driver this one p 8 12-30-21
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Photo by WINY Radio
Driver cited in accident
PUTNAM — A 17-year-old was cited for failure to obey a traffic control after a crash at the intersection of Rt. 171 and West Thompson Rd.
Putnam Police Captain Justin Lussier said the accident around 4:30 p.m. Dec 26 happened when a 2007 Toyota Tundra operated by Rolland Lafond, 46, of Woodstock was traveling south on Rt. . 171 through the intersection at West Thompson Rd. when a 2001 Subaru Forester operated by a 17-year-old female entered the intersection traveling westbound and collided with the Tundra. Then the Subaru Forester hit a DOT electric box.
Police said the 17-year-old failed to stop for a red light at the intersection. Putnam EMS took two passengers in the Tundra to Day Kimball Hospital for suspected minor injuries. The Putnam Fire Department also responded to assist with the scene.
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Second pg 1 1-6-22
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Woodstock Academy junior Taylor Markley is ahead of schedule. Coach Kasey Tocchio didn’t expect the gymnast to be fully ready to compete until the middle of January due to injury and illness which kept her out of the gym for a bit.
Markley took first in the vault (9.55); bars (9.0) and floor (9.4) competitions at Thames Valley Gymnastics to lead the Centaurs (2-0, 2-0 ECC) to a 132.5-125.2 win over Norwich Free Academy last week.
Markley was also second in the beam (8.8) to finish as the best in the All-Around with a 36.75 total.
The meet came at a tough time of year, stuck between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, but Tocchio said there was a mitigating factor. The meet was held somewhere else other than Deary’s Gymnastics in Danielson.
Senior Lindsey Gillies had a second in the vault (9.2) and a third in bars (8.5) for Woodstock. Freshman Allie Boyd finished with a 29.65 total.
With the continued improvement and the expected return from injury of a couple of other gymnasts, Tocchio expects the team total will also continue to rise.
Indoor Track
Woodstock and most of the rest of the ECC finished up what could be considered the “regular season” for indoor track teams during the holiday break weeks.
The Centaurs competed in three developmental events.
“We have some kids who are getting up there for their events, a few with some top three performances,” said coach Josh Welch.
Senior Keenan LaMontagne finished first in the shotput last week with a throw of 45 feet, 10 ¾ inches and has qualified for Class L state competition come February.
“He’s trying to push to 50 feet and I think he has the potential to get there,” Welch said.
Senior Ian Hoffman also qualified for state competition as he finished in just over 2 minutes, 45 seconds in the 1000m, good for second place last week. Hoffman also currently possesses the second-best qualifying time in Class L in the event.
Hoffman is also getting better in the pole vault. Welch said a key to Hoffman’s continued improvement pole vault is an elevated indoor runway to practice.
Jeff Phongsa also qualified for States in the 300m (39.52), good enough for a third-place finish. Vince Bastura was first in the 1600m in 4 minutes, 54 seconds.
Jared Eaton was 2nd in the high jump and 3rd in the shot for Woodstock. The senior has already qualified for States in the shotput.
On the girls’ side, only one Centaur has qualified for Class L competition thus far in the distance events.
Senior Linsey Arends has the third-best mark in Class L of those times posted in the 1000-meter and has also qualified in the 1600.
Welch thinks Lauren Brule, Julia Coyle, and Leah Castle will join her. Already qualified are: freshman Juliet Allard for Class L in both the 55-meter dash and hurdles; Junior Bella Sorrentino for state competition with a first-place finish in the shotput (31’3.5"). Her sister, freshman Mia finished first in the high jump while Bella scored a second in the event.
Mia Sorrentino, like her sister, competes in multiple events. Coach Welsh said she does it all but the high jump will be her strong suit.
The Centaurs will be competing in another ECC developmental Jan. 8.
They will then travel to Bethel High School over the next three weeks for an 8-team meet, a pentathlon and distance meet, and a last-chance qualifier.
Welch said the Bethel meets not only will provide good competition in a new multi-million dollar facility at Bethel High School but should also reduce health concerns.
“The good thing about those is that they will all be smaller meets for the most part. The last thing I wanted to do was go to Hillhouse (High School in New Haven) for a last chance qualifier for an 8-hour event with 30-something teams,” Welch said.
Girls’ Hockey
The Woodstock girls’ hockey team lost to Auburn, 3-1, in a Central Massachusetts League game.
Coach Eric Roy said, “We came around in the second and third periods, found our legs and were more equal to/better than them at moments.”
In addition to playing on the road, Woodstock also had four players missing due to injury and holiday travel.
Auburn scored two of its goals in the first seven minutes to own the early advantage.
Roy said the locker room talk between first and second period resonated with senior captain Sydney Haskins.
“Being the good leader she is, she responded from there out and was a bull in a china shop. In the second and third periods, she was everywhere. She led the team in shots; any scoring opportunity came at her hand because she was doing everything,” Roy said.
As a result, Haskins got the only goal of the game for the Centaurs (0-2-1, 0-1-1 Central Massachusetts League).
Roy said the senior outmuscled a pair of Auburn Rocket players to a puck with Woodstock playing shorthanded. “She took the puck, went to the net, took a shot and scored off her own rebound. It was an individual effort,” Roy said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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New pg 1 1-6-22
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The Woodstock Academy alpine ski team coach Kevin Brody has his fingers crossed.
He has 18 student-athletes out for the sport this year, the most ever; 12 girls and six boys.
That means, according to Connecticut Interscholastic Ski League rules, the Centaurs can compete as a team.
“In order for our school to actually score as a team, we need to have, at least, six athletes on both the boys and girls side. This is kind of a landmark for us because we’re going to get to place a team score among the other schools,” Brody said.
It means, however, that the Centaurs can’t afford an injury or an illness to any member of its boys’ roster.
“The team has grown exponentially and this is a good thing for Woodstock Academy, a good thing for high school ski racing and it’s great to see kids getting out there in the winter time,” Brody said.
The Centaurs also have one of their top skiers back.
Senior Eliza Simpson finished third a year ago in the CISL State Open Championship meet, just 25/100th’s of a second back of winner Lauren Jacobs.
“Eliza is going to dominate this season. I think she — knock on wood — will finish in the top three again, not trying to jinx anything. I know her skills, I know her racing and I know what is out there against her and I think she will be awesome this year,” Brody said.
Classmates Mariana Hernandez and Ksenija Martinovic will join her on the slopes. The only other upperclassman is junior Carlota Riestra.
The majority of the team is young — Peyton Bentley, Avery Kollbeck, Maeve Lusignan, Emma Reino and Lilly Verraneault are all sophomores and Ela Gadoury and Olivia Smith join fellow freshman Emma Brody.
Emma Brody competed as an eighth-grader last year and qualified for the State Open.
“I think Emma, being part of the crew, made some friends when she came in as a freshman, and she helped convince a few others to try it out. From what I’ve seen on the slopes so far, we have some pretty good talent out there,” Kevin Brody said.
Reino is showing some great skill early, according to Brody, as a newcomer and Martinovic brings not only skill but experience to the team.
The Centaurs boys did lose Zach Brody, who finished fourth in the CISL State Open, to graduation.
It does return Davis Simpson who qualified for the State Open. “Davis is the man,” Brody said. “He’s already stepped up and is helping out greatly with the larger group of athletes; it’s almost like herding cats. On top of his training, he’s actually stepped up to help with some junior assistant coaching.”
Neil Camara is the only senior on the boys’ side and he is joined by juniors Nicholas Betschmann, Daniel Hernandez, Anthony Listro and Aidan Soderman.
Listro did suffer an injury in training prior to the holidays but Brody is hopeful that he will return unscathed as he has progressed since last season.
“I want to try and get him and a few of the better kids to move into the slalom aspect. We do have slalom racing as part of the racing series which is the single-pole, with quick, snappier turns, and more technical racing than the giant slalom that we usually see,” Brody said.
“We’ve trained at Wachusett (Mountain in Princeton, Mass.) on a Sunday and on one other evening. Wachusett is the master at making snow in the Northeast. Mt. Southington (where the league competitions will be held) opened the day after Christmas and is looking decent for snow coverage. We’re also hoping to train at Powder Ridge but have not heard back from them yet. We’re on a roller coaster ride with temperatures and rain. It’s definitely been a battle,” Brody said.
Woodstock Academy Alpine Ski schedule
Thurs. Jan. 13: Race 1 at Mt. Southington; Thurs., Jan. 20: Race 2 at Mt. Southington; Thurs., Jan. 27: Race 3 at Mt. Southington; Mon., Jan. 31: Giant Slalom shootout at Mt. Southington; Thurs., Feb. 3: Race 4 at Mt. Southington; Mon., Feb. 7: Slalom Shootout at Mt. Southington; Thurs., Feb. 10: Race 5 at Mt. Southington.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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Nightingale pg 1 1-6-22
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caption, page 1:
Beaver pond in Nightingale Forest. Photo courtesy of the Wyndham Land Trust.
captions, page 6, clockwise from top left:
The extensive wetlands form the headwaters of Nightingale Brook
Harry Townshend enjoyed fishing on the family property. Photos courtesy of Wyndham Land Trust.
An active beaver lodge
Beavers imported by Harry Townshend have created extensive wetlands on the property.
Harry and Deb Townshend at their 70th wedding anniversary in 2012. Photo courtesy of Townshend family.
POMFRET CENTER—A remote section of unbroken forest in the Quiet Corner is now protected from development thanks to the acquisition of a large piece of land by the Wyndham Land Trust.
The Wyndham Land Trust recently acquired 364 acres in Pomfret from the Townshend family. The land — the largest single acquisition by the land trust in its 46-year history —includes a large scenic wetland with open water, marshlands, shrub swamp, and forested swamp that form the headwaters of Nightingale Brook. The woodlands that surround the wetlands support important forest-nesting birds such as Canada Warbler and Black-throated Blue Warbler.
The property sits in a remote corner of Pomfret that borders Eastford to the west and Woodstock to the north. The Wyndham Land Trust is actively working to protect this area of extensive woodlands and has christened it the ‘Nightingale Forest.’ Their Nightingale Forest now covers 1,120 acres of protected land, of which almost 800 were donated by or purchased from the Townshend family.
The late Henry “Harry” Townshend, the patriarch of the prominent Townshend family in New Haven, was responsible for creating the core of this valuable habitat. Harry, looking for a place where he could enjoy his passion for hunting and fishing, purchased almost 1,200 acres in Pomfret in the late-1950s.
The Pomfret land soon became a cornerstone of the lives of Harry Townshend and his wife Deb, and their five children spent many happy hours exploring the woods. The family kept horses and rode on the extensive trail system that was created to support dog field trials.
“Dad loved the outdoors which offered him fields, forests, mountains, streams and lakes to satisfy his hobbies of hunting, fishing, and field trials,” said Nancy Townshend Vess. “But I think the biggest reason he liked the outdoors was the solitude it brought him. The properties he bought in Pomfret were all places of solitude.
“We children grew up surrounded by nature,” she added. “Each of us has an appreciation of the natural world as a result of this upbringing. I do believe the Wyndham Land Trust is an organization that will help the Pomfret community balance man against nature. I’m glad we were able to work with the land trust to maintain that balance.”
“I’m happy to give this Pomfret land over to the protection of the Wyndham Land Trust and for the enjoyment of the public,” said Sharon Townshend.
“Nature has been a source of renewal, healing, adventure, and art ideas for me; and I’m glad I can now enjoy this land as a member of the public.”
“I once asked Dad if he believed there was a ‘God,’ said Hervey Townshend. “His answer was ‘no not in the common belief.’ But he said ‘if there was a God, his spirit would live in the woods among the trees, in nature, and in all the animals.’ Nature was Dad’s God. Walking in the forest was entering a spiritual place to be treated with respect. We would often walk together, stopping occasionally to listen to the silence of the woods.”
“This new property contains an excellent network of trails,” said Penny Foisey, land trust treasurer and president of the Pomfret Horse & Trails Association. “The forest here is pristine and open. It reflects the careful planning of Mr. Townshend with many of his original field trial markers still there for the observant to find.”
The land trust plans to mark the trails and parking areas this summer, and information about public access to the property will be available on its web site.
Funding for the acquisition came from the State of Connecticut Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition grant program, the Bafflin Foundation, the Town of Pomfret, the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, the Summerhill Foundation, and from Wyndham Land Trust members and supporters.
The Wyndham Land Trust was formed in 1975, and the work of the all-volunteer group is possible only through the generosity and dedication of its members and donors. To learn more about the Wyndham Land Trust visit wyndhamlandtrust.org. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
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