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The goal of every season is to have a special Opening Night at home.
Welcome a raucous crowd into the gym, watch the One Shining Moment video one more time, unveil a championship banner…it’s all there. It means the previous season ended in a special way as well.
PSA is going to do all that this year – with the season kicking off at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at home against Busche Academy – and plans to do it again around the same time in 2024. The way to get there – to a third straight national title and fifth overall – is to run the gauntlet of a schedule coach Tom Espinosa has put together for his wildly talented and deep team from now until mid-March.
“You can start with the second weekend of the season and the NEBL Tipoff, and it just keeps going from there,” Espinosa said. “We pride ourselves on playing what we think is the toughest schedule in the country. We play all the best teams in New England, and then outside the region we face some of the best in the rest of the country when we go to these national events.
“It’s a hard schedule. And as we know, as national champions, teams are always coming for us and giving us their best game.”
Among the highlights for PSA: Brewster and Newman at the NEBL Tipoff (Nov. 11-12); Hargrave and Massanutten at the National Prep Showcase (Nov. 17-18); Bradford Christian – which handed PSA two of its three losses last year – at the Zero Gravity Classic (Dec. 1); Cushing at the Hoop Hall Showcase (Jan. 13); the Power 5 Showcase in Springfield (Jan. 19-21); Mt. Zion at the National Prep Invitational (Feb. 1 and 3); and games with South Kent (Jan. 23 at home, Feb. 6 on the road).
Mixed in at the end of the first semester are two road trips for the first time since before COVID. PSA is headed to the Ohio Showcase to face Spire and Western Reserve on Dec. 9 and 10, respectively, then goes to the Sunshine Prep Classic hosted by IMG Academy in Florida for four games from Dec. 14-17.
“Our goal every year is to be the last team standing at the end and win another national championship,” Espinosa said. “There is so much that goes into it, and so many things have to go right for that to happen, but that is our goal. Kids have to buy in to each other and the coaches, we have to stay healthy, all that. It’s not easy … but that’s always the goal here.
“And if all that happens, then we know we’ll be prepared because of our schedule. We’re battle-tested. We’ll be ready.”
Your chance to see Putnam Science Academy’s Prep basketball team for the first time is coming up fast, as Mustang Madness has been scheduled 6 p.m. Oct. 30. PSA is coming off a second straight national championship and fourth overall.
“It’s always a fun night for the kids,” coach Tom Espinosa said. “A great night for the whole school, for the community to come out. It’s just a fun night.”
The event is free and open to the public, and features player introductions of both the boys’ and girls’ Prep teams, a 3-point contest, a Slam Dunk contest, a Kids’ Dunk Contest, and a chance to take pictures with some of the players, among other activities.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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Martha Clark
EASTFORD — Martha Clark died Oct. 20, 2023. She was born Feb. 20, 1928, in Westford, the daughter of Nathan and Lina (Wheeler) Armitage.
She attended the Westford Hill School, the Ashford Academy, Windham High School, and UConn where she studied home economics. She attended her first dress review when she was 10 and later the state dress review. She met her husband at an Eastford/Ashford Christian Endeavor meeting. She sewed a dress she wore to Darwin’s Senior prom and sewed her own wedding dress.
She was a member of the Westford Congregational Church and, for 75 years, a member of the Congregational Church of Eastford. She was shepherded through 4-H by her aunt Clara, and was active in the Ashford Grange, UConn Home Extension Service, Eastford Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary, The Whiton Family Association, and the Congregational Church of Eastford where she sang in the choir. She was a 4-H leader for several decades to dozens of young women in Eastford. She also sewed wedding and bridesmaid dresses, and a multitude of quilts for many of her friends and their children. She drove a truck when needed for her family business, was an avid reader, and a pretty good bowler. She enjoyed baking cookies, her quilters group, and the annual road trips the family took with their tent camper, and she traveled to 48 states.
After her children were away from home, she worked at the Eastford Post Office well into her 70s. She especially enjoyed cooking for a crowd or making cookies with three generations of children. It was not unusual for her to single handedly feed more than a dozen people in her home on short notice. For more than 70 years her home was a welcome gathering place for friends and family just wanting to stop for a chat, a coffee, cookies, or in need of a place to stay for a night, a month, or longer. She was a powerful force that will be missed.
She leaves two sons, William and his companion Connie DeWitt, Robert (Janet); a daughter, Mary Lou Fuller; grandchildren, Donavon Clark, Joanne (and Joe) Post, Jessi (and Dan) Dombrowski, Regan Clark and Nathan Clark, and four great-grandchildren Julia and Jenna Post, and Caleb and Lucas Dombrowski, a sister-in-law Charlene Armitage; nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her husband, Darwin, her brothers Bud and Gilbert, a son-in-law Richard Fuller, and daughter-in-law Agnes Clark.
The funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Oct. 28 at Westford Congregational Church, 368 Westford Hill Road, Ashford, with a reception to follow. All are welcome to bring a quilt made by Martha to the church. Burial is private. Donations: Congregational Church of Eastford, P.O. Box 177, Eastford, CT. Gilman Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Church St., Putnam, CT 06260.

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When Blanson Bihizi returned to Putnam Science Academy’s campus in early September, it was with the idea that he was going to play basketball again this year.
But as the open gyms went on, Bihizi, who played on both the Elite and Varsity teams last year, started thinking more and more about playing soccer.
“I just believe I’m more skilled at (soccer),” he said recently. “But I love both, and that’s the problem.”
Bihizi’s decision got a little bit easier – or maybe it is harder – last Monday after he made his debut with PSA’s Elite soccer team…and scored a goal in the process, helping PSA to a 3-1 home win over Hoosac.
The goal came off a free kick as Carlos Paniagua delivered a ball in front of the net. Rafa Altarriba got his foot on it first but his volley shot was knocked away by the keeper and right onto Bihizi’s foot. From there, it was like riding a bike as he put the ball into the back of the net.
The team-wide celebration included some big smiles and laughs.
“I was in the right place at the right time for sure, but words can’t even describe how I’m feeling,” Bihizi said. “Scoring a debut goal after playing for the first time in five years...it really means a lot to me. I’m 18 years old. The last time I scored a goal in a serious game, I was 12 or 13. It’s been a long time.”
While Bihizi’s goal finished the scoring for PSA, Assa Mora got it started in the first minute of the game, connecting off a corner kick, again delivered perfectly by Paniagua. Shemeza Rubeya added a goal – his third in the last two games – in the second half.
“We’re always happy to score early, but the problem is after we score, we get a bit complacent,” coach Kurt Lunzmann said. “We need to be consistent for as long as we can.”
That happened again Thursday as PSA traveled to St. Thomas More and came away with a 2-2- draw. Rubeya scored another goal in the eighth minute, but that was it for PSA until the game’s 90th and final minute when Anton Lemos connected for the equalizer just seconds before the whistle blew.
“The team showed character to fight back, and continued to play hard,” Lunzmann said. “Lessons must be learned though from naïve game management when going up 1-0 so early.”
As for Bihizi, Lunzmann is glad to have him aboard.
“He’s my type of player,” Lunzmaan said. “He listens, he sacrifices. No matter how good you are, if you can’t sacrifice your skills to help the team, it means nothing. Blanson automatically has that. (When he scored) I was happy for him. I think he now feels more part of the group. Coming from basketball, people were wondering what’s going on. Now he’s come and shown he can play - he’s not a bad player.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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Wed.  Oct. 25
Art Show
PUTNAM --- “AFTERLIFE: Reimagining 18th Century Grave Carvings” by Laura Tedeschi will be presented at The Corridor Gallery in the Municipal Complex through Dec. 31. Reception is 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 28. All welcome. Sponsored by  Putnam Arts Council.

Sat.  Oct. 28
Trick or Treat
PUTNAM --- The Halloween Trick or Treat will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Runs from Jade Garden Restaurant and Riverfront Commons shopping plaza to Union Square. Must be accompanied by an adult.  Sponsored by: Putnam merchants, Town of Putnam, WINY Radio, Putnam Parks and Recreation, and the Putnam Police Department.

Creepy Cabaret
PUTNAM --- The Bradley Playhouse will present “The Creepy Cabaret” with The Catnip Junkies swing band at 7:30 p.m. $20. Thebradleyplayhouse.org.

Wed.  Nov. 1
Art Exhibit
THOMPSON --- The Friends of the Thompson Public Library will present, as part of its Art @ the Library series, “Darkness Welcomes the Night,” watercolors & drawings by Adolph Rutkin through Nov. 27. A reception will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6. In addition, in the display case, “Tools of the 19th and Early 20th Century” will be exhibited by the Thompson Historical Society.

Thur. Nov. 2
'She Kills Monsters'
POMFRET --- The Pomfret School Theater presents "She Kills Monsters," a play by Qui Nguyen, at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 in the Hard Auditorium. Free and open to the public. 860-963-5260.

Fri.  Nov. 3
‘Mind Candy’
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Rotary Club and the Bradley Playhouse will present “Mind Candy: A Night of Mind Reading & Magic” at 7:30 p.m. Wayne Hoffman, mentalist and illusionist. For info, tickets: www.TheBradleyPlayhouse.org/MindCandy.


Sat.  Nov. 4
Boot Drive
WOODSTOCK --- The Woodstock Democratic Town Committee will hold its fourth annual Winter Boot Drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Woodstock Trading Post (formerly Sweet Evalina’s). Bring new, unwrapped winter boots in children’s sizes for either gender and in original packaging. Benefits TEEG. Bring cash donations or mail a check, payable to TEEG to: WDTC, attn — Children’s Winter Boot Drive, P.O. Box 813, Woodstock, CT  06281.  

Meet the Author
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Public Library will present “Meet the Author: Nathaniel Philbrick” at 1 p.m. in Community Room 112/113 at the Municipal Complex.

Sun.  Nov. 5
Concert
CHEPACHET --- The Music at the Meeting House will present The Ian Frenkel Trio in “A Journey through 20th Century American Music” at 2:30 p.m. at the Chepachet Baptist Church on Rt. 44. Free. All welcome. Freewill offering will be taken. Refreshments. Chepachetbaptist.org

Sat.  Nov. 11
Dueling Pianos
THOMPSON --- The DKH Dueling Pianos fund-raiser will be held at 6 p.m. at the Raceway Restaurant and Banquet Hall. Benefits Day Kimball Healthcare At Home services of HomeCare, HomeMakers, and Hospice & Palliative Care of Northeastern Connecticut. Food, drawings and more. Tickets $45, must be purchased in advance. daykimball.org/pianos.

Yuletide Festival
PUTNAM --- The Daughters of Isabella will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Mary Church Hall. Vendors sought. 413-612-8358.

Toy Collection
WOODSTOCK/THOMPSON --- The Woodstock Volunteer Fire Department will hold its 18th annual toy collection from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the WVFA station and the Community Fire Company station. Bring new unwrapped toy or donations for infants to teens. Benefits TEEG.

Thur.  Nov. 16
‘The American Soldier’
WOODSTOCK --- The Putnam Area Foundation and the Performing Arts of Northeast Connecticut will present “The American Soldier” at 7 p.m. at the Loos Center for the Arts.  Two free tickets for veterans and active service members. For info, tickets: TheLoos.org.

Thanksgiving Dinner Signup
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Lodge of Elks’ free Thanksgiving Dinner will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 23. It’s for families and members of the community who are less fortunate, plus community elders, veterans or anyone who would otherwise spend Thanksgiving Day alone. Delivery can be arranged. For info and to arrange delivery, call between 3 and 8 p.m. seven days: 860-928-3901. Must RSVP by Nov. 16.

Thur.  Nov. 23
Thanksgiving
PUTNAM --- The Putnam Lodge of Elks will hold its annual Free Thanksgiving Dinner from noon to 2 p.m.

Sun.  Nov. 26
Dazzle Parade
PUTNAM --- The 22nd annual Holiday Dazzle Light Parade will step off from Grove Street at 5 p.m. and go through downtown Putnam. Rain date: Dec. 3. Presented by WINY radio, the Town of Putnam and Green Valley Crossing.

Wed.  Nov. 29
Support Presentation
KILLINGLY --- “Lunch and Learn at The Library  Meeting You Where You Are will present “Supporting People with Serious & Terminal Illness” from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Killingly Library. RSVP by Nov. 27 to: Laura Kroll, RN, BSN. 860-576-4930.

Sat.  Dec. 2
Art/Craft Show
E. WOODSTOCK --- The East Woodstock Congregational Church will hold its annual Holiday Art/Craft Show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sun.  Dec. 3
Tree of Life
The DKH 34th Annual Hospice Tree of Life Ceremonies will be held at 5 p.m. in 11 towns throughout northeastern Connecticut. The purchase of memorial lights on each community's Tree of Life benefits Hospice & Palliative Care of Northeastern Connecticut. For info: daykimball.org/treeoflife.

Concert
CHEPACHET --- The Music at the Meeting House will present its Christmas Concert, “silent Night, Joyful Night: The Christmas Carols of Northern Europe” at 2:30 p.m. at the Chepachet Baptist Church on Rt. 44. Free. All welcome. Freewill offering will be taken. Refreshments. Chepachetbaptist.org

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