LYME/OLD LYME — We said yesterday that we were not going to publish any further Letters to the Editor but we have received two today. In the interests of fairness, we have decided to publish them both since they support respectively the competing candidates for the 23rd House District. The letter supporting State Rep. Devin Carney (R-23rd) is at this link and the letter supporting his challenger, David Rubino (D) is at this link.
Monthly Archives: November 2020
Letter to the Editor: Carney is a ‘True Advocate’ for Seniors, Retirees
To the Editor:
In the race for the 23rd District, I will be supporting Devin Carney because of his strong support for seniors and retirees.
Connecticut is an expensive state to live in for those on fixed incomes and Devin has continuously championed legislation to reduce the cost-of-living here. He supported reducing taxes on pensions and social security, supported preserving the senior property tax credit, and proposed legislation to reduce taxes on other forms of retirement income like IRAs.
On healthcare, Devin recently co-sponsored legislation to expand telehealth services and to reduce the cost of insulin and hearing aids. He advocates for aging-in-place initiatives and giving seniors more options as they get older. Devin has always worked to curb elder abuse and will propose legislation, again, to ensure seniors are protected. He’s even worked to pass laws targeting those terrible robo callers that prey on seniors.
He is a true advocate for the senior community and I was proud to cast my absentee ballot vote for him. And I thank him for voting to expand absentee ballots this year – it went a long way in ensuring so many seniors were able to vote. I hope you will vote for him on November 3rd or before.
Sincerely,
Anne Bingham-Pierson, MD,
Old Lyme, CT
Two New COVID Cases in Old Lyme Take Total to 34, Lyme Steady at 11 Cases

Photo by CDC on Unsplash
OLD LYME / LYME — Updated 11/1, 12:15am with ages of new cases and response from LLHD regarding state data. Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) reported two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Old Lyme in their COVID-19 summary for the week ending Oct. 30, which was published Friday evening.
This latest cases in Old Lyme were both male, one aged 56 and the second aged 20.
No new cases in Lyme were reported.
The total number of cases in Old Lyme is now 34 including two fatalities. The number of surviving cases in Old Lyme now comprises 17 males and 15 females ranging in age from 19- to 82-years-old. The two fatalities were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.
The total number of cases in Lyme remains at 11 comprising five females and six males ranging in age from one- to 68-years-old. There have been no fatalities in Lyme.
Stephen Mansfield, LLHD Director of Health, introduced Friday evening’s report, which covers all the towns in the LLHD and includes Lyme and Old Lyme, thus, “Our contact tracers continue to report that they have observed many instances of family and social gathering connections.”
He continues, “We are also seeing a significant number of cases associated with sporting events.”
Mansfield notes, however, “Cases associated with institutions (schools, long-term care facilities, etc.) remain relatively low.”
Ledge Light Health District states their data may conflict with the data DPH reports on their website, as there is often a delay in posting data at the state level. The data LLHD reports is current as of noon on the Friday on which it is issued.
The CT DPH is currently reporting 41 confirmed cases in Old Lyme on the CT Open Data website. We asked Mansfield to explain the possible reasons for this discrepancy and he responded Saturday, Oct. 31, “I don’t have an explanation as to why the state numbers are different than the numbers that are reported to us. I have reached out to the state epidemiologist how to determine if they have an explanation for the discrepancy.”
We also asked about the question of contact tracing if the numbers were different, and Mansfield explained, “Contact tracing is done through a partnership between local health districts and DPH.”
Gender and age details of the confirmed cases in Lyme to date are:
- Male, age 34
- Female, age 61
- Female, age 34
- Male, age 1
- Male, age 34
- Male, age 20
- Male, aged 68
- Female, age 21
- Female, age 62
- Male, age unknown
- Female, age 51
To demonstrate the growth in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Old Lyme, the table below is a summary of the cases that LymeLine.com has reported since March 31 when the first case was announced and also includes both fatalities.
[table id=3 /]
Details of all Old Lyme’s confirmed surviving cases to date are as follows:
- Female, age 64
- Female, age 21
- Male, age 27
- Female, age 53
- Female, age 61
- Female, age 29
- Male, age 40
- Male, age 53
- Female, age 60
- Male, age 45
- Female, age 20
- Female, age 43
- Female, age 48
- Male, age 70
- Male, age 67
- Female, age 68
- Male, age 50
- Male, age 21
- Female, age 48
- Female, age 34
- Male, age 20
- Male, age 28
- Male, age 74
- Male, age 61
- Female, age 19
- Male, age 31
- Female, age 25
- Male, age 61
- Male, age 35
- Female, age 38
- Male, age 56
- Male, age 20
Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold has previously noted that the 21-year-old female with a confirmed case (#2 in the list immediately above) was tested in Florida, but used an Old Lyme address although she does not live here. Because she gave the Old Lyme address, Griswold said that LLHD must report her as an Old Lyme resident.
Residents and businesses are urged to access up-to-date information regarding the pandemic from reputable sources including the Ledge Light Health District website (www.llhd.org), Facebook (@LedgeLightHD), Twitter (@LedgeLightHD), and Instagram (@LedgeLightHD).
Editor’s Note: Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) serves as the local health department in southeast Connecticut for the towns of 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.
Lyme Academy’s ‘Trunk-or-Treat’ Draws Hundreds on Halloween

This scary crew are all ready for “Trunk-or-Treating” at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts. All photos by Kim Monson.
OLD LYME — More than 200 local residents showed up for the inaugural ‘Trunk or Treat’ hosted by Lyme Academy of Fine Arts on Saturday afternoon. The event, spearheaded by faculty member Kim Monson, was devised in response to the widespread concerns about Trick-or-Treating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Spiderman” came to visit this “trunk” and duly received a treat.
Thirteen cars were filled with treats and children attended at different times dependent on their age. Coronavirus protocols were followed by everyone at all times.

Lyme Academy Painting Instructor Michael Viera (right) made his own impressive Mandalorian costume for the event causing this “Baby Yoda” to look up at him in awe!
Faculty, administration, alumni and some community members helped out to make the event a special one for all the children.
Kudos to all the organizers and volunteers, who carefully handled the COVID challenges and pulled off such a fun event!