Monthly Archives: June 2021

In It Together: Binge Drinking is Bad for the Brain … Even for Teens

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Underage binge drinking is a reality in all communities and Lyme and Old Lyme are no different. Photo by Kelsey Chance on Unsplash.

Summer is here, parties are happening, and alcohol consumption will increase. This is a good time of year to dive deeper into the effects of binge drinking on the brain and development.

You have surely heard that abusing alcohol hurts your health. But how many years of drinking do you think it takes to visibly affect your brain? Ten years? Twenty?

Turns out that it doesn’t take that long at all — in fact, scientists can already see changes in the brains of teenagers who drink.

In a research study, Professor Susan Tapert of the University of California at San Diego used an MRI to scan the brains of teens who binge drink — defined as drinking four or five (or more) drinks in a couple of hours. Dr. Tapert found that the “white matter” in their brains — the part that transmits signals, like a TV cable or a computer USB cord — was abnormal compared with the white matter of teens who do not binge drink.

Transmitting signals is a big part of what the brain does, so affecting the white matter in this way could also affect a person’s thinking, learning, and memory.

The really scary part is that these teens weren’t alcoholics, and they didn’t drink every day. All they did (to be considered “binge drinkers”) was drink at least four (for women) or five (for men) drinks in one sitting, at least one time during the previous three months.

A Youth Survey conducted by Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau (LYSB) in 2019 in Lyme and Old Lyme found that 67 percent of students in grades 7-12 reported having engaged in binge drinking at least once in their lifetime. The survey also found that 24 percent of students in grades 7-12 reported binge drinking within the past 30 days and 34 percent of all 12th graders reported the same thing. 

Underage binge drinking is a reality in all communities and ours is no different.  

How could it be possible for just a few sessions of heavy drinking to affect the white matter of the brain? Well, science has shown that alcohol can poison brain cells and alter the brain’s white matter in adult alcoholics.

Dr. Tapert thinks that teenagers’ brains are even more susceptible this way. She states, “Because the brain is still developing during adolescence, there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to high doses of alcohol.”

And the bottom line?

If you’re a teen, drinking to the point of getting drunk could damage the white matter of your brain—even if you do it only once in a while.                               

Tips for parents about how to talk to your kids about alcohol, and more information on the LYSB’s survey results are  available at this link.

Article source: The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Alli Behnke

About the Author: Alli Behnke, MSW, MA is the Prevention Coordinator at Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau. She has been a Social Worker for 20 years working in the fields of prevention, therapy, youth leadership, and health coaching. Alli believes strongly in providing accurate information, education, and tools for success when empowering the Lyme/Old Lyme Prevention Coalition and REACH Youth Coalition to work together on strengths-based campaigns. The Coalitions address substance abuse and other risky behaviors challenging our youth and families. Contact her at abehnke@lysb.org or visit  www.lysb.org to become involved in this important community work.

Old Lyme’s ‘Crosby Fund for Haitian Education’ Changes Lives in One of Poorest Parts of Globe

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The Crosby Fund for Haitian Education is guided by the deep conviction that a brighter future for Haiti depends on educating its youth and preparing them for professional careers in Haiti.

How has an idea conceived in Old Lyme, Conn. been able to grow into an organization that is making a critical difference in the lives of more than 500 students in one of the most economically-deprived parts of the Caribbean island of Haiti, which, in turn, is one of the poorest countries in the world?

The answer lies with one woman, Rebecca ‘Becky’ Crosby, who along with her husband Ted, founded the Crosby Fund for Haitian Education (CFHE) back in 2003.

How did it all begin?

Crosby explains her first trip to Haiti was in 1999 and came about through the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme (FCCOL) when Amy Bruch was working there as an Associate Minister. Bruch had connected with the late Dr. Wayne Southwick of Old Lyme, the retired chairman of the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at Yale University.

Annually, Dr. Southwick led a team of doctors from Yale to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschappelles, Haiti, where they performed surgeries round the clock and at no charge for local people. Deschappelles is located in the rural Artibonite Valley about 90 miles north of the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince.

Inspired by Southwick’s work, Bruch decided she, in turn, wanted to take a team of volunteers to the same hospital to support his efforts. She successfully organized the trip pulling together a group through the church, one of whom was Becky Crosby. They took a sewing machine with them, Becky recalls, and their primary task was to make privacy curtains for the hospital.

Ted and Becky Crosby attended the opening of a new Medical Center in Liancourt, Haiti in May 2021. The Center was founded by one of the graduates of the Crosby Fund for Haitian Education program, Dr. James Kerby Estimé, who named the Center in Becky’s honor.

During their time on the island, Becky noticed a young man, who was regularly sitting outside the place the volunteers were staying. One day Crosby asked him why he was not in school and he explained that he had previously been fortunate to have a sponsor from the US, but that those funds had ceased. Since school is not free for anyone in Haiti, he was no longer able to attend as his family simply could not afford it, and he hoped by interacting with some of the American visitors in town that he might be able to find a new sponsor.

Becky says, “I was surprised to learn that school was not free,” and made the decision almost on the spot to pay for the young man — Oltin — to finish his high school education. Doing that turned out to be harder than she thought since there was no postal service in Haiti and the young man had no bank account. Becky, however, was determined and finally found a way to pay his tuition through an American doctor working in Haiti.

Three years later in 2002, Becky returned to Deschappelles to meet with Oltin on his graduation from high school. She recalls, “I saw him and it was a wonderful visit.” She adds significantly, “I could not believe what the gift of an education could do.”

She started to research the overall statistics for education in Haiti and was stunned to find that only 55 percent of children in the country attend elementary school, a number which drops to 15 percent for those who graduate from high school, and finally falling to a mere 2 percent, who go onto university.

Less than half of Haitian families can afford school for their children, therefore, one of the Crosby Fund for Haitian Education’s main goals is to provide full scholarships for students from Pre-K through university.

It suddenly became crystal clear to Crosby that, “If you want to build Haiti, you need to educate the youth.” At that transformative moment in her life, she made a personal commitment to try and do something to meet that almost overwhelming objective.

Returning home, she shared the idea with her husband Ted, who was supportive of the concept, and in response set off on his own fact-finding trip to Haiti in 2003.

After Ted returned and expressed his full commitment for the project, Becky returned to Haiti again and began to, “Come up with ways to create the organization” there and “Form a board to select the students [who would receive scholarships.]

Returning to her home in Old Lyme, a determined Becky started work to find donors locally, who were willing to fund students in Haiti, who would otherwise not finish high school.

Not an easy task by any standard, but a short while later, she had successfully recruited 32 people willing to do just that and thus were formed the first seeds of the Crosby Fund for Haitian Education. Becky says, “We started with 32 friends who sponsored 32 students,” adding with a chuckle, “I had no idea when I started where this was leading.”

The Crosby Fund for Haitian Education also offers a wide range of additional academic support at their Education Center in Haiti’s Artibonite Valley.

Where is the organization today?

The numbers are nothing short of staggering.

A total of 523 students are now supported under the organization’s banner including 98 in post-secondary schools, 53 at university and 45 in medical technician or vocational training facilities. More than 80 schools across the Artibonite Valley are now involved in the program.

More than 90 percent of the Crosby Fund’s scholarship students advance to university or technical school and subsequently, CFHE graduates are employed at three times the national average.

Moreover, Faulkner Hunt of Lyme, who serves as CFHE’s Marketing Director, states, “Our goal is to get kids educated,” not just as an end in itself, but, “To get them to a place where they are gainfully employed.”

Has establishing the CFHE had any unexpected effects?

The project has been life-changing for Becky on a personal level in many ways.

Most significantly, when the CFHE had reached a total of around 300 students under its wing, she felt she had to step down from her role as Associate Minister at the FCCOL — a position she had taken after Catherine Zall’s departure (Zall had followed Bruch) — and devote her energies full-time to the fast-growing organization.

The Medical Center in Liancourt, Haiti, which is named after Becky Crosby.

She explains that she stepped down with three clear objectives in mind.

The first was to find or build some sort of “permanent place” for the CFHE, which could both house the staff and offer classroom space. The second was to establish an endowment fund and the third, and perhaps most important, to set up “some sort of staff in the US” to work on “succession planning” for the organization to establish continuity for it in perpetuity.

Becky says proudly, “All of this things are now in place,” which in turn has helped enormously with “Planning for the future.”

Building the Education Center in Deschapelles met the first goal. The three classrooms and and computer lab allow for a wide range of tutoring opportunities, which Becky emphasizes are extremely important, mentioning, “Math is a huge problem.”

Literacy, especially among adults, is another major challenge. “The students’ parents could not read or write … they had no idea how to read a report card,” Becky explains. The CFHE follows a state-run literacy program for adults, which currently has 56 students enrolled, but has recently adopted a youth literacy program sponsored by USAID, which had 52 students registered in January 2021.

With more than a trace of emotion in her voice, Becky said, “It is so moving to see someone my own age struggling to write their own name … and then go back [after the program has been completed] and see them writing easily. It is very, very touching.”

How are the students selected who are to receive scholarships?

Becky explains, “We have a great staff in Haiti, which includes six graduates of our program.” Using their knowledge of the community, they select candidates whom they determine will benefit from financial support. The process clearly works since the graduation rate of students supported by CFHE is significantly higher than the national average.

The 2020-2021 academic year saw 221 scholarships granted to secondary students in grades 7 to Philo (a 13th college preparatory year.) These students attend 37 schools in the region.

Apart from scholarships and tutoring, another piece of the Crosby Foundation’s work is their career development program. Becky says passionately, “Graduates need jobs … it’s tough to get a job … we’re trying to keep them in Haiti.” The program assists graduates in securing internships and jobs across Haiti, and Crosby points out it has already produced doctors, nurses, computer programmers and administrators, most of whom are now employed in Haiti.

She adds the CFHE has also helped students along other career paths including assisting four agronomy students set up a farming business.

What is the impact of donations from Lyme, Old Lyme?

An extraordinary aspect of the financial support for CFHE is that the “vast majority” comes from Lyme and Old Lyme according to Hunt. He comments it is remarkable, “These two little towns  can take up so much compassion for a little area in Haiti,” adding, “It’s such a great example of selflessness.”

Referring to all the CFHE donors, Becky says, “I wish I could bring them all to Haiti so they could see what they’re doing for the youth of Haiti. I wish I could share that experience with the people, who have helped us.”

Looking Ahead

Becky expands enthusiastically on what she calls “the real joy” of the achievements of the CFHE, saying, “When a kid you’ve picked off the streets does really well at school, even university, gets a job, gets married, has kids that go to school … Bingo, that’s the dream! This is what we are trying to do. It’s not going to happen overnight … we don’t expect miracles … but ultimately it’s nation-building one step at a time.”

Editor’s Note: For more information about the Crosby Fund for Haitian Education, visit their website or follow them on their Facebook page. If you would like to donate to support the work of the CFHE, visit this link. All contributions regardless of size are gratefully accepted.

Old Lyme Celebrates Midsummer This Evening with Multiple Music Performances on Lyme St.

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Local musician and ‘The Voice’ finalist Braiden Sunshine will give a concert on the lawn at Center School during Monday’s ‘Make Music Day’ festivities.

Festivities are Part of ‘Make Music Day’ Being Celebrated Worldwide on the Summer Solstice 

OLD LYME – A popular live music stroll along Lyme Street, Make Music Old Lyme, returns Monday, June 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. An international celebration of free music for all, the Old Lyme Arts District is producing the town’s event in conjunction with the Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition and the MusicNow Foundation.

As in previous years, the Make Music Old Lyme celebration will take place on Lyme Street, this year spanning from the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, where Steve Dedman of Plywood Cowboy will play, to the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts where the Old Lyme Town Band will entertain on the front lawn.

As in previous years, the Lyme-Old Lyme Lions will be cooking up a storm outside Center School on Monday. File photo.

On the Center School front lawn, Braiden Sunshine will entertain with his upbeat take of music from the 1940s to today. The Lyme-Old Lyme Lions Club will also be in front of Center School with grill items including hamburgers and hot dogs for sale from 5 to 7 p.m.

A dozen or so musicians will play in front of businesses and public buildings along the half-mile length of Lyme Street south of Halls Rd. Genres include bluegrass, folk, indie-rock, and pop.

‘Whiskey and Aspirin’ will be performing on Lyme Street during ‘Make Music Day’ on Monday.

Musicians on the Stroll include:

  • Whiskey & Aspirin
  • Woodsmoke
  • Moving Target Band
  • Not My Wife
  • Marcy Conway
  • Midnight Anthem
  • Welcome to Space
  • Hot Strings Café
  • The Nightingale Fiddlers.

‘Welcome to Space’ is another band, who will present their own special form of entertainment on Monday during ‘Make Music Day.’

A children’s craft will be available in front of the Old Lyme Historical Society.

An impromptu “kazoo parade” is expected to sprout up on Lyme Street toward the end of the evening. The photo above show the fun parade, which took place in 2019.

Some businesses on Lyme Street will be open during the Stroll including:

  • The Cooley Gallery
  • The Chocolate Shell (which will be offering a Make Music discount of 10 percent off purchases)
  • Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe
  • Nightingale’s.

Lawn chairs or blankets are encouraged for the Braiden Sunshine concert at Center School, the Old Lyme Town Band at the Lyme Academy, and Plywood Cowboy at the First Congregational Church.

Cheryl Poirier, one of the volunteer organizers of the event, comments, “This music stroll has been a wonderful way to showcase the local musical talent living right here in Southeastern Connecticut. The team at Nightingale’s Acoustic Café has done a phenomenal job putting together a great lineup for us.”

She adds, “We’re so lucky the musicians are performing in the true spirit of the international Make Music Day’s ‘free music for all.’ We hope our local residents will join us in welcoming these performers while enjoying a relaxing and fun evening.”

Sophia Griswold performed outside the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe during ‘Make Music Day’ on Lyme Street in June 2019.

The event was postponed in 2020 due to pandemic precautions. Current State of Connecticut protocols advise that masks are not required at outdoor events yet it is still recommended that attendees follow social distancing protocols.

Launched in France in 1982, Make Music Day is an international musical festival open to all who would like to participate, and takes place in over 1,000 cities in 120 countries on June 21, the summer solstice.

The State of Connecticut Office of the Arts debuted the State’s effort in 2018 with 528 free musical performances at 224 locations across the state, including Old Lyme. 

For a complete lineup of activities (including weather contingencies), visit the Old Lyme Arts District’s website.  A handout of where to find musicians will be available at the event.

The Old Lyme Arts District is a partnership of a dozen organizations and businesses promoting arts and culture on Lyme Street. LymeLine.com is proud to be a media sponsor of the organization.

A la Carte: A New Twist on an Old Favorite with an Unexpected History

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Lee White

Sometimes I try to come up with recipes that have themes or special times of years, such as holidays like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July or Labor Day.

But I sometimes I forget, before Columbus landed first in the Bahamas and later on the coast that would become America, that the native Americans were here first.

I also forget about the white people, who came soon after Columbus, who herded Black Africans, took them from their homes and families to work, against their will, in the white people fields and houses in the 17th century.

A new documentary from Netflix called “High on the Hog” tells the story of these enslaved people, who tried to keep their own lives and traditions alive along with their culinary journey.

In this documentary, I learned that Thomas Jefferson  and George Washington owned Black chefs, who went with the masters to Paris, brought back French techniques and recipes, which they blended with the ingredients available in the New World. For their own food, in the slave quarters, they took the ingredients the white owners didn’t want — the leftover pieces of vegetables and fruits,  the peels of potatoes and, most of all, the bits of beef, sheep and chickens the owners threw away. 

The recipe below was adapted from a recipe I found in a cookbook from 2001.

Until I saw this documentary two weeks ago., I never knew the first recipe for macaroni and cheese was created by enslaved Black people working in their masters’ kitchens. 

I hope you stream “High on the Hog” on Netflix.

Queens (N.Y.) Mac and Cheese
Adapted from Macaroni & Cheese: 52 Recipes, from Simple to Sublime (Villard, New York, 2001)
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

6 tablespoons butter, plus extra for baking dish
1 pound elbow macaroni
3 12-ounce cans evaporated milk (2 percent milk works well, too)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon Red Devil sauce (or less, to your taste)
4 cups (1 pound) coarsely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
½  pound Velveeta or American cheese, cut into one-half inch cubes
½  cup heavy cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs), or fresh bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 3 and ½ -quart deep baking dish or 9 by 13 baking pan.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and cook the pasta until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, pour into a large mixing bowl and toss with 4 tablespoons of the butter.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring milk to a scald and add to the macaroni. Add mustard, Red Devil sauce and Cheddar and stir well (the cheese should start to melt. Add Velveeta and cream and stir well. The macaroni and chunks of cheese should be swimming in the sauce. Add egg and mix well. Season with salt, if necessary, and plenty of pepper.

Pour into the prepared baking dish that has been place on a sheet pan to catch spills (the baking dish will be completely full. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and dot with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Bake until golden brown and bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes.

About the author: 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 Nibbles and a cooking column called A La Carte for LymeLine.com and the Shore Publishing and the Times newspapers, both of which are owned by The Day. She was a resident of Old Lyme for many years, but now lives in Groton, Conn.

June 17 COVID-19 Update: Only One Town in State in Yellow Case Rate Zone, All Others in Gray (Lowest); No New Cases in Lyme, Old Lyme

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This map, updated June 17, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme are still in the (lowest) Gray Zone. (Only cases among persons living in community settings are included in this map; the map does not include cases among people who reside in nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.) Map: Ver 12.1.2020 Source: CT Department of Public Health Get the data Created with Datawrapper. Details in italics are the same for each of the maps shown.

LYME/OLD LYME — The report issued Thursday, June 17, by the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) for the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks shows another major improvement for the state as whole with just one town — Bolton — in the Yellow Zone (indicating the lowest but one rate of COVID-19 new cases.)

All remaining 168 towns in Connecticut, including Lyme and Old Lyme, are in the Gray (lowest rate) Zone for two-week new case rates. It is the sixth week in succession for Old Lyme in that Zone, while Lyme is in the Gray Zone for a 14th straight week.

Neither Lyme nor Old Lyme reported any new cases in the June 17 report meaning Lyme holds steady at 107 cases and Old Lyme at 341 (this number has been corrected from the 342 reported on June 7.)

  • 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.

For comparison, the map below is from June 3 and shows one town, Waterbury, in the Orange Zone and 21 towns in the Yellow Zone, down from 48 the previous week. They were: Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bloomfield, Brooklyn, Coventry, Cromwell, Derby, East Hartford, East Haven, Granby, Hamden, Hartford, Manchester, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Putnam, Rocky Hill, Shelton, Waterford and Windsor.

This map, updated June 3, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the previous two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme are in the (lowest) Gray Zone. (Only cases among persons living in community settings are included in this map; the map does not include cases among people who reside in nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.) Map: Ver 12.1.2020 Source: CT Department of Public Health Get the data Created with Datawrapper. Details in italics are the same for each of the maps shown.

Below is the map from May 27 that showed one town in the Red Zone, Putnam, and 10 towns in the Orange Zone.

This map, updated May 27, shows the average daily rate of new cases of COVID-19 by town during the past two weeks. Both Lyme and Old Lyme were still in the (lowest) Gray Zone. (Only cases among persons living in community settings are included in this map; the map does not include cases among people who reside in nursing home, assisted living, or correctional facilities.) Map: Ver 12.1.2020 Source: CT Department of Public Health Get the data Created with Datawrapper. Details in italics are the same for each of the maps shown.

Compare the maps above with the one we published Dec. 18, 2020 to see the remarkable progress that has been made with controlling the spread of the virus through expansion of vaccination rates and improved mitigation strategies.

Map of Connecticut dated Dec. 17, 2020 showing both Lyme and Old Lyme now in the CT DPH-identified ‘Red Zone.’ This 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 over 15.

On June 17, Ledge Light Health District (LLHD) also issued their latest weekly report of COVID data for the municipalities within their District.

All towns in the nine-town district (which includes Lyme and Old Lyme) except Groton and New London, now have less than five new cases in the past two weeks.

Ledge Light Director of Health Stephen Mansfield prefaces the report with the comment, “We are happy to see a continued decrease in the number of new cases throughout our jurisdiction and encourage everyone to get vaccinated!”

Mansfield also notes, “The demand for vaccine is declining, and many providers are reporting that they have unfilled vaccination appointments at scheduled clinics. At this time, LLHD is vaccinating all individuals 18 and older.”

He adds, “Information regarding vaccination opportunities and other relevant information can be found at https://llhd.org/coronavirus-covid-19-situation/covid-19-vaccine/

The following link provides centralized access to Connecticut COVID data: https://data.ct.gov/stories/s/COVID-19-data/wa3g-tfvc/

Vaccination rates in Lyme and Old Lyme are also extremely encouraging with 81 percent of the population in Lyme having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and the equivalent number for Old Lyme being 72.47 percent.

These are some of the highest percentages in the state.