ESSEX/LYME/OLD LYME — On Tuesday, March 15, the Connecticut River Museum will host a presentation via Zoom by Dick Shriver of Old Lyme titled, The Connecticut River … Past, Present, and Future. The event is free and starts at 6 p.m. All are welcome.
The Connecticut River experienced a long and peaceful past until the industrial revolution. This was followed by years of abuse, then partial recovery, and finally the river has a bright outlook today.
Shriver illustrates the 12,000 year history of the Connecticut River to the present, paying special attention to the abuse of the river during and following the Industrial Revolution.
He then acknowledges those in government, who established the present-day regulatory apparatus, that has helped clean up the river’s water.
Finally, he highlights the good works currently underway for the long-term benefit of the environmental and ecological health of the river.
Shriver has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering.
He has held executive positions in government and industry having been assistant secretary of the US Treasury Department and Senior Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank.
He was professor of Business Finance and Marketing at the International Management Institute in Kiev, Ukraine.
He is Provost Emeritus of the European College of Liberal Arts (now Bard College, Berlin), and also currently serves as head coach of girls’ varsity lacrosse at Old Saybrook High School.
I’m interested because I was among a group from Camp Claire that paddled frim Bellows Falls, VT, to Hamburg in 1970 shortly after the first Earth Day. An article appeared in the Hartford Times titled “Cruising Down the Sewer” including that we counted 125 dead fish in one day. The river is much cleaner today but still faces challenges.