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Summer 2015 Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE
How We Came to Mason's Island
Volunteer Profile: Cindy Palmer
Where in the World: CUBA and an INVITATION TO A PHOTO SHOW
Cook's Corner
Meet the New Member of the MIPOA Board
Meet the new members of the MIFD Board
Meet the New Newsletter Team
Send us Your Island Photos!
Meet Your New Neighbors
Events

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF MIPOA


 

Dear Neighbors,


Summer arrives at 12:38pm on Sunday, June 21. After a bitter winter and a cool spring, I know all Mason's Island residents are ready for some warm, sunny days.

Summer on MI is a busy time with family and friends from far and wide making pilgrimages to the island.  The island swells with walkers, strollers, bikers and cars.  Let's all work together to make sure that we enjoy a safe summer.
 
This is my first letter as president of MIPOA.  I want to again thank Cathy Marco for her many, many hours of work on behalf of all Mason's Island property owners.  Mason's Island is a special place and I look forward to working with the MIPOA Board and all MI residents.

Have a great summer,
Bob Martin

mobile (908) 578-6465

How We Came to Mason's Island                     

by Nancy and Martin Lyons

 

 

Grateful thanks to Nancy and Martin for so generously providing such a wonderful history. After reading, I hope you will all follow suit!   I would be happy to work with you and can send on some helpful guidelines. 

 

Come be a part of the MI history - we need you!   I await your email, call or knock on the door of 4 Money Point Road with great anticipation.  Patty Copp   860-572-8877 

[email protected]

 

 

We were both raised in NYC suburbs in Westchester and Fairfield Counties and our parents

purchased cabin cruisers and took us cruising on Long Island Sound east to Nantucket and the

Vineyard.  In the 1950s, we discovered the Mystic Seaport in the process.  Later in the 1970s, when we were married, we continued to make day trips to the Seaport and started looking for a waterfront summer community a few hours drive from our home in Riverside, CT. On Good Friday in 1978 we drove to the Seaport and enjoyed the spring day.  Martin's mother taught school with Drusilla Neibling in the 1930s and suggested we call Drusilla and Bob Neibling who lived at 5 Old South Road and ask them about MI. So after a few hours at the Seaport, we found a pay phone (no cell phones back then) and called.  We were promptly invited over and they suggested that we call Dee Manning Hodges in VT who owned a cottage at 3 Sandpiper Lane (where the Richard's house is now).

 

As we were standing in the middle of the road we saw a well-dressed man approaching us from

Chippechaug on a riding mower. He was wearing yellow pants, a blue blazer with an MIYC  patch

and a shirt and tie.  He stopped for a while and we were introduced to former Commodore Bill

Moffett. He then putted off to Moffett 5 and 6 on Allyn's Alley (now 3 and 5 Allyn's Alley) to cut

the grass after regaling us with the events of the recently concluded Good Friday party at MIYC.

We decided that any place that partied in the middle of the day couldn't be bad and called Dee

and rented her cottage for July.

 

Dee's cottage was right behind the Neibling's house.  One weekend in July we invited Nancy's

parents, Dave and Virginia Callaway, to visit, and Dave and Bob Neibling renewed an old college

friendship over a bottle of scotch as both were Dartmouth College and Amos Tuck B-school

classmates.

 

After much tennis, Sunfish sailing, four Thursday Night Picnics and a Saturday Night Club Party, we were sold on MI and rented the Baum cottage in 1979, (where the North and Walker houses are now), and Moffett 6 in 1980.  The next winter, real estate agent Sally O'Neill called us up and said the Soper-Arnold (Hamlin) cottage was for sale at 41 Nauyaug.  We saw it on a freezing cold but clear day in January with snow on the ground and bought it.

 

We spent the next 15 years enjoying MI from 41 Nauyaug, enlarging it, winterizing it and making

it a nice year-round home.  In 1996, Bob Guthrie called up and offered to sell us his house at 10

Skiff Lane.  His was a waterfront property with a dock but was not set up for winter living nor did

it have any garage space, so we spent the better part of 1997 rebuilding, insulating, expanding and updating the original house built in 1961.

 

We have loved our many years here and are so glad we happened upon MI so long ago.

 

Addendum to this History:

Martin and Nancy have contributed in many ways to the growth of this community - entering in and bringing their various talents to the benefit of all of us on Mason's Island.  We welcome their history.
-Pbcopp

 

 

Volunteers on Mason's Island:   Cindy Palmer

This is a continuation of our articles highlighting volunteers from Mason's Island.   We are fortunate to have a very active community of volunteers for the yacht club, library, seaport, aquarium, nature center, historical society, art center, garden clubs, food pantries, and many more.  

Volunteering at York Correctional Institution

by Cindy Palmer

  

Founded in 1918 as the State Farm and Reformatory, York Correctional Institution in Niantic is the only prison for women in the state of Connecticut. The facility has grown substantially through the years. Classified as a high security facility, it currently houses over 1,100 women whose average age is 35, average sentence served is 4.5 yrs.

 

Had it not been for a group of people I came in contact with many years ago, it's unlikely that I would ever have learned anything about York or have had the opportunity to volunteer there. But most importantly, I would never have had the chance to interact with a remarkable and diverse community.

 

I have come to know daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers. These women are living lives of faith, fear, inspiration, mistrust, love, confusion, determination, judgement, conflict and hope. In other words, their struggles are like many of ours. Some of them have known the support of a loving family and the advantages of education, but many have not. Violence, abuse and addiction have been the life companions of the majority of these women. They are incarcerated for a range of   crimes and many are caught in the revolving door of recidivism. Their time away negatively impacts their families, specifically, and especially, their children.

 

I have been moved and inspired by many of the women I have met during my almost 20 years volunteering at York. I have also been profoundly frustrated by the existing corrections sy

stem, and deeply saddened that our society does not offer more. More guidance for youth who are at risk, more rehabilitation for the currently incarcerated, and more outside support for those who have served their time and are often released with little more than the clothes on their back.     

 


If you would like to learn about the lives of the women at York, I hope you will read Couldn't Keep it to Myself or I'll Fly Away.  These two books are compilations of writings done by York inmates who participate in a class that author Wally Lamb continues to teach.

 

For information about one of the organizations I am involved with, please visit www.asacredplace.org or check it out on FACEBOOK by CLICKING HERE.

 

 

 


WHERE IN THE WORLD... 
Many of our readers have taken trips to places far and wide and we hope to share some of their wonderful adventures with  you. 

 

Cuba!   Cuba!

Submitted By Karin Whittemore

 

Cuba had always been at the top of my bucket list.  My parents had been there in 1954 when my father, Terry, and his brother, Bob, were racing Snipes and won the Western Hemispheres in Havana.  My father had always dreamt of going back. I have been lucky enough to fulfill his dream three times.

 

While I was studying at the Rhode Island School of Design three years ago, I received an invitation to travel to Cuba with a group of photographers during my winter session.  I jumped at the opportunity!  This was a real leap of faith for me as I didn't know anyone going on the trip and I didn't speak Spanish.

 

Now, even after this third visit, I still have so much to learn about Cuba and my fascination with this island nation has only continued to grow. This year it was especially wonderful to see the Cuban people so excited and hopeful during this historic time. 

 

Cuba has occupied such a front and center position during the Cold War that it may be hard to think of it in a warm and friendly way.  However, the Cubans are really working hard at trying to roll out the red carpet to tourists.  They are wonderful ambassadors to this land of unparalleled beauty, history and culture.

 

The last three Januarys our group has covered more territory and gone deeper into that culture, history and people with our friend and guide, Eliseo.  This past year, our travels took us over 600 miles from the second largest city, Santiago De Cuba, to the Vinales Valley, where tobacco is grown on the northwestern side of the island.  Not even ten minutes outside of the cities, we found ourselves sharing the roads, even the one unfinished highway, with horse and carriages, oxcarts, tractors, motorcycles, bicycles and cowboys.  At one point we saw a large group of horse and carriages lined up on the highway at sunset.  Eliseo told us they were preparing to have races which they bet on and which is also illegal.  Asked why they were doing this, his response was "They like to defy the authorities."

 

From the beautiful countryside with its varied fields of green planted with sugarcane, mangos, oranges, tobacco and grapefruits, to the Escambray Mountains, this island has so much diversity politically and culturally as well as within the landscape. The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea offer beautiful seaside vistas and a place for tourists to vacation.  However, my heart truly belongs to Havana.

 

This beautiful city, which sits on the Gulf of Mexico set back from the famous seven mile Malecon, is a museum all to itself.  Old Havana, Havana Viejo, is a UNESCO Heritage Site as are other numerous places on the island.  It is an exotic and intoxicating blend of African and European cultures. The beautiful vintage cars that line the roads take me back to a time when automobile companies had a sense of style.  Cubans not only keep these pieces of art running, but they are washed and polished daily!  Our first year, we rented out 3 convertibles and took a 90-minute tour up and down the Malecon and around the city.  You can't help but feel you are in a bit of a time warp as these cars from the 40's and 50's zoom past you.

 

Being behind the lens of my Nikon, I have found myself in dark alleyways in often deteriorating and decaying spaces in Havana Viejo and Centro, the city's urban core. I would be pretty hard pressed to go and investigate these places here and in other countries, but in Cuba the people are a photographer's dream, welcoming you into their homes and lives.  Exploring deeper into the abyss of Havana is what continues to draw me back.  In what many would consider to be ruins and completely uninhabitable, this is where I find the beauty.  These conditions speak to me and I dream of these spaces when I am away, eagerly awaiting my return.

 

The advantage of revisiting any country is the connections and friendships that are made.  Two years ago, my friend Cindy and I found ourselves in the shanty town part of Cienfuegos, the "Pearl of the Sea, beautifully laid out in a grid pattern running along the Caribbean.  Rounding a corner we came upon a beautiful little girl playing all by herself in her run-down, muddy yard.  As we pulled out our cameras to shoot this unique scene, we knew it would not be long before someone came to check on her. Despite our broken Spanish and their English we became fast friends with Belkis and her beautiful daughter, Angelina, named after Angelina Jolie.  This year, Cindy and I attended the Baptism of Angelina at the Inglesia Catolica Liberal San Rafael Arcangel in Cienfuegos. Cindy officially became Angelina's Godmother and myself, second in charge.  One of my favorite images from this experience was the delightful priest typing up the documents on an archaic typewriter in his back office. This was an experience that your average tourist would most likely not have had.

 

Everyone who knows anything about Cuba knows that it is frozen in the past.  The buildings and the cars and the barely existent infrastructure show their years.  It is hard to talk about Cuba without talking politics. These days, with Fidel Castro on the sidelines, and Ra�l Castro gradually trying to modernize the economy with private enterprise, the tide is turning.  All across Havana, government symbols are out. New desires are rushing in. Change is evident and one can see it as they walk around any corner and see a modern, new hotel rising or the brass being polished on a grand old hotel recently refurbished.  Private restaurants in homes, knows as Paladars are on the rise.  This is where the good Cuban food is found, unlike in the government-run tourist traps.

 

Speaking of signage, one thing I did notice was that the huge sign to free the Cuban Five, which hung over the square in Cienfuegos, was gone.  This is historic! The Cuban Five are heroes to the Cuban people, well known to many around the globe, but unfamiliar to most Americans.  (If interested, you can learn more about them at www.thecuban5.org.).

 

We all joke that the more time we spend in Cuba, the more confused we become. A slowly changing Cuba reveals itself, sometimes through what was there and sometimes through what was not. "Es complicado!" Eliseo said to us this year.  "My friends, try not to understand Cuba.  Enjoy Cuba!" As easy as it sounds, I find this to be very challenging advice!  I have left Cuba with many answers but even more questions. I am just starting to get the gist of a government which has had successes and failures as it has experimented with implementing Socialist and Communist concepts. That process, never stagnant, is dominated, like most things, by finances.

 

We have traveled under different licenses with two umbrella companies: Global Exchange out of San Francisco and Interplanner out of Washington D.C.  I would encourage anyone who is interested in seeing Cuba before it changes to go sooner, rather than later.   You won't meet friendlier people and they are anxious to meet you and have you enjoy their country.  A trip to Cuba now is a unique opportunity to say "I remember when."  Hopefully, you will fall in love with Cuba as I have.

 

I am proud to be among the first Americans to bring home cigars, coffee and rum!

 

 

Of note: Eliseo worked hard to try and find the yacht club where my father had raced, in the wealthy side of Havana called Miramar.  After a lot of correspondence, we found out that the Miramar Yacht Club is now an upscale club for the military and their families.  The articles of the Western Hemispheres are now safely stored in the County of Miramar's archives.  This story, of course, is a part of their history as well as my family's.

 

 

 

 


 


 


 

FYI. Below is a list of movies and books I've found particularly interesting and informative about life in Cuba. 

 

Movies:

Fidel.  Che.   Before Night Falls.   Guantanmera.  Strawberry Chocolate.  Soy Cuba.

Motorcycle Diaries.  Buena Vista Social Club.

 

 

Books: 

Cuban Revolution.  Cuban Revelation; Behind the Scenes in Havana.  The Cuban Reader.

Cuba Confidential.  What Lies Across the Water.  Havana Dreams.  Cuba- What everyone needs to Know.

Cuba Libre.   Telex from Cuba.  Snow Falling in Havana.  Learning to Die in Miami.  Havana Nocturne

 

Thank you Karin for sharing your trip with us.   If you have a trip you would like to share, please contact us at [email protected] for inclusion in one of our future newsletters.



To really get an idea of the environments I found so amazing in Cuba, 
I invite you to come to the Mystic Art Center. 

From AUGUST 7 to SEPTEMBER 19
there will be an exhibit of the photos I took while there.   
OPENING RECEPTION NIGHT:  August 13, 5:30pm - 7pm

 Please join me and see why: "The people and all the places that have been lived in, loved and worked in, laughed and cried in, hold extraordinary character and beauty for me."

Karin Whittemore


COOK'S CORNER

 

  

Lace Cookies
Submitted by Kit Hartford

 

 Ingredients:

1 cup melted butter

2 � cup light brown sugar

1 tbl white sugar

2 � cup regular rolled oats

1 tbl flour

1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

In a large saucepan, melt butter and add both sugars.  Stir in oats, egg, flour and vanilla.  
Cool for 5 minutes.

Grease a cookie sheet or, better yet, use parchment paper. Place small spoonfuls on the sheet, and make sure to space well as these are thin wafers and will spread.

Bake at 375 for 5 to 7 minutes, but watch carefully.  Cook until golden brown.

*Note: Don't make these on a humid day! 
 

 

 

 

 

 



MEET THE NEW MEMBER OF THE MIPOA BOARD

  


Harry White

Harry and Liz White came to Stonington Borough in 2003 for getaway weekends and some sailing. Soon they were drawn two miles westward to the views, open space and community spirit of Mason's Island. 

The Whites built a part-time home on Black Duck Road in 2008 and then retired and moved here full-time from suburban New York in 2011.

Harry's early career in banking and management consulting led to his fund-raising for an independent school, a college, as well as Dartmouth, where he went to business school.  Finally, for 25 years on his own, Harry was a consultant advising nonprofits on their board effectiveness and strategic planning. Meanwhile, fund-raising became Harry's volunteer work, most recently with the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center and its successful Campaign for Coogan Farm. Outdoors, Harry can often be found walking local or faraway trails, sailing off Mason's Island or cruising along his beloved coast of Maine.

Email:  [email protected]               phone:  860-415-9545

MEET TWO NEW MEMBERS OF THE MIFD BOARD



 

Lee Hisle


W. Lee Hisle is Vice President for Information Services and Librarian of the College at Connecticut College. As CIO, he oversees all libraries, instructional technology, administrative systems, networks, and telecommunications. Active in professional associations, he is a past Chair of the American Library Association Nominating Committee, past President of the Association of College and Research Libraries, and was the Chair of the Tenth ACRL National Conference. 

Lee currently serves on the Board of Trustees for The Williams School and the Mystic-Noank Public Library. He recently completed a six-year term on the Board of Pine Point School.  Lee currently serves as Chair of the Nominations Committee for the Mason's Island Yacht Club.  

Raised in Kentucky, Lee received his B.A. from Berea College and his M.S.L.S. from the University of Kentucky. He enjoyed 20 years in Austin, where he met his wife Julie and where he received his Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Lee and Julie have a son, Jack, who is a rising senior at The Williams School.  Whenever he can, he'd rather be golfing, skiing, or playing tennis. He also hosts the bi-weekly Texas Radio Music Show on WCNI, New London.


Kristin Forster


I am flattered to be asked to start my year-round Mason's Island life as a new member of the MIFD board.   I have a strong affinity to the island as my husband and I have been summering on the "west" side of the island since 1991.  We bought our house at 2 Anchor Lane ten years ago this Labor Day, which we will now move into full time.

I have strong feelings on needing to protect our natural environment.   I also believe it is possible to make fiscally smart choices that produce greener living.   To that end, in addition to ideas I have yet to learn, I am eager to serve a community who has graciously hosted me so many summers heretofore.  


(L to R)  Michael, Mary, Linda, and Tommy
Brand New Newsletter Team

When called upon, they heard and volunteered. We are forever grateful to them for stepping up to the plate to work on future MIPOA Newsletters.   And, we are also grateful to ALL the Mason's Islanders who help with articles, photos, recipes, and advice for our community newsletter when called upon.  Special thanks to Patty Copp who has graciously worked so hard to acquire all the HOW I CAME TO MASON'S ISLAND articles and share them with all of us.

The new team consists of Mary Riley (Co-ordinator), Linda Delaney (Editor), Tommy Thomason (Publisher) and Michael Melford (Mason's Island Instagram Leader).   As the transition unfolds, Gae Melford and Karin Whittemore will continue as advisors (thank you Gae and Karin!!).  
 

Intro to Instagram....a new way to share experiences and photos

Instagram is the new way for all of us to share photos of what we have seen and exp
erienced with other Mason's Islanders.   This fun new idea is being introduced by our island National Geographic photographer, Michael Melford, who has joined the MIPOA Newsletter board and wants to try something enjoyable for EVERYONE on the island...young and old alike.  

So....Snap a photo with your mobile phone and then share the photo by emailing it to [email protected].     NOTE:   Since photos are cropped as squares, why not shoot them as a square (an option on your phones).  

To see your photos, download the INSTAGRAM APP and create an account.   Use the search tool (magnifying glass) and type "masonsisland" and you will see a small image of a sunrise with some trees.   It will say this user is private.   Click on the +FOLLOW Button, then just wait for one of the administrators to approve your request. 

If you have a problem, for example, like your request was not approved (give it at least 24 hours or more), then write to [email protected] and let them know.  

That's all there is... 
 

 

Meet your new neighbors   

welcome chairs 2015 new Mason's Islanders  
 

Chandrasekhar and Archana Naik on Heron Road

Gregory and Alexandra Klemmer on Andrews Road

 

EVENTS

New London Coast Guard Summer Exhibit

USCGC EAGLE
June 5 - August 29
at Studio 33 Art and Frame Gallery in New London

New London Coast Guard Summer Exhibit
In Addition: on First Fridays of every month during the summer, there is a reception from 6:00 - 9:00.  
Governor Malloy has designated this summer as Connecticut's Coast Guard Summer.   

For more information, CLICK HERE.




Opening Reception for Summer Sculpture Showcase


Gints Grinsbergs' "Queen Anne's Lace"
June 8- September 13
at Studio 80 + Sculpture Grounds in Old Lyme

Gilbert Boro and nine other sculptors exhibit their works in this inaugural summer showcase.  

ADMISSION:   FREE     Open 9-5 Daily


For more information, CLICK HERE.

boats2
PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR KAYAKS AND BOATS ON MIPOA PROPERTIES!

Please label your boats and kayaks on the Skiff Lane Right of Way and all other property MIPOA Property!     ONLY MIPOA dues paying property owners can store their boats on any MIPOA Property.  
Thank you!


MASON'S ISLAND HAS THE SAME RESTRICTIONS FOR DOGS ON THE BEACH AS WATCH HILL.   HOWEVER, OUR SIGN WOULD READ LIKE THIS:

ALL DOGS....PLEASE NOTE:

BETWEEN MAY 1 AND THE DAY AFTER LABOR DAY BETWEEN THE HOUSE OF 8AM AND 6PM, DOGS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON THE BEACH.

.....This rule is for the beach at the end of SKIFF LANE and the new beach on NAUGAUG POINT ROAD.   Thank you!