Monthly Archives: November 2017

Carol Stroll Down Main Street, Then See ‘Trees in the Rigging’ in Essex Today

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Boats in the annual Trees in the Rigging Lighted Boat Parade are decorated with holiday lights. Photo by Jody Dole.

Kick off the holiday season in Essex with the annual Trees in the Rigging Community Carol Sing and Lighted Boat Parade.   The Connecticut River Museum, the Essex Board of Trade, and the Essex Historical Society combine to present this annual event that includes a traditional, lantern-lit carol stroll down Main Street where spectators are invited to bring their own lanterns or flashlights and join in with the Sailing Masters of 1812 Fife and Drum Corps and a parade of antique cars.

Participants can gather at the Essex Town Hall at 4 p.m. The stroll steps off at 4:30 p.m. beginning on West Avenue and ending at the Connecticut River Museum with a parade of vessels dressed out in holiday lights and passing in review along the Connecticut River.  Santa and his elves will arrive by one of the parade boats for visits with children on the lawn of the Connecticut River Museum. The Connecticut River Museum will also be open that evening for all to attend the 24th Annual Holiday Train Show at a reduced admission of $6.

Register Your Boat for the Lighted Boat Parade

A critical and crowd-pleasing part of this free community event is the parade of boats dressed in holiday lights that sail along Essex’s waterfront. The decorated boats are part of a friendly competition.  A modest 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prize will be awarded to the best dressed boats. Winners will be invited to receive their prize and participate in a photo-op on Monday, Nov. 27 at 4:30 p.m. at the Connecticut River Museum.

Registration is required to participate in the boat parade that usually begins around 5:15 p.m. from the south end of Essex Harbor. To register, send emails to: kperkins@ctrivermuseum.org. Information should include: vessel name; type of boat and description; owner(s) name; contact information (phone and preferred email); decorating scheme (if known at time of registration). Registration must be received by Monday, Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m.  

To make your own lanterns at home:
Step 1: fill an empty aluminum can with water and freeze. This will make it easier to punch holes for the design in the can.
Step 2: using a hammer and nail, punch holes in the can to make a connect-the-dots style picture of a holiday design. Use plenty of holes to allow the light to shine through.
Step 3: punch two holes near the rim to attach a wire handle.
Step 4: after the ice is melted, attach a votive or other small candle to the inside bottom of the can.

The Connecticut River Museum is located at 67 Main Street, Essex and is open Tuesday – Sunday from 10 am – 5 p.m.  For more information, call 860.767.8269 or go to www.ctrivermuseum.org.

Letter to the Editor: Time for Democracy, Support the National Popular Vote

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To the Editor:

This past Election Day, we took for granted that our votes would matter and the local candidates receiving the most votes would be the winner. That’s the way it works for every election in the U.S., except for president.

With winner-take-all Electoral College voting, a dozen battleground states with only 33% of the population decide who becomes president. Twice in the last 17 years, the loser of the popular vote became the winner. That doesn’t make sense.

Fortunately, there is a solution. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is a nonpartisan plan to make everyone’s vote for president matter equally—regardless of whether they’re in a blue, red or battleground state—and to make the winner the candidate with the most votes.

The NPV Compact is an agreement among states to award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. It kicks in as soon as states with a combined 270 electoral votes sign on, ensuring the popular vote will always pick the president. Eleven states with a combined 165 electoral votes have already signed on.

Our state legislature has considered joining the Compact five times since 2009. Last session, there were 68 co-sponsors of the NPV bill, more than ever before. It will be introduced again in 2018. If you agree that the candidate with the most votes nationwide should become the president, contact your state legislators and ask them to support it.

This isn’t a partisan issue. A switch of 60,000 Ohio voters in 2014 would have put Kerry in the White House, despite three million more votes cast for Bush. The NPV is not a Democratic plan: in 2014 Newt Gingrich strongly endorsed it. With a national popular vote, every vote would matter, not just those in twelve states. It’s time for a change, time for democracy.

Sincerely,

Marta Daniels,
Chester.

12th Annual Black Friday Concert at the Kate Tonight Benefits Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries

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The Ebin-Rose Trio plays in the Black Friday Concert at the Kate.

Local musicians come together at the Kate on Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. for the annual Black Friday Concert to benefit the Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries (SSKP). Now in its 12th year, this concert has become a community tradition and a wonderful event that embodies the season of giving.

With an emphasis on melody, lyricism and harmony The Ebin-Rose Trio, Carter Gowrie, Leonard Wyeth, Ian Meadows, and Lauren Agnelli will perform with special guests. Brian Wolfe of the Ebin-Rose Trio and Len Wyeth have been organizing the concert since its inception in 2006.

“We’re very happy to be hosting this special concert again in support of such a magnificent organization,” said Brett Elliott, Executive Director, the Kate. “It’s always a special night when local artists take the stage, but when they do so to give back to the community, it’s the perfect occasion to partner and kick off the holiday season of giving.”

Last year, the SSKP distributed enough food for over 1 million meals through five pantries and nine hot meal sites to people in need in the towns of Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, Old Saybrook, Essex, Old Lyme, East Lyme, Lyme, Deep River, Chester, and Killingworth. This year, the number of meals needed on the shoreline has risen over nine percent.

“The financial support we receive through this wonderful concert and the generous Gowrie Group Challenge match allows SSKP to meet the needs of the community. Thank you to all of the musicians for their time and talent and to our friends at the Kate,” said Ellen Rabin, Executive Director, SSKP.

The concert is generously sponsored by Wyeth Architects LLC and AcousticMusic.Org and all proceeds will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Gowrie Group Challenge. Every year between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, Gowrie Group, Connecticut’s largest independent insurance agency, challenges their local community of businesses and friends to team together to raise money to benefit SSKP.

Tickets are $25 and can purchased online through www.thekate.org or by calling the box office at 877-503-1286.

The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “the Kate,” is a non-profit performing arts organization located in an historic theatre/town hall on Main Street in Old Saybrook. Originally opened in 1911 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Kate has been renovated with public funds from the Town of Old Saybrook and donations raised by the Trustees.

It includes a 250-seat theatre and a small museum honoring Katharine Hepburn, Old Saybrook’s most celebrated resident. As befits an organization born of such a public/private partnership, programming is eclectic, offering something for all ages and income levels on more than 250 days each year. For more information on tickets for any shows at the Kate, please visit www.thekate.org or call the Box Office at 877-503-1286.

SSKP is an interfaith service that provides food and fellowship to those in need and educates our community on hunger and poverty. The mission is to provide food and fellowship to those in need and educate our community about hunger and poverty. SSKP provides enough food for over 1 million meals each year. This includes home-style meals served each day at one of nine meal sites, weekly groceries available at five food pantries, and frozen and microwaveable meals prepared by Heat & Eat kitchens. SSKP is an interfaith ministry with all locations hosted by faith communities. For additional information, please visit www.shorelinesoupkitchens.org

Opinion: Thanksgiving Musings … Including the Charm of Old Lyme!

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On Oct. 13, Johns Hopkins University political scientist Michael Haltzel, PhD delivered remarks at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School on the foreign policy of the Trump administration to the Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council (SECWAC).

Dr. Haltzel has now written a column titled,  Thanksgiving Musings, which was published on huffingtonpost.com today, in which he mentions feedback from that meeting and also notes (astutely, in our opinion!), “There may a nicer place to live than the charming coastal towns of southeastern Connecticut – Old Lyme, Essex, Mystic, Stonington – but I haven’t yet seen one.”

Dr. Saltzer’s column opens, “Thanksgiving, that most American of holidays, is upon us. Its historical and religious roots always stir in me a special impulse to reflect on our vast nation, which would be unrecognizable to seventeenth century Pilgrims and Native Americans alike.

I like to tell foreigners that the single most important fact to remember about the United States is the number 326 million – the size of our population …”

Read the full text of his thoughtful column at this link.