PUTNAM — The second marking period honor roll at Putnam Middle School includes:

Principal’s List

Grade 8: Emma Ciquera, Victoria Dias, Kaitlyn Eddy, Ezra George, Kira Horan, Sierra Mainville, Maggie McKeon, Pari Patel, Lydia Taft, Jenna Tatro, Madison Toutant, 

Grade 7: Mirabelle Bates, Haley Cutler, Molly McKeon, Benjamin Moran, Janete Morente Uz,  Ellie Morissette, Jordyn Poole, Jillian Romagnano,  

Grade 6: Nathan Barylski, Emma Braithwaite, Shelby Brayton, Mark Caswell, Laylah Chavez, Jackson Dias, Anna Ionkin, Sarah Keith, Lesbia Morente-Mendez, Brooke Peloquin, Mackenzie Peloquin,  Emma Rudman, Abby St. Martin, Aidan Stewart, Sybaljan Tahirova

First Honors

Grade 8: Izabella Alfred, Kayla Anderson, Trinity Bailey, Morgan Blackmar, Montana Cook, Emily Cournoyer, Delaney Cross, Cole, Davagian, Troy Davis, Lauren Deery, Gabriel Desrosiers, Michael DiColella, Seyla Dodge, Jewelia England, Haley Houghton, Kylye-Annmarie Kupiec, Andrew Kustov, Kayla MacDonald, Katy Maryanov, Thomas Masso, Mya Meadows, Simon Morente Uz, Evan Nicol, Jeffrey Reed, Katia Ruelas-Santana, Megan Shippee, Kaitlin Slivkoff-Zamora, Alexa Steinbrick, Alexander Strom, Mariah Travisano, Jane Vongvirath

Grade 7: Samantha Barylski,  Zoey Beaudreault, Ariana Bianchi-Bisson, Autumn Bocash, Rachel Farnsworth, Jillian Gray, Shayla Haggerty, Kyle Haynes, Zoe Hetrick, Hayley Kuhn, Emily Langlois, Kayleigh Lyons, Steven Merritt, Andrea Prochowski, Violet Provencal, Hannah Smith, Anthony Sonner, Justin St. Martin, Jennifer Tilley, Melayna Titchen, Noah Tomkins

Grade 6: Evelyn Allen, Greyson Anderson, Johnathan Carita, Chiara Cinque, Samantha Dempsey, Sage Foster, Jack Lomax, Julie Morris, Abbigail Pelletier, Violet Pietrowski, Edward Prestas, Jillian Robidas, Tyler Shippee, Bethany Smith, Joshua Southwell, Haley Syrjala, Alexis Thompson, Alison Tourtellotte, Morgan Toutant, Emily Zmayefski

Second Honors

Grade 8: Jordan Alexander, Courtney Auguste, Kobie Bates, Lauren Blackmar, Mackenzie Blackwell, Christopher Bocash, Paige Brennan, Julz Burdzel, Jacob Clinkscale, Devin Diamond, Dawnielle Dowd, Kira Fontaine, Elizabeth Foss, Kayleigh Gauvin, Angelina Gould, Bryce Hosaflook, Logan LeBlanc, Julia Loomis, Camryn Mathieu, Chelsea Minaya-Torres, Sebastian Ramos, Megan Sessums, Aislin Tracey, Jillian Williams, Samuel Williams

Grade 7: Coby Babbitt, Tanner Clark, Madison Collette, Austin Desrosiers, Malaki Fitzgerald, Jaden Garcia, Sydney Grilo, Michael Ionkin, Christa Lord-Pinkston, Daytona MacDonald, Ryan Metivier, Jade Montpelier, Jasmine Neal, Charlotte Nichols, Megan Nicol, Lucas Perry, Joshua Porter, Hunter Roberts, Mackenzie Saucier, Jacob Tatro

Grade 6: Jared Bachand, Joseph Barnett, Dylan Bemis, Emma Brock, Alexandra Coderre, Harley Field, Brenna Fowler, Darian Hernandez, Amber Holman, Donovan Houghton, Alex Hutchins, Tre Johnson, Ethan Key, Colby Livingston, Mikayla Loiselle, Scott Martel, Trent Menard, Mackenzie Oleszewski, Jamie Petre, Michayla Rugh, Jack Rumsey, Oscar Steinbrick, Isabelle Thomas, Devan Velie, Maggie Wojciechowski.

 

Margot Cassedy

CHARLTON — Margot Quackenbush Cassedy, 94, of Charlton, formerly of Woodstock, wife of William A.T. Cassedy III and mother of Nena Cassedy, died Feb. 5, 2015.

Margot lived in many places growing up including Brooklyn, N.Y., where she was born, and St. Louis, where she met her future husband Bill during WWII. Margot created beauty everywhere she lived. Her artistic talent was evidenced in her beautiful home, gardens, drawings and woodcarvings. Margot loved animals and nature. As a young person she loved horseback riding. In Woodstock she was a Connecticut licensed wildlife and raptor rehabilitator, taking care of injured and orphaned birds and animals. She especially loved raccoons and her domestic flock of chickens, as well as being an avid birdwatcher. Margot was responsible for restoring the Woodstock Arboretum as its chairman from 1980-2006. Margot was also involved for many years placing and helping students from the American Field Service International Exchange Program and in Woodstock was an English as a second language tutor.

She leaves her daughter Nena; son Tyler and Turkish son Orhan. 

A Memorial Service will be held at a later date at the Woodstock Congregational Church. 

Donations: NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council - www.NRDC.org). Smith & Walker Funeral Home, 148 Grove St., Putnam.

 

Dorothy R. Battey

STERLING — Dorothy R. Battey, 61, died Feb. 4, 2015. 

Dorothy was born in 1953, the daughter of the late Evangeline Maurice and George Palmer II.  

She leaves her husband, Robert B. Battey; r children Charlene Palmer, Tina Battey, Robert W. Battey and Jennifer Battey; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She was the oldest of six siblings. 

Services will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 12 at the Line Baptist Church, 175 S. Killingly Road, Foster.  

Donations: Hospice and Palliative Care, P.O. Box 632, Putnam, CT 06260; or the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc., 2600 Network Blvd., Suite 300, Frisco, Texas 75034. 

Gilman Funeral Home, 104 Church St., Putnam.

 

Douglas L. Krofina

WOODSTOCK — Doug Krofina of Woodstock, died Jan. 31, 2015, after a battle with melanoma.

Born in 1948 in Johnstown, Penn., he was the son of the late Joseph and Josephine Krofina.

He remained a “Terrible Towel” carrying Steelers fan and a Pitt Panther supporter. 

He began his illustrious 43-year career with the Boy Scouts of America in Dubois, Penn., and concluded it as director of Professional Development at the National Office in Texas. 

When not “puttering” in the yard, you would find him doing his favorite activity - splitting wood.

He leaves his wife Andy, Andy’s sons Robert and Michael Serricchio and their wives, his grandkids Sabrina, Anthony and Michael Serricchio; his brother David in California; cousins Don, Jo Jonathan and Alexis Singel, Bonnie and Greg Turner, and Irene Karan.

A Gathering of Remembrance will take place at 11 a.m. March 1 at the Publick House in Sturbridge, followed by a luncheon.  Donations: Yale New Haven Hospital directed to Mario Sznol, MD Melanoma Research Program, PO Box 1849, New Haven, CT 06508. Cremation arrangements entrusted to the Gilman Funeral Home.  

 

Barbara A. Beausoleil

DANIELSON — Barbara A. Beausoleil, 78, died Feb. 6, 2015, at home in Danielson after a short illness. 

Born on July 30, 1936, in Waterbury, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Ruby Delliber of Thomaston. 

She enjoyed cheering for the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots. She worked at Foxwoods for 10 years and at Anchor Glass in Dayville for more than 20 years. 

She leaves her husband of 59 years, Leo Beausoleil; six children , Garry Beausoleil of Danielson, Donna Giebultowski of Brooklyn, Raymond Beausoleil of Danielson, Michelle Dudley-Downing of Danielson, Lori Civilinski of N. Attleboro Mass., and Kim Nahas of Pawcatuck; 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by all of her siblings: Frederick Tetro, Dorothy Negri, Thurza Pryor, Raymond Delliber, Donald Delliber, and Elsie Jacquemin. 

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 11 at St James Church, Danielson, with burial in Holy Cross Cemetery. Donations: St James School Endowment Fund in Danielson; or the NECCOG Regional Animal Shelter in Dayville. Gagnon and Costello Funeral Home, 33 Reynolds St., Danielson.

 

Janet M. Benier

DAYVILLE — Janet M. Bernier, 77, of Dayville, died Jan. 29, 2015, at Pierce Memorial Baptist Home in Brooklyn. She was the wife of Donald Bernier. They were married Oct. 11, 1958, at Assumption Church in S. Bellingham, Mass. He died Nov. 27, 2008. 

She was born Oct. 24, 1937, in Woonsocket, daughter of the late Moise and Viola (Frigon) Desmarais. She was raised and attended school in Woonsocket and Bellingham. 

Janet was employed at Finkelsteins Sewing Mill in Woonsocket and at the age of 19 moved to Danielson and worked at Electro Motive in Willimantic. She has made her home in Killingly since her marriage and raised four children. In 1966 the family moved to the poultry farm in Dayville. She worked with her husband and family raising chickens for 31 years. Janet was also employed part time at Putnam Hallmark, then at Dowe’s Card and Gift. She worked full-time at the Hyde School in Woodstock as a prep chef. She enjoyed antiques, yard sales, travel, her home and cooking. 

She leaves her son Rene D. Bernier of Lexington, Ky.; three daughters Laurie Crown (Thomas) of Lexington, Lynn Wytas of Andover, Lisa Schmidt of Brooklyn; six grandchildren, Victoria Nash and Elizabeth Bosompem of Kentucky, Benjamin and Nicholas Wytas of Andover, Morgan and Adele Schmidt of Brooklyn, and three great-grandchildren, Manuel, Nathan and Emma.

The Mass of Christian Burial was Jan. 31 at St. James Church, Danielson, with burial in the spring in Holy Cross Cemetery. Donations: Creative Living Community of CT, 60 Church St., Manchester, CT 06040; or to the Recreation Fund of Pierce Memorial Baptist Home, 44 Canterbury Road, Brooklyn, CT 06234. Gagnon and Costello Funeral Home, 33 Reynolds St., Danielson.

 

Ann B. Liebscher 

MELBOURNE, Fla. —  Ann B. Liebscher “Meme”, 79, of Danielson, died unexpectedly, Feb. 3, 2015, at Holmes Regional Medical Center, Melbourne. 

She was born March 10, 1935,  in the Bronx, N.Y., to the late Edwin and Zylphia (Zwirz) Ledogar. 

 She was married June 4, 1960, to the late Gustave J. Liebscher. He died Dec. 25, 1996. Her family moved to Killingly to raise their family. She attended Killingly schools and worked at Arrow Hart and Glass Container until her retirement. 

She had a zest for life, living each day to its fullest. She enjoyed ceramics, bowling, dancing and traveling with her family to Florida. Ann loved helping others and making them feel welcomed and loved. She enjoyed meeting new friends, baking cakes for her “girlfriends,” and their weekend trips to the Cape.

Ann leaves her four children Robert (Joyce) Liebscher, Lawrence (Lynn) Liebscher, Carol (David) Bellisle and Donald Liebscher (Tawnya); grandchildren: Stephanie, Curtis, Ryan, Kyle, Bradley, Bailey, Brooke, Thomas and Connor; brother Lawrence Ledogar; sister Gail Aubin; loving companion of five years Allan Fielding. She was predeceased by her parents, husband of 36 years, Gustave Liebscher, her grandson Zachary Liebscher and brothers Edwin, William and Frank Ledogar. 

Visitation is from 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 11 at Gagnon and Costello Funeral Home, 33 Reynolds St., Danielson, and the funeral will be at 9 a.m. Feb. 12 at the funeral home, followed by a 10 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at St. James Church, Danielson.

 

Nancy McDonnell

WORCESTER — Nancy A. (Johnson) McDonnell, 72, died Jan. 29, 2015, in St. Vincent Hospital.  

 She was born in Worcester, daughter of the late Arthur and Edna Johnson and lived here all her life.  She enjoyed playing bingo and cards and visits to lighthouses and the beach.   She leaves her husband of 47 years  Wayne B. McDonnell; three sons: Brian Hackett of Worcester, William Hackett of Webster and John McDonnell of Worcester; four daughters; Laura Hackett of Thompson, Pauline Riordan of Worcester, Carrie McDonnell of Auburn and Jenny McDonnell of Worcester; two brothers, Robert and Steven Johnson of Worcester; a sister Maryann Hoffman of North Carolina; three grandchildren.  She was predeceased by two brothers, Arthur and Donald Johnson. There was a celebration of life Feb. 4. Donations: American Diabetes Fund. Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home, Webster. 

 

Nancy J. Smith

CANTERBURY — Nancy J. (Metro) Smith, 75, died Feb. 1, 2015, in Hartford Hospital.  She was the wife of the late George Smith.  

She was born in Scranton, Penn., daughter of the late, Stephen and Caroline (Doud) Metro and Nancy lived in Canterbury for the past seven years, prior to that  living in Plainfield.  She was a member of the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.

She leaves two sons, Stephen Carpenter of Canterbury and Daniel Carpenter of Oneco; three daughters; Laura Young of Moosup, Cheryl A. Valera of Plainfield and Kristy Carpenter of Putnam; one brother, Stephen Metro of Norwich; 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.  

A service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1200 Norwich Rd., Plainfield. A gathering will follow from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Putnam VFW, 207 Providence St., Putnam. Donations: Charity of donor’s choice.   Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home, Webster.

 

Cathy Taylor

DUDLEY — Cathy M. ( Allen) Taylor, 42, died unexpectedly Jan. 31, 2015, at home after being stricken ill. She was born in Worcester, and lived in Dudley all her life. Cathy graduated from Shepherd Hill Regional High School  in 1990. She received her bachelor’s degree from Western New England College in 1994. Cathy was a real estate appraiser for the past 20 years. She owned Mass Conn Real Estate Appraisal in Dudley. She was a communicant of St. Andrew Bobola Church. She leaves her parents Conrad and Paula (Guilfoyle) Allen of Dudley; nephew and godson Conner F. Allen of Dudley and her aunt Louise Kurposka of Southbridge. Cathy is predeceased by her brother, Daniel Allen in 2003. A Funeral  Mass was Feb. 7 in St. Andrew Bobola Church, Dudley, with burial in St. Joseph Garden of Peace Cemetery, Webster.  Donations: American Heart Association MA Affiliate, 20 Speen St. Framingham, MA 01701-4688. Bartel Funeral Home & Chapel, Dudly.

 

 

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By Ron P. Coderre

Three local high school teams can breathe easily as they’ve qualified for the CIAC postseason by posting the minimum eight victories in the regular season.  Tourtellotte, Plainfield and Putnam are on the road to tournament play as they’ve passed the eight-win plateau with room to spare.  Tourtellotte not only qualified but the Lady Tigers of coach Carla Faucher have captured the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division regular season crown.  As of press time they boast a perfect 8-0 Small Division record.

Woodstock Academy, which hasn’t reached the tourney in many moons, is on the bubble.  The Lady Centaurs, under the guidance of coach Willie Bousquet, are enjoying one of their most successful seasons in recent history.  The Acads are one win from qualifying with three games to play.  Killingly and Ellis Tech are running out the string.

The preps had a light schedule last week with Pomfret School the only team to pick up a victory.  Hyde-Woodstock and the Marianapolis V1 and V2 teams were winless.

Tourtellotte – We are 

the Champions

The recent snow storms caused a number of postponements, forcing many of the schools to reschedule.  Tourtellotte, thanks to Colbie and Darius, was forced to play back–to-back contests but the Lady Tigers reached for a little extra and pulled off a pair of wins to clinch the ECC Small Division title, making them the pride of Tigerland.

Tourtellotte opened the week against a formidable foe Windham High School and disposed of the Lady Whippets with relative ease 64-29.  After a close first quarter in which they were on top 16-10, the Lady Tigers turned up the defensive pressure and held Windham to only 19 points over the final 24 minutes.

The duo of senior Allie Ablondi and sophomore Abbie Poirier were the offensive catalysts in the win.  Ablondi led all scorers with 17 points with three of her hoops coming from beyond the arc.  Poirier, who is emerging as Tourtellotte’s leader of the future, had 16 points in a brilliant performance.

The next night a tired but courageous bunch of Lady Tigers traveled to North Stonington where they tackled a pesky Wheeler High School team.   In the end Tourtellotte prevailed with a hard fought 49-46 win to raise its overall record to 14-3.  The Allie and Abbie show of Ablondi and Poirier once again led the way to victory.  Ablondi was game-high scorer with 21 points as she continued her long-range assault with six three-pointers, while Poirier chipped in 13 points.

Putnam also enjoyed a perfect week with two wins in raising its record to 9-7 on the season and 8-2 in the Constitution State Conference – East.  The Lady Clippers opened by easily disposing of Ellis Tech 48-8 behind a 16 point performance from freshman Ashley Burke.  Captain Lynsay Dashnaw added 13 markers.  The Lady Techsters also lost 62-34 to Windham Tech to go to 1-16 overall and 0-10 in the CSC – East.

The Lady Clippers then picked up a satisfying 34-29 win over CSC – East opponent Parish Hill.  Alyssa Espinosa and Burke with nine points apiece were Putnam’s top scorers, in a game that the Lady Clippers never trailed the Lady Pirates, who had embarrassed the Lady Clippers earlier in the season.  

Plainfield picked up a key win as it rode Julie Jordan’s 26-point performance to a 61-58 overtime win against a good Stonington team.  Madeline Lorange added 15 points for the 9-7 Lady Panthers, who are 4-4 in the ECC Medium Division.  Plainfield outscored the Lady Bears 5-2 in the extra stanza as a Zoe Beaver basket was the difference in the outcome.

Woodstock Academy clinging to a faint hope of qualifying for the postseason split a pair of wins last week to go to 7-10 overall and 2-6 in the ECC Large Division.  The Lady Centaurs need one win in their final three games to qualify for the CIAC tourney.

Bacon Academy temporarily stalled the Lady Centaurs as it prevailed in a 50-40 victory despite the fact that Woodstock placed three players in double figures.  Galina Gruder was the Acads top gun with 13 points, while Abby Willis and Rebecca Messier each chipped in 10 points.

The Lady Centaurs rebounded with an impressive 45-38 win over Fitch High School in a game played in Groton.  Woodstock fell behind 19-14 at intermission but a solid second half in which they outscored the Lady Falcons 31-19 was the difference in the contest.  Alyson Calabrese turned in a 14-point performance to pace the Academy offense, while Messier added 12 points with two coming from beyond the three-point arc.

Killingly suffered through a three-loss week, falling to 3-13 on the year.  The Redgals were beaten by Plainfield 65-35 as the Lady Panthers Madeline Lorange filled the hoop with 31 points and Shannon Sweeney added 12 markers.  The Redgals then lost 38-29 to Waterford and 80-33 to New London, one of the top teams in Connecticut.

Pomfret Victorious on Huge Offensive Show

Pomfret School went to 9-5 on the season as it exploded on offense for a 74-48 victory over the Groton School.  Three players hit double digits for the Lady Griffins led by Juliette Lawless who posted 20 points as she continues on her road to 1000 points.  Deja Ross had 18 points and Alyzae Davis 17 for Pomfret in support of Lawless.

Hyde-Woodstock lost three games last week to fall to 3-10 on the season.  The Wolfpack was beaten by Portsmouth Abbey 45-29 and by Providence Country Day 48-22.  Dossou Ndiaye was the leading Hyde scorer in both games with 25 and 10 points respectively.  Hyde closed out its week losing to St. Andrew’s 58-17.

The Marianapolis V2 unit dropped to 3-7 on the season, as the Little Lady Knights was beaten by St. Andrew’s 87-23.

 

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