under pg 8 11-23-22

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Under Repair
While it’s under warranty, additional repairs were made to the new Putnam Public Library roof. Elaine Sistare, town administrator, said additional “batten” materials were adhered to the seams on the roof Nov. 21. They are likely to be continuing the work for a couple days. At least twice in the last year, she said, there has been a “noticeable leak” in the library.  The roof material was heated and then PVC rubber batten material was adhered.

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Statuesque pg 1 12-1-22

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captions, page 2:

Jeannie Benoit of the Aspinock Historical Society of Putnam, left, and artist Elaine Turner unveil the sheep in Rotary Park.

This side of the sheep shows what the Putnam Woolen mill might have looked like in the 1800s. It stood where Cargill Falls Mill is now.  More photos Wed. night at FB: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger.

One side of the sheep shows what the carding room might have looked like at the Putnam Woolen mill. Linda Lemmon photos.


By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — From the town’s newest art installation, a wool sheep statue, it’s almost like an invisible strand of yarn crosses the Quinebaug — and the years — and connects to the former Putnam Woolen mill and Putnam’s textile history.
The statue, unveiled Nov. 25 in Rotary Park, began with Jeannie Benoit and the Aspinock Historical Society of Putnam months ago. Benoit said she had visited the Samuel Slater Experience museum in Webster and found out about the blank fiberglass Merino wool sheep statues that were being sold. Organizations and businesses bought the statues, had them custom painted and placed around Webster, Dudley and Oxford and beyond.
Benoit thought, considering Putnam’s textile history, that a sheep statue would make an excellent addition to the town’s burgeoning art displays. Parks and Recreation Department Director Willie Bousquet  was enthusiastically behind the idea.
The total cost was about $4,000. The main sponsors are the Putnam Area Foundation and WIN Waste Innovations. Bousquet added that the town’s Public Works Department did some in-kind work including removing the old bell stand in Rotary Park and pouring a concrete base for the sheep. The Putnam Recreation Department was also involved in the project.
Elaine Turner of the Art Guild Northeast was asked by former Aspinock society president Bill Pearsall if she would be interested in customizing Putnam’s statue.
The effort started six-plus months ago. She thought since it was a Merino wool sheep statue that it made sense to tell Putnam’s story of wool. What is now Cargill Falls Mill was at one time a woolen mill, Putnam Woolen.
“It was a team effort,” Turner said. The committee worked together to come up with a design that best represented Putnam’s history. Turner said that Benoit asked about including carding machines. Being an Aspinock Historical Society project made things handy — blueprints, maps, descriptions, photos and more of the Putnam Woolen mill were right there.
“As a committee, we put it all together,” Turner said. “We told the story of the woolen mill over the years.”
Resident artist Dave Laab approved the design and Turner created it in her home studio. She had to finish early as Laab needed two weeks to put three layers of protective automotive coating on the statue. Turner said she could not use latex paint, she had to use acrylic.
A Nebraska company, Icon Poly, made 25 sheep for the Samuel Slater Experience museum in Webster. The sheep are made with fiberglass with polyurethane-binding resins which makes them durable. “Slater’s Sheep” are a community art project and a fund-raiser for the Samuel Slater Experience. Mill owner Slater is associated with textiles and because he established the first woolen mill in America, the museum picked a sheep.
At the dedication Nov. 25, Benoit said two plaques are still on the way. One describes the history of the mills and Merino sheep and the other describes the time capsule that shares the spot in Rotary Park with the sheep. That capsule will be opened in 2055.
Turner said she found herself inspired by the project. “Putnam always comes up with a way to celebrate its history, the seasons,” she said.
And there’s a wool tie that binds.

more photos on FB: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger

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chance pg 1 12-1-22

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caption:

Al LeBoeuf, Yankees Fantasy Camp coach, left, with his arm around his star centerfielder Chris Ferace, Putnam police chief.



By Ronald P. Coderre
As a young adult Putnam Police Chief Christopher Ferace dreamed of a career in law enforcement.  Much like many young men of his time, he also dreamed of playing Major League baseball.  For young Chris Ferace, living in New London, the dream was also being dressed in the pin stripes of the New York Yankees.
Although one dream came true — a career in law enforcement — the second never materialized.  But for the past 10 of 14 baseball seasons, Ferace has found a way of living his baseball dream as a Bronx Bomber by attending New York Yankees Fantasy Camp in Tampa, Fla.
This year Ferace attended the camp from Nov. 7 through 13 but something occurred at this camp that had never happened during the previous nine visits at the Steinbrenner Complex.
The Yankee Fantasy Camp attracts approximately 80 participants annually, ranging in age from 30 to 80 years old.  The 80 aspiring players in camp are broken into six teams, with Ferace and some of his acquaintances playing for the Bambinos.  The camp is “big league” all the way, including two games per day, beginning with workouts in the early morning, followed by batting practice prior to the game.  
Players are attired in official Yankee uniforms, get full use of the clubhouse facilities, provided with Yankee SWAG and live in an upscale hotel nearby.  The teams are coached by former New York Yankee players who are assisted by former players and coaches from other teams who live in the Tampa area.
Ferace’s coaches this year were former Yankee pitchers Jeff Nelson and Gil Patterson as well as a coach in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, who possessed a Boston/New England accent.  And that’s where this year’s story begins.  
Following batting practice one morning Ferace asked this coach if he was from Boston.  His response was, “No, I come from a small town in northeastern Connecticut.”  Stunned by the response, Ferace countered, “I’m the chief of Police in Putnam.”
Now for the rest of the story.  The coach said he was from Thompson, primarily the village of North Grosvenordale and that he graduated from Tourtellotte Memorial High School.  Probing further, the Chief discovered he was speaking with and being coached by the former local baseball legend Al LeBoeuf, who is part of the camp support coaching staff, where he also throws BP to the teams.
LeBoeuf was a standout athlete at Tourtellotte who played at Eastern Connecticut State University for one year before being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies.  He was ticketed for the Major League Phillies when he ran into some bad luck.  During a AAA game with the Portland Beavers, he was hit by a pitch on the hip, disabling him for the remainder of his career.  In 2012, LeBoeuf was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer of the hip, related to the hit-by-pitch, but due to early detection was able to make a long but successful recovery.
A trip to Yankee Fantasy Camp created by a young man’s dream and a chance occurrence meeting at camp, brought Chief Ferace and Alan LeBoeuf, two people with northeastern Connecticut connections together.
“The Fantasy Camp has always been a great experience.  This year was very special because the coach who went out of his way to make it great was none other than Al LeBoeuf,” said Ferace.