Diana Furse Fiske was honored with the 2023 Lyme Land Trust Volunteer of the Year Award at the Lyme Land Trust annual meeting on June 16. Fiske is a community member of the Lyme Land Trust education and events committee, and a member of the Sustainable Lyme Committee and is a founder and co-chair of the Lyme Pollinator Pathway.

In all of her extensive volunteer work, in Lyme and beyond (too many to mention), she is adept at enthusiastically leveraging the interests of diverse community groups in

support of our common environment. She encourages collaboration and many of her activities overlap.

Fiske is always spreading the word about the importance of protecting the environment and promoting our local food production. This year for the Lyme Land Trust she set up the popular local farms series with public tours of local agriculture; she also organized a workshop with ecologist Jim Sirch to learn how to propagate native plants from seed; arranged for a presentation about bird migration; volunteered for Curiosity Shop – an after-school program for Lyme School kids; as well as hosted an afternoon at Ballek’s Garden Center to learn about pollinators and native plants.

Most of all, Diana is a champion in the fight against invasive plants. She spreads the word beyond the borders of Lyme and pitches in with hands-on work. One of her most visible efforts is the mammoth Nix the Knotweed campaign at Whalebone Creek, which she serves as president of the Friends of Whalebone Cove,

People & Places

Patty Startz recently joined Chelsea Groton Bank as vice president, commercial loan officer for the Commercial Lending Department.

Startz’s career began at Fleet Bank, where she was assistant branch manager and licensed banker/portfolio manager. She then held multiple management and business banking positions at Citizens Bank before her most recent role at KeyBank.

Startz resides in New London and serves as a committee member at Waterford Country School.

Events

Healthy PlanEat, an online farmers market featuring food from local sustainable farms and food artisans throughout Connecticut, has launched the Healthy PlanEat Local Food Tour. Customers can receive a passport filled with photos of all the Healthy PlanEat vendors when they shop online at www.healthyplaneat.com or when they shop in-person from one of the vendors.

Local vendors include 860Kombucha and Absolute Bearing Coffee Company, both in Mystic; Drew's Honeybees, Norwich; Fat Stone Farm, Lyme; Provider Farm, Salem, and White Gate Farm, East Lyme. Vendors are still being sought. For info, email info@healthyplaneat.com.

The first chance to redeem passport stamps for raffle tickets and a chance to win local prizes will be at the upcoming in-person Food For You and the Planet Festival on Sunday, July 23, from 10-2 at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown. The free festival will feature workshops, live demos, and activities for all ages.

Reserve free fair tickets at https://bit.ly/healthyfoodfestival23.

Chelsea Groton Bank is hosting a career fair for candidates interested in pursuing a career in banking from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, July 13 at the bank’s 391 Norwich Westerly Road, North Stonington, branch.

Candidates are encouraged to bring a resume and to dress professionally. Bank team members will hold interviews on the spot for entry-level through management branch positions, sales positions, internships, and more. Full-time, part-time and parent hours are available.

To review open positions, visit www.chelseagroton.com/Careers. Or contact Renee Simao at rsimao@chelseagroton.com.

The Mystic event formerly known as Floatchella and Float Ella returns at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 8, with a new name. The event, a partnership of The Downtown Mystic Merchants, the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce and North Swell, is now known as Floatswella - a pop-up paddle-craft rally on the Mystic River.

Local businesses sponsoring this event are Electric Boat, Sunrise Home Inspection, LLC, Mystic Solar, Cannonball Management, K. Blake and Co., Keith’s Appliance and the Verizon Wireless Zone. The event also has strong support from the Mystic Seaport Museum.

Look for paddlers north of the Mystic River drawbridge on the west side of the river, and outside the channel. All forms of floating paddle-craft are welcome, lifejackets are required, and motorized vessels should stay clear of the event.

The event has returned to reggae music this year and features Red Lion, Natural Element and DJ Blade Mon. They will be playing on the floating stage on Gravel Street.

The rain date is Sunday, July 9.

A Young Professionals social will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 12 at 1174 Kingstown Road, Wakefield, RI.

The local group associated with the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut is teaming up with the Southern Rhode Island Young Professionals along with several like-minded groups from around the region for the annual Statewide Summer Social hosted by Whalers Brewing Company in a strictly 21+ event.

Pre-registration at www.chamberECT.com is strongly encouraged by July 9. Walk-ins will be accepted. To cancel, call (860) 701-9113.

Cost is $5 for YP members, $20 for chamber members and $30 for nonmembers. Cash bar, but pizza will be provided.

Nonprofit News

The State Federation of Women’s Clubs has recognized Mystic Woman’s Club for its performance among all large clubs in the state for Membership (second place); Women’s History & Resource Center (first place); Civic Engagement & Outreach (first place), and Education & Libraries (first place).

Southeast District recognized the club for its efforts in Arts & Culture; Leadership; Fundraising; and Domestic & Sexual Violence Awareness and Prevention.

The Child Health and Development Institute and United Community and Family Services are launching a five-year initiative to improve the treatment of substance use disorders for transitional-aged youth (ages 16 to 25) in eastern Connecticut.

The initiative is funded by a $2.7 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It will plan for comprehensive treatment, early detection and intervention, and recovery support services for young people with substance use disorders. UCFS operates health centers in Norwich, New London, Griswold, Plainfield, and Colchester.

Enhancements of substance use disorder services made possible through this initiative will include integrating in-home, in-office, and virtual sessions. Clinicians will also receive advanced training in providing services that are trauma-informed, specialized for the LGBTQIA+ community, and for transitional-aged youth who are caregivers themselves.

For information, contact Julie Tacinelli at jtacinelli@chdi.org or 860-679-1534, or Michelle Melendez at mmelendez@ucfs.org or 860-822-4766.

The Eugene Atwood Fund, a private nonprofit foundation in Stonington, has approved for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, 21 students for interest-free loans totaling over $78,000.

The Eugene Atwood Award is provided to senior high school students nominated by their principals and awarded for academic achievement. The Board of Trustees voted to award a total of $22,750 to the following students:

2023 Eugene Atwood Award

Benjamin Nave, Wheeler High School

Addie Concascia, Montville High School

Helen Gross, Stonington High School

2023 Eugene Atwood Recognition Award

Brooke Rodgers ,Bacon Academy

Jenaliz Cordero, Grasso Technical High School

Kendall Larkin, Griswold High School

Ronan Allison, Ledyard High School

Lauren Pinkerton, Lyman Memorial High School

Shaelin McMunn, Marine Science Magnet High School

John Podziewski, Norwich Technical High School

Isaiah Anderson, Robert E. Fitch High School

Luca Muscarella, Saint Bernard School

Anika Gard ,The Williams School

Briana Smith, Waterford High School

The Eugene Atwood Innovation Award provides funding for the purchase of tools/equipment for senior high school students pursuing a career in a trade related profession. The Eugene Atwood Fund’s Trade and Technology Committee awarded a total of $12,862 to the following students:

2023 Eugene Atwood Innovation Award

McKenzie Wolicka, Bacon Academy

Kathrine Buckley ,Grasso Technical High School

Benjamin Petersons, Ledyard High School

The Board of Trustees includes Erica Lindberg Gourd, Managing Trustee, Charles Clark, William Cosgrove, Christopher Dixon, Amanda Atwood Lindberg and Elizabeth Dodge White.

The Eugene Atwood Fund Trade and Tech Committee includes Erica Lindberg Gourd, Matt Taylor, Wes Dawley and Aidan Haskell.

The director of the Eugene Atwood Fund is Stacey Haskell.

Awards & Recognition

Chelsea Groton Bank has once again earned the highest, 5-Star rating from BauerFinancial Inc., one of the nation’s top bank rating firms. It is the 117th consecutive quarter that the Groton-based bank has earned the rating. Having maintained its financial strength and stability through three recessions, a housing bubble, and a pandemic, Chelsea Groton has also earned a “Best of Bauer Bank” designation, an honor reserved solely for those banks that have earned and maintained a 5-Star Rating for 100 consecutive quarters or longer.

Mystic Garden Club has awarded over $23,630 in grants, scholarships and donations to local community organizations. ll funds from the June Plant Sale will benefit the Mystic & Noank Library, this year in the amount of $5,380.

Grants also were awarded to the following organizations: Always Home, Avalonia Land Conservancy, Denison Homestead, Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, Groton Open Space Association, Mystic & Noank Library, and the Riverfront Children’s Center. Scholarship funds in the amount of $5,000 were donated to Three Rivers College for students majoring in the Environmental Engineering Program. The club also provides and maintains flowers for the downtown Mystic planters all seasons, planting annuals in the spring, summer and fall and fresh greens in the winter.

Visit www.mysticgardenclub.org to learn more about the club.

Four area businesses are launching expansion projects after securing grants from the Southeastern CT Enterprise Region through its seCTerRise program.

The region’s federally designated economic development agency, seCTer provided a total of $77,290 to owners of Tox Brewing Company, 860Kombucha, Healthy PlanEat and Myrcene Ale Company.

Tox will use its grant to help offset some of the cost of its move from Broad Street in New London to a larger space on Bank Street. 860Kombucha in Mystic will purchase additional brite tanks for brewing. Healthy PlanEat, an online farmers market that represents more than 30 Connecticut farms, will use the grant to expand and improve its e-commerce platform. Myrcene Ale in Old Saybrook will purchase a canning machine and brite tanks.

To learn more about this program, visit seCTerRise or contact seCTer at 860-437-4659.

The Connecticut Sun is a finalist for the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year award for The 2023 ESPYS. The Sun is joined by the Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, and San Antonio Spurs as finalists.

The ESPYS will air live on ABC on July 12 at 8 p.m.

The Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award represents a sports club/team that demonstrates how teamwork can create a measurable impact on a community or cause. The Connecticut Sun have been nominated for the organization's work in and commitment to underserved communities throughout Connecticut and New England through its "Basketball for Free" program.

Hayden Sullivan from Westerly High School, Sage Sefransky from Stonington High, School, Leah LaPointe from Grasso Tech and Ryan Greene from Fitch High School have been named winners of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce and Foxwoods Resort Casino’s Mystic River Bascule Bridge Anniversary Scholarships. Scholarships for $4,000 each were handed out this month.

Funds for the scholarship came from Foxwoods Resort Casino and money earned from items sold on last year’s Mystic River Bascule Bridge 100th Anniversary Bridge Trail.

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