Monthly Archives: April 2018

Talking Transportation: “Getting There” – Grabbing The Best Seat

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Photo by Gerrie van der Walt on Unsplash.

It was the folks at Cunard who said “Getting there is half the fun”.  And crossing the Atlantic in style on an ocean liner certainly was.  But whatever your mode of transportation, getting the right seat can make for an enjoyable or miserable trip.

On Metro-North, I usually go for a window seat.  However, on crowded trains, any seat is better than none.  But I can still get an “upgrade”, if I pay attention.

Heading into New York, I watch for people getting off the train in Stamford.  Their seat check usually has a torn corner, so I look for them when boarding.  And you’ll usually see those folks gathering their stuff just before arriving at the station.  That’s when I pounce.

Leaving Greenwich, Conn., I try to arrive early to board my train so I get my first pick of seats.  I usually opt for the window on a three-seat side.  That way, if someone else arrives just before departure, they can take the aisle seat and the train will have to be Standing Room Only before anyone opts for the dreaded middle seat.

But it’s on airplanes that seat selection is crucial.

Never go for an emergency exit row.  There may be more legroom, but the seat dividers are rigid and the arm rests can’t be raised.

Try to sit forward of the wing for minimal engine noise.  It’s not by chance that the cheapest seats are in the rear, next to the lavatories, where the jet noise is the loudest.

Some people prefer aisle seats so they can get up and walk around.  But a recent study showed occupants of those seats have the greatest chance of being sprayed with germs from other passengers and crew.  Consider wearing a face mask for your own protection.

Again, I prefer a window seat so I can see where we are going.  But even booking in advance these seats are hard to get, depending on the airline and your frequent flyer status.

Something like 20 percent of all airline revenue now comes from “add-ons” to ticket prices for things like seat assignments, checked bags, food and yes, seat assignments.

The travelers’ advocacy group Travelers United cites an example of a passenger flying from NY to Chicago on American Airlines who really wanted a window seat but was told it would cost an additional $42.  She refused, waiting until she got to the airport to check in to try again.  There the airline said her window seat would cost an extra $76 … more than her one-way airfare!

That she could fly 700 miles for 10 cents a mile is ridiculous and speaks to how much airlines are “unbundling” their products. Their profit comes not from the transportation but the amenities.  You can take Greyhound on that route for $54 (if you don’t mind a 22-hour trip).  But “riding the dog” comes with two free checked bags, seat-side power plugs and free Wi-Fi.

Families flying together have a particular challenge trying to get adjacent seats. But last fall Congress tossed air travelers a bone, requiring airlines to seat families together at no additional cost.

Whatever your mode of transportation, be it cruise ship or jetliner, planning ahead is key to scoring “the best seat in the house”.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media

Jim Cameron

About the author: Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien RTM.  The opinions expressed in this column are only his own.  You can reach him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com

For a full collection of “Talking Transportation” columns, visit www.talkingtransportation.blogspot.com

Celebrate Poetry Month by Creating a Haiku Today at Old Lyme’s PGN Library!

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April is Poetry Month!  Celebrate with the Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library, which is offering ‘Cut and Paste Haiku’ today starting at 10 a.m. and continuing through 5 p.m.

Create an original Haiku poem/art piece out of random words and images. All materials will be supplied.

This event is free for all ages and no registration is required.

Old Lyme Town Budget Hearing Tonight in Town Hall

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The Old Lyme Board of Finance will conduct a public hearing on the proposed town budget for the 2018-19 financial year this evening, Monday, April 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Meeting Hall of the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall at 52 Lyme Street, Old Lyme.

The proposed budget totals $9,957,916, which represents a 1.4 percent increase over the current year’s budget.  Major factors impacting the budget are reduced income from the state and increased healthcare insurance premiums for Town employees.

The two largest expenditure items are $300,000 for the Mile Creek bridge replacement and $230,000 for road overlay projects throughout the town.  Expenditure on the upcoming renovation project for the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library is not included in the budget.

The anticipated increase in the mill rate that would be required under the proposed budget is 0.16 mills from 21.75 to 21.91.  The mill rate is not finalized, however, until after residents have voted on the budget.  That vote is scheduled to take place at a Town Annual Meeting on May 21.  The vote on the Region 18 budget is planned for Tuesday, May 8.

A copy of the proposed town budget can be viewed at this link.

 

FloGris Museum Throws a Perfect Party to Welcome New Director, Becky Beaulieu

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The new Director of the Florence Griswold Museum Becky Beaulieu greets guests at Thursday’s reception to welcome her to the community. Her husband Patrick Ford stands to her right.

UPDATED 04/16/18: More than 250 people turned out Thursday evening to welcome the new Director of the Florence Griswold Museum, Rebekah (Becky) Beaulieu, at a reception held at the Museum.  Beaulieu succeeds Jeffrey Andersen, who served in the position for more than 41 years prior to his recent retirement.  Beaulieu and Andersen overlapped in the position during February to ensure a smooth management transition.

Beaulieu and her husband Patrick Ford stood in the foyer of the Museum greeting each guest individually as they arrived.  A long, but extremely cheerful, line of people waiting to meet the new Director and her husband soon developed.  Beaulieu and Ford gave each guest as much time as desired maintaining a sense of calm despite the large numbers milling in the foyer.

The new Director of the Florence Griswold Museum Becky Beaulieu listens as Museum Trustee President Ted Hamilton welcomes her.

In the formal part of the evening, Museum Trustee President Ted Hamilton opened the proceedings, saying, “It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the new Director of our Museum.”  He reminisced about how, roughly 18 months ago, “Jeff Andersen, our Director of 40 years, told me that he wanted to retire.” Hamilton commented in a deadpan voice, “After I picked myself off the floor …” prompting roars of laughter, and then continued on a serious note, “… I knew that we had a big task in front of us.”

Search Committee member David Dangremond stands to the left of Museum Director Becky Beaulieu while Chair of the Search Committee John Noyes stands to her right.

Hamilton continued, “For the last year, we conducted a search for a new Director to replace Jeff. I appointed a Search Committee with John Noyes as the Chairman of the Committee. I asked six Museum Trustees to help him. The Trustees are David Dangremond, Lee Prichard, Andy Baxter, Carolyn Wakeman, Jeff Cooley, and Andrea Inglis. I was an Ex-officio Member of the Committee.”

The process was lengthy, Hamilton explained, “First, we searched for a Search Firm, which specializes in Museum and Not-for-Profit Organization Searches. We interviewed 10 firms and choose Korn Ferry, a Global Search Firm. They considered over 100 people throughout the world. We interviewed about 20 people to come up with five finalists.” He continued, “It was a rigorous and very thoughtful search. The team worked very hard for many hours each week.”

Museum Trustee President Ted Hamilton stands alongside the new Museum Director Becky Beaulieu.

Hamilton concluded,  “Our investment in time, work and money paid off. One person was head and shoulders above the rest – we knew that we found the best person for the job – Becky Beaulieu. Our hard work, worked out for us – I hope it does for her too.”

He then asked everyone present to welcome Beaulieu and her husband to the Museum and the community, ending with the words, ” Fellow Members, I present Becky Beaulieu, our new Director!”

Newly appointed Director fo the Florence Griswold Museum Becky Beaulieu stands for a photo with her husband Patrick Ford.

Responding to Hamilton’s warm welcome, Beaulieu spoke directly to the Museum’s members saying she recognized that they serve as “ambassadors or emissaries” for the Museum.  She said she hoped to take the Museum to “new heights” by “working alongside you [the members.]” Then, after thanking the members for their ongoing support, she expressed her gratitude to everyone present for making her and her husband feel, “unbelievably welcome.”

Guests galore gather in the Florence Griswold Museum to welcome new Director Becky Beaulieu.

She ended her remarks by saying simply, “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Con Brio Choral Society Presents “Mass for Troubled Times” in Old Lyme, Today

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Soprano Louise Fauteux

In times of angst and uncertainty, nothing helps heal the soul like the experience of glorious uplifting choral music performed live. So for those in search of a respite from the world of today and a healing moment, come hear Franz Joseph Haydn’s response to the trials of his era, the Lord Nelson Mass also called a Mass for Troubled Times, performed by the 70 voices of the Con Brio Choral Society.

Haydn’s chief biographer, H.C. Robbins Landon, has written that this mass “is arguably Haydn’s greatest single composition.”

The mass calls for four soloists and this concert features four of the best. Con Brio welcomes for the first time soprano Louise Fauteux, and returning favorites of Con Brio audiences, Clea Huston, Contralto; Terrence Fay, Tenor; and Christopher Grundy, Baritone – performing with the Con Brio Festival Orchestra under the baton of Dr. Stephen Bruce.

The concert is on Sunday, April 15, at 4 p.m., at Christ the King Church, 1 McCurdy Lane, Old Lyme, CT.

Soprano Louise Fauteux has performed in a solo role in Peer Gynt with the New York Philharmonic and actor John de Lancie, on a tour in Venice with DeCapo Opera and with the Fairfield County Chorale. The Hartford Courant described her performance in Un Ballo in Maschera with Connecticut Concert Opera as a “pert, boyish Oscar” with “clarion tone in her two showpiece arias and a soaring top in the great Act I ensemble.”

Contralto Clea Huston

Contralto Clea Huston has a unique and powerful voice, “with formidable virtuosity over a wide range” (The Boston Globe) and “her mezzo-soprano voice is nothing less than spectacular in its power, agility and beauty” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Ms. Huston enjoys both the concert and operatic stage where she has performed across the country and internationally. Highlights of her solo symphonic engagements include a Wagner program with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic and Verdi’s Requiem with the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra; a few of her many opera roles include the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Jo in Little Women and La Principessa in Suor Angelica.

Lauded as a “musical polymath” by the New London Day, Tenor Terrence Fay is enjoying a burgeoning career as a tenor soloist and an active choral artist while also serving as principal trombonist of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theater of Connecticut, and assistant principal trombonist of the New Haven Symphony. As tenor soloist, he has performed with the Eastern Connecticut and New Haven Symphony Orchestras, the Greater Middletown Chorale and Con Brio.

Tenor Christopher Grundy

Baritone Christopher Grundy has performed as a soloist throughout North America and Europe in opera, oratorio and recital. In the title role of Don Giovanni a reviewer said he “made an impact in the part, vocally and dramatically.” As the baritone soloist in Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, he “brought eloquence and musicality to the performance.” Connecticut soloist appearances include with the Stamford Chorale, Fairfield County Chorale, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Orchestra New England and Con Brio.

The concert’s second-half will open with C. Hubert H. Parry’s grand anthem I Was Glad, written for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902 and performed at coronations and royal weddings ever since. The next two pieces honor the host countries for Con Brio’s upcoming European tour: a Slovenian piece, Handl’s Ascendit Deus, long a standard in Renaissance choral literature, and a fun Croatian nonsense song, Terezinka.

As in every Con Brio concert, two eight-part pieces for double choir, Regina Coeli Laetare by Victoria and Dona Nobis Pacem by Rheinberger, will be performed in the round, with singers arrayed all around the Sanctuary of Christ the King church.

Rounding out the program will be Unclouded Day arranged by Shawn Kirchner, Mack Wilberg’s arrangement of Homeward Bound, Somewhere from Bernstein’s West Side Story, and two American pieces, one performed by the Ladies of Con Brio – Rosephanye Powell’s Still I Rise, and by the Gentlemen of Con Brio, Coney Island Baby/We All Fall.

For the rousing ending to the program, the Con Brio chorus, the four soloists and the Con Brio Festival Orchestra will perform the twelve-part Grand Finale from Act III of Verdi’s opera Falstaff.

Tickets for the performance are $30 each, $15 for students. Purchase them in advance online at www.conbrio.org or call 860-526-5399.