Category Archives: osn

Old Lyme Inn Opens Its New Jazz Club, ‘The SideDoor,’ Legendary Pianist George Wein Performs

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George Wein at the piano. Photo by Michael Weintrob.

George Wein at the piano. Photo by Michael Weintrob.

The Old Lyme Inn has announced the grand opening of its long anticipated jazz club, The SideDoor.  The SideDoor is an intimate club where guests can spend their evenings listening to highly acclaimed world-renowned jazz musicians without traveling to a big city.

The SideDoor’s inaugural concert this evening, Friday, May 10, at 8 p.m. will present George Wein and the Newport All-Stars, featuring Anat Cohen, Lew Tabackin with Tal Ronen and Daniel Freedman.

George Wein, an American jazz promoter, producer and accomplished pianist tours with his group, Newport All Stars featuring some of the greatest jazz musicians in jazz history.  Mr. Wein’s contribution to live music is legendary, most notably producing the Newport Jazz Festival since 1954.

Accompanying George Wein at the opening celebration of The SideDoor will be special guests, Anat Cohen and Lew Tabackin.  Anat Cohen, Israeli jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader says, “When I share music with people – other musicians or an audience – it always feels like a celebration to me.”  Lew Tabackin, flutist and tenor saxophonist has a distinctive, hard-driven style that includes a wide range of intervals, cross-cultural sounds and a full range of possibilities of his instrument.

Ten percent of the proceeds from this concert will go to Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. a 501 (C ) (3) non-profit corporation, which produces the Newport Jazz Festival ® and the Newport Folk Festival®.

Tickets to the grand opening are $100 per person.   For reservations call (860) 434-2600 or email guestservices@oldlymeinn.com.

The Old Lyme Inn, offering dining and lodging, is located off Exit 70 on I-95 in Old Lyme, Conn.  Reopening last year after extensive renovations, The SideDoor is the latest phase in revitalizing this New England treasure.

For more information about the Newport Festivals Foundation, visit www.newportfestivalsfoundation.org

For more information about the Old Lyme Inn, visit www.oldlymeinn.com

Hadlyme Public Hall Annual Meeting Votes to Oppose Doubling Ferry Fares, Launches Petition Drive

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The Hadlyme Public Hall Association has started a petition drive against the Connecticut River ferries fare increase.

On Saturday May 4, members attending the annual meeting of the Hadlyme Public Hall Association voted unanimously to oppose the proposal by Connecticut  Department of Transportation (DOT) to double the Connecticut River ferry fares to $6 and agreed to launch a petition drive opposing the fare increase.

The Association immediately initiated the petition drive by creating an on-line petition at SignOn.org.  Click here to add your name to the petition.

Paper petitions will also be circulated throughout the communities served by the two Connecticut River ferries — the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry and the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury Ferry.

All the petitions will be presented to the state DOT officials who will be making the decision on whether to raise the fares and by how much.

The position adopted by the members at the meeting states that the Association opposes the state’s proposal to double the fares and instead urges the state to give serious consider to other alternatives that could increase revenues, including:

— Increasing posted fare prices but provide a discount for cars with Connecticut license plates.

— Institute a system of On-peak & Off-peak pricing (similar to that used by commuter railroads) that would charge higher fares on weekends and holidays when there are usually long lines of cars waiting to ride the ferries.

— Increase hours of operation on weekends and holidays to take advantage of generating more fares when ridership demand is the highest.

— In addition to the current discount ticket books, offer a flat “annual pass” fare with a sticker to place on cars to identify those who have purchased the pass.

— Working with state tourism and parks agencies, aggressively promote both Connecticut River ferries to tourists and visitors.

Connecticut DOT will be holding public hearings on the proposed fare increases on May 20 and 22.

Hadlyme Hall Association President Curt Michael urged all those conerned about or affected by the proposed fare increase to sign the petition and to attend the public hearings.

Click here for more info on the fare increase proposal and the public hearings

Hadlyme Public Hall Association is a century-old not-for-profit community organization whose membership is open to all. Its current membership represents more 140 households in Hadlyme and the surrounding area.
For more information about the Association and its historic public hall, visit www.hadlymehall. com

Half Price Adult Tickets Offered to ‘Other People’s Money’ at Ivoryton Playhouse

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Photo by Anne Hudson
‘Other People’s Money’ stars Edward Kassar* as Lawrence Garfinkle and Elizabeth Donnelly* as Kate Sullivan. Both are Equity members.

The Ivoryton Playhouse is currently offering a very special deal for tickets to ‘Other People’s Money,’ which is being performed at the theater nightly through May 5.  Call 860.767.7318 and you can obtain any adult ticket available at a 50 percent discount.

Corporate takeovers and romantic comedy make unlikely bedfellows in this thought-provoking, fast-talking satire of the excesses of the 80s.  Though this play premiered in 1989, its themes of passion, loyalty , betrayal and greed are sadly,  just as relevant today.  Winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Jerry Sterner’s script skewers not only corporate raiders but all of us in our comfortable New England world.  What is more important, our community or our pockets?

Wall Street takeover artist Lawrence Garfinkle’s computer is going crazy over the undervalued stock of New England Wire & Cable.  If the stockholders back his takeover, they will make a bundle, but what will happen to the 1,200 employees and the small New England town when he liquidates the assets?

Opposing the rapacious financier are the elderly patriarch, who has run the company since the year one, and his chief operations officer.  When they bring in a young lawyer who specializes in fending off takeovers, things really start to heat up, in more ways than one.

New York magazine describes the play as,“Funny, serious, suspenseful, involving, disturbing, and, above all, expertly crafted…. [with] both epic grandeur and intimate titillation.”

Directed by Maggie Jennings, the show features Edward Kassar*, Elizabeth Donnelly*, Denise Walker, Gary Allan Poe* and Dennis Fox. The set design is by William Stark, lighting design by Marcus Abbott, and costumes by Kari Crowley

Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.  Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.  Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors, $20 for students and $15 for children and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting www.ivorytonplayhouse.org  (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.)

The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

Former Lyme-Old Lyme High School Principal Takes Top Job in Old Saybrook

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Jan Guarino, the newly-appointed Old Saybrook Public Schools Superintendent.

Jan Guarino, who served as principal at Lyme-Old Lyme High School for six years from 2003 to 2009, has been appointed superintendent of Old Saybrook Public Schools.  Guarino is currently assistant school superintendent for personnel at Wallingford Public Schools, the position to which she moved when she left Region 18.

Guarino, who was known as Guarino-Rhone during her tenure at Lyme-Old Lyme Public Schools, will start her job in Old Saybrook on July 1 of this year.

Click to read a more detailed story on Guarino’s appointment written by Eric Vo and published in MyRecordJournal.com on April 24.

Letter: Linares’s Vote Against Gun Control, Contrary to Majority of Constituent’s Wishes, Requires Explanation

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To The Editor:

I write to thank LymeLine, ValleyNewsNow and OldSaybrookNow for their coverage of Senator Linares’s recent vote against the gun control law enacted by the Connecticut Legislature with broad bipartisan support following the Newtown massacre.

Mr. Linares’s constituents have a right to know the reasons for his opposition, given the undeniable support in his district for child safety, the strong endorsement of the bill across party lines, and the uncertainty as to what credible alternative Mr. Linares is offering.

However, while the coverage of Senator Linares’s “no” vote is helpful, it was not altogether satisfying.  The article reports that Mr. Linares issued a statement which “concluded the bill does not address the most important problems”.  But it does not tell us how Mr. Linares reached that conclusion or what measures he would advocate instead.

Senator Linares reportedly said that he decided to vote against the gun law “after talking to many residents of the 33rd district”.  If Mr. Linares means to suggest that his vote reflects the majority of his constituents’ views, I would guess that claim is almost certainly preposterous. To my knowledge, Mr. Linares never conducted a hearing on the issue in his district, and the extensive testimony he heard as a member of the Newtown Task Force led other legislators to broad bipartisan support for the measure.  The true basis of Mr. Linares’s position remains a mystery.

Mr. Linares’s official website sheds no light on the matter either.  As of today, April 19 – over two weeks after the bill’s enactment – Mr. Linares’s web site does not even mention his vote, let alone carry the statement described by the Valley News.  Instead, when one consults the web site’s “in the news” section, one learns that in the aftermath of the legislation, Mr. Linares spent his time commending kindergartners for helping others, extolling the Haddam Shad Museum, and “high fiving” intermediate school students on tour of the State capitol.

One need not begrudge Senator Linares his “feel good” press releases or his energetic attempts to have them covered in the  local press, no matter how modest the content. (See, for example, the 10 or so articles appearing in ValleyNewsNow since mid January extensively covering among other things Mr. Linares participation in various meetings, his tours of local factories, and even his attendance at someone else’s press conference)  But they are not a substitute for keeping his district informed of what he is actually doing in Hartford and why.

The public’s right to know our representatives positions is not a partisan issue.  It applies left, right and center. Again, the  Newtown legislation is being cited as a model of bipartisan cooperation worthy of emulation at the national level. Residents of the 33rd District, whether they be Republican, Democrats, or Independents, deserve to understand why Mr. Linares took an outlier position on this historic legislation

Sincerely,

David Harfst,
Essex.