Interact Presentations
The Putnam Rotary Club’s Interact Club May 6 made two presentations of the proceeds of the club’s recent Food Drive.  Interact member Calleigh Levesque presented Carl Asikainen, director of TEEG, with a check for $210. Asikainen thanked the Interact Club for their hard work and support. She also presented Karen Osbrey, president of Interfaith Human Services of Putnam with a check for $210. Osbrey, in thanking them, said the donation will help keep the shelves of Daily Bread stocked. For more information about the Putnam Rotary Interact Club contact Roberta Rocchetti at 860-933-8603 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Cemetery association celebrates 100th anniversary

WOODSTOCK — Along with the country’s 250th anniversary, the Woodstock Cemetery Association (WCA) this year marks its 100-year anniversary overseeing the care and preservation of the Woodstock Hill Cemetery, and the cemetery’s 337th year.
In recognition, the association will hand out small Betsy Ross-style flags on sticks to the first 50 Memorial Day celebrants to visit the group’s table during the May 25 festivities. The table will be at the cemetery’s stone wall boundary along Hill Cemetery Road, near the First Congregational Church of Woodstock prior to the parade. 
The Woodstock Hill Cemetery is both Woodstock’s and Windham County’s oldest burial ground, dating to 1689, of 16 cemeteries in the town, according to the Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Records. The original 4 acres, including the village common—on which town musters were held—was set aside in 1686 by the original settlers, members of the town’s first Congregational Church. In the ensuing years, adjoining land has been added. The cemetery sits adjacent to the First Congregational Church of Woodstock (FCCW) and opposite the village green. More than 1,300 graves and cremation interments are enclosed within the historic stone-walled property. 
While care of the cemetery—the burial ground for congregants of the FCCW—was executed faithfully before 1926, that year the association incorporated as the Woodstock Cemetery Association of the First Ecclesiastical Society of Woodstock, Inc. The name later was shortened to the Woodstock Cemetery Association, Inc. It comprises seven elected trustees, in addition to an ex officio member, Rev. Dr. Kevin Downer, the pastor of the FCCW. The cemetery grounds are maintained by long-time sexton Steve Brainard. Among the association’s duties are cemetery maintenance and management, and the prudent administration of funds for future care, expansion, and improvement. Carl Wisnosky is the current WCA president, having succeeded Tom Chase, who served as president for more than 10 years.
Among the persistent challenges facing ancient cemeteries, according to Wisnosky, are erosion and the settling of monuments, invasive shrub and tree species such as Tree of Heaven, changing attitudes toward burial practices, and the care of very old headstones—many damaged by acid rain and overgrown with obscuring lichen. Attending to these tasks safeguards the cemetery’s place as a dynamic link to the town’s long history and residents, ancestors, and as a cultural touchstone and treasury of funerary art. The history and values of a community are inscribed in the names and epitaphs of its cemeteries. Among those buried at Woodstock Hill cemetery are veterans of King Philip’s and Queen Anne’s Wars, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the Civil War, both World Wars, and other veterans, politicians, publishers, college presidents, and countless families who lived and toiled in Woodstock.
Reflecting on the cemetery’s long history, former association president Tom Chase said, “It’s wonderful that we’ve been going for so long and are still an active cemetery!”

Legal Notice
West Putnam District
Meeting Date:
Thursday, May 21,2026
The Electors of the West Putnam District and those citizens qualified to vote in said District meetings, are hereby notified and warned that the Annual Meeting of said District will be held on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 6:30 p.m., at the Municipal Complex Town Hall, Community Room 112, 200 School Street, Putnam, Connecticut. The meeting is being held for the following purposes: 1. Treasurer’s Report
2. To adopt a budget for coming fiscal year
3. To elect officers and directors for the coming fiscal year
4. To do any other business proper to come before said meeting
Michele Giorgianni, President,
West Putnam District
Roxanne Sheldon, Clerk,
West Putnam District
May 7, 2026 & May 14, 2026

Town of Putnam
Planning & Zoning Commission 
Legal Notice
The Town of Putnam Planning & Zoning Commission will hold a hybrid meeting on May 20, 2026, at 7:00 P. M. in Room 201 at the Putnam Municipal Complex, located at 200 School Street, Putnam, CT.  Public hearings will take place on each of the following:
Docket # 2026-06  Town of Putnam Planning & Zoning Commission Agent’s proposed text amendments to the Town of Putnam Zoning Regulations amended through July 13, 2024. “Article VII Special Requirements”, Section 702-Multi-Famiy Housing. B. Requirements, 1. Relation to Transportation and Section 703-Condominiums, Subsection C. Requirements, item 8. and 9.m.
Docket # 2026-07  Town of Putnam Planning & Zoning Commission Agent for a proposed text amendment to the Town of Putnam Zoning Regulations amended through July 13, 2024.  “Article I General and Administrative”, Section 114-Special Permit, C. Applications, 2 and “Article VIII Definitions”, M., Manufactured or Modular Homes.
Docket # 2026-08  Jennifer R. Dean/Lundwall request for a Special permit in accordance with Section 304 “Schedule of Uses and Districts” and Section 414 “Livestock” for 6 chickens and 5 ducks,  Property located at 115 Farrows Street, Town Assessors Map 16, Lot 21, Zoned R-10.
Docket # 2026-09  123 Park Road LLC request for a Special Permit for the expansion of a storage facility.  Property located at 123 Park Road Town Assessor’s Map 44, Lot 11, Zoned Industrial
 Patricia Hedenberg, Chairperson

May 7, 2026 & May 14, 2026

Town of Putnam
Zoning Board of Appeals
Legal Notice
The Town of Putnam Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on May 19, 2026, at 7:00 P.M. in Room 201 located on the second floor of the Putnam Municipal Complex, located at 200 School Street, Putnam, CT.   A public hearing is scheduled for each of the following:
Appeal # 2025-008A Sukpaseuth Phongsa and Khamphanh Phongsa request for variances from Section 601 of the Town of Putnam Zoning Regulations to reduce the 33 required parking spaces down to 22 parking spaces and Section 601(c.) setback of parking access from property line: reduced from the required 5 feet down to approximately 2 feet. The applicant is seeking variances for the construction of a restaurant and a grocery store.  Property is located at 611 School Street, Town Assessors Map 26, Lot 67, Zoned Highway Commercial.  
Appeal # 2026-003 Hilb Group/Edward and MaryLou Desaulnier request for a 5-foot variance for the placement of a 25 square foot sign on the side of the building facing Canal Street.  Property is located at 16 Pomfret Street, Town Assessors Map 15, Lot 75, Zoned PD.
Appeal # 2026-004  Dennis Campbell requests for a front yard variance from the required 50 feet down to 40 feet for the construction of a 20’ X 34’ addition to an existing garage.  Property is located at 510 Liberty Highway, Town Assessors Map 26, Lot 76, Zoned R-40.
Scott Zadora, Chairman
May 7, 2026 & May 14, 2026 

Town of Putnam
Inland Wetland Commission
Legal Notice

The Town of Putnam Inland Wetland Commission’s Agent granted approval on May 6, 2026, on the following:  

Application # 2026-05  Town of Putnam for Improvements at 189 Church Street with the basketball court being replaced in the same location.  The three tennis courts will be replaced with a single tennis court and 6 pickleball courts.
      
Bruce Fitzback, Inland Wetland Agent

May 14, 2026

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