OLD LYME/EAST LYME—On Saturday, Sept. 13, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Duck River Garden Club (DRGC) of Old Lyme and East Lyme will hold a Mum Sale at two locations — the Old Lyme Shopping Center at 19 Halls Rd., Old Lyme and the East Lyme Library at 39 Society Rd., Niantic.
Beautiful 9-inch mums in red, yellow, purple, orange, white and pink will be on sale for $10 apiece. Payment will be accepted by by cash or check only.
All proceeds will benefit DRGC beautification, educational programs and scholarships.
OLD LYME — Alison Gleason’s Wildcat boys kicked off their first game of the season with a solid 4-2 win at home over Grasso Tech. Old Lyme v Grasso Tech
Goalscorers were Ian Maeby, who added an assist to his tally, Elliot Dunn-Sims, Menzi Mbele and Rowan McCormick.
Joseph Moore scored both goals for Grasso Tech.
Old Lyme goalie Sam Edmed made eight saves while his opposite number Ethan Dion made a remarkable 19.
Old Lyme’s overall record now stands at 1-0-0 and 0-0-0 in the Shoreline Conference.
Meanwhile, Caroline Wallace’s Wildcat girls faced traditionally tough opposition playing away at Cromwell. The team was defeated 4-0 with goalie Grace Osborne making three saves.
Goal-scorers for Cromwell were Lauren Carta, Hayden Vandersloot with two, and Taylor Ursin. Goalie Alexis Wiatrak made three saves.
Nobody 2 continues the action-packed thrills of the original Nobody. But, like most sequels, comes up just short its predecessor.
Imagine 10 years ago a fortune-teller saying that beloved comedian Bob Odenkirk would someday play a dangerous government assassin trying to pursue the straight and narrow path of life? And that his family of assassins included Christopher Lloyd as his father and WuTang Clan’s RZA as his brother?
And, above all, that the movie was actually pretty good? You’d probably think this was just another smooth-talking con artist.
Turns out this fortune-teller was the real deal.
The original Nobody is a rare movie with crossover appeal. It appeals to fans of all varieties of movies. Its runtime is just a lean 90 minutes, and its clear storytelling includes character depth and exhilarating action sequences. It unites fans of Michael Bay with subscribers to the Criterion Channel.
What is it about action movies that makes them so appealing? Why do we like watching people beat each other up? Why do we like watching explosions? What is this catharsis of destruction? Is it something that appeals to our anthropomorphic origins? Is it a vessel to channel our stress and imagine ourselves solving similar problems with our own fists? Is this why video games like Grand Theft Auto are so addictive?
It’s one thing to make a movie with great stunts and choreographed fights, but to include great writing and direction is a special treat.
There is also our appreciation for the acting range of comedians. We love people who can make us laugh hysterically, but when they can prove their acting range—like Robin Williams or John Candy—we admire them even more.
Bob Odenkirk isn’t giving an emotional performance that will win him an Oscar (yet). But his character, Hutch Mansell, is badass, mysterious, and relatable. Unlike the action gods of days past, Nobody’s fights are visceral and realistic. Hutch doesn’t just win the fight, we feel the injuries he endures.
Nobody 2 is intentionally similar to the first movie—familiar arcs and beats—but that’s part of the appeal. It excites the audience as we anticipate how this installment will be familiar, but will push our favorite characters forward.
It is a craft of storytelling that dates to the origin of movies. Think of the “Bond, James Bond” line or Star Wars’ iconic “I have a bad feeling about this”.
While not quite the knockout the original movie is, this sequel is a worthy follow-up (similar to Happy Gilmore 2 and Freakier Friday). Anybody can tell Nobody 3 is on the horizon and I can only hope pick up on this Nobody 2’s (minor) shortcomings.
One thing is for sure: I’ll be first in line once it’s released.
About the Author: Having lived in Old Lyme and Lyme since the age of three, Kevin Ganey has always had a passion for movies that is beyond simply watching, but understanding the craft of cinema and and experiencing films as if they were a musical album. Kevin also has his own website devoted to movie analysis, CityOfCinema.com, and also co-hosts a podcast, Moviehouse Mystics, with Koda Uhl (available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.)
OLD SAYBROOK–On Saturday, Sept. 6, the Estuary will host ‘Delivering Hope: a Party with Purpose‘—an evening of dinner, drinks and dancing to benefit its Meals on Wheels program.
The organization in a press release said the ‘Delivering Hope’ event aims to bring the community together to tackle food insecurity among seniors and ensure access to nutritious meals.
Funds raised through ticket sales, a silent auction, and donations will directly support meal preparation and delivery services.
The Estuary provides nutrition, transportation, social services, activities, and fitness programs to residents in Chester, Clinton, Essex, Deep River, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook.
Baylee Drown, co-owner of Long Table Farm, gives a tour of the farm’s composting operation to students from Lyme Consolidated School. Photos and video courtesy of Long Table Farm.
LYME/OLD LYME–For three years, a local farmer has been teaching elementary school students in Lyme how to transform lunch leftovers into plant food.
This year, she’ll be expanding her composting program across the Region 18 school district.
Baylee Drown, co-owner of Long Table Farm in Lyme, doesn’t want the kids from Lyme Consolidated School to have to return to throwing their uneaten food in the trash when they make the transition to grade six at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School in Old Lyme.
“Going to the middle school should not be a step back for sustainability,” she said in a phone interview this week.
Superintendent of Schools Ian Neviaser, from his office in Center School before Wednesday’s start of school, said Lyme-Old Lyme Schools are committing to growing the composting program. The district includes four schools in Old Lyme and the single elementary school in Lyme.
“We have very little food waste from the cafeteria itself, but from student lunches we have quite a bit of food waste,” he said. “So if a student doesn’t finish their lunch, instead of throwing it out, we’re now going to be composting that.”
Lyme Consolidated School Principal Alison Hine said students have become accustomed to ending each lunch wave by disposing their garbage in the appropriate receptacles.
“They put their trash into the trash can, they put their food waste into the composting bucket that we have there, and they recycle their milk cartons,” she said.
Staff members from Lyme Consolidated School have traditionally dropped off 5-gallon buckets of scraps – typically two per school day – at the farm. That’s where Drown and her partner in life and farming, Ryan Quinn, undertake the process of turning the unwanted food into compost that helps nourish a wide array of crops.
Vegetables from the farm are sold in seasonal shares to subscribers and at farmers markets.
Drown said food scraps from Lyme Consolidated typically fill one 55-gallon drum per week. Each drum holds around 500 pounds.
Hine credited members of the Lyme Consolidated Green Team, a club of third through fifth grade students committed to preserving the environment, with overseeing daily disposal activities in the cafeteria. They’ve also visited the farm to learn about composting firsthand.
The school received a grant so the students could design new recycling containers and signage to make the process more efficient, she said.
“I think that we have a unique opportunity in schools to help students to understand how effective waste management really contributes to a healthier and much more resilient community,” Hine said. “And, you know, while these kids are young and excited about it, I think that to harness that and to help them be a contributing part of the society is important.”
Neviaser, the superintendent, said there are no costs to the district associated with the school composting program at this time.
Drown said she hopes to roll out the program by October as she continues to make contact with leaders in each of the district’s five schools. She said there are tentative arrangements for her to pick up five-gallon barrels filled with scraps from the high school and drop off empty ones, though she has not yet negotiated a fee.
Long Table Farm also works with leaders in Lyme to give residents a place to drop off their food scraps. The town last year began selling green-lidded, brightly labeled buckets at cost to residents interested in hauling their organic refuse to the farm.
Previous plans to apply for a $350,000 to $375,000 grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to grow the municipal composting program failed to materialize after she was not able to secure a partnership with the town of Lyme or the Lower River Valley Council of Governments by the June deadline.
Composting piles are churned periodically at Long Table Farm in order to reach an optimal, sustained temperature that keeps away weeds, germs and offensive odors.
Drown said she hopes to host more field trips for Lyme-Old Lyme students as part of the expanded program. Key to the students’ education is the difference between composting and decomposition.
High quality compost is a mix of decayed organic matter that doesn’t just break down on its own, according to Drown. The process takes time and attention. She has to churn each compost pile periodically so that ideal temperatures – from 113 to 165 degrees – can be sustained for two weeks.
“I have temperature probes and they’ll be able to see how hot, and feel how hot, it is in the compost,” she said.
When food scraps go to the landfill, they break down from the lack of oxygen. That leads to the release of methane, a key contributor to global warming.
Drown said composting is different because it relies on oxygenation to fuel optimal decomposition without unpleasant odors.
She emphasized her compost doesn’t stink.
“We want to keep it that way because odors are indicative of nitrogen leaving the farm, and we want to keep all the nitrogen on the farm because nitrogen is our fertilizer,” she said. “And we also don’t want to draw in things that might want to eat food scraps, like wildlife.”
According to the U.S. Composting Council, composting fights climate change by diverting food scraps from landfills and replacing synthetic fertilizers. It can also improve soil health, reduce erosion and help conserve water.
Another benefit touted by the national organization is one Drown touts locally: the ability to help build community through sustainability.
“I’d really like to see us be successful here in Lyme and Old Lyme, and then have other farmers and municipalities develop this type of a relationship,” she said.
Drown’s composting philosophy acknowledges that towns and school districts have food waste they need to get rid off, whether it’s hauled away on a municipal contract or processed barrel-by-barrel at the local farm.
“Farmers already have the infrastructure, farmers already have a tractor, they already have land where they can handle this material and they have a vested interest in using compost,” she said. “And I think it’s a synergistic arrangement.”
