Monthly Archives: April 2025

A Few Tickets Still Available for Lyme Art Association’s Signature Spring Fundraiser

Posted on by
Reply
Among the silent auction items at the 2025 Sea & Sky Soiree is “Abandoned Orchard” by Jim Laurino. Image courtesy of Lyme Art Association.

OLD LYME —The Lyme Art Association promises an evening of fine art, music, and cultured camaraderie at its Sea & Sky Soirée on Saturday, May 3. 

Described in a press release as the place where “art meets elegance,” the signature spring fundraiser includes live jazz, hors d’oeuvres from Flanders Fish Market, a silent auction showcasing works of art, and a raffle of themed baskets featuring unique items and experiences.  

Basket Raffle tickets are now on sale. Visit this link to purchase tickets in advance of the event. Raffle tickets can be purchased ahead of time and picked up at the event or at Lyme Art Association (LAA) starting or purchased at LAA.

Tickets are one for $10, three for $20, or ten for $50. Baskets are currently on display at the LAA. The raffle drawing will take place at the Sea & Sky Soirée. Participants need not be present to win.

The event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. in the association’s historic gallery at 90 Lyme St.

Lyme Art Association Executive Director Elsbeth Dowd prepared for last year’s silent auction in this photo courtesy of Lyme Art Association.

Proceeds support educational programs, exhibitions, and special projects carried out as part of the association’s mission to promote the visual arts.

Sponsorships and auction donations are still being accepted.

For more information or to donate auction items, contact Elsbeth Dowd at elsbeth@lymeartassociation.org or call 860-434-7802.

Tickets are available at www.lymeartassociation.org/sea-sky-soiree.

Death Announced of Linda (Lynn) Roberts, 61, of Old Lyme; Wife of John, Trust Administration Officer at Dime Bank

Posted on by
Reply

OLD LYME – Linda Banks Roberts, age 61, of Old Lyme, passed away peacefully April 16, 2025, surrounded by loved ones. She was a beloved spouse, parent, grandparent and friend whose kindness and strength touched everyone she met.

Born Feb. 6, 1964, in Philadelphia, Pa., Lynn was the cherished child of George and Elizabeth Banks. She went on to earn a degree in criminal justice from Temple University, a testament to her dedication to learning and personal growth. Since 2011, Lynn worked at Dime Bank as a trust administration officer, where she built many lasting and meaningful relationships with her clients.

… She is survived by her devoted spouse, John; her parents, George and Elizabeth Banks; loving children, Alyssa, Jonathan, and stepdaughter Jill; and adoring grandchildren: Jackson, Ava, Ariana, Christian, Orion, Paxton and Atlas. She also leaves behind her siblings, George, Maribeth and Susan.

Calling hours (were held) Thursday, April 24, at Byles Memorial Home … In honor of Lynn’s memory, a Catholic Mass will be held in New Jersey at a future date. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made to Christ the King Church in Old Lyme, in honor of Lynn’s generous spirit.

Editor’s Note: Visit this link to read the full obituary published by The Day on April 22, 2025.

State Crews to Monitor Site of 50-Acre Brush Fire in Lyme

Posted on by
Reply
About 38 firefighters, including 15 from Lyme Fire Company, worked Wednesday to put down a roughly 50-acre brush fire in town. Photo courtesy of Lyme Fire Company.

LYME – A roughly 50-acre brush fire that threatened two homes in the woods between Becket Hill Road and Grassy Hill Road yesterday is contained and will be monitored. 

Lyme Fire Company Deputy Chief Sam Adams in a phone call this morning said the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was set to return to the area to assess the situation. He said he did not see signs of fire when he drove by early in the day. 

He said the fire, which was called in around 1:54 p.m. Wednesday, was largely extinguished when local crews were sent home around 6:20 p.m.

The state agency kept a crew on scene overnight to monitor hot spots. 

There were no injuries or damage to property, according to Adams.

About 38 firefighters from multiple jurisdictions arrived Wednesday afternoon to find flames moving up the ridgeline toward a house at the top of Becket Hill, Adams said. 

He counted 15 firefighters from the Lyme Fire Company. 

The fire was located in the woods between Becket Hill Road and Grassy Hill Road. Photo courtesy of Lyme Fire Company.

He said the DEEP was brought in when crews sent into the woods saw the fire spreading toward another house. 

Also responding were East Haddam Fire Department, Salem Volunteer Fire Company, Old Saybrook Fire Department, Old Lyme Fire Department, Montville Fire Co #1, Essex Fire Engine Co. #1, Niantic Fire Department, Flanders Fire Department and Lyme Ambulance Association. 

Crews of two or three firefighters each were sent out in compact, maneuverable utility vehicles affixed with water tanks, according to Adams. Some used rakes and leaf blowers to create a fire line about six to eight feet wide in front of the flames.

“The hope is that when the fire reaches that point, there’s no more material for it to actually burn,” he said. 

Calm winds prevented embers from “jumping the fire line” and helped prevent flames from spreading past the barrier created by the firefighters, according to Adams. 

Lyme Fire Company in a social media post credited Essex Fire Marshal John Planas for bringing in a drone equipped with a thermal imaging camera. The drone, which flew for the duration of the incident, allowed for more refined tactics and a rapid reduction in the size of the fire.

“That was a very, very big help as far as getting eyes on top of the fire and kind of seeing what direction it was headed,” Adams said.

The deputy chief expected to hear from the DEEP with an assessment of conditions in the afternoon. 

Literature in the Lymes: ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ by Richard Osman

Posted on by

Oh, I wish there were a million more of his books. Instead, this far, there are only four in this series and one in the new series.

More to come, but who can wait when they are this good?

Osman is not only a maestro of the mystery but a comedy man. His characters are spot on cleverly written and usually hilariously so. 

Osman is a writer, who doesn’t assume the reader needs a long drivel of an explanation, so his brevity is flattering. We feel in on the joke when he describes someone.

The Thursday Murder Club is the first of this series and I’d never heard of it when I previewed the upcoming film. 

I immediately ran out for the book and was even more delighted. Each subsequent book was better but I begin here.

Four residents of Coopers Chase retirement community have formed a club. They each bring experience and a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to the table when it comes to solving murders. This they do with alarming and hilarious alacrity, much to the consternation of the local constabulary. 

Osman’s gift is hiding the clues so well that you have no idea what’s coming. In the land of predictability you are blindsided every few chapters and it’s marvelous.

At first there is a murder at Coopers Chase. A builder and his henchmen are so busy swindling and bribing, they don’t realize they are being watched.

The Thursday Murder Club is going to get to the bottom of all this. Who is doing this killing? This bribing? Are they going to lose their homes? Oh no they are not!

If anyone thinks these four seemingly sweet, innocent, elderly people are what they seem, then they are in for quite the surprise. 

Watching these four — Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, Ron and their supporting cast — become friends is so heart-warming.

As cloying as it sounds, it’s such a good time to find a series of books that you can curl up with and just be happy in a world away from the world.

Jennifer Petty Hilger

About the author: Jen Petty Hilger grew up in New York and London, England, but finds herself happily quiet living by the water in Old Lyme.

She and her husband have six children between them and a myriad of rescued animals.

Lyme First Selectman David Lahm Will Not Seek Reelection; No Candidates Announced Yet

Posted on by
1

LYME – Newly unaffiliated First Selectman David Lahm will not be seeking reelection in November. 

“I’ll be 66 years old when I leave office,” he said from the Town Hall Tuesday night. “I’ve been a volunteer in one way or another in this town, and in the service of our country in the military, since 1975. It’s time for my wife and I to build some time for us.”

Lahm was a Republican selectman when he was appointed to the top seat in 2022 after the mid-term retirement of Democrat Steve Mattson. 

He said he informed the leadership of both major political parties back in January of his intention not to run for another term. No candidates for the first selectman’s seat have been announced. 

“All things considered, I would have liked to have spent another term, but I look at some people I know who are no longer with us, and I don’t want to be one of these guys who works and then, six months after he retires, dies,” Lahm said. 

Lahm acknowledged that he switched his political affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated a few weeks ago. He said he based the decision on “national politics” under President Donald Trump. 

“I can’t be affiliated with that administration,” he said. 

But his discontent with the situation nationally did not drive his local reelection decision, according to the first selectman. He said officials in Lyme “have a long tradition of working across the aisle.”

Lahm recalled starting out his voting life as a Democrat. He became a registered Republican in 1992. 

“I changed then because I felt the Democratic Party had left me, and I now feel the Republican Party has left me,” he said. 

Lahm began volunteering in Lyme at age 16 as part of the Lyme Fire Company. He went on to join the U.S. Army, earn his law degree, and serve in the Connecticut National Guard until his retirement as a full colonel in 2012. His service includes tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lahm was elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2021. Democrat Kristina White was appointed to take his place when he took over for Mattson as first selectman.

The board under Lahm’s leadership changed its name to the Board of Selectpeople in 2023, though he said at the time they would retain the gendered forms of their titles individually.

Republican Town Committee Chairwoman Mary Powell-St. Louis in a Wednesday phone call said the committee is finalizing its slate of candidates for all board and commission seats up for election in November. She expects to announce the full slate by the end of June.

Powell-St. Louis said she’s been the local Republican chairwoman since March of last year. She replaced Lahm, who resigned from the committee the previous December.

She said she wishes him well on “the next chapter of his journey.”

“I think he’s been a solid force for the town and I think his leadership was well received by the entire community – the Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated sides,” she said. 

She described Lahm’s decision to change his political affiliation as a personal one. 

She said the Republican Town Committee is more concerned with local issues than what happens on the national stage. 

“Speaking for myself, I think that the national politics don’t belong in the small town of Lyme,” she said. “We’re focused on the local issues and local representation.” 

John Kiker, a selectman and the chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, said Lahm’s inclusive leadership style will be missed. 

Kiker and Democrat Kristina White serve with Lahm on the three-member board. 

“He definitely sought our input on all matters,” he said. 

Kiker also emphasized Lahm’s thoughtful way of addressing problems. 

“He has a very calm way of dealing with people, taking things in and making a decision,” he said. 

White in a Wednesday phone interview said Lahm’s commitment to Lyme, a town that has always relied on volunteers, is evident. 

“I think he just exemplifies how we run the town, and exemplifies the character of the town that has always been for people to step up and volunteer,” she said. “And he did that, both as a selectman and stepping in after Steve Mattson resigned.”

Both Kiker and White said they will be running for reelection as selectmen. 

Kiker said local Democratic leadership has identified a possible candidate for first selectman. He declined to announce the name pending a vote by the full Democratic Town Committee in May.