Hey Greenwich! Did You Know ... It's 'Skeeter Time?

Today is Wednesday, June 6, 2012.

Today's birthdays:

• Actress Staci Keanan who played in "My Two Dads" is 37.
• Guitarist for heavy metal band Korn James Munky Shaffer is 42.
• Swedish tennis ace Bjorn Borg is 56.
• Actor Robert Englund played Freddy Kruger in "Nightmare on Elm Street" is 65.
• Singer-songwriter Gary U.S. Bonds is 73.

This day in history:

In 1933, eager motorists park their automobiles on the grounds of Park-In Theaters, the first-ever drive-in movie theater, located on Crescent Boulevard in Camden, NJ.

In 1944, U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe gave the go-ahead for Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious military operation in history. On his orders, 6,000 landing craft, ships and other vessels carrying 176,000 troops began to leave England for the trip to France, beginning the start of the liberation of Western Europe from the Nazis.

In 1949, George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-four, is published. The novel's all-seeing leader, known as "Big Brother," became a universal symbol for intrusive government and oppressive bureaucracy.

In 1971, 23 years after its 1948 premiere, The Ed Sullivan Show—which brought the world The Beatles and Elvis Presley, among others—had its final broadcast.

Things you should know:

West Nile virus spraying to begin

The warm, wet weather of late may be good for gardeners and farmers. It's also good for breeding of mosquitoes and West Nile virus.

The is working with the state of Connecticut on a preemptive program to eradicate the problem. The town will begin a preemptive larviciding program later this month snd continue through November. It will include the treatment of public and private roadway catch basins, public school ground catch basins and other property owned and operated by the town, according to Greenwich Health Director Caroline Baisley.

The town and several state agencies will implement an integrated mosquito management program that includes monitoring and surveillance, education and prevention. Last year mosquitoes, domestic animals and humans were included in surveillance systems statewide. Last year mosquitoes were collected at 91 permanent mosquito-trapping stations in 72 municipalities throughout the state, including Greenwich.

A total of 331,806 mosquitoes were trapped and tested with a total of 163 positive isolations of WNV found from a variety of mosquito species in addition to three positive isolations of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), according to the health department.

Greenwich's Director of Environmental Services Michael Long said in a prepared statement, “Although the town’s larvicide program will treat catch basins, the general public must be vigilant in eliminating standing water on their own properties and protecting themselves from biting mosquitoes at all times." 

Here's a checklist for reducing the mosquito population as suggested by the health department:

• Get rid of old tires, tin cans, buckets, drums, bottles or any water holding containers.
• Fill in or drain any low places (puddles, ruts) in yard.
• Keep rain gutters, drains, ditches and culverts clean of weeds and trash so water will drain properly.
• Cover trash containers to keep out rainwater.
• Repair leaky pipes and outside faucets.
• Empty plastic wading pools at least once a week and store indoors when not in use.
• Make sure your backyard pool is properly chlorinated every day.
• Fill in tree rot holes and hollow stumps that hold water with sand or concrete.
• Change the water in birdbaths and plant pots or drip trays at least once each week.
• Keep grass cut short and shrubbery well trimmed around the house so adult mosquitoes cannot hide there.
• Eliminate collected water in boat or pool covers.
• Ponds and stagnant water bodies that do not support fish, frogs or other amphibians that eat mosquito larvae may be treated with a biological control agent such as Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI) and Bacillus sphaericus (BS). It is suggested that the Department of Health or Greenwich Conservation Commission be contacted when treatment is considered.

“Personal measures are extremely important to protect ourselves against biting mosquitoes during the day and at night,” Long said.

The health department suggests these precautions:

• Avoid outdoor activities at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
• If you plan to be outdoors for a long period of time, wear long sleeved shirts, long pants and use mosquito repellent according to the manufacturer’s directions on the label (10% or less DEET for children and no more than 30% DEET for adults). Avoid application of repellents with DEET on infants and small children.
• Cover up arms and legs of children playing outdoors and cover playpens or carriages with mosquito netting.
• Don’t camp overnight near stagnant or standing water where mosquitoes are most active.
• If you dispose of a dead animal – handle with gloves or bag the animal without touching it.

The symptoms of West Nile Virus can occur suddenly between 5 to 15 days following the bite of an infected mosquito and range from a slight fever, headache, rash, swollen lymph nodes, nausea, malaise and eye pain, to the rapid onset of severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, disorientation, severe muscle weakness, gastrointestinal symptoms, coma or death.

They are the champions in Byram

The 's Reading Champions program just keeps on getting larger and larger to meet the needs of the community.

It's now conducted at 11 sites around town with more than 100 volunteer Reading Champion tutors helping nearly 350 youngsters. And one of those after-school programs—at the —held its graduation on Monday. There were 49 students in kindergarten through 5th grade who received their certificates of achievement, a medal and a book at the ceremony. Each student's tutor made the presentations.

They must be doing something right—97 percent of the children participating in the Reading Champions program meet reading proficiency standards and graduate from the program, that's funded by the .

By the way, there always is a need for more tutors. Applications are at www.unitedway-greenwich.com or calling the Jenny Byxbee, Greenwich  Youth Services Coordinator, at 203-869-2221.

Meet up with Greenwich Patch

Editors of Greenwich Patch will hold 'office hours' today from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at , 197 Sound Beach Ave., Old Greenwich. If you have questions, comments, suggestions about Patch, or just want to chat over a cup of coffee (on us), come down to Old Greenwich. We'd love to meet with you.

Meetings at Greenwich Town Hall today:

Greenwich Community Television

If you prefer the clicker instead of being there or want to catch up on a Greenwich meeting you missed, there's Greenwich Community Television (GCTV) on either Fios Channel 24 or Cablevision's Channel 79.

And if you prefer the movies:

Sources: history.com; famousbirthdays.com