caption:
Putnam Rotary Club volunteers installed musical instruments at the new Mary Fisher Elementary School playground. From left: Richard Naumann, Jonathan Tremblay, Karen Osbrey, Charlie Puffer, Emily Barnes, Joe Adiletta and club President Doug Porter. Linda Lemmon photo.
The Mission is Music
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
THOMPSON — The Putnam Rotary Club is more than halfway through its “musical mission” — bringing the gift of creating music to its five service area towns.
Rotarian Karen Osbrey, grant writer and program leader, said volunteers from the club Nov. 11 installed outdoor musical instruments in the playground just completed at the Mary Fisher Elementary School in Thompson.
It’s the third of five installations. When the Putnam Rotary Club was celebrating its 100th anniversary, one of the goals was to plant a musical garden in each of its five service area towns: Putnam, Woodstock, Eastford, Pomfret and Thompson.
The first set of outdoor musical instruments was installed on the River Trail in Putnam. Last year, the club members installed musical instruments in the playground at the Pomfret Community School.
Nov. 11 club volunteers dug holes and installed a xylophone-type instrument and some metal bongos at the recently completed school playground.
The instruments are funded by a Rotary District grant. She said the club received a $2,500 through a Rotary Foundation District 7890 Grant and the club pledged another $2,000.
One of the reasons the club put the Thompson playground next in line was that it was “shovel ready,” she said. The school district and the Mary Fisher Elementary School PTO had been working on plans for a couple years. Osbrey met with the principal, the school superintendent and the playground committee.
.
