Monthly Archives: April 2014

Lyme-Old Lyme Chamber Hosts 14th Annual “Taste of Lymes” Business Expo Today

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Four local chefs will present cooking demonstrations at the 14th Annual  “Taste  of the Lymes Business Expo” on Sunday afternoon, April 27, from 3 to 5 p.m., to be held this year at the Old Lyme Country Club.

Many local businesses and Chamber members will exhibit at the Business Expo including Fresh Ayer Gallery, Amity Home Construction & Design, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Florence Griswold Museum, The Woman’s Exchange, and Office Express.

Food preparation demonstrations by chefs from The Bee & Thistle Inn, Amanda Cushman of Simple Real Food, Café Flo (Gourmet Galley) and the Old Lyme Country Club will provide seasonal recipe ideas.  Landscape Designer Sheila Wertheimer will conduct a demonstration on planting a spring patio pot, and Julie Garvin Riggs of the Florence Griswold Museum will provide ongoing demonstrations of how to create handcrafted greeting cards.

Sample delicious foods from local restaurants, refresh your palate with a treat from the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe cart, and participate in drawings to win prizes at this annual event.  The Old Lyme Country Club will host a cash bar.

The promotional art work for this event was created by Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts graduate Rick Lacey, who is a past Lyme-Old Lyme Chamber of Commerce scholarship recipient.

Tickets at $10 per person are available at “Lyme Tree: The Woman’s Exchange” in the Old Lyme Marketplace or at “Fresh Ayer Gallery” in the Old Lyme Shopping Center, or at the door.

For additional information, visit www.visitoldlyme.com or e-mail email@lolcc.com.

Conniff Presents Inaugural LOL Education Foundation Lecture Today

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Richard Conniff

Richard Conniff

The Lyme Old Lyme Education Foundation (LOLEF) has announced that its first annual lecture, hosted by the Lyme Art Association (LAA), will be an evening with Old Lyme’s own Richard Conniff on Sunday, April 27, at 5:30 p.m.

The title of Conniff’s lecture is “Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time:  My Life Doing Dumb Things with Animals.”  His vast experience with animals includes collecting tarantulas in the Peruvian Amazon, tracking leopards with !Kung San hunters in the Namibian desert, climbing the Mountains of the Moon in western Uganda, and trekking through the Himalayas of Bhutan in pursuit of tigers and the mythical migur.  With humor and insight, he recounts his adventures in the strange and fascinating world of wild animals.

Book cover of "Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time"

Book cover of “Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Things with Animals.”

Conniff writes about behavior, on two, four, six, and sometimes eight legs.  His latest book is The Species Seekers:  Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth, about the great age of species discovery.  He won a National Magazine Award in 1997 and a 2009 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism.  He was a 2007 Guggenheim Fellow.

His articles have appeared in Time, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and other publications.  He is a frequent commentator on NPR’s Marketplace and in The New York Times, and has written and presented television shows for the National Geographic Channel, TBS, and the BBC, among others.

Conniff is the author of seven books, including Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time:  My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals (Norton, 2009), The Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide (Norton, 2002) and Spineless Wonders:  Strange Tales of the Invertebrate World (Holt, 1996).

Wine and light hors d’oeuvres will be served.  Tickets are $12 for non-members of the LAA and $10 for members.  Call the LAA at 860. 434.7802 to reserve your seats.

Proceeds to benefit the LOLEF,  a non-profit organization which supports supplemental excellence in programs and technologies in the Region 18 schools and community.

For more information about LOLEF, visit www.lolef.org.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy Tours ‘The Preserve’ in Old Saybrook

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U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) joined representatives from the Trust for Public Land and the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, and about 40 other environmentalists and town officials on Thursday afternoon on a short guided tour of ‘The Preserve’ in Old Saybrook.  The Trust for Public Land is currently working with the towns of Old Saybrook, Essex and Westbrook to acquire the 1,000-acre forest for public enjoyment and to prevent it from further development.

“I’m thrilled to be here with you today.  My family, for as long as I’ve been alive, has had a little tiny summer house in Old Lyme, so this part of the world is like a second home to me,” said Murphy.

Sen. Murphy took off his office shoes and replaced them with hiking footwear as he joined the rest of the group on the hike through to the middle of ‘The Preserve.’

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Senator Murphy joins the group on the short hike through ‘The Preserve.’

After a short hike, the group reached the center of the 1,000 acre property, overlooking Pequot Swamp.  Chris Cryder, Special Projects Coordinator for Connecticut Fund for the Environment, described the swamp as an area of particular environmental significance.  “Pequot Swamp is a 113-acre wetland area that feeds two tributaries of the Connecticut River and is an important resting site for migratory birds,” said Cryder.

Chris Cryder, Special Projects Coordinator for Connecticut Fund for the Environment, explains the environmental significance of Pequot Swmap to Senator Chris Murphy

Chris Cryder, Special Projects Coordinator for Connecticut Fund for the Environment, explains the environmental significance of Pequot Swamp to Senator Chris Murphy.

The Trust for Public Land has been working with the towns of Old Saybrook, Westbrook and Essex, Land Trusts for the three towns, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Audubon Connecticut, The Nature Conservancy and the State of Connecticut to raise the necessary funds to purchase the property.  The Trust hopes to raise $2 million -$3 million in private donations towards the re-negotiated price of $8.1 million.  The remaining funds could potentially come from the state and from the town of Old Saybrook, who will be holding a referendum in June when town voters will be asked to vote on the issue.  If successful, the land would be owned by the town and would be kept open to the public for hiking and recreation purposes.

“In our office, we eat, sleep and breathe land conservation,” said Murphy, “so this is really exciting when we have a big piece of iconic property like this that, hopefully with a little bit of luck and some good partnership, we can preserve for the ages.”

After returning to the trailhead, the group posed for a photo with Senator Murphy.

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OL Historical Society Hosts Annual Dinner, Lecture on Old Lyme Farms Tonight

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The Old Lyme Historical Society will host its seventh annual dinner and lecture featuring Dr. John Pfeiffer on Friday, April 25, at 6 p.m. at the Lymes’ Senior Center, 26 Town Woods Road, Old Lyme.

In this continuing series, Old Lyme Town Historian, Dr. John Pfeiffer will present a lecture titled “The Grange Hall: The Farms of Old Lyme”.  The recent acquisition by the Old Lyme Historical Society of the Grange Hall on Main Street marks the beginning of a new era for the Society.  Simultaneously, this purchase symbolized a complete change of a 350 year local way of life.

A long-time researcher, Pfeiffer will focus on the agrarian history of Old Lyme.  The evening will begin with libations and a chicken marsala and flank steak dinner catered by Coffee’s Country Market;  Pfeiffer’s talk will follow.

Tickets purchased in advance are $30 per person for members and $35 for non-members, and if there is availability, $40 at the door.  Tickets will be available at the Society’s office in the Genealogy Room at the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, during the Society’s office hours, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.

Tickets may also be ordered by phone at 860-434-0684, but will not be held unless paid in advance.  They are also available through the Society’s website www.oldlymehistoricalsociety.org using PayPal for $35 each, or they may be purchased in person only at Webster Bank.