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Takes part
NEW LONDON --- Audrey Wayman, a junior at Connecticut College, played the violin in the Connecticut College fall orchestra concert. Wayman, a 2011 graduate of Woodstock Academy, is the daughter of Susan Wayman of Eastford and Paul Wayman.

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PUTNAM --- The Theatre of Northeastern Connecticut at the Bradley Playhouse temporarily moved its office to 28 Front Street, downtown, while construction to replace the ceiling in the auditorium takes place.
The project is expected to last six to eight weeks with the theater opening in time for the Feb. 21 production of "The Odd Couple - Female Version."
The office is upstairs over Jeremiah's Antiques and may be reached by the stairway adjacent to the Bradley's entry and to the left.
Once at the top of the stairs, the office is at the end of the hall at the left. Hours will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.
For patrons who cannot climb stairs, Victoria Station Cafe allowed the Bradley to have special holiday hours to sell season tickets, Flex Passes and gift certificates from 3 to 6 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
For question son their special hours or tickets sales, call 928-7887 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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By Ron P. Coderre
The 2014 high school girls’ basketball season got underway with all five local schools seeing early season action with mixed results.  Putnam and Woodstock Academy who are playing under new coaches witnessed the debut of Putnam’s Mandy Hogan get off to a flying start, albeit her competition was weak, while Willie Bousquet’s first two games as the Woodstock’s coach ended in losses.  
Tourtellotte, under veteran coach Carla Faucher, earned a pair of opening victories; while Plainfield had a big win over perennial power Bacon Academy.  Killingly, which always seems to be in a rebuilding mode, lost its first two games of the season.
Tourtellotte and Putnam Open with Big Victories
The Tourtellotte Lady Tigers opened the season with a relatively easy win over tiny Parish Hill but it was the team’s second victory that raised the eyebrows of local basketball aficionados.  Traveling to Woodstock, a locale that Tourtellotte has a difficult time in putting up victories, the Lady Tigers held off the host Centaurs 37-30.
After jumping out to an 11-5 first period advantage, it looked like old times as Woodstock scored 11 second stanza points while holding Tourtellotte to a mere basket.  The spurt gave the Centaurs a 16-13 halftime lead, one that would dissipate in the final 16 minutes as TMHS outscored the Acads 24-14 for the final margin.
Jess Dodd, who was held scoreless in the first half, was the Lady Tigers catalyst as she scored 13 points in the second half propelling Faucher’s charges to the win.  She was the lone Tourtellotte player in double figures.  Woodstock was led by Taylor Littell with 10 points.  
Earlier in the week Tourtellotte handily defeated Parish Hill 45-26 as Dodd (14) and Allie Ablondi (15) combined for 29 points for the 2-0 Lady Tigers.
Woodstock couldn’t give Bousquet a victory in the opening week as it was also dropped by Windham 41-30 in a game that was closer than the final margin.  
The Putnam Lady Clippers opened the season with a CSC East Conference win over Ellis Tech in a game that nearly was an unusual shutout.  Putnam gave coach Mandy Hogan an early Christmas present with a 49-2 romp over the Lady Eagles.  Cynthia Briere with 17 points and Makenzi Kaylor with a dozen were the Putnam high scorers.
Plainfield with Adrienne Lorange providing the offense rolled past Bacon Academy 47-30.  Lorange led all scorers with 23 points including a pair of three-pointers.
Killingly suffered losses to Griswold,, 50-39 and New London, 63-29 in its first two games of the year.  Meagan Bianchi with 11 against the Wolverines and 21 against the Whalers was the lone bright spot for the Redgals.
Marianapolis Enjoying Early Success
Marianapolis under first year head coach Lauren Moore is off to a running start at 3-1.  The Lady Knights pulled off a stunning first round victory over host Worcester Academy in the 13th Thomas Blackburn Invitational Tournament, picking up a 52-40 win over the Hilltopers.
Utilizing primarily five players throughout the contest, each of the Marianapolis starters contributed to the victory, led by Nicole Viselli’s 14 points.  She was joined in double digits by Caroline Soucy (13) and Madison Springfield (11).  Jill Bodreau chipped in eight markers and Rachel Aho had six for the winners who trailed 24-23 at halftime.
The bassketball gods caught up with the Lady Knights in the finals as they were beaten by Tilton Academy 58-41.  Madison Springfield with 12 points and Jill Bodreau with 10 paced the Marianapolis offense.  Springfield and Nicole Viselli were named to the all-tournament team.
Earlier in the week the Lady Knights bested Thayer Academy 58-39 behind Aho’s 18 point performance and Springfield’s 14.
The MPS II unit continued to struggle at 0-4, losing a pair, 36-22 to Hyde-Woodstock and 59-28 to St. Andrew’s.  
In its other game, Hyde lost to Lincoln School 45-24.  Janicha Diaz was the Wolfpack’s leading scorer in each game, with 23 against Marianapolis and eight in the Lincoln loss.
Pomfret opened its season with a 58-50 win over Taft School as Mary Redmond had four 3-pointers in leading the Lady Griffins with 20 points.  She was joined in double figures by Juliette Lawless (17) and Alyzae Davis (13).  Loomis Chaffee jumped out to a 27-16 advantage at intermission and never looked back as it maintained the 11 point edge in beating visiting Pomfret 56-45.   Redmond (13), Davis (15) and Lawless (10) were 1-1 Pomfret’s leading scorers.

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By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s RPC shout out is sent along to Ryan Rumrill who is working on his associate’s degree at Quinebaug Valley Community College.  During his spare time Rumrill, who was previously the Putnam High School scorer for basketball, can now be found across town at Putnam Science Academy.  He serves as an assistant coach and statistician for the Mustangs.
If you follow Major League baseball as I do, it’s always interesting to see how players from Eastern Connecticut are performing.  The majority of minor and major league players currently affiliated with professional teams come from Norwich and south.  Regardless, it’s interesting to follow their career paths.
Rajai Davis, who last season played for the Toronto Blue Jays, entered the free agent market this year.  Although Bleacher Reports earlier stated he didn’t have much opportunity of hooking a big contract, he surprised the BR folks and everyone else this week as he moved on from Toronto.
It was recently announced that the 33-year-old Davis was signed by the Detroit Tigers to a two-year pact in the vicinity of $9 to $10 million.  The Tigers, who are attempting to bring more overall speed to the club, appear to be very excited about signing the speedy Davis.  Last season, the Tigers pilfered only 35 bases as a team, while Davis was second in the American League in stolen bases with 41 only four behind the league leader Jacoby Elsbury who was then with the Red Sox.
The Tiger brain trust plans on platooning Davis in left field, which suits him to a tee.  He’s the type player who’ll take advantage of any situation presented to him.  In the past he’s played all three outfield positions very adeptly.  It’s possible that will happen with the Tigers.
Detroit is the fifth team that Davis has played for.  He was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates and has since played for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland A’s and Toronto.  A graduate of New London High School, Davis played for coach Roger Bidwell at UConn-Avery Point for two years prior to turning professional.
Anyone who knows or has ever met Davis will attest that he’s a quality individual and complete team player.  It’s great to see that he’s being rewarded for his work ethic.
She’s Going to Disney World
Shortly after the first of the year Putnam’s Elizabeth Buzalski will be heading to Florida.  The trip, which may have some vacation components to it, ultimately has a much more serious purpose.
Buzalski, who only started running last year, has been training in preparation for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Half-Marathon taking place at Walt Disney World on Jan. 10, 2014.  Buzalski is part of the LLS Team in Training that is raising funds with a goal of curing and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.  She’s doing her part to be ready for the approximately 13-mile run but she needs everyone’s help in raising money for the cause.
If anyone would like to support Buzalski with a tax deductible contribution they can contact her at 860 230-3105 or go directly to her fundraising page, http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/wdw14/ebuzalski.  This is an opportunity to assist a dedicated young lady in her endeavor while supporting a worthwhile cause.
“I Was at  Patriots-Browns Game”
Many years from now there will be people sitting around reminiscing about last week’s New England Patriots comeback 27-26 victory over the Cleveland Browns.  With only 2:29 remaining on the clock the Pats trailed the Brownies by two touchdowns, causing many of the loyal New England fans on hand to head for the exits and parking lots.
The local trio of Atty. Marty Weiss, Obie Hewitt and Tim Aubin were among the thousands who took the early exit figuring the game was over and the Browns would upset the favored Patriots.  Wrong!  As the trio was plodding to the parking lot they heard the roar of the crowd as Tom Brady led the locals to a late game score.
The trio was still confident that the game would go to Cleveland, when suddenly they heard another explosion of cheers from the stadium.  They soon found out that an onside kick by Steven Goskowski and some more Brady heroics meant one of the greatest comeback victories in the history of not only the Pats but probably the NFL.  Unfortunately they missed all the heroics.
I’ll take bets that 10 or 20 years from now they’ll be telling their grandchildren or old friends that they were there for the finish of the game.  Much like all those folks who claim they were at Fenway Park for Ted Williams last home run but in reality only 10,000 fans were on hand that day.  Today, more than 100,000 individuals lay claim to have witnessed that four-bagger.
Update on College Performers
The big news with local college players this week is the selection of former Putnam Science Academy “big man” Paul Brooks as the MASCAC Basketball Rookie of the Week.  The 6-foot, 9-inch. Brooks, who now plays at Worcester State, had a standout week despite the fact that the Lancers only posted a 1-3 record as a team.
Brooks averaged seven points and nine rebounds including a pair of double-double efforts.  In a loss at Western Connecticut State University, Brooks had 10 points and 10 boards in a Herculean effort.  He followed that up with a 12-point, 11-carom performance in a 96-56 win over UMaine Augusta in the Ed Hockenbury Tournament.        
In the first eight games of the season, Brooks is averaging 5.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest with a team leading seven blocks.  He’s eighth in the MASCAC in total rebounds with 46 and 10th in average, while connecting on .512 per cent of his shots.  The Lancers are a disappointing 1-7 on the year as they enter a big cross-town matchup with Clark University.
Our friends at Quinnipiac University, Ike Azotam and Ousmane Drame continue to play great basketball for the 5-3 Bobcats.  The team is third in the nation in rebounding margin behind Indiana and Arizona.  Azotam leads the MAAC in rebounding with 10.8 per contest, while Drame is fifth at 8.1 a game.  In a recent loss to Rider, Azotam had 24 points and Drame four.
Putnam’s Glenn Senecal, who is an assistant coach for the Central Connecticut State University women, is smiling these days after the ladies beat the University of Vermont 82-68 to raise their record to 5-3.
Finally, another former player of coach Tom Espinosa, Jonte Rutty, who plays for Georgian Court University in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, is enjoying a very productive freshman season in New Jersey.  In a recent loss to Pace University, Rutty registered 11 points in his season-best effort by adding a team leading seven rebounds.
From The Annals of Putnam Sports History
December 1906: In basketball Putnam High School defeated Southbridge High 35-27 in Southbridge.  Windham 22 – Putnam 12 in Willimantic and Killingly 38 – Putnam 5 in Danielson.  (Information contributed by Willie Zamagni)
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: Life is a grindstone – whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of.