For Mohamed Sanogo, Nov. 12 brought a pretty incredible moment.
It was the day the Putnam Science Academy postgrad student signed his National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Florida International University. And it came only a few years after he started playing the game.
“It was always the dream to play college basketball at the highest level,” said Sanogo, who grew up playing soccer in Africa’s Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). “When I started playing basketball when I was 13, 14 years old, did I think it was actually going to happen? I didn’t know. I just knew I had to keep working.
“Today is just a dream come true. I’m really thankful. I’m very happy.”
Sanogo, now 18, is still a work-in-progress, particularly on offense. But his defense is what makes him a prospect. Though lean at 6-foot, 9 inches and 200 pounds, Sanogo has sneaky strength and eye-popping athleticism. Possessed with explosive leaping ability, he is one of New England’s best shot blockers.
“The thing with Mo is that he is just scratching the surface,” said PSA coach Tom Espinosa. “He hasn’t been playing basketball very long, so he’s only just starting to see how good he can become.
“But his athleticism…he’s probably the second-best we’ve had here in terms of just athleticism. It’s him and (current NBA player) Hamidou Diallo, really. He’s fast, he just gets off the floor unbelievably, he really is just so athletic.”
In two games during this COVID-altered season, Sanogo has played key minutes as one of the Mustangs’ top reserves. He is averaging seven points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Assuming play will resume sometime in late winter or early spring, Sanogo will have a chance to continue building up his game.
FIU, located in Miami, won 20 games two years ago in coach Jeremy Ballard’s first season, then followed that up by posting a 19-13 record last year, including 9-9 in Conference USA play.
“For me, what they’ve done the last two years, the success they’ve had, that really motivated me to go there,” Sanogo said. “I want to be part of a program that is going in the right direction and I can grow with. They’ve also shown that they can develop big men, so I felt like it was going to be the right place for me.
“And also, it’s Miami. It’s a beautiful place.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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In Honor of Veterans
Nov. 10, in a Veterans Day program, Putnam Rotary Club members were mesmerized by the tales of WWII veteran Victor E. Lippiello, 100 — from the bad timing having his service in the Army being extended because the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, to the lessons gin taught him when he was stationed on Fishers Island to the heart-stopping memory of parachuting behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Lippiello is a treasure of northeastern Connecticut. Left to right Rotarian and veteran Pete Benoit; Putnam Rotary Club President Kristen Willis; Victor E. Lippiello, 100-year-old WWII veteran; Ronald P. Coderre, MC, Rotarian and American Legion District 4 commander; veteran Mike Rocchetti (husband of Rotarian Roberta Rocchetti); and Rotarian and veteran Jay Wade. Linda Lemmon photo.


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captions:
Greg Morrissette of Trackside Restorations
Pat Hedenberg


By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- A bright cherry red against a less-than-cheery winter sky.
Nearly a dozen volunteers armed with brushes painted the walls of the Gertrude Chandler Warner Boxcar Children Museum Nov. 14.  Pat Hedenberg said volunteers joined the effort from Putnam, Dayville, Pomfret and even Plainfield.  The complete renovation of the boxcar, which started in March 2019, is in the homestretch. Hedenberg said the goal is reopening the museum in May, Warner's birthday month.
Restorer Greg Morrissette from Trackside Restorations of Palmer, Mass.,  said, "This is like a finale. There's only a few little things left."
He said they should finish up the interior walls in a couple days and then the floor will go in, along with the door and the window.  Because it was pretty much a ground-up restoration, Morrisette said the crew had a chance to implement changes that made sense. For example, the window was moved across from the door so that some cross ventilation would be possible.
Steel has been replaced or strengthened. That and the walls got a coat of exterior flat paint. The most tedious part of the effort, volunteers said, though, was making sure that what seemed like thousands and thousands of bolts got painted.
Volunteer painters included: Marlene O'Connell, Jan St. Jean, Paula and Sara Ramos, Hedenberg and Morrissette, MarcArchambault, Bill Zamagni, and Toby, Cathleen and Adelyn Snyder. The effort counted as community service for some students.
The original  New Haven boxcar was made of wood in the early 1900s. In the 1930s the structure was swapped out for steel. Some of the original steel still bears the stamp of Carnegie steel.

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