Interact Club presents slides at conference
Three local Interact members, Paige Perry, Gabriel Cerasiello and Calleigh Levesque, presented the club’s busy year at the 2026 Rotary District 7890 Interact Conference March 28.
Each Interact Club presented a slide show of its club activities and community service projects and the local Interact Club’s show was extensive.  
The Putnam Rotary Interact Club’s service and events slide show included: Donation to TEEG, July 29, Aug. 16, 2025 at TEEG’s Backpack Distribution, August 2025, Worked in TEEG’s community garden, Sept. 23, 2025 Scarecrow Creation, Oct. 13, 2025, at TEEG’s Halloween Costume Distribution and Fall Festival, Oct. 18, Putnam’s Great Pumpkin Festival, Nov. 11, 2025, Created Ornaments for Elderly Shut-Ins, Nov. 15, 2025, Putnam Rotary Interact Club Food Drive, Nov. 27, 2025, Camp Quinebaug Turkey Dip, December, 2025, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, Jan. 13, 2026, Created Valentine Cards for the Elderly Shut-ins, Feb. 28, 2026, Putnam Fire and Ice Festival, March 10, 2026 Created St. Patrick’s Day Cards for the Elderly Shut-ins, March 14, 2026 Rotaract Club Trivia Night.
The Interact Club’s next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. April 14 in the Putnam Public Library.  For info: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Eleven Interact clubs from Massachusetts and Connecticut took part in the conference. All the Interact members assisted in a community service project by packaging 25,000 meals for those in the Holyoke area with food insecurity. Two inbound exchange students, one from Thailand and one from Italy, spoke about their experiences as an exchange student. Five outbound exchange students spoke about the country they are headed to for high school next fall. The theme for the conference was “Unite for Good” 
For more information about the Rotary youth exchange program go to https://rotarydistrict7890.org/SitePage/youth-exchange. 

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At Conference
The Putnam Rotary Interact Club went to a district conference recently. Far left: Paige Perry and Gabriel Cerasiello. Near right Calleigh Levesque. Courtesy photos.

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Hometown Heroes of WW II
Albert E Briere (1923-1998), nose gunner, recognized
By Michael Rocchetti
The South West Pacific area was a major theater of war during WWII, with a very high tempo of military operations, attempting to dislodge the Japanese forces from their bases in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Borneo, and the Philippines. The Japanese Air Force had a significant presence in these islands, and this was a grave threat to Allied ground, sea and air forces.
The oil refinery at Balikpapan, Borneo was the major source of aviation fuel for the local Japanese forces – and Allied War planners decided that it had to be destroyed. The refinery was heavily defended by Japanese anti-aircraft artillery batteries and fighter interceptors, and the 5th and 13th Air Force, bombed it repeatedly at great cost in lives and aircraft, with 40 percent losses. However, the knockout blow finally came on Oct. 14, 1944 – a raid in which Albert Briere’s actions were recognized in a personal letter of commendation, dated June 25th, 1945, by General George C. Kenney, commander, Far East Air Forces in the Pacific theater of operations.
He wrote: “Your commendable action as nose gunner on a B-24 aircraft during a strike mission over Balikpapan, Borneo, on Oct. 14, 1944, has been brought to my attention. I wish to express my appreciation of your outstanding performance on this mission. It is through the devotion to duty of men such as yourself that the Far East Air Forces have been able to achieve their repeated successes. You have rendered a material contribution to the effective prosecution of the war and to our ultimate victory.” Albert Briere received an Air Medal, 5th Oak Leaf Cluster, and the award citation noted: “On that day Sgt. Briere was nose gunner in a seven ship formation on an aerial raid against the Edeleanu Sulfuric Acid Refinery Plant at Balikpapan, Borneo. This raid was one of the longest and most important raids undertaken by the Fifth Air Force. To arrive at the target necessitated flying through bad weather during hours of darkness and mostly over vast bodies of water. Despite these obstacles, the squadron arrived at the target at the appointed ETA and in perfect squadron formation so as to attain maximum protection and bombing results. The formation was attacked 15 minutes before reaching the target by 30 to 40 single seater enemy fighters, types variable, carrying phosphorous bombs, which they threw at the formation from head-on attacks in an earnest endeavor to throw our formation off their bomb run. After releasing their bombs, the enemy planes pressed attacks from angles around the dock to 150 yards with guns blazing. Over the target, the formation encountered heavy, intense, and accurate antiaircraft fire. In the face of this powerful enemy interception, and accurate anti-aircraft fire. Sgt. Briere stayed in his position as nose gunner and thus enabled the bombardier to drop his bombs on the target and deal the enemy a crucial blow to its means of waging war. It is estimated that this raid resulted in destroying 70 percent of the refinery which was supplying the enemy with 85 percent of its aviation gasoline. The intrepid determination and vigor displayed by Sgt Briere who, together with his clear thinking and technical knowledge of the situation, was a constant source of inspiration to the other crew members, and contributed materially to the success of this mission. His extraordinary achievement and sound judgment is in keeping with the finest traditions of the service.”
Albert Briere was born 21 Jan. 1923 in Pittsfield, Mass., the son of Amadee J Briere and Lea (Theriaque) Briere. He had 4 brothers and two sisters. He was working in a woolen mill in Putnam when he was drafted into the Army on Feb 24, 1941. He went into the Air Corps and was a gunner on a B-24 bomber, assigned to the 33rd (BS) Bomb Squadron “The Red Raiders”, of the 22nd (BG) Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force USAAF, operating in the Pacific theater. 
After the war, he settled in California, married Elsie Richart, and they had one son. He is buried at Fresno Memorial Gardens, Fresno, Calif.
Hometown Heroes books can be purchased online at: https://hometown-heroes-of-the-quiet-corner.myshopify.com/  - all proceeds benefit the local American Legion Post. Hometown Heroes is a series published in the Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger with this mission: We owe it to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to make sure that they are never forgotten, and that 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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Plenty of food available at Food Share
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
When the line opens up Thursday, April 2, the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse Food Share anticipates having more than 35,000 pounds of food available.
Food Share organizer Bruce Hay the group already has 10,000 pounds of food on hand and anticipates hitting the 35,000 mark after Midwest Food Bank New England and Connecticut Foodshare drop off food before the Food Share early that morning.
Hay does not know what will be on the trucks. He assesses the items when they come off the truck, figures out a plan and then puts his team of volunteers to work loading the food into boxes or onto tables for distribution. 
By the time the drive-thru Food  Share opens at 9:30 a.m. the teams of volunteers stand ready to load cars. Cars make a hairpin turn around the Farmers Market Pavilion to hit all the “stations.”
This month Hay said they will have Table Talk pies, 300 boxes of cereal from TEEG’s cereal collection, chips, snacks, three pallets of soda from Windham Distributors (so everyone will get a 12-pack of soda), canned goods, candy, frozen food, some dried beans, some pasta and more. He added that this week Midwest will be bringing linens.
In addition, he said, Staples distribution center contributed its canned goods and pasta collection. He said they will also volunteer at the Food Share. If any food remains it goes to the Putnam Lodge of Elks for its food share on Saturday and Sister Jeannine in Thompson and sometimes Brooklyn Cares Community Center.

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