Category Archives: Headline News

Rochelle Davis Named Lyme Land Trust ‘Volunteer of the Year’

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Lyme Land Trust Environmental Director Sue Cope (left) and Lyme Land Trust Executive Director Kristina White (right) of the Lyme Land Trust present Rochelle Davis with the 2022 Volunteer of the Year Award. Photo by Dan Hulseberg.

LYME — Rochelle Davis, volunteer steward of the Grassy Hill Preserve, was awarded the Lyme Land Trust ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award at the organization’s annual meeting.

During the last two years, Davis worked to improve habitat in the Grassy Hill Preserve Meadow to promote biodiversity. She has transformed a field filled with invasive plants to one populated by native plants that support a variety of pollinators and wildlife.

Davis single-handedly removed dense thickets of invasive plants, including autumn olive trees and multiflora bushes. 

At home, she propagates native plants from seeds to replant in the Preserve.

Davis shares detailed reports via the app “iNaturalist,” where she started a “Grassy Hill Preserve” virtual project to digitally catalogue the species in the preserve. The project can be accessed by anyone who visits the iNaturalist website or has the app on their device.

Over 130 flora and fauna observations have been documented to date.

She regularly walks the preserve and actively manages what is growing, at all times going above and beyond what is asked of a steward. 

Rochelle Davis won the Lyme Land Trust’s 2021 People’s Vision Award in the ‘Imagining Lyme’ contest with this photo ‘Mushroom in a Forest, Beebe Preserve.’ The photo was chosen by the public out of all submissions.

Davis has also actively participated in the Lyme Land Trust project Imagining Lyme – A Visual Exploration of Lyme’s Preserves since its inception two years ago. She has been awarded for several photos of distinction and won the 2021 People’s Vision Award – chosen annually by the public out of all the submissions, with her photo Mushroom in a Forest, Beebe Preserve.

During the award presentation, Sue Cope, Lyme Land Trust Environmental Director, said, “ The power and example of what one dedicated human can do in a year for one preserve has been staggering and we are so incredibly grateful for Rochelle’s time and effort.” 

 

Old Lyme’s Midsummer Festival Comes Back With a (Joyful) Bang!

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The day began with the 5K Midsummer Run hosted by LYSB, in which more than 300 runners participated.

OLD LYME — 8/1 UPDATED with more photos: Clear blue skies and warm temperatures welcomed the return of Old Lyme’s Midsummer Festival yesterday, after a two-year absence due to COVID. From early in the day, Lyme Street was alive with cheerful people of all ages enjoying the activities and festivities on offer and perusing the great variety of art, craft and edible items for sale.

Awards were presented after the race by Alli Behnke and her team of helpers to the winners. The photo above shows Rowan Hallahan receiving his award.

Shortly after, a ribbon-cutting was held at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts (LAFA) to celebrate the official opening of the de Gerenday Fine Art Materials and Curiosities shop on the campus. All the members of the Old Lyme (OL) Board of Selectmen  — First Selectman Tim Griswold (second from left), Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker (fourth from left), and Matt Ward (third from right, at rear) — as well as members of the OL Economic Development Commission (EDC), including chair Cheryl Poirier (third from left) and Mona Colwell (left), were on hand to assist with the ceremony.

Chairman of the LAFA Board of Trustees Michael Duffy cut the ribbon while LAFA Executive Director Mora Rowe to his right looked on enthusiastically. Holding the ribbon at the far right was Cameron Paynter, who is the Store Associate responsible for running the shop.

Outside on the Academy grounds, several different bands played drawing listeners appreciative of a bale of straw on which to take a rest.

Across at the Old Lyme Inn, the Fence Show Artists were plying their trade.

The range of styles and genres of artwork was exceptional this year.

Over at the Lyme Art Association, visitors were first greeted by the smiling faces of members of the OL EDC, in this case, Joe Camean (left) and Cheryl Poirier …

… and now, Mona Colwell and John Stratton.

Nancy Gladwell explained with passion to those, who stopped by the Public Art for Racial Justice Education (PARJE) stand, what PARJE’s mission is and how the group is working on achieving it.

The Old Lyme Land Trust hosted A Place Called Hope, who gave a popular demonstration including the live raptor pictured above.

Fat Stone Farm, located in Lyme, was doing a roaring trade throughout the day in their maple syrups, honeys, soaps, relishes, jellies and more.

Moving up to the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum, members of the OL Solid Waste & Recycling Committee gathered for a photo at their stand. Fred Behringer (second from right) and his daughter (not pictured) had created an ingenious, interactive game to test people’s knowledge of local recycling facts and figures. It proved a big attraction and attracted many keen participants.

Jim Ward and his wife Sheila McTigue Ward manned the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden tent encouraging new volunteers to sign up while sharing information about the remarkable project.

Photo by Linda Ahnert.

This fine fellow named Boomer, who opted for a lion headdress in the Parading Paws contest held at the Museum, , deservedly won an award for Best Costume. Our apologies that we do not know his owner’s name.

Staying with the canine theme, here are volunteers for Project Paws: The Tim Buckley Project, which fosters the therapeutic benefits of the human animal bond, impacts social emotional learning for youth, and restores hope to families impacted by mental health and substance use disorders.

Project Paws provides education and resources for bringing Animal Assisted Activity and Animal Assisted Therapy to many organizations.

Old Lyme Emergency Services Management volunteers were hard at work demonstrating the skills they employ to folk who came by their tent, also at the Museum. This young visitor was especially interested in the business of resuscitation!

Going up Lyme Street a tad further to the former Bee and Thistle Inn, now the home of the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, one found the Lyme-Old Lyme Lions hosting their Classic Car Show. An extensive selection of fabulous vehicles was on display and the event culminated with some of the proud owners receiving awards.

The wonderful day ended with the OL Town Band giving a concert on the field behind the LOL Middle School, which preceded a magnificent fireworks display hosted by the Town.

It was a splendid Festival, which thousands came out to enjoy.

Congratulations to the organizers, whose hard work and attention to detail could be seen and appreciated everywhere. Many thanks to them and all who participated in person or as sponsors for your combined efforts.

Death Announced of Former Principal of Old Lyme’s Mile Creek School, Ronald “Ron” Martino; Services in OL, Aug. 3

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Ronald Edward Martino
May 8, 1935 – July 16, 2022

MYSTIC, CT/OLD LYME, CT — Ronald “Ron” Martino 87, beloved husband of 62 years to Alberta Martino, passed away peacefully on July 16, 2022 surrounded by his loving family. Born in New Britain, he was the only child of the late Anthony and Frances Martino.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Education from CCSC and his Master’s at the University of Hartford and his 6th year certificate at UCONN. He spent the majority of his career in education serving the Old Lyme school system as principal of Mile Creek Elementary School for 25 years. In addition, he was an accomplished musician and led a 5 piece dance band that played throughout CT in the late 1950’s and early 60’s. His passion for music continued throughout his life, having played percussion in the Old Lyme Town Band, and in his retirement played piano at the Flood Tide Inn in Mystic.

When he and his wife eventually moved to Evergreen Woods he continued to play piano at many resident social events. Ron and Alberta raised their family in Old Lyme, and enjoyed living on the shoreline, taking advantage of the beaches and Long Island Sound. Ron and Alberta had a wide circle of friends with whom they socialized over dinner parties, boating, and ski trips. Ron was an avid fisherman and boater. On many Saturdays in the early hours of the morning he could be found on the waters, many of those days with his best friend Larry Kelliher chasing whatever fish wanted to jump onto their hooks.

In retirement, he and Alberta moved to Naples, Florida where they were snowbirds for 10 plus years. They moved from Old Lyme to Niantic in 2003, and moved to Evergreen Wood last year to be closer to his children. He was a loving, kind and devoted husband and father.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Christine Carey and her husband Michael of Westport and Laura Martino and her spouse Elizabeth Ingalls of Guilford and many dear friends. He was predeceased by his cousin Joe Martino who was like a brother to him.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 3 from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM in the Swan Funeral Home, 1224 Boston Post Rd., Old Saybrook. A Memorial Mass will follow at 11:00 AM in Christ The King Church, 1 McCurdy Rd., Old Lyme.

Gifts in his memory can be made to the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau, P.O. Box 589, Old Lyme CT 06371 or online at LYSB.org.

Old Lyme’s PGN Library Seeks to Improve Service to Community; Launches Online Survey, Responses Will Influence New Strategic Plan

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Old Lyme’s Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library is hosting an online survey to learn how to improve its service to the community.

OLD LYME — The Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library in Old Lyme wants to find out how it could improve its service to the community. It has therefore devised an online survey asking questions about all aspects of its service in order to obtain feedback.

A team at the library is currently working on a new Strategic Plan and will incorporate the feedback received from the community into the plan.

Library Director Katie Huffman has asked us to share the link for the survey with our readers in the hope of reaching more people who will complete the survey. Click here to access the survey.

Huffman explains, “Feedback from the survey is extremely important in assisting us as we continue to refine how we can serve the people of Old Lyme more effectively.” She adds, ” Survey results will be incorporated into and summarized in the Strategic Plan.”

If you have any questions about the survey, contact Huffman at khuffman@oldlymelibrary.org or 860-434-1684, ext. 110.

Old Lyme Residents Unanimously Approve $2.1M in ARPA Spending in Special Town Meeting

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Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker presents the recommendations from the American Rescue Plan Committee at Tuesday evening’s Special Town Meeting. Photo by Phil Parcak.

OLD LYME – At Tuesday evening’s Special Town Meeting, Old Lyme taxpayers voted unanimously to approve a final disbursement of $2,120,593 in the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The payout includes over 60 individual disbursements addressing 10 key recommendations such as supporting the economic recovery of Old Lyme’s small businesses and supporting public health services.

The vote came following the June 21, 2022 recommendations of the Town’s Boards of Selectmen and Finance.

The Town previously approved $41,622 at the March 21, 2022 Special Town Meeting. The Town has now allocated its total ARPA funding from the Federal Government, as required within the stated deadline.

In September 2021, the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen appointed a committee of a dozen townspeople representing a cross-section of concerns including health and human services, emergency services, business, and tourism. The “ARP Committee” began its work a month later with one of its first tasks being to conduct a survey of residents and business leaders and develop two application processes.

Subsequently, following the submission of almost 80 economic recovery and community initiative grant applications, the ARP Committee created a set of recommendations for the board of selectmen that included distributing up to $10,000 in ARPA funds to 33 individual businesses and nonprofits for economic recovery, and more than 30 initiatives that would serve Old Lyme in its ability to move forward from the pandemic, while better preparing for the future.

Approved initiatives include $275,000 for a new ambulance for Old Lyme’s volunteer ambulance organization, $114,160 toward four years of increased mental health services provided through Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau, and $55,000 to repair the Swan Brook outlet’s wood outfall, an issue that has caused flooding in the Miami Beach and Hawks Nest communities.

Old Lyme Town Clerk Vicki Urbowicz read the motion ahead of the vote in the Special Town Meeting held Tuesday evening. Attorney Victoria Lanier (seated at left) moderated the meeting.

Some initiatives receiving funding will result in fun and innovative ways for organizations to provide services to Old Lyme residents. 

The Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library will receive $6,350 to fund a mobile/outdoor children’s library service with the purchase of a Library e-assist Book Bike. The Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, a center of the Connecticut Audubon Society, can expect to receive $157,095 toward its anticipated children’s science discovery and environmental learning center.

Initiatives to address the local economy by bringing visitors back to Old Lyme include $137,599 toward renovations to the Sound View Community Center, $30,875 toward Black Hall Outfitter’s targeted tourism marketing to watersport enthusiasts, $8,000 toward the 2023 Midsummer Festival, and $2,700 for additional outreach efforts by the Town’s Economic Development Commission.

The full list of approved economic recovery grants and community initiatives can be found at this link.

Old Lyme First Selectman Timothy Griswold felt the grants addressed a broad set of ideas and needs. “The American Rescue Plan Committee took into account a broad range of needs and concerns and addressed them in a rational and unprejudiced way.”

Griswold continued, “These recommendations not only bring funding to individual businesses and organizations that make up the fabric of our community, but also help the Town itself move forward from a time that challenged our ability to provide important public services.” 

In addition to the recovery grants and initiative concepts submitted by Town organizations, the ARP Committee voted to recommend to the Town the allocation of $20,000 to the Town’s Social Services Discretionary Fund to help residents during hardship. The Committee also recommended that any funds not expended by a grant recipient or the Town itself by the Federal deadline of December 2026 be redirected to the Discretionary Fund.

The set of recommendations voted on by the Town Tuesday evening also includes up to $20,000 in administrative, outreach, and legal costs associated with the ARPA funding and up to $20,000 in fees to a consultant hired by the Town to review and recommend the economic recovery grants following his appraisal of applicants’ financial losses.

Thomas Gotowka, Old Lyme American Rescue Plan Committee Chairman, said the Committee met the charge put forward and could be proud of its work. “I am very pleased at how well we [the Committee] covered the community landscape. The list reflects Old Lyme’s needs, as seen in responses to our survey; and an objective appraisal of each application or proposed initiative,” Gotowka said.

He further noted that the Committee had in place several safeguards to avoid any conflict of interest and worked to meet “the requirements and mandates of the legislation.”

About 60 Old Lyme residents were in attendance at the Special Town Meeting Tuesday evening. Following Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker’s presentation of the ARP Committee’s recommendations, those in attendance voted unanimously to approve the package.

Griswold noted that grants to businesses and organizations will be made once the Town receives its second and final ARPA installment, which is anticipated shortly. Letters to grant recipients will go out in the coming weeks.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a press release issued by the ARP Committee.