The victorious Lyme-Old Lyme High School Mock Trial team celebrates after winning the State Championship at the Connecticut Supreme Court on March 20. From left to right are team coach Laura Nelson, Margaret Thuma, Delaney Nelson (captain), Ada LaConti, Chloe Datum, Alexis Grasdock, Will Coppola, Sophie Pennie, Simon Karpinski, Ella Halsey, Justin Bonatti, Ryan Shapiro, Owen Shapiro.
HARTFORD/OLD LYME—3/29 UPDATED with new details: On Wednesday, March 20, the Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) Mock Trial team took top honors n the state championship for the second year in succession.
The contest was held at the Connecticut State Supreme Court in Hartford and saw the LOLHS team face Fairfield-Ludlowe High School in the final. This was the same school that the LOLHS team had defeated in the 2023 final.
The Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, Richard Robinson, opened the trial and spoke to the participating students about the importance of civic participation. The trial judges were Associate Justice Nora R. Dannehy, Appellate Court Judge Hope C. Seeley, and Appellate Court Judge (Ret.) Douglas S. Lavine.
The LOLHS team now advances to the National High School Mock Trial Championship, which will be held in Wilmington, Del., from May 1 through May 5.
This was Center School Instructional Assistant Laura Nelson’s first year serving as the LOLHS team’s coach. She explained to LymeLine how she came to take on the role, saying by email, “My daughter Delaney is a senior this year (and the captain) and the kids really wanted to have a season but they could not find a coach so I agreed to step in.”
She added enthusiastically, “I never imagined we would win states again, but the students were amazing!
Home again! The Connecticut high school Mock Trial champions gather for a photo with their coach back at Lyme-Old Lyme High School.
Editor’s Note: Our congratulations to the team and their coach. We wish you the best of luck in the National Championship!
OLD LYME—Marilyn Susan Ossmann, 82, passed away peacefully March 23, and reunited with her many loved dogs and cats in Heaven. Marilyn was born in New York City to Sabina and Emanuel Balzan days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941 …
Raised in Astoria, Queens, she worked … as executive secretary for Maurice Tempelsman in New York City. She married Frank Ossmann (the guy across the street) in 1969 … She left the city life to help Frank renovate their beach house in Long Beach, Long Island … Marilyn and Frank both were enamored with the beauty of the Berkshires and … decided to build a home there …
… In 1978 her son was born and decided to come back to a less rural lifestyle, settling in Old Lyme …
Marilyn could not sit still. She met with Tim Griswold and volunteered to manage the food preparation for the annual RTC picnic fund raiser. This occupied her time for 14 seasons. She is now reunited with all her animals …
She leaves her husband Frank; her son Eric and wife Michelle; daughter Tiana; her brother Bob and wife Regina; nephew Jeremey, wife, Samantha and their children; brother-in-law, Tom, his children, Chris, Kevin and Brian, their wives, and children.
Calling Hours will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Fulton-Theroux Funeral Home, 13 Beckwith Ln., Old Lyme. There will be a brief service following the calling hours at 6 p.m. in the funeral home.
Marilyn will be interred in the Duck River Cemetery, Old Lyme, at a later date.
The exterior of the Lymes’ Senior Center on Town Woods Rd. in Old Lyme. The Center is currently closed pending its renovation. File photo.
LYME/OLD LYME, CT – The Towns of Old Lyme and Lyme will host Public Information Sessions respectively on Monday, March 25, and Wednesday, March 27. Both sessions will be presented by the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee and cover the status of the Lymes’ Senior Center renovation and a request for an additional appropriation of $880,000 in total—$660,000 from Old Lyme and $220,000 from Lyme—from the two towns.
The 3/25 session for Old Lyme residents was held in the Old Lyme Town Hall Meeting Room.
The 3/27 session for Lyme residents, also starting at 6:30 p.m., will be held in the Lyme Consolidated School gymnasium. It cannot be held at the Lyme Town Hall because early voting for the Presidential Preference Primary will be taking place there.
Both Towns will then hold Special Town Meetings on Monday, April 15, at which votes be taken on the additional funds requested.
The Old Lyme (OL) Board of Selectmen and the OL Board of Finance approved the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee’s request for an additional $660K of funding at their respective regular meetings Monday, March 18, and Tuesday, March 19. Both votes were unanimous.
The additional funds are being requested by the committee due to construction bids that came in higher than anticipated and the newly-added request for a kitchen upgrade that the Towns of Old Lyme and Lyme made last month.
According to the committee, the supplemental appropriation breaks out in brief as follows:
• The cost overrun has been reduced to $800,000 – a figure, which reflects approximately $600,000 in constructions savings and an increase in contingency funds of nearly $65,000 to cover unforeseen circumstances.
• The kitchen upgrade is estimated to require an additional $80,000. • The total supplemental appropriation being requested from both towns is $880,000. • The Town of Lyme’s share of that cost (25%) comes to $220,000.
Both the Lyme Board of Selectpeople and the Board of Finance have reviewed and approved the supplemental appropriation request, but the funding still must be approved by the voters of Lyme at a Special Town Meeting that will be held on Monday, April 15.
At the March 27 Public Information Session, representatives from the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee, including members of the Lyme Boards of Finance and Selectpeople, will discuss the budget in detail and take questions from the public.
The committee’s goal is to have the budget appropriations approved by both towns before the construction bids expire on May 6.
Lyme residents approved an initial appropriation of $1,315,886 at last year’s Town Budget Meeting and Old Lyme residents approved an initial appropriation of $4,158,407 at a Town Referendum held June 20, 2023. Since that time, through efforts of the towns and the committee, the project has been awarded $1 million in grants from the state.
When the renovations are completed, the Senior Center will have:
• An additional 3,265 sq.ft. of interior space (for a total of 8,737 sq. ft. of interior space) that will enable the center to accommodate more members and activities.
• Motorized room partitions that allow for multiple room configurations so programs and activities can take place simultaneously.
• An enlarged kitchen space with multiple kitchen upgrades that allows for greater center luncheon attendance.
• A quiet library room where members can relax and/or read.
• A greeting area that is separate from the activities area.
• A public entrance that can accommodate the arrival and departure of buses and emergency vehicles.
• Redesigned entryway and hallways, improved door thresholds and additional shelving and storage space.
OLD SAYBROOK—Edmund H. Mosca, Sr., age 85, of Old Saybrook passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 23, 2024 surrounded by his family at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown. He was the beloved husband of Dolores (Welles) Mosca.
Ed was the Retired Chief of the Old Saybrook Police Department having served his community with devotion from 1960 until his retirement in 2009. He was born in Bronxville, New York the son of Silvo P. and Anne (Patriarca) Mosca …
Chief Mosca joined the Department in 1960 and quickly rose through the ranks becoming Detective in 1963, Sergeant in 1966, and Lieutenant in 1968. He became the youngest Police Chief in the State of Connecticut at the age of 33 in 1971 …
Along with his devotion and lifelong law enforcement commitment to the Town of Old Saybrook many of his achievements included; Past President of the Connecticut Chiefs of Police Association, Chairman of the Connecticut Police Standards and Training Commission for 10 years …
Chief Mosca was appointed by four different Governors to serve in many state law enforcement initiatives. Nationally he was recognized as a leading authority on law enforcement and the needs of local police departments. He had testified extensively at the state level and appeared before panels of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate and also testified for a U.S. Supreme Court nominee …
Ed was a parishioner at Saint John Roman Catholic Church and was a former President of the Old Saybrook Rotary Club …
Besides his wife he leaves his children, Debra Pegnataro, (Joseph) of Old Lyme, Edmund H. Mosca, Jr. (Susan) of Winthrop, Paul Mosca, of Cromwell, Patricia Dunn, (Jeffrey) of Centerbrook and Dolores Britt, (Mark) of Old Saybrook. He also leaves his beloved grandchildren, Daniel and David Pegnataro, Lauren, James, and Emily Mosca, Rayne Mosca, Amanda, Eric and Kevin Dunn, Michael and Stephen Brett and his six great-grandchildren …
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be in Ed’s name to The Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave. Floor 17, Chicago, IL 60601 or to a charity of the donor’s choice. To share a memory of Ed or send a condolence to his family please visit www.rwwfh.com
LYME/OLD LYME —The Old Lyme (OL) Board of Selectmen and the OL Board of Finance approved the Lymes’ Senior Center Building Committee’s request for an additional $660K of funding at their respective regular meetings Monday (March 18) and Tuesday (March 19) evening. Both votes were unanimous.
On Monday, March 25, the BOS will host a Public Information Session at 6:30 p.m.in the Old Lyme Town Hall Meeting Room to discuss the additional funding.
On Monday, April 15, a Town Meeting will be held at which residents will vote on the additional funding. Details of the time and location of that meeting have not yet been confirmed.
