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Take Back
Romeo Blackmar, left, and Putnam Police Officer Jonathan Ley helped collect prescription drugs at the Drug Take Back. Linda Lemmon photo.




PUTNAM --- One-hundred fifty three pounds of prescription drugs were collected at the Drug Take Back Day Oct. 26.
Romeo Blackmar, program director for Substance Abuse Prevention, said 39 vehicles came through the drive-through drug drop-off. He called it "one of the largest take back days for Putnam in the last two years."
He added that the Putnam Police Department has averaged about 30 to 40 pounds every four to six weeks over the last several years in the drop box at the police station.
All drugs are brought to the Lisbon Incinerator for destruction
Since September of 2010-DEA has been doing Take Back days in April and October. This was the 19th time Putnam has had Take Back Day, Blackmar added.
He said: "From all reports of people turning in medications this time, we were told that many of these medications were up to 4 and 5 years old.  Several people stated that they were cleaning out the drugs from recently passed family members who had been keeping them stored for years.  I was surprised that we exceeded 100 pounds and filled 6 boxes of unused, expired and unwanted medications. I think people are becoming more aware of the dangers of keeping old medications around and want to do the right thing of getting them out of their homes and properly destroyed by law enforcement personnel. "
This was the second time the Hale YMCA Prevention Coalition co-sponsored Drug Take Back Day with the Putnam Police Department since taking over the established initiatives of Putnam PRIDE in February.  He added the next Turn Back Day will be conducted the last Saturday in April 2020. 

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Trick or Treat
Wilfred Bousquet, the Parks and Recreation department director, estimated 4,000 people attended the annual Trick or Treat event downtown, Oct. 25. The 4,000 number included more than 1,600 children. He said it was one of the largest crowds in the 28-year history of the event. Bousquet thanked all the businesses and organizations that participated along with the Putnam Police Department for ensuring the safety of the event. In addition, he thanked Chairperson Karen Osbrey and long time helpers: Gary “O”, Sue Allard, Colleen DiColella and Nick Huston. Clockwise from top left: Left to right: Kiely Hulburt and Samara Kline, both of Thompson, and Trinity Garceau, of Putnam, watch the festivities frm the Post Office steps. Nathan Smith of Putnam as Yoda. Colin Gendron of Putnam, a shark. Amber Breton with Ronan, 5 months, and Coral from Brooklyn. Center: Lucas Silva, 4, of Putnam, a tornado.

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The Woodstock Academy boys’ postgraduate basketball teams, the Gold and the Blue, will make their official 2019-20 debuts this weekend at the Alumni Fieldhouse on the North Campus.
The Centaurs will host two schools, Thetford Academy and New York International Academy, in the Woodstock Academy Invitational Nov. 2 and 3.
The Gold team will play Thetford Academy at 3 p.m. Nov. 2 and New York International Academy at 2 p.m. Nov. 3. The Blue squad will play Thetford Academy at 1 p.m. Nov. 2 and New York International at noon Nov. 3.
“We’re over a month removed from Moonlight Madness so we have had over a month to work out the kinks and get to know each other a little bit more,” said first-year head coach Jacque Rivera. “We should be a lot more impressive.”
For the players, it’s finally a chance to play someone other than themselves.
The two teams have been going at it for the last two months getting ready for the prep season.
Take into consideration that colleges only officially practice for a couple of weeks before games begin to take place.
The Gold team has some work to do if it wants to stay at the level that former head coach and now UMass assistant Tony Bergeron quickly built it to.
The Centaurs finished 38-2 last season and for a second year in a row qualified for the National Prep Championship. The Gold squad fell in the national quarterfinals, 82-80, to Brewster Academy.
“Absolutely none,” Rivera said when asked how much pressure he is feeling to produce the same kind of results. “Not when you are at a place like The Academy, where the administration and athletic director understand that the main goal is helping young people thrive whether they are an athlete or a student. Do I feel pressure to get to the National Tournament? I want to win of course. I’m a competitor and I think our kids want to win. I don’t necessarily feel pressure because we are going to be successful at helping young men transition from boys to men. That is what this is all about.”
Rivera is excited about the return of 6-foot, 8-inch post and wing player Ronnie DeGray. He is the only carryover from last year’s team. The Parker, Colo., native, according to Rivera, has settled in a bit more this season, possibly somewhat due to the difference in coaching style.
The new coach also points to 6-8 Dyondre Dominguez, a lefty who has good range and can also attack the basket. He also leads the team in charges taken during practice and plays with a lot of passion.
Michael Jefferson is a 6-6 shooter from Waco, Texas, who also competes on the backboard and comes armed with a very high basketball IQ.
Post player Chad Venning, a 6-10 Brooklyn, N.Y., native, has benefitted physically from his time thus far at The Academy.
“He has lost 12 pounds (he’s now 290) and his body fat has dropped by 4 percent. He’s transforming his body with (strength and conditioning coach Brenden Ostaszewski),” Rivera said.
The Gold team also features former NBA great Shawn Kemp’s son, 6-5 Jamon, who won the dunk competition at Moonlight Madness, and features a 45-inch vertical leap.
Quinton McElroy, from Atlanta, played on a high school team that was 32-0 last season and won a state title.
“He’s another 6-2 player with a 6-6 wingspan, 170 pounds, and schools like Maryland Eastern Shore, Norfolk State and Troy University have inquired about him. These guys are getting some traction and I think it’s just a good mixture,” Rivera said.
Three players have already committed to play Division I basketball next season with 6-5 guard Cairo McCroy (Hartford) headed to UMass, 6-2 guard Joseph Moon (Detroit) to Bryant University and Lawrence Foreman, a 6-9 post from Jamaica, going to Rider University.
Other members of the Gold squad include 6-3 guard Noel Scott (South Central Los Angeles); 6-8 wing/post player Jordan Mitchell (Columbus, OH.), 6-7 wing/post David Jones (Sacramento, CA.), 6-2 guard Joshua Davis (Dallas) and 6-5 wing Benjamin Fort (Columbus, OH).
Rivera said the focus for the Gold squad will be defense.
“That’s going to be our calling card,” Rivera said. “If you want to go the distance, you have to be able to defend and defend for 40 minutes. That’s what people should know about us. We’re going to be a team that when it gets off the bus, its pressing, and when it gets on the bus, it’s pressing. We’re really deep. We’re going to hang our hat on our ability to turn people over, and go after (opponents) defensively.”
Blue team
While some may consider it as such, Rivera quickly warns against considering the Woodstock Academy Blue team as some sort of underling to the Gold squad.
“Make no mistake, Blue is not a second team; it’s a team with good players on it,” Rivera said. “There was a ton of competition between the two this preseason and Blue actually beat Gold (last Friday), outplayed them outright. It’s one of those things that you’re not always OK being the little brother.”
The Blue team, while it may not have the opportunity to play in the National Prep Championship tournament at season’s end, has its own schedule and own identity.
The Centaurs Blue team finished 30-8 and won the Power 5 Conference AA title last season.
“There were some scholarship level players on the team,” Rivera said. “It’s about (hashtag) pave your own path. What is your path? Don’t look to the guy next to you, in front of you or behind you, what is your path and what is it going to take to get you there. That’s how we need to address us having a Blue and Gold team as opposed to it being a first and second team. We compete in different tournaments but the Blue team is going to some events that the Gold team is not going to. You can’t dance to every song. They are just two really good teams.”
The Blue team will also have a new coach this season. Denzel Washington, who worked as an assistant coach last season, moves up to take over as the Blue team head coach.
“I’m super-excited and grateful to still be here with The Academy,” Washington said. “It’s going to be really exciting, being in a different role as head coach, I just want (the Blue team) to work hard, play hard, and be the best we can be.”
Vondre Chase is a 6-5 athletic wing from Boston.
“He helps stretch the floor. He can go off the bounce and has a little wiggle to his game, defends multiple positions, he’s very versatile,” Rivera said.
Nahshon Battle is a 6-3 combo guard from New Jersey who carried high SAT scores and has already been courted by Ivy League schools such as Dartmouth, Columbia and Brown.
The Blue team also features “super-bouncy,” according to Rivera, Trevor Green, a 6-4 wing from Albany, N.Y.
“If he gets a step on you, he’s probably going to challenge you at the rim,” Rivera said.
Darryl Mackey, a 6-foot-2 guard from Alexandria, Va., has a 40-inch vertical leap and a 6-6 wingspan.
Hakan West, who won the 3-point shooting contest at Moonlight Madness, will also play for the Blue squad. He’s been being looked at heavily by some very good Div. III schools and a couple of Div. II collegiate programs.
The Blue may need some of those outside shots to fall. The squad is not blessed with a lot of height.
Paul Hosey, a 6-9 player from Atlanta, is the only player over 6-5 on the roster.
But there is a lot of wing-type players who can crash the boards.
Malaki Delgado (Worcester), Michael Eurquhart (Pittsfield, Mass.), and Walter DeFritas (Brooklyn, N.Y.) all fit that mold.
The team also has 6-3 wings Elijah Blackman (Queens, N.Y.) and Woodstock Academy graduate Chase Anderson.
The guard position includes 6-1 Jaylin Palmer (Hartford). Eshete Calvo (Madrid, Spain), and 6-foot Amani Gottlieb (Arlington, Mass.).
“If we can grow every day and build on top of the foundation we already have, that’s what I’m looking for,” Washington said. “This team has toughness and grit. This team competes. They go hard every day.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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