Monthly Archives: May 2022

Old Lyme’s Parade Fills Air with Pride and Patriotism, Music and Merriment

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Mary Dangremond lit up the parade with her wonderful smile as she cheerfully portrayed Phoebe Griffin-Noyes. Dangremond was representing the Old Lyme Library, which bears the name of her character. Photo by Suzanne Thompson.

OLD LYME — UPDATED 6/2: The sun shone brightly as the traditional Old Lyme parade proceeded down Lyme Street and McCurdy Rd. to the Duck River Cemetery. Mirth and merriment along with pride and patriotism filled the air as the colorful parade made its way down to the route to resounding cheers from all the onlookers.

Old Lyme’s firemen marched proudly. Photo by Troy Christopher.

 

The marchers spanned the ages. These youngsters are all members of local baseball teams. Photo by Ellen Cole.

 

A  C-130 flyover by the Air National Guard preceded the parade. Photo by Troy Christopher.

 

The band played … Photo by Suzanne Thompson.

 

Dancers from the Lymes’ Senior Center gave an extremely enthusiastic and popular performance as they traveled down Lyme Street and McCurdy Rd. Photo by Michele Dickey.

 

The Old Lyme Board of Selectmen (BOS) marched in the parade accompanied at second from left by State Representative Devin Carney (R-23rd.) The BOS are, from left to right, Matt Ward (R), First Selectman Tim Griswold (R) and Martha Shoemaker (D). Photo by Troy Christopher.

 

The Deep River Fife & Drum Corps played a lively tune as they marched. Photo by Michele Dickey.

 

The banner on the side of this firetruck says it all! Photo by Troy Christopher.

 

The Lyme-Old Lyme Lions proudly stated their mission as they marched down Lyme Street. Photo by Bridget Compagno.

 

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1467 organized and marched in the parade. Photo by Troy Christopher.

 

A wreath was laid at the memorial in the Duck River Cemetery to honor all our fallen heroes. Photo by Cheryl Poirier.

Editor’s Note: Due to family commitments, we have not yet had time to review and edit all the photos we have received. We thank sincerely the numerous readers, who were kind enough to share their photos of the parade and cemetery ceremony with us. We will add many more photos and copy to this article shortly.

Death of Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Barbara Gonci Announced, 105; Mother of Don Gonci of Old Lyme

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Elizabeth “Betty” Barbara Gonci

WINDHAM, CT — UPDATED 5/31 WITH FULL OBITUARY: Elizabeth “Betty” Barbara Gonci of Windham and formerly of Coventry and Hebron, Ct., passed away on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at St. Joseph`s Living Center in Windham at the age of 105. She was born on May 11, 1917, in Bridgeport, Ct., daughter of the late Michael and Julia (Varga) Pollansky. She was the oldest of nine children and grew up on the family farm in rural Coventry.

In 1936, Betty married Alex Gonci sharing over 65 years of marriage together until his passing in 2002.

In 2012, Coventry celebrated its 300-year anniversary and Betty, at age 94, was highlighted as part of the parade and other festivities. As part of that celebration, she was asked to describe some of her childhood memories which were later published. Those memories included the start of her education in the one room little red Brick Schoolhouse on Merrow Road in Coventry. It still stands.

Betty learned to speak and write English on the front stone steps of that schoolhouse while classmates had recess. Eight grades were taught at the school. Later, as an upper classman, she shared teaching responsibilities or tasks. One frequent task, she enjoyed describing, was to organize the preparation of a communal lunch soup, cooked on a multi-purpose wood stove. Classmates would pool whatever ingredients they had to create a hearty winter lunch.

She also helped her younger siblings learn English at home. Hungarian was the spoken language at the homestead. Her parents, her husband, and her parent’s in-law were all born in Hungary. Consequently, her children were raised with a quite strong ethnic heritage, expressed in delicious cooking, festive music and large, boisterous family gatherings. As a matter of fact, her married name was originally spelled Gonczy before being `Americanized` at Ellis Island.

Betty took close interest in each of the dozens of nephews and nieces that resulted from the merging of two very large families as well as the grand- and great-grandchildren.

Betty enjoyed sharing her life experiences and challenges, from the very long walks to school (miles) in rural Coventry to taking a horse and buggy to meet a bus en route to Windham High School.

Until the final days of her life, she continued to absorb the news of the day and placed it in context of her whole life experience. During that lifetime, she lived through two pandemics, two world wars, and the Great Depression. In addition, she narrowly escaped, with her young family, from the 1944 Hartford circus fire.

She is survived by her children Robert and his wife, Mary-Ellen of Hebron; Donald and his wife Doina Lavoie-Gonci of Old Lyme; sister Helen Chaponis of South Windsor; grandchildren Robin, Russell, Rob, Brian, and Jeffrey (Gonci) and Mike Lavoie: great-grandchildren, Dallas, Teo, Jackson, Alysa, Declan and Dawson, and numerous extended family.

In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her siblings, John, Frank, Ernest, Andrew, Charles, and Emil Pollansky and Emma Saunders.

Betty had a private interment at the New Hebron Cemetery. Care of private services was entrusted to the Aurora-McCarthy Funeral Home of Colchester.

For online condolences, please visit www.auroramccarthyfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, family and friends may consider a donation to the Coventry Historical Society at P.O. Box 534, Coventry, CT 06238 (please be sure to specify the Brick School in memory of Elizabeth Gonci or the Hebron Fire Dept., at 44 Main Street. Such donations, in her memory, would be appreciated.

“Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the rest of my lifetime. And I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it onto future generations.”

Laurie Pavlos to Retire as Lyme Art Association Director, Elsbeth Dowd Named as Successor

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The current Director of the Lyme Art Association Laurie Pavlos (left) sits with the newly-appointed Director Elsbeth Dowd, who will take over from Pavlos after her June 30 retirement.

OLD LYME:  The Lyme Art Association is the oldest of what has evolved into a vibrant collection of art and culture institutions in the heart of Old Lyme. It is flourishing in a way that is perhaps only rivaled by its early years when the renowned Lyme Art Colony artists formed the Association back in 1914.

It is from this firm base that the Association is undergoing a change in leadership.

After 12 extremely successful years at the LAA, Laurie Pavlos is planning to retire June 30 from her position as Executive Director. She joined the staff in 2010 as business manager and later became part of the Executive Team, which led the Association from 2014. That team also comprised Gallery Manager Jocelyn Zallinger and Development Director Gary Parrington.

Pavlos was appointed Executive Director in 2018 and from that time through the present has been a consistent and enthusiastic supporter of LAA’s mission and values. She has guided the organization through significant growth, construction, and the both unexpected and challenging disruption of the pandemic.

As of July 1, Elsbeth Dowd will succeed Pavlos as Executive Director.

For the past two years, Dowd has been the LAA’s Development Director. Pavlos comments, “Upon joining the Association staff in early 2019, she [Dowd] wasted no time in enhancing our communications, starting with social media.”

Pavlos adds, “Elsbeth worked with me to help our broader community become more familiar with our organization and mission. She continues to build relationships with community partners, sponsors, members, and donors.”

Prior to joining the Lyme Art Association, Dowd was the Executive Director of the Oysterponds Historical Society in Orient, N.Y., and before that was Museum Registrar at the Sam Noble Museum in Oklahoma. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in art and archaeology from Princeton University and her Doctoral Degree in anthropology from the University of Oklahoma.

A number of other appointments have also been announced at the LAA. Paul Michael, a graduate of Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, has taken over the role of Gallery Manager from Jocelyn Zallinger, who has also retired. Jolie Collins is the Association’s new Communications Manager, and Sarah Kentoffio and Franceska Nebel are assisting in the gallery and staff office respectively.

Old Lyme’s Memorial Day Parade Starts TODAY at 11am, LYSB Invites “Anyone on Wheels” to March With Them

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In this photo from a previous year, the parade heads down McCurdy Rd. towards the Duck River Cemetery. (File photo)

OLD LYME — The Old Lyme Memorial Day Parade will kick off from the Lyme Street Firehouse at 11 a.m. today, Monday, May 30, and continue to the Duck River Cemetery where appropriate ceremonies hosted by VFW Post 1467 will be held to honor the country’s fallen Veterans.

There will be marchers from Old Lyme including the Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) High and Middle School Bands and several others.

The New London Firefighters Pipes & Drums along with the Deep River Fife & Drum Corps will also participate.

Contingencies from the Connecticut Army and Air National Guard will support the parade with vehicles from the Army National Guard Firefighter Detachment and a C-130 flyover by the Air National Guard.

If inclement weather prevails, the ceremonies will be moved inside to the LOL Middle School auditorium.

Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau (LYSB) invites any youth in Lyme and Old Lyme, who are not already participating in this year’s Memorial Day parade down Lyme St. and McCurdy Rd., to join the parade and march with them.

The organization’s tag-line for the event is, “Everyone belongs at LYSB!”

Decorate your bikes, scooters, wagons, strollers … basically anything with wheels (but nothing that is motorized) and then join the fun!

Meet at the corner of the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School tennis courts (behind the large illuminated “Lyme-Old Lyme Public Schools” sign) at 10:30 a.m.

Old Lyme Church, Partnership for Social Justice to Hold Bell-Ringing Vigil, Call to Action TODAY, 5pm, in Memory of 32 Killed by Gun Violence in Buffalo, Laguna Woods, Uvalde

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Vigil to be Held Sunday, May 29, 5 p.m. on Steps of First Congregational Church of Old Lyme

The steeple bell at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme will be rung 32 times Sunday evening starting at 5 p.m. to commemorate the 32 lives lost to gun violence in recent weeks.

OLD LYME, CT – UPDATED 9am: The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme (FCCOL) and the Lyme-Old Lyme Partnership for Social Justice announced Friday, May 27, that the organizations would hold a bell-ringing vigil and call to action on Sunday, May 29.

The vigil will be held on the front steps of the church starting at 5 p.m.

The bell in the church steeple will be rung 32 times – once for each of the victims of the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., Laguna Woods, Calif., and Uvalde, Texas.

The community is invited to attend.  

Speakers at the vigil are expected to include: 

  • Kevin Booker from the New London City Council 
  • Principal Lindsey Thompson from the Mary Hooker Magnet School in Hartford
  • Judge Kevin Washington from Windsor, Conn. 
  • Rev. Dr. Terrlyn L. Curry Avery from Sacred Intelligence in New London
  • Rev. Steve Jungkeit from FCCOL and the Partnership for Social Justice 

In announcing the community vigil, Jungkeit said, “In the past, small New England villages like ours used bells as a way to call people out of their homes to mark times of worship, celebration and mourning. We are invoking that tradition again on Sunday, calling the  entire community to come join us as we remember the 32 individuals who lost their lives to the recent gun violence in Buffalo, N.Y., Laguna Woods, Calif., and Uvalde, Texas.”

Jungkeit continued, “It’s an opportunity to come together and grieve as a community – to voice our shared desire  for a society where we protect people, not guns, and where horrific killings like this no longer happen.”