Legal Notice
Public Hearing Notice
Town of Pomfret
Planning and
Zoning Commission

The Pomfret Planning & Zoning Commission will hold the following Public Hearing at their
meeting on April 19, 2023, starting at 7:00 PM.

1. The Rectory School., 528 Pomfret Street, construction of a new one-story, 1390 sf music rehearsal room addition to the existing Tang Performing Arts building.  Work includes limited sitework adjacent to the addition.

Town of Pomfret
Dated this 10th day
of April 2023

Lynn L. Krajewski,
Clerk

Planning &
Zoning Commission

April 12, 2023

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I have never really been a rollercoaster/spinney-ride person. I tried a mild (by today’s standards) rollercoaster when I was young and ended up depositing the contents of my stomach into a nearby trash barrel. Since then, I only enjoy a good ‘slow paced’ ride experience and will unequivocally always heed the posted warnings of ‘Those who are prone to motion sickness, should NOT ride’. That is … until recently.
By all accounts, if you are a fan of the movie Avatar and find yourself visiting Animal Kingdom at Disney World, it is highly recommended that you should experience the ride called ‘Flight of Passage’. My sister is SUCH a fan and, since we were going to be in Disney, she very much wanted to go on the ride.
For me, I was happy going on the nearby slow-paced river boat ride, but I wanted to give her the opportunity to experience a ride that others had referred to as awesome and magical! My loving and kind sister understood that I did NOT want to go on this motion sickness-inducing ride and offered to skip it … But I didn’t want her to skip it since she had ‘skipped it’ the last time we went and, more importantly, I wanted to find a way to experience it with her … and so, I decided to do my homework about the ride.
My daughter (experienced in the ride) informed me that the motion wasn’t like a rollercoaster but more like a simulator. I interrogated her further about what ‘precisely’ were the hardware mechanics of the ride, and she explained that the drops and turns were relatively mild, but that the large 3-D screen video SIGNIFICANTLY enhanced the motion feelings. I asked her if I could simply shut my eyes and be okay? She considered that I probably would be but that I would also (in shutting my eyes) MISS the whole point of the magic and thrill and beauty of the ride! Personally, I felt that if my sister could experience all of that with me by her side (whilst keeping my breakfast in my tummy), then I would, indeed, feel the magic of the ride.  
In preparing to experience the ‘Flight of Passage’ ride with my sister I considered that I had one final task to accomplish: I needed to actually SEE what it was I was going to be missing. I decided to YouTube the video of the experience. From the comfort and safety of my own stationary couch, I enjoyed watching the video of the (less than 4 minutes) ride and even watched it twice so that I could remember it better. And when the moment finally came to enter the queue for the ride, my preparations meant that I was able to ignore the motion-sickness warning signs and confidently strap myself onto my Banshee riding vehicle. I even put on the 3-D goggles and leaned in appropriately as I awaited the countdown.
As the ride began, my eyes might have been shut tightly but I could still ‘see’ and, therefore, experience my sister’s complete and utter joy and delight…
Accomplishment. Accomplishment
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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caption, page 3:

Bria Holmes. Photo by Middletown Press



WNBA
player is
new coach
Bria Holmes is ready for a change.
Putnam Science Academy was more than happy to provide her an opportunity for one.
PSA hired Holmes last week as the school’s new girls’ basketball coach, a break of sorts for Holmes from the rigors of a professional career that included a year-round schedule of the WNBA and overseas repeated for essentially the last seven years.
“I just think it was the right time for me, as far as my career, as far as being able to be home with my daughter and still be around the game that I fell in love with,” said Holmes, a former McDonald’s high school all-American who played at West Virginia University before being a first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Dream in 2016.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity for me, and who knows what doors it can open for all of us? Being able to help and share my journey and my experiences with these girls, and help mold them into the student-athletes they should be on and off the court in order to be successful is my mission and has always been my vision.”
The 28-year-old Holmes, who is currently finishing her contract overseas in the Czech Republic, will take time off as a professional to “be a mom (she has a 4-year-old daughter) and help young girls follow their dream.” She inherits a PSA team that has finished fourth in the last two national tournaments and is expected to return three of its top four scorers from last year.
“This is an incredible opportunity for us to bring someone with Bria’s experience into Putnam Science Academy,” Dean of Athletics Tom Espinosa said. “Bria has big expectations of herself and her players and we are looking forward to her getting started.”
Following her Hall of Fame career at WVU, Holmes was the 11th overall pick by Atlanta in the 2016 WNBA Draft and spent two seasons with the Dream before being traded to the Connecticut Sun, with whom she went to the Finals in 2019. She signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Sparks prior to the 2021 season.
“I’m a girl from New Haven, Connecticut who dreamed,” she said. “I had a great high school career, I had an incredible college experience at West Virginia, I’ve played in the WNBA and overseas.
“I’m living proof that even without certain outlets, you can still have a dream and you can still make it out. You have to dream big and believe in yourself. Anything is possible. It’s possible. I made it out. And now I want to be able to share my experiences and my journey with these girls and let them know that whatever you’re going through, if you have a dream just stick to it and work at it and anything can happen.”
Aside from her own AAU program that she used to have, this will be Holmes’ first coaching job. She knows there will be some learning on the fly but is confident that her experiences give her a head start.
“I’ve been playing basketball since I was 5 years old, so I’ve had a lot of coaches over the years,” she said. “There are things you learn from each of them, things you pick up if you’re paying attention, things you like and don’t like. I never had a thing for coaching, honestly. I just knew I had the experience and tools to coach if I ever decided to.
“Being away from my daughter so much made me open my eyes to other things. It’s
bigger than basketball for me, it always has been. And it’s bigger than me too. Being able to be that outlet and a go-to person for these female athletes, it’s an honor. I’m grateful for the opportunity to do this.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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