Monthly Archives: May 2020

Gov. Lamont Signs Executive Order Allowing All Eligible CT Residents to Vote Absentee in Aug. 11 Primary Elections

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Photo by Elements Digital on Unsplash.

HARTFORD/LYME/OLD LYME – (from a press release issued by the Governor’s office) Governor Ned Lamont yesterday announced that because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he has signed an executive order allowing all registered voters in Connecticut to vote absentee in the Aug. 11, 2020 primary elections.

Current state law authorizes the use of an absentee ballot for six reasons, including a voter’s active service in the Armed Forces; absence from town during all of the hours of voting; own illness; religious beliefs; duties as an election official; and physical disability.

Governor Lamont said that as the highly contagious virus continues to spread and nearly 3,500 people in the state who have contracted the disease have died within the last two months, it is critical that state government make reasonable adjustments that reflect the current state of emergency while ensuring that the democratic process continues safely and securely.

“Nobody should need to make a decision between their health and their right to vote,” Governor Lamont said. “Our state has taken every responsible step to this point to ensure that our residents are safe, and the next step we must take is to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19 when Connecticut residents cast their ballots. We must guarantee access to the ballot, and this is a way to do that during these extraordinary circumstances. I do not take this decision lightly, and it is with the public health and welfare of residents in mind.”

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has announced that she intends to mail every registered voter in the state an application they will need to fill out and return in order to obtain an absentee ballot. That application, which will be sent via U.S. Postal Service, will include a postage paid return envelope.

After processing the applications at the local level, all voters who requested an absentee ballot will receive the ballots in the mail, which will also include a postage paid return envelope. Each town will also have a secure dropbox in a prominent location to allow voters to deliver their absentee ballots in person without close personal contact.

Connecticut’s 2020 presidential primary was initially scheduled to be held on April 28, but to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, Governor Lamont signed executive orders rescheduling it, first to June 2 and then to August 11, the same date that the state was already scheduled to hold primaries for other federal, state, and local offices.

Moving the presidential primary to this date enables the primary for president to appear on the same ballot as those for other offices, and eliminates the need for the state to hold two separate primary elections.

Quixotic Quarantine: One Man’s Musings

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Driving

Fritz Jellinghaus

I went out to the car this afternoon, the first time in two months since being quarantined, hours spent searching the house and every coat pocket for my car keys which I finally found in the freezer underneath a package of frozen peas where I must have dropped them coming in from the market, pre-quarantine, in a hurry to do something that I can’t now  remember I used to do.

The peas might well have been contaminated by then, so I washed the package and every package adjacent to it, including one-by-one about thirty ice cubes. You can’t be too careful.

I didn’t remember the code to open the garage doors, so I had to go back into the house and look it up on the paper taped to the refrigerator door marked in big red letters, “Confidential Personal Codes.” There it was, 36-2-547. Phew. The pharmacy was holding a prescription I couldn’t remember ordering, and it had to be picked up by five today. It was now 4:45. 

When I got into the car and started the engine, easy enough, the windshield wipers were still on from the rainy night pre-pandemic when we came back from dinner with friends we now only see during longer and longer cocktail visits via Zoom. I didn’t have time to look up “Wipers” in the car manual which was somewhere in the trunk under molding clothes awaiting the re-opening of my dry cleaner. 

So off I went, ignoring passing drivers beeping and pointing fingers at their windshields, flashing high beams in friendly warnings of police ahead, which I would have acknowledged if I’d been able to find my own headlight whatchamacallit. There were 18 cars ahead of me at the pharmacy drive-in window, and I could have listened to music or news if I’d hit the right knob instead of the one that rolled down the two back windows. 

When I got to the front of the line—the 5 p.m. deadline extended, the sign said, until midnight—I couldn’t remember which knob opened the driver’s window so I started to get out of the car door, wearing a mask and gloves, when the woman inside, wearing a mask and gloves, screamed at me to stay in the car so she could hand me my prescription through the window.

I had to crawl over the front seat into the backseat to the only car window that was open. I took the prescription and contorted myself back into the driver’s seat, too embarrassed to look at her. 

“You know it’s not raining, don’t you?”

I didn’t know what I knew. The wipers, the entire car, was a complete mystery. I might as well have been piloting Apollo 252.

The prescription was a mystery, too, and I pulled the car to the side of the parking lot to open the package. I didn’t care that I forgot the sanitizer pads to wipe it clean. Inside was a small bottle: three tablets, 5 mg, Valium.

Too little too late.

Cream Cheese

I ate an entire block of cream cheese yesterday.

Not in a sandwich or on a bagel like a civilized quarantined person, but like an oink at the trough, as if it were the last bit of cream cheese on the planet. And not with a teaspoon or off the end of a knife, either, but with a device that could have been manufactured by John Deere for heavy lifting.

They say when the lockdown is over, there will be lots of pregnant women, alcoholics and fat people. I’m doing my share.

Oink!

Staying Home.

I just stumbled across my calendar, blew off the dust, and saw that I have to go out next week to pick up meds.

I’ve been so used to a sedentary life—coddled by the comforts of home and blessed by Cynthia’s congenial company and our neighbors who have shopped for us, old and at-risk as we are—that the thought of cleaning up my act, shaving and combing my hair, all eight of them, makes me, frankly, cranky.

If the meds aren’t going to improve my attitude any time soon, I’ll pick them up some time next year.

Ledge Light Health District to Issue Closure Orders when Establishments Violate Governor’s Executive Orders

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LYME/OLD LYME/AREAWIDE — (from a press release) After consulting with the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) legal team it has been determined that LLHD is the responsible entity for enforcing the Governor’s Executive Orders, as they pertain to regulated entities such as foodservice and cosmetology establishments that are operating in violation of the Governor’s Executive Orders.

Ledge Light Health District will be issuing an order of closure to any establishment in violation of the Governor’s Executive Orders.

While waiting for clarification from the State regarding its authority and requirement to issue orders to close, LLHD did conduct a courtesy inspection of one cosmetology establishment when health district staff received word that the establishment owner planned to open in violation of Governor Lamont’s decision to delay the reopening of salons and barbershops.

“Our primary responsibility is to protect the public health and assure, to the extent possible, that all possible measures to prevent the spread of disease are being taken in each situation,” said Stephen Mansfield, LLHD Director. “We were notified that this establishment owner intended to move forward with opening and while we wanted to review health and safety measures with her even as we waited for clarification from the State regarding our authority and mandate to issue a closure order.”

“LLHD has been going above and beyond for the communities they serve during this challenging time. The voluntary actions taken this morning by LLHD to ensure the safety of a business owner and her customers, are further evidence of that,” said Danielle Chesebrough, Stonington First Selectman.

“Many of us share in the frustration of business owners and non-profit organizations looking to get back on their feet; however, with the clarification received today from the State, LLHD is now doing what is being required of them. We ask residents, businesses and organizations for their continued patience and civility during this challenging time.”

Director Mansfield emphasized LLHD’s commitment to working to promote community health, stating that “Ledge Light Health District will continue our efforts to respond to the changing nature of this pandemic and the decisions made at the state level to support the health and safety of our communities.”

Editor’s Note: Ledge Light Health District serves as the local health department for both Lyme and Old Lyme, as well as East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, New London, North Stonington, Stonington and Waterford. As a health district, formed under Connecticut General Statutes Section 19a-241, LLHD is a special unit of government, allowing member municipalities to provide comprehensive public health services to residents in a more efficient manner by consolidating the services within one organization.

A la Carte: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is Perfect for Parties!

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Lee White

I remember the first time I went to the Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center in New York City. I had taken the train into the city, grabbed a cab and arrived at 10 in the morning. It is the biggest food convention in America and I thought I could see everything in one day. By early afternoon I was bushed and my feet hurt. It was lunch time and I  picked up a sandwich 

On my way back to the vendors, I saw cookbook authors autographing their books, including a stunning black woman laughing and signing her book. I picked up B. Smith’s Entertaining and Cooking for Friends and stood in line. As she signed my book, she asked what I did and where. “I’m a restaurant reviewer in New London, Connecticut.” With a smile as bright as the cavernous light-filled lobby, she suggested I have dinner with her and her husband at their restaurant that evening. Oh, I wish I could, I said, but I have to get a train to get home. “Oh, stay at our place in the city and go home tomorrow,” she suggested. 

I didn’t, but I have always wished I had. She was a lovely hostess and presided over at least three restaurants (New York, Union Station in Washington and the Hamptons). She had a television show for many years. She wrote cookbooks and her first, and my first of hers, is stained with ingredients of recipes I have cooked. Barbara Smith died, at 70, February 23, 2020, in her home in Sag Harbor, NY, with her husband, Dan, by her side. She had suffered with dementia for many years. People called her “the black Martha Stewart.” Martha could only wish.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

From B. Smith’s Entertaining and Cooking for Friends by Barbara Smith (Artisan, New York, 1995)

Topping

¼  cup unsalted butter, melted
½  cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
7 slices canned pineapple (reserve one-half cup juice for cake)
13 candied cherries (I like maraschino cherries)

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½  teaspoon baking soda
½  teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼  teaspoon ground cloves
½  cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
½  cup heavy cream
½  cup reserved pineapple juice
whipped cream, for garnish if you like

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides of a 9- by 13-inch round baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or melted butter.

For the topping: beat the melted butter and brown sugar together in a small bowl. Spread this over the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Arrange 6 pineapple slices around the edge of the pan and one slice in the middle. Place a cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice and the rest between the slices around the edge.

To make the cake: Stir together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves in a large bowl. In another larger bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (I use my big KitchenAid for this for about 4 minutes). Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Using a spatula, alternatively fold in the flour mixture and the heavy cream and pineapple into the butter and sugar mixture until well blended. Spread the batter over the pineapple slices and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen the cake, invert a serving plate over the cake pan and turn the cake and plate over together. Remove the cake pan. Serve warm with whipped cream.

(If you have a little time, visit Coffee’s on Route 1 in Old Lyme and pick up a pint of Reed’s ginger ice cream. It is amazing with this cake.)

About the author: Former Old Lyme resident Lee White has been writing about restaurants and cooking since 1976 and has been extensively published in the Worcester (Mass.) Magazine, The Day, Norwich Bulletin, and Hartford Courant.  She currently writes a cooking column called A La Carte for LymeLine.com and also for the Shore Publishing and Times newspapers, both of which are owned by The Day. 

MCCD Helps ‘Subway’ in Old Lyme Adapt to Pandemic Restrictions, Reminds Community It Can Assist Others Too

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The ‘Subway’ store in the Old Lyme Marketplace, which is run by Debby Hans.

OLD LYME — Store owner Debby Hans has run the Halls Rd. Subway shop for more than five years and enjoyed the company of Lyme and Old Lyme community members when they would stop for a bite to eat. Hans was hit hard, however, when restaurants in Connecticut were forced to stop indoor dining due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subway store owner Debby Hans.

“I remember watching the day that the sales first plummeted,” Hans said. “I went through lunch—the busiest part of our day—and it was lower than what sales are in the dead of winter.”

Many small businesses during this time have been hit hard due to the social distancing restrictions introduced in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. With owners wondering where to seek help, the Mentoring Corps for Community Development (MCCD) has been quick to  step up, reach out and lend a hand for those who might be struggling to keep their businesses afloat.

The MCCD is not a widely-known group but it is certainly influential in the local area. What then is the MCCD and who are its members?

The organization’s website explains that the group has been around for some eight years and successfully worked on over 100 projects for non-profits, for-profits, and schools. Consisting of 10 members, each member brings, “… years of experience from business, government and/or child raising careers.”

The MCCD sums up its mission in the expressive words, “We will consider taking on almost any assignment within our skill set that will add sparkle to New London and Middlesex Counties.” As a project unfolds, members volunteer for projects related to their strengths from previous careers or those that they’re simply interested in doing. 

MCCD Board Member Dennis Powers

Dennis Powers of Essex, a board member of MCCD, admits that everyone involved is strongly passionate about the camaraderie of the group’s mission.

“We’re not in it for money, we’re trying to put something back into the community,” said Powers. “It’s very rewarding because we have the time and the interest we can bring.”

Hans came in contact with MCCD when her Subway shop first took off in 2015, and noted that they would occasionally check up on her and give her pointers for her business along the way. 

“Debby’s different,” said Powers. “We worked with her three years ago at least, she’s a terrific client because she’s very capable. If you give her an inch, she’ll run with it like mad.”

When Hans’ sales first plummeted, she called Subway headquarters for advice but was only told to wait out the storm. Although Hans’ store already had online ordering services, it just wasn’t enough to suffice. 

The interior of the Subway store has been remodeled under Debby Hans’s management.

“When your sales plummet, you’re scared to death. You either have to close temporarily or permanently,” said Hans. “I felt isolated and alone. You stand in your store; you’re surrounded by it. You feel like your store is the only one going through this.” 

The MCCD recognized Hans’ struggle and quickly went to action with finding the financial support she needed but was surprised when Hans swiftly took action herself. 

Gerry Guild of Lyme, who is a board member of MCCD.

“She’s very receptive, and listened to everything we had to say,” said Gerry Guild of Lyme, also a board member of MCCD. “We tried to point out some various ways she could get some financial help because only being able to sell take-out service was a big change in her business.” 

Hans applied for a Paycheck Protection Loan (PPP) program through the Small Business Administration for her business as instructed by MCCD, which gave her tremendous latitude: Hans’s loan allowed her to take 100 percent deductions for any expenses that she may incur for payroll, utilities or rent, which, in turn, allowed her both to keep her employees on the payroll and erase the worry about paying rent and utilities for the next month. 

Hans emphasized she was extremely appreciative of the guidance that MCCD had given her and encouraged other businesses not only to understand that they aren’t alone but also realize that there are people willing to help. 

“They [MCCD} were awesome; like they were a big brother watching over me,” Hans explained enthusiastically, adding, “It was great to know that there were people out there and they were going to help.”

Powers and Guild know that not everyone has the previous relationship with MCCD that Hans had, but still highly encourage small business owners, who may be struggling for any reason, to know that help is out there.

“We can be helpful but we don’t have a lot of Debby’s standing in line for advice,” said Powers. “We can help people who want to be helped … Debby went to the bank herself. But we can’t help people who don’t want to be helped, or don’t want to do anything.” 

Powers and Guild left off with some sage advice, encouraging small business owners like Hans to, “keep on keeping on, stay positive and realize that change may not always be a bad thing.” 

“We suspect that a lot of people are shell-shocked right now and they don’t know what to do,” noted Guild.

“Be open minded. Don’t be afraid to learn new approaches to operating in this new environment,” Powers stressed, commenting wisely, “It’s not how you’re hit, but how you get up that matters.”

Editor’s Note: If you and/or your business are having any type of problem with which you would welcome some independent, objective advice free of charge, visit mentoringcorps.org for more information amd/or contact one of the following MCCD Board Members: BJ Bernblum at Bbernblum@sbcglobal.net, Gerry Guild at gguild@comcast.net or Dennis Powers at dennispowers@snet.net.