Diana Atwood Johnson named Old Lyme's Citizen of the Year

Old Lyme — A longtime advocate for the environment and the arts was named the Old Lyme 2011 Citizen of the Year at Monday’s annual town meeting.

Diana Atwood Johnson has since 2000 served on the Open Space Committee (now the Open Space Commission).

“Under her stewardship, the Town of Old Lyme has set aside one-half million acres of open space,” a proclamation by the Board of Selectmen reads.

Johnson is also chairman of the board of the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and has served as a trustee there for more than 30 years; is chairman of the Connecticut Natural Heritage, Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Review Board; and is a member of the Connecticut Land Conservation Coalition, Old Lyme Land Trust, Connecticut Ornithological Association, Connecticut Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, according to the proclamation.

She ran the Old Lyme Inn for 25 years and served in leadership roles of various other organizations throughout the region.

“Her knowledge of open space and conservation issues has proven invaluable time and time again,” the proclamation reads. “Diana’s legacy in our community and region is far-reaching.”

Voters at Monday’s meeting also accepted the annual town report; re-appointed Jane R. Marsh to the Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency (CRERPA), a term that expires in January 2014; authorized an easement to Connecticut Light & Power to install, maintain and repair electric lines across town land at the high school; and tabled a proposed ordinance to ratify a resolution by the Connecticut River Valley Council of Elected Officials to reorganize itself as a council of governments.