Memorial Day Parade sign

Charlotte Annelies Bergmann will wed Patrick Austin Reed in October. Bergmann grew up in Darien and graduated from St. Luke's School in New Canaan in 2012.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwest CT will offer a free six-week basics class at the Darien Depot, 25 Heights Road, for parents of children under the age of 22 who have mental health struggles.

The class will meet on from 9:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday mornings, May 16 to June 20.

The program is a free six-session education program for parents, caregivers and other family who provide care for youth who are experiencing mental health symptoms taught by a trained team with experience raising a child with a mental health condition. Learn about treatment options, how to advocate for a child's rights, how to respond to crisis situations and more.

Registration is required and can be completed online at https://namict.org/find-support/nami-basics/.

The Town of Darien's Monuments and Ceremonies Commission will host its traditional Memorial Day Parade on May 29 and is seeking and signing up units for the event.

The parade will begin at 10 a.m. sharp starting from Goodwives Shopping Center, marching up the Post Road to Spring Grove Veterans Cemetery, where it will be followed about 11:15 a.m. by a commemoration ceremony honoring those who lost their lives while serving in the Armed Forces.

Any organization interested in marching in the parade should email the parade committee at: [email protected].

Darien Scouts Troop 53 joined together on April 30 to honor Cameron McGraw, Owen Miller, Connor Russo and Gregory Saba, who all earned the highest rank of Eagle Scout. Family, friends, and fellow Scouts attended their Eagle Court of Honor where they received commendations from Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, State Rep. Tracy Marra, R-Darien, State Rep. Tom O'Dea, R-New Canaan and a citation from Darien First Selectman Monica McNally.

To earn the Eagle Scout rank, all four Scouts had to design, prepare and complete a service project for a community organization.

McGraw led the construction of four Adirondack chairs and a children's picnic table for the Darien Community Association Bird Sanctuary and Nature Trail. Miller led the construction of a woodshed for the Mather Homestead. Russo led assembly of outdoor classroom storage boxes for the Darien Nature Center and Saba led the building of a new roof ventilation prop at the Darien fire drill tower for training fire fighters.

Darien Scouting is open to all youth in kindergarten through the 12th grade. Scouts learn leadership and life skills, experience outdoor adventure and participate in community service all while having fun and making lifelong friends. For more information, visit www.darienscouts.org.

The Darien Community Association's Greenhouse Group is holding its annual plant sale 8:30 a.m. to noon May 12 at the DCA, 274 Middlesex Road.

The sale will feature more than 2,000 mature plants, both familiar and unusual, grown in the DCA greenhouse or in members' gardens. Greenhouse Group members will be available to give planting advice.

For more information, visit dariendca.org or email [email protected]

Eileen Begert Bergmann and Oliver Bergmann are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Charlotte Annelies Bergmann, to Patrick Austin Reed, son of Jan and Michael Reed of Menlo Park, Calif.

The couple were college sweethearts and dated for nine years before their engagement.

Charlotte Bergmann grew up in Darien, graduated from St. Luke's School in New Canaan in 2012 and graduated cum laude from American University in Washington, D.C., in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in public relations and strategic communication, a minor in Spanish language and a certificate in Spanish translation. She is a public relations professional at IBM in New York City.

Patrick Reed grew up in Menlo Park, graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School in 2012 and graduated magna cum laude from American University in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in international studies with minors in computer science and Russian language. He was part of the American University Honors program and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Reed also graduated from the New York University School of Law in 2021 with a juris doctor degree and was admitted to the bar of New York State in 2022. He is a second-year associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City.

The couple will wed in October.

After a strong finish at Charter Oak Scholastic Open XI, the quiz bowl team from Middlesex Middle School in Darien is going to a national stage. The team will represent the school in a 160-team competition on May 12 at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments' Middle School National Championship Tournament.

Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture.

Middlesex won the Middle School National Championship Tournament in 2016, and also attended in 2022, 2021, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

The team comes in with some nationals experience. Anika Bansal, Gavin Wheeler, and Aiden Younessian played the 2022 Middle School National Championship Tournament in Rosemont, Ill., and Wheeler and Younessian played the 2021 Middle School National Championship Tournament.

Middlesex Middle School will send four teams to the 2023 tournament. The A team will be captained by Bansal and Younessian, who will be joined by Julian Du and Wheeler. The B team will be captained by Hannah Huang, who will be joined by Anna Kays, Robert McCulloch and Rohan Singh. The C team will be captained by Jasper Gruhl, who will be joined by Dylan Bamundo, Mischa Gagliardi and Zoe Younessian. The D team will consist of Jake Kelley, Rohan Nafde, Harikumar Palaniappan, Tiago Prince and Nick Steinke. The teams will be coached by Ken Romeo, who will be assisted by Barbara Ivey, Michele Mattera, Andrew Turriago and Katlin Tyrol.

Tournament results will be updated throughout the three days of competition at http://www.naqt.com/go/stats/13400 so everyone can follow along and see how the team does.