EMS home for holidays?
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Perhaps it will be a completely excellent Christmas gift.
Town Administrator Elaine Sistare is hoping that if all the permits and scheduling and manufacturing go according to plan, the EMS crew will be in their brand new home around Christmas.
Currently, she said, HUD-certified contractor Nutt Construction is awaiting the building permit. Sistare said she hopes that the building permit will be approved, or suggestions made for it, in the next couple weeks. The two modular units are within 200 feet of the Quinebaug River but there are no Inland Wetlands issues because most of the area is paved and there won’t be any real disturbance to the land.
In addition there have already been discussions with the town’s water and sewer department about connections to the new building. The power connections will be new.
The site work should begin in the next couple weeks, she said.
Home Nation will supply the two modular units and Sistare said they need five to 10 weeks of lead time so she’s hoping they “will be in before the harsh winter.” Lead time is also needed for furniture and fixtures. “We need to order way ahead,” she said. It won’t be as bad as the lead time the town needed when building the Municipal Complex. COVID put schedules into chaos back then.
The site work will include some minor demolition and then excavation will begin. The buildings will be in the open space between the current EMS building and the fire department.
The concrete foundation and building supports will need 28 days of curing time. Nutt Construction said they’d prefer to have the units delivered and put into place when the concrete is ready. They do not want the units delivered to the site and then moved later onto the foundation. The two homes would be craned into place and then joined together.
The two units should be coming six to eight weeks from now, she said.
EMS crews will continue to operate in their outdated original building and there may be only a couple minor inconveniences during the building process, she said.
The ad hoc committee OK’d using $88,000 in ARPA funds for furniture, fixtures and a new generator. Also available is $260,000 in Local Capital Improvement Program funding.
The 1,200 square foot combined building would contain three bedrooms, a kitchen area and a shower area. It would measure 27 feet wide and 44 feet long. She said one of the bedrooms would be turned into an office. There would be nice clean modern space for sleeping, showers, cooking, a conference space and bathrooms.
The emergency vehicles would stay in the current building. That building was built in 1960 and saw a modest upgrade in 2000. But it does not meet regulation. The crews do not have a good place to “decontaminate” after returning from a call. The shower in the current building is being used for storage, Sistare said.
Sistare said the building would sit the same distance from Church Street as the current buildings do now. Traffic would have to be reworked with vehicles either going around the left side of the now-long set of buildings or to the right around the police station. EMS parking would also have to be reconfigured, she said.
“This is a unique project,” Sistare said and there is good communication all the way around. That will make the project work…. maybe in time for Christmas.
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caption, page 3:
New Home Space
The space between the current outdated EMS building, left, and the fire department will be the EMS's new home. Linda Lemmon photo.
Putnam’s art scene takes an ‘atomic’ turn
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
Putnam’s status as the art nucleus of northeastern Connecticut went atomic last week as a mural was unveiled at the Painted Baker Café in downtown Putnam.
Café owner Monique Mailloux said she’d been thinking about a mural for the large space behind the long counter for three years. “People always see a blank wall and they come in and say, ‘Oh, you should put a big screen TV there’ but I said, ‘No there’s art going there’.” She wanted a futuristic city going on the wall. She wanted the mural “residents” — robots, aliens and humans — all interacting together in harmony because she believes that harmony could exist. She wanted rockets, space ships and space cars “because I grew up in the ‘60s when the whole atomic era was very popular and the Jetsons and I have always thought that was really, really cool.”
She collected pictures of items she wanted. She also wanted a kind of “Where’s Waldo” for fun, too. Details explode on the mural. And many of them are personal. The Black Hawk helicopter is a nod to her son, Nick, who flies one for the National Guard. She loves chess so some characters in the mural are playing chess. She wanted WINY Radio there, too, in addition to the Painted Baker Café. Pancakes turn into buildings and a sunny-side up egg morphs into a space ship.
The Jetsons, near and dear to Mailloux’s heart, definitely belonged on the mural. “I figured Rosie is the best, the most recognizable.” There’s a building on the mural that is a takeoff of the radioactive donut sandwich — “we took it off the menu and made it into a building.” Food is very present in the mural – naturally.
Lots of animals, handpicked, populate the mural. And for sure, “I had to have the American flag. All my parents, my grandparents were in the military and I have two sons in the military, so absolutely!”
Mailloux said she loves how the mural goes from night to day.
She said she had asked her friend Amy Brunet who created her mural in downtown Danielson and Brunet recommended Jenn Brytowski of Jennerate. Brytowski made Mailloux’s dream a reality.
Artists Elizabeth Conway and Zoe D’Elia worked on the mural for two weeks.
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captions, page 4:
From left: Artist Elizabeth Conway, Painted Baker Cafe owner Monique Mailloux and artist Zoe D'Elia just after the unveiling Sept. 19. More photos Wed. night on our FB page.
Black Hawk helicopter
Mustangs get national championship rings
The 2025 basketball team and staff last week received their championship rings, honoring their 2025 National Prep School basketball championship season.
President of IAABO Board 35 Christian Sarantopoulos presented the Board’s plaque in recognition of the Mustang’s success. The officiating crew saw early on that this team was different. He acknowledged how tenacious the team was defensively, though lacking a superstar on the team. Regardless, the players came together as one. Sarantopoulos highlighted the incredible depth of the Mustangs as they continuously overwhelmed opponents with size and skill all season.
It was a record year for the program, as they accumulated the most wins in program history with 41. Players from last year’s team attended in person and through FaceTime. Among the FaceTimers was Tony Williams, whose career began on the Elite Team.
Head Coach Tom Espinosa was impressed with Williams’ play during the first half of his 23-24 season at PSA; however, questioned whether he could effectively run an offense at the prep level. With some key moves over winter break, Williams’ chance had come. He was elevated to the Prep Team providing an instant impact to the program, ultimately leading to a starting role in 24-25. Williams earned a scholarship to Fairfield University. Big men like Adbou Yadd, now playing basketball at Sacred Heart University, and Ben Ahmed, who became the program’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder last season, pushed the program to the top of prep basketball. Ahmed’s exceptional play at PSA landed him a spot on the Oklahoma State University basketball squad.
Espinosa said the season was not always a smooth ride. The team faced adversity early, suffering two losses in Boston to New Hampton and Newman in the NEBL Tipoff. Players, like returners Parrish Edmond and Adama Tambedou, questioned whether Putnam Science was the right place for them.
After receiving his championship ring, Adama Tambedou told the audience about the early struggles he faced while transitioning from Senegal. Playing limited minutes, Tambedou changed his original mindset and became an integral part in helping the team secure its fifth national championship.
After those two losses in Boston, the Mustangs never looked back. They embarked on a 33-game winning streak, winning the Power 5 AAA Championship en route to the National Championship.
Through trials and tribulation, the Putnam Science Academy men’s prep team never wavered, never quit. And once again, ultimately climbing to the top of the prep basketball mountain as 5-time national champions.
Ben Heacox
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
Caption, page 8:
National Champions
The 2025 National Champion Putnam Science Academy basketball team members received their national championship rings last week. More photos Wed. night on our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeat Ledger.
Picture labeled Alex Williams”- left to right PSA Head Coach Tom Espinosa, Athletic Trainer Alex Williams and Associate Head Coach Josh Scraba
Picture labeled ”Scraba & Espo” Tom Espinosa and Josh Scraba
picture labeled “board” IAABO 8 President Christian Sarantopoulos
picture labeled "Adama” Tom Espinosa, Adama Tambedou