Hotel in Danbury. The event honored businesses and individuals who distinguish themselves through philanthropy and volunteerism. This year”™s recipients included Praxair Inc., Pitney Bowes, Dawn Blom of Dawn”™s Pizzazz Artistic Group and Day Spa and WCSU President James W. Schmotter.
The event also distinguished 14 individuals for giving back to their local towns, including Mark Dwinells, Joe Meehan, the Rev. Peter Hammond, Marianne Seeber, Bill Beattie, Gary Davis, Audrey Davis, Marie Roze, Lori Vengalli, Diane D”™Isidori, Evan Hack, Bob Geckle, Peggy Palmer and Valerie Jensen.
Greenwich Rotary gives $5K to Heart Care International
The Greenwich Rotary Club donated $5,000 to support Greenwich-based Heart Care International, a nonprofit providing lifesaving heart-care procedures for children in developing countries. The Rotary presented the contribution Feb. 25 following a discussion by Robert Michler, Heart Care International”™s founder and CEO, about the organization”™s future plans. Thus far, the nonprofit has cared for more than 1,900 children and performed lifesaving heart procedures on more than 1,000 additional children in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Peru.
AmeriCares welcomes Varughese to team
Stamford-based AmeriCares, the emergency response and global health organization, appointed Julie Varughese as its medical officer and senior technical adviser for access to medicines and supplies. Varughese is responsible for increasing access to medicine for low-income patients in more than 90 countries.
Varughese is board-certified in infectious disease, internal medicine and pediatrics. She holds a bachelor”™s degree in biochemistry from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., and a medical degree from Rush University in Chicago.
Pizza-making champion opens Stamford restaurant
Bruno DiFabio, six-time world pizza champion, restaurateur and Food Network judge, has taken over Stamford”™s “Amore” restaurant and created “Amore Cucina & Bar,” an Italian, wood-fired pizza eatery, 921 Hope St., Stamford. The restaurant includes menu highlights of pork and lamb meatballs, liuzzi ricotta, agrodolce and fresh pizza.
Ogletree Deakins elects Nehro as shareholder
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart PC (Ogletree Deakins), a labor and employment law firm with an office in Stamford, elected Diana Nehro as shareholder. Nehro is a member of Ogletree Deakin”™s international practice group and practices in the firm”™s Stamford and Boston offices. She earned her J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
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