Category Archives: Outdoors

Chester-Hadlyme Ferry to Open Thursday; Friends of Gillette Castle Plan Celebration at Hadlyme Landing, All Welcome

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Gillette Castle can be seen in the background on a foggy morning as the 65-foot diesel-run Selden III prepares to depart the Chester ferry landing. The Chester-Hadlyme ferry, which is scheduled to re-open April 1, is one of the oldest continuously operating ferries in the United States. All photos except the final one in this article are courtesy of Kelly Hunt, Cherish the Moment Photography.

HADLYME — 3/30 UPDATE: The ‘First Ferry’ on Thursday at 7 a.m. event will be held “rain or shine.” State Representatives Palm, Haines, and Devlin are expected to join the celebrations. When the ferry lands, at approximately 7:05 a.m., there will be a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony (weather permitting.)

If you decide to visit, remember the Chester side of the ferry has extremely limited parking, so the Hadlyme side is a much better plan.

When the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry makes its inaugural 2021 round trip across the Connecticut River at 7 a.m. Thursday, April 1, its supporters intend to make the occasion festive.

“We’ve all missed the view from the river during the long winter, so we want to hold a ‘First Ferry Celebration’ to rejoice in its return and admire the state’s recent improvements to the landing area near Gillette Castle,” said Lynn Wilkinson, who chairs the communications committee for the Friends of Gillette Castle State Park.  

“Several members of our organization plan to make that morning’s first round trip together, and we imagine others might want to join us,” she added. 

The Chester-Hadlyme ferry sits at the Chester Landing dock.

John Marshall, the ferry’s master captain, said the boat will load first on the Chester side and make its five-minute run east to the Hadlyme landing adjacent to the park, where the Friends’ group will gather. 

“Free refreshments will be served, and we can promise convivial conversations with members of the Friends,” Wilkinson said. “They’ll be eager to talk about the castle, its history and our own activities.”  

“This winter was tough on everyone,” Marshall said. “Even though we still have to be careful, the ferry opening is a celebration for everybody. It’s like turning a page. People will be able to get outside more, and I look forward to it.” 

The ferry ‘under sail’ from Chester to Hadlyme.

Access to the western landing is on Rte. 148 at Ferry Rd. in Chester. The eastern landing is on park property at the base of Seventh Sister Hill, with a road and footpath leading up to the castle, the eccentric, century-old home of the late actor William Gillette. 

The park itself is in the towns of East Haddam and Lyme along the Connecticut River, and is open daily from 8 a.m. until sunset.

“In addition to being a continuation of scenic Rte. 148, the initiation of ferry service is an important lifeline between Chester and Hadlyme,” said John “Jack” Hine, supervisor of Gillette Castle State Park. “It also gives castle visitors a really fun and ‘photo-friendly’ way to get to the castle.” 

View of the Chester Landing with the ferry in the foreground.

The Friends’ celebration is being held free of charge. Ferry passengers will be charged current rates to ride the 65-foot diesel-run Selden III, which include a walk-on charge of $2 to pedestrians and bicyclists, $5 for vehicles on weekdays and $6 for vehicles on weekends. A $3 commuter rate requires pre-purchased coupons priced in a book of 20 for $60.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the boat will begin the season with a five-vehicle capacity, an increase since last year when the boat was allowed to carry three vehicles at a time.

“That very well may change,” Marshall said. “We’ll watch what the Centers for Disease Control and the governor say and we’ll figure out if we can change that.” Under normal conditions, the boat has a nine-vehicle capacity. 

Because the boat is a public conveyance, federal law requires all persons to wear a mask when boarding, disembarking and for the duration of travel on the vessel. Face shields are not compliant under current law.

Recent improvements to the eastern landing include new benches and fencing, a newly leveled parking area and a historic display describing the river and its cleanup, undertaken by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Department of Transportation, Hine and Marshall said. 

A view of the Hadlyme-Chester ferry on the Connecticut River taken from the ramparts of Gillette Castle. Photo courtesy of the Friends of Gillette Castle State Park and DEEP.

“The landing has been renovated with upgraded materials to match the esthetics of the castle,” Wilkinson said. “It was a thoughtful and wonderfully collaborative effort that has made the landing welcoming for visitors, and now seems like a special entrance to the castle grounds.” 

The Chester-Hadlyme Ferry began service in 1769 as Warner’s Ferry, and is one of the oldest continuously operating ferries in the United States. It is also Connecticut’s second-oldest ferry service, after the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury Ferry, which began in 1655. 

A steam-powered barge began to serve the ferry crossing in 1879 and was named the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry in 1882 while it was operated by the town of Chester. In 1917, the Connecticut Department of Transportation took over the service, and the current boat has been in operation since 1949. 

The ferry is expected to operate through Nov. 30. Additional ferry information may be found at this link. 

The Friends of Gillette Castle State Park is a nonprofit, all-volunteer group dedicated to the preservation, conservation and educational activities of the building and its grounds. For further information, visit www.gillettecastlefriends.org

 

A Chilling Adventure: Hadlyme’s Theobald Describes His Extraordinary Journey Through the Northwest Passage

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The ‘Bagan’ sails into the Northwest Passage.

LYME — The Northwest Passage—the sea route connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific— is widely considered the ultimate uncharted territory. Sailing from Newport, R.I., through the infamous Passage and around Alaska to Seattle, is an 8,500-mile trek filled with constant danger from ice, polar bears, and severe weather.

Sprague Theobald

Hadlyme resident Sprague Theobald, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and expert sailor, has completed this extraordinary journey.

In so doing, he and his crew became only the 24th non-military craft to have navigated the Passage since Roald Amundsen completed the first successful crossing of the fabled Northwest Passage in 1906.

Hear all about Theobald’s extraordinary journey and its harrowing story of survival, adventure, and, finally, redemption in a Zoom presentation hosted by the Friends of Lyme Library titled, The Other Side of the Ice,  tomorrow, (Saturday, March 20) at 3 p.m. Theobald himself will present the program.  

Email programreg@lymepl.org as soon as possible to register for this program and obtain the Zoom link.

Asked how he ever came up with the idea of undertaking that journey,  Theobald replied, “As far back as I can remember I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of a shortcut through the Arctic, but yet, nobody could find it. How could a place exist that nobody knows about but yet they go searching for it?”

Standing on the bow of the ‘Bagan’ as it sailed through the bitterly cold, unforgiving Northwest Passage.

Theobald continued, “As I grew older and started to read the incredible tragic history of those who went to search for the Passage I became absolutely intrigued. I can’t say that it was always on my mind but I spent many, many years on boats (I’ve about 40,000 off-shore miles) and the thought of attempting to transit the Passage was always in the back of my mind.”

He said triumphantly, “Finally, all the forces came together!” noting that it took about two and a half years, “… from my openly musing about the idea to finally leaving Newport,” aboard the Bagan.

In the 1850s, the Franklin Expedition left England to find the Northwest Passage. Beechy Island was one of their last known stopping areas. The expedition was frozen in the ice for two years. This grave marker cites where one of the crew was buried.

What followed was five months on the Bagan of unrelenting cold, hungry polar bears, and a haunting landscape littered with sobering artifacts from the tragic Franklin Expedition of 1845. Theobald will explain in his presentation the innumerable ways in which the incredibly challenging trip has impacted his life since he returned to land.

Asked which of those experiences had affected him the most, Theobald responded, “As you can imagine there were many experiences which truly changed my life but I think the most powerful one was the few days that we were trapped in the ice and slowly being driven ashore by a powerful underwater current.”

He continued, “Whether it was exhaustion or fatalism, I truly understood the feeling of simply letting go and making the best of it. It was simply survival. There was absolutely nothing I could do to keep us from being pushed into the rock-face cliffs. Try as I may, I couldn’t stop Mother Nature.”

As he worked to define that specific emotion in his mind, Theobald said, “The freedom of letting go allowed me to think through the process as to what I could possibly do in the various scenarios that faced us. Luckily the very force that was hinting at our demise also rescued us! The underwater current that was pushing us ashore must’ve had a back eddy in it, for once we came within a quarter of a mile from the rocks, we very slowly started going backwards in an arc.”

He concluded, “To this day, I am able to utilize that same great feeling of knowing when and ow to simply let go and to be able to stand back objectively and assess a situation rather than be caught up in it.”

Initial Planning Meeting Scheduled for Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden, All Welcome

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Jim Ward tends the Community Garden at Clinton. He hopes to set up a similar venture in Old Lyme and invites other volunteers to join him at an initial planning meeting. Photo submitted.

OLD LYME — Do you believe that access to healthy food is important? Do you believe that a community should support members in need? Do you have an interest in growing food and cultivating relationships between neighbors, friends and community members?

If your answer to any or all of those questions is, ‘Yes,’ then you might wish to consider joining a discussion today to plan a community food garden to support the nutritional needs of the shoreline community by providing local food pantries with fresh produce.

During this virtual, kick-off planning meeting, Jim Ward, who conceived the idea of the community garden, explains, “We will discuss organization of a non-profit, fundraising, sustainability, outreach, education and community engagement.” There are two options timewise for the meeting, 12 noon or 6 p.m. and those wishing to attend are welcome to join either meeting.

To register for the meetings and obtain the Zoom log-in information or raise any questions, email Ward at jimdub@gmail.com​.

All are welcome and Ward stresses, “Differing viewpoints, experience, backgrounds and ages are encouraged. No gardening experience is required.”

Ward is a resident of Old Lyme since 2006 and his wife attended Old Lyme schools, then subsequently taught in the district. Asked how he came up with idea for the garden, he explained, ” While I have always been interested in gardening and landscaping, my interest in the garden was initiated while I was participating in the 2020 UCONN Master Gardening Program.’

Ward continued, “As a participant in the program you are responsible for a certain amount of outreach hours and I volunteered and continue to volunteer at the Food for All garden in Clinton.”

Noting, “The atmosphere at this very successful Food Bank garden was one of a small community,” he pointed out that there were always plenty of volunteers, who between them had, “A broad range of gardening skills, from no gardening experience to master gardeners.”

Moreover, Ward emphasized, “Everyone shared their knowledge of gardening and cooking … along with local and national political conversations.”

The catalyst for trying to start the endeavor in Old Lyme was simply, in Ward’s mind, the type of community found in Lyme-Old Lyme, which Ward felt, “Would be very supportive of this type of initiative.” He therefore set out, “to replicate the Food for All garden project.’

His plan was not only wholeheartedly supported in principle by the volunteers of the Clinton garden, but he noted that in addition, “They gave me access to their records and provided advice on the daily and annual demands of the garden.”

Finding a location for the garden in Old Lyme did not prove quite so straightforward, however. Ward said, “My wife and I researched town-owned lands defaulted to the Town, but didn’t find any that were suitable and could see why many were defaulted.”

Proposed site of the Lyme-Old Lyme Community Share Garden at Town Woods Field. Photo submitted.

Finally, the seed of an idea evolved, when, in Ward’s words, “We thought of Town Woods as it had water, electricity, parking, restrooms, proximity to the Senior Center and it served as a hub of activity for many residents.”

Asked what has happened since the potential site was identified, Ward explained, “Through generous cooperation of the Parks and Recreation Commission and with site approval by the Old Lyme Inland Wetlands Commission, a parcel of land behind the Field House at Town Woods Park has been secured.”

He added enthusiastically, “The location, amidst the park’s organically-managed fields, with access to water, electricity and parking, is ideal.”

The timeline for starting the project is, according to Ward, “Totally dependent on funds.” he states, “With the generous assistance of the Parks and Recreation Commission, we have cleared the large hurdles of land and water, so the next big hurdle will be the fencing for the garden.”

What is his best guess for how things will progress? Ward responds, “With that being said I would love to see a fence up, some site prep, and soil testing by this fall with a small planting next spring.”

The proposal was mentioned at the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen’s meeting last Tuesday, Feb. 16, when Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal described the project as, “A really neat thing,” and “Pretty exciting.” First Selectman Timothy Griswold felt the board needed one of their members to “Prepare a checklist of what we [the board of selectmen] need to do,” and coordinate the effort between all the town boards and commissions involved. Selectman Chris Kerr agreed to take on that role.

 

CT River Coastal Conservation Native Plant, Plug Sale Webstore Now Open; Order by April 1, Pickup April 23-24

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Butterfly weed is one of the many flowering plants that will be on sale.

AREAWIDE — The CT River Coastal Conservation District has announced its webstore is now open for pre-orders before this year’s Native Plant and Plug Sale.

All pre-orders must be received by April 1, for pickup at the Chester Fairgrounds, April 23 and 24.

Ordering can either be done in the organization’s webstore, or by using the order form on their plant sale brochure, and mailing it to their office with a check (visit the Plant Sale page to download a PDF copy of the sale brochure.)

The sale will be by pre-order only, so there will be no extra plants available on the sale days.

The plan is to follow strict COVID-19 precautions of social distancing and mask-wearing during sale preparations, and to set up contactless, curbside pick-up.

Asparagus plants will also be on sale.

This year, many of the same shrubs, ground covers, edibles, evergreen trees, flowering perennials, ferns, grasses and sedges will be offered that should have been in last year’s cancelled sale.

Evergreen trees will be sold as plugs instead of bare root seedlings, and there will be a small selection of perennial plugs.

Some of the new plants on sale in 2021 include black raspberries, Pawpaw, Maple-leaf Viburnum, Nannyberry, Rhodora, Bird’s-foot Violet, Boneset, Field Pussytoes, Golden Alexander, Solomon’s Seal, Spotted Bee Balm, and Hay-scented Fern. Order early for the best selection!

Remember advance orders are due by April 1. If you have questions, contact the office at ctrivercoastal@conservect.org or 860-346-3282.

The annual plant sale is the CT River Coastal Conservation District’s main fundraising event. All proceeds are used for conservation, environmental education, and technical assistance programs.

Lyme Land Trust Announces Two New Programs for Kids

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The beautiful Banningwood Preserve is where Lyme Land Trust’s new Sapling Club will meet on second Saturdays o the month.

LYME — The Lyme Land Trust will offer two monthly groups for children beginning March 13, 2021 and meeting the second Saturday of each month ( April 10, May 8, June 12).  The clubs will be directed by two volunteers, Regan Stacey and Angel Santos Burres. Both have children in the Lyme-Old Lyme school district.

Environmentalist/artist Stacey currently runs the Tree Collective, a Lyme Land Trust program for teens. Most recently, Santos Burres was the director of Outdoors Rx, a program of the Appalachian Mountain Club.

For elementary school-aged kids, the Sapling Club will provide outside play and adventure in the forest. The group will meet every second Saturday of the month from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Banningwood Preserve, Town Street, Lyme. 

Parents are welcome to stay or drop-off.

For middle-schoolers, the Hiking Club provides exploration of the natural world at a different preserve each month. It meets every second Saturday per month at 3 to 4:30 p.m., beginning March 13 at Banningwood Preserve. 

Registration required. To register for either club, contact: reganstacey@gmail.com

For more information about these and upcoming events: https://www.lymelandtrust.org