Dancers greet first day of spring
North Stonington — The Westerly Morris Men, a traditional English folk dancing group, marked the rising of the sun on the first day of spring Wednesday atop Lantern Hill in North Stonington.
Group founder and accompanist Peter Leibert was unable to make the hike to the hilltop due to an injury, but met the crowd upon descent and played for a few dances by the trailhead on Wintechog Hill Road.
Rebecca Noreen and Myada Wadsworth, members of the Mystic Garland Dancers, accompanied the dancing atop the hill.
The group, founded over 40 years ago, has been dancing for the spring sunrise for 33 years with only a few years missed due to weather. The group was formed in 1974 and also performs a May Day sunrise dance on the green at Connecticut College.
The actual vernal equinox, the moment when the sun rises exactly above the earth's equator, is at 5:58 p.m. eastern daylight time according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
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