CCL Weekly Update – 3/10/2022

Springing Forward…

Times are changing this week in so many ways. I would love to celebrate the change we’ll experience this weekend as we end Daylight Savings Time on Sunday. (Remember the phrase “spring forward, fall back” when changing your clocks and watches). It has felt like a long winter this year, even though in many ways the weather has been more mild. The long nights and chilly days have made it more challenging to enjoy the natural wonders of the Upper Valley. As of Sunday, we will have an extra hour each day to experience the sunshine after the school/work day. What natural wonders will you explore, and who will you choose to enjoy the extra hour of sunshine with?
It is not often that we are gifted more time. I hope this spring you fully embrace the gift of longer days by spending time in the sunshine with your friends, family, and neighbors.

                                      …into longer days.

All my best, Shelby

802-468-7776 (cell)
shelby@cclyme.org
www.cclyme.org

News and Notes:

Congratulations to Kathy Sherrieb, Lyme Citizen of the Year!

As team members, we experience every day the wonderful, dedicated, and inspiring work of CommunityCare of Lyme board member and lead for the Lyme Food Pantry, Kathy Sherrieb. We are delighted that such a deserving member of the CCL family, and our community at large, has been honored as Lyme Citizen of the Year. Kathy, congratulations! We are celebrating with you. We are grateful for all that you do!

Are you eligible for an “Elderly  Exemption” for 2022 property taxes?

Passed at Town Meeting: Article 14. To see if the town, according to RSA 72:27 – a, shall increase both the amounts of income and assets, not to be exceeded, in order to qualify for the Elderly Exemption and the amounts of exemptions granted as follows:

Elderly Lyme residents may apply for the elderly tax exemption as of 2022 (as amended during town meeting) for $215,000 if they are between the ages of 65 and 75, $270,000 if they are between 75 and 80, and $320,000 if they are over 80. Exemption amounts and qualification parameters shall be voted on any year of a town wide revaluation. (State law RSA 72:39-b)

In order to qualify, an applicant must:
A. Be 65 years old or older on or before April 1st;
B. Be a New Hampshire resident for at least Three years:
C. Own and occupy the real estate individually or jointly on April 1st;
D. Have been married for at least five years if the real estate is owned by your spouse;
E. Have a net income of not more than $40,000 or if married/civil union a combined net income of not more than $50,000; and
F. Have net assets of not more than $220,000, excluding the value of your actual residence and the required minimum lot size for your zoning district.”

During the discussion in advance of the vote, it was shared that the deadline to apply for this exemption for the 2022 tax year is April 15th. More information will be coming from the Town of Lyme. Please reach out to CommunityCare of Lyme if we might be able to help in some way. 603-795-0603 / help@cclyme.org 

We could use your input!

Insider’s Guide to Lyme. CommunityCare of Lyme is working to create an online resource and printable document for all neighbors – a Lymie’s guide to the area. We’d love your feedback on your favorite places for good food and good fun! It will only take a few moments of your time, and the impact for all of our neighbors is priceless!

Our current working draft of the “Insider’s Guide to Lyme” can be viewed here. If you are an organization with informational pieces to include (of course, with citation) or to be referenced, please give us a call. It is a work in progress, and your feedback is immensely appreciated as we refine what is most useful and engaging for inclusion in the “Insider’s Guide to Lyme”.

March is …

When our days get longer! Daylight savings time ends on Sunday, March 13th at 2am. How will you plan to enjoy more time in the sun? ???

National Craft Month. Last year we celebrated National Craft Month with our own take on the NCAA’s March Madness brackets with our own March Craftiness brackets, and based on your votes last year’s “Spring into Crafting” winner was: Knitting! You can review our 2021 brackets here.

This year we celebrate National Craft Month by revamping our sweet 16 brackets for 2022. Please vote here for our sweet 16 and help your favorite crafts (either to do yourself, or which you appreciate) make it further in the standings.

For collaboration with Matt Brown Fine Art (MBFA). Last year CCL partnered with MBFA to bring the community a virtual gallery and award ceremony for The Beauty of Birds. This year, we are supporting MBFA by offering two Zoom discussions on topics which Matt is very passionate about. His excitement and wonder are highly contagious, so be sure to join us for these free Zoom discussions! You can learn more in the “Lyme is happening!” section below.

Women’s History Month. Each week we will share a poem in the public domain by a female poet. The National Women’s History Alliance creates a theme each year for Women’s History Month, and for 2022 the theme is “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope”. (https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month)  There are so many influential women who have helped shape our history that narrowing it down to highlight just a few is a huge challenge. If you would like to learn about the origins of Women’s History Month, or explore influential women throughout history here are a few resources you might consider:

https://womenshistorymonth.gov/about/  

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/womens-history-month 

https://edsitement.neh.gov/teachers-guides/womens-history-united-states

https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/womens-history

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/womens-history-month.htm

https://womenshistory.si.edu/ 

https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/womens-history-month 

After the Winter Rain by Ina Coolbrith (1841 – 1928)

After the winter rain,
Sing, robin! Sing, swallow!
Grasses are in the lane,
Buds and flowers will follow.

Woods shall ring, blithe and gay,
With bird-trill and twitter,
Though the skies weep to-day,
  And the winds are bitter.

Though deep call unto deep
 As calls the thunder,
And white the billows leap
  The tempest under;

Softly the waves shall come
Up the long, bright beaches,
With dainty, flowers of foam
 And tenderest speeches…

After the wintry pain,
And the long, long sorrow,
Sing, heart!—for thee again
Joy comes with the morrow.

This poem is in the public domain. From https://poets.org/poem/after-winter-rain

Weekly health and well-being tips, resources, and recipes …

Monday’s Menu. A 1 pan meal, packed with flavor and completed in 45 minutes! “Easy Vegan Paella (1Pan!)” from Minimalist Baker has spice (saffron and more), sour (lemons) and a whole lot of comfort! An easy recipe, with big taste? Yes, please!

If you have an original recipe OR a recipe you have adapted that you would love to share please email me at  shelby@cclyme.org
Click here to see all the Monday’s Menu recipes.

Wellness Wednesday. The Staff from the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission have created a public survey to explore housing needs in our area. The Public survey introduction explains, “Your responses will help to describe current housing supply, demand, and affordability within our region and begin to identify what types of housing may be needed in the future.” To see the message in its entirety and to complete the survey please see our Wellness Wednesday post UVLSRPC Regional Housing Needs Survey.

See all Wellness Wednesday posts here. 

If you have a wellness topic you would like to share about OR would love to learn more about, please contact shelby@cclyme.org.

Orford Senior Center March Newsletter

Our partner organization, Orford Senior Center (serving Lyme), has shared their  March Menu here and the March Newsletter here. They offer programs, weekly Grab ‘n Go meals, daily Meals on Wheels home delivered meals, and more. Please review their website here for the most up-to date information.

Covid Update

For up-to-date information on testing, vaccines, and more in New Hampshire, visit www.covid19.nh.gov.

Testing. Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-⁠home COVID-⁠19 tests. All households can order 4 more. The tests are completely free.  Please use this link: https://www.covidtests.gov/ They’ll ship as supplies are available. There are other sources of test kits. If you have extra tests that you might like to share, please contact Lyme’s Emergency Management Director, Margaret Caudill-Slosberg, at lymeeoc@lymenh.gov or CCL by responding to this email or by calling 603-795-0603.

Vaccination. Overall, the best protection for the vast majority of us continues to be vaccination – either initial dose(s) or a booster, if you’re eligible. Seek your doctor’s advice if you have any questions about how the current recommendations affect you. At Vaccines.gov, you can search for vaccination locations and make an appointment. You can also schedule directly with retailers, such as Walmart and CVS. New sites and new practices are happening all the time.

Stay safe: Let’s all do our best to stay safe and keep others safe, while lifting spirits with healthy ways to stay active and involved. As mandates are lifted, keep your mask along to wear it inside when requested or when safe distancing isn’t possible.

Contact CCL if you would like help navigating the system or have questions, and we’ll do our best to get you the most up-to-date answers and help you may need. Email help@cclyme.org or call 603-795-0603.

Extending a Warm Upper Valley Welcome

Help is needed now with rides, opportunities to practice English, and completing paperwork (applications. If you would like to be involved with our new Afghan neighbors in Lyme, Hanover, and other Upper Valley locations, please contact Martha Tecca (martha.tecca@gmail.com, 603-795-0603). She helps coordinate the Lyme/Upper Valley Neighborhood Support Team, partnering with Ascentria Care Services, a state resettlement office. CCL launched the Welcome Fund to help. Donations to the CCL Welcome Fund support Afghan evacuees in Lyme and across the Upper Valley, and others displaced by challenging circumstances. Go to cclyme.org/donate or mail a check to CCL at PO Box 127 Lyme, NH 03768. Please note that your donation is for the Welcome Fund.

We are here. Every Day. 603-795-0603 or help@cclyme.org.

Reach out when you or someone you care about needs a hand. If you could use information, help, a listening ear or ways to bring someone else joy, contact us at 603-795-0603 or help@CCLyme.org.  Our phone is answered every day, usually in person. Our welcoming living room in the Lyme Center Academy is a terrific place to relax, read, visit with friends, or meet with a CCL team member. It is now open often during the week and by appointment. Give us a call to confirm times. Be in touch, any time. You’ll reach a friendly voice, a little (or a lot of) help, and creative, safe ways to be involved.

Coming up: 

There is a LOT going on out there! Check out the Lyme Events Calendar (a selection of events from lots of calendars), the Valley News Calendar (especially for all kinds of arts in the area, but lots more), Lyme organizations (see several links at the end of this message) or the Aging Resource Center for ideas. 

Lyme is happening!

We are pleased to pass on news shared by Lyme organizations.

  • Matt Brown Fine Art Programs. 

    • Sunday, March 13, 5pm, hosted by CCL on Zoom: “Bringing to Life Danjuro VIII, Woodblock Prints by Utagawa Kunisada” Curious about all of Matt’s fuss over these woodblock prints of 170 years ago? Curious what we have put together at the MBFA gallery in downtown Lyme? This will be an arm-chair travel time to a world very different from our own. Including a video tour of the show in the gallery, a presentation of some of the show’s print highlights, and a discussion re-imagining the kabuki theater world of Edo Japan in the 19th century, we will aim to explore the dramatic potentials of these color woodblock printed sheets, designs printed from carved wood-blocks, the same way I make my own woodblock prints today. Please register here. 
    • Sunday, March 27, 5 pm, hosted by CCL on Zoom: “The Energy Theory of Color”, a Printmaker and Professor Dialogue. Printmaker Matt Brown and Professor of Psychology Ming Meng will engage in a Zoom dialogue describing their ongoing work exploring their mutually invented color theory – a meet-up of the differing outlooks of scientist and artist seeking to describe aspects of visual thinking. Please register here. 
  • Our Hour. Come to the CommunityCare of Lyme living room at the Lyme Center Academy Building on Tuesday, March 15th from 10:30-11:30am for warm in-person conversation with friends new and old. All are welcome! Please bring your mask. Please email shelby@cclyme.org or call 802-468-7776 with any questions. For planning purposes, if you’re able to let us know if you can come that would be lovely! Otherwise please just show up!
  • Lyme Food Pantry. CCL hosts every Tuesday at 1pm at Lyme Congregational Church. Call ahead to let us know what you’d like, or just stop by.  DELIVERY AVAILABLE.
    • Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with the Food Pantry – This coming Tuesday, March 15 – The food pantry team will be distributing corned beef and fixings for an Irish boiled dinner. As we say at the Food Pantry, “Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day”.  Let us help you celebrate. Order your corned beef and cabbage by Friday, March 11th (TOMORROW) and we may even help you with a few recipes.
  • Save the Date! Lyme’s Day of Service and Green Up Day – Saturday, May 7th.  More information to come! Could you use a hand this year for a Day of Service Project? Could you lend a hand this year to a neighbor? Would you like to be involved in the planning process?  We’d love to hear from you! info@cclyme.org / 603-795-0603. “Many hands make light work!”
    • TONIGHT! An Informal History of Hanover High School, with Bill Murphy
        • Bill Murphy, longtime Social Studies teacher at Hanover High, has written (“compiled,” in his words) “Did You Know…? An Informal History of Hanover High School.” He will present some of the highlights of this collection via Zoom. Spread the word and join us on March 10th from 7:00 – 8:30pm! (We hope you’ll bring along some stories and memories yourselves, too.)
        • Please register in advance for this event: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUlc-uorzMrH9KdtMp_emedqoXt1XPO3YXL
        • After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
        • Information about how to purchase a copy of the book will be available!
    • Russia’s War in Ukraine: How Did It Happen, and Is There a Path to Peace?
        • Dartmouth College’s Daniel Webster Professor William Wohlforth of Lyme for a talk about the current situation in Ukraine next Tuesday, March 15 at 7pm. Because of the number of people we expect will want to attend, this program will be presented via Zoom (no registration is required for watching from home); however, the library can accommodate a viewing audience of about 20 in the Conant Meeting Room (to watch the Zoom cast on our screen).
        • If you would like to view the talk on the library’s screen, please click here for a quick registration (limit: 20 people).
        • Join Zoom Meeting
          • Meeting ID: 892 4463 0352
          • Passcode: 252256
        • One tap mobile  +16465189805,,89244630352#,,,,*252256# US (New York)
        • Dial by your location

          • +1 646 518 9805 US (New York)
          • Meeting ID: 892 4463 0352
          • Passcode: 252256
  • Lyme Congregational Church. Sunday worship is at 10:30am. Bring a mask. ALL WELCOME! Go to lymecc.org for more information.
  • FREE Reiki with Stephanie Carney at the CCL office. Weekly. Wednesdays at noon. To make an appointment contact Stephanie at carney.steph@gmail.com or by phone at 603-795-2419. Learn more here.
  • “Second Saturday” Saturday, March 12  Lyme Historians’. Visit with Lyme native Gary Dimick 11:00 – noon, at the Churchill-Melvin House, 15 Main St.  Hot drinks and warm conversation.
  • Those Guys. First Wednesday monthly meeting. An informal Lyme service organization. For more information and to join in, email Those.Guys.of.Lyme@Gmail.com
  • Happy Feet Clinic. CCL hosts three Thursdays a month at the Lyme Center Academy Building. Appointment required. Expert foot care with nurse Susan Hannah Rose. Call 802-296-1112 0r email nancyallison23@gmail.com to schedule a time. *Please be aware, there is a waitlist at this time. We would be glad to add you, though it may be some time before we can book an appointment with Susan. We’re happy to help you explore options in the meantime.

*NOTE: For any event that’s not online, please be prepared with a mask and clean hands. Safety guidance, and hosts’ comfort continues to evolve.

Check out the Lyme Events Calendar for a full listing of upcoming events selected for Lyme and neighboring communities.

Calendar information is gathered from multiple sources, including:

Lyme and other local listservs
Lyme Library Calendar
Lyme Community and Church Newsletter
Lyme School Events Listing
Town of Lyme Website
Daybreak Upper Valley daily newsletter Click to subscribe
Valley News online calendar
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Aging Resource Center

Please share any additions or edits to calendar items, so that we can include them in the online calendar.

We are here for you.
When you seek information, help, or ways to help others, contact us.

The Lyme Community Help Line:
call 795-0603 or email Help@CCLyme.org

Connection to resources you need now to stay active, involved, and well.
Lyme Food Pantry or prepared meals. Deliveries or errands. Help around home.
Just a chat. You name it.