By Ron P. Coderre  

This week’s RPC column is dedicated to Keith Barnes, manager of the Crossings Restaurant in the former Putnam Railroad Station.  Since arriving in northeastern Connecticut from southeastern Connecticut, Barnes has made a positive impact in downtown Putnam.  In his spare time he’s a basketball coach in the Woodstock youth basketball leagues.

The name Mayo is familiar around northeastern Connecticut.  It may not be very familiar in California but if a young Irish dancer by the name of Caitlin Mayo has anything to say about it people in the Golden State, the nation and beyond will be hearing it more often.

Young Miss Mayo is quickly becoming an Irish dancer of renown.  Caitlin began Irish dancing at age 7 and has continued her passion with a lot of hard work.  The freshman at Justin-Siena, earned a pair of first in Irish dance at the Comerford Halloween Feis in Anaheim, which meant she qualified for the Open Championships and many other high level competitions.  

A feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and cultural festival, and the term is commonly used to refer to Irish dance competition.

Caitlin, the daughter of Greg and Christine (Trudo) Mayo, competed in the Western Regional championships in Phoenix in November and is scheduled to travel to Montreal in April for the World Championships.  

“I practice four to five days per week, traveling to Walnut Creek, not to mention the competitions.  Keeping up with classes, and homework is challenging – I put in some late hours!” said Mayo of her dancing activity.

Although she competes individually, Caitlin enjoys the team dancing competition, which is generally composed of two to eight dancers who work in unison.  Caitlin performed with a team of eight girls in the World Championships in London last year.  She’s looking forward to the World’s this year in Montreal.

Prior to enrolling at Justin Siena, Caitlin attended Stone Bridge School in Carneros, Calif., where she received the Leadership Award at graduation.  Looking to the future, the freshman is interested in working in crime investigations and/or forensics someday.

Caitlin’s dad Greg is a radiologic technician, working with a mobile X-ray unit in California.  She is the granddaughter of Donald and Elizabeth Mayo of Putnam.

Gibson Enjoying Success in NBA-D League

Remember Shane Gibson, the former Killingly High School basketball standout who brought so much joy to Redmen fandom with his offensive exploits on the hardwood?  Well, Gibson, who had an outstanding four-year college career at Sacred Heart University, is still aspiring to someday reach the National Basketball Association.  He’s currently a member of the Idaho Stampede of the NBA-D League.

Gibson, who scored 2079 points at Sacred Heart, is averaging 13.8 points per game for the Stampede in 33 games this season.  He’s also the D-League top free throw shooter with a 97.1 percent accuracy rate from the charity stripe.

On Sunday, Feb. 15 Gibson was one of only six players from the entire League selected to be in New York for the NBA All Star Weekend, where he competed in the NBA D-League three-point shooting contest, which was held at 2 p.m. at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn.

Gibson moved to California, where he began working out and was originally signed by the Sacramento organization of the NBA and eventually signed by the Idaho Stampede of the Utah Jazz organization.

Incidentally, one of Gibson’s teammates on the Stampede is former Putnam Science Academy standout guard Ta’Quan Zimmerman, who has appeared in 27 games and is averaging 5.7 points a game.

Championships Abounding in the Region

Congratulations are in order for the Woodstock Academy gymnastics team which captured the Eastern Connecticut Conference Championship for the sixth year in a row.  The Centaurs, who were led by their two all-star performers Grace Logan and Paige Stuyniski, took the title by beating second-place finisher Norwich Free Academy 147.40 to 130.85.

Logan captured the All-Around title with an individual score of 38.1, while Stuyniski, who finished third overall, posted a 36.7.  The Deary twins, Nickie (36.45) and Jackie (36.15) rounded out the Top Five performers.

Woodstock Academy is coached by Robin Deary-Fillmore, who will be retiring as a high school coach after this season.  Deary-Fillmore will leave her post as probably the most successful high school gymnastics coach in Connecticut and even all of New England.  Deary-Fillmore is assisted by her daughter, renowned gymnast Kasey Fillmore, and her brother Gene Michael Deary.

While on the subject of championships, a ‘tip of the sports fedora’ to the Woodstock Middle School Lady Wildcats who captured the Quinebaug Valley Junior Conference Championship with a hard fought 22-20 victory over Thompson Middle School.  The Wildcats are coached by Terri Creedon.  Thompson is coached by Serena Germain.

In the boys’ title game, Plainfield prevailed over Woodstock 40-34.  Plainfield is coached by Al Denomme.  Bill Sullivan is the coach of the Woodstock Middle School Wildcats.

Happy Anniversary

Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park is celebrating a significant anniversary this year as the venue is in its 75th year of existence.  The brainchild of the late John Hoenig was the first paved oval in the Eastern part of the U.S.

Since that time the operation has remained in the hands of the Hoenig family, first with Donald Hoenig and most recently with his son DR and his grandson Jonathan.  In marking this anniversary officials of TSMP announced that the 2015 Championship Awards Banquet will be held at Mohegan Sun on Saturday, December 5, 2015.

TSMP General Manager Josh Vanada also announced that racing for the 2015 season will begin on Friday, April 10 with the 41st running of the Icebreaker.  Many special events are planned throughout the upcoming season at the oval and the new road course.  For more information and details visit their website, www.thompsonspeedway.com. 

One Final Note Worth Mentioning

Get well wishes are sent along to Pomfret resident and one of northeastern Connecticut’s truly good guys, Raymond Navarro.   The noted golfer, sports enthusiast and premier “Catch Five” player recently had a stay at Day Kimball Hospital.  RPC sends along best wishes and prayers.  We’re all looking forward to seeing you walking Sports Avenue in the near future, Raymond.

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius

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