This week in Greenwich: Billy Joel and Elton John at Binney Park, birding before the galleries open, and an Impressionist afternoon at the Bruce

Morning, Greenwich. A genuinely quiet week, which in late July is not a complaint. The one thing worth clearing the calendar for is Sunday evening at Binney Park, where the town band plays Billy Joel and Elton John with the first selectman holding the baton. Before that, Saturday offers a bird walk that starts inside a museum and ends in a sanctuary.

Best for families this week: Art Adventures at the Bruce on Sunday afternoon, free with admission and built for ages four and up, and the Sunday evening concert at Binney Park, which is free and made for a blanket.

Walk the Distance at Cos Cob Park, 22 Sound Shore Drive, Cos Cob. A standing walking group along the water, unhurried and social, and one of the more reliable ways to meet people in this town without joining anything. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Byram History Walkers and Talkers, in Byram. A walking history of the corner of town that gets written about least and has some of the better stories. The town calendar carries the meeting point and start time. Free, adults. Details.

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Y through the Ages: Timeline Installation at the YMCA of Greenwich, 50 East Putnam Avenue. A walk-through timeline of the Y's role in town, with free coffee from CFCF Coffee and no registration required. The building has been part of the civic furniture here long enough that the timeline is really a town history in disguise. Free, all ages. Details.

America at 250: A Celebration in Art at Coffee for Good, 48 Maple Avenue, open Monday through Saturday, 7:30 AM to 4 PM. Work by artists of the Maggie Daly Arts Cooperative, on view through August 31, with sales proceeds going back to the artists, the cooperative, and the cafe. Free, all ages. Details.

The fight over demolishing 2 Greenwich Avenue has moved from the state review desk to the letters column. Two weeks after the state opened its review of the proposed demolition of the historic Tudor buildings at the foot of the Avenue, residents are writing in to argue that the streetscape is the asset and that losing it is not reversible. Source: Greenwich Free Press.

Greenwich Hospital has state approval to expand its cardiac care services. The Office of Health Strategy signed off, which means procedures that currently send Greenwich patients up the road to Yale New Haven can increasingly happen at home. Source: Greenwich Free Press.

Francis Smith, convicted in the 1949 killing of a night watchman at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club and believed to be the longest-serving prisoner in American history, has died at 101. He was arrested at 25, sentenced to death, and held almost continuously until his release in 2020. The man who admitted firing the shot, George Lowden, was paroled in 1966 and later said he had been pressured into naming Smith at all. Seventy-one years in a Greenwich case that a good number of legal observers think was the wrong man. Source: Greenwich Time.

Birding at the Bruce with Greenwich Audubon at the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. Naturalist Ryan MacLean leads the walk, which meets at the Visitor Services desk in the lobby, crosses the Bruce Park playground, and finishes in Audubon's Oneida Sanctuary. About a mile total over unpaved and uneven ground. Free, museum admission not required, space limited and RSVP required. All ages, outdoors. Details.

Exhibition Highlights Tour at the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. The standing Saturday walk-through of the current shows with someone who can tell you what you are looking at. Tour times are on the museum calendar. Included with admission, all ages. Details.

Core and Connect Pilates at lululemon, 151 Greenwich Avenue. A complimentary 45-minute mat class in the store with Kari Tumminia Galu, part of the summer series. Free, adults, registration through the ticket page. Details.

Summer Concert Series: Sound Beach Community Band, the music of Billy Joel and Elton John at Binney Park, Old Greenwich, 7 PM. First Selectman Fred Camillo guest conducts, music director Zachary Kampler runs the band, and assistant conductor Lisa Romeo did the arrangements. The band has been going since 1955 and its roster runs from auditioned middle schoolers to retired professionals, which is a fair description of the town itself. Free, all ages, outdoors. Weather cancellations post after 4 PM at 203-861-6100. Details.

Art Adventures: Impressionist Reflections at the Bruce Museum, Cohen Education Wing, 1 Museum Drive, 1 to 3 PM. Children experiment with brushes and paint application to build an Impressionist landscape. Drop-in, no registration. Free with general admission, ages 4 and up with families. Details.

The Greenwich Policeman's Ball will mark the police department's 130th anniversary. A department founded in 1896 does not get many round numbers, and this is one of them. Details.

The Greenwich Art Society is running watercolor seascape classes for anyone who has looked at the Sound this summer and thought about trying to paint it. Details.

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Cooper

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