Brush, limb
chipping starts
next week
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — It’s a go for the brush and tree limbs collection next week.
The town picks up and chips brush and tree limbs less than 6 inches in diameter on the last full week of September.
Please put the brush and limbs out toward the beginning of next week.
Travis Sirrine, highway superintendent, said the crews are on schedule for this traditional collection date. Two crews will be canvassing the town.
As long as the branches are 6 inches in diameter or smaller and you can drag it out, the chipper machine can take it, he said. Please put the cut end facing the road.
The next brush/limb collection is the last full week of April. The town no longer does a call-in collection in July, he said.
Land clearing will not be picked up.
Grass clippings are not picked up and must be mulched or composted.
But what about leaves? Leaves are vacuumed starting the last Monday of October and continues until complete or inclement weather interrupts the operation.
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caption, page 8:
Artist's rendering of the Woodstock Academy tennis courts.
Campaign for
new tennis
courts gets
underway
For the past two years, tennis athletes at Woodstock Academy have had to play their home matches away from home.
The boys’ and girls’ tennis teams have had to use the Pomfret School, Rectory School and Killingly High School courts to practice and play their matches.
Pomfret School was a gracious host last spring but it wasn’t easy for tennis athletes who had to work around the host team’s schedule..
“Practice times were cut very short often. No one came and watched our matches. We didn’t have a lot of support,” said Centaurs senior Peyton Bentley.
The Academy is hoping that will change in the near future.
“The courts we have currently at the Bentley Athletic Complex are just not playable. They are in a place where drainage issues, even if we were to correct them there, would make them unplayable again in the future. It’s just a bad place for them. We’re unable to have a tennis program on our home turf without building new ones,” said associate head of school Jon Sturdevant.
The game plan is to use space on the South Campus where a grass soccer field now resides between the South Campus turf field and the South Campus gym to build new courts. The cost is estimated to be about $1M.
Fund-raising will begin at 6 p.m. Sept. 28 in the Loos Center on South Campus with a kickoff event.
“We’re going to provide some light food and beverages. There will be a brief presentation in the theater with an overview of the plan, the fund-raising so far and the plan for future fundraising. It will be a general overview of the project to engage our community,” Sturdevant said.
Sturdevant said that most of the former Woodstock Academy tennis players, with whom the school has on record, have been sent invites but it is an open invitation to attend.
Those who wish to attend are asked to email an RSVP to Sarah Andrews at
It’s something that Woodstock Academy athletic director Sean Saucier hopes will move quickly.
“It’s been a significant need for many years now,” Saucier said. “Trying to run a program without a facility has its own challenges. Luckily, we’ve had some great community partners at Rectory, Pomfret and Killingly who have come through for us to help in this time of need. To have courts on South Campus would be a tremendous asset.”
The current plan is to build at least four courts but there is enough room in the area to expand that number.
According to Sturdevant, the ideal number would be six if the funds are available to do so.
The grass soccer field has not had much in the way drainage issues. The locker rooms for the South Campus gym would be easily accessible. The athletic training services are much easier to provide on campus. And new courts may equal more athletes.
“If you build it, they will come,” Saucier said with a smile. “We want to get these in place and give our programs a nice shot in the arm.”
And Bentley feels that the courts will be well utilized.
“Tennis is a sport that people play their whole lives. I started when I was in elementary school. It’s a sport that people stick with. It’s not like we’re going to have the courts and then they will be abandoned. Everybody is going to want to play,” the senior said.
There is another group that will benefit from the new facilities. The residential students would have easy access to the courts.
“Tennis courts are also an important part of a residential campus. This is the first priority of a multi-phase project for athletics on South Campus,” Sturdevant said. The current courts at the Bentley Athletic Complex will be leveled to allow for more parking at the facility which is also a critical need.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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VFW kicks off scholarship contest
PUTNAM — Commander Hans Lowell and Auxiliary President James Bradley of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Albert J. Breault Post 1523, announced the kick-off of this year’s VFW’s Voice of Democracy Scholarship competition. Local high school students in public, private, parochial schools or being home-schooled have the opportunity to compete for thousands of dollars in scholarships and a trip to Washington, D.C.
Students must write and record a three-to-five minute essay on the selected theme using a flash drive and present their recording, typed essay and completed entry form to their local VFW Post by Oct. 31. The 2023-2024 theme selected is “What are the greatest attributes of our Democracy?”
All state first-place winners receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to tour the city, be honored by the VFW and its Auxiliary and receive their portion of $171,000 in national awards, the top scholarship being $35,000.
Deadline for student entries is Oct. 31 and interested students should contact their schools office and teachers. For more information contact the Voice of Democracy Chairman Lisa Salisbury by email at
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Mobile mammography van
coming to Putnam Nov. 2
PUTNAM — Putnam’s Commission on Aging (COA) has arranged for the Hartford Healthcare Mobile Mammography Van to be at the Municipal Complex Nov. 2.
Up to 20 mammogram appointments will be available starting at 8 a.m.
These screening mammograms are offered for women age 35 and older who have not had a mammogram in over a year. A specific list of eligibility requirements and intake forms are available in the town of Putnam’s Recreation Department and in the Community Room. Hartford Healthcare will bill your health insurance directly. Lack of health insurance is not an issue, as donated funds are available to cover the costs of the uninsured.
Contact the Putnam Commission on Aging via the Recreation Department to schedule an appointment, for intake forms and detailed information by calling 860-963-6800 ext 140 or emailing
The Municipal Complex hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday; and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday. Mammograms can save lives, and the Putnam COA welcomes you to take advantage of this situation.
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