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By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s RPC sporty shout out is sent along to Nate Trythall, practice manager at The Center for Bone and Joint Care. Relatively new to the Putnam area, Trythall is fitting in nicely by participating in local road races and charity golf tournaments.
Northeast Communities Against Substance Abuse (NECASA), the regions substance abuse and planning agency, is bringing a presentation on “Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs” (APEDs) to the area in an effort to educate parents, coaches, athletes and counselors on the issues related to the use and abuse of APEDs.
The program speaker is being provided by The Taylor Hooton Foundation on Tuesday, September 17 at 7 p.m. at the Betty Tipton Room, Student Center on the campus of Eastern Connecticut State University.
Taylor Hooton was a 16 year old muscular high school athlete who was convinced he “needed to be bigger” to effectively compete in athletics during his senior year. He decided to take a shortcut to help achieve his goal. Tragically he was unaware of the severe depression he would experience as a result of using anabolic steroids. On July 15, 2003 Taylor Hooton took his life. The speaker for the program is anticipated to be Donald Hooton, Taylor’s brother, according to a release from Robert Brex, NECASA executive director.
APEDs have been around sports for decades and have been used by American and Canadian professional athletes, influencing young athletes who wish to emulate their favorite athletes. Today, the use of anabolic steroids and other appearance and performance enhancing drugs by our nation’s youth has reached epidemic proportions. A recent University of Minnesota study indicated that about 1.5 million high school and middle school students have knowingly used anabolic steroids.
The Taylor Hooton Foundation prides itself on offering the latest factual information on this topic. The Foundation’s primary goal is to raise awareness and provide education about the dangers and devastating physical and psychological effects of these drugs.
For more information on this free program, contact Brex at 860 779-9253 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Good Will Golfing…
Who is Will Machnicki? The name keeps popping up at some of the best golf tournaments in Eastern Connecticut and beyond.
Most recently Machnicki, who plays out of Harrisville Golf Club in Woodstock, played in the Connecticut Mid-Amateur Championship at the par 72 Fairview Farm Golf Club in Harwinton. Machnicki fared very well over the three-day event, posting scores of 73-70-75 for a total of 218, which was nine strokes off the winning score of 209 posted by Ben Hunter of Sterling Farm Golf Club. He finished in a respectable tie for 12th place in the large field that featured some of Connecticut’s best amateur golfers.
Putnam Native in the Peach State…
From the Where Are They Now Files: It’s Crawfordville, Ga., for 73 –year old Richard “Dickie” Dubois, who grew up in the Bullock Street area of Putnam as a youth. He’s one of the town’s original ‘boys of summer,’ having played Little League baseball for the Giants when the game originated in Putnam in 1951.
Dubois, who attended Putnam High School, is a U.S. Army veteran. He recently retired following a career as a truck driver. He’s married to the former Sharon McAvoy of Georgia. They have three children, Richard, Debra and Sherry.
So Long to the Good Old Days of Summer…
It’s hard to believe that former Killingly High School standout girls’ basketball player Megan Robinson is entering her junior year at High Point University in North Carolina. The communications major spent a good portion of her summer working in the hospitality department at Connecticut National Golf Club.
This fall Robinson has landed an internship at Wake Forest University, which is about 20 minutes from High Point University. She’ll work on special events and event management in the Demon Deacons athletic department. Football will occupy her time in the autumn and in the winter she’ll work with the basketball program.
Although she worked at the golf course, she professes that the game hasn’t yet attracted her attention. She did get in one round with her mother, Mary Pat Egan before leaving for school.
Rest in Peace…
Although we never had any personal dealings with Jay-R Richeeds when he was a player at Killingly High School, the news of his unexpected death sent personal shock waves as well as taking the region by surprise. Death is inevitable but when it takes the life of a good young person with a promising future it’s doubly devastating. God Bless Jay-R.
From The Annals of Putnam Sports History…
September 3, 1906: On Labor Day, during the Putnam Fair, C.A. C. played Jewett City for a purse of $125 before nearly 2000 fans. Putnam won 2-0. The game was called after 8 innings because Putnam had to catch an early afternoon train to play in Whitinsville, Mass. The game was played in 1 hour.
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: Experience can sometimes be the worst teacher – it gives the test before presenting the lesson.