Join Christopher McDougall and his "Heroes Gang" for the launch of his latest book Natural Born Heroes.  McDougall will lead a fun run, followed by a one-of-a-kind cabaret stage show featuring the lost arts of the ancient Greek heroes.

The fun run will leave from Ridgefield Running Company at 88 Danbury Road at 6:00 PM and end up at Veterans Park Elementary School, where the 7:00 PM stage show will take place.
 

Learn about freerunning, natural movement, knife-throwing, foraging for super-foods, and using body fat as performance fuel. McDougall will be joined on stage by guest speakers, including Liz Miele, stand-up comic and warrior-poet of marathon running; Julie Angel and Dan Edwardes, Parkour experts; and Tara Wood, creator of Wild Fitness.
 

McDougall is the author of the international best-seller Born To Run, currently being adapted into a feature film starring Matthew McConaughey.  Just as Born to Run inspired readers to get off the treadmill, out of their shoes, and into the natural world, Natural Born Heroes will inspire them to leave the gym and take their fitness routine to nature-to climb, swim, skip, throw, and jump their way to their own heroic feats.
 

This program is presented by Ridgefield Running Company, Ridgefield Library and Books on the Common and is part of the Library's Noreen L. Papa - Mothers: Live Your Life series.  Copies of Natural Born Heroes will be available for sale and signing at the event.   Raffle tickets for free registrations for the May 10th Run Like a Mother 5K Race will be on sale at the event for $20 for an armful of 12 tickets.

Please register for the stage show.  No registration needed for the fun run. 

Learn the most beneficial investing behaviors from Christine Benz, director of personal finance, and Adam Zoll, assistant editor of Morningstar.com. This session, part of Money Smart Week, will help you make informed investing decisions at any age or level of investing. This will be a webinar viewing session which includes 45 minutes of the presented topic and 15 minutes of questions. Please register.  

Award-winning painter David Dunlop will begin to unlock the keys to understanding the role of abstraction in modern and contemporary art by providing illustrations of works by the Impressionists and modernists of the 19th and 20th centuries right up to contemporary artists of the 21st Center. This step-by step-talk will cover the beginning of abstract art to the present by examining changing purposes for art, changing of cultural values and artists' ideas, ambitions and methods.  David Dunlop is the engaging host and writer of the 13-show national PBS television series, "Landscapes Through Time with David Dunlop," for which he won an Emmy and a CINE Golden Eagle Award in 2009. Please register.

Friday, April 25, 12 noon

Donofrio Family Technology Center

3D Printing Orientation

Are you interested in printing your own 3D design on the Library's Makerbot?  We are now offering use of our 3D printer to Ridgefield Library cardholders.  Before reserving printer time (available in two-hour blocks), we require attendance at a 90-minute orientation session to go over how to format a design to be print ready, how to operate the Makerbot, and for an overview of our usage policies. Patrons under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Space is limited so registration is required.  Once you've attended a training session, you can reserve time to use the Makerbot by calling Head of Adult Services Dorothy Pawlowski at 203-438-2282 x11003.

Calling all Muggles in grades 4- 6! Join us to read and discuss Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.Grab your brooms and join us! Registration required.

Readers in Grades 2 & 3 are invited to a book discussion group! Children pick up the book at the library and return to discuss it. This month's title: The Dog that Pitched a No-Hitter by Matt Christopher.  Snacks will be served. Registration required.

Saturday, April 25, 5:00 PM and 7:30 PM

People in middle school are invited to come talk about whatever books they've been reading lately, while enjoying a snack.

Middle School Critics is not a traditional book club where we all read one book and talk about it. Instead, we share share whatever books we've read recently and discuss whether or not we'd recommend them.  No registration.

Tuesday, April 21, 5:30 PM

Leir Children's Program Room

Scrabble

Play Scrabble with an experienced tournament instructor.  Learn the secrets to winning this wonderful game!  For children in grades 4 - 8. No registration. 

Thursday, April 23, 4:30 - 5:30 PM

Ellis Family Teen Center

Teen Tech Thursday

People in middle school and high school are invited to drop by and get technical. This month: learn some physics by making a small hovercraft!