Monthly Archives: July 2021

Virtual ‘Clean-up Coffee Hours’ Offer Training for ‘Source to Sea’ Volunteers; Next Session, Aug. 11

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Connecticut River Conservancy’s Source to Sea Clean-up volunteers have removed tons of trash over the 24 years of the river clean-up event. Find out how to join the effort this September at one of three virtual Clean-up Coffee Hours, starting July 14.

GREENPORT, Mass./LYME/OLD LYME — The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) will host three virtual Clean-up Coffee Hour sessions leading up to their 25th annual Source to Sea Clean-up being held this fall, Sept. 24-26.

The annual Source to Sea Clean-up is a river clean-up coordinated by CRC in all four states of the 410-mile Connecticut River basin (NH, VT, MA, CT). Each fall, thousands of volunteers of all ages and abilities clean trash from the Connecticut River and its tributaries on foot or by boat.

Join CRC at these virtual Clean-up Coffee Hours to learn more about how to get involved in the Source to Sea Clean-up:  

·         Registration and Site Selection:  Wednesday, July 14,  12 – 1 p.m. 

·         Trash Disposal and Tallies:  Wednesday, Aug. 11,  4 – 5 p.m.

·         General Q&A: Thursday, Sept. 9,  5 – 6 p.m. 

Additional details and links to register for these online events can be found at www.ctriver.org/events.

“These coffee hours will be a fun, informal way to get familiar with this year’s Source to Sea Clean-up,” says Stacey Lennard, CRC’s cleanup coordinator. “Anyone can come with questions about the process, or just come to meet other group leaders and volunteers. The Source to Sea Clean-up strengthens community while cleaning up our rivers and streams. It’s an opportunity for you to make a difference.” 

The Source to Sea Clean-up is one of the largest river cleanups in the country. Thousands of volunteers participate each year to remove trash along rivers, streams, parks, boat launches, trails and more.

To learn more about how you can register for the Source to Sea Clean-up, connect with a group, choose a trash site, and tally your trash, tune into any of these three Clean-up Coffee Hours.   

Since 1952, Connecticut River Conservancy has been the voice for the Connecticut River watershed, from source to sea. They collaborate with partners across four states to protect and advocate for the state’s rivers and educate and engage communities. They bring people together to prevent pollution, improve habitat, and promote enjoyment of your river and its tributary streams. Healthy rivers support healthy economies.

To learn more about CRC, or to make a contribution to help protect your rivers, visit www.ctriver.org.  

Lyme-Old Lyme Community Connections Hosts Networking Event Today

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OLD LYME — On Wednesday, July 14, from 4 to 6 p.m., Community Connections will host a Happy Hour Networking Event at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts, 84 Lyme St., Old Lyme. It is intended for Lyme and Old Lyme community and non-profit leaders, board members and volunteers to reconnect and network.

There will be a brief presentation from the new leadership of Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.

Community Connections provides collaboration and networking opportunities among agencies that serve Lyme and Old Lyme.

The event is free, but reservations are requested to tinabirkic@gmail.com.

Greg Shook, Essex Savings Bank President & CEO, to Retire July 31 After 47-Year-Career

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Gregory R. Shook, who is retiring as President and CEO of Essex Savings Bank, after 22 years  at the helm.

OLD LYME/ESSEX — Gregory R. Shook, President and CEO of Essex Savings Bank, will retire after 22 years at the helm and a career spanning 47 years in banking. He is the longest serving president and CEO in Connecticut and will retire on July 31.

A Westport, Conn., native and  Madison resident, Shook began his career as a management trainee in 1974 in a  subsidiary of Philadelphia National Corporation, Signal Finance and Mortgage, Fairfax,  Va. He managed their Cleveland office and then became a Vice President at State Home Savings in Bowling Green, Ohio.

In December 1984, he joined First Federal Savings of Madison, Conn. In 1987, he joined Branford Savings Bank where he rose to  Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary and was named Interim President and CEO where he found a right’s offering used for manufacturing companies to successfully raise capital to support the bank’s continued existence via a 1991 stock offering.

Highlights of his career include being elected by his peers and serving five years as a Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, a $62 billion bank, from  2015 – 2019. He was also appointed to serve on the first two years of the Federal Reserve of Boston Community Depository Institution Advisory Committee (CDIAC)  mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act to provide input from Banks under $10 billion to the Federal Reserve system.  

Professional associations have included the Connecticut Bankers Association, legislative committee, executive committee and the American Bankers Association Mutual Institutions Advisory Committee. He serves on the Board of Essex Savings Bank and Essex Financial Services. Following his retirement, he will continue to serve on the  Essex Savings Bank Board of Directors.

He is a corporator of the Middlesex Health  Care System (parent of Middlesex Hospital). He is also on the advisory committees of  the Community Music School and the leadership counsel of the Middlesex Coalition on  Housing and Homelessness.  

In 2011 Shook received the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce Distinguished  Citizen Award and was elected Chairman in 2016 and continues to serve on its Executive Committee and its Board of Directors.

He has been recognized by numerous organizations for his dedication to community service and has served on non-profit boards and advisory committees. He was a finalist in the New England Division of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program in 2009. He has been a featured speaker for a variety of seminars and radio shows.  

During his tenure, Essex Savings Bank grew its assets from $110 million to over $525  million, expanded its physical footprint from four to six branches, participated in the  growth of assets under management or administration of Essex Financial Services from $700 million to $3.2 billion and Essex Trust from a de novo to $871 million and has  rolled out new technology and capabilities leading the Bank through the pandemic.

He  is the 17th President since 1851. The Bank is currently celebrating 170 years of service and trust to the community.  

Shook commented, “The best part of Banking is building long term relationships and I am so appreciative of  everyone’s support and trust over the years. I am extremely proud of what we’ve been  able to accomplish together for both our customers and the communities in which we serve. It has been both my great privilege and honor to work with so many dedicated  and talented people – the absolute best.”

Looking to the future, Shook said, “I am confident that Essex Savings Bank will continue to garner new relationships and remain an outstanding business serving the  personal and business banking, trust and investment needs of the community. On Aug. 1, I am pleased to turn the business over to Diane Arnold, formerly our Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer as she will be our 18th President and CEO,  who is poised to lead this business to new heights.”

During the month of July, Shook will be looking forward to wishing many of his customers, friends and colleagues a fond farewell as he embarks on his next voyage.  

Editor’s Notes: i) This article was prepared from a press release issued by Essex Savings Bank.

ii) Essex Savings Bank is a FDIC insured, state chartered, mutual savings bank established in 1851. The Bank serves the Connecticut River Valley and shoreline with  six offices in Essex (2), Chester, Madison, Old Lyme and Old Saybrook providing a full complement of personal and business banking. Financial, estate, insurance and retirement planning are offered throughout the state by the Bank’s Trust Division, Essex Trust and wholly-owned subsidiary, Essex Financial Services, Inc.

Death Announced of Americo Richard (“Rick”) Lombardi, 92; Services in Old Lyme Thursday, Friday

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Americo Richard (“Rick”) Lombardi. “Willow weep for me….” Rick Lombardi passed away on June 30, 2021, at the age of 92. He was born on September 2nd, 1928 in Beverly, Massachusetts, the child of immigrant parents from San Giovanni Incarico, Italy, and lived most of his life in Massachusetts and Connecticut …

He played ferocious golf, as the scoreboards at the Old Lyme Country Club and Isla del Sol in St. Petersburg Florida will attest – his name is listed over, and over, and over …

He loved the lush fecundity of the New England summer; and in his later years would go to his house in Old Lyme and sit in the shade, book in hand, and “supervise” the grandsons doing yard work …

There will be a wake at Fulton-Theroux Funeral Home in Old Lyme CT on Thursday July 15 from 5-7pm followed by a Mass of Christian burial at Christ the King Catholic Church in Old Lyme on Friday July 16 at 11am. There will be a burial next to his beloved Alice in Duck River Cemetery, Old Lyme …

Visit this link to read the full obituary published July 11 in the Hartford Courant.

Op-Ed: Save Our Beautiful Dark Skies From The Threat Of Light Pollution

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Editor’s Note: This Op-ed was submitted by Alan Sheiness of Lyme, Conn.

How often have you stopped to notice how wonderfully bright and alive the stars are in our peaceful town of Lyme, especially once turning off one of our ‘major thoroughfares’ like Rte. 156 or Brush Hill Rd.?

That dark sky up there is a part of our world. It is as much a gift to us as are the forests, the trails within those forests, the rivers and waterways, and everything else that makes Lyme special.

As part of the Sustainable CT effort (sustainablect.org) we seek to inform the public about light pollution and how to arrest its insidious spread across our region.

What do I mean by light pollution? Light pollution is what occurs when a preponderance of lighting, and poorly-designed lighting fixtures, create a glare both locally and across entire swaths of geography, which renders the night sky as a dim shadow of itself. 

The universe is ours to behold just for the simple act of looking up at night. Except, in so many places all over the country and indeed the world, light pollution is removing those vistas much as deforestation and asphalt and other aspects of modern life remove the natural wonders that are part of our terrestrial consciousness. 

Guarding against light pollution really comes down to two simple principles: do not light what does not need to be lit, and when you do need to light something, do it with a source that is effective and efficient.

Our little town, because of its almost non-existent commercialization and heavy forestation, is indeed a miraculous enclave from the typical onslaught of ineffective lighting. We need to keep it that way. 

We can do so by ensuring that all new lighting projects, residential and commercial, take light pollution into account, protecting the night sky, no different than protecting a watershed or any other natural habitat. To the extent that existing installations are night sky-unfriendly, we should consider replacing those fixtures over time with ones that do a better job pointing down with an efficient light source. 

Our environment makes Lyme what it is, and we can be a leader in the sky just as we are on the ground. Please endeavor to learn more about the beauty of the night sky and the threat of light pollution.

A great place to start is here: International Dark-Sky Association.  Also, you can experience the splendor of our night sky first-hand, with experienced astronomers as your guide, by signing up for future observing sessions hosted by the Lyme Land Trust at lymelandtrust.org. 

That look up there is through a window into our universe, and it should be our intention to keep that window pristine for ourselves and our future generations.

About the author: Alan Sheiness is a 10-year resident of Lyme, Conn., and treasurer of the Lyme Land Trust. Among other interests, he is a life-long astronomy enthusiast and astrophotographer. He has documented lunar eclipses, solar eclipses, the Venus transit of the Sun, a Mercury transit of the Sun, many of the planets, star clusters, and nebula; all admittedly decidedly amateur in result, but rewarding nonetheless. Sheiness is a promoter of dark skies and interested in establishing a new Astronomy Society in Lyme as an adjunct activity within the scope of the Lyme Land Trust. Contact him at alan.sheiness@icloud.com.