Category Archives: Old Lyme

Musical Masterworks Names Mic Herring as New Executive Director

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The new Executive Director of Musical Masterworks is Michael “Mic” Herring.

OLD LYME—Musical Masterworks of Old Lyme has announced the appointment of Michael “Mic” Herring as its new Executive Director. With a wealth of experience in artist management, chamber music, and non-profit leadership, Herring brings energy and enthusiasm to his new role as Musical Masterworks’ first Executive Director.

Herring has had a distinguished career, currently serving as the Senior Director of Booking & Operations for Young Concert Artists (YCA) in New York City, where he co-manages a roster of emerging classical musicians and spearheads YCA’s chamber music touring ensemble, YCA on Tour.

He has previously worked with renowned management firms such as Kirshbaum Associates and Alliance Artist Management, where he represented celebrated artists and ensembles including The Tallis Scholars, Jordi Savall, the Spektral Quartet, among others.

In the early part of his career, Herring served as the Manager of the Musicians from Marlboro, the touring ensemble of the Marlboro Music Festival, the Southern Vermont-based chamber music festival. From 2016 through 2022, he also served as the Managing Director of The Dessoff Choirs in New York City, where he led major projects like a special performance of Mozart’s Requiem at Alice Tully Hall, honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining Musical Masterworks in this exciting new leadership role at such a pivotal moment,” said Herring. “The organization has a long history of artistic excellence, and I look forward to building on that legacy by working with Artistic Director Tessa Lark to facilitate her innovative programming and broaden our reach within the community.”

He continued, “Musical Masterworks has the potential to be a catalyst for even greater cultural engagement, and I look forward to an exciting future ahead for this amazing organization.”

In addition to his work in artist management, Herring co-founded Chamber Music Chicago in 2018, a non-profit concert series in residence at the Holtschneider Performance Center. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from DePaul University and a Master of Science in Arts Administration from Drexel University.

A spokesperson for Musical Masterworks comments, “We are confident that Herring’s unique combination of non-profit experience, passion for chamber music, and commitment to community engagement will lead the organization into an exciting new era.”

Musical Masterworks is dedicated to presenting world-class chamber music performances in an intimate setting, enriching the cultural life of the community. Through diverse programming and educational outreach, Musical Masterworks seeks to inspire and connect audiences of all ages.

For more information, visit www.musicalmasterworks.org.

Old Lyme Town Nurse Office Hours Temporarily Reduced to Tuesday to Thursday

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OLD LYME—As of Feb. 3, Town Nurse office hours are temporarily restricted to three days per week while Nurse Denise Piersa is on a scheduled leave. A substitute nurse is available for blood pressure clinics and office hours Tuesday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Christ the King Church in Old Lyme.

For residents, who are sick or convalescing at home, the substitute nurse is also available to make monthly house calls for health assessment and promotion. If skilled care is needed, she can coordinate that care through our partner agency, Yale New Haven Health at Homz Southeast. These skilled services do incur a fee, but the cost is usually covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance.

As always, Town Nurse appointments are open to all residents free of charge. Walk-ins are welcome, but residents are encouraged to call ahead of time.

The Town Nurse’s phone number is 860-434-7808.

Op-Ed: Reject HROD—Don’t Compromise Old Lyme’s Identity: “Thoughtful, Transparent Planning” Needed

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Editor’s Note: This op-ed was submitted by Old Lyme residents Jill and Russell Todd.

We write to express our deep concern regarding the Halls Road Overlay District (HROD) proposal recently presented to the [Old Lyme] Zoning Commission and the lack of public scrutiny and acceptance surrounding this plan.   

What was sold to the community as a charming, village-like vision has revealed itself to be a high-density urban blueprint that would fundamentally alter Old Lyme, replacing its historic rural character with the kind of overdevelopment seen along I-95. 

This is not just an interpretation; it is a direct reflection of the allowances in the proposal. A development of 40 units per acre, 200ft frontage buildings with even larger non-frontage buildings, and three-story  parking garages represents a significant shift towards a higher-density model that typically defines urban suburban areas.  

During the last Zoning Commission meeting, the Halls Road Improvement Committee (HRIC) justified these building parameters by claiming this level of density and scale is necessary to attract developers.  However, this change raises serious questions about the long-term vision for our town.  

When challenged by members of the Zoning Commission, the justification changed. Suddenly, the HRIC and their lawyer reassured us that “safeguards” were in place to prevent the very type of overdevelopment that the regulations explicitly permit. This assurance feels contradictory and alarming.  

These are our concerns about the safeguards mentioned: 

1. Zoning Approval will be a rubber stamp – Although zoning approval is necessary for individual  projects under the overlay, what real power will the Zoning Commission realistically hold if the regulations permit high-density residential developments, large-scale retail buildings, and parking garages? If the overlay is approved, developers will undoubtedly seek to take full advantage of its provisions, making it very challenging for the Zoning Commission to deny proposals that meet these criteria. 

2. Design Committee lacks credible oversight – The proposal calls for a pre-application process and establishes a three-person design committee to oversee design guidelines. However, the  committee’s composition, scope of authority, and accountability are unclear, leaving its role ambiguous. 

3. Septic Limitations are temporary – Traditional septic systems can create density constraints.  However, advancements in above-ground alternatives and continuously improving technology could increase septic capacity, thereby reducing this constraint. 

4. Parking Restrictions are gone – Parking, which used to be a significant limiting factor for development, has essentially been removed as a safeguard. Developers can now depend on parking garages to meet parking requirements.

None of these measures provide adequate safeguards against determined developers and their experienced legal teams, which could make high-density urban development in the primary artery of rural Old Lyme a reality. 

We attended many of the HRIC’s “open houses” over the years and came away with the impression that the verbal assurances and visual illustrations presented during those forums aligned with a vision of a  “village feel.” However, the current regulations outlined in the application bear little resemblance to that vision. With over 700 signatures (and counting) on a recent petition opposing this overlay, it’s clear we are not alone in our concerns. 

While we support the idea of responsible development along Halls Road, such development must align with the community’s shared vision and the character of Old Lyme. To ensure this alignment, we recommend the following:  

1. Comprehensive Review: A professional assessment should define appropriate size, scale, and density dimensions driven by the town’s needs, rather than developer imposed. Considerations  should include traffic flow, accessibility, septic system requirements, water usage, water runoff,  environmental impacts, and the overall aesthetics of the town as examples. 

2. Visual Confirmation: Create professional scaled plans and elevation renderings to clearly illustrate the potential impact of the proposed regulations across the entire overlay zone at maximum capacity. 

3. Community Engagement: At a minimum, a town-wide presentation should be held prior to any zoning changes, providing an opportunity for public questions and answers. Ideally, a zoning  change of this magnitude would be put to a vote and decided by the citizens.  

This is not about opposing progress; instead, it is about ensuring that any progress aligns with the community’s collective aspiration for a village-like community in keeping with Old Lyme. 

We urge the Board of Selectmen, Zoning Commission and all town leaders to listen to the growing concerns of Old Lyme residents and businesses and request the Zoning Commission reject the HROD proposal in its current form. The proposed overlay and the associated process need to be reevaluated to ensure they meet the community’s needs and values. Thoughtful, transparent planning and meaningful public engagement will facilitate development that enhances Halls Road without compromising Old Lyme’s identity.

Death Announced of Lilliane Phoebe Spratt of Old Lyme, CT: Palm Beach, FL: Watch Hill, RI; An Exceptional Artist, Designer, Athlete, Poet, Volunteer

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Lilliane Phoebe Spratt
Jan. 23, 1989 – Jan. 9, 2025

OLD LYME —Lilliane Phoebe Spratt (b. January 23, 1989), of Palm Beach, FL, Watch Hill, RI, and Old Lyme, CT, passed from this terrestrial realm to the heavens on January 9, 2025, surrounded by her loving family in her lakeside Old Lyme home. A private funeral was held at the Grassy Hill Congregational Church of Lyme, CT, and a ceremony celebrating her life is being planned.

Lilly grew up surrounded by water in Old Lyme and Watch Hill, the youngest of four siblings. She graduated with honors from Lyme-Old Lyme High School, before attending Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, and Connecticut College, where she graduated with a double-major in English and Art. Both an exceptional installation artist and a poet, having published her first poem in middle school, creativity beamed through all her endeavors and lent to her defining hyperintelligence. From an early age she found inspiration observing her mother’s design and textile business. Also a standout athlete, Lilly was a varsity track and cross-country runner at all of the schools she attended, and enjoyed running marathons. She was the coxswain for the Connecticut College crew team and liked to kayak. As a young adult, she trained in gymnastics, which positioned her to later pursue the art of the flying trapeze. Her revelry in fire eating, a skill she mastered while at a circus academy, was, however, most emblematic of her magical approach to the world.

Lilly’s enchantment and exceptional beauty did not go unnoticed, as Vogue sought her for an acrobatic photo shoot. On account of her talent for writing and remarkable work ethic, she gained design, photography, marketing, and publishing experience in the fashion world with Bergdorf Goodman, Alice + Olivia, and Shape magazine in New York City. She also worked for the executives of Rolling Stone magazine and pursued her master’s degree at Parsons School of Design. These experiences ultimately led her to create her own company, Love Lilly, a resort clothing company based in Palm Beach and Old Lyme. The company designed, marketed, and sold wholesale dresses throughout the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, yet most importantly celebrated the power of color and light in textiles to foster positivity. Like her brand, Lilly’s fellowship program for aspiring highschool fashionistas to gain first-hand experience in the industry brought inspiration and love to all who benefited from her mentorship.

Wherever Lilly traveled, she left her mark with her kindness, grace, compassion, generosity, and unforgettably luminous dark brown eyes. She had the fondest of memories volunteering at an orphanage in Chennai, India, doing an art residency in Lucca, Italy, building boats with her beloved sister Meredith in Bequia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, participating in Parsons’ international business and fashion program in Paris, tracking wolves in Yellowstone National Park with her friends, and exploring the tropics with her dearest mother. She loved special nights out in Los Angeles and New York City discovering new places with her sisters or friends, but also appreciated quietude. The poetry of Mary Oliver brought her solace, and Lilly wrote remarkable poems throughout her life. Her joy in baking irresistibly delicious cakes and cookies for others symbolized the incredible love she bestowed upon her family and friends, always through the most thoughtful gifts.

Lilly had an uncanny ability to unveil the truth in most things, which made her the best of friends—as the privilege of knowing Lilly well was synonymous with being completely understood—and riotously funny, given her quick-witted tongue. This also made Lilly a formidable foe as a Scrabble player and an excellent strategist in real estate and property makeovers. Her highly remarked upon Connecticut College art installation, “An Apple a Day,” points to her depth of character and complexity. In it she critiqued the saccharine beauty of the quotidian by way of its routine entrapments. In this regard, she hinted at her struggle to manage the chronic disease that she courageously fought for over a decade. Nevertheless, she exuded optimism, selflessness, kindness, compassion, and cordiality in all of her interactions. She also exercised an incredible capacity for forgiveness and understanding. During extended hospital stays you would find her giving counsel and an empathetic ear to other patients, visitors, and the staff. No matter how she was, she would ask you how you were and genuinely care to know your answer.

Lilly’s friends best describe her infectious personality as larger than life. Her impeccable fashion sense and signature oversized sunglasses typically paired with the perfect shade of pink or black accoutrements was iconic. To witness her joy—elegantly soaking in the warmth of the Palm Beach breeze, driving her convertible with her long, chestnut hair gracefully blowing in the wind with the best music blasting, or owning the road in her Hummer—was to see life cinematically transform to her perfected design. For Lilly, an essential component of her inimitable stamp on life was the presence of her most devoted dogs, Bambi and Armani, in everything that she did. Lilly loved her dogs tremendously and this joy for her pets, especially her notable connection to Bambi, gave her strength and comfort in the hardest of challenges.

In this untimely winter passing, let Lilly’s poetry give us the hope and love she would have wanted us to conjure now, “For winter’s touch is never long / and seasons do change,” as she writes in Roots. Lilly is survived by her mother Patricia and her father John, her siblings Emily, John, and Meredith, and her nieces Violet and Lyra. In lieu of flowers, please honor Lilly’s memory through acts of kindness and compassion.

Please visit www.fultontherouxoldlyme.comto leave a tribute for her family.

Op-Ed: It’s ‘Time to Show Who We Are, as Residents of a Diverse, Welcoming State,’ so ‘Light Up the Night for IRIS’ … and for CT

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Editor’s Note: This op-ed was submitted by the Rev. Steven R. Jungkeit, Ph.D., who serves as Senior Minister at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme. All are welcome to attend the vigil tomorrow evening. The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme is located at 2 Ferry Rd., Old Lyme, CT 06371.

In the congregation I serve (The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme), I’ve been sharing since the November election that we are in a position similar to that of the biblical character Miriam in the second chapter of Exodus.  Faced with a terrible catastrophe (a threat against all Hebrew male children, including her baby brother, soon to be named Moses), Miriam “watches from a distance” as a small basket carrying her brother bobs up and down along the Nile River.  Since November, we too have been forced to watch and to wait in the bulrushes with Miriam, as if from a distance, using the time to gain perspective and to gather our wits as the current of history swirls around us.  In the Exodus story, Miriam watched and waited for the opportune moment to act, and when it arrived, she seized it.

People of faith and conscience will need to be continually vigilant in this new political environment.  We’ll need to seize opportune moments whenever we can to stand with the most vulnerable around us.  

Now is the first of those moments.  Now is the time to emerge from the bulrushes, as Miriam eventually did.

In these early days of the new administration, federal funding for a host of worthy agencies has been suspended, eliminated, and then, (maybe?) partially reinstated.  Few who depend upon that funding believe that the threat has gone away.  Meanwhile, livelihoods and support services throughout the country hang in the balance.

Among the many worthy agencies affected across Connecticut, IRIS (Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services) in New Haven has experienced tremendous whiplash.  Depending on which order is being considered, and when, it appears that IRIS stands to lose millions of dollars in funding, preventing them not only from helping to resettle refugees, but also hindering their ability to assist people in need all across the state.  Losing that funding would place thousands of people in jeopardy.

The First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, together with two other churches in town (St. Ann’s and Christ the King) as well as many other residents of no particular faith, have partnered with IRIS for the past decade, ever since the beginning of the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015.  Indeed, our community was the first in the state to reach out to IRIS during that crisis, though many others soon did the same.  Before long, a Syrian family arrived in Old Lyme and has remained here ever since, just the way Syrians arrived in communities all across Connecticut.  Since that time, we have helped resettle five additional families in our area from many different parts of the world, a pattern that has unfolded all up and down the Connecticut Shoreline, and throughout the entirety of the state.

IRIS is one of the crown jewels of Connecticut, helping to make us the welcoming, hospitable, and culturally rich state that we are.  Our communities have been improved by welcoming refugees, and supporting immigrants, which IRIS has facilitated.

If this is an opening salvo from a hostile new administration, then the time is right for Connecticut residents who continue to believe in the sanctity of hospitality to come together, and to push back the night.  

With that in mind, the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme invites friends and supporters of IRIS to join us for a candlelight vigil on Wednesday evening, February 5th, at 6:00 PM.  We’ll sing, we’ll offer words of prayer, and we’ll light up the night.  But we also have a goal: to raise $100,000 as a gesture of goodwill and support for IRIS.  That won’t be enough.  But if similar events took place around the state, it would go a long way.

IRIS has given our communities so much.  They have offered support and protection to so many, and they have enriched our lives for the relationships they helped to create.  It’s time to give a little back.

But more to the point, it’s now time, like Miriam, to emerge from the bulrushes, and to push back against the Pharaohs that continue to afflict the vulnerable.

It’s time to show who we are as residents of a diverse and welcoming state, one that we can all be proud to live in.