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Circle of Fun 'goes down in history'
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Some 50 years ago, Paul Desautels said, one of the best-loved traditions in Putnam began.
“I was nominated to be Publicity Chair at our first Parish meeting in April 1972. My first assigned duty was to come up with a name for our event. At our next meeting two weeks later, I suggested Circle of Fun and a logo using a washer. The name and logo were accepted and the rest is history. William St. Martin, the father of the Circle of Fun, was our first chairman.”
The Circle of Fun’s time has passed and the former fund-raiser for St. Mary’s School and then St. Mary of the Visitation Church recently became part of Putnam’s history, joining the Aspinock Historical Society’s archives. “It was felt that 50 years was a good run,” Desautels said. He added Rev. David Choquette hopes to have future programs for the four churches in the parish.
Desautels, a volunteer with the Aspinock Historical Society, suggested to Father David that the scrapbooks be donated to Aspinock Historical Society. “I felt the books should be available to future generations.”
He said the books contain thousands of pictures, all ads and, the list of all general chairs and booth chairs for each year. "It is my hope to go through each book and identify as many as possible so their names and memories won’t be lost to future generations.”
That first year, he said, many booth chairs were members of the Knights of Columbus and Daughters of Isabella. “Tents from our local National Guard unit served as food tent and white elephant tent for several years. Bill St.Martin built booths for games and, after several years, a stage and the other booths now on the grounds.”
Desautels served as publicity chair/photographer for 50 years. He said he was general co-Chair in 1974 with Roland Tetreault and, Car Raffle co-chair with Gerry Dupre, for several years. Many volunteered for two or three decades, he said. Most notable is George Bordua who volunteered in the food booth for 49 years, missing one year with a back ailment.
Many St. Mary parents and faculty volunteered from 1972 to 2010 and continued after the school closed.
Thousands attended the Circle each year. For 50 years. Desautels said: “The Circle of Fun brought together people from Putnam, surrounding communities and several states. Over the years the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of early attendees and volunteers, attended the Circle of Fun.”
Asked what his best memories of the Circle of Fun are, Desautels said: “Some of my best memories are of the volunteers, from early teens to 80s who volunteered. Many volunteers were needed, especially when the school was in operation. Many more game booths were in operation for decades, downsizing after the closing of the school. Each year, there were volunteers not members of our church who just wanted to help. Thus was a true community event. “
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Circle of Fun in 2014. More photos on page 4. Linda Lemmon photo.
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Aspinock's Bill Pearsall, left, and society volunteer Paul Desautels hold the letter by Rev. David Choquette thanking Desautels for his service to the Circle. Behind them are the volumes of Circle of Fun history donated to Aspinock Historical Society. Courtesy photo.
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Academy
prep soccer
ready to get
underway
It’s true that Woodstock Academy had a prep soccer program for the past couple of years.
But for all intents and purposes, what exists now is pretty much a reboot.
And for that reason, getting everything to mesh together is now the biggest work in progress for former South Kent head coach and now first-year Centaurs coach Owen Finberg.
Most of his players are now on campus.
The Centaurs have already played a couple of scrimmages.
“I know the quote that ‘You don’t have to like the guys that you play with to play well’ but it certainly does help’,” Finberg said when asked what the program has been concentrating on in the preseason. “We work really hard to build the bonds and relationships within our group. We do a lot of things off the field to get to know each other at a deeper level and show care and empathy for each other and understand the culture and experiences that everyone brings to our group. If we can get that right, it’s a real benefit.”
Especially with the number of student-athletes that he has to work with.
The Centaurs will now sport a program that has two teams.
The Prep 1 team will play in the newly-formed Prep Premiere League.
“I think the league will be a great experience for our guys. What we are really looking for is to raise the level of competition that we play and to help them get exposure to college coaches and professional scouts. I think the quality of teams and programs that (the league) has will certainly accomplish that,” Finberg said.
Woodstock Academy will be joined by High Mowing School from New Hampshire and two New York schools, Hoosac and Northwood, in the Eastern Region.
The Western Region will consist of Immaculate Heart Central in Western New York; Phelps School located near Philadelphia; Kiski School near Pittsburgh, Penn.; and Western Reserve Academy in Ohio.
Teams in the league will play each other once each with the top two teams in each region qualifying for the league semifinals on Nov. 17.
“It was a lot of work behind the scenes (to create the league) but it was really important for us as a program,” Finberg said. “It will benefit all the schools but it is a really exciting league with plenty of potential for growth.”
The Prep 1 team has some proven talent on it.
The attack will be led by seniors David Lee from South Korea and Hendrix Mota from Canada and junior Jude Essuman from Ghana.
“(Lee and Mota) were big players (at South Kent) and both created and scored a lot of goals last year so we have some firepower and have some other guys who are definitely going to bring a lot to the table. The hardest thing to do is to score goals so it takes some time to build that chemistry on the field,” Finberg said.
The middle will be anchored by Kelvin Da Costa from Mozambique who has plenty of international playing experience.
Ahir Dixon, the captain of the Jamaican U-17 national team, will be a key in the back along with Lucas De Pedro Sanchez from Spain, Harrison Vail from Manhattan, N.Y. and Max Maneke from Paris.
“That’s a really good group overall,” Finberg said.
The starting goalie spot is up for grabs still with Alvaro Medrano, Jr. from Guatemala the leading candidate early.
“We have to defend well first to win games. If you shut out other teams, you always have the opportunity to win. Defensive solidity and organization are always the key to performing at a high level,” Finberg said.
He will be counting on those who have played for him and are familiar with his coaching style to take the lead early but there are others already stepping up.
“It’s not necessarily going to be only those guys who are the leaders, the more leaders in the group, the better the group is going to perform. But to have guys who are familiar with me and the expectations that we have for our guys both on and off the field definitely helps make the transition to a new school easier and helps make the transition of the new players into the program easier as well,” Finberg said.
There will be plenty of transition to be had as players hail from 16 countries, 11 come from the United States with four from Connecticut. Spain (four athletes), Guatemala and Jamaica (three each) have the most representation otherwise.
The Centaurs Prep 2 team will be more of a developmental program.
“Typically, we have the younger guys in that group. It depends because we want to put the best guys out there on the first team but we want everyone to have opportunities,” Finberg said. “Guys will play on the second team to get more minutes, therefore more exposure to help them along in their college process, but it is more of a developmental group. They have the talent and ability, but maybe are just not quite ready to perform at the first team level.”
The Prep 2 team will play in the same league as last year’s prep program, the Global Education Sports Partners League which includes Putnam Science Academy, St. Thomas More from Oakdale and Hoosac School.
All the teams will play twice in the regular season and all four teams will participate in the league’s postseason tournament.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Members of the Woodstock Academy prep soccer team gather following a preseason contest recently at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
Woodstock Academy’s two prep teams will have five goalies to work with including (from left to right) Alvaro Medrano, Zeeshan Desai. Sten Lehmann, Calvin Field and Daniel Covelli. Photos by Rich Glemawu/Woodstock Academy.
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The Mustang Classic – Putnam Science Academy’s annual golf tournament – got a perfect day of weather and record-setting participation. All in all, a rousing success.
The event, held at Raceway Golf Course on August 12, featured more than 105 golfers in 27 groups, both the most who have played to date. Money was raised in support of the PSA athletics programs.
Tommy Malboeuf, Justin Haapala, Nico Alvas, and Kerry Kubiak were the winning foursome, finishing the best-ball round with a 56. That was one stroke better than second-place team Pete Cunha, Gator Gagnon, Dylan Duval, and Chris Lajoie. Finishing in third place with a 59 were John Darigan, Eric Livingston, Steve Fredette, and Brandon Cardita.
Mackenzie Pothier won the women’s longest drive on 11 while Morgan DaSilva finished closest to the pin on Hole 17, coming just three feet, nine inches from the cup.
On the men’s side, Gagnon capped off a successful day by striking the longest drive, and Shawn Martel landed nine feet from the cup to take home closest to the pin honors.
PSA recognized the tremendous community support for the event as well, as there were six Bronze-level sponsors – Westview Sports Medicine, Gerardi Insurance, Connecticut Baseball Academy, Baker’s Dozen, Kazantzis Real Estate, and PSA Mustangs Baseball – plus more than 30 tee sponsors.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs. The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is 860-963-0000.
Aug. 12
Erin Murphy, 27, Fremont Street, Oxford, Mass.; 14-298 Violation of State Traffic Commission.
Aug. 13
Matthew Racine, 36, Harrisville Road, Woodstock; 14-298 Violation of State Traffic Commission.
Neepinnae Brown, no age listed, Meadow Avenue, Wakefield, R.I.; 14-298 Violation of State Traffic Commission
Timothy Maryanov, 20, Woodstock Avenue West, Putnam; speeding.
Aug. 14
Christina Marie Gomes, 27, Rt. 171, Woodstock Valley; operating an unregistered motor vehicle.
Ken Tomac, 60, Ballou Street, Putnam; creating a public disturbance.
Aug. 15
Irene Marceau, 24, Woodstock Avenue, Putnam; third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, interfering with police, assault on police officer.
Trevor Perkins, 22, Maple Street, Putnam; second-degree failure to appear.
Aug. 20
Dale R. Vegiard, 48, Lamothe Street, Putnam; disorderly conduct, third-degree assault, second-degree unlawful restraint.
Dale R. Vegiard, 48, Lamothe Street, Putnam; assault on emergency personnel, assault on police officer, second-degree threatening.
Joshua Mimande, 34, Ravenelle Road, Thompson; violation of probation.
Joseph James, 39, Woodstock Avenue, Putnam; disorderly conduct, risk of injury to a minor.
Aug. 21
Brandon Cacciapuoti, 23, Woodstock Avenue, Putnam; third-degree assault, disorderly conduct.
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Putnam Science Academy’s Drills and Skills Camp in early August was shorter than the week-long event held in July, but PSA basketball coach Tom Espinosa said it was just as successful for the 75 boys and girls who attended.
The large group was split into three divisions (Prep School for the youngest kids, NBA for the oldest, and Big East for those in the middle) and each group played games, worked on skills, and did other competitions over three days.
The individual winners from the NBA include: TJ Espinosa (MVP, Free Throw Shooting, Elbow Shooting, Hot Shot), Brayden De Oliveria (1-on-1), Sam Stone (Coaches Award), and Theo Buzanoski (Hustle Award).
Individual winners from the Big East include: Axel Kapitulik (MVP), Matthew Therrien Free Throw Shooting), Bryce Espinosa (Elbow Shooting, Hot Shot, Hustle Award), Brandon Schultz (1-on-1), and Mason Wolf (Coaches Award).
Winners from the Prep School league include: Gavin Caplette (MVP), Teagan Espinosa (Free Throw Shooting, Elbow Shooting, Hot Shot), Greyson Cardinal (Coaches Award), and Jace Fowler (Hustle Award).
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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