Author: Preferred Customer

February 2014

Volume 9, Issue 1

Winter Newsletter

www.SavetheRiverSavetheHills.org

Save the River-Save the Hills, Inc., is dedicated to preserving the health of the Niantic River Estuary, its Watershed and the natural beauty of the Oswegatchie Hills.

Save the River-Save the Hills Fundraiser a Spectacular Night!

On Friday December 6th, 2013, Save the River-Save the Hills held our annual Holiday Fundraiser at Flanders Fish Market and Restaurant. The laughter, conversation and camaraderie of over 120 members, friends and family filled the decorated room. The food was delicious and the service excellent, kudos to the Flanders staff!
First Selectmen Paul Formica of East Lyme and Dan Steward of Waterford, our dueling auctioneers, not only raised the bidding to new heights, they created a lively party atmosphere. Thank you both for your time, friendly sparring, and most of all, your support!
To those who donated items to our live and silent auctions, your generosity is truly appreciated!
Thank you to the Save the River-Save the Hills Board, all our volunteers, members and the many friends and families who made this wonderful event a huge success.
Without you, we wouldn’t be Saving the River and the Hills!
A Special Thank You to all who Donated to our Silent Auction for our Wine, Pasta and Fun Fundraiser. We had a record number of items donated this year… what a wonderful community we live in!!

Upcoming STR-STH Events!
“LIKE” our Facebook page to stay up-to-the-minute on our events...
Fundraising Tag Sale—Please volunteer to Help!! We can’t do events without helpers… This Spring (Date—TBD)
Clean-up Latimer Brook (headwaters to the Niantic River behind Tri-town) - Watch our Facebook page for the upcoming date in March/April
Our 11th Annual (remember the warmth?) Kayak Regatta! This coming August 2014—either the 3rd or 4th Saturday. TBD.
Remember to plant only Native Plants this year! Stop by Perennial Harmony’s for free advice on organic and environmentally friendly gardening or call Petie Reed at 860-961-4439.

Inside this issue:

Note from President Fred Grimsey	2
A Special Note— Joan Gibson’s Bday!	2
Thank you for Live Auction items!	2
Legal Defense & Watershed Education Program Update	3
Water Quality Testing & Pumpout Programs	3
Membership Update/ Volunteer opportunities	4
Membership/Donation Form	4

Fundraising Chair Eileen O’Pasek (middle) with STR-STH members at the event

Dan Steward & Paul “Flanders Fish” Formica were our auctioneers at Wine, Pasta & Fun Holiday Party

A Note from the President and Founder of STR-STH:

Landmark Development, LLC has appealed the Town’s denial of sewage capacity. The Judge has sent a message back to the Town of East Lyme directing the Sewer Commission to say how much capacity the Town can commit to their project. At present, no new application has been filed. The Saga continues...
I have been asked to speak at the Rotary Club Meeting on March 19th at Flanders Fish to outline our History and Mission. This is a great opportunity to spread our message and share all that we are doing with the community.
We are working to expand our Water Quality Monitoring Program this summer. We are applying for a grant to hire a UCONN Environmental Studies major to run the skiff and do more extensive sampling. The intern will also help pull together the information we have already gathered and get it into a format that can be easily shared and understood. We would like to get a better picture of what is going on with the Niantic River so we can share that information with the Towns of East Lyme and Waterford.
Yours for a Clean Niantic River, Fred Grimsey

Thank You to those who donated in honor of member
Joan Gibson's Special Birthday!!
James and Carolyn Asmuth Jr., Charles and Constance Block, Christine Lord and Jean Pellerine.
STR-STH truly appreciates these special honorary donations! Happy Birthday Joan!

Thank you to our Live Auction Item Donors!
1) Nutcracker Ballet Tickets—(Eastern CT Ballet); 2) Mystic Seaport Grandparent Membership and a Mystic Hat (Mystic Seaport); 3) Recipe For a Party: Including The Boathouse Blues House Band, Food and Wine (Boathouse Blues House Band Members, Guiliano’s Bakery, Friends of Petie Reed); 4) Cirque Dreams Rock Tickets at the Garde (Garde Arts Center); 5) Gift Certificate to Water’s Edge Resort in Westbrook (Hammond and Isles Financial); 6) Connecticut State Flag Flown over Capitol plus 2013 Governors Ornament (Andrea Stillman, Betsy Ritter, Ed Jutila); 7) Mystic Aquarium Grandparent Membership with Dr. Robert Ballard Book Adventures in Ocean Exploration (Attorney Paul Geraghty, Dr.Robert Ballard); 8) UCONN Basketball Game vs South Fla. XL Center Hartford (Alcamo Family); 9) Eastern CT Symphony Orchestra Tickets (ECSO); 10) Drew Kenny Landscape Design (Drew Kenny); 11) Pequot Golf including Golf Carts for 4 (Pequot Golf Club); 12) Mooring Hauling and Inspection (Jackson Vibber, Fishers Island Sound Marine Contractors); 13) Boat trip for four with Luncheon by Flanders Fish & Champagne donated on the spot at the Fundraiser! (Edgar & Holly Riozzi, Paul Formica & Chester Bottle)
TAKE THE TIME TO THANK THEM NEXT TIME YOU SEE THEM!!

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Winter Newsletter

STR-STH Program Updates...

Legal Defense Fund — Help Us Save Oswegatchie Hills!

As you know, Landmark asked the Town for 118,000 gallons/day sewerage capacity for its proposed 840 unit development of Affordable Housing at the top of the Hills (what they called Phase 1 in their conceptual design plans). The Water-Sewer Commission denied the request as excessive for such a small piece of land. Landmark has appealed the decision and a new Judge has sent it back to the town to tell Landmark exactly what amount of sewerage they would allot to the land. That decision will have far reaching consequences. The Water-Sewer Commission will be meeting to decide on Feb 25th. STR-STH’s stance has always been that the land in the Hills should not be developed at all as it will adversely affect the health of the Niantic River, therefore we hope for No Allotment. We remain steadfast in our goal to keep the Hills undeveloped and will keep you apprised of the decisions being made.

Watershed Education Program

Our Enviroscape Model—if you know of a child who is in an organization (Girl-Boy Scouts, etc) who would benefit from borrowing it, please let us know! We can contact them and set it up!

Water Quality Testing Program

Remember when you are fertilizing your lawn this Spring not to over do it. (Question whether you need to at all.) All of the water that drains off your land eventually ends up in a storm drain, which in turn ends up in a waterbody. Extra nitrogen causes algae blooms which kill fish, crabs and other aquatic animals.
This Spring we will continue our efforts to monitor the River. We hope to have an intern focused on Water Quality for the summer of 2014!!
If you can help in our efforts to get the boat in the water this Spring, please contact Fred at 442-8349. WE CAN USE YOUR HELP!! Please volunteer a few hours of your time to help Fred with the boat and personally help Save the River!

Remember: the Niantic River Scallop is the Town of East Lyme’s Symbol. Let’s get them back to plentiful!!

Pumpout Boat Program

We are gearing up for our 12th season of the Pumpout Program starting Memorial Day Weekend! Last year we received a grant from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection that we used to update our boat and buy some spare parts. Fred could really use some help—If you would like to help get our boats in the water this Spring, please contact Fred at 442-8349 ! ! You can volunteer your High School aged kids—we can give them Community Service Credits as we are a Non-profit 501(c)(3). They will learn valuable skills as well!

Volume 9, Issue 1

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Our Education Program would like to clean up Latimer’s Brook (the headwaters of the Niantic River) where it runs behind Tri-town Plaza in March. The Enviroscape (shown right) is available. We will be offering the children at Pine Point School our Enviroscape to use with the 4th grade curriculum. If you would like to be involved in the clean-up or an education project, please call Deb at 860-444-9247.

www.SavetheRiverSavetheHills.org

Save the River – Save the Hills, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) grassroots environmental organization based on the Niantic River Estuary in Waterford & East Lyme. We are dedicated to abating and preventing pollution of the river, its Watershed and advocating the preservation of the Oswegatchie Hills.
To donate or become a member, clip and mail the form below, or call Eileen O’Pasek @ 860-439-1687

Volunteer Opportunities:

Join Our Board—we are looking for new ideas… come bring yours to STR-STH!
Help Educate Children — call Deb 444-9247 to borrow the Enviroscape for your kid’s school or organization (Scouts, etc.)
Administration - helping with mailings, etc.
River Safety Committee
Join us in anyway you feel comfortable and take action to Save the River and the Hills!

Membership News

This Newsletter starts a new year for Save the River- Save the Hills. This year will be another challenging one as you have read in Fred's note on page 2 and our Legal Update on 3. We need your support, your voice and your resolve in this continuing struggle. Please stand with us and join us at Public Hearings (we will send flyers to alert you) and let your voices be heard. Send us any suggestions or comments which you can include in the membership envelope. We need to work together to Save the River and the Hills!!
We have started a new calendar year for our donation cycle. Please renew your membership soon!
Sincerely, Eileen O’Pasek, Membership and Fundraising Chair

Membership & Other Contributions:
___ New ____ Renewal
___ Basic Family $20
___ River Keeper $50
___ River Saver $100
___ River Neptune $250
___ River Neptune $500
___ River Champion $1000
All members receive our quarterly newsletters and our heartfelt gratitude!

Please make checks payable to:
STR-STH, Inc.
and mail to
Save the River-Save the Hills
P.O. Box 505
Waterford, CT 06385

Name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
(email will be used for Action Alerts for STR-STH issues only and never be shared!!)
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Save the River-Save the Hills, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible.
This Newsletter is printed on Recycled Paper