To the Editor:
Christina and I spent a date night celebrating the Old Lyme Town Band’s 50th anniversary last night at the LOLHS Performing Arts Center — a musical tour de force.
We were impressed with the versatility and professionalism of the band members, who performed a setlist that ranged from the patriotic to “The Wiz” and a sea shanty.
I look forward to their 75th.
Sincerely,
Thomas D. Gotowka,
Old Lyme.
Mr. Gotowka, thank you for this enthusiastic review – so glad you and Christina enjoyed it and were part of our celebration!
I have already approached the band about the idea of doing mini milestone concerts at the five-year marks so a greater number of us can be in attendance! I just learned last night that our new youngest member is 11, so she could represent us all at our 100th anniversary, but we all had a good time last night and want to be part of them!
The band appreciates all who attended!
Michele Dickey
This is actually a postscript. The day was also the 50th anniversary of the publication of “Strega Nona,” by Tomie dePaolo, who received a Caldecott Honor citation in 1976; — and later the Newbery Honor Award for “26 Fairmount” in 2000 and The Laura Ingalls Wilder award in 2011. Tomie was the favorite children’s author in our household and Christina has collected all his books. Also noteworthy is that “Strega Nona” has the distinction of being a challenged and banned book; and banned from several children’s libraries in the United States for depicting magic, witches, and witchcraft in a positive light. He was a native of Meriden, CT
I included Tomie in a “View” on banned books.