The Old Lyme Historical Society (OLHS) will be celebrating two new publications, the 2014 Now & Then, Old Lyme Community Calendar and a poster/booklet titled Noteworthy Houses of Old Lyme, at a free public reception this evening from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Lyme Art Association, 90 Lyme Street, Old Lyme.  These two new publications will be available for sale at the event along with earlier publications by the Society.

All are welcome.

The popularity of last year’s inaugural issue of its Then & Now Calendar has prompted the OLHS to create a new community calendar for 2014 that incorporates a different set of photographs from the organization’s archives, again juxtaposing the historical images with contemporary ones of the same scene.  The images included in the calendar are a small sampling of the many interesting archived photographs of Old Lyme establishments, landscapes, and scenes dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century.

Each calendar month is generously sponsored by a different community organization and includes the dates of their events throughout the year.  The intent is to highlight and assist in marketing activities occurring in Old Lyme in 2014 as well as remembering the past.

The participating sponsors for this year ‘s calendar include All-Pro Automotive, Coffee’s Country Market, Cooley Gallery, Florence Griswold Museum, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Lyme Art Association,  The Nearly New Shop, Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe and Cafe, Old Lyme Inn, Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, Old Lyme Town Hall, and The Village Shops.

2014 Now & Then, Old Lyme Community Calendar was designed by James Meehan and edited by Alison Mitchell. The Copy Editor is Michaelle Pearson.

Noteworthy Houses of Old Lyme consists of a handsome 16” x 20” four color poster of eleven local houses built between 1666 and 1913 and an accompanying booklet which not only describes the architectural features of the houses, but also includes a short description of events occurring in Connecticut around the time the houses were built.  Written by Alison C. Mitchell and Michaelle Pearson with additional research by Leslie Markowicz, it promises to be one of the more popular publications put out by the Society.

Mitchell notes in her introduction that choosing which houses to include was not easy because Old Lyme is fortunate to have many historically interesting houses with fascinating stories associated with them.  The handsome photography and poster design are by James Meehan of James Meehan Art & Design.

The calendars, posters, OLHS books, and reproductions of a historical map of Old Lyme will be available for sale at the reception on Nov. 8.  The calendars and publications will also be for sale through the Historical Society’s web site www.oldlymehistoricalsociety.org, at the Florence Griswold Museum, or at the Old Lyme–Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library.

The mission of the OLHS is to “collect, preserve, and interpret the rich history” of Old Lyme.  To find out more about the OLHS and its interesting activities, explore the web site at www.oldlymehistoricalsociety.org or stop by its office in the Genealogy Room at the Old Lyme–Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library.

The OLHS office in the library is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.  Also, take a look at the OLHS new display in the Old Lyme Post Office as you gather your mail.

To volunteer with the Old Lyme Historical Society, look for opportunities on the Old Lyme-Lyme Volunteer Connection website at http://volunteer.truist.com/ollvolunteer/volunteer/