Dazzlers

Some angels descended on the 14th annual Dazzle Light Parade Nov. 29. Top photo, Rylee (left) and Tyler Parkin on the Special Olympics float. Above, left to right: Rowan Lehmann, Beatrice Foronda and Sam Smith on the St. Joseph's School (N. Grosvenordale) float. More photos on page 6. Linda Lemmon photos.

 

 

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Score!

Jeremee Perez of the Quinebaug Pride scoring a touchdown in the closing seconds of the Thanksgiving Day game versus Killingly Nov. 26. Photo by Joe Voccio, Brooklyn.

 

 

 

 

Football Wrap-up

Killingly last 

one standing 

as football 

season moves

to postseason

By Ron P. Coderre

The local high school football regular season came to a halt on Thanksgiving Day morning with the playing of three traditional Turkey Day classics.

The granddaddy of all the games, Killingly versus Quinebaug Valley Pride, which formerly was Redmen versus Clippers, was nothing compared to the days of yore.  Killingly broke out early and often and romped to victory in a laugher.  The win concluded the regular season for the Redmen at a sparkling 9-1, while the Pride closes the books with a satisfying 6-4 record.

The victory assured coach Chad Neal’s charges the top ranking in the CIAC Class M playoffs.  Killingly with 135.00 playoff points squared off at home against #8 seed Stratford on Tuesday under the lights.  Stratford with 97.00 playoff points plays in the SWC Colonial.  They had a regular season 7-3 record.

Plainfield surprised most prognosticators by putting up a valiant effort before falling in the final seconds against archrival Griswold.  Most of the contest looked like a Panther victory but a bizarre punt play turned the game around for the Wolverines.  It was the 13th Thanksgiving Day in a row that Griswold has taken the measure of Plainfield.

In Woodstock, the Centaurs of the Eastern Connecticut Conference faced off against Thames River of the Constitution State Conference.  The Centaur faithful were hoping for a victory but the Crusaders had different ideas.  They left Woodstock with a win, holding the home team scoreless.

Killingly Easily Gobbles The Pride

It took Killingly only a few seconds to establish the fact that they were the better team in its Thanksgiving Day 40-8 romp over The Quinebaug Valley Pride.  The game resembled a Muhammad Ali vs. Chuck Wepner heavyweight battle from the past.

Killingly began throwing the knockout punch very early, and with the exception of substituting reserves regularly, continued to pound the Pride into submission.  The Redmen carried a 40-0 advantage into the locker room at intermission, as the game was all but in the record books.  The only fear was that the famous “Cochran Rule” might be invoked.

For those unfamiliar with the “Cochran Rule” it’s a CIAC ruling instituted to avoid teams running up scores against lesser opponents.  If a team wins a game by more than 50 points the winning coach is in jeopardy of being suspended for the next game.

In this game, coach Chad Neal showed respect for coach Joe Asermelly and his outmanned and battered troops.  The win gives the VFW Commander’s Trophy to Killingly for another year.  The question still remains in the minds of Pride fans; will they ever be able to assemble a team to compete against the Redmen?

Fittingly, the scoring opened on an Austin Caffrey 5-yard touchdown run, which opened the flood gates.  Eastern Connecticut’s top runner, Caffrey, who was chosen Killingly’s Most Valuable Player, had 80 yards on five carries as he played sparingly.  His touchdown gave him 21 on the season and a total of 1618 yards of rushing offense.

Killingly quarterback Kyle Derosier showed off his arm for the next score as he connected with tight end Jake Gauthier for an 11-yard touchdown.  Vasileios Politis, noted for his pass catching, followed by running back a Pride punt for 46 yards and a touchdown.  Derosier then went back to work, connecting with Bret Long on a 24-yard scoring play.  The final score of the first quarter was another Derosier aerial.  This time he hooked up with Chace Wood on a 34-yard pass-run tally.  

When all was said and done, Killingly had a 33-0 first period lead and the Pride was on the ropes and hanging on for survival.  Killingly’s final score came when coach Neal rewarded big defensive end Josh Angel for a great season by inserting him at fullback.  The big guy took advantage of his opportunity and bulled over from four yards out.  Luke Desaulnier, who had four point-after kicks closed out the scoring with the extra point boot.

Derosier was 6-7 and 83 yards with three touchdown tosses.  Caffrey (5-80) and his sophomore running mate Spencer Lockwood (11-89) dominated the ground game.

The Pride finally broke through in the final seconds of the contest when Jeremee Perez, who played both ways, as most Pride players did, scored on a 2-yard plunge.  Perez, who was selected the Pride MVP, had 76 yards on 16 carries.  He finished the season with 12 touchdowns and 1077 yards on the ground.  Saige Louis (9-32) ran in the two-point conversion.

Plainfield Drops Heart Breaker

Heavily favored Griswold hung on for dear life in posting a 27-21 win over a courageous Plainfield Panther team that dominated the game except for the final score.  

The turning point in the game occurred on an unusual double punt situation.  Plainfield punter Marcus Robinson, under heavy Griswold pressure drove a low punt off the helmet of one of his lineman.  The kick was retrieved by the Panther’s Cameron Gonsales, who then sent another low punt downfield.  

At that point, the confused players watched as Griswold’s Jordan Baker scooped up the ball and took it to the 18-yard line before being pushed out of bounds.  With the score 21-19 in favor of Plainfield, Griswold had 52 seconds to push the scoring play over the goal line.  

The winning score, with time running down, came on a 4-yard pass from quarterback Cole Mileski to Brandon Yeaton.  The Wolverines sealed the victory with a two-point pass conversion from Mileski to Trent Gilbeault.

Baker opened the scoring for Griswold with a two-yard burst.  The first period ended 7-7 as Plainfield retaliated with a Tyler Ballard 35-yard run.  Plainfield scored first in the second period when quarterback Robinson found Isaiah Fort, who had five catches for 178 yards on the day, for a 33-yard touchdown toss.  An Alex Gaudreau to Gonsales two-point pass conversion put the Panthers up 15-7 at that juncture.

 Griswold responded when the starring Yeaton intercepted a Robinson aerial and raced it back 69 yards for a touchdown.  When the conversion run failed, Plainfield held a slim15-13 halftime edge.  

The sure-handed Fort opened the second half, putting Plainfield up 21-13 when he hauled in a Robinson aerial and carried it 91 yards for a spectacular score.  Griswold’s Yeaton then scored on a one-yard burst to make the score Plainfield 21- Griswold 19, before all the final second heroics took place.

Plainfield signal caller Robinson was 8-18 for 194 yards and two touchdowns.  In addition to Fort’s five catches for 178 yards, Gonsales had two receptions for 17 yards.  Ballard was the top rusher with 97 yards on 23 carries. 

Plainfield concludes the dramatic season at 3-7 and 1-5 at the bottom of the ECC Small Division.

Woodstock Shutout

Thames River’s quarterback Jared Neal came into the Thanksgiving Day game against Woodstock as the area’s top touchdown passer with 17 touchdown tosses.  He left Woodstock with 21 scoring passes and a 32-0 shutout victory over the host Centaurs.

In the initial Thanksgiving Day game between the two teams, the CSC Crusaders dominated the ECC Centaurs, despite 147 yards on the ground by sophomore running back Cameron Janice.  Woodstock was simply unable to get the ball into the end zone against the stubborn Thames River defense.

The loss concludes another season where Woodstock was hard pressed to pick up a win.  The Centaurs finished at 1-9 overall.

 

 

 

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Dedication

A crowd of more than 100 gathered outside the entrance to the Townsend Emergency Medical Center at Day Kimball Hospital for a group photo after a dedication event Nov. 30 for the newly completed emergency facility. Courtesy photo.

 

 

 

 

DKH 

dedicates

new ER

 PUTNAM — Day Kimball Healthcare (DKH) marked the completion of the new Townsend Emergency Medical Center at Day Kimball Hospital with a dedication event held at the hospital. Donors to the “Care in a Heartbeat” capital campaign that helped to make construction of the new emergency center possible gathered with DKH administrators, staff, capital campaign fund-raising committee members, local legislators and many others who played a part in making the new facility a reality to celebrate its completion and to recognize the tremendous community support that made it possible.

The dedication was capped off with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque recognizing the campaign’s lead donors, Steven and Marjolaine Townsend of Brooklyn, who gave $500,000 to support the project.

“Today marks the culmination of years of hard work, dedication and vision on the part of our Board of Directors, our staff, and our construction partners, but most of all our capital campaign steering committee members and our donors large and small from across the community who share our commitment to ensuring high quality health care in Northeast Connecticut,” said Robert E. Smanik, FACHE, president and CEO, Day Kimball Healthcare.

The Care in a Heartbeat campaign publicly launched in late 2011 and raised more than $3 million in 10 months to help build the state-of-the-art Townsend Emergency Medical Center.

According to Pamela Watts, director of Development for DKH, “Donations came from each of the 13 towns that make up northeast Connecticut and support also came from all the other New England states, as well as Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Missouri and Virginia. People gave what they could and gifts ranged from $2 to $500,000. We can’t say ‘thank you’ enough times to express our appreciation for the generosity of all those who helped to make this crucial project a reality.”

Joseph Adiletta, chairman, DKH Board of Directors; Peter Deary, co-chair of the Care in a Heartbeat Capital Campaign Steering Committee; Steven and Marjolaine Townsend, the campaign’s lead donors; and Dr. Steven Wexler, medical director of the Emergency Department at Day Kimball Hospital, also addressed the crowd, conveying the many reasons why this project was so important. All also reiterated the thankfulness and pride they have in the northeastern Connecticut community for the way community members continue to support initiatives that are central to the health and wellness of the region.

The previous emergency department facility was constructed in 1970 and renovated in 1990. It was designed to serve 18,000 patients per year; today there are over 30,000 emergency care visits to Day Kimball Hospital annually. The new and improved ED has been designed to better meet the growing needs of the community and the demands of a modern health care facility including enhanced safety, privacy and efficiency for optimal patient care and experience.

Major improvements include: 24 all-private treatment rooms (double the number of rooms in the old emergency department), including dedicated and discreet behavioral health treatment rooms; Addition of a state-of-the-art two-bed resuscitation room, where the most critical patients receive care; Upgrades to cardiac monitoring equipment and addition of specialized bariatric equipment; A decontamination room to appropriately manage biological or chemical decontamination activities; New patient reception and waiting areas, private triage room, and private consultation room; New entrance with covered drop-off area and separate, covered ambulance entrance that is equipped to easily convert to a hazardous decontamination zone or to receive mass casualties; Significant improvements to the existing helipad to improve safety.

 

 

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Northeast Communities Against Substance Abuse (NECASA) announced the winners of the regional Volunteer with Youth Award and the Judith Nilan Award for Community Service to Youth.

The 2015 recipient of the Volunteer with Youth Award is Allan Rawson. Allan is a resident of Putnam and is being recognized for his work in the development of three soccer fields in Canterbury and Putnam as well as countless hours as a coach and mentor to many youth soccer players.  Allan has been instrumental in providing not only the financial backing for the Northeast Opportunities for Wellness (NOW) organization but continues to serve as the President of NOW, providing free trainings for youth in several sports.

The Volunteer with Youth Award recognizes one volunteer from the Northeast corner for their volunteerism with youth. It is part of NECASA’s effort to promote adults working with young people and being role models and mentors, which is a preventative to destructive behaviors including substance use.

The 2015 Judith Nilan Award for Community Service to Youth is awarded to Barbara Placido, a guidance counselor at Killingly High School.

Placido, was nominated by a former student, who in her nomination called her one of the best advocates for students in this region. Mrs. P as she is called has seen many dire situations; homeless students, students with drug issues and she never judges, just finds a way to help. She takes her own personal time to meet with students, discuss their needs, whether that is shelter, counseling or drug issues. Mrs. Placido acts as a wonderful liaison between the students and the school.

The Judith Nilan Award was established by NECASA in 2006 to honor the work of the late Judy Nilan, school social worker at Woodstock Middle School who was murdered  in 2005. Judy was a compassionate individual who respected and nurtured all of her students. The award is given to one school social worker or counselor who promotes positive youth development, substance abuse prevention and anti-violence and who best represents the giving and loving spirit of Judy Nilan.