April 12 COVID-19 Update: Old Lyme Reports Another Three New Cases, Taking Cumulative Total to 324; Lyme Holds at 98 for Third Day

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Admin

After Recent Slowdown, Seven New COVID-19 Cases Announced in OL Since Last Thursday

LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Monday, April 12, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health(CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 11, shows that Old Lyme reported three new cases in its cumulative total of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began compared with the number reported Friday, April 9. Old Lyme reported a total of 324 cases, reflecting an increase of seven cases since last Thursday.

Meanwhile Lyme held at the same number of cumulative cases as the day before reporting a total of 98 cumulative cases for the third reporting day in succession.

These Daily Reports are not issued by CT DPH on Saturday or Sundays and therefore Monday’s data includes new cases from both weekend days.

Old Lyme – Increase of Three in Cumulative Cases

The Daily Data Report issued Monday, April 12, for data as at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 11, shows that Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 316 confirmed COVID-19 cases and EIGHT probable cases, making a TOTAL of 324 cases.

This represents an INCREASE of THREE in the cumulative number of confirmed cases and NO CHANGE in the number of probable cases compared with those reported Friday, April 9.

The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 5,030, an increase of 29 over the previous day’s number of 5,001.

Lyme – No Change in Cumulative Cases

The Daily Data Report issued Monday, April 12, shows Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 90 confirmed cases and 8 probable cases, making a TOTAL of 98 cases.

This represents NO CHANGE in the cumulative number of confirmed or probable cases compared with those reported Friday, April 9.

The total number of Lyme residents tested is 1,362, an increase of three over the previous day’s number of 1,359.

Two-Week New Case Rates Show Marginal Improvement for State, Local Towns

The number of towns in the state in the Red (highest) Zone for two-week new case rates has fallen from 146 last week to 142 this week. Old Lyme, which last week was in the Red Zone, is now one of the 10 towns in the Orange (second highest) Zone.

Lyme remains in the Gray Zone for two-week case rates, recording a fourth straight week in the lowest zone. Thirteen towns were in this zone last week and that number is the same this week. (Four zones are specified by the CT DPH — see details below.)

Overall, the number of towns in each zone is shown below with the previous week’s number in parentheses:

13 (13) towns are now in the (lowest case rate) Gray Zone
4 (2) are in the (lowest but one) Yellow Zone
10 (8) are in the (second highest case rate) Orange Zone.

All the remaining 142 towns are in the Red Zone.

Lyme joins 12 other towns in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone: Ashford, Canaan, Chaplin, Chester, Cornwall, Eastford, Franklin, Hampton, New Canaan, Norfolk, Scotland, and Warren.

The Yellow (second lowest rate) Zone now has four towns: Essex, Lisbon, Salem and Willington.

Old Lyme joins nine other towns in the Orange (second highest rate) Zone : Barkhamsted, Canton, East Lyme, Pomfret, Sharon, Simsbury, Stafford, Stonington, and Waterford.

The gray category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is less than five or less than five reported cases.
The yellow category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between five and nine reported cases.
The orange category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town is between 10 and 14.
The red category is defined as when the Average Daily Rate of COVID-19 Cases Among Persons Living in Community Settings per 100,000 Population By Town exceeds 15.

In all cases, this rate does not include cases or tests among residents of nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.

This report is issued daily, but only updated weekly on Thursdays. The most recent report was updated Thursday, April 8; the next updated report will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, April 15.

More Detail on Two-Week Case Rates

Ledge Light Health Director Stephen Mansfield

On Thursday, April 8, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) also issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District. Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We continue to see relatively steady case numbers within our jurisdiction. Our contact tracers report clusters associated with daycares, schools, and workplaces, and transmissions linked to social gatherings and sporting events.”

He stresses, however, “Although we are making great strides with our COVID vaccination program, it is still imperative that we remain diligent in our mitigation strategies.”

The latest two-week case rates announced Thursday, April 8 (from 3/21 to 4/3) have decreased in both Lyme and Old Lyme.

The two-week case rates are as follows:

Old Lyme from 15.5 to 12.6
Lyme from 12.2 to 9.2

The same report shows that the case numbers in Week 1 and Week 2 respectively and recorded for the period 3/21 to 4/3 (compared with the previous two-week case rate for 3/14 to 3/27 shown in parentheses) are as follows:

Lyme had 2 (2) cases in Week 1 and 1 (2) in Week 2
Old Lyme had 9 (7) cases in Week 1 and 4 (9) in Week 2

This data was updated April 8, 2021. The next Ledge Light Weekly Data Report for its District will be issued in the afternoon of Thursday, April 15.

Vaccination Rates

At the request of several readers, we have started a new section reflecting the status of community vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme. The data is taken from the COVID-19 Vaccinations by Town report published by CT-DPH, which is published roughly weekly.

Lyme is now ahead of Old Lyme in terms of the percentage of its total population that have received a first dose, with 54.36 percent vaccinated compared with 48.63 percent in Old Lyme.

The percentages for both towns for the age segments 65-74 and 75+ are very encouraging with Lyme now having 105.47 percent of seniors 75 and above having received their first dose and 95.09 percent of the same age segment having received it in Old Lyme.

The detailed data below is the most recent and was updated April 1.

Old Lyme
Total population: 7,306
Estimated population age 65-74: 1,067
Estimated population age 75 and above: 794

[table id=12 /]

Lyme
Total population: 2,316
Estimated population age 65-74: 372
Estimated population age 75 and above: 274

[table id=11 /]

Three Fatalities in Old Lyme Since Pandemic Began, None in Lyme

According to the report mentioned above, there have now been THREE fatalities in Old Lyme. Asked Tuesday, Feb. 9, for details of this third fatality, Ledge Light Health Department Director of Health Stephen Mansfield responded, “We have not been notified of any recent deaths in Old Lyme. Keep in mind that that report is compiled by the Connecticut Department of Public Health; deaths are not reportable to local health districts.”

He added, “I can’t speak for their data sources.”

The two fatalities from Old Lyme previously reported in 2020 were a 61-year-old female and an 82-year-old male.

No fatalities have been reported in Lyme.

Connecticut Hospital Occupancy

At the request of several readers, we added a new report showing the respective rates of hospital occupancy at local hospitals. The data for this report is obtained from the Connecticut Hospital Occupancy Report published weekly by the CT DPH and extracted from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) facility-level data for hospital utilization aggregated on a weekly basis (Friday to Thursday).

Since the most recent report is dated Feb. 19 and no subsequent updates have been issued, we have discontinued publishing this report until a new update is issued.

Editor’s Note: The state issues a COVID-19 metric report daily around 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, which includes current data up to the previous evening. In light of the ongoing rise in Coronavirus cases, we publish a new weekday update reporting confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Lyme and Old Lyme.

In It Together: April is Alcohol Awareness Month so Let’s STOP Teen Access to Alcohol

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Allison Behnke

LYME/OLD LYME — April is Alcohol Awareness month and one way we can work to prevent teens from drinking is to prevent easy access to alcohol.

Teen drinking is not inevitable.

Nationally, more than 70 percent of high school seniors do not drink alcohol regularly. Unfortunately, according to 2019 data, 73 percent of 12th graders at Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) report that it is easy to get alcohol.

Most teens who drink obtain alcohol without having to pay for it. They get it from friends or family members, at parties, or by taking it without permission.

Underage drinkers who pay for alcohol usually give money to someone else to purchase it for them.

Here are some steps you can take to reduce access to alcohol:

Liquor stickers are available from LYSB and LOL Prevention Coalition.

At home, make sure teens can’t access alcohol without your knowledge. Unmonitored alcohol, including alcohol stored in a cabinet, refrigerator, basement, or garage, can be a temptation. When in doubt, lock it up.

This is also important for grandparents, family, and anyone else with youth in their homes. Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau and the Lyme/Old Lyme Prevention Coalition have “Liquor Stickers” available to help secure open bottles in the home.
Exercise your influence. Data shows that teens continue to care what their parents think, even while they are in high school and college. Let your teen know that you don’t want them to drink and that most teens, in fact, don’t drink. Talk often and talk early.
It may have happened already. A neighbor announces she is hosting a teen party, but you shouldn’t worry — she is taking the car keys from every kid who comes in. Or a colleague says he is serving alcohol to his high school son’s friends so they can “learn to drink responsibly.” Speak up, because silence can be misinterpreted.
According to Connecticut’s Social Host Law not only is it illegal to provide alcohol to a person under 21, but as a host you are advised to actively prevent use by underage youth on your property. Connecticut’s law on hosting reads that hosts “knew or should have known” that underage drinking was taking place. Monitoring during the course of the entire party is required.
If you hear about a situation — speak up! Say that you don’t want other people serving alcohol to your teen or condoning teen drinking. Let your friends, neighbors, and family members know that the minimum drinking age and Social Host Law are policies that protect teens, and that you don’t want your teen to drink.
Take action before a situation arises. Start talking to the parents of your child’s friends early — as early as 6th grade. Talk together about the risks of teen drinking and share that you don’t want anyone to allow your teen to drink alcohol. Talk to adults who host teen parties. Let them know that the overwhelming majority of parents support the legal drinking age and agree that it is not okay to serve alcohol to someone else’s teen — and it is not okay to turn a blind eye to teen alcohol consumption.
Let local law enforcement know that you encourage active policing of noisy teen parties that may signal alcohol use. Tell local alcohol retailers that you want them to check ID’s before selling alcohol. Limiting alcohol sales to legal purchasers is an important goal and well worth the time it takes.

For more information on how to help your teen make healthy choices surrounding drugs or alcohol, visit www.lysb.org or email Alli Behnke at abehnke@lysb.org

(Sources: Federal Trade Commission, MTF 2019, LYSB Youth Survey 2019)

Unexpected Death of Frederick Seward Jarvis Announced, Spent Much of His Life at White Sand Beach

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Admin

Frederick Seward Jarvis, 78, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, April 1, 2021 in Estero, FL. Fred was born in Medford, MA on January 31, 1943 to the late Seward and Ruth (Poore) Jarvis. He is survived by his loving wife, Letitia (Petrella) Jarvis and his four children, Robert Jarvis and his wife Heidi, Thomas Jarvis and his wife Dana, Kenneth Jarvis and his wife Laura, Jennifer Fichman and her husband Benjamin; …

… The greater part of Fred’s life was spent in Newington, CT and at White Sands Beach in Old Lyme, CT.

Visit this link to view the full obituary published April 13, in The Hartford Courant.

A View From My Porch: Epic Poems of Folk and Rock, Part I

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Thomas D Gotowka

In this essay, I posit that many works of contemporary folk and rock music are the natural successors of the epic poems of antiquity. In support of that hypothesis, I begin with a brief review of the epic genre; and then, discuss a few contemporary works that I feel meet the epic standard.

The Epic Poem:

An epic is a long, narrative poem that chronicles the extraordinary deeds and adventures of courageous men and women. The earliest epic poems generally had no discernible author, and were probably developed in the pre-literate era. Those epics were conveyed orally, usually in brief episodes, either to an audience, or to another storyteller. However, epics were also created by a clearly-identified author.

At the Mindszenty School, where I was a college prep student many years ago, we studied epic works of both sorts.

First page of Beowulf in Cotton Vitellius A. xv. Public domain.

“Beowulf” was written anonymously in old English, and set in the 6th century in what is now Denmark and Sweden. The hero, Beowulf, came to the aid of the Danish monarch, whose kingdom had been terrorized by the monster Grendel, who was notable as a descendent of Cain.

Although losing some of his warriors to Grendel, who then drank their blood; Beowulf finally slays the monster in a bloody encounter, and hangs the monster’s arm and claw over the rafters of the king’s great hall as proof of its death.

In a final act of heroism, Beowulf also kills Grendel’s avenging mother, though requiring a magic sword.

The “Odyssey,” which is a sequel to Homer’s “Iliad,” is a Greek epic poem, written near the end of the eighth century BC. The poem relates the activities of Odysseus, the hero, during the final year of the siege of Troy, and his 10-year, and epically perilous, journey home to Ithaca, after Troy’s fall.

We also considered Milton’s 17th Century “Paradise Lost,” but, absent a monster, and temptations from three sirens, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden drew only limited interest.

Clearly, the most noteworthy characteristic of an epic poem is its length. The “Odyssey” has 15,000 lines., “Paradise” over 10,000. Further, the epic hero (or heroine) is a great warrior, and willing to engage in intense combat.

In the following compositions, the title is followed by the author’s name and the publication date. A second name, when included, is, in my opinion, the best cover artist. A single name and date indicate that the author also performed the work.

I provide context for each work, and include abridged lyrics. I took care in my abridgement to ensure that the song’s sense and message remained clear. The original lyrics, in their entirety, are available on the internet.

I’ve included a song by Woodie Guthrie (see number III below), who is considered one of the most influential figures in American folk music. School children are often introduced to Woodie with his song, “This Land is your Land”.

1. “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” — Gordon Lightfoot (1976)

Album cover of ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ by Gordon Lightfoot. This image qualifies as fair use under the copyright law of the United States.

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American freighter that, when launched in 1958, was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, nearly 800 ft. long and weighing more than 13,000 tons without cargo. She hauled iron ore from mines in Minnesota to iron works in ports on the Great Lakes.

The skipper, Captain Ernest McSorley, was very experienced, and well-respected by his contemporaries and his crew. The ship sank on Nov. 10, 1975 in a storm on Lake Superior, with the loss of the entire crew of 29 men. The bodies were not recovered.

In true epic poem style, one of the prevailing theories regarding its sinking is that it was hit by a series of three consecutive “rogue” waves, a phenomenon called “Three Sisters” on Lake Superior. Their tendency to occur without warning, and with huge force makes them especially dangerous.

Gordon Lightfoot’s lyrics are a “play-by-play” of the disaster. Be sure to note the cook’s role in the progression of events.

Abridged Lyrics:

The legend lives on, from the Chippewa on down; of the big lake they call ‘Gitchee Gumee’.
Superior, it’s said, never gives up her dead, when the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore, twenty-six thousand tons more,
than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and crew, was a bone to be chewed,
when the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side,
when they left fully loaded for Cleveland.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait,
when the gales of November came slashing.
When suppertime came, the cook came up top;
saying, ‘fellas, it’s too rough to feed you’.
At seven p.m., a main hatchway caved in;
and he said, ‘fellas, it’s been good to know you’.
The captain wired shore that ‘he had water coming in;
and the good ship and crew were in peril’.
Later that night, when her lights went out of sight,
came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
And a church bell chimed, until it rang twenty-nine times;
for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

2. “Charlie and the MTA” — Steiner and Hawes, (1949) / The Kingston Trio

A formal publicity shot of the original line-up of the Kingston Trio (l-r) Dave Guard, Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds. Image published under under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.

The song was originally composed for a “left-wing” mayoral campaign in Boston’s 1949 election, to protest the five-cent fare increase by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). Fighting the fare increase was an important plank of the Progressive Party candidate, Walter A. O’Brien Jr.’s platform. He had also advocated the removal of the complicated entry/exit fare structure, and opposed the tax-funded bailout of the system’s previous operator.

O’Brien’s campaign had no funds for radio advertising, so he commissioned campaign songs from local folk artists, covering his themes; and played recordings from a loudspeaker on a truck driven throughout Boston.

The 1949 mayoral election was a raucous affair, with five candidates, including the amazingly popular, and notoriously corrupt incumbent, James Michael Curley, whose campaign song began, “Vote early and often for Curley”.

O’Brien finished last; and was routed by John B. Hynes, who then remained Mayor of Boston until 1960. Bostonians also approved a change in the structure of future mayoral contests (i.e., select two final candidates in advance of each general election).

Abridged Lyrics:

Well, let me tell you the story of a man named Charlie, who on a tragic and fateful day;
put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, and went to ride on the MTA.

Well, did he ever return? No, he never returned; and his fate is still unknown.
He may ride forever ‘neath the streets of Boston; he’s the man who never returned.

Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall Square Station,
and he changed for Jamaica Plain.

When he got there, the conductor said, ‘one more nickel’;
Charlie couldn’t get off of that train.

Now, all night long Charlie rides through the stations, crying, ‘what will become of me’?
‘How can I afford to see my sister in Chelsea or my cousin in Roxbury?’

Charlie’s wife goes down to the Sculley Square Station every day at quarter past two,
And through the open window she hands Charlie a sandwich as the train comes rumbling through.

The Kingston Trio’s original version of the song began with a spoken introduction: “The people of Boston have rallied bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened. Today, the MTA, is attempting to levy a burdensome tax. Citizens, hear me out! This could happen to you.”

In 2004, the “Charlie Card” was introduced as the payment method for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

3. “Deportee — Woody Guthrie (1948) / Joan Baez

Woody Guthrie in 1943. World Telegram photo by Al Aumuller. Public domain.

Guthrie said that the inspiration for “Deportee” was the radio and newspaper coverage of the Los Gatos Canyon plane crash, which provided the names of the flight crew and the security guard, but not the farm workers, who were also on the flight; referring to them only as “deportees.”

The crash resulted in the deaths of 28 migrant farm workers, who were being transported back to Mexico at the end of their braceros contract. The bodies of the migrants were placed in a mass grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fresno, Calif. The grave was marked only, “Mexican Nationals.”

The Bracero Agreement:

During World War II, the United States negotiated a series of treaties with the Mexican government to recruit Mexican seasonal workers, all men and without their families, to work on short-term contracts on farms and in other war industries (braceros.)

The program was developed because of severe labor shortages caused by the war. The labor contractors were expected to provide transportation to and from the Mexican border.

The first Mexican bracero workers were admitted in September, 1942, and by the program’s end in 1964, nearly 4.6 million Mexican citizens had been hired to work in the United States, mainly on farms in Texas, Calif., and the Pacific Northwest.

Abridged Lyrics:

The crops are all in and the peaches are rotting;
the oranges are piled in their creosote dumps.
They’re flying you back to the Mexico border,
to pay all your money to wade back again.

Some of us illegal, and others not wanted,
our work contract’s out and we have to move on.

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita;
adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria.
you won’t have your names when you ride the big airplane;
all they will call you will be ‘deportees’.

The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon;
a fireball of lightning, that shook all our hills.
Who are these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, ‘They are just deportees.’

Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?

Author’s Notes: First, I want to acknowledge the persistence of Messrs. Jakubowski and Corsi, English faculty at the Mindszenty School, who never assigned required readings that were also available in “Classics Illustrated” comics.

It is ironic that the United States has not yet addressed, in a bipartisan and humanitarian manner, immigration from Mexico, especially because we welcomed millions as migrant workers during and after World War II, (described above in “The Bracero Agreement”).

Our policy seems to remain: “They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves,” which is also a Guthrie lyric.

Even American television recognized braceros. You may recall a late 1950s, and early ‘60s television series, “The Real McCoys”, which included a character, Pepino, who, I now realize, was a bracero worker on the McCoy farm in the San Fernando Valley.

We all first heard the Ojibwe term: “Gitchee Gumee” in Longfellow’s 1855 epic poem “The Song of Hiawatha”.

If Madame Editor agrees, I will continue this “epic poems” theme in the next essay, where I consider contemporary epic poems of conflict.

Editor’s Note to Mr. Gotowka: She agrees.

This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.

Tom Gotowka

About the author: Tom Gotowka’s entire adult career has been in healthcare. He’ will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK.

A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

April 9 COVID-19 Update: Old Lyme’s Cumulative Cases Jump Four to 321, Lyme Holds at 98

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Admin

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

LYME/OLD LYME — The Daily Data Report for Connecticut issued Friday, April 9, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT-DPH) for data as at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, shows that Old Lyme increased by four new cases in its cumulative total of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began compared with the number reported for Wednesday, April 7.

Meanwhile Lyme held at the same number of cumulative cases as the day before.

Old Lyme reported a total of 321 cases, while Lyme had a total of 98 cumulative cases for the second day in succession.

These Daily Reports are not issued by CT DPH on Saturday or Sundays and therefore Monday’s data includes new cases from both weekend days.

Old Lyme – Increase of Four in Cumulative Cases

The Daily Data Report issued Friday, April 9, for data as at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 8, shows that Old Lyme has a cumulative total (since the outbreak began) of 313 confirmed COVID-19 cases and EIGHT probable cases, making a TOTAL of 321 cases.

This represents an INCREASE of FOUR in the cumulative number of confirmed cases and NO CHANGE in the number of probable cases compared with those reported Thursday, April 8.

The total number of Old Lyme residents tested is 5,001, an increase of 13 over the previous day’s number of 4,977.