PUTNAM --- The finals of the Putnam Recreation Co-Ed Volleyball league are done and the winner is Jolie.
The semifinals were between third-seed Oles vs. second-seed Smutnick. Oles played with just four people and won in two sets and advanced to the finals.
In the other semifinal, first-seed Jolie played fourth-seed LaBranche. Jolie won the first set but LaBranche came back to win the second. The third match was hard fought and went to extra points to determine the winner. Jolie won best two out of three.
The Jolie-Oles final was not an easy match. Jolie won the first set, but Oles won the second. Jolie won the third match and the championship. They had won the first half of the season at Christmas and have now won the second half.
The league includes 40 men and women and it plays every Tuesday night. If you are interested in playing volleyball contact Wilie Bousquet at the Putnam Recreation Department for information.

Donation
It’s a sure sign that spring has arrived in northeastern Connecticut with the return of the Children’s Educational Opera and Symphony Programs sponsored by Performing Arts of Northeast Connecticut through funding by community-based donations.  Following a performance of “Bach to the Future” by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Thomas A. Borner, president and CEO of Putnam Bank, and Lynn Bourque, senior vice president and branch administrator, presented a $2,500 grant to the Performing Arts of NE CT.  The grant will help to fund upcoming children’s educational programs, such as a performance of Rossini’s “Cinderella” by the Salt Marsh Opera of Stonington, on May 14 for 2,000 local fifth graders. Performing Arts of NE CT, an all-volunteer non-profit organization now in its 39th season, brings high quality, enriching and accessible performing arts to northeast Connecticut and Massachusetts.  The Children’s Educational Symphony and Opera offers free programs to local students at participating schools.  They provide an in-school workshop in each school prior to the professional performance at Hyde.  To date, over 146,000 schoolchildren have been able to participate in the arts education programming thanks to the combined efforts and funding of the Performing Arts of NE CT and local community business like Putnam Bank.  Courtesy photo.

By Ron P. Coderre
Harold Dowe’s ashes were buried May 2 at St, Mary’s Cemetery in a beautifully simple ceremony following a funeral Mass at the church.  The entire morning was a reflection of the way the 84 year old Dowe had lived his life.
Dowe was a dedicated educator in everything he did in life.  As a reading teacher his primary concern was always his students and assuring the best for them.  He could have left his job in the classroom following the close of school each day, but that was not Harold Dowe’s style.
A native of Maine, it was obvious when you spoke to the man that he was a “Down Easter.”  His speech was clear and deliberate as was in demeanor with people.  In his own style he became a very effective influence on young people as a coach, a volunteer role he assumed in a couple of venues.
The father of two boys, Gregory and Michael, Dowe did what many other dads did in those days; he coached his sons and the sons of numerous parents in the Putnam Little League.  He did this because of his love of kids and his love of baseball.  Run into Dowe after church service, in the supermarket or on the street, the conversation inevitably turned to “America’s pastime” and his favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals.  He was a wealth of information on the game and the Redbirds.
Mr. Dowe was also a longtime coach of the boys’ junior varsity basketball program at St. Mary’s School, where he worked with his friend and fellow coach Phil Durand.  In the heyday of the Hawks, Durand and his sidekick Dowe produced winning teams and numerous players who later formed the nucleus of successful high school programs in the region.  And these guys did it with love and without screaming or getting in anyone’s face.
Harold Dowe had another love and that was St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, N.H., where he earned his bachelor’s degree.  Talk about St. A’s and Harold lit up brighter than the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.
As a tribute to his affinity for his alma mater, three of the prelates at the altar for his Mass was also affiliated with St. Anselm’s College.  Celebrating the Mass was Father David Choquette, pastor of St. Mary Church, and coincidentally a St. A’s alum.  Concelebrating with him were Bishop Joseph Gerry and Abbot Mark Cooper who made the trip to Putnam from New Hampshire to honor and memorialize their fellow St. Anselm’s graduate.
At the cemetery, the military honored Dowe’s service to this country as a member of the U.S. Navy.  As his widow Margaret was presented with the flag. A military salute complete with “Taps” played by a National Guard bugler rang out in the distance.
The people in attendance, family, fellow teachers and coaches, a few of the athletes he coached and friends, probably learned more about Dowe in those two hours than they ever knew of him when he was alive.  He was a humble man.  It was never about Harold Dowe.  It was always about those he taught, coached or befriended in life.  I guess that came from the simple life of being born and bred in Maine.
Harold Dowe passed quietly through the community of Putnam, spending the majority of his life in the 06260 zip code.  He did so, quietly and unobtrusively.  It’s unfortunate that his character is recognized more in death than it was in life.
God speed, good and faithful servant, Harold Dowe.