From the Desk of Martha Shoemaker, First Selectwoman

At the Town’s annual business meeting this past Monday, I was very pleased to announce Jim Ward, founder and president of the Lyme-Old Lyme Food Share Garden, as the Old Lyme 2023 Citizen of the Year. LymeLine has a nice write-up and photos, including my speech on why Mr. Ward was chosen by the Board of Selectmen. This year, for the first time, we created a form on our website and solicited nominations for this honor from the public. Thank you to all who submitted a name, and towards the end of 2024 we’ll be starting the process again. A list of previous winners can be found on the Board of Selectmen’s page of the Town website. We also accepted the Annual Report which can be found on the Board of Finance page.

At the January 16^th Board of Selectmen meeting, many appointments to our town boards and commissions were approved. Congratulations to our returning and new volunteers and thank you for dedicating your time to the important work of the Town. We are continuing to make appointments over the next few weeks. We will be advertising open positions in February. Did you know? We use specialized software to keep track of all of our appointments, so if you are interested in learning more about the many boards, commissions, committees and their members, visit here for a full listing or any page on our website and click the green member button. The newest appointments will appear after February 1^st when the current member's terms have expired.  

Once again, the Town Hall hosted the Regional District 18 Invention Convention earlier this week. The meeting hall was filled with tri-fold displays outlining the amazingly creative and innovative inventions from our school’s fifth grade students. The students were well prepared and so excited to share their amazing inventions! I was honored to be a judge again this year. Congratulations to all those who will be moving on to the next round of competition. 

I had a wonderful meeting with Elsbeth Dowd, Executive Director of Lyme Art Association, regarding the Midsummer Festival on Thursday. Elsbeth and her committee are actively seeking new members. If you are interested in becoming involved with this yearly event, please contact Elsbeth at elsbeth@lymeartassociation.org

Our Town’s website has information regarding trash & recycling. If you have questions or want to learn more, this is the place to start. The Town Hall used to have a receptacle in the meeting hall lobby for plastic bags and plastic film drop-off. However, the box had to be removed as well-intentioned residents put non-acceptable items into the bin, necessitating a lengthy sorting process. Right now, clean plastic bags and films can be dropped off at Big Y in their redemption center as well as at the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library and all our school buildings.  Review the types of plastic products that can be collected. We are hoping that we might be able to provide some education and possibly return a bin to the Town Hall in the future. 

Please note that the assessor’s will have a change in office hours - 9-2:30pm on the following days: February 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th. You may reach out to the assessor via phone (860-434-1605 ext. 218) and leave a message, or use the Town website’s contact form, and the assessor will get back to you after the 5^th. Thank you. 

I hope you all enjoy the last weekend in January. 

All my best, 
Martha