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Racing

Todd Greco raced his Lotus at the new Thompson Motor Speedway.  Courtesy photo.

 

By Ron P. Coderre

This week’s column is dedicated to six year old Jackson Meehan who’s a First Grade student at St. Louis Parochial School in Webster, Mass.   On Sunday, Aug. 23, Jackson and his dad, Brendan Meehan enjoyed a leisurely round of golf at Quinnatisset Country Club.  Jackson  is already striking the ball with authority.  By the way this was his first ever 18-holes of golf.

The end of August signals the change of seasons from summer to early fall.  The weatherman begins to grace our area with less humidity.  The shorter days signal earlier start times for golfers.  And of course, the people of northeastern Connecticut focus on the “Fair Season” especially in Brooklyn and Woodstock.

As the sun begins to lose strength it signals time for students to return to their beloved classrooms and teachers.  For some high school students it’s the beginning of football season, a time of year that athletes look forward to with anticipation but dread the long practice sessions in full pads.

It seems like only yesterday we were congratulating the graduates, making it practically impossible to imagine that the high school and prep school football season is now on our doorstep.  The 2015 season, which ends on Thanksgiving morning, officially begins on Friday evening September 11 and Saturday afternoon September 12.

Killingly, Plainfield and Quinebaug Valley Pride kick off the season under the arcs with Friday Night Lights.  Killingly once again is led by coach Chad Neal, while veteran coach Pat Smith is back to lead the Panthers.  Joe Asermelly will take the Pride through the Constitution State Conference schedule with a couple games sprinkled in against out-of-conference opponents.  Woodstock Academy returns coach Clay Killingsworth to the helm in the hope of picking up more victories this season.

Coach Neal is hoping that the Redmen will finally become a force in the Eastern Connecticut Conference.  The road won’t be easy for Killingly, which opens with local foes Griswold and Plainfield before hitting the iron.  Along the way coach Neal’s charges, without the versatile Michael Elsey, face the likes of Waterford, Bacon Academy, Windham, New London, Stonington, Fitch and Montville before closing out its season in the traditional Thanksgiving Day Classic against CSC opponent Quinebaug Valley Pride.

The Pride has a full slate of CSC games with the exception of contests against Woodstock Academy and Killingly.  QV, which lost 1000-yard gainer Raif Santerre to graduation, opens the CSC schedule with Bassick, followed by Cheney Tech, Wilcox Tech, Prince Tech, Thames River, Vinal Tech/East Hampton/Goodwin Tech and Platt Tech.

Woodstock Academy, which is still trying to figure out if it’s a football school, plays a mixed schedule of ECC and Constitution State Conference teams.  The Acads open at ECC opponent Bacon Academy, and then play Griswold, Windham, East Lyme, Montville, Waterford and Fitch in conference.  The Centaurs also have games with Quinebaug Valley Pride, Vinal Tech/East Hampton/Goodwin Tech and face Thames River of the CSC on Turkey Day.

Plainfield has probably the toughest array of teams on its schedule with nine ECC teams and Central Falls of Rhode Island to contend with.  The Panthers open with Fitch, followed by Killingly, Montville, Windham, Waterford, New London, Stonington, Ledyard prior to its season finale on Thanksgiving against archrival Griswold.

Hyde School – Woodstock coach Sean Saucier will have big shoes to fill with the departure via graduation of all-purpose back and scoring machine Jimmy Murphy.  Saucier, who has enjoyed success with the Wolfpack has the knack of drawing in outstanding post-graduate players and mixing them with his returnees.

Pomfret School, which is competitive with the prep schools of its size, continues to build a program that will be in games with schools at most levels.

Welcome to Putnam

Thanks to the cooperation of the Town of Putnam governing body and the highly successful Putnam Business Association, our community has become a destination for visitors and tourists.  On Saturday, August 22 while dining out at Bella’s outside patio with my wife Donna and my brother Moe and his wife Pam, we had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of visitors to our area from the Plainfield, N.J., area.

John and Kathy Greco were in the area to watch their son Todd race at the new Thompson Motor Speedway.  Driving his Lotus, Todd reached speed of 120 to 130 miles-per-hour on the back straight-away.  In real life Todd works at Princeton University in research.

The family was also celebrating Kathy Greco’s birthday.  RPC sends along happy birthday wishes.  We hope you enjoyed your time in Putnam.

Home on Leave

Spotted at Quinnatisset Country Club enjoying a round of golf while home on leave was United States Army Sgt. Andrew Zamagni.  A graduate of Putnam High School, Zamagni was the guest of his lifelong buddy Tyler Gaudreau.  As a Clipper, Zamagni was a rugged lineman who opened some big holes for Putnam running backs.

Sgt. Zamagni is expected to deploy for the Middle East with his unit in the near future.  He’s the son of Charles and Nancy Zamagni of Putnam.

An Ace for an Ace

When you have relatives who work at local golf courses they become a welcome source of news.  My brother Marc Coderre is a ranger at Raceway Golf Course and my brother-in-law Rick Carnahan serves in the same capacity at Connecticut National Golf Club.

Thanks to Marc were happy to recognize veteran golfer Len Hast of Webster who recorded a hole-in-one at Raceway on Saturday, August 22.  Hast, who’s been on the links for 49 years, was especially overjoyed with his achievement, his first ace in his brilliant golf career.

Hast aced the par-3, 165 yard 4th hole.  He used his trusty 4-hybrid for his historic shot, which was attested by his playing partner, his wife Pat.  She vouches it really happened.  RPC sends along congratulations, Len.

Elks in the News

The annual Elks Soccer Shootout is scheduled for sometime in September according to organizer Sharon Brier.  Local Shootout winners will advance to the East District Shootout, scheduled for Sunday, October 4 at the Groton Lodge of Elks.  Winners will then advance to the Connecticut State Shootout on Sunday, October 16 in East Windsor.  The Region 1 Shootout, a two-day affair, will be held on Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7 at a site yet to be determined. Contact the Elks Club for more information at 860 928 – 3901.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the successful 21st running of the Jake and Jean Golf Tournament.  Will and Heather Hryzan coordinated the effort with an assist from Shawn Tessier, Paula Foster, Lee Konicki, Jerry Beausoleil, and Kathie and Alan Guertin.  Buster Corey and his crew handled the cooking duties, while Melissa Dakai and Judi Boulet served the libations.  Rene Deloge was in charge of the snacks.  The automobile for a hole-in-one, which didn’t happen, was donated by Putnam Ford thanks to Dan Goyette.

On the links the winning team was captained by Mark Clemens, while Tom Musumeci was captain of the runner-up foursome and Jon Trudeau led the third-place finishers.  

RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”  Henry David Thoreau

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