The Old Lyme Land Trust hosts the 9th Annual Kayak Regatta, Sept. 14.
OLD LYME—The Old Lyme Land Trust (OLLT) Regatta will be held on Sunday, Sept. 14, starting at 1 p.m. Kayaks will be put in from Rte. 156 at the Lieutenant River Boat Launch. A guided trip down the Lieutenant River towards Duck River and Watch Rock will follow.
Kayakers of all skill levels are invited to join. The tour will return to the boat launch at approximately 3 p.m., where light refreshments will be served.
A US Coast Guard-approved life jacket or vest is required. Bring your own kayak (or canoe or stand-up paddleboard).
There is limited parking, so if you wish to join the event, REGISTER HERE.
Contact OLLandTrust@gmail.com for further information. More details will be provided upon confirmation.
MIDDLETOWN–The Rockfall Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2025 Environmental Champion Awards, including ‘Estuary’ magazine founder and Old Lyme resident Dick Shriver.
The environmental conservation and education organization in a press release identified Shriver as a recipient of its Certificate of Environmental Achievement for promoting conservation and stewardship of the Connecticut River Watershed.
The award will be presented during Rockfall’s 90th Anniversary Celebration on Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown.
Shriver, a U.S. Air Force veteran who went on to an esteemed career in government and private industry, retired to Old Lyme in 2007. From the place where the Connecticut River meets the Long Island Sound, he launched estuary magazine in 2020 to focus on the vast Connecticut River watershed spanning four states.
According to the Connecticut River Conservancy, Shriver has held executive positions including assistant secretary of the US Treasury Department and Senior Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank. In academia, he has served as professor of business finance and marketing at the International Management Institute in Kiev, Ukraine and Executive-in-Residence at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Also receiving Rockfall’s Certificate of Environmental Achievement is Diana Martinez, a Middletown agriculture and environmental justice advocate and creator of the Miller Street Community Farm and Pathways to Agriculture program.
The Oct. 8 event will feature a keynote address by Christine Palm, a former state representative and climate education advocate, about engaging youth in climate action and advocacy. Palm will receive Rockfall’s President’s Award, given once every ten years, recognizing her decades of leadership in environmental policy and education.
The Tom Odell Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Bruce Dodson, the Killingworth Land Conservation Trust leader who helped protect over 1,100 acres of open space; and Chet Arnold, Essex Land Trust leader and co-founder of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research.
The anniversary celebration and award presentation will include live music, food, and displays from 2025 Rockfall grant recipients. Tickets are $75 for members and $90 for nonmembers.
For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.
Artists will be painting ‘en plein air’ all over Old Lyme today. Their work will then be on view and for sale at a reception this evening at the Lyme Art Association. Photo courtesy of the LAA.
Artists, Prepare Your Easels to Paint ‘Plein Air’; Art Lovers, Help Celebrate
OLD LYME — On Saturday, Sept. 6, “Paint the Town: Plein Air Painting from Dawn to Dusk” celebrates a day of creation and an evening of appreciation at the Lyme Art Association (LAA.)
The event will begin with the LAA’s plein air competition as artists scatter across Lyme, Old Lyme and East Lyme to capture the region’s unique beauty. It will culminate when they bring back their work to the Association for awards, an art show, and reception.
The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 7.
All paintings must be made the day of the competition within the borders of the three towns. Prizes include $300 for first place, $200 for second place, $100 for third place, as well as three Awards of Merit and a People’s Choice Award.
An awards presentation at 5:15 p.m. will follow jurying from 4:30 to 5 p.m. by artist Eileen Eder. A registration fee of $30 includes participation in the plein air competition and tickets for the artist and one guest at the reception.
Reception and Art Sale
Artists and art lovers will converge at the Lyme Art Association on Sept. 6 for a celebration of ‘plein air’ painting.
The art show and reception, from 5 to 7 p.m., will include an exhibit of the artists’ work, hors d’oeuvres, and live music by Ramblin’ Dan Stevens. Attendees are invited to vote for their favorite piece in the People’s Choice Award. All art is available for purchase.
A mosquito prepares to bite. Image courtesy of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for Unsplash.
NEW HAVEN, CT – The State Mosquito Management Program is warning Connecticut residents about the risk of infection by West Nile virus (WNV) this season.
On Wednesday, Aug. 27, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) issued a press release stating that it has detected WNV-infected mosquitoes in 34 towns this season including Old Lyme.
The other 33 towns where WNV-infected mosquitoes have been found are Bethel, Bridgeport, Cheshire, Danbury, Darien, East Haven, Easton, Fairfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Groton, Guilford, Hamden, Hartford, Hebron, Manchester, Meriden, Milford, New Britain, New Haven, Newington, North Branford, North Stonington, Norwalk, Southington, Stafford, Stamford, Stratford, Wallingford, West Hartford, West Haven, Westport, and Wethersfield.
The CAES notes that no human cases of WNV have been reported so far this season but now is often the time of year when the first cases are reported to public health.
“We continue to detect West Nile virus in mosquitoes throughout Connecticut, with the highest levels of activity in Fairfield and New Haven counties and in the metropolitan Hartford area,” said John Shepard, Medical Entomologist at CAES. “This includes infection of mammalian-biting mosquitoes, which increases risk of human infection.”
“West Nile virus transmission is expected to continue until mosquito activity ceases in October,” said Dr. Philip Armstrong, Chief Scientist at CAES. “We encourage everyone to take simple measures to prevent mosquito bites.
This includes applying insect repellent and covering bare skin, especially in wooded areas and during dusk and dawn when biting mosquitoes are most active.”
To reduce the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes, residents should:
Minimize time spent outdoors between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
When it is necessary to be outdoors, use mosquito repellents containing an EPA-registered active ingredient, including DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol (PMD), or 2-undecanone. EPA registration of skin-applied repellent products indicates that they have been evaluated and approved for human safety and effectiveness when applied according to instructions on the label.
Wear shoes, socks, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt when outdoors for long periods of time, or when mosquitoes are more active. Clothing should be light-colored and loose-fitting and made of tightly woven materials that keep mosquitoes away from the skin.
Wear clothing and gear treated with permethrin. Permethrin is an insecticide that kills or repels mosquitoes and ticks.
Be sure door and window screens are tight-fitting and in good repair.
When sleeping outdoors, use tents or mosquito netting in an unscreened structure. Treat camping gear with permethrin when possible.
Cover strollers and baby carriers with mosquito nets when outside.
West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne viral disease in the United States and occurs every summer in Connecticut. Most people infected with WNV do not experience any symptoms. However, about one in five develop West Nile fever, which includes symptoms such as fever, body aches, joint pain, headache, and rash. In rare cases—approximately one in 150—WNV can cause a severe illness that affects the central nervous system.
Of those severe cases, about one in 10 are fatal.
Adults over the age of 60 are at the highest risk of serious illness.
The response to mosquito-transmitted diseases in Connecticut is a collaborative inter-agency effort involving the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), the Department of Public Health (DPH), the Department of Agriculture, and the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (CVMDL) at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). These agencies are responsible for monitoring mosquito populations and the potential public health threat of mosquito-borne diseases.
The CAES maintains a network of 108 mosquito-trapping stations in 88 municipalities throughout the state. Mosquito traps are set Monday – Thursday nights at each site every 10 days on a rotating basis and then at least once a week after detection of virus. Mosquitoes are grouped (pooled) for testing according to species, collection site, and date.
For information on WNV and eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus, how to prevent getting bitten by mosquitoes, and the latest mosquito test results, visit the Connecticut Mosquito Management Program website at https://portal.ct.gov/mosquito.
A photo of Wood Island Life Saving Station in Kittery, Maine from 2021. The ‘Mervin F. Roberts’ boat now lives inside the building and travels down the now completed marine railway into the sea.
Former local resident Catherine Frank visited the Wood Island Life Saving Stationrecently. She discovered the organization is running an essay contest and the winner will earn the opportunity to spend a night on Wood Island (which in her words, “looked quite cozy; has amazing history and views and a chance to visit with Merv’s boat!”) She kindly shared the information with us and, again in her words, thinks, “Someone from Old Lyme needs to enter and win this contest.”
