Monthly Archives: May 2018

Old Lyme Library Presents Program Today on Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’

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‘Starry Night’ by Vincent van Gogh.

The Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library hosts a program presented by Robert Baldwin titled, ‘Van Gogh’s Starry Night: From Spiritualized Nature to Higher Abstraction,’ on Saturday, May 19, at 1 p.m. 

Inspired by Gauguin’s artistic group in Brittany, Vincent van Gogh traveled to the south of France to revitalize his art by returning to his early subject matter – pre-modern landscapes and peasants – now painted with a Post-Impressionist abstraction grounded in the artist’s imagination.

This talk examines Starry Night in the broad picture of larger artistic trends since Romanticism (1790-1850) and the rise of Symbolism as an artistic movement (1888-1915). With its peaceful village, starry skies, and visionary abstraction, Starry Night moved from traditional community to Romantic celestial community to a distinctly modern community of kindred spirits born from shared artistic experience.
Like the mid-19th-century inscription chiseled on the façade of two slightly later art museums, Starry Night goes beyond sublime nature in proclaiming: “Art still has truth, Take refuge there.”
Robert Baldwin is an Associate Professor of Art History at Connecticut College.

“Follow the Fibers” to Bushnell Farm Today, 11am to 4pm

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‘Follow the Fibers’ at Bushnell Farm, May 19, in Old Saybrook.

The family that occupied the 1678 Bushnell House in Old Saybrook were weavers as well as farmers. Each spring Bushnell Farm hosts activities that that allow visitors to step back to a time when hand-woven cloth was derived from the family’s own plants and animals.

On Saturday, May 19, visitors to this privately-owned 22 acre farm site can witness Warner Lord demonstrate the difficult, multi-step process that turned the flax plan into a  thread that could then be woven into linen on the family loom.  The Loom House, with weaver Bev Lewis, is one of the six original buildings on the property that will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., free to the public, on May 19.

Sheep owned by Herb and Sherry Clark of Essex, who own the property, will be shorn of their winter wool by Lara Sullivan of East Haddam, Conn. Sullivan has a busy shearing schedule and she hopes to be at Bushnell Farm  around 11:30 a.m.

Westbrook’s Gary Noth, a life-long archaeologist and primitive technologist, will be at the wigwam in the Grove at the Farm talking about Indian tool technology and their preparations for spring.

In the Bushnell Farm House, one of the five oldest houses in Connecticut, they’ll be turning out the bedbugs from the mattresses; ironing without electricity; and taking advantage of the early fish run. In the Barn, we’ll be sharpening the tools for haying and looking over the seeds saved from last year’s crops and getting ready to plant.

Bushnell Farm is an educational site that provides school and public programs devoted to preserving the agricultural and enterprising past in Connecticut through seasonal events and hands-on activities.

If you have questions, call the Curator at (860) 767-0674.

Shred Unwanted Documents During Lyme-Old Lyme HS Class of 2018 Fundraiser, Saturday

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On Saturday, May 26, the Lyme-Old Lyme High School Class of 2018 will shred documents for businesses and individuals. Anyone can bring their papers to the Lyme-OId Lyme High School parking lot from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. to shred for a donation.

Many people have unwanted papers sitting in boxes or on desks around their house.  All documents will be shred immediately at the high school  The papers could be old tax returns, bank statements, bills, credit card statements, newspapers or school ditto sheets.  This fundraiser provides the community an opportunity to securely discard unwanted papers from houses or businesses.

“We are excited to hold this Shred-it Fundraiser because the demand for secure document shredding services is growing.  This fundraiser provides a low cost way to accomplish this community service,” said Louis Zubek, a high school math teacher and adviser to the Class of 2018.

Last year, this high school class conducted this same fundraiser.  It collected over 120 bags of unwanted papers and generated over $1,200.

Lyme Holds Annual Budget Meeting Tonight

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9:28am Update: Meeting Date Corrected — The Town of Lyme will hold its Annual Budget Meeting tomorrow evening, Thursday, May 17, starting at 7:30 p.m. in Lyme Town Hall at 480 Hamburg Rd.  The agenda includes the following items:

  1. Acknowledge receipt of the Town of Lyme Annual report for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2017.
  2. Acceptance of the Emerson Cemetery property from the Jewett family to the Town of Lyme.
  3. Consider and approve the Town joining an approved Connecticut Health Department or approved Connecticut Health District.
  4. Consider and repeal of the 1968 ordinance relating to Public Health in the Town of Lyme.
  5. Consider and act on estimates and recommendations of the Board of Finance for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2019.

There are expected to be several votes during the meeting.  All residents and citizens qualified to vote in a Town Meeting must be present if they wish to vote.