farm pg 1 5-30-24
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Welcome, new
farmers market
managers
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — On opening day of the Putnam Saturday Farmers Market June 1 market goers will see two new faces, co-managers Samantha Gatzke and Cassidy Ball.
Both share a background connected to local farming and a genuine excitement about growing the farmers market.
Ball was in or around local farms since she was 5 years old. Her interest inspired her to become an intern through the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms.
Her father helped with the Desjardins Farm in Plainfield. “At first I would buy from him and then I asked to help,” she said.
What she likes best about growing is the changing seasons. Each season brings new fruits and vegetables.
Ball overlapped with outgoing market manager Emily Barnes a couple times at the end of last season and she said she found all the farmers to have been really helpful. “I’m very excited to get started,” she said.
Gatzke came from growing up with gardening. “I’ve been around farms. My whole family worked or owned farms. I picked up a lot.”
Asked what attracted her to applying for the co-manager position, she said has been attending the Putnam market for a long time. She would go every week with her daughter. She thought it’d be something she’d enjoy.
She, too, is very excited about the market. Lots of new vendors have signed up as have as some of the “regulars.” Some of the new vendors include soap making, crocheting and two other local bakeries, joining Sugarz. Some musicians are signed up and they are working on getting a face painter. Senior resources will be there as well as Pluck-a-Duck fund-raiser sales. In addition, they hope to get resources such as early Head Start and WIC.
“We’d like it to be geared for families,” she said.
Returning will be the transaction machine for the EBT/SNAP transactions and debit payments. The cost of the machine went up a bit, averaging $200 per month, but it served thousands of people, according to Putnam Economic and Community Development Director Maryann Chinatti. Some 84 people used it for SNAP last year but many, many more “in the 1,000s” used it for debit payments. Some farmers do not take credit cards.
Speaking from the consumer side, Gatzke said farmers markets should be all about local — everything freshly grown and not trucked in from the West Coast.
“Most importantly, I want the market goers to feel welcomed,” she added.
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Mindful - Pomfret p 1 5-30-24
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captions, page 4, clockwise from top left:
Pomfret Lions President Peter Lusa awarded $300 to essay contest winner, eighth grader Hattie Patenaude.
As is traditional, the Pomfret Lions Club handed out American flags.
Walter and Carolyn McGinn
From left: Kadence Morris, 4, Riley Stately, 5, and Sydney Stately, 3, all of Pomfret
Matt and Jan Rondeau with Stephanie Ellsworth
Pierce Basch, 1, of Ashford
Mindful and solemn
Pomfret Memorial Day remembrances
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
“When I was a kid, I couldn’t understand why my grandfather was sad.”
Hattie Patenaude, winner of the Pomfret Lions Club essay contest, recalled watching her grandfather, a veteran of the Vietnam war, take part in the town’s Memorial Day parade. “I could see that this was a special yet emotional day for him. I could see sadness and respect” when Taps was played. Looking back, she understood why, as a child, she saw sadness.
Memorial Day is a day to remember military members who passed in service to this country. She urged those attending the program, post parade, to take a solemn moment.
She recalled a famous quote about dying twice. We die when we pass and we die again when those who remembered us pass.
State Senator Mae Flexer read the words of her father, a chaplain.
State Representative Pat Boyd assigned some homework. “Too often we’re go-go-go,” he said. He urged those attending to pause and pay attention to all the plaques and monuments all around them in town including plaques at the Rectory School, the monument at the Town Green, the plaques at the Pomfret Volunteer Fire Department and more.
“These are Pomfret residents who gave the last full measure,” he said. “Looking at these reminders will give us perspective on a day like this one.”
In his remembrance, fire department member and retired Marine Corps officer and pilot, Nicholas Stellitanto explained the significance of Memorial Day by saying “Close your eyes. What do you hear? Deafening silence.” What you don’t hear: ‘I love yous’ or ‘thank yous’ or ‘good nights’. There are no hugs from those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. That silence is carried by those left behind. On Veterans Day you can deliver your thank you message in person. Not Memorial Day.
Stellitanto quoted President James Garfield: “We hold reunions, not for the dead, for there is nothing in all the earth that you and I can do for the dead. They are past our help and past our praise. We can add to them no glory, we can give to them no immortality. They do not need us, but forever and forever more we need them.”
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Mindful - Putnam pg 1 5-30-24
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caption, page 1
:
A red rose adorns one of the veterans honor pavers in the completed Veterans Park. More photos on page 4 and an expanded photo array on Wed. night on our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger. Linda Lemmon photo.
captions, page 4, clockwise from top left:
The color guard at the head of the Putnam Parade. Photo courtesy of Michael Rocchetti.
The WPTP Hawks
Cub Scout Pack 21 and Boy Scout Troop 66
Selectmen and Mayor Seney
Putnam: The gravity of the sacrifice
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
In Putnam, one speaker after another urged those attending the post-parade program, to be mindful of the solemnity of the day. The gravity the sacrifice.
The parade marshal was Pierre Desilets, chaplain and the Poppy Queens were Harper Thompson for the American Legion and Gloria Challinor for the VFW.
Also taking part were: the American Legion and VFW color guards with rifleman, the Putnam Clipper Acapella group and the PHS Concert Band and the PMS band, wreath laying by VFW Post commander Hans Lowell and Legion Commander Michael Rocchetti, Mayor Barney Seney, VFW Chaplain Tod Smith and MC Roy Simmons.
Keynote speaker Rocchetti, commander of American Legion Post 13, said the first national observance of Memorial Day was May 30, 1868 and was known as Decoration Day. The holiday was initiated by a Union Army general to honor the Union soldiers who had died in the American Civil War. Rocchetti then described the 14 soldiers from Putnam who paid the highest price in that war.
“The Town of Putnam paid a very high price during the Civil War. My intent is to offer a brief glimpse of the terrible human tragedy. I can only imagine the pain and suffering of their families, friends, widows and orphans over the heart breaking loss of their loved ones.”
Second Lieutenant Putnam Day he contracted camp disease (probably typhoid fever) and died at the age of 32. He left behind a wife – Caroline Day (nee Harrington).
Private Charles H Morse was a millwright and was killed in action at the Burnside Bridge over the Antietam Creek. He was 31.
Private George W Pickett was a machine operator at a fabric mill. He was killed in action during the Gettysburg Campaign at the age of 30. The Union lost this battle and many soldiers from the 18th CT were captured by the Confederates.
Sergeant William Blanchard was a furniture mover who was killed in action during the Western Campaign in Louisiana. He was 48 and left behind two daughters, Phebe and Mary.
Private A. Judson Aldrich was killed in action while attacking Confederate fortifications at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. He was 29 and is buried at the Grove Street Cemetery.
Second Lieutenant Marshall Tourtellotte was the son of a successful trader from a prominent French Huguenot family. He was also killed in action at Charleston Harbor. Tourtellotte, 24, left behind a wife Ellen, and two sons and is buried at the Grove Street Cemetery.
Private Maxime H Charboneau (or Sherbeone, Shurborn) was a French Canadian immigrant from Quebec who worked in a cotton mill. He was also killed in action at Charleston Harbor.
Private Charles T Hill worked at his parents’ farm in Putnam. He was captured at the 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner (S.C.) and became deathly ill in captivity. He was paroled and died two days later at the Union Army Hospital. He was 24 and is buried at the Putnam Heights Cemetery.
Private Frank E. Morse was wounded at Fort Wagner, recovered and returned to duty. Then he was killed at the 2nd battle of Deep Run. He left behind a wife – Anna and is buried at the North Ashford Cemetery.
Corporal Joseph Billington was an immigrant from Canada who worked as a machine operator at a mill. He died in a train accident while on furlough. He was 44 and left behind a wife, Triphenia and four daughters.
Private John Morrison was an Irish immigrant who worked as a machine operator at a factory. He was reported MIA and was presumed dead. He was 34 and left behind a wife – Lizzie Morrison.
Sergeant John B Scott was a Scottish immigrant farm worker who worked on Lucian Burleigh’s farm in Plainfield. He was captured, paroled and then killed in action KIA during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. He was 22 and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Central Village.
Private Henry King was an Irish immigrant farm laborer who worked on Payson Grosvenor’s farm in Pomfret. He died the field hospital from grape shot wounds to both legs. He was 28.
Private Pierre Vandale was a French Canadian immigrant from Quebec. He was wounded, recovered and returned to duty. He was killed accidently by a comrade. He was 52 and left behind a wife and four children. He is buried at the Grove Street Cemetery.
These brave men gave everything they had in the line of duty. We owe it to these soldiers – to make sure that they are never forgotten, and the memory of their service and sacrifice will forever live on in the hearts and minds of the grateful people of Putnam.
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legals pg 2 5-30-24
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Legal Notice
Town of Pomfret
Water Pollution and
Control Authority
The Water Pollution and Control Authority for the Town of Pomfret will hold a Public Hearing at the Pomfret Community Center, 207 Mashamoquet Road, on Monday, June 3, 2024, at 6:45 PM to hear any public comments or concerns regarding the proposed FY 2024/2025 Water Pollution and Control Authority budget and revenues to fund the same.
Dated at Pomfret,
Connecticut
Maureen Nicholson,
WPCA Chairman
May 29, 2024
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