Firefighter 'Olympics'
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
WOODSTOCK — Call it the Quiet Corner Olympics. Takes place annually. Lots of practice. Some strategy (perhaps secret and otherwise).
And when the water cleared the Woodstock Volunteer Fire Association was the winner of the East Woodstock Fourth of July Jamboree water polo competition.
It was a hard fought battle among the Bungay Fire Brigade, Muddy Brook Fire Department and Woodstock firefighter teams.
The competition takes place on the road next to the common and pits two teams of four firefighters, facing each other holding fire hoses. Between them is a blue barrel. At the whistle each team sends a jet of water at the barrel. The object of this is to push the barrel over the far line. It’s much like a game of tug of war, sans the rope.
If the barrel spins off out of bounds the water jets are likely to hit the hills next to the road and anyone sitting in the front rows gets wet and/or muddy. The referee then puts the barrel inbounds and the battle continues. Teams rotate. The order of the firefighters rotates.
Lucas Young, captain at the Woodstock department, said the competition goes “as far back as we can remember.” He thinks maybe 40-plus years. The competition took a slight break when there were safety concerns, but then restarted, he said.
He said the teams all spend time with nozzle training. It’s a boost to camaraderie and it’s fun.
Asked about strategy a firefighter said “quick on the nozzle.” “First water” “fast water” is the key. And the water has to be targeted at the exact center of the barrel and “then maintain.”
Young said there’s no particular strategy on the order of the four firefighters. He said they all rotate in and out. “Everyone gets a chance,” he said.
Looking at a hillside full of “ready for a Tide commercial,” kids, the brave front rows were thrilled with the competition.
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The winners: Woodstock Volunteer Fire Association team. More photos Wed. night on our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger. Linda Lemmon photos.
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The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs. The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is 860-963-0000.
June 25
Bradley Bennett, 25, Frank Street, Putnam; second-degree harassment, disorderly conduct.
Ryan Ratcliffe, 27, North Street, Putnam; risk of injury, disorderly conduct.
June 27
Chad Dashnaw, 42, Senexet Road, Putnam; ;cell phone violation, misuse of registration, operating an unregistered motor vehicle.
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By Ron Coderre
In the many years of being involved in sports, as a player, umpire and sportswriter, I’ve been fortunate to meet and even become friends with a number of well-known athletes. The passing recently of Willie Mays, the “Say Hey Kid,” brought back memories of one of the greatest chance encounters I’ve enjoyed in this lifetime of mine.
In the mid-1970s the television show ‘Almost Anything Goes,’ hosted by Charlie Jones, Lynn Shackleford and Ruth Buzzi, came to Putnam’s Murphy Park for the filming of its Eastern episode, a competition that was won by Putnam. The victory then took the team to Boulder City, Nev., just outside of Las Vegas, for the national competition.
During some off time between filming, I wandered into the Tropicana Resort where a television crew was preparing for the taping of a sports show called ‘Steam Room’ hosted by Russ Hodges. While inquiring about what was going on I was informed that they would be taping the “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays. I was invited to remain and watch the show. As the taping progressed, I was selected from the audience to go on stage with Mays and ask him a question.
Memories of that day that standout were the fact that I was intrigued that Mays was of average height with a very athletic build and hands the size of “meat hooks.” I surmise that those powerful hands are part of the reason he had 3,293 hits during his 19-year career, which included 660 home runs, 1,909 runs-batted-in and a .301 career batting average.
Sitting in high-top stools on the Tropicana stage, Mays was intrigued that I was from Connecticut, stating that playing for the New York Giants he’d visited the Nutmeg state often, although he’d never heard of Putnam.
When the host asked what I wished to ask Willie, my question, “Was ‘The Catch’ you made in the 1954 World Series off the bat of Vic Wertz, the greatest catch you ever made?” Looking back, that’s probably the most asked question he ever received in his 93 years here among we mortals.
His response, “I leave that judgment up to the many fans who followed my career in baseball. I think the throw after the catch was more important.”
I received a ‘Steam Room’ T-shirt for my appearance on stage with Willie Mays and I often wonder what his compensation was for the show, which by the way was later aired in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The shirt, which I proudly wore frequently, eventually saw its better days and is now long gone and just a memory as is my brief time on stage with the legendary Willie Mays.
I’ve always admired Willie Mays, a man of color who had a Hall of Fame baseball career but remained humble. He gave two years of his life in the early 1950s to serve his country in the U.S. Army. As a veteran myself, it’s a part of Willie Mays that has always stood out to me.
In his accomplished lifetime he probably never remembered meeting a guy from Putnam, Connecticut. But the ‘Steam Room’ show memory sticks with me every time I hear the name Willie Mays or the words “Say Hey.”
I can picture Mays in his high-pitched voice as he approached the Pearly Gates saying “Say Hey St. Pete.”
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WOODSTOCK — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade announced recently Alvaro Medrano Lopez of The Woodstock Academy is the 2023-24 Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Player of the Year. Medrano Lopez is the first Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from The Woodstock Academy.
The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Medrano Lopez as Connecticut’s best high school boys’ soccer player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Lyle Yorks (1987-88, E.O. Smith High School, Conn.), Alecko Eskandarian (1999-00, Bergen Catholic High School, N.J.) and Ben Bender (2019-20, Calvert Hall College High School, Md.).
The 6-foot, 1-inch, 180-pound junior goalkeeper led the Centaurs to a 15-0-1 record and the Prep Premier League Tournament championship this past season. Lopez conceded just seven goals and recorded 11 shutouts. A member of the Guatemalan Under-20 Men’s National Team, he won the Prep Premier League Golden Gloves Award as the league’s top goalie and was named First Team All-State by the Connecticut Soccer Coaches Association.
Lopez has volunteered locally at an eldercare facility and has donated his time to multiple community service initiatives through his church. “Alvaro made several key saves in games against us and several games that I watched,” said Evan Prybutok, head coach of the Phelps School. “While Woodstock would have still had a good overall season without Alvaro, I don’t think they have the same type of success and I do not believe they go undefeated.”
Lopez has maintained an A average in the classroom. He will begin his senior year of high school this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Medrano Lopez joins recent Gatorade Connecticut Boys Soccer Players of the Year Lucas Almeida (2022-23, Hall High School), Kelvin ‘KK’ Baffour (2021-22, Taft School), Scott Testori (2020-21, Daniel Hand High School) and Sammed Bawa (2019-20, Taft School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, the Gatorade Player of the Year program has provided more than $4.9 million in grants to winners across more than 1,900 organizations.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.
or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and X(Twitter) at x.com/Gatorade.
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