LYME — 9/10 UPDATED WITH CONCERT TIMES: On Thursdays through the fall from 5 to 6 p.m., Rolf Wolfswinkel will introduce and play CD selections of meditative and contemplative music, from Gregorian chants to Rachmaninoff vespers.
All are welcome. Entry is free but donations would be appreciated.
The church is located at the corner of Rte .156 and Sterling City Rd. in Hamburg, Lyme.
LYME — Are you a writer who has always wanted to see your work come to life on the big screen? Do you have a movie or series idea inside you just burning to get out? Then Lyme Public Hall (LPH) is here to help you …
The Lyme Public Hall and Local History Archives Board of Directors hosts Oscar-nominated screenwriter Janet Roach (Prizzi’s Honor, directed by John Huston) who will present a screenwriting seminar in October and November.
The seminar will comprise a series of six, two-hour sessions on screenwriting at the hall, starting Oct. 16, and meeting weekly on Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m. through Nov. 20.
Emphasis will be on participants’ work and involve weekly writing assignments with personal feedback. Newcomers to screenwriting will be welcome as well as others who have been writing for some time, produced or not.
Enrollment will be limited to 12 students. The cost for the program is $100 for LPH members and $125 for non-members.
This seminar was offered last spring and was completely booked with a waiting list; Roach has agreed to offer a second session for those, who were unable to attend the first session.
Reviews from participants in the previous session included:
The sessions were great fun as well as impactful … Janet’s approach to teaching was inspiring and her tales of Hollywood, its structure and its inhabitants, were priceless. – R.E.
Thank you again for the excellent writing classes. I was awed by [Janet’s] encyclopedic and analytic knowledge of movies … My big takeaways were (1) use action in place of verbal exposition (2) create protagonists who keep things moving (3) maintain conflict. I learned that conflict and associated antagonists need not be just bad guys – J.F.
Roach, who was profiled recently in New London’s The Day, grew up in Old Lyme and started her writing career in journalism. She was a producer/writer at 60 Minutes and worked with Bill Moyers at CBS News and for Public Television before morphing into a screenwriter.
She also taught screenwriting at Columbia University’s Graduate School of the Arts for nearly 20 years. She now lives in Lyme, writes for Estuary Magazine and is working on a memoir as well as new film project.
The Lyme Public Hall is located at 249 Hamburg Rd. (Rte. 156), Lyme.
To enroll in this class, contact info@lymepublichall.org
OLD LYME — On April 20, the local 911 office dispatched a call to Old Lyme Emergency Medical Services (OLEMS) with a report of someone experiencing chest pains.
The day-crew member, Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Carlos Diaz, pictured above, left immediately in the Old Lyme ambulance.
Dave Musto, who is also an EMT as well as OLEMS Deputy Chief, and two other OL First Responders — Thomas Moore and Archer Evans, who were Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) seniors at the time and have since graduated from LOLHS in June — also traveled to the incident location in their own vehicles.
In addition, due to the nature of this call that required advanced life-saving support, Middlesex Health Paramedic Phil Coco was immediately dispatched by Valley Shore 911 to the patient’s home.
In a matter of minutes, all these EMS responders from a variety of locations arrived at the patient’s home. This patient’s chest pain soon turned into a cardiac arrest and automated external defibrillation (AED) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were initiated.
Thankfully, the patient was successfully revived in his home.
However, during his transport to the Emergency Room (ER) at L & M Hospital, the patient went back into cardiac arrest, but this time the AED machine did not detect a shockable rhythm. The crew immediately started CPR again and continued it for the whole journey to the hospital, where the ER technicians continued lifesaving measures.
The patient was kept in the hospital for several days, and ultimately survived the heart attack/cardiac arrest.
At the OLEMS recent business meeting, the patient attended with his wife and presented the crew, who likely saved his life, with American Heart Association HeartSafe Awards. These were much appreciated by the recipients, who, in the case of the two LOLHS seniors, have been friends since their earliest school days.
Both students also volunteer for the Lyme and Old Lyme Fire Departments. Evans’s father, John, is a volunteer with the Lyme Fire Department as well. Archer Evans is taking a gap year before attending an engineering school in Boston. During the year, he will complete his Firefighter 1 training along with some additional training programs.
The patient wishes to remain anonymous.
Jane Bysko, who serves as OLEMS President, commented, “We are very proud of our young community members, who step up to the plate and volunteer their time [to the OLEMS]. They undertake continuous training under the guidance of our Training Officer Ray Belval, who is also the invaluable liaison with the Lyme-Old Lyme Schools.”
She added, “If you are interested in joining OLEMS, call 860-434-0089. No experience is needed, just an interest in helping people in your community. We will help find a course for you.”
Author’s Note: I recently spoke with Angie Reale, the owner of the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe, by phone and she graciously answered my questions for more than an hour. We chatted at length about her time at the Shoppe and her previous employment at Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, where she and I first met back in 2007.
OLD LYME – “I didn’t realize I’d get this kind of fanfare. It’s been a very humbling experience for me with all the kind comments that have been made.”
Those were words of Angie Reale as she mused on the past month since she announced the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe at 34 Lyme St. would be closing Aug. 31. She has owned and managed the ice cream store for a decade but is now certain that it’s time for her to go.
Reale explains, “I turned 70 in July and it’s just getting to be too much.”
Reale is in remission from cancer and notes, “Last winter was very rough for me with radiation and chemo”. She recalls fondly, “My customers were wonderful during the cancer treatments. They brought me gift cards and all sorts of things. These people, who started as customers, have become my friends.”
Reale continues with real passion in her voice, “It’s all been a little overwhelming for me [referring to the kindness shown to her since she announced she was closing the store],” adding, “It’s really very bitter-sweet. I’m going to miss my customers and the girls [who work at the store] so much, especially this new crop of girls.”
She explains, “I do all the making of the ice cream myself. I’ll miss the creative side of making ice cream,” but she stresses with a chuckle, “Not the practical side!” highlighting that it is rather strenuous work.
She attributes the popularity of the store to the fact that she offers a remarkable range of – in several cases – award-winning flavors of ice-cream.Reale correctly points out, “This isn’t a cookie-cutter ice-cream place. People will miss the uniqueness of the flavors.”
Back in 2017, the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shoppe was declared the winner of Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor’s National Small Ice Cream Shop Competition and Reale’s Moroccan Rose ice cream flavor won a major award.
Asked what was next on her agenda after leaving the shop, her answer was surprising, “Get a job!” she said resolutely, adding, “I don’t have any hobbies. I don’t knit, I don’t needlepoint. And I can’t lay around the house doing nothing.”
She elaborates, saying, “I’d really like a little job. I’ll give a good 25 hours a week – I have a strong work ethic.” Reale then comments, “I haven’t had a paycheck in 10 years,” adding with a hearty laugh, “It would be nice to get one!”
Alternatively – or perhaps in addition – she says “I’d really like to volunteer somewhere,” asking ”Why not give back something?”
Discussing the new owners, she describes the couple warmly as a, “Gift from the universe,” who will likely open a gallery in the property – but in Reale’s words, “Not your typical gallery” – and use the residential area as a weekend home.
She comments, “In my fantasy, I was hoping a younger couple would take over the business and keep it going,” but she sold the property in two days, so has no complaints.
Talking of home, where is Reale planning on living now that she can no longer live right behind the shop with, as she laughingly describes, “A three-foot commute”?
Reale says she will be staying with a neighbor for a while, “But not long,” she emphasizes, ”… while I figure things out.”
She sums up her life to date in the words of a friend, who has known Reale for well over 50 years. The friend told her, “Angie, you’ve always flown by the seat of your pants … but you’ve always managed to land safely,” … and Reale says that is precisely what she intends to do in the future!
Editor’s Note: Angie, Old Lyme will miss you – good luck wherever your future takes you, and to anyone out there who needs a professional chef/food manager/preparer, I can personally give her the highest recommendation – her creations are the best!
OLD LYME — UPDATED 3:10pm with State Rep. Carney’s comments: The death was announced Monday, Aug. 8, of former State Senator and Old Lyme resident Melodie Peters. She passed away July 31, 2023, at the age of 76.
Peters, a Democrat, was elected to the Senate in 1992, thus becoming the first woman to represent the 20th District, which includes Old Lyme. She was re-elected with significant margins in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002. During her 12-year-tenure in the senate, she served as deputy majority leader of the Senate and co-chairwoman of the Energy and Technology Committee.
Prior to her move into politics, she was a nurse at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London. She also served as Vice President and subsequently, President of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.
On Monday, the current State Senator for the 20th District, Martha Marx, also a Democrat, released the following statement following the death of Peters. “Melodie Peters was a champion of workers’ rights in Connecticut, and not only served as my State Senator but as my union president.”
Marx continued, “I used to watch her and say ‘nurses can do anything.’ In her decades of work, she always fought for labor and workers, always seeking a better tomorrow. I am grateful for her service to our great state and join many others in mourning her loss.”
State Representative Devin Carney (R-23rd) sent LymeLine.com the following statement on Peters’ passing, saying, “I am sad to hear of the loss of former State Senator Melodie Peters. Senator Peters represented the 20th Senate District, which includes Old Lyme and Old Saybrook, for 12 years and had a life dedicated to public service. She truly cared about people. She lived right down the street from my mom in Rogers Lake and was always incredibly kind to me.”
He added, “My sincerest condolences to her family.”
Extracts from Melodie Peters’ full obituary published by The Day on Aug. 9, 2023, are given below:
Melodie Peters was born July 22, 1947, daughter to the late Wallace “Wally” Larson and Anne Mitchell …
The last few years Melodie unselfishly cared for her husband Earl Peters as his health declined. He undoubtedly was able to enjoy life more because of her love and care. Melodie and Earl were married 40 years until his death four months ago on March 18, 2023.
A longtime community activist and labor leader, Melodie started her career of helping people as a nurse …
… in 1992, Melodie set out for the 20th District Senate seat in the State Legislature. After securing that seat her first time out … she eventually retired twelve years later. Her twelve-year tenure resulted in the passage of numerous pieces of legislation favorable to workers and their families …
Melodie and Earl were members of The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme for many years. There Melodie served on the Board of Deacons, the Soup Kitchen Committee, the Hospitality Committee, and the Ministerial Search Committee. She was generous with her time, talents and wisdom. Her faith was a very important part of her life. The family asks that memorial gifts in her honor be sent to the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme Ministers’ Discretionary Fund, 2 Ferry Road Old Lyme, CT 06371. This fund, which Melodie helped to support, serves the needs of those in our community and beyond in their times of need.
The family will have a private celebration of Melodie’s life in the fall.
Editor’s Note: Visit this link to read the