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Old Lyme Resident, Atty. Kyle Zrenda Recognized as a ‘New Leader in the Law’ by CT Law Tribune

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Attorney Kyle Zrenda of Suisman Shapiro Attorneys-at-Law.

OLD LYME/NEW LONDON — Old Lyme resident and Suisman Shapiro Attorney Kyle Zrenda has been recognized as a “New Leader in the Law” by the Connecticut Law Tribune’s 2023 New England Legal Awards. The first-ever New England Legal Awards has expanded the field to include attorneys and firms from beyond Connecticut, including many in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other states, making the competition exceptionally intense.

Atty. Zrenda has quickly established a strong reputation throughout eastern Connecticut by fighting for people who have been harmed by negligent motorists, property owners, and medical providers.

As a member of the bars of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court and the Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court, he also represents people who have been injured at the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos.

This decision will have implications across the state for years to come and will help ensure claimants with legitimate malpractice claims are not bounced out of Court on certain technicalities.

Since 2017, Atty. Zrenda has been recognized by Super Lawyers® as a “Rising Star” in the area of personal injury law, and he has also been recognized by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Lawyers in America – “Ones to Watch” since 2021.

Earlier this year, Atty. Zrenda and his colleague secured a monumental victory in the Connecticut Supreme Court, which overturned the trial court’s dismissal of their client’s medical malpractice case. In a unanimous decision, the Court reversed more than 10 years of precedent.

In another recent victory, Atty. Zrenda’s client slipped on a wet floor, did not fall, but suffered a twisting injury to his back while holding himself up. An interesting complication was that the client had a car accident several months earlier and suffered a back injury. He was still in active treatment at the time of the slip. Nonetheless, the jury returned a verdict of $284,514.

Editor’s Notes: i) Suisman Shapiro is the largest law firm in eastern Connecticut, providing residents and businesses from New Haven to Providence with a full range of legal services.  The firm was established more than 75 years ago and is firmly rooted in the community. For more information visit suismanshapiro.com or call (800) 499-0145.

ii) This article is based in part on a press release issued by Suisman Shapiro Attorneys-at-Law.

Visit Lyman Allyn Art Museum for Free Through Sept. 3, See Acclaimed ‘Barkley L. Hendricks in New London’ Exhibition

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Barkley L. Hendricks, Untitled (Self Portrait), ca. 1975, gelatin silver print, 16½ x 24½ inches framed. © Barkley L.  Hendricks. Courtesy of the Estate of  Barkley L. Hendricks and Jack Shainman Gallery, NY.

NEW LONDON – The Lyman Allyn Art Museum has a great, no-cost way to entertain friends  and family during these final weeks of summer.

The Museum is offering free admission to all  visitors through Sept. 3, generously funded by Dominion Energy. The grant is connected to the Museum’s current exhibition, Barkley L. Hendricks in New London, which runs through  Sept. 3. 

“We want to thank Dominion Energy and invite everyone into our galleries throughout the month of August,” Museum Director Sam Quigley said. “The Barkley Hendricks show features  the art and photography of one of New London’s own, and we’re hoping free admission will  bring in even more visitors during the final weeks of the show.” 

The Museum will also present a panel symposium, “Looking at Legacy: Reflecting on Barkley  L. Hendricks with Connecticut Arts Leaders” on Aug. 11 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Museum.  Regional arts leaders will discuss Hendricks’ artistic legacy and issues related to teaching in  the arts and humanities today.

Panelists include Kalia Brooks, Director of Programs and  Exhibitions at NXTHVN; Kate Rushin, Distinguished Visiting Poet at Connecticut College;  Alexis Boylan, Director of Academic Affairs at UCONN Humanities Institute; and Marvin Espy,  a distinguished artist, who lives and works in New London.

The program, in-person and virtual, is free, but attendees need to register in advance. Visit lymanallyn.org to register for the program. 

The exhibition, Barkley L. Henricks in New London, presents the work of  the internationally-celebrated Hendricks, who is best known for his expressive, large-scale  portraits, many from the 1970s, which present a powerful vision of modern Black identity.

Inspired by Old Master portraits and the desire for racial diversity in the artistic canon, the long-time Connecticut College art professor painted portraits of himself and the people around him, including his neighbors, students, family, and strangers he encountered on the street.

Hendricks’ vision and his groundbreaking portraits shifted the course of contemporary art and helped blaze  a path for the creative richness of Black portraiture produced today.

“The exhibition considers Hendricks’ work from a regional standpoint, exploring the role of place,  community, and teaching over the span of his career in Connecticut,” said Tanya Pohrt, Curator. With 34 works of art in different media, including numerous photographs, our show explores the range and breadth of Hendricks’ artistic production.” 

Originally from Philadelphia, Hendricks studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts  before attending Yale University, where he received a BA / MFA in 1972.

Hendricks then taught studio art at Connecticut College from 1972 until his retirement in 2010, living in New London for  the remainder of his life.  

“Our goal is to help visitors better understand the artist’s work and legacy by considering how Hendricks’ oeuvre was shaped by geography and community,” said Quigley, who noted that Hendricks was a brilliant and prolific photographer as well as an exceptional painter.

“We are excited that our show includes 10 never-before-seen photographs taken here in New London, which were uncovered and printed since Hendricks’ passing in 2017.”

The Lyman Allyn Art Museum welcomes visitors from New London, southeastern Connecticut and all over the world. Established in 1926 with a gift from Harriet Allyn in memory of her  seafaring father, the Museum opened the doors of its beautiful neoclassical building  surrounded by 12 acres of green space in 1932.

Today it presents several changing  exhibitions each year and houses a fascinating collection of over 18,000 objects from ancient times to the present, including art from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, with particularly strong collections of American paintings, decorative arts and Victorian toys and  doll houses.  

The Museum is located at 625 Williams Street, New London, Connecticut, exit 83 off I-95. The  Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 5 p.m.; it is  closed on Mondays and major holidays.

For more information, call 860.443.2545, ext. 2129 or visit www.lymanallyn.org.

Old Lyme’s Eastman-Grossel Places 13th in US Junior Olympics Heptathlon at Eugene, Ore.

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Lyme-Old Lyme High School rising junior Zoe Eastman-Grossel, pictured above competing in the shot-put event, placed 13th in the heptathlon for the 15-16 age group in the National Junior Track & Field Olympics held late July n Eugene, Ore.

EUGENE, ORE./OLD LYME — On July 24 and 25, Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) rising junior Zoe Eastman-Grossel placed 13th in the heptathlon for the 15-16 age group in the National Junior Track & Field Olympic Championships in Eugene, Ore.

She qualified for the event after winning the USA Track & Field (USATF) Region One Championships in Craryville, N.Y. , which included athletes from all the New England states and New York, including New York City and Long Island. 

Eastman-Grossel competed found herself competing against a strong field of athletes in Eugene, Ore. She achieved a total score of 3669 points across the seven events, which represented an improvement of almost 200 points over her USATF Regional qualifying score of 3475.  

This score ranks Eastman-Grossel among the top high school heptathletes in the country with her score being in the top 79 scores for that group in the United States.  

Her performance included two personal records — one in the javelin with a throw of 75 ft. 10.75 ins. and the other in the 200-meter run with a time of 26.66. 

With her club season at the Capital City track club in Hartford completed, Eastman-Grossel is now looking forward to returning to both the classroom and track for her Junior year at LOLHS.

Ledge Blasting in East Lyme Closes I-95 Both Directions Twice Daily for 15 Minutes for 6-8 Weeks

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Detours Identified, Sign up for Text Alerts

EAST LYME — Beginning Tuesday, Aug. 1, ledge blasting along I-95 will take place Monday through Thursday for a period of six to eight weeks. As a result, I-95 Northbound and Southbound will be closed twice a day between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. for 15 minutes for each blast.

During this time, motorists are encouraged to follow the posted detour.

Motorists and residents are also encouraged to sign up for text message alerts of blasting operation notification on the project website, Sign Up for Alerts | I95 East Lyme (i-95eastlyme.com).

** Note that the start of this closure can change at any time based on weather or resources. **

Two detours have been identified as follows:

I-95 Northbound Detour: Motorists should take Exit 74 and continue on Rte. 161 north (turns into Rte. 1), turn left on to Cross Road, turn left on to Waterford Parkway, and take entrance ramp to I-95 northbound.

I-95 Southbound Detour: It is advised that motorists traveling on I-95 southbound take Exit 75, follow Rte. 1 to Rte. 161 south to access the I-95 southbound entrance ramp.

The purpose of the project is to correct the vertical geometry of I-95, replace the I-95 bridge over Rte. 161, and construct new on and off ramps at Exit 74.

DOT Project No. 0044-0156 was awarded to Manafort Brothers at a cost of $148,000,000 on February 1, 2023.

CTDOT is working to inform motorists and local residents of current and upcoming construction activities through project newsletters, press notices, travel alerts, social media, as well as the project website, https://i-95eastlyme.com/.

If you have any questions related to construction, contact info@i-95eastlyme.com.

For further information, call 860-594-2560 Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or visit DOT.CustomerCare@ct.gov.

Editor’s Note: The article above is based on a Construction Advisory issued July 19 by CTDOT.

UPDATED: Old Lyme Enjoys All the Fun of the (Midsummer) Festival

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Photo by S. Thompson.

Editor’s Note: We would like to express sincere thanks to our onsite photographers who contributed all these wonderful photos:- Michele Dickey, Cheryl Poirier and Suzanne Thompson.

OLD LYME — Humidity may have been high but so were people’s spirits at Saturday’s Old Lyme Midsummer Festival.

Photo by C. Poirier.

Artisans of all types were out on the grounds of the Lyme Art Association.

Photo by M. Dickey.

Some sold painted shells — these beauties are by Pinky Murphy, who collects the shells along beaches all the way from Old Lyme to Cape Cod, and then hand-paints them.

Photo by C. Poirier.

Others sold their paintings …

Photo by C.Poirier.

Intellectual abilities of all ages were challenged at the Hands On-Minds On event at the Old Lyme Inn. The photo above shows Heather Corbula of CT Audubon engaging with a young visitor.

Photo by C. Poirier.

The Car Show hosted by the Lyme-Old Lyme Lions at the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, formerly the Bee and Thistle Inn, was a major attraction of the Festival.


Tisha Kirk of the Old Lyme EMS discussed the vital role of the organization — and much more — with folk of all ages.

Photo by M. Dickey.

The newly-formed Lyme Artisans Guild drew a great deal of interest throughout the day. Michaelle Pearson, who stands behind the table at left, was selling her beautiful, handmade silver jewelry.

Photo by S. Thompson.

Heather Corbula of CT Audubon was kept busy at the Hands On-Minds On event with a constant stream of young visitors.


Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library Director Katie Huffman cheerfully greeted participants during the Hands On-Minds On event.

It was all-go on the grounds of the Lyme Art Association.

The Florence Griswold Museum’s Parading Paws event drew a large crowd of both participants and onlookers.

Mary Dangremond was one of the helpful volunteeres at the Old Lyme Historical Society’s tent.

Most local non-profit organizations were represented at the Festival.


Volunteers at the Old Lyme Open Space tent had plenty of useful information to share with visitors.

Photo by M. Dickey.

And just in case you thought the Festival was all about arts and crafts, check out this rat snake named Colby! He was featured at the Old Lyme Land Trust’s tent in front of the Lyme Art Association.


Here’s a long-distance view of the Fence Artists on the lawn of the Old Lyme Inn, which captures an iconic view of this very special Festival.

And let’s end with a sincere word of thanks to all those, who gave innumerable hours of their time to plan and organize the event, and all the additional volunteers, who ultimately made it happen. You know who are … THANK YOU!