OLD LYME — The Old Lyme boys secured a big 69-41 win at home over Portland Tuesday night with Wildcat senior Jack Porter making a major contribution scoring six three-pointers in his game-high 23 points.
Senior Leland Hine and freshman Eddie Fiske were also key contributors to the Old Lyme team with 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Wildcats advance to a 7-3 in Shoreline Conference play and an overall record of 8-4.
The boys’ next game is at home on Friday, Feb. 2, against Hale-Ray.
OLD SAYBROOK—UPDATED 1/29 with full obituary David G. Brown, artist and farmer, 70, of Old Saybrook, CT died peacefully in his home at the Hay House Farm in Old Saybrook on January 19, 2024. David was born in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, on March 27, 1953 to George and Mary (Wyda) Brown. He graduated from Old Saybrook High School in 1971, 2nd in his class. David started college at Middlebury, where he began to paint portraits and still lifes. He longed to see the world though and took a year off to travel overland across Asia. He visited India, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, where he saw the Buddhas of Bamiyam, and he trekked through Nepal. This journey would change his life. Upon returning, David attended Dartmouth College, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1976 having studied World Geography and Food Problems. He later received a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University in 1989.
David returned to Nepal to teach at the Village School in Syrabu from 1976-1978. The residents were refugees from the Tibetan Village of Happiness. He was amazed by how genuinely happy the Tibetans were, despite having so little. During his travels, David took photographs for UNICEF and Save the Children that were later published in a children’s book. When he returned to the U.S., he sought a similarly simple lifestyle, starting a farm in 1986 in Old Saybrook. He moved into a home built from hay bales covered in stucco, which was without plumbing or electricity. There he created his own personal sanctuary, the Hay House Farm, where he melded art and farming into his everyday life. The message of the Hay House was, “this is more than enough”.
From 1987-1991 David taught social studies and art at the Hammonasset School in Madison. One year, he brought his students to Nepal for a month to work at the Tibetan refugee camp. The group brought with them duffel bags full of clothing for distribution. In October, 1991, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dali Lama was invited to Yale to receive an honorary degree. David was asked to drive the Dali Lama and the Tibetan Cabinet around New Haven. At the end of 1992, David helped resettle 20 Tibetan families in Old Saybrook. From 1992-1997, David worked as the Operations Director for the Tibetan Culture Center of CT. From 1993-1997, he served on the Old Saybrook Board of Education. David built the first Buddhist stupa in Connecticut at the Hay House Farm to serve as a place of meditation for the community. It was dedicated in 2007.
David was a talented painter. His work was displayed at the New Britain Museum of Art in 1999, and at the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport in 2000. In 2004 he was featured at an open house at the Florence Griswold Museum where he created “The Installation”, a life-size still life of the inside of the Hay House with the outside painted in the four seasons. The Installation was accompanied by 365 paintings of sunrises from the past year, and a big grid of portraits of his friends – his everyday heroes. He was the recipient of numerous best in show awards in Guilford, Essex, and at the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven. He displayed his work at several solo exhibitions throughout Connecticut.
“Farmer Brown” became a fixture of the Connecticut shoreline community and was well known for his jam, eggs, produce, honey, paintings, and Lhasa Apso-derived dogs (a breed originating in Tibet). He hosted an annual “daffodil brunch” every spring at The Hay House, when tens of thousands of daffodils bloomed throughout the farm. He was a regular vendor at numerous farmer’s markets in the region, most recently in Chester. David was also the author and illustrator of the children’s book, “Getting Along like Cats and Dogs: Kitty and Puppy at the Hay House.” He inspired countless residents of Connecticut and beyond to respect the earth, live simply, and do what you love.
David was preceded in death by his parents, and his sister, Marjorie Szerlip. He is survived by his sister, Audrey Brown and her husband Peter Cummin of Mystic, and his nephews Aaron and David Szerlip and their wives and children.
A celebration of his life will be in the Spring when the daffodils are in bloom.
Editor’s Note: The following text and photo is our original article published Jan. 26, prior to receiving the full obituary.
OLD SAYBROOK — David G. Brown, age 70, of Old Saybrook, Conn. passed away on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. He lived and died in The Hay House in Old Saybrook, which had neither electricity nor plumbing. He was an accomplished painter and a deeply spiritual man. He sold flowers, jams and more at numerous local markets. He was a remarkable man.
Visit the Dignity Memorial site at this link to read the ever-increasing number of heartfelt tributes to this extraordinary person, who touched so many lives.
An obituary and details of services have not been posted yet. We have been promised them by David’s sister as soon as they are available, and will publish them immediately after receiving them.
If you did not know him, it is hard to explain why there is such a widespread and extensive outpouring of grief in response to David’s unexpected passing. Perhaps the tribute that Carol Adams posted on Facebook may help. Carol is the founder and owner of Ashlawn Farm Coffee—we publish her words here with her permission.
First of all, it seems that anything anyone may say about David Brown is sure to fall short and be an understatement. With that in mind, I just would like to express that it still just doesn’t feel possible that David Brown is not walking this earth anymore.
What an incredible life!
He was hugely present in our community: as a talented and dedicated painter, an organic gardener, a farmer, a teacher, a caretaker of the earth, a dog breeder, a spiritual person, a helper, an organizer, a constant thinker, an idealist, a philosopher and a friend.
And you would just run into him everywhere.
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t know David or at least know of him!
My coffee house is blessed to have his painting of our farm (where the coffee business started and thrived for the first 15 years) above the Cafe entrance and we think back fondly on the many years of David’s annual art shows before Christmas at Ashlawn!
David was a main character and a favorite at the Lyme Farmer’s Market at our farm in Lyme, and it was from him that we got our sweet little doggy Princess, a Malti-Shit who is a side character in his now-almost-famous children’s book.
David also painted my three children, works that we will always treasure. He surely was a special guy, one of a kind.
So many of us will sure miss David! What a void he leaves by going too soon, but he enriched our lives, his town, this whole area, and the lives of lots and lots of people.
This link is a video of the unveiling of the farm mural at the Ashlawn Farm Café in Old Saybrook, which took place 10 years ago.
OLD LYME—UPDATED 1/28 with donation information and additional names in photo above: Old Lyme Resident State Trooper Matt Weber and his team of Old Lyme Police Department (OLPD) officers recently took time out of their busy schedules to visit with the recently-arrived Alkhalawi family, who are refugees from Syria.
The OLPD presented the family with a restaurant gift-card as a welcoming gesture to the Lyme-Old Lyme community. The family enjoyed the visit by the OLPD and were especially appreciative of the gift card.
The family is being assisted by the Lyme-Old Lyme Refugee Resettlement Committee in a variety of ways.
After the visit, Howard Margules, who is a member of Refugee Resettlement Committee, shared an email with LymeLine that had been sent to both State Trooper Weber and Old Lyme First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker, which read as follows: “On behalf of the Lyme-Old Lyme Refugee Resettlement Committee, I want to thank Resident Trooper Matt Weber and his team of officers for taking the time to visit with the Alkhalawi family, and for their kind offer of support.”
The email continued, “Mahmoud and Fadia were so pleased to have the opportunity to meet the officers, and it was very reassuring for them to know that people in authority care for them. They thank the officers for the restaurant gift card and I am sure the family will savor the meal.”
In conclusion, the email stated, “The visit was greatly appreciated!”
Editor’s Notes: i) For further information about the Lyme-Old Lyme Refugee Resettlement Committee, visit this link.
ii) To donate online to the Lyme-Old Lyme Refugee Resettlement Committee, visit this link on the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme website and select Refugee Resettlement in the dropdown Fund menu.
iii) To donate by mail to the Lyme-Old Lyme Refugee Resettlement Committee, make your check payable to: First Congregational Church of Old Lyme with Refugee Resettlement Committee in the memo line. Mail to P.O. Box 172 Old Lyme, CT 06371
NORWICH, CT/OLD LYME — David Warner Thompson, 93, died peacefully at Backus Hospital in Norwich on January 16, 2024, with his beloved wife of 70 years by his side. He was born at home on March 15, 1930, in the Big Pond area of Bradford County, PA. In 1950 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served during the Korean War on the U.S.S. Sperry Sub-Tender stationed at the San Diego Naval Base in California. While in the Navy, he learned pipe-welding, a trade that would be his life-long career.
In 1953, he married Louise Beach, a childhood friend, and together they had 5 children. The family moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut, in 1962, where he was employed by General Dynamics-Electric Boat in Groton. Several years later he joined the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 777 Union and was assigned to many challenging jobs throughout Connecticut, New York, and New Hampshire. In 1992, after retirement, David and Louise moved to Norwich, CT.
David was an avid sportsman and 50-year member of the Niantic Sportsman’s Club. He started the Junior Rifle League and was instrumental in the development of the Club during those 50 years. A superior marksman, he focused his expertise on muzzle-loading and joined the North-South Skirmish Association, where he still holds an unbroken pistol record of a perfect score at 25 yards. He competed internationally as well on the U.S. International Muzzle-Loading Team from 1984-1994, competing in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and the U.S., and winning the Bronze Medal in Spain in 1985. For decades, he was an active shooter in the New London Pistol League, as well as an active member and treasurer for The Guns of Norwich Historical Society.
He and his family enjoyed many years of camping during the summer and once engaged in a 6-week camping trip around the United States, an experience that will endure forever. David is survived by his wife, Louise, and their children, Suzanne DeMelia of Mystic, CT, Rebecca Crosby of Old Lyme, CT, Mark Thompson of Loveland, CO, Marian Erkson of Middletown, CT, and Matthew Thompson of Waterford, CT and 12 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren and two sisters, Joyce Fraley of North Carolina, and Alice Lenox of Florida.
He was a man of great faith and an active member of The First Baptist Church of Lebanon. A memorial service will be held there on January 27, 2024, at 1 pm.
Instructor Mini-grants up to $1000 Offered Plus Materials to Lead Hands-on Arts Opportunities for Lyme and Old Lyme Teens This Summer
LYME-OLD LYME — The application window is now open for instructors wishing to lead arts programming for Lyme and Old Lyme teens this summer. Lymes Creative Arts is offering mini-grants of up to $1000 plus materials to instructors providing hands-on arts opportunities.
A collaboration of the Lymes Youth Service Bureau (LYSB), and the Sustainable Committees of the Towns of Lyme and Old Lyme, “Lymes Creative Arts” is now in its fourth year of providing arts programming to teens as a way to enrich their lives and find fulfillment in artistic expression. The program began in the summer of 2020 when Lyme-Old Lyme Schools and other organizations including LYSB were concerned about the isolation and stress teens were facing during the COVID pandemic.
Lymes Creative Arts was created “by students for students” and offers affordable and accessible creative arts programming for middle school and high school residents of the two towns. The initiative is designed to reduce barriers to participation such as access to program options, time availability, and financial hardship.
Proposals for arts programming can include areas such as hands-on visual arts, craft-making, literary arts, and performing arts.
Applicants do not need to be professional instructors, but must demonstrate the ability to lead arts instruction for teens, and pass a background check.
Applications are due Feb. 16. Artist Instructors will be notified mid-March and will be provided a letter of agreement.
Programming must occur between June 20 and Aug. 20, 2024. Full grant instructions and an application are posted at LYSB.org/teenarts.