find "$connection_local" -type f -newer "$lm_file" -print |
(
 #here i'd like to know if the while read file bit below will be invoked. 
 #if it does, it means that find has found something. I want to take an action
 #that will only happen once, so here is the ideal place. How, though? (:
 while read file; do
  #something
 done
 #something else
)