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By Ron P. Coderre
RPC sends along a sporty hello to former Putnam football player, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and manager of Someplace Special Restaurant, Mike Vassar. Currently on vacation in Maine with his family, wife Michelle and son Conor, we wish him a relaxing time away from the daily grind.
Three young men, all graduates of Putnam High School, are currently in training at Camp Shelby on Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., with the Connecticut Army National Guard. The trio, former Clipper athletes in the Class of 2009, is members of the 248th Corps of Engineers stationed in Groton. They deployed recently in ceremonies held at the Air Wing at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, with family and State dignitaries on hand.
Levi Gonyer, Matt Wilson and Erik Yargeau are completing the second phase of their basic training as part of a multi-year enlistment agreement. Gonyer is a former Putnam soccer and basketball standout, while Wilson and Yargeau played soccer for the Clippers.
The 248th Engineers are primarily a bridge building unit with the troops supported by other military occupations. Upon completion of training in Mississippi, the unit has been notified that it will deploy to Saudi Arabia in support of troops currently in the Middle East and Afghanistan. They’ve been informed they’ll be based on the major Air Force base located in Saudi Arabia.
RPC sends along best wishes and prayers for a safe return to the three young men as they prepare for their upcoming military assignment.
RPC 2002 Redux…
(Excerpted from a Ramblings, Points and Comments column written March 6, 2002 following a visit to spring training in Fort Myers, Fla..)
Getting the opportunity to chat with a pair of old friends, Johnny Pesky and Dave Jauss, proved to be interesting and humorous. Pesky is a man filled with stories of his days in Boston with Ted Williams but he also passes on words of wisdom regarding life in general.
Listening to Pesky, now in his mid-80s, talk about his good fortune one gets a true appreciation for the man. He credits his wife Ruth, whom he’s been married to for 57 years, with much to do with his success. She may also be the reason why Pesky looks so good for a man of his age.
According to Jauss, whose family is friendly with my oldest son Michael’s family, Pesky is a wonder to Billie Jauss, Dave’s wife. Dave once told Billie he hoped he’d look as good as Pesky when he reached his 80s. She replied she hoped he’d look that good in two years. Jauss is only in his 40s. With that story Pesky and his sidekick, Jauss walked off to hit fungoes and throw batting practice to the players on Field #3.
Get Well Note…
Folks in northeastern Connecticut will certainly remember the name Bill Troy. An avid sports fan and strong supporter of high school athletics when he was headmaster of Woodstock Academy, Troy is currently living in Manchester, with his wife Diana. Since his departure from Woodstock, Troy has held administrative positions in Cheshire and Suffield.
June 29 following a retirement party in his honor, Troy, who had just been honored following his administrative career at Highville Charter School in Hamden, was involved in a serious one-car motor vehicle accident. As a result, he’s been at Mount Sinai Hospital, since that time, in the Rehabilitation Unit where he’s progressing steadily from multiple injuries incurred in the accident.
Word from his friends Lori and Roman Wajer, who visited Troy at Mount Sinai, is that he’s in good spirits and good mental health. Although he’s still trying to get out of bed, which is difficult because of the effects of dizziness, he is able to sit up with assistance. According to his visitors, he’s receiving great care, which is speeding his recovery. Visiting hours at the Rehab Unit are from noon to 3 p.m.
If you can’t visit, it’s a certainty that Troy would love to hear from his friends in northeastern Connecticut. Drop him a get well note to help speed his rehabilitation and recovery. The address – Mount Sinai Rehab Center, 490 Blue Hills Avenue – Room 4204, Hartford, CT 06112.
From The Where Are They Now Files…
It’s Schenectady, N.Y., for former Putnam resident Al Migneault, who returned recently for the doach Jim Greenhalgh Memorial Scholarship Dinner. Migneault, who has been retired for a number of years, also took the opportunity to enjoy Putnam’s Car Cruise while in town.
Migneault, who graduated from Putnam High School in 1956, was a three-sport star for the Clippers. He ran cross country for coach George St. Marie and played basketball and baseball for coach Greenhalgh. Migneault was a member of the 1956 basketball team that reached the State finals, where they lost to a very good New Canaan team.
A little known fact about Migneault is that he was a member of the original Red Sox team in the initial season of Little League baseball in Putnam, where his coach was the late Russell Sherman. His claim to fame is that he was the batting champion that season, hitting a lofty .471.
Today Migneault dabbles in vintage midget race cars, a hobby he enjoyed for many years with his friend, the late Larry Phaneuf. Migneault still occasionally gets behind the wheel of his midget in competitive races, although he admits he doesn’t do it as often as he did in the past.
1950 Tourtellotte Great…
The late 1940s and early 1950s were great times to be a student-athlete at Tourtellotte Memorial High School. Championship teams abounded and the athletes who comprised those teams were first generation Americans who realized the value of hard work and a good education. Among that group of individuals was a young infielder named Tommy Tanacea, who graduated in 1950. He was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in the Class of 2011.
During his four years at Tourtellotte, from 1947 through 1950, Tanacea was a standout in cross-country, basketball and baseball for the Tigers. He was a member of the X-country team that captured the Quinebaug Valley Conference championship in 1949 and two CIAC championship basketball teams, 1949 and 1950, where he was one of the leading scorers.
But baseball, like so many of the kids of that era, was the sport that Tanacea loved to play. Tanacea played semi-pro baseball for a couple seasons following graduation but in 1952, during the Korean Conflict, the military came calling and Tanacea, like so many other young men of his time, joined the U.S. Air Force.
While stationed at Suffolk County Air Force Base on Long Island, Tanacea was spotted by a bird dog scout from the St. Louis, who signed him to a professional contract following his discharge from the military. Tanacea played two seasons with the Browns South Atlantic League franchise, the Whytheville, Virginia Statesmen. Back in the area, he played seven seasons in the prestigious Hartford Twilight League.
An educator by profession, Tanacea was the basketball coach at St. Dimitrie, in Bridgeport in the 1960’s as well as a successful baseball coach in the Monroe Little League from 1986 through 1989.
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: “I’ve had an interesting life. I have no complaints.” Johnny Pesky 2005.