The Hormones and Physical Exercise (HOPE) Study, a Yale School of Public Health study, funded by the National Institutes of Health is expanding and women living on the shoreline are being invited to participate.

Women who have been treated for breast cancer and who are taking an aromatase inhibitor (Femara, Aromasin, Arimidex or a generic version) are being invited to participate in this important study.  Aromatase inhibitors are taken by many post-menopausal women who have had breast cancer.

This research study will examine if a program of strength training combined with moderate intensity aerobic exercise improves the side effects from aromatase inhibitors, such as joint pain and bone loss. 

Half the women in the study will be chosen at random to start a 12-month exercise program.  The other half will participate in a health education program for 12 months.  

The exercise program will be individually tailored to your needs and will include two supervised strength training sessions per week at the Westbrook YMCA and 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking.  A 12-month membership to the YMCA will be provided to those in the exercise group.

The health education program will involve a health counselor telephoning you once a month to discuss topics of interest for women who have had breast cancer.  Upon completion of the 12-month program, an exercise trainer will also develop a personalized exercise program for you.

All costs related to the study will be paid by the HOPE study.  Office visits will be reimbursed with a $20 gas card and payment of all parking charges. If the 12-month study is completed (including attendance at the 6-month office visit), the participant will receive a $50 gift card to Wal-Mart.

Click here to read for more information about the study.

If you are interested in learning more about the HOPE Study by phone or email, call 203-764-8427 or email the Principal Investigator, Dr Melinda Irwin at melinda.irwin@yale.edu

“I think it is lousy,” said a rushing commuter about the new system of having to pay for parking at the Old Saybrook railroad station, which was implemented on Nov. 1.  

She herself was avoiding paying by parking in a free spot well away from the station.

Another rushing morning commuter was Nancy Johnson of Old Saybrook.  As for the new fee for parking at the railroad station she said, “I am sad about it.  It’s awful.  What’s going to happen, when it snows?  It’s going to get worse.  People are going to get killed.”

“There are no lights in the parking lot,” she added.

Carolann McNeish of Old Saybrook was yet another critic of the new $5 a day parking fee at the station. “We need to encourage people to take the train,” she said.  “This discourages them.”

McNeish also said that she had called the town to complain about the new $5 fee to park at the station. However, she was doubtful that it would do any good.  As for the separate, free parking lot for Shoreline East commuters, she said despairingly, “It is always full.”

Even the new parking attendant, who has been hired to collect the $5 fees for parking at the station said, “A lot of people are complaining.”

What’s going on here?  

Well, it all began when David M. Adams, a partner of Saybrook Realty Partners, decided that it was time to charge for parking on the private property that his firm owns next to the railroad station.  This property, called, Saybrook Junction, encompasses both the parking spaces at the shopping plaza, as well as those next to the railroad station.

To put the new “pay for parking” scheme into effect, Adams hired a large professional firm called LAZ Parking, and LAZ in turn hired two parking attendants to collect $5 a day parking fees from frequently puzzled parkers.

One parking attendant is on duty from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the second, works from 1 to 9 p.m.  Since there is no on-site booth for the attendants, they simply wander around the parking lot trying to get parkers to pay the $5 fee for parking, when appropriate.  When the attendants get cold, they sit in their cars to warm up.

In addition to putting into place a new “pay-to park” parking scheme, an attempt has also been made to provide free parking for train-bound passengers at two of the station’s “park-free” areas.  

One is an enclosed lot set aside for Shoreline East passengers, which faces North Main Street. On this lot there are 160 free parking spaces. However, the problem is that this Shoreline East lot is frequently full.

Also, there is a parking area reserved for Amtrak passengers. This area has 41 free spaces, and on busy days it too can be full.

Both of these free parking areas for train riders are well in the back of the Shoreline Junction’s parking spaces, so it is always something of a walk for Shoreline East commuters and Amtrak passengers to reach  the station.

Furthermore, Shoreline East and Amtrak riders are exempt from paying for parking, only when they are parking in their designated areas.  Even if a person has a train ticket in hand, and shows it to the attendant, that is not good enough.  They still have to pay for parking.

The parking spaces closest to the new $6 million railroad station building are those which are reserved exclusively for the patrons of the “Pizza Works, Pie and Suds” restaurant.  These Pizza Works’ parking spaces generally remain empty throughout the day.

Bob Kehayias of Pizza Works, while intent on preserving his restaurant’s privileged parking spaces, said in a recent interview that the solution to the parking problem at the station should be to build a new, freestanding parking garage, which would provide free parking for all.

Also, Kehayias said that at one time Amtrak owned the parking areas next to the railroad station, but then sold them to the private owner, which he feels was shortsighted.  As for the present parking situation at Sayrbook Junction, the pizza restaurant owner says, “Some people are upset and confused.”

Still, some commuters have taken the new parking charges in stride.  “It was a nice perk, while it lasted,” said one, referring to the days when parking was free.  When Pat Thompson of Essex on her way to the train was asked, if she was angry about having to pay for parking, she replied, “Not a bit.”

To end some of the confusion, here is a summary of our interpretation of when, “To pay, or not to pay,” for parking on Saybrook Junction’s property at the Old Saybrook railroad station.

1. Any person who is doing business with one of Saybrook Junction’s tenants, or who is an employee at one of its tenant’s businesses, can park for free.
2. Any person parking in the special area reserved for Shoreline East commuter parking can park for free if, of course, they can find a space.
3. Any person parking in the designated spaces reserved for Amtrak passengers, which are indicated by painted yellow stripes and located in the back of the parking lot, can park for free, if they can find an empty space.
4. Any person parking in the One Hour Parking row can park for free for one hour.
5. Any person parking outside the parking lot, such as along North Main Street, can park for free.
6. Any handicapped person can park for free in handicapped spaces at the Saybrook Junction parking lot at the station. However, the handicapped parking spaces in the Pizza Works restaurant area require eating at the restaurant at the time of their use.
7. Any person that parks in Saybrook Junction’s  parking spaces, which do not fit one of the above “park free” categories, must pay $5 a day for parking. Furthermore, if a person, who is required to pay, wants to park for more than one day, they must pay in advance for the multiple days and display their daily receipts, so they can be seen by the attendants.
8. As a general rule those persons parking in spaces that are bordered by white stripes are required to pay the $5 a day parking fee.

David Adams, the partner-owner of the Saybrook Junction, said in a recent interview that by instituting charges for parking, “We wanted to get the situation under control and to alleviate the pressure.”  

Asked about those people who were parking, but not paying when they should be, he said, ‘’If there is a ten percent slippage, so what.”

Even with the slippage, it appears that charging for parking on Saybrook Junction’s private property at the railroad station is making money.  “It’s profitable,” is the way Adams puts it.

Old Lyme resident Emily Kramm is one of a group of 140 Stagedoor Manor students from all over the world,  who will sing and dance the opening number for this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade®. The number – an all-new original song written specifically for the event – will be a special celebration of the famed Parade’s landmark 85th Anniversary.

Following the opening, the students will then make their way to the top of the Parade route and march the entire length of the Parade, eventually escorting Santa Claus into Herald Square for the NBC national telecast’s finale.  This year’s appearance will mark Stagedoor Manor’s third consecutive Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade performance.

Perhaps the most iconic annual event in the history of broadcasting, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airs nationally on NBC-TV to an estimated 50 million viewers and is widely considered to be the “official start of the Holiday Season.” It will air from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (EST) today, Thursday, Nov. 24.

More than four-hundred Stagedoor Manor students apply for the opportunity to participate in the Parade. This year’s participants represent 27 states, as well as Canada, Jamaica, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia.

Participants came together for the first time in New York City just three days before the Parade, and learned the entire routine in a quick 24-hour rehearsal period. Emily is shown at the rehearsal in NYC in the photo at left.

An accomplished dancer, Emily is a student at the Eastern Conecticut Ballet (ECB) in East Lyme when she is at home in Old Lyme.  The ECB is performing its 10th anniversary production of The Nutcracker at the Garde Arts Center on Dec. 10 ad 11.  Emily is celebrating an anniversary of her own in those performances since she will have danced in every one of those 10 years of performances.

Editor’s Note: For tickets to and more information about The Nutcracker, visit tickets.gardearts.org