Monthly Archives: August 2019

Death of Suzanne Brown Announced; Memorial Service to be Held in Old Lyme, Aug. 25

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Suzanne Brown

ESSEX — Suzanne “Suzie” Brown, our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, passed away Aug. 5, 2019, from complications after a fall in her home. She joins her beloved husband, Templeton “Temp” Brown of 58 years. We will celebrate them both by living their example of truth, love, and commitment.

Suzie celebrated beauty in life by picnicking in the countryside, arranging flowers from her garden, traveling the world, and savoring languages, cuisine, literature, colors, and the natural world. She cherished her family. We all have cultivated deep artistic roots because she showed us how to appreciate beauty in everything around us, every day of her life.

Suzie lived in Winnetka, Ill. for over three decades, and then returned to her childhood state of Connecticut to begin a new adventure with our dad, Temp, in Lyme. She had a wonderful group of friends, old and new, first from her many years in Illinois, and then more recently centered in Lyme and at the Essex Meadows Senior Retirement Community, in Essex. Suzie loved and appreciated the connections she made in Essex Meadows with her neighbors, staff, care-team, and her dear friend, Len Lonnegren.

Suzie will be remembered forever by her family, daughter Lisa Brown and her husband Mark Lellman; grandson Matt Lellman; and granddaughters, Leah Lellman (husband Josh Hisley) and Heidi Lellman (husband Jake Bonnerup); and great-grandson, Theo Bonnerup; daughter Suzanne Butz and her husband Ted Butz; grandsons Teddy Butz and Robert Butz (wife Jen Butz); and great-granddaughter, Hayden Butz; and daughter Maren Brown and her wife Patricia Morrison.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25, at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to the Lyme Land Trust, which was dear to both mom and dad’s deep appreciation of preserving nature for future generations to enjoy.

Responding to Last Weekend’s Mass Shootings, Sen. Murphy Authors Op-Ed in ‘The Hill’ Titled ‘The Violence Paradox’

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US Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)

WASHINGTON –- Following last weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), authored an op-ed in The Hill focusing on America’s unique legacy of violence and how Congressional inaction is a signal of endorsement to would-be shooters. Since his time in the Senate, Murphy has been a vocal critic of our nation’s gun laws and have proposed commonsense gun violence prevention legislation.

Excerpts from the op-ed are below and can be viewed here.

“It is a deeply uncomfortable fact that inside some humans lies the ability to rationalize the decision to walk into a Walmart or a crowded bar and start firing a wildly lethal weapon indiscriminately, with the goal of ending as many lives as possible.”

“But as these slaughters – from Newtown to Orlando to Las Vegas to El Paso and Dayton – continue unabated, we need to start asking questions about what within our own makeup explains this mass shooting epidemic, and what control society has over these outlier actions that seem, with each new mind-bending massacre, less like outliers. The answer is that violence is inside us, but so is the ability to end this epic-scale carnage.”

“First, we must face a foundational fact – humans are uniquely hardwired for violence.”

“Our rates of violence over the millennia have gone up and down, but long ago, humans figured out that violence was an effective means of social and economic advancement.”

“Here in America, our legacy of violence is even more pronounced than the rest of the world. Once Europeans landed on the continent, violence as a means of social order became standard order.”

“First, it was the settlers wiping out the local tribes, then it was slaveowners using massive scale violence to enslave African-Americans, and then ethnic groups turned on each other, using violence to contest economic and social space in America’s crowded cities.”

“Along the way, it was the guns that made it easy for the dominant groups to control the subordinate groups. One historian suggests that without the flood of weapons that came with America becoming the early home of the global arms industry, America would be 50 percent less murderous over our long history.”

“Here in America, we are nowhere near as violent as we were in our early years, in large part because of government intervention. It is not a coincidence that the two steepest periods of decline in the rate of murder in the United States occurred right after passage of the two most significant gun laws in our nation’s history – the first national firearms control acts in 1934 and 1938, and the background checks and assault weapons ban bills in 1993 and 1994.”

“The success of those two legislative efforts to significantly depress violence levels in the United States should give us hope as we grieve over these most recent American mass shootings.”

“Laws that keep weapons away from dangerous people, and keep uniquely dangerous weapons – like the AR-15 – away from everyone, work.”

“Data shows that states with tougher gun laws have lower gun murder rates. At the federal level, during the 10 years of the assault weapons ban, America’s mass murder rate was almost half that of the following 10 years.”

“At the federal level, during the 10 years of the assault weapons ban, America’s mass murder rate was almost half that of the following 10 years.”

“As the minds of these mass shooters descend into a dark place, unimaginable to you and me, where they rationalize the decision to exorcise their personal trauma through mass violence, I believe they take note of the silence at the highest levels of their nation regarding the choice they are contemplating.”

“Yes, presidents and governors and senators send out statements condemning each mass shooting, and offer “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families. But these are empty words, and everybody knows it, especially after no actual policy changes are enacted as the mass shooting era continues to grip America.”

“The absence of any interest in passing laws to condemn mass shootings sends a signal of unintentional endorsement to would-be mass murderers.”

“When it comes to the instincts that lie inside humans, this weekend’s shootings represent one side of the coin. But on the other side is our ability to stop violence. It’s our choice which side lands face up.”

Read the full op-ed here.

‘Cabaret’ Opens at Ivoryton Playhouse, Runs Through Sept. 1

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Katie mack stars in ‘cabaret’ at the Ivoryton Playhouse as Sally Bowles.

IVORYTON – “There was a cabaret and there was a master of ceremonies and there was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany. It was the end of the world … and I was dancing with Sally Bowles and we were both fast asleep.” So begins the international classic musical and winner of eight Tony awards –  Cabaret– which opened last night in Ivoryton to rave reviews. The show runs through Sept. 1.

Join other members of the audience at the Kit Kat Club as the Emcee takes us back to those tumultuous times with unforgettable musical numbers including,  “Wilkommen,” “Cabaret,” and “Maybe This Time.”

This Broadway classic is set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power. Cabaret focuses on the nightlife at the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and revolves around American writer Cliff Bradshaw and his relationship with English cabaret performer, Sally Bowles, as the world spins out of control.

The original 1966 Broadway production became an instant hit, winning eight Tony Awards in 1967 and four in 1998.  The show has inspired numerous subsequent productions in London and New York, as well as the 1972 film of the same name.

Cabaret is an unusual musical that has changed many times over the past 50 years to reflect the changes in the world, but the musical’s implicit warning about the temptations of fascism, nationalism and prejudice — the way they can sneak up on you when you’re having fun — has never seemed dated or irrelevant.

“It’s such an important piece of theatre, in what it says about the world and how quickly things can change,” says Playhouse Artistic Director, Jacqui Hubbard. “I think it is even more relevant today than when it was first performed over 50 years ago. Underneath the humor, the sex and the fabulous music is a constant alarm sounding, telling us to pay attention.”

Sam Given takes the lead male role in ‘Cabaret.’

The production stars Sam Given* as the Master of Ceremonies. Sam has appeared in Ivoryton in Godspell, A Chorus Line, I Hate Musicals: The Musical and in his own one-person show with his alter ego, Millie Grams. He has recently been seen as Ziggy Stardust inRebel Rebel: The Many Lives of David Bowie. 

Katie Mack* as Sally Bowles and Andy Tighe* as Cliff will be making their Ivoryton debuts. The cast also includes Will Clark, Carlyn Connolly*, Corrie Farbstein, Taavon Gamble*, Jade Genga, Aliah James, John Little*, Amanda Luppachino, Amani Pope, Carolyn Popp*, Renee Sutherland, Emerson Valentina, Max Weinstein and Jayke Workman. 

The production is directed and choreographed by Todd Underwood and musical directed by Michael Morris with set design by Daniel Nischan, lighting design by Marcus Abbott and costume design by Katie Bunce.

Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.

Additional matinee performances are on Saturday, Aug. 17, and Aug. 31, at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $55 for adults; $50 for seniors; $25 for students and $20 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org 

(Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

Pictures courtesy of Ivoryton Playhouse

*denotes member of Actors Equity

Lyme-Old Lyme High School, Middle School Announce Q4 Honor Rolls

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Lyme-Old Lyme High School 4th Quarter Honor Roll 2018-19

HIGH HONORS

Grade 12:

Kathryn Atkinson, Lewis Avery, Madison Babcock, Jacqueline Barry, Casey Blue, Mackenzie Blue, Jocelyn Campbell, Ann Cote, Emma Danes, Britney DeRoehn, Corey Drummond, Grace Edwards, Olin Frederiks, Zachary Gidius, Grace Gilbert, Emily Grenier, Kylie Hall, Colin Hallahan, Sarah Hayward, Haley Heath, Kate Hickie, Aoife Hufford, John Manthous, Brynn McGlinchey, Hannah Morrison, Leah Neithamer, Emily O’Brien, Jacob Olsen, Katherine Reid, Sadie Rubitski, Noah Rumm, Kellie Sablone, Caroline Sagristano, Anna Sather, Justin Shaw, Penelope Small, Emily Tan, Alexander Williams

Grade 11:

Emily Balocca, Emma Bass, Audrey Berry, Faith Caulkins, Rory Cavicke, Sarah Conley, Elizabeth Cravinho, Isabel Dean-Frazier, Arianna DelMastro, Maria Denya, Raymond Doll, Samuel Dushin, Araselys Farrell, Nicholas Fava, Jada Fuentes, Tanner Griffin, Sophia Griswold, Kamber Hamou, Lauren Huck, Jeffy Joshy, Daniel Kendall, Renate Kuhn, Rachael Larson, Brenna Lewis, Thomas McCarthy, Ryan McTigue, Samantha Olson, Jane Scheiber, Colby Sides, Garrett Smith, Emily Speckhals, Evan St.Louis, Olivia Stack, Haley Stevens, Olivia Tetreault, Ryan Tetreault, Lydia Tinnerello, Sydney Trowbridge, Megan VanSteenbergen, Jackson Warren, Theodore Wayland, Trevor Wells, Clair Wholean, Maggie Wisner, Conner Wyman, Katherine Zelmanow

Grade 10:

Kaylee Armenia, Juliette Atkinson, Rachel Barretta, Ava Berry, Emma Boardman, Martinez Carcamo, Kate Cheney, Emerson Colwell, Megan Cravinho, George Danes, Bianca Dasilva, Paige Davis, Francette Donato, Corah Engdall, Sadie Frankel, Fiona Frederiks, Lillian Grethel, Isabella Hine, Grace Lathrop, Gabriel Lavoie, Owen Macadam, Emma Meekhoff, Brianna Melillo, Marina Melluzzo, Michael Milazzo, Riley Nelson, Sophia Ortoleva, Connie Pan, Lauren Pitt, Ezra Pyle, Hayden Saunders, Tait Sawden, Lian Thompson, Angus Tresnan, Kelly Walsh, Ellery Zrenda

Grade 9:

Grace Arnold, Nihad Bicic, Hannah Britt, Mackenzie Bussolotti, Evan Clark, Anne Colangelo, John Conley, Lauren Creagan, Caroline Crolius, Elias D’Onofrio, Elizabeth Duddy, Eleanor Dushin, Victoria Gage, Samantha Geshel, Nicolette Hallahan, Andrew Hedberg, Madison Hubbard, Fiona Hufford, Julia Johnston, Nevin Joshy, Kian Kardestuncer, Cora Kern, Michael Klier, Felse Kyle, William Larson, Reese Maguire, Abigail Manthous, Grace McAdams, Evan Morgan, Elle Myers, Bella Orlando, Jacob Ritchie, Katie Roberts, Margaret Rommel, Alexander Roth, Olivia Schaedler, Calvin Scheiber, Abigail Sicuranza, Matthew Snyder, Abby Speckhals, Drew St.Louis, Nikolai Stephens-Zumbaum, Victoria Stout, Madison Thompson, Aidan Ward, Melanie Warren, Ellie Wells

HONORS

Grade 12:

Catherine Battalino, Lauren Birk, Claire Britton, Paige Britton, John Coughlin, Thomas Creagan, Liam Holloway, Riley Jacobson, Mya Johnson, Sophie Kyle, Henry Lahm, Danielle McCarthy, Nicholas Myers, Sydney Ogden, Thomas Pennie, Eaven Rivera, Nicholas Roth, Olivia Rugg, Robert Sedlatschek, Ethan Tracano, Caroline Wallace, Colleen Walsh

Grade 11:

Anabella Arias, Jean-Luc Bolduc, Chloe Cahill, Madison Cann, Martinez Carcamo, Emilia Cheesman, Ty Dean, Lucy Gilbert, Grace Hanrahan, Benjamin Kelly, Jacqueline Malizia, Biuma Mariame, Melissa Mauro, Ryan Mitchell, Mason Morrissey, Dylan Mulligan, Chandler Munson, Sofia Pecher-Kohout, Cajamarca Pelaez, Carter Popkin, Jenna Porter, Jared Ritchie, Andre Salkin, Summer Siefken, Philip Sweeney, Kiera Ulmer, Anna Williams

Grade 10:

Paige Alpha, Colbe Andrews, Maxwell Bauchmann, Sadie Bowman, Kyuss Buono, John Cox, Patrick Dagher, Emily DeRoehn, Leslie Farrell, Eveliz Fuentes, Samantha Gray, Schuyler Greenho, Emma Griffith, Regan Kaye, Paige Kolesnik, Mackenzie Machnik, Madelyn Maskell, Elle McAraw, Emma McCulloch, Timothy O’Brien, Gavin Porter, Jacob Quaratella, Ethan Rivera, Anthony Rosario, Jesper Silberberg, Isabella Smith, Tessa St.Germain, Jake Stewart, Katrina Wallace, Lauren Wallace, Alison Ward, Katelyn Zbierski

Grade 9:

John Almy, Ryan Clark, James Creagan, Elise DeBernardo, Liam Fallon, Iona Fitzgerald, Aiden Goiangos, Shawn Grenier, Jackson Harris, Zoe Jensen, Owen Kegley, Robyn King, Alex Lee, Mikayla Masilotti, Emily Mesham, Jacob Meyers, Samuel Mullaney, Brendan O’Brien, Michael O’Donnell, Adeline Riccio, Frank Sablone, McLean Signora, Meghan Speers, Olivia Turtoro, John Videll, Evan Visgilio, Mary Wholean, Avery Wyman, Ryan Zbierski

Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School Q4 Honor Roll 2018-19

HIGH HONORS

Grade 8:

Whitney Barbour, Callie Bass, Livie Bass, Jillian Beebe, Jordan Beebe, Cooper Bowman, Ava Brinkerhoff, Jamie Bucior, Gretchen Burgess, Sarah Burnham, Hayley Cann, Liam Celic, Luke Celic, Grace Colwell, William Danes, Anna Davis, Zachary Eichholz, Willa Hoerauf, Dylan Hovey, Karissa Huang, Owen Ingersoll-Bonsack, Aidan Kerrigan, Phoebe Lampos, Jonah Lathrop, Monique Lavoie, Jacob Lopez-Bravo, Ford Macadam, Marielle Mather, Madalyn McCulloch, Caden Monte, Cooper Munson, Alain Pecher-Kohout, Izzadora Reynolds, Rhyleigh Russell, Eli Ryan, Anders Silberberg, Alyssa Spooner, Tova Toriello, Kaitlyn Ward, Harry Whitten, George Williams, Quinn Williams

Grade 7:

Peighton Andrews, Emma Bayor, Oliver Berry, Alis Bicic, Elliot Bjornberg, Henry Boremski, Drew Brackley, Natalie Buckley, Jackson Bullock, Nicholas Cheesman, Sarah Colangelo, Ella Curtiss-Reardon, Eric Dagher, Lucas DaSilva, Eva D’Onofrio, Mulanga Drysile, Amelia Gage, Ryder Goss, Sydney Goulding, Nyla Goulis, Alexis Grasdock, Justin Green, Douglas Griswold, Katherine Gryk, Abby Hale, Nathaniel Heon, Leland Hine, Sedona Holland, Agatha Hunt, Beatrice Hunt, Sabina Jungkeit, Emmerson Kaye, Dakota Kotzan, Audrey LeCour, Luke Legein, Brodie Lippincott, Matthew Mazzalupo, Anna McAdams, Griffin McGlinchey, Matthew Miller, Elaina Morosky, Katherine Mullaney, Delaney Nelson, Isabelle O’Connor, Kayla O’Leary, Grace Phaneuf, Jack Porter, Luisa Raby, Ava Roth, Owen Snurkowski, Gabriel Tooker, Keara Ward, Louisa Warlitz, Mason Wells, Tyler Wells, Summer Wollack

Grade 6:

Christopher Anderson, Emma Arelt, Oliver Avelange, Natalie Barndt, Micah Bass, Justin Bonatti, Nathaniel Bradley, Mark Burnham, Chase Calderon, Tabitha Colwell, Gloria Conley, Chloe Datum, Andrea DeBernardo, Autumn Dionne, Zoe Eastman-Grossel, Caeli Edmed, Anna Eichholz, Grace Ferman, Hoshena Gemme, Ava Gilbert, Henry Griswold, Jonathan Harms, Kyle Ingersoll-Bonsack, Shyla Jones, Simon Karpinski, Aven Kellert, Olivia Kelly, Ella Kiem, Peter Kuhn, Ada LaConti, James Lahot, Brenden Landry, Elise Leonardo, Andrew Liu, Colette Marchant, Abigail O’Brien, Kanon Oharu, Filip Pecher-Kohout, Sophie Pennie, Mutia Quarshie, Kelly Sheehan, Andrew Sicuranza, Drea Simler, Timothy Sousa, Audrey Spiegel, Morgan Standish, Madeline Supersano, Charlotte Tinniswood, Leah Volponi, Kathleen Walsh, Ava Wilcox

HONORS

Grade 8:

Olivia Alpha, Gillian Bradley, Evelynn Carr, Alexander Chrysoulakis, John Eichholz, Clarence Hinckley, Arber Hoxha, Karleigh Landers, Calvin Monte, Kelsey Pryor, Jacob Rand, Benjamin Roth, Marco Supersano, Samantha Tan

Grade 7:

Elizabeth Cone, Macklin Cushman, Mohamad Hamou, Beky Pallaroso, Haley Shaw, Madeleine Soriano, Kalea VanPel

Grade 6:

Ella Austin, Molly Boardman, Shane Eastman-Grossel, Trinity Empie-Jones, Ella Evans, Marcella Gencarella, Salvatore Gencarella, Abigail Griffith, Rowan Hovey, Elizabeth Lopez, Max Novak, Nathan Parker, Shannon Pryor, Ysabel Rodriguez, Josephine Small

Griswold Placed on November Ballot as Republican Old Lyme First Selectman Candidate

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Former Old Lyme First Selectman Tim Griswold

Tim Griswold, who served as Old Lyme First Selectman from 1997-2011, was today officially placed on the November ballot as the Republican candidate for Old Lyme First Selectman.

This followed certification earlier this morning of 189 petition signatures by the Republican Old Lyme Town Registrar Cathy Carter, which involved checking each signature for authenticity and confirming the signer’s current membership of the Republican Party.  Tim Griswold and Barbara Crowley then both pledged that they had witnessed the signatures when they were taken.

The final step in the process occurred when Old Lyme Town Clerk Vicki Urbowicz called the Secretary of State’s Office to notify them of the petition and the number of signatures.  That office then checked there was no candidate already endorsed by the Old Lyme Republican Town Committee and since there was none, the Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that Urbowicz should place Griswold’s name on the ballot using the State Elections Program. Urbowicz has now completed that task.

This means there will be no Republican Primary in September because no other Old Lyme Republicans submitted petitions and today is the deadline submission day.