Girls’ Roundup:

Milestone wins, losses

in up,down

hoops week

By Ron P. Coderre

There were a number of significant wins and losses last week in girls’ high school and prep school hoop action.  Some little victories took place that bode well for the future for some schools that are struggling this year and some losses occurred that are hopefully only a hiccup for teams that are doing well this season.

Pomfret School, which was riding a nine-game win streak following a big victory over Worcester Academy, was dropped by Rivers School, snapping the win skein.  In another similar situation, Tourtellotte Memorial High School, sporting the best local schoolgirl record in the area at 10-3, was felled by Windham following a big win over Parish Hill.

On the other side of the ledger, Woodstock Academy, looking for wins wherever they can find them, did pick up its second victory of the season when the Acads beat Griswold in what was a major milestone for coach Willie Bousquet’s ladies.   

Light Week in Prep Action

The Pomfret School Golden Griffins, the hottest prep team in the area started the week by raising its record to 10-2 with a huge win over perennial power Worcester Academy.  Trailing by three points, 31-28 at halftime Pomfret put together a big defensive second-half effort holding the visitors to 11 points and walked off with a convincing 56-42 victory.

Juliette Lawless (15 points) and Alyzae Davis (17), part of Pomfret’s offensive armada, were the key operatives in the win.  Pomfret then allowed a potential victory slip through its fingers when the Griffs lost a 26-21 halftime advantage by scoring only 16 points after intermission and falling 53-42 to Rivers Schools.  Lawless (17) and Davis (13) were the only players to reach double digits for Pomfret.

Marianapolis, led by Madison Springfield’s double-double (12 points – 12 rebounds) and Caroline Soucy’s 15-point and nine-rebound effort, raised its record to 9-3 with a 57-49 victory over Buckingham, Browne and Nichols.

Hyde-Woodstock was dropped by St. Andrew’s 42-17. Janicha Diaz had 14 points for the 3-6 Wolfpack.

'Bousqueteers' Pick up Second Win

Woodstock Academy, under first year coach Willie Bousquet, has been going through a tough transition as the Centaurs struggle to find victories.  The team morale took a shot of adrenalin this week when it posted a surprisingly strong 36-29 win over Griswold at home.

A big third quarter by the hosts in which they outscored the Lady Wolverines 12-3 was the key to the win.  The Centaurs were paced by Galina Gruder with 12 points and Taylor Littell with 11 markers.  Woodstock then fell at the hands of Montville 54-35 as the offense had a difficult time getting started against the visiting Indians.  Littell and Gruder with 10 points apiece were the leading scorers for the 2-12 “Bousqueteers.”

Tourtellotte, which boasts an impressive 10-3 log, posted a big 39-18 win over Constitution State Conference foe Parish Hill.  The winners featured a balanced scoring attack with four players, Niclole Dion, Lizz Coty, Jess Dodd and Abby Poirier all posting eight points.  The Windham Whippets then arrived in Thompson and ran amok over the host Lady Tigers 52-38.

Putnam raised its record to 4-7 overall and 2-1 in the CSC East with a convincing 46-35 win over visiting Holy Family Academy.  Cynthia Briere enjoyed her best offensive showing of the season posting a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in leading the Lady Clippers to victory.  In a CSC matchup, Putnam lost to Goodwin Tech 32-21 in a game played in Manchester.  

Plainfield’s record dipped below .500 when the Lady Panthers were dropped by a good Bacon Academy team 39-17.  They now stand at 6-7 overall.  Killingly fell to 1-11 when it lost to Norwich Free Academy 61-26.  Ellis Tech suffering through a winless season lost its only contest of the week 68-16 at the hands of Capital Prep.  The Lady Techsters are 0-10 and 0-4 in the CSC East.

Scoring Leaders: Meagan Bianchi – Killingly – 15.9; Alyzae Davis – Pomfret School – 15.3; Janicha Diaz – Hyde-Woodstock – 15.2; Mary Redmond – Pomfret School – 15.0

Three-point Leaders: Mary Redmond – Pomfret School – 24; Adrienne Lorange – Plainfield – 19

 

 

 

captions, page 1:

 

Shining Bright

The carved proscenium, top, at the Bradley. Above, the ceiling and dome, shine. More photos on page 6. Linda Lemmon photos.

 

 

 

 

captions, page 6:

 

Lower right:  L-R: Board member Tony Germano, owner Tom Borner, board President Mike Gallo.

two lower left photos courtesy of Jon Loux

 

 

Ailing ceiling 

to rebirth

By Linda Lemmon

Town Crier Editor

PUTNAM ---  Stars take many forms at the Bradley Playhouse. Committed community volunteers are stars. Benefactors and building owners are stars.  Even bright and golden stars adorning the newly refurbished ceiling at the playhouse.

It began with plaster falling from the 1901 playhouse ceiling last fall. The community theater board, volunteers and many more got to work fund-raising to replace the ailing plaster ceiling. While there was a "substantial amount of money and community support," said building owner Tom Borner, "I could see that it was not enough" and he and co-owner, wife, Kathy Borner, decided to transform the whole theater. 

Tom and Kathy Borner have owned the historic playhouse for 30 years.  Borner said when they bought it, it was a movie house. 

Work began in earnest in mid-December and Jan. 24 Borner unveiled the work to the theater group. Much of the work fell under "we may as well." For example, when the staging was set up throughout the theater, workers noticed egg and dart moulding around the highest ceiling. "We may as well fix it." It was repaired and repainted gold. The whole theater was repainted, including the carved proscenium around the stage (after cleaning 50 years of dust away), the floors, the walls, the ceiling. The wall and lighting facing the restrooms were reworked. The entire front entry was transformed with paint, tray ceilings, lighting.  Borner also had new steel added to the fire escape and it was reinforced. 

In the last 22 years, Borner said, the community theater has flourished. "They've worked very hard. They're very excited about this theater," Borner said. "It was time for a rebirth. This is a new chapter for them."

Mike Gallo, president of the theater's board of directors, had not seen the work being done. When he came into the sparkling space, he kissed contractor Tommy Thurlow of Hilltop Contractors on the cheek.  Gallo said the theater received huge support from the community for the project. Donations for the original plaster ceiling project ranged from $1 to $8,000.  He said the larger project benefited by "$70,000 minimum" in donations. 

Thurlow said so many helped. He recalls Harvey Copeland, 80, dropping in to see how it was going. He told them he remembered coming to the theater when he was young, paying 7 cents to get in. While chatting, Copeland noticed that the carpenters needed help scribing a curving wall into the glass window above. Thurlow said "he just got some tools and started doing it." 

The Borners found the design for the ceiling and its dome and helped paint the stars up above. 

The theater thanked several contractors including: Turenne Masonry LLC of Putnam, Shawn Morgan Painting and Wallcovering of Dayville, Chace Building Supply of Woodstock, Coastal Drywall of Ledyard, CharMac Electric, LLC of Canterbury, Bernie Davis of Grosvenordale, B.W. Dexter, II, Inc. of Danielson, Paquette Electric of Pomfret Center, RC Construction of Dayville and Hilltop Contractors LLC of Pomfret Center and many more.

A gala to celebrate the restoration of the playhouse will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 16. There will be light fare, cocktails and entertainment to honor the extraordinary people who rescued the theater. It's $10 per person (cash bar) and tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the box office (860-928-7887).

Theater officials put it this way: "To take the sentiments from the 1927 newspaper account of the 'remodeled theatre,' we need only change the date to 2014 ... 'Superlatives are needed to describe the remodeled playhouse ... from ceiling to cellar nothing has been neglected that could give comfort and pleasure.' Thank you Tom and Kathy Borner and to all who contributed to the effort to restore the Bradley to its former glory!"

 

..

 

 

New Sat. hours

DAYVILLE — Charter Oak Federal Credit Union will offer Saturday lobby hours (9 a.m. to noon) at its Dayville Branch beginning Feb. 1.

“Our Dayville branch is one of the busiest in our network of 13 branches,” said Brian A. Orenstein, Charter Oak’s CEO. “Based on the continuing growth in transactions, it became very clear to us that we needed to offer Saturday lobby hours,” he said. Both the Dayville and Putnam Charter Oak branches will continue to offer Saturday drive-up services. Driveup hours on Saturdays are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Dayville and 9 a.m.to noon at the Putnam branch.