Briefly
JCSB annual meeting
JEWETT CITY — At Jewett City Savings Bank’s 152nd Annual Meeting of Corporators, President and CEO, Michael Alberts discussed the Bank’s strong financial performance, which included net income ahead of projections at $3.97 million. He also outlined the Bank’s successful transition as a commercial community bank that provides loans to meet the needs of a wide range of local businesses. Daniel Barrett of Lisbon was elected as a corporator. He is a property owner and manager, who has strong knowledge of the housing industry and Fair Housing practices.

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Relay For Life ‘defies description’
Hope Lives Here - Relay For Life of Northeastern CT
PUTNAM — “Paige, this is the first time I feel normal” Heather DiRaimo, mother and cancer survivor, told her eighth grade daughter. Heather was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Four years later, Heather has transitioned to a maintenance medication and Putnam High School junior Paige Perry co-leads the event with Whitney Pynn and Shane Donahue.
Donahue said: “The bottom line is Relay defies description. You have to experience it.”
This year marks the 29th anniversary for Relay For Life of Northeastern CT. The 24-hour event kicks off at 10 a.m. May 31 and concludes June 1 at the St. Marie-Greenhalgh Sports Complex.
At Relay’s core are three moments: Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back. 
Celebrate. We celebrate survivors at 10 a.m. as they check-in and prepare to walk the first lap. 
Survivors fighting cancer and caregivers follow the thrivers, who have overcome cancer. 
This lap ends with our free brunch (pre-registration required).
Remember. Following the free survivor dinner at 6 p.m. (pre-registration required), the open mic for participants to share their cancer journeys begins. 
Personal reflection turns to collective remembrance as we read luminaria name. Luminaria are illuminated white bags that line the track, and are dedicated for those impacted by cancer. 
Our last public lap is the silent lap led by a bagpiper.
Fight Back. At 9 a.m. June 1, we end with a rally cry–giving awards, opening mystery raffle items and outlining the work ahead. 
This family-friendly, volunteer-driven event is a symbol of hope, said Donahue. In addition to free activities, live entertainment, crafters and food trucks, participants may: Register for our Cornhole Tournament to win money; Enter the inflatable park with face-painting, balloon animals, boomerang demonstrations, and concessions for $10 per child.
In addition, there are “Pop-Up Events,” each with a free activity, guest judges, silent auctions and mystery raffles: Relay Reads Swap wrapped “mystery books” with peers, decorate bookmarks and raise funds to buy books for youth receiving cancer treatment; Plant Party Swap plants/cuttings, compete in free pot decoration and take home new houseplants by donation; Let’s Get Cooking Cake Decorating Competition: Compete to make the best cake and swap recipes with fellow participants as we build a Relay cookbook. Community Art Show with live demonstrations, crafts, and an art show followed by a silent auction; Chubby Dog Gaming Cafe and Arcade: Play Magic the Gathering tournaments, Dungeons and Dragons, board games, trivia and attend Celebrity Barista Night.
To register a team, RSVP as a survivor for free meals, sign up to volunteer or learn more, visit linktr.ee/relaynect and click “Join this Relay.”

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More pavers, perhaps ramps
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Work continues at the Veterans Park — on all fronts — with the goal some significant progress by Memorial Day.
Last week Harvard H. Ellis Tech Masonry students returned to install 140 pavers. This week they will head back to the park to install about 600 pavers which represent the veterans found in town cemeteries including Aspinwall, Munyan, Grove Street, Nancy Drive and more. Robert Challinor Jr., chair of the Veterans Advisory Committee and spearhead of the park project, said another 600 pavers representing veterans found in St. Mary’s Cemetery will be installed at the park next year.
When some rehabilitation of the newly discovered Day-Bowen Cemetery in East Putnam is done, “there will be more pavers for veterans there to add to the list,” Challinor said.
At the Veterans Park last week, pea stone was placed on top of processed gravel in the now-expanded Court of Honor. Ellis instructor Andrew Hawes said 17 students are learning how to install a proper base and then how to properly install pavers. When that is done, he said, polymeric sand is swept across the pavers. With the addition of water, that sand, which contains some cement, locks in the pavers.
On order is a hefty black chain that will enclose the Court of Honor.
Two bronze plaques, which have been in the works for more than a year, are finished and will be installed on the two WWII granite monuments. More than 1,400 names are on those plaques.
The stone wall that was under the vinyl fence along the back of the park, bordering with the synagogue, was removed, replaced with loose stones. Challinor said that wall was “catching trash.”
That will come in handy on another phase the group is working on: Building two ramps, one on each side of the vinyl fence. Ellis Tech Masonry Department head Elliott Hayden was there last week, with 15-plus students, measuring for the concrete ramps. Because the synagogue owns the fence area, Challinor will put together a presentation for the synagogue. He hopes permission might be granted in time for the ramps to be installed in the fall. He added the park group intends to have a sign created for the synagogue parking lot — that parking is courtesy of the synagogue. 
Hayden said the distance for the ramp at the edge of the fence closest to Church Street is 23 feet and the slope is 20 inches so that will mean that the ramp’s pitch will be gentle, less than 1 inch per foot. “That look like it will work,” he said. 

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Left: Elliott Hayden measures for a ramp. More photos Wed. night on our FB page. Linda Lemmon photos.