Monthly Archives: March 2016

AAUW Presents Program on ‘Empowering Afghan Women and Girls’ at Essex Library Tomorrow

Posted on by
Reply
UNAMA School in Afghanistan

UNAMA School in Afghanistan

There are contingents of Afghan women who, with incredible courage and determination, are making a difference in this war-weary country. They are desperate for an education, to have a salaried job, to have influence in their family, to have a say in government and at peace tables, and to hold up at least some of the Afghan sky. They seek to bring peace and stability to their homeland.

On Wednesday, March 23 at 7 p.m., Hally Siddons will present an illustrated talk at the Essex Library on how members of the Canadian Federation of University Women have worked to understand the plight of these women, to advocate for them, and to provide support in Afghanistan and in Ottawa.

Hally Siddons, the past president of the Canadian Federation of University Women, Ottawa, is instrumental in developing a project to support education and a school for women in Afghanistan. She is coming to Essex after attending the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, where she has also presented.

This program, sponsored by the AAUW Lower Connecticut Valley, is free and open to the public. Please call the Essex Library at (860) 767-1560 to register or for more information. The Essex Library is located at 33 West Avenue in Essex.

Coyotes – Friend or Foe? Find Out at a Lyme Public Hall Presentation This Afternoon

Posted on by
Reply
Close-up of a coyote.

Close-up of a pair of coyotes.

Since coyotes first extended their range into Connecticut in the 1950s, they have become an established presence in rural and urban areas. Many people have unjustly demonized this intelligent animal. Coyotes play an important role in the ecosystem in helping to control the overpopulation of deer and rodents.

Frank Vincenti, of the Wild Dog Foundation, will present a talk Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m. in theLyme Public Hall about the natural history and habits of this fascinating animal, and address common misconceptions. He will discuss common sense ways to co-exist with coyotes and explain reasons to appreciate wildlife, such as the coyote, that can readily adapt to environments that are inhabited by people.

This free program includes beautiful images and factual engaging conversation, which will interest adults and children.

This program is sponsored by the Lyme Land Conservation Trust.  The Lyme Public Hall is at 249 Hamburg Rd. in the Hamburg Center of Lyme on Rte. 156, five miles north of I-95.

For more information, visit lymelandtrust.org.

Dance the Night Away Cuban Style at Tonight’s Bookworm Ball, Benefits OL Library

Posted on by
Reply

cuba3The Friends of the Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library are planning an exuberant celebration on Saturday, March 19 – the last night of winter, and the eve of the first day of spring. This year, the theme for their popular Bookworm Ball is A Night in Havana.

A few tickets are still available for this evening’s event.  To reserve tickets, call or visit the Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library at (860)434-1684 or visit http://www.oldlyme.lioninc.org/bookworm-ball-2016/ and order them online.

Always a welcome break for the winter weary, the Bookworm Ball is a great escape from long weeks of cabin fever and a popular party that raises funds for a beloved library.  The hot Havana theme is likely to make this year’s event, to be held at the Old Lyme Country Club, an even bigger hit.

The décor and entertainment will recall the romantic and era of the high life in Havana.  The cigars, the cars, the mojitos, the mambo and merengue – all promise to make it a memorable night.

The Friends of the Library go all out for this fundraiser, with an event that typically raises over $25,000. The ball takes thousands of volunteer hours to present, with sponsors providing financial support as well as donated items to be auctioned.  Among the items going to some lucky bidders this year will be trips to Cancun and to Disneyworld.

dancerEach year the non-profit Friends pledge to raise more than $40,000 annually to buy new books and bring educational programs for tots, teens, and adults to the Library. All proceeds from the Ball are dedicated to the financial support of the Library’s programs and collections.

By mid-March, area residents should be more than ready for some hot Cuban rhythms and a tropical atmosphere, so a strong turnout is expected

Reading Uncertainly? ‘The Medusa and the Snail’ by Lewis Thomas

Posted on by
Reply

medusa&SnailStep back, once again, to read the questions posed by a thoughtful physician. Dr. Thomas presents us with some 29 brief, challenging, curious, skeptical, and often humorous essays on the human condition. They inevitably raise more questions than answers:

  • Why do we feel euphoria when watching small animals going about their work? (I ask this after sitting on our deck, wondering why our squirrels and chipmunks are forever so industrious.)
  • Do ants as a group “think?’ (Edward O. Wilson may answer than one)
  • Where do we fit in this “inter-collaborative system” called earth?
  • Why are mistakes the essential elements of life?
  • Should we play Bach before all committee meetings?
  • Why do we meddle so much?
  • Why are commas useful?

Those questions along should encourage a re-reading of the good Dr. Thomas, who died in 1993 after serving many years as head of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Some further jewels:

  • “All the forms of life are connected.” The earth is a “system of interacting, intercommunicating components that, as a group, act or operate individually and jointly to achieve a common goal through the concerted activity of the individual parts.”
  • “We are components in a dense, fantastically complicated system of life; we are enmeshed in the inter-living, and we really don’t know what we’re up to.”
  • “We are … worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still.”(Doesn’t this describe our responses to world events in 2015?)
  • “Man has always been a specifically anxious creature with an almost untapped capacity for worry; it is a gift that distinguishes him from other forms of life.”
  • On human surprise: “ … we have a whole eternity of astonishment stretching out ahead of us.” “It seems to me the safest and most prudent of bets [is] to lay money on surprise.”

If these brief quotes intrigue you, read this book, plus some of his other works: The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher (1974) and Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony (1983).

Editor’s Note: ‘The Medusa and the Snail’ by Lewis Thomas is published by Viking, New York 1979.

Felix Kloman_headshot_2005_284x331-150x150About the Author: Felix Kloman is a sailor, rower, husband, father, grandfather, retired management consultant and, above all, a curious reader and writer. He’s explored how we as human beings and organizations respond to ever-present uncertainty in two books, ‘Mumpsimus Revisited’ (2005) and ‘The Fantods of Risk’ (2008). A 20-year resident of Lyme, he now writes book reviews, mostly of non-fiction that explores our minds, our behavior, our politics and our history. But he does throw in a novel here and there. For more than 50 years, he’s put together the 17 syllables that comprise haiku, the traditional Japanese poetry, and now serves as the self-appointed “poet laureate” of Ashlawn Farms Coffee, where he may be seen on Friday mornings. His wife, Ann, is also a writer, but of mystery novels, all of which begin in a bubbling village in midcoast Maine, strangely reminiscent of the town she and her husband visit every summer.

Local Essex Realtor’s 2015 Sales – Including in Lyme, Old Lyme – Total $24.8 Million

Posted on by
Reply
Award-winning Essex realtor Colette Harron stands outside the Sotheby's International office on Main Street in Essex.

Award-winning Essex realtor Colette Harron stands outside the Sotheby’s International office on Main Street in Essex.

ESSEX — Essex resident Colette Harron of Sotheby’s International Realty sold an unprecedented $24.8 million of real estate in the 2015 calendar year. This record-breaking amount not only placed Harron in the “Top 15 Company Wide Dollar Volume” in sales among Sotheby’s 1,500 realtors but also put in the “Top Producer’s Dollar Volume” in the Sotheby’s sales office in Essex.

The properties that Harron sold last year were located in the towns of Essex, Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Deep River and Chester. As for the keys to her success, Harron said in a recent interview, “I work very hard, and even more importantly I always make myself available for my clients.” She also noted, “I know the area very well.”

In addition, Harron has Joanne Tyrol as a full time assistant, who Harron described as, “Just Perfect.”

Harron also noted, “I’m well established in the community, and have been doing this work for the last 15 years,” adding, “I’m always working, and I am always available.” In addition to English, Harron is also in fluent in Spanish and French. Another secret of her exceptional performance is, in Harron’s words, “I try not to remember the bad times, and just remember the good.” She concluded, “It is a tough business, and the challenges are high,” … but there is no question that she has made the very best of both.