Five Things You Need to Know Today: Fondue Raisers, Preserving Your Peepers and Snapping Along to the Sounds of Spring

1. In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” the titular romantic hero asks “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” Romeo may have been using the sun as a metaphor for Juliet, but there’s nothing metaphorical about the sunshine streaming through your car’s windshield as you drive to work this morning. Today’s forecast is expected to be mostly clear, with highs in the mid-60s. Expect the temperature to dip into the 50s tomorrow, so take advantage of today’s warm weather by walking to a nearby café during your lunch break or indulging in an early evening stroll.

2. Just because you’re getting older doesn’t mean that you want to necessarily go any slower – and the Scarsdale-Edgemont Family Counseling Services gets it. The organization’s Older Adult Services is hosting a Vital Aging series, and today’s lecture, featuring Chief of Ophthalmology at White Plains Hospital Dr. Cliff Ratner, will examine macular degeneration and eye health for older adults. Learn how to preserve your peepers while nibbling on complementary refreshments and chatting with your peers about your latest power walk around Chase Park. Slowing down? Please. You’re barely getting started. Today’s event will take place at 1:30 p.m. at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club. For further information, call (914) 723-3281 or email jdsullivan@sfcsinc.org.

3. We know it’s spring because the daffodils have burst into full bloom and the skies vacillate from a clear blue into a dampening deluge without a moment’s notice. The Hoff-Barthelson Music program, however, knows that it must be spring because it’s hosting “Spring Fever,” or “It must be Spring Because the Jazz Department is in Performance!” today at 8 p.m. Swing by the Music School ready to snap your fingers, tap your toes and celebrate the warm weather. The performance is free of charge. For information, call 914-723-1169 or visit the school's website. 

4. Who doesn’t love fundraisers for a good cause – especially ones with delicious food and a sense of humor? This evening, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training is offering a FONDUE-Raiser at the Melting Pot today to raise money for research and awareness. A portion of the proceeds from each cheesy, delicious meal will benefit the organization. The fundraiser is open to all, but reservations are recommended. Visit the Melting Pot’s website for more information.

5. While today may be a mundane Thursday to most, it’s nevertheless an interesting day in history: April 14 marks the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the day famed ocean liner RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and the first publication of Steinbeck’s Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning novel  “The Grapes of Wrath.” Try running these factoids by Scarsdale’s historian Eric Rothschild if you run into him at the library later today (although he’ll probably know them already).