Volunteers of all ages have helped the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden grow. Earlier this year, Eco Warriors from Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School uncovered cabbage in the garden at Town Woods Park.
OLD LYME–On Saturday, Sept. 13 at 10:30 a.m., the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden (LOLFSG) will celebrate its volunteers in an end-of-season gathering at Town Woods Park.
All are welcome to the free event, which includes sandwiches and drinks. Salads and desserts are welcome but not essential.
LOLFSG in a press release said the nonprofit group this year donated more than 3,700 pounds of produce to the United Way and the Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries. The bounty adds up to more than 12,000 pounds delivered since 2022.
“Garden volunteers come in many varieties,” the group said. “On-site gardeners show up on cold and damp March days, hot and humid July days and on glorious weather days in any month. They plant, weed, harvest, manage pests, fertilize, innovate, problem-solve and so much more.”
Other volunteers publicize the work of the garden, foster community relationships, fundraise, donate money, inspire new volunteers and perform many other tasks, according to the group.
“As a fully volunteer nonprofit organization, it all matters and it is all appreciated,” organizers said. “Please help us celebrate!”
The Lyme Old Lyme Food Share Garden is located at 26 Town Woods Rd behind the field house and playground.
LYME–The Friends of the Lyme Library host their annual Used Book Sale Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept. 13. It kicks off today from 3 to 7 p.m.
On Saturday, books will be sold at half price from 10 a.m to noon for the first half of the sale. From 12:30 to 4 p.m., shoppers will able to fill a bag for $10.
Organizers describe the books as near-new at very discounted prices.
The remaining offerings at the Lyme Public Library this month include a wide array of readings, classes, clubs and unique explorations of the arts. The following is just one of the events on the September schedule:
An evening of entertainment and community connection returns with local Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, Janet Roach, as she guides the audience through some of her favorite films.
Twice Told Tales, held in two installments, will feature two movies with similar plots from different directors. It kicks off with “Philadelphia Story,” directed by George Cukor, starring Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and James Stewart. The romantic comedy follows a rich divorcee, her ex-husband and a tabloid reporter through all the emotional fireworks on the eve of her remarriage.
The second installment on Oct. 7 will feature the musical comedy “High Society,” followed by a potluck dinner.
Volunteers of all ages have helped the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden grow. Earlier this year, Eco Warriors from Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School uncovered cabbage in the garden at Town Woods Park.
OLD LYME–On Saturday, Sept. 13 at 10:30 a.m., the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden (LOLFSG) will celebrate its volunteers in an end-of-season gathering at Town Woods Park.
All are welcome to the free event, which includes sandwiches and drinks. Salads and desserts are welcome but not essential.
LOLFSG in a press release said the nonprofit group this year donated more than 3,700 pounds of produce to the United Way and the Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries. The bounty adds up to more than 12,000 pounds delivered since 2022.
“Garden volunteers come in many varieties,” the group said. “On-site gardeners show up on cold and damp March days, hot and humid July days and on glorious weather days in any month. They plant, weed, harvest, manage pests, fertilize, innovate, problem-solve and so much more.”
Other volunteers publicize the work of the garden, foster community relationships, fundraise, donate money, inspire new volunteers and perform many other tasks, according to the group.
“As a fully volunteer nonprofit organization, it all matters and it is all appreciated,” organizers said. “Please help us celebrate!”
The Lyme Old Lyme Food Share Garden is located at 26 Town Woods Rd behind the field house and playground.
Children’s author Alison Mitchell is seen here at StoneRidge Senior Living in Mystic with Cappie, one of the canine companions who helped inspire her second children’s book.
Mitchell Presents Story about Canine Adventurers and Their Senior Companionsat Old Lyme Church
MYSTIC, CT/OLD LYME—Author Alison Mitchell may be 92, she but isn’t letting age slow down her writing pursuits.
That’s according to a publicist for StoneRidge Senior Living, where Mitchell, formerly of Old Lyme, just released her second book in as many years. The children’s tale was illustrated by Old Lyme resident Edie Twining and edited by Twining’s sister, Kinny Kreiswirth.
Townsend: The Positive Dog of Mystic Senior Living is a week-in-the-life tale of “Townie,” a mutt, who resides at a senior living community.
The trio last year collaborated on Letters to Papa: Summers in Old Lyme to benefit the Old Lyme Historical Society.
The adventures of Townie and his friends were inspired by the busy lives of actual canine residents of StoneRidge Senior Living in Mystic, according to the press release.
“This was a fun group effort as I had plenty of StoneRidge friends suggesting names and activities for Townie to encounter,” said Mitchell.
The book was self-published by Twining Design of Old Lyme.
All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the StoneRidge Scholarship Fund, which recognizes full-time employees and children of full-time employees, who are pursuing a post-secondary education.
This year, the committee granted awards totaling $211,000 to 23 students who were selected on the basis of financial need, academic achievement, scholastic potential, and their commitment to career goals.
Mitchell will give a presentation of the book on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m. in the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme, 4 Lyme Street.
A special presentation at StoneRidge Senior Living will be held at 4 p.m. on Aug. 22. Tickets are free but seating is limited and advanced reservations are required. Call 860-780-0741 for tickets.
Townsend: The Positive Dog of Mystic Senior Living is available for $16 and can be purchased at Bank Square Books (80 Stonington Road) or at the StoneRidge Country Store (186 Jerry Brown Road) in Mystic.
Old Lyme’s Midsummer Festival saw thousands of visitors exploring arts and crafts galore at a variety of locations. The photo above features the lawn at the side of the Old Lyme Inn.
OLD LYME—UPDATED WITH MORE PHOTOS 7/28: The Old Lyme Midsummer Festival on Saturday turned part of the town’s historic district into a vibrant celebration of the arts. Visitors enjoyed a view of Americana set in the same estuarine light that lured Impressionist painters more than a century ago.
Visitors of all ages enjoyed viewing the artwork on display.
Tents featuring individual artists with works in a vast range of media, local non-profits explaining their mission, culinary delights from nearby farms, and refreshments for immediate consumption were spread across five locations.
These latter comprised the Lyme Art Association, FloGris Museum, Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, Old Lyme Inn and Lyme Academy of Fine Arts..
The Lyme-Old Lyme Lions hosted their 20th Annual Classic Car Show at the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center.
On the shaded grounds of the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, George Willauer took home a first place trophy for the Packard convertible his father bought new for $3,400 back in 1935. He attributed the vehicle’s pristine condition to Vintage Motorcars of Westbrook, the local shop with an international reputation that undertook a partial restoration after the car was damaged in a crash several years ago.
The 90-year-old Packard came into the world the same year Willauer did. He learned to drive on the three-speed manual transmission he still shifts today.
“It’s a part of me,” he said.
George Willauer, of Lyme, drove his 1935 Packard convertible to victory in Class B (1930- 1942) of the 20th Annual Lyme-Old Lyme Lions Club Classic Car Show.
Inside the Kelsey Family Children’s Innovation Discovery Center at the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center, conservation and education coordinator Joe Attwater helped 6-year-old Nova Berman examine a feather through a digital microscope. As Attwater described the “incredible” properties that make feathers such ideal insulation for comforters and coats, Nova magnified the fluffy down beneath her scope.
“There’s nothing warmer in the world than a feather,” Attwater said.
Nova Berman, 6, uses a digital microscope in the Kelsey Family Children’s Innovation Discovery Center at Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center.
The festival is a destination not only for locals, but for visitors. This year marked the first Midsummer outing for Christine Mestler of Cincinnati, Ohio, who was in town to visit her sister, Ross Higgins. The women both went home with prints from the “Fence Artists” displayed on the grounds of the Old Lyme Inn.
Ross Higgins, of Old Lyme, and her sister Christine Mestler of Cincinnati, Ohio, survey the artwork outside the Old Lyme Inn.
The Lyme Artisans Guild began in 2023 when Carol Hunts Stanland, a textile artist, forged the crafts collective of jewelry makers, potters, sculptors, weavers and woodturners. Stanland said shoppers can also find their wares at the Guilford Art Center Holiday Expo and Light Up Old Lyme later this year.
Paul Maulucci, a woodturner from Coventry who belongs to the Lyme Artisans Guild, shows his wares at the Midsummer Festival.
Starting off with a 5K race to benefit the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau and ending with fireworks set off from behind the Lyme-Old Lyme High School, each year brings enough active artistry to keep attendees coming back for more.
Aidan Kerrigan gave a stirring rendition of the national anthem immediately before the race began.
And they’re off! Serious runners were called to the front of the pack before the race began..
Around 500 runners and walkers competed in the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau 5K race.
Some runners even wore tutus!
The Parading Paws dog parade at the FloGris Museum was delightful … as always.
Alfie went through his paces capably led by Quinn Ressler before walking away with the “Sweetest” dog.
Ed Shyloski (left) and Greg Symonds, longtime members of VFW Post 1467 continued their service by engaging with many of the visitors and explaining their important work.
A wonderful display of hydrangeas from ‘Hydrangeas Galore’ by Mark Comstock greeted festival-goers as they arrived at the Lyme Art Association.
The Duck River Garden Club—complete with little duckies—was offering beautiful bouquets for sale.
The Old Lyme Town Band gave a rousing concert as a perfect prelude to the fireworks display.
A fabulous fireworks display rounded off another marvelous Midsummer Festival.
