Community Corner

Oscars, Feb. 29 Birthdays, Budget and Whiz Kid

Five things to know about Feb. 28, 2011.

There is only one more day until March, but every four years marks an additional day in February. What is it like to have a birthday Feb. 29 and how do you celebrate when it is not a leap year? Read about how some locals handle leap year birthdays. If you have one and are not mentioned in the article, please add it in the comments. The next leap year is in 2012, the same year as the next presidential election.

The Oscars are over and The King's Speech resounded well, as the film garnered Best Picture accolades, Colin Firth was crowned with the Best Actor title, Tom Hooper won Best Director and screenwriter David Seidler, who overcame a speech impediment, earned the Best Original Screenplay award. Geoffrey Rush did not win Best Supporting Actor, for his role as an uncoventional Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, but his vigor in the character demonstrated the importance of helping those with a stutter or speech impediment  – whether child or king. Patch is scheduled to interview an Avon speech therapist this week, so stay tuned for her account of coaching patients through speech challenges.

While there has been a lot of Oscar buzz lately in Hollywood, in Avon there has been budget buzz. The  Board of Finance has a meeting Monday night at 7 p.m. in Town Hall, building one, and is scheduled to discuss the . The proposed town figure is $27.7 million, including $1.7 million for sewers, $4.8 million for debt service and $1.5 million for capital projects. The Board of Education budget request is $47,945,179.

Find out what's happening in Avonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Speaking of nominations, Patch wants to hear about interesting things children and students from Avon are doing. Every Wednesday, we are running a new feature called Whiz Kid. All you need to do is submit the nominee's name, grade, accomplishment, key to success and a photo. was last week's Whiz Kid for being honored recently for his piano playing at Carnegie Hall. Any child from pre-school to a high school senior is eligible.

Also, in the spirit of the Oscars, if anyone is either an Avon filmmaker or working on a film in Avon, short or feature length, e-mail Avon Patch at Jessie.Sawyer@patch.com.

Find out what's happening in Avonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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