🌱Give Blood For Amazon Gift Cards + VRHS Grads Make Dean's Lists

Happy Friday, people of Essex-Chester-Deep River! Here's everything you need to know about what's happening today.

First, today's weather:

The calm before the storm. A snow shower in the p.m. High: 34 Low: 20.

Here are the top four stories today in Essex-Chester-Deep River:

1. Would you like to do something nice for someone else and get an Amazon gift card in exchange? You can! The Red Cross is offering Amazon gift cards for blood donations. There’s an upcoming drive near Essex-Chester-Deep River. (Essex-Chester-Deep River Patch)
2. The Deep River Historical Society will be holding its annual meeting soon. Don't miss it (Press Release Desk)
3. Several Valley Regional High School graduates are achieving great things at their chosen colleges and universities. Many of them have made their school's Dean's Lists. (Zip06.com)
4. Remote learning standards will be changing come July 1st and the feasibility of a K-12 statewide remote learning school is being explored by the State Commission. (Connecticut Education Association)

Today's Essex-Chester-Deep River Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Verizon. They're building the fastest 5G network in the country. To learn how 5G is going to change life for you and your community — and to get access to this amazing technology — click here. And thank you Verizon for sponsoring this community resource in Essex-Chester-Deep River!

Today in Essex-Chester-Deep River:

From my notebook:

• Deep River Parks & Rec: "Get outside this weekend and play in the snow! Deep River Parks & Recreation is challenging all snow artists to send photos of their creations for a chance to win" (Facebook)
• Town of Chester Connecticut: " A Constance Baker Motley Book Discussion will be held via Zoom on Feb. 1, at 4 p.m. The Chester Historical Society invites those interested to join the virtual discussion of the life and legacy of Constance Baker Motley. (Facebook)
• Visit Chester CT: Honeycone craft ice cream is spending time with their "Kiddie-Cone” and will be closed until Feb. 2. They will be back with some fabulous new flavors. (Facebook)
• Essex Library: "Essex residents may pick up a box of N95 masks- 1 per person - at the Essex Library today, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m." (Facebook)
• Tri-Town Youth Services Bureau: "In this week's newsletter, we touched on toxic stress, identifying what it is and what it is not. Here is a two-minute video that we included from The Center on The Developing Child at Harvard University(Facebook)

Loving the Essex-Chester-Deep River Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

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Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Friday! I'll see you soon.

— Karena Garrity

About me: I am a native of Connecticut, who currently resides in the Tri-Town community of Chester, Deep River and Essex. I have been a community reporter for the better part of the past 20 years. I love my small town community and I am honored to be a part of Patch.com. You can reach me at; karena.garrity@patch.com.