The Daily Five: Hot Stuff And The First Hard Frost

1. It's a might early to be talking about the wind chill factor but today will be windy and chilly, with gusts of 20 to 30 mph and temperatures reaching no higher than 54 degrees, according to Weather.com. There's a 20 percent chance of rain during the day and, though tonight will be clear, it's going to get cold.

Temperatures are expected to drop to 32 degrees to bring us the first hard frost of the season. The National Weather Service has issued a frost alert for our area beginning Saturday at 1 a.m. until 9 a.m. Rather incongruously, there's also a high pollen alert, just to remind us that even though it feels like winter, we're still in the midst of fall. 

2. Here's an event that ought to warm you up: Niantic Community Church will hold its fifth annual chili cook-off tomorrow, October 13. The competition is open to anyone, from professional restaurant chefs to people who just like to cook, but the top chef to beat is Craig Woody, who has won it three times now! It's $15 to enter and you can pick up entry forms or get more information from the church at 170 Pennsylvania Avenue in Niantic. 

3. Speaking of hot stuff, this week is National Fire Prevention Week and tonight, Old Lyme Fire Department will be offering safety tips and firefighter demonstrations at its annual open house at the Lyme Street Firehouse, 69 Lyme Street. Firefighters will give demonstrations of how they extricate people from cars and give lessons in fire extinguisher use. (Believe me, you don't want to wait until you have a fire to try to figure this out. It's not as simple as it looks!)

There will be free fire helmets and special programs for kids—my particular favorite would be the smokehouse where they let kids put out a simulated fire with a real fire hose! Firefighters and medical technicians will be on hand to answer any questions and the fire engines and ambulance will be open for tours. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

4. Weather permitting, parking lot renovation is scheduled to continue at Flanders Elementary School and East Lyme School District's Central Office over the weekend. Due to paving, the entrance off Route 1 to Flanders School and Central Office will be closed. If you need to access the Aquatics Center or Flanders, please park in the high school parking lot.  

Roadwork is nearing completion in Old Lyme, where the Public Works Department has been working on Johnnycake Hill and Meetinghouse Roads. According to the town's web site, driveway aprons should be finished by next week. 

5. One more thing is coming to an end this weekend, however, that unlike the roadwork, will be sorely missed. This Saturday, Ashlawn Farm will hold its final Farmers' Market for the season in Lyme. So stop by and stock up on some of that autumn squash and all the handmade soaps and candles you'll need to carry you through 'til spring.

Ashlawn Farm's coffee shop, at least, will remain open but the thing I'll miss most of all will be Chip Dahlke's Newsletters, which never fail to make me laugh out loud at least once. His final newsletter will appear on Patch today at noon. Ciao (Porto)bello!  

This Day In History

On October 12, 1609, the children’s nursery rhyme “Three Blind Mice” is published in London.

Daily Trivia

Mysophobia is the pathological fear of … ?

Yesterday's Answer: Which state currently sports the most NFL teams? It’s a tie between California (The Chargers, The 49rs, and The Raiders) and Florida (The Dolphins, The Buccaneers, and The Jaguars).  Yes, New York also has three teams; however The Buffalo Bills are the only team to play in New York. The NY Jets and the NY Giants both play in New Jersey. (Tricky!)

This Day and Daily Trivia was compiled by John Carroll. Cheers, John! 

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