Category Archives: Old Lyme

‘Witness Stones Project’ Merges with Massachusetts-based Preservation Group

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This Witness Stones plaque commemorating the life of the enslaved Jack Howard is located at 5 Lyme Street, the parsonage of the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme.

HAVERHILL, MA–Two organizations committed to recovering hidden histories, commemorating enslaved individuals and fostering a deeper understanding of the country’s complex past have joined forces. 

The Connecticut-based Witness Stones Project, which includes an active presence in Lyme and Old Lyme, has been absorbed by Historic New England, a preservation organization out of Massachusetts that goes back to 1910. 

The merger was announced Thursday in a press release from Historic New England. It brings the Witness Stones Project under the banner of Historic New England’s Stopping Stones initiative, which honors enslaved Americans through the installation of permanent markers and community ceremonies. 

Both the Witness Stones Project and Stopping Stones use small plaques in the ground to mark sites of enslavement – including 300 Witness Stones in seven states and more than 90 Stopping Stones from Vermont to Texas – but only the Witness Stones program incorporates a robust educational component. 

The Witness Stones Project in a website announcement said former Witness Stones Director of Operations Liz Lightfoot, of Lyme, will take on the role of Stopping Stones school and youth program manager. She will continue to use Witness Stone’s trademarked curriculum to help students explore historical records and to tell the stories of forgotten individuals, the group said. 

The Witness Stones announcement said schools, churches, and community organizations involved locally can rest assured their work is being preserved and will serve as a foundational part of the expanded effort. 

“And for the communities where we are currently working and will work in the future, the important research, education, and installations will proceed with the full backing of Historic New England’s resources,” the group said.

The Witness Stones Project was founded in 2017 by Dennis Culliton of Guilford. Stopping Stones, which is part of Historic New England’s Engagement Arts Fund, began in 2020 under the leadership of Paul Growald. 

Growald said joining with the Witness Stones Project enables his group to add a “powerful educational dimension” to the physical markers. 

“I have long envisioned curriculum components that accompany our memorials, inviting participants of all ages into this work,” he said. “This partnership fulfills that vision, aligning remembrance with education and community dialogue in a way that can truly transform how America reckons with its history.”

The expanded Stopping Stones team is led by director Pat Wilson Pheanious, a ninth-generation descendant of enslaved individuals in Guilford whose family history was among the first researched by the Witness Stones Project eight years ago. She is the founding chairman and a former executive director of the Witness Stones Project. 

“Embracing the past is vital to shaping America’s future,” Pheanious said in the Historic New England release. “This collaboration ensures that the work of these programs will remain strong, protected, and accessible to communities everywhere.” 

Historic New England CEO Vin Cipolla said the new collaboration will allow both groups to expand their reach nationwide by pairing memorial installations with classroom learning and community dialogue. 

“By uniting the Witness Stones curriculum with the national reach of the Stopping Stones program, we can ensure that the lives and legacies of enslaved people are recognized, remembered, and taught to future generations,” he said. 

Both initiatives are inspired by Germany’s Stolpersteine Project, which commemorates Holocaust victims with “micro-monuments” placed in public spaces. 

The merged groups will operate as part of Historic New England’s Recovering New England Voices (RNEV) initiative. RNEV supports research, storytelling, and public engagement to elevate underrepresented histories, including those of Indigenous people, women, immigrants, LGBTQ communities, and enslaved individuals. 

The public is invited to join the conversation at the Historic New England Summit, Nov.13–14. 

More information on the transition is available on the Witness Stones and Stopping Stones websites.

Old Lyme Boy Scout’s Eagle Project Benefits Rocky Neck State Park

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Henry Kyle recruited several friends to help him build a beach wheelchair shed at Rocky Neck State Park as part of his Eagle Scout project for the Boy Scouts of America. Left to right are Alex Glaras, Noah Brant and Kyle.

EAST LYME–A new beach wheelchair shed for Rocky Neck State Park is in place thanks to a soon-to-be Eagle Scout from Old Lyme. 

Boy Scout Henry Kyle of Troop 26, the son of Chris and Kate Kyle, assembled a crew of four Scouts and some of their parents to help protect beach wheelchairs from the elements. Project supporter Jolene Brant shared the details about the effort, which she described as ambitious from the start.

An Eagle Scout project, usually completed in a day or two with the help of volunteers, is a community service effort carried out by a Boy Scout to earn the rank of Eagle. It is touted by the Boy Scouts of America as a demonstration of leadership, planning, and problem-solving.

Kyle, a sophomore student at Lyme-Old Lyme High School, is set to receive his Eagle Scout recognition at the end of the month. 

Henry Kyle and Alex Glaras work with Steve Urbowicz to lay concrete.

Kyle chose the Rocky Neck project after he saw the need for the enclosure, which was affirmed when a state park employee told him it would be helpful if a Boy Scout could do the work as an Eagle project. He thought it over and decided he was the person that could take the lead on it, Brant said. 

The project required approval from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP), which took about three months. Meanwhile, Kyle had to pivot after the concrete contractor he initially secured fell through due to health issues. That’s when Kyle’s Boy Scout connections led him to Steve Urbowicz of the Branford-based Concrete Connections.

Urbowicz donated the concrete, the delivery, and his time to teach the Boy Scouts how to pour and finish concrete.

The project was also supported by Park Supervisor Marcella Hube, maintainers David Leiper, Cody Mullen, and Brett Lewis, as well as previous Park Supervisor John Guglielmoni. 

Two New Shows on View at Lyme Art Association Through Nov. 6

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Thomas Adkins’ oil painting, titled ‘Barnyard, Litchfield Hills,’ is the signature painting of the Lyme Art Association’s ‘New England Landscape’ exhibition openng Sept. 19.

‘New England Landscapes’ and ‘Timeless’ on View in LAA Galleries

OLD LYME—On Friday, Sept. 19, the Lyme Art Association (LAA) unveils separate exhibitions on New England landscapes and the timelessness of art.

A free, opening reception for New England Landscape and Timeless exhibitions will be held Sunday, Sept. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m.

The Association in a press release said New England Landscape is an annual member exhibition honoring the “many moods, colors, and textures that define New England’s natural splendor.”

Jim Laurino, ‘House in Cornwall’

The exhibit is supported by Ascend Bank in partnership with the Community Foundation of Middlesex County.

Timeless, the American Artists Professional League’s juried national member exhibition, will be on view simultaneously in LAA’s Goodman Gallery.

The LAA describes Timeless as a contemporary approach to realism, with artists rendering moments of life through the interplay of light, shadow, and form.

Both exhibitions will run through Nov. 6.

Hours at the 90 Lyme St. gallery are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment. Admission is free; contributions are appreciated.

For more information, visit www.lymeartassociation.org or call (860) 434-7802.

Death Announced of Phyllis Murray McDowell, 99; Memorial Service to be Held in Old Lyme, Oct. 10

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CHESTER — Phyllis Murray McDowell, mental health visionary, mother, grandmother, great- grandmother, athlete, ballroom dancer, active listener and deep conversationalist, died on September 12, 2025 at her home in Chester, Connecticut. She was 99 years old.

Phyllis was born on July 1, 1926, in New York City to Arthur and Kathryn Murray, founders of the Arthur Murray dance studios …

She is survived by her four daughters, Kathryn P. Magown, Martha M. McDowell, Meg A. Smith, and Patience P. (Duby) McDowell, her sons-in-law Bruce F. Magown, O. Whitman Smith, and Joshua I. Wall, [seven] grandchildren … and five great-grandchildren …

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her honor to Fellowship Place in New Haven, Connecticut. A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, October 10th, at 11am at First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Editor’s Note: Visit this link to read the full obituary published Sept. 17, 2025 in the Hartford Courant.

Old Lyme’s Share of Nip Bottle Surcharge Funds Town’s New Waste and Recycling Coordinator

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Data from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut show Old Lyme received $3,715.00 for the 74,300 nip bottles sold there between Oct. 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.

OLD LYME–The town’s Waste and Recycling Committee has announced the hiring of Raechel Peterson as Old Lyme’s Waste and Recycling Coordinator using funds from the state’s nip bottle surcharge.

Committee member Fred Behringer in a press release said the two-day-a-week position is funded by nip bottle deposits collected in Old Lyme and returned to the town through the state’s redemption program. The funding allows the new position to be supported outside the town’s general fund.

Nip bottles are the 50 milliliter beverage containers often found on the side of the road that spurred a 2021 state law instituting a 5-cent surcharge on the miniature bottles. The surcharge on bottles sold in Old Lyme comes back every six months to fund environmental cleanup and litter reduction efforts.

Data from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut show Old Lyme received $3,715.00 for the 74,300 nip bottles sold there between Oct. 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.

Behringer said Peterson will explore ways to reduce the environmental impact of its waste stream and manage disposal costs.

Peterson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from South Carolina’s Coastal Carolina University in 2023. She went on to work as an environmental specialist at the University of North Carolina Asheville before becoming an Environmental Conservation Corps member with the Sustainability Institute in Charleston, SC. Peterson recently completed a seasonal position with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division.