Lyme Foundation names Charles Balch the 2011 Citizen of the Year

CITIZEN OF THE YEAR 2011
CHARLES R. BALCH

This year we celebrate Lyme’s 250th birthday. Throughout those years Lyme has been committed to preserving its history and recognizing the people who made it what it is today. Many people have created accurate and timely accounts of events and life in general in and around Lyme.  

There is a gentleman in our community who has lived in Lyme a great many years, whose family can be traced back to Lyme’s earliest years and whose ancestors took great pride in serving the community and documenting the life they lived. From these remembrances and records we can build a picture of how Lyme came to be and the challenges survived to get where we are today.

Known for many things, including his devotion to Lyme, its history, the churches, the agriculture and the people, this man worked with his own challenges for years at Dartmouth College.  In addition to his job there and despite his challenges he wrote little ditties and played beautiful music for the dances that rocked the Academy Building.

Instrumental in forming the Lyme Recreation Committee, he took things further and also helped create the Chase Beach area and the ball field. He felt kids should have a safe place to swim and play ball.  (He’s also a Red Sox fan; glad he lived long enough to see them win the World Series.)

Taking great interest in Lyme youth, he served for 15 years on the Recreation Committee in the 60’s and 70’s, on a Municipal Building Committee in 1976 and on a search committee for the recycling center.

He’s the go-to guy whenever a question comes up about an old Lyme family or historical event and if he doesn’t know the answer off the top of his head, he’ll find it somewhere at home-either through his wife of 60+ years or in the records his ancestors kept. One of the things he’s enjoyed most over the years was coming to the Lyme School with his memories and antique items and sharing them with the students studying Lyme’s history and what life was like in the past.

One thing we all most admire and covet is the outstanding and amazing woodpile he puts up each year on the side of Route 10.  Piece by piece, each is cut and piled in a neat stack over a period of time that inspires the rest of us to get moving and get our own pile done up for the season.


This award is appropriate for a gentleman who has devoted his life to his family and friends in Lyme. Most of us here have been greatly touched by his knowledge, his gifts and his humor. Speaking of which, I’ll share a bit of his humor here: this is one of the “little ditties” I spoke of earlier.



Sunday Morning

We had just moved from the city
And just settled down
To start a new life
In this small country town.

We rose late Sunday morning
Too much time in the sack
For we had boxes to empty
And bags to unpack.

But first we went outside
To look at the sky
Instead what we saw
Were cars going by.

They came up from the valley
And down from the hill
Not a vehicle in Town of Lyme
It seemed had stood still.

Some carried their dogs
And some had their kids
With trunks filled so full
It pushed up the lids.

From all points of the compass
These cars seemed to gush
Where were they all going
In such a big rush?

Did this town we had moved to
Have some strange rule
That on  Sunday morning
We must all go to school?

Had someone been lost
And they called for a search?
It hardly seemed likely
They’d all go to church.

But then our neighbor  
Came over to say
“Pick up your rubbish
Today is trash day”.

So we filled up some bags
And loaded the car
Then drove to the schoolhouse
It wasn’t that far.

We stopped by a truck
All covered with dirt
Behind which stood
A man with no shirt.

He spoke very swiftly
And tried to explain
And though we listened intently
It all seemed in vain.

But at last the message
Came through clear and hard
“You can’t leave your rubbish
You’ve no I.D. card”.

We tried our best
To a compromise seek
If he’d take the trash now
We’d bring one next week.

He accepted the deal
And we went on our way
It seemed imperative
Not to delay.

For by now the cars
Were backed up half a mile
And frowns were appearing
Where once was a smile

We said to each other
As homeward we went
We had learned one thing
From this peculiar event

Though you can read the Sunday paper
And hear the church bells chime
That’s not all that happens
Sunday morning in Lyme!


It is my privilege and honor to have been asked to present the 2011 Citizen of the Year Award by the Lyme Foundation to Mr. Charles Balch.

Former Citizens of the Year

2010 Patty Jenks

2009 Carola Lea

2008 Bill Murphy

2007 Laura DeGoosh

2006 Betty Lee

2004 Fred Phillips

2003 Albert Pushee

2002 Don and Julia Elder

2001 Becky Franklin

2000 Kenneth Elder

1999 Dorcas Chaffee

About the Citizen of the Year Award

Every year for the past decade, the Lyme Foundation has recognized its Citizen of the Year as someone who has rendered outstanding service to the Town of Lyme.  This annual award is made possible through a gift from Rachael Miller, and is presented at Town Meeting.