10/17/10 Lyon family descendants gather in Greenwich

Lyon family descendants, including granddaughters of the last Lyons to own the historic Thomas Lyon House, joined about 70 other descendants and community members Friday in celebrating the family and the drive to restore the Byram home.

Sisters Julie Pollock, 54, of Wasilla, Alaska, Deborah Loving, 62, of Medina, Ohio, and Barbara Walthall, 59, of Arlington, Va., granddaughters of Julia Lyon Saunders and Chester Saunders, came to Greenwich to reconnect with their Lyon roots.

It was a moving experience for the family members.

"I don't have words how important this is," Loving said about the event and the push to renovate the home. "It is something we have dreamed about all of our lives. It has been an underlying thread in our family discussions."

The sisters also brought items their grandmother kept, including shingles believed to have come from the original home in the 17th century. Some of the items will go on display at an exhibition at the Bruce Museum next year.

http://www.greenwichtime.com/default/article/Lyon-family-descendants-gather-in-Greenwich-708808.php

10/15/10 Rabbi's Weekly Teaching

Weekly Teaching By Rabbi Mitchell M. Hurvitz rabbimitch@templesholom.com
Parashat Lech-Lecha October 15, 2010 Teaching by Rabbi Mitch rabbimitch@templesholom.com This weekend we are blessed to host scholar-in-residence David Keren. David is an incredibly experienced tour guide, and a passionate Jewish educator. He has coordinated and facilitated Israel experiences for thousands of American teenagers over the last 15 years, and serves as the Director for our Conservative movement's youth activities in Israel. David is a certified tour guide with an extensive background in the archeology and history of Israel and Jerusalem in particular. He served as our 2009 Temple's Mission guide, and will do so again with our December 2010 congregational trip. David's presence at Temple Sholom is part of our ongoing initiative for Israel education and advocacy. This initiative is co-chaired by Marshall Cooper and Amy Lipton. They have provided below a note regarding our ongoing efforts. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mitch It's the Relationship..... "Support us as we grapple with... towering challenges. Back us in our efforts to defend ourselves from terrorist rockets. Uphold us if we have to make painful sacrifices for peace or if we decide that the terms of the proposed treaty fail to justify those sacrifices. Stand with us as we resist Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Respect the decisions we take through our democratic system and respect the risks that we, more than any other nation, take." Thanks to Betty Steinberg for sending us Michael Oren's stirring Yom Kipper sermon, of which the above is an excerpt. Oren makes clear, as Rabbi Mitch did throughout the High Holidays, that Israel needs the support of American Jews and of the United States. Rabbi Mitch stressed that the Jews are a people, and that Israel, the Jewish State, is the Jewish homeland.... our homeland. In the past few months, the media and others have focused on settlements, as if settlements were the only impediment to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. If only this were the case. In fact, settlements are just one of many issues that need to be resolved in "final status" negotiations. We don't know when, if ever, those final status negotiations will occur. If negotiations fall apart, surely the world community and many in the media will blame Israel, which has made unprecedented concessions in its constant quest for peace, and Israel will need our help more than ever. Please, this year, support Israel. If you haven't already and you are able to, visit Israel. Learn more about Israel's history. Come to Temple Sholom and UJA/Federation educational events. Join a pro-Israel advocacy group. "IM" ("Israel Message") your friends and neighbors: let them know Israel matters to you and the United States and tell them why. Pro-Israel activists Ellen Keats, Cindy Masters and Betty Steinberg recently suggested that those concerned with Israel's safety and security: 1)subscribe to the dailyalert.org (to ensure that they stay informed); 2)write to letters@camera.org (to request alerts of biased media coverage); and 3)consult the aipac.org website for clear summaries of current legislative issues and talking points on issues relevant to the pro-Israel community. The peace talks are just one aspect of the US/Israel relationship. Even if those talks fall apart, our relationship with Israel must not. We wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful new year. Marshall Cooper & Amy Lipton
Temple Sholom 300 E. Putnam Avenue Greenwich, CT 06830 203-869-7191

10/14/10 Lyon House: Board approves relocation

With help needed to make the project a reality, the Board of Selectmen has given its unanimous support to moving the historic Thomas Lyon Jr. House to try and turn it into the education center people have long wanted it to be.

The board’s action, which was taken at its Oct. 7 meeting, doesn’t carry with it any official action to move the project forward. However, what it does do is give the town’s blessing to the project, a critical stamp of approval when it comes to seeking private fund raising.

The historic house, which was the home of one of Greenwich’s founders, Thomas Lyon, requires restoration. Eric Brower, a member of the Greenwich Preservation Trust, said since the house was first constructed in 1695 it likely makes it the oldest, unaltered Colonial home in town and possibly the state. The family lived there for seven generations before the property was sold to the town’s Rotary and Lions Clubs in 1927. The house was originally located right along the southbound side of the Post Road but had to be moved across the street to allow for the widening of the road. Now a second move is required for its restoration.

Several locations have been considered for moving the house which would be a large-scale endeavor, officials say. Mr. Brower said one option that makes the most sense is to move it up the hill and on the bluff overlooking the original site of the house. The town owns the property and the current location could then be turned into open space. Mr. Brower estimated the cost will be $50,000 for professional house movers and costs for the stabilization and restoration of the house have yet to be determined.

Site plan and architectural studies will have to be done and approvals stamped before any work is done. First Selectman Peter Tesei said he likes what he has seen so far and said the proposed move “makes total sense.”

According to Mr. Brower the current location of the house at the edge of the Post Road is “extremely problematic” when it comes to determining a use for it. Because it’s at the edge of the street, there is “virtually no parking” and Mr. Brower said it can be extremely unsafe.

“We’re not really fond of keeping it in place,” Mr. Brower said to the selectmen. “Any of the uses that we’ve looked at, whether they’re a museum or any other educational purpose, would require work to allow the public to get there, whether its kids in school buses or individuals coming in.”

The idea of putting parking behind the building has been explored, but since there is a steep slope there with a drain pipe that provides storm water runoff for McKinney Terrace, Mr. Brower said it wouldn’t work.

“It’s not a good site now where it’s located,” Mr. Brower said.

Mr. Brower said the intention originally in 1927 when the Lyon family left the house was to turn it into a welcoming center, providing information to people as they first entered New England along the road from Port Chester, N.Y., but the project to convert and maintain the property never got off the ground. It then was used as single-family residential property for years before the Lions Club handed over the title of the property to the town in 2007.

“By the time this happened, the property had been vacant for many years without heat or maintenance,” Mr. Brower said. “The house was starting to deteriorate significantly and a prior [town government] administration indicated that if something wasn’t done with the building then its survival couldn’t be insured.”

In 2006, the Byram Neighborhood Association formed the Lyon House Committee to explore ways to preserve the house and determine how it could be best used in the community. As the group expanded its public/private partnership with the town it evolved into the preservation trust and today one of its top priorities is restoring the Lyon House.

The trust is doing private fund raising and has also been able to receive money from the town, most notably funds from the Conservation Commission to bring in consultants to do a historic structure report and a historic title search, which provide needed background. Mr. Brower said doing this helps the trust do private fund raising because it helps demonstrate the significance of the house within the community.

Mr. Brower said the trust just received the final draft of the historic structure report and this puts the trust in the position to move forward. He said grant applications have been made, but the challenge had been that the state and private trusts wanted an indication the town was behind the project. So Mr. Brower said the selectmen’s stamp of approval was a critical one for the project.

Trust member Jo Conboy said the trust has been actively seeking Thomas Lyon’s descendants all over the country, with one being found as far away as Wasilla, Alaska. Several of the descendants are expected in town tomorrow night for a special celebration and discussion of the family’s history with the descendants bringing in artifacts from seven generations of the Lyon family. Ms. Conboy said the descendants are on board in seeing the restoration of the house.

“This is a project that’s not just important to our community, but to other communities across the country,” Ms. Conboy told the selectmen. “As a human interest story there are a lot of people who want to get involved.”

As part of the celebration, Mr. Tesei will be reading a proclamation at Town Hall at 10 a.m. for “Lyon’s Day” which will be followed by a 5:30 p.m. event at the Byram Shubert Library. Ms. Conboy said the public is invited to attend to meet the family members.

More information about the event and a chance to make donations to the Greenwich Preservation Trust, which Ms. Conboy was quick to point out are tax deductible, is available online at greenwichpreservationtrust.org.

“It’s going to take a lot to restore the house so we will need all the help we can,” Ms. Conboy said.

Source:

http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/greenwich-post/news/local/73494-lyon-house-board-approves-relocation.html

10/09/10 COLOMBUS DAY CLOSING

Byram Shubert Library will be closed Monday.

10/08/10 Trust wants to move Lyon House to playground

A small park next to the Dorothy Hamill Rink parking lot in Byram is being eyed as the location for a historic Colonial-era home.

But a small playground located there would have to be nudged aside if the Thomas Lyon House was moved to Sherman Avenue, said Jo Conboy, chairman of the Greenwich Preservation Trust.

"There is a tiny, tiny playground with one or two slides that we would relocate and pay for; maybe we can even have it beside it (the house)," she said.

Lee Black, a local resident who regularly takes her 17-month-old son Dan to the enjoy the small parks jungle gym and handful of other amusements, doesn't want to see its character changed.

"I hate to see the little park go away, it is such a beautiful space," Black said Wednesday. "It's just a great playground for small children and it's nice to have in the neighborhood."

Black said she favors preserving the town's rich history, but is concerned about losing a park in a neighborhood that has many small children.

On Thursday, the trust received the town's backing to continue its efforts after the group appeared in front of the Board of Selectmen.

"It seems to me to make total sense," First Selectman Peter Tesei said about the move.

That selectmen's support does not mean approval has been granted to the trust to move the home. Trust board member Eric Brower said it helps the trust's fundraising efforts by showing that the group has the town's

http://www.greenwichtime.com/default/article/Park-ing-place-Trust-wants-to-move-Lyon-House-to-694058.php

10/07/10 Police Blotter

A 14-year-old Byram girl was arrested and charged with breach of peace. She was released on a promise to appear.

10/01/10 Hip hop classes

Colleen Flynn presents “Tween Time: Hip Hop Dance Workshop,” 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 14, Byram Shubert Library Community Room; eight to 12 years old; free; 203-531-0426.

10/01/10 Hip hop classes

Colleen Flynn presents “Tween Time: Hip Hop Dance Workshop,” 3:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 14, Byram Shubert Library Community Room; eight to 12 years old; free; 203-531-0426.