Monthly Archives: January 2018

Community Leaders Hope to Help Parents Improve Communication With Teens; Forum in OS Tonight

Posted on by
Reply

Compassion Counts invites shoreline community members to join an upcoming community conversation, ‘Weathering the Adolescent Storm in a Pressure-Filled World,’ on Wednesday, Jan. 31, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the Old Saybrook High School Auditorium.   This free event will be a dynamic evening for teens, parents and teachers to learn how to nurture positive communication and foster resilience.

Attendees will watch a series of skits simulating common family conflicts in today’s pressure filled world to demonstrate both negative and positive communication styles.  A panel of Shoreline area teens will share their reflections on the skits.  The evening will conclude with an important talk on failure, resilience and success along with an opportunity for audience members to ask questions.

Dan Osborne, CEO of Gilead Community Services will be the moderator. Facilitators include Tom Allen, Ph.D., founder Pathways Center for Learning and Behavioral Health; Andy Buccarro, LSW, LADC, founder Project Courage Substance Abuse Treatment Center; and Alicia Farrell, Ph.D., Cognitive Psychologist and founder Clearview Consulting.

“We are responding to the requests of many parents in our community to learn how to better communicate with their teens,” says Dr. Alicia Farrell.   “This forum is the perfect opportunity for families to recognize that they are not alone in their daily challenges.  Parents, teens and teachers, will leave uplifted with new tools to keep communications with their teens positive, help them to foster grit and resilience while harnessing the hidden power of imperfection.”

To attend this free event, register online at https:/weatheringtheadolescentstorm.eventbrite.com.  Light refreshments will be served from 6 to 6:30 p.m.  A snow date is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20.

For more information contact Lucy McMillan at 860.343.5300 or lmcmillan@gileadcs.org.

Compassion Counts is an ongoing series of community conversations held in the upper and lower Middlesex County. The purpose of these events is to educate and support the public around challenging life issues. Previous events have addressed topics like mental health, addiction, and suicide.  The Compassion Counts events are made possible by the generous support from various nonprofits throughout Middlesex County.

Sincere Thanks to the ‘Key Retrievers’ at Old Lyme Town Hall

Posted on by
Reply

To the Editor:

I want to let you know what an amazing job Scott D’Amato and Lawrence Galbo did retrieving my keys from the storm drain in front of Town Hall yesterday. It wasn’t an easy job and I don’t know what I would have done if they didn’t do it. Thank you once again.

Thank you also to the women in Town Hall who contacted Public Works.

Sincerely,

Donna Staab,
Old Lyme.

Reading Uncertainly? ‘Troubles’ by J.G. Farrell

Posted on by
Reply

When a world is collapsing all about us, how much are we willing to recognize?

J. G. Farrell’s description of a veteran of the World War I trenches going to Ireland to rejoin a young lady he had met only once in London during the War is an allegory on human inertia and lethargy in the face of rapid change.

In 1919, Major Brendan Archer travels from London to Kilnalough, Ireland, thinking to ask Angela Spencer to join him in marriage, even though he could not remember ever asking her outright to do so. He finds an elusive young lady and a scene of inertia and decay. Ireland has entered the “Troubles” with Sinn Fein pushing for complete separation from the British Empire.

And that Empire is collapsing just as the Majestic Hotel — owned and operated by Angela’s father, Edward, and the scene of the entire novel — is doing the same.

Farrell gives us the Hotel dominated by “dust.” Every page describes dust, “mould,” gloom, creepers, grime, cobwebs, collapsing floors, “man-eating” plants, and an ever-expanding entourage of reproducing cats. One room featured “an enormous greyish-white sweater that lay in one corner like a dead sheep.” The weather wasn’t any better: “it rained all that July,” and the hotel residents complained of the coming  “dreadful gauntlet of December, January, February.”

Both the hotel and Ireland exuded “an atmosphere of change, insecurity and decay.” But the residents continued to follow life’s rituals: prayers at breakfast, afternoon teas, dressing for dinner, and whist in the evening.

Add to this mordant scene the author’s interjection of gloomy news reports from around the world: White Russians and English military supporters being trounced in Russia, victorious Boers in South Africa, a mess in Mesopotamia and Egypt, rebellion in Poland, and, finally, the Indians attempting to remove themselves from British rule.

In the face of all this, the hotel’s owner and operator, Edward Spencer aggravates the Major: “ … his overbearing manner; the way he always insisted on being right, flatly stating his opinions in a loud and abusive tone without paying any attention to what the other fellow was saying.” Does this also describe the Brits in other sections of the world?

The Major remains always a drifter “with the tide of events,” never able to respond, dominated, it seems, by “the country’s vast and narcotic inertia.”

This is a story of the collapse of a hotel, descending at last into ashes, and an allusion to the similar collapse of the British Empire, with the Second World War being its enormous fire. It is a compelling read, one that suggests some connections to the events of the second decade of the 21st century …

Editor’s Note: ‘Troubles’ by J. G. Farrell is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1970.

Felix Kloman

About 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. 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.

Rod White is Old Lyme’s 2017 ‘Citizen of the Year’

Posted on by
3

From left to right standing, Old Lyme Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal, Selectman Chris Kerr, Judy White (Rod’s wife), and First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder celebrate Rod White (seated) being named the 2017 Old Lyme Citizen of the Year.

Noting at Monday (Jan.22) evening’s Annual Town Meeting in Memorial Town Hall that it was always a “joy” to announce the Old Lyme Citizen of the Year, Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder then declared that Roderick M. White was the 2017 recipient.

After the applause for White has dissipated, Reemsnyder read the Proclamation that gave the justification for his honor.

Old Lyme’s 2017 ‘Citizen of the Year’ Rod White (seated) is joined by the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen. His wife, Judy, is seated second from right.

She said, “Over the course of his 50+ years in Old Lyme, Rod White has set a high standard for community service. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, Rod graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1950. He spent the next quarter of a century making his mark in the Coast Guard. A faculty member from 1969 to 1974, he served as Dean of Academics from 1974 to 1983. In 1969, he was named the outstanding Naval Engineer of the year, receiving the prestigious Gold Medal from the American Society of Naval Engineers.”

Commenting in more detail on White’s Gold Medal citation, Reemsnyder said it, “refers to “his exceptional analytical skills and technical competence… [and] significant contributions in the advancement of icebreaker design …” It was Rod’s “White Bow” design that made it possible for the SS Manhattan to make the first successful transit of the Northwest Passage by a commercial vessel.”

Reemsnyder drew laughter from the audience of approximately 40 residents when she took a break from the text to mention that reference to White’s invention seemed, “… particularly timely this year in view of the fact that there are currently ice-breakers on the Connecticut River.”

While his wife Judy wiped away a tear, an emotional White spoke to the audience thanking the board of selectmen for the award and declaring his deep fondness of the Old Lyme community.

She continued reading the Proclamation text, saying, “Rod White has used his exceptional skills in our community in so many ways. A founding member of the Harbor Management Commission, he served as Chair from 1988 to 1994, and was elected Registrar of Voters from 1993 to 2004. An active member of the Republican Town Committee, serving as both secretary and vice-chair, he was elected for two terms to the Regional District 18 Board of Education, serving from 1997 to 2005.  Rod was our Town’s representative to the Southeastern Tourism District for many years, and currently serves on the Board of Assessment Appeals, a position to which he was first elected in 2007.”

Rod White (seated) is congratulated by previous Old Lyme Citizens of the Year, Jeff Sturges (left) and Lynn Fairfield-Sonn (right.)

Finally, Reemsnyder mentioned that, “Despite his obviously busy schedule, Rod willingly shared his talents with a larger community, as well.”  She noted that he served as Executive Director for the Eastern CT Foundation for Public Giving, Executive Director of the Coast Guard Foundation, Chair of the Boy Scouts Long Range Planning Committee and as a member of both the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Board and Connecticut’s Olympic Committee.

Reemsnyder added, “He has also been a loyal and active member of the Rotary, an organization synonymous with service, since 1975.” 

With a broad smile, she concluded with the words, “Tonight, we recognize a resident whose name is synonymous with service in our town as we honor our 2017 Citizen of the Year, Roderick M. White.”

Rod White (seated) was joined by numerous friends and relatives to celebrate his new accolade.

When Reemsnyder stopped reading and presented him with the Citation, White was completely overwhelmed and unable to speak for a short time.  With tears still visible on his face, he finally was able to express his deep gratitude for the award, saying, “It has always been an honor to serve this community.”  He commented on how much the evening had meant to him and apologized for being in a wheelchair saying he had fallen and broken his hip and then, in a second accident, his knee.

White spoke again of his love of Old Lyme  and his profound appreciation of the award before the board of selectmen, family, and friends joined him in turn for photos.

Congratulations from all of us at LymeLine.com to Captain White!

House Democrats Get Jump On Toll Debate

Posted on by
Reply

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, who co-chairs the Transportation Committee, speaks during Monday’s press conference on tolls. Photo by Christine Stuart.

Read the full story, which includes a quote by local State Rep. Devin Carney (R-23rd) and was published on CTNewsJunkie.com, Jan. 29. at this link.

HARTFORD — Democratic legislative leaders in the House weren’t going to wait for the start of the legislative session to debate electronic tolls. They want to hold a vote and pass it as soon as possible.

“Connecticut residents can’t afford to wait; we must invest in transportation now,” Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, said. “Every day we put off making these tough decisions, we risk tragedy on our decaying roads and bridges.”

Guerrera and Rep. Chris Perone plan on …

Editor’s Note:  CTNewsJunkie.com and LymeLine.com are both proud members of the Local Independent Online News (LION) publishers group.  We are glad to offer links to each other’s articles.