putnam rotary pg 6 5-5-22
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Settling In
Teens got to work settling the huge selection of books and games into their new home at the Pomfret Public Library. A Rotary grant was used to make the teen selections a reality. Clockwise from top left: the first batch of books. Putting in book labels. A selection of games. Courtesy photos.
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POMFRET — For the last 6 months, the Putnam Rotary Club has been working with the Pomfret Public Library to enhance the library’s collection of teen books. After meeting with Pomfret librarians to assess their needs and priorities, the club applied for a Rotary Foundation District 7890 Grant, and began planning. A survey was conducted and a Teen Advisory Group was established.
Rotarians and Interact members met with the newly formed advisory group to learn first-hand which authors and book genres interested the teens most. More than 300 new titles were purchased, along with a subscription to the Junior Library Guild which will allow the teen and library staff to choose six new titles each month for one year. Special bookplates were placed inside each book.
The librarians also compiled a “Wish List” of age appropriate board games and club members donated and presented the games at the April Teen Advisory meeting. Project chairperson, Karen Osbrey said, “As soon as fellow Rotarian Marc Archambault approached me with this idea, as an avid reader myself, I was totally on board. Marc and I are thrilled to see all the new titles on the shelves.” Between Rotary Foundation District Grant funding, the local contribution from the Putnam Rotary Club and games donated by club members, a little over $4,500 was spent on this worthwhile project.
The library welcomes input from teens, parents, and educators regarding the teen collection and future programming. For more information, inquire at the Pomfret Library, at 449 Pomfret Street in Pomfret, CT or visit www.pomfretlibrary.org.
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obits pg 8 5-5-22
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POMFRET CENTER — Lesa A. (Lawrence) Landry, 74, died unexpectedly Dec. 16, 2021, in Day Kimball Hospital. She was the wife of Daniel “Dan” Landry for 28 years. Born in 1947 in Sturbridge, she was the daughter of the late Edric and Mildred (Carlson) Lawrence.
Lesa was the head bus driver for M & J Transportation driving three generations of school children for the Pomfret Community School on bus # 8. She served as a constable for the town of Woodstock and volunteered for the Audubon Society in Pomfret. Lesa quickly made friends with anyone she met. She loved cooking for her family and friends. She enjoyed going to car shows and swap meets with Dan and driving around in her classic cars. Lesa enjoyed working in her vegetable and flower gardens and being outdoors. She loved her six cats and shopping for a bargain.
In addition to her husband, she leaves her daughter, MiaLesa Breen (Stephen) of Brooklyn; her sisters, Linda Salo of Dayville, Louanne Beauregard of Pomfret Center, Lois Rosen of South Carolina, and Leslie Minarik of Thompson; her sister-in-law, Jo-Ann Chenail (Bob) of Thompson; and her grandchildren, Aaron Breen, and Shannon Breen. She was predeceased by a sister, Faith Houle.
A Celebration of Lesa’s Life was April 30 at the Connecticut Audubon Society, Pomfret Center. Donations: Connecticut Audubon Society, PO Box 11, Pomfret Center, CT 06259. Gilman Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Church St, Putnam.
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weather pg 9 5-5-22
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Clears Hurdle
Woodstock Academy freshman Juliet Allard clears the final hurdle in the 300m race. Allard finished first and qualified for States in the event against Fitch.
Crosses
Line
Talia Tremblay crosses the finish line first for Woodstock in the 400m race against Fitch. Tremblay also won the 200m race on a very windy day on the South Campus track.
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A pleasant spring day in late April, it was not. Temperatures were in the mid-50’s but the wind felt like it was gusting at about the same speed as the temperature.
It made it feel more like early March April 27. Those conditions made it difficult for Woodstock and Fitch girls’ track teams.
“The 200m and 300 (meter hurdles) were the worst to run. (Runners) really have to pick up speed, slingshot around the corner and you just get slapped in the face with this wind. It makes it a challenge to keep moving,” said coach Josh Welch.
The Centaurs persevered and the result was an easy 115-30 win over Fitch which raised Woodstock’s record to 2-0 overall and in Div. I of the ECC.
Junior Bella Sorrentino took part in the 4x100m relay, the 100m hurdles, the shotput and the long jump.
She ran the first leg of the 4x100 and helped the Centaurs build the early lead and pull out the win. She followed with a first-place finish in both the hurdles and shotput and was second in the long jump.
She qualified for state competition in all four of her events in the meet with NFA the week before.
“I don’t have to worry about qualifying and can just concentrate on my times and stuff,” Sorrentino said.
Welch said: “She took on the shotput and was fantastic there again. Her long jump was solid, not her personal best, but still great and her hurdles continue to be really impressive. She’s really helping to hold down the 4x100 team. She is part of what glues it together at practice and at races.”
Woodstock garnered firsts in everything except the high jump and long jump.
Sophomore Talia Tremblay won the 200 and 400m races and was a member of the winning 4x400 team. Tremblay’s 64-second time in the 400 qualified her for state competition in the event.
Senior Linsey Arends ran and finished first in both the 800 and 1600-meter races and then came back to help the Centaurs win the 4x400.
“That was a tough thing to do and it mimics something we might ask her to do against E. Lyme (this Wednesday). It’s a triple event that you will not see p.r’s in anywhere which you want to see as an athlete but it will take three victories from an (opposing) team,” Welch said.
Freshman Juliet Allard won both the 100m and the 300m hurdles, qualifying for the States in the hurdles with a 49.6-second finish.
In field events, junior Magdalena Myslenski had a personal best as she cleared the pole vault bar at 7-feet, 6-inches despite the wind.
“In practice, she’s pushing 8-feet, 8-6, pretty comfortably so she is hitting 7-6 like clockwork. It was good to see her put it down despite the wind,” Welch said.
Myslenski also placed first in the discus and javelin.
The girls’ track team also participated in the Dave Tetlow Relays, formerly known as the Ledyard Relays, April 30.
The unique team-oriented competition features events not seen during the regular track season.
The Centaurs took home first-place medals from one of those, winning the 4x1600m race. Lauren Brule, Julia Coyle, Arends and Leah Castle formed the winning team.
Woodstock also took a second in the 4x100m hurdles relay with Abby Morin, Jill Edwards, Sorrentino and Rebecca Nazer earning the medal.
Boys’ Track: Centaurs Fall to Fitch
The Woodstock boys’ track team saved its best for last. The Centaurs may have lost to Fitch, 93-57, in Groton April 27 but they had their share of highlights.
None better, according to coach Peter Lusa, than the effort of the 4x400m relay team in the final running event of the meet.
The Falcons broke out to the early lead but Owen Tracy and Vince Bastura gradually closed the gap and then Bastura handed the baton to senior Ian Hoffman.
Hoffman ran around the track in 54 seconds and took over the lead just 5 meters from the finish line for the win.
The win was difficult because of the wind.
Woodstock (0-2, 0-2 ECC Div. I) received another fine performance from senior Keenan LaMontagne. LaMontagne finished first in both the discus and shotput and recorded a personal best 163-foot, 7-inch throw in the discus.
Jared Eaton finished second in the shotput and got his personal best in the discus, 119-6, good enough for a third-place finish.
Another personal best came in the javelin where Silas Strandson finished second with a throw of 132-6 for second place and Chase Young took third.
Woodstock finished first in two distance races: Vince Bastura won the 1600m in 4 minutes, 55 seconds; and Christian Menounos followed up with a win in the 3200m.
“The pace wasn’t very fast, and Christian was either first or second the whole race with two different Fitch runners challenging him at times during the race. He took the lead for the last time with 400 meters to go and then, blasted through the last 200 meters to win by 5 meters,” Lusa said.
The 4x100m relay team of Scout Favreau, Braeden Emerson, Carter Saracina and Jeff Phongsa also brought home a first-place finish.
The Centaurs traveled to the Dave Tetlow Relays in Ledyard where LaMontagne had a pretty eventful day. He won the discus competition at the event with a throw of 158-feet, 5-inches. That effort broke the former record at the event, 156-1, which had stood since 1989.
LaMontagne also won the shotput competition.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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woodstock pg 9 5-5-22
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Senior Day
From left: Everett Michalski, Jonah Libby, Zach Girard, Tyler Green, John Pokorny and Will Chambers were all honored on Senior Day for the Woodstock boys’ lacrosse team prior to its match with Montville. Photo by Sean Saucier/Woodstock Academy.
Girls' Golf
The Woodstock girls' golf team was all smiles after its first win of the season last week against Bacon Academy. Photo by Adam Bottone/Woodstock Academy.
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Girls' Golf
The Woodstock girls' golf team was all smiles after its first win of the season last week against Bacon Academy. Photo by Adam Bottone/Woodstock Academy.
Gets Ready
Sydney Schuler gets ready to return a volley against Lyman Memorial. The senior and her teammates were all successful in a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs. Photo by Marc Allard.
On 8th Hole
Senior Kyle Brennan tees off on the 8th hole at the Norwich Golf Course in a match against NFA, Stonington and Montville. Photo by Rich Garceau/Woodstock Academy.
It was not a good beginning of the season for the Woodstock girls’ golf team. The Centaurs lost senior Mia Dang, the defending Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Division II individual state champion to season-ending hip surgery after she suffered an injury in hockey.
Add to that another senior who transferred and one who did not decide to come out and the team was left with one returning varsity player, Jillian Marcotte.
But things have gradually filled in and the Centaurs picked up their first win of the season last week when they got past Bacon Academy, 242-273.
“The progress is coming along nicely,” said veteran coach Earl Semmelrock. “Although the weather has not been cooperative this spring, we have been able to get to the range and work on things. I think that is where we are seeing the most improvement. More reps will lead to more consistency and better scores.”
The Centaurs (1-2) had three players all come back to the clubhouse as medalists against the Bobcats.
Marcotte, and juniors Shannon Cunniff and Ella Musumeci, all carded 57s for the Centaurs. Two late-arriving newcomers helped the team earlier in the week. Marcotte led the way with a 56 in a 217-255 loss to NFA. But Lily Bottone, in her first competitive round of golf, finished as the No. 2 player on the team with a 64. Musumeci was a stroke back of Bottone but she was followed by another freshman, Sophie Gronski.
Semmelrock was not only concerned about the performance of his team this season but also whether he would have a team at all.
The Centaurs still have 11 matches in the month of May.
But for the young team, it will still be a case of the little things first
Boys’ Golf: Busy Week after Break
It was a busy return from spring break for the Woodstock boys’ golf team. Cold temps, a heavy mist and gusty winds affected play.
The Centaurs posted mixed results in the five matches they played in the three days.
They put together a pair of wins over Stonington including a 5-2 victory April 28, bringing their record to 4-4.
Senior Kyle Brennan shot a 39 and junior Davis Simpson added a 44.
Logan Rawson also added a team point and the Centaurs picked up two more team points as they edged the Bears in strokes, 181-182.
Woodstock also downed Stonington, 4 1/2- 2 1/2 in a quad-match April 27.
Brennan finished with a 41 and Simpson a 43 in that match.
The Centaurs also squared off against Montville and NFA but lost both those matches by identical 5-2 scores.
The team began the week with the match against E. Lyme, losing 6-1. Simpson scored the only point for Woodstock as he won his match and finished as medalist in the match with a 40. Brennan added a 42 for the Centaurs but lost by a stroke to Tyler Moore.
Woodstock also lost the two team points, but also by a slim margin, 180-184, to the Vikings.
Girls’ Tennis: Centaurs Back on the Court
Prior to spring break, the Woodstock girls’ tennis team had played one match and that was back on April 5.
“We had a lot of matches postponed because of COVID on the team and issues like that, but we’re going to get out there and play strong now,” said senior Alexa Fernandez.
“The downside is that we haven’t played a lot of matches, but the plus side is that we were able to practice a lot. We’ve worked on a lot of skill stuff and strategy and those kinds of things. I talked to the girls (Friday) about being to take what we’ve been practicing and apply it to a game which is a unique skill set in itself,” said coach Keith Atchinson.
Atchinson said the team has also been working on certain skills, especially in singles.
“We’ve been hitting a lot of balls at our opponents and haven’t tried to move them. We’ve been talking about not hitting down the middle of the court too much and when we have the opportunity to put shots away and finish points, we have to take advantage of those,” Atchinson said.
The girls put together 7-0 victories over NFA and Lyman Memorial. April 30 the four singles players were dominant.
Addy Smith, Jackie Trudeau, Sydney Schuler and Alexa Fernandez all won in straight sets and the four only surrendered two games in the eight sets played.
Atchinson anticipated his singles group would be strong.
Fernandez said playing away at Killingly High, due to the fact that the courts at the Bentley Athletic Complex are unplayable, has not been such a bad thing because Killingly High has six courts.
The lone blemish of the return was a 5-2 loss to Fitch earlier in the week.
The first doubles team and the third doubles team of Stella Atchinson and Emma Massey delivered the only successes the Centaurs experienced against the Falcons.
The results left the Centaurs with a 3-1 overall record and 1-0 in Div. II of the ECC.
Boys’ Tennis: Centaurs Squeak 1 Out
Woodstock coach Siana Green was thinking it would be a relatively short Friday afternoon. After all, their new home away from home at Killingly High School boasts six courts, meaning all but one of the matches, can be played simultaneously.
But in the unpredictable world of high school athletics, expect the unexpected.
Three of the matches went to third sets and the first singles match took three hours to complete.
When all was said and done, the Centaurs escaped with a 4-3 win over Waterford.
“We figured Waterford was the same skill level as us; we both beat Montville 4-3. It was very nerve-wracking going into this because we felt this was the team we had to beat this year,” Green said.
The win raised the Centaurs’ record to 4-3.
Evan Haskins, who recently committed to play tennis next year for the University of St. Joseph’s in W. Hartford, had quite the tussle with Ian Balfour at first singles. “Every single set was 3-3, 4-4, etc.…It was a nail biter in every set,” Green said.
Haskins pulled out the first set 7-6 thanks to a 7-5 tiebreaker. Balfour captured the second set 6-4, but Haskins came back to win by taking the third set, 6-4. He capped off the victory with an ace on his final serve.
While Haskins had to battle, Gabriel Viau had a walk in the park, winning 6-0, 6-1.
Joe Zhou lost in one of those three sets battles, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6 while Jai Abrams delivered a much-needed 6-3, 6-1 win at fourth singles.
The second doubles team of Ari Abrams and Tyler Chamberlin posted the other win in another marathon, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6). That second doubles team posted the only victory in the other match of the week for the Centaurs. Chamberlin and Ari Abrams posted a 0-6, 6-4, 10-7 (pro-set tiebreaker) win over Malloch Allison and Noah Freeman of Ledyard. Unfortunately, the Colonels won the rest and posted a 6-1 victory.
The loss dropped Woodstock to 1-2 in Div. II of the ECC.
Baseball: Ericson blanks E. Lyme
Sometimes, it’s not bad to be a freshman. Take Brady Ericson for example.
Against E. Lyme, “He’s just taking the ball and pitching,” said coach Brian Murphy. “Sometimes, the less thinking, the better. All of our kids work really hard at this and he’s one of them. I tell them all the time, ‘Just go out there and play.’ Go hit, go pitch, go field- relax and play. That’s the spot he’s in. He’s just an unbelievable addition to the team.”
Ericson delivered 6 2/3 innings and allowed just three hits and struck out 11.
His effort led the Centaurs to a 2-0 win against the team that knocked Woodstock out of the ECC tournament last year.
April 27 Woodstock (8-3) had a less than stellar game in a 13-1 loss to Fitch.
“I didn’t pull any punches,” Murphy said. “We didn’t play with heart.”
Twenty games may not seem like a long season. So Murphy reminded his team how to warm up, how to celebrate, congratulate each other and he made some changes in the dugout with the bench players.
“I mixed up the lineup. I took some people out of their comfort zone,” Murphy said.
Ericson shut down the Vikings (7-5) and the Centaurs came up with the only two runs the freshman needed.
With two outs in the fourth, Zach Roethlein singled to right field. He advanced to third on a Jackson Goetz single to left and came around on a Marcus McGregor single to center. Woodstock added an insurance run in the fifth, again with two outs. Maxx Corradi singled to right and stole second base. Ethan Davis followed with a single to left that plated Corradi for his ninth run batted in of the season.
After committing six errors in the loss to the Falcons, Murphy considered the “D” April 30 to be “spectacular.”
Boys’ Lacrosse: Tournament Bound
There was plenty of motivation April 30 for the Woodstock boys’ lacrosse team.
When it took the field, the Centaurs wanted to make up for a loss to NFA in their previous match. It was also Senior Day.
And a win meant they qualified for the state tournament.
The Centaurs shook off any distractions and walked away with a 15-3 win over Montville to raise their record to 7-4 on the season and guarantee themselves a Class M state tournament berth.
“We want to extend the season for as long as possible and we just gave our seniors more games to play before they graduate,” said coach Jason Tata.
Prior to the match, the Centaurs honored seniors John Pokorny, Jonah Libby, Zach Girard, Tyler Green, Will Chambers and Everett Michalski.
They have only one more match that will come up on May 10 against Waterford.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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