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Esty Family Honored at Old Saybrook Annual Town Meeting

Three Esty siblings were honored for their service to the town at Old Saybrook’s Annual Town Meeting on Nov. 25.

Janis Esty, former chair of the Planning Commission and now chair of the Democratic Town Committee and an alternate on the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission; Susan Esty, chair of the Parks & Recreation Commission; and Richard Esty, chair of the Conservation Commission, were each presented with a framed copy of the annual report’s cover photograph of the town and the dedication to the siblings on the inside cover.

The Annual Town Meeting and the town’s budget meeting are the two town meetings required to be held each year. For the first time, First Selectman Carl P. Fortuna, Jr., invited a quartet of Old Saybrook High School students to sing the national anthem at the start of the meeting. This is the start of a new tradition, Fortuna said, of inviting community members to perform the anthem each year.

The recognition was a surprise to the Esty siblings, Fortuna said.

“They’re very modest,” Fortuna said. “And they’re believers in being civically involved.

Fortuna needed a photograph of the three Esty siblings for the dedication section of the report. Not wanting to ruin the surprise, he tricked Janis Esty, telling her that the town was recognizing a number of families at the meeting. Fortuna asked her not to tell her brother and sister but to make sure they attended.

“When she showed up, Janis still thought we were” honoring several families, he said. “She didn’t realize it was just them.”

The town report covers the fiscal year; this edition covers Fiscal Year 2018–’19, supplying basic information about the town, lists of town employees by department and board and commission members, and summaries of the work and accomplishments of town departments and commissions.

Acceptance of the report must be voted on at the meeting. This year, an amendment to Article XI of the Town Code, expanding the duties of the Harbor Management Commission was also on the agenda. Both were approved by attendees with no dissenting votes.

In 2017, the town added an In Memoriam section to the annual report, honoring those who had died during the year.

“We’re really proud of our town report,” Fortuna said. “We put out a beautiful town report and a lot of effort goes into it. We had a drone take a picture this year.”

Part-time Town Hall clerk Jennifer Donahue put many hours into the report, he said.