Fondue for Fido

photo from jinwesst, flickr.com

OPIN is not just a misspelling of the opposite of closed - it's also the Outreach to Pets In Need. They are an organization devoted to finding homes for homeless animals, and they are having a fundraiser on June 27th from 5-10pm.

Join them at the Melting Pot (14 Grove Street in Darien) to support their good cause.

You gotta make reservations, so call 203-656-4774 to put your name on the list! There's a prix fixe menu with appetizers, salad, entree and dessert for $44.95/person. You can have a veggie option if you ask for it.

Each meal you enjoy is $5 toward helping OPIN's mission. You can also see pictures of animals who need a good home - who knows? Maybe you'll find your next best friend.

Weekend Shenanigans

What are you up to this weekend?  No clue?  Lemme help...what about:

- Go see firefighters doing their best Iron Chef impression. It's the Second Annual Fairway Market Firefighters Food Face-Off. It's underway on Saturday, June 16th at noon in the Fairway parking lot (699 Canal Street), and it features a grilling competition between local heroes from Noroton Heights, Darien and Stamford. Go cheer on your favorite and enjoy free samples, music and giveaways.

- Enjoy a fun, outdoor charity event with dad for his big day! Serendipity Magazine is hosting an event called Horsing Around for Charity. On Sunday, June 17th from 1-5:30pm at the Greenwich Polo Club in Greenwich, enjoy great food, experts BBQ (the art of summer!), live music by the Short Bus, microbrews, shopping events and facepainting for kiddies. There's also a competition for the craziest pants - how Father's Day-ish! Tickets are $40 in advance or $45 at the door, but kids 12 and under are gratis! The event supports the efforts of Pegasus Therapeutic Riding, which offers therapeutic riding for children with physical, emotional or cognitive special needs.

- Do some good in the world! This Sunday, June 17th at 9am, get your hands dirty at Rogers International School doing a little landscaping. Bring your weed-whacker, your gardening gloves, your kids and your community spirit to help put a little polish on a local resource. Meet at 9am on school grounds at the flag poles (202 Blachley Road in Stamford). RSVP to Jeff Cordulack of Audubon Greenwich at 203-613-8813 or at jcordulack@audubon.org.

Wednesday Warning: Total Eclipse of the Art

So Franklin Street Works, our officially awesome art enclave, has a very cool event on tap for WEDNESDAY (aka tomorrow) night. It's a night o'entrepreneurship called S#!T/Storm (you'll see why) with two special guests:

 - Sam Sagnella, the brains behind EveryTornado.net, a site devoted to tornado education through first hand video.

- Jeff Schram, designer and programmer who of Schram Industries who did some crazy Twitter data gathering experiments on his oh-so-cleverly named PoopStats.com. He's taken on the very important cause of tweeting "#pooping" - which apparently describes the contemporaneous activity of said tweeter - klassi! 

The event features a little talkin, a little lookin and some fancy pants social media-n'.

It's everybody's favorite price - FREE - and gets underway from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at Franklin Street Works on Wednesday, June 13.

The Horses are Here!

This morning, beefy guys in neon colors were putting the ponies in place all over town! Hooray! Some are gaudy, some are groovy, but all the sculpture series horses scream summer to me, and it's made me smile. Check them out and be glad for shorts, shades, surf, sand, the soon-to-be arriving Plan B Burger Bar in the mall and all the sunny goodness the next few months have in store.

Garden Paaaarty!

flickr.com, Rob Ellis'

The Bartlett Arboretum is launching its summer concert series again. We went a few times last year, and it was tremendous. The setting is lovely and the music is always good.

For $10 ($6 if you're a member) you can watch a great little concert on the grass. Bring a picnic dinner, a bottle of wine, chairs/blankets, your squirmiest kids (if they're under 12, they're free) and you're all set! The event takes place from 5-7pm every summer Sunday from June 24th to August 12th.

First up, on June 24th, it's Orrin Star who has racked up awards playing banjo and mandolin in a style described as "Arlo Guthrie-meets-Doc Watson." He made enough of an impression that Garrison Keillor invited him to play on A Prairie Home Companion, and a good way's back he was the National Flatpicking Champion. Here he is playing Stars and Stripes Forever on the mandola.