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A red rose adorns one of the veterans honor pavers in the completed Veterans Park. More photos on page 4 and an expanded photo array on Wed. night on our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger. Linda Lemmon photo.
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The color guard at the head of the Putnam Parade. Photo courtesy of Michael Rocchetti.
The WPTP Hawks
Cub Scout Pack 21 and Boy Scout Troop 66
Selectmen and Mayor Seney
Putnam: The gravity of the sacrifice
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
In Putnam, one speaker after another urged those attending the post-parade program, to be mindful of the solemnity of the day. The gravity the sacrifice.
The parade marshal was Pierre Desilets, chaplain and the Poppy Queens were Harper Thompson for the American Legion and Gloria Challinor for the VFW.
Also taking part were: the American Legion and VFW color guards with rifleman, the Putnam Clipper Acapella group and the PHS Concert Band and the PMS band, wreath laying by VFW Post commander Hans Lowell and Legion Commander Michael Rocchetti, Mayor Barney Seney, VFW Chaplain Tod Smith and MC Roy Simmons.
Keynote speaker Rocchetti, commander of American Legion Post 13, said the first national observance of Memorial Day was May 30, 1868 and was known as Decoration Day. The holiday was initiated by a Union Army general to honor the Union soldiers who had died in the American Civil War. Rocchetti then described the 14 soldiers from Putnam who paid the highest price in that war.
“The Town of Putnam paid a very high price during the Civil War. My intent is to offer a brief glimpse of the terrible human tragedy. I can only imagine the pain and suffering of their families, friends, widows and orphans over the heart breaking loss of their loved ones.”
Second Lieutenant Putnam Day he contracted camp disease (probably typhoid fever) and died at the age of 32. He left behind a wife – Caroline Day (nee Harrington).
Private Charles H Morse was a millwright and was killed in action at the Burnside Bridge over the Antietam Creek. He was 31.
Private George W Pickett was a machine operator at a fabric mill. He was killed in action during the Gettysburg Campaign at the age of 30. The Union lost this battle and many soldiers from the 18th CT were captured by the Confederates.
Sergeant William Blanchard was a furniture mover who was killed in action during the Western Campaign in Louisiana. He was 48 and left behind two daughters, Phebe and Mary.
Private A. Judson Aldrich was killed in action while attacking Confederate fortifications at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. He was 29 and is buried at the Grove Street Cemetery.
Second Lieutenant Marshall Tourtellotte was the son of a successful trader from a prominent French Huguenot family. He was also killed in action at Charleston Harbor. Tourtellotte, 24, left behind a wife Ellen, and two sons and is buried at the Grove Street Cemetery.
Private Maxime H Charboneau (or Sherbeone, Shurborn) was a French Canadian immigrant from Quebec who worked in a cotton mill. He was also killed in action at Charleston Harbor.
Private Charles T Hill worked at his parents’ farm in Putnam. He was captured at the 2nd Battle of Fort Wagner (S.C.) and became deathly ill in captivity. He was paroled and died two days later at the Union Army Hospital. He was 24 and is buried at the Putnam Heights Cemetery.
Private Frank E. Morse was wounded at Fort Wagner, recovered and returned to duty. Then he was killed at the 2nd battle of Deep Run. He left behind a wife – Anna and is buried at the North Ashford Cemetery.
Corporal Joseph Billington was an immigrant from Canada who worked as a machine operator at a mill. He died in a train accident while on furlough. He was 44 and left behind a wife, Triphenia and four daughters.
Private John Morrison was an Irish immigrant who worked as a machine operator at a factory. He was reported MIA and was presumed dead. He was 34 and left behind a wife – Lizzie Morrison.
Sergeant John B Scott was a Scottish immigrant farm worker who worked on Lucian Burleigh’s farm in Plainfield. He was captured, paroled and then killed in action KIA during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. He was 22 and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Central Village.
Private Henry King was an Irish immigrant farm laborer who worked on Payson Grosvenor’s farm in Pomfret. He died the field hospital from grape shot wounds to both legs. He was 28.
Private Pierre Vandale was a French Canadian immigrant from Quebec. He was wounded, recovered and returned to duty. He was killed accidently by a comrade. He was 52 and left behind a wife and four children. He is buried at the Grove Street Cemetery.
These brave men gave everything they had in the line of duty. We owe it to these soldiers – to make sure that they are never forgotten, and the memory of their service and sacrifice will forever live on in the hearts and minds of the grateful people of Putnam.
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Pomfret Lions President Peter Lusa awarded $300 to essay contest winner, eighth grader Hattie Patenaude.
As is traditional, the Pomfret Lions Club handed out American flags.
Walter and Carolyn McGinn
From left: Kadence Morris, 4, Riley Stately, 5, and Sydney Stately, 3, all of Pomfret
Matt and Jan Rondeau with Stephanie Ellsworth
Pierce Basch, 1, of Ashford
Mindful and solemn
Pomfret Memorial Day remembrances
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
“When I was a kid, I couldn’t understand why my grandfather was sad.”
Hattie Patenaude, winner of the Pomfret Lions Club essay contest, recalled watching her grandfather, a veteran of the Vietnam war, take part in the town’s Memorial Day parade. “I could see that this was a special yet emotional day for him. I could see sadness and respect” when Taps was played. Looking back, she understood why, as a child, she saw sadness.
Memorial Day is a day to remember military members who passed in service to this country. She urged those attending the program, post parade, to take a solemn moment.
She recalled a famous quote about dying twice. We die when we pass and we die again when those who remembered us pass.
State Senator Mae Flexer read the words of her father, a chaplain.
State Representative Pat Boyd assigned some homework. “Too often we’re go-go-go,” he said. He urged those attending to pause and pay attention to all the plaques and monuments all around them in town including plaques at the Rectory School, the monument at the Town Green, the plaques at the Pomfret Volunteer Fire Department and more.
“These are Pomfret residents who gave the last full measure,” he said. “Looking at these reminders will give us perspective on a day like this one.”
In his remembrance, fire department member and retired Marine Corps officer and pilot, Nicholas Stellitanto explained the significance of Memorial Day by saying “Close your eyes. What do you hear? Deafening silence.” What you don’t hear: ‘I love yous’ or ‘thank yous’ or ‘good nights’. There are no hugs from those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. That silence is carried by those left behind. On Veterans Day you can deliver your thank you message in person. Not Memorial Day.
Stellitanto quoted President James Garfield: “We hold reunions, not for the dead, for there is nothing in all the earth that you and I can do for the dead. They are past our help and past our praise. We can add to them no glory, we can give to them no immortality. They do not need us, but forever and forever more we need them.”
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Welcome, new
farmers market
managers
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — On opening day of the Putnam Saturday Farmers Market June 1 market goers will see two new faces, co-managers Samantha Gatzke and Cassidy Ball.
Both share a background connected to local farming and a genuine excitement about growing the farmers market.
Ball was in or around local farms since she was 5 years old. Her interest inspired her to become an intern through the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms.
Her father helped with the Desjardins Farm in Plainfield. “At first I would buy from him and then I asked to help,” she said.
What she likes best about growing is the changing seasons. Each season brings new fruits and vegetables.
Ball overlapped with outgoing market manager Emily Barnes a couple times at the end of last season and she said she found all the farmers to have been really helpful. “I’m very excited to get started,” she said.
Gatzke came from growing up with gardening. “I’ve been around farms. My whole family worked or owned farms. I picked up a lot.”
Asked what attracted her to applying for the co-manager position, she said has been attending the Putnam market for a long time. She would go every week with her daughter. She thought it’d be something she’d enjoy.
She, too, is very excited about the market. Lots of new vendors have signed up as have as some of the “regulars.” Some of the new vendors include soap making, crocheting and two other local bakeries, joining Sugarz. Some musicians are signed up and they are working on getting a face painter. Senior resources will be there as well as Pluck-a-Duck fund-raiser sales. In addition, they hope to get resources such as early Head Start and WIC.
“We’d like it to be geared for families,” she said.
Returning will be the transaction machine for the EBT/SNAP transactions and debit payments. The cost of the machine went up a bit, averaging $200 per month, but it served thousands of people, according to Putnam Economic and Community Development Director Maryann Chinatti. Some 84 people used it for SNAP last year but many, many more “in the 1,000s” used it for debit payments. Some farmers do not take credit cards.
Speaking from the consumer side, Gatzke said farmers markets should be all about local — everything freshly grown and not trucked in from the West Coast.
“Most importantly, I want the market goers to feel welcomed,” she added.
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Above: The Woodstock Academy baseball team proudly displays the banner proclaiming it ECC Champions. Lower right: Eric Mathewson (1), who had the game-winning single and Tanner Graham (9) who scored the game-winning run celebrate. Upper right: Keon Lamarche raises his right arm in celebration. Photos by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.
Centaurs
claim ECC
Div. 1 crown
It was a quagmire that baseball coaches sometimes find themselves in.
Woodstock Academy had just tied the ECC Div. I championship game and had Tanner Graham at third representing the game-winning run after Noah Sampson had doubled with two outs.
Up to the plate stepped Centaurs lead-off hitter Maxx Corradi.
The shortstop had three hits in four trips to the plate against Viking pitching on Friday.
So, East Lyme coach Jack Biggs had a choice.
Pitch to the hot-hitting Corradi or take on the player who has led Woodstock all season offensively, Eric Mathewson.
Biggs chose the latter and intentionally walked Corradi to load the bases for Mathewson.
Except the senior was hardly ready.
He had been getting ready to go back on the mound and pitch in the eighth inning if needed but he was also confident that Corradi was going to finish things.
Suddenly, he was the one at the plate.
He frantically began rushing around the dugout to find his batting gear.
“There was hooting and hollering after we scored the (tying) run and then the walk and Eric was not ready to go, he was looking for his stuff,” said coach Connor Elliott.
Elliott called time out and walked in slowly from third base.
“All my coaches paused the game for me, came up to me, slowed the game down, told me to breathe and take the game in one second at a time. It really calmed me down,” Mathewson said.
“He is such a good hitter and our Most Valuable Player - personally I thought he should be the MVP of the whole league but that’s alright, there are a lot of deserving players out there – and he proved that (Friday). Not just in that last at-bat but coming in and giving up just one run in four innings on the mound, shut the door, and gave our offense a chance to scratch back into it,” Elliott said.
Mathewson stepped to the plate and took a strike from East Lyme pitcher Liam Joyce. He laced the next delivery into center field and as Graham crossed the plate, Mathewson removed his helmet and threw it into the air as he ran up the first base line.
“I’m at a loss for words. I’ve never done something like that in my baseball career and I was just filled with emotion,” Mathewson said. “Right off the bat, I knew I had hit it in the sweet spot and I knew I had hit it hard. I saw it get past the pitcher and knew it was going to get into center field and we were going to win the game.”
By the time he crossed first base, the entire team was running behind him and the Centaurs celebrated the 8-7 victory out near second base.
It took some time in coming as the Centaurs have made the ECC championship game for the past two seasons but have come home empty-handed.
“It’s amazing,” Mathewson said of the victory. “We lost in our sophomore year to Fitch, 10-0. Last year, 364 days ago on this same field, we lost to East Lyme 9-3. We had a pregame hype up and everyone was just ready to get it for Woodstock this year.”
It looked like it was going to be déjà vu all over again at the start of the contest.
East Lyme (15-8), which defeated Killingly in a semifinal earlier in the day, opened with a 2-0 first inning lead.
A.J. Montejano walked, Garrison Biggs put down a bunt single and Alex Dreyfus doubled home a run. Liam Cochrane followed with an RBI ground out for the Vikings.
The second seed added four more in the third on three singles, four walks and a couple of wild pitches and chased Woodstock Academy starter Riley O’Brien.
But the Centaurs began their comeback in the bottom of the inning.
Noah Sampson, the ninth batter, walked and was doubled to third by Corradi. Sampson came home on a ground out by Mathewson and a Keon Lamarche ground out plated Corradi.
Mathewson came on and silenced the East Lyme bats allowing just a walk and a runner reached on an error in the next three innings.
Woodstock finally put its offense together in the sixth inning.
A fielder’s choice was followed by two walks and Sampson delivered a run with a sacrifice fly to left.
“We didn’t really get down on ourselves when we went down, 6-0. We kept fighting, little by little, run by run, and our captains provided the leadership. I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Sampson said.
Corradi followed with a base hit to left to cut the lead to two and, after Mathewson reached on an error, Keon Lamarche delivered a two-run single to right to tie the game.
But a pop out ended the rally and East Lyme wasn’t about to go quietly.
Mathewson got the first two outs but a single to right field by Tanner O’Brien and a wild pitch put the Vikings in scoring position. Dylan Joyce delivered the RBI single to put the Vikings up, 7-6.
The Centaurs looked like they were going to be down to their last out after a line out and what appeared to be a ground out. But an error on the play allowed Riley O’Brien to reach. After a strikeout, Graham walked and Elliott subbed in David Bunning to pinch run for Riley O’Brien.
That brought the left-handed hitting Sampson to the plate.
He took a strike.
“I knew I just had to put it in play, hit whatever is in the zone. I went opposite field and it worked out,” Sampson said.
He sent the ball to left field and never stopped, getting to second base, pushing Graham to third and, most importantly, bringing in Bunning with the tying run.
Not bad for a senior who had not planned to play baseball until Elliott reached out to him because he needed a centerfielder.
“That was his first double of the season. I had asked him if he would have a double before the year ended because all of his hits have been singles. His first double of the season could not have happened at a better time. Tanner Graham had a phenomenal at-bat, another grinder at the plate and he did his job. I’m so proud of everyone,” Elliott said.
The rest became part of history with the Corradi intentional walk and the Mathewson heroics.
“This is one of the greatest baseball games I’ve been a part of,” Elliott said. “Unbelievable. We’ve been trying to get over the hump in the ECC tournament, this being our third time here, and beating such a quality team in East Lyme and Coach Biggs who I played for and I have so much respect for. He taught me so much of the game. Knowing the quality of this program and how hard we worked for it. Back-to-back games, Eric throwing on one day of rest, just really gutsy performances across the board. We really needed everyone.”
The Centaurs (21-2) advanced to the championship game with a 3-1 win over Fitch.
Brady Ericson held the Falcons spellbound over the first six innings as he didn’t allow a hit and struck out 10.
But he was over 100 pitches after that and yielded to Logan Coutu who had a little seventh inning adventure although he maintained the no-hitter.
Fitch got the benefit of an error and walk to start the seventh inning and two fielder’s choices produced the lone Falcons’ run. Coutu then hit two batters before getting the third out on a pop up.
“With Brady, they had no hits and it felt about right. It was a crazy no-hitter because I was sweating bullets thinking the first hit of the game might put them in the lead. We showed in the second game why we needed those kinds of at-bats in the first game because we could have separated ourselves but we left 10 runners on in scoring position,” Elliott said.
Woodstock Academy went up, 2-0, in the second on a Corradi RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to Ericson.
It would add one more in the sixth on a Mathewson double.
After the championship game, Mathewson and Corradi were honored as ECC Div. I All-Star infielders with Ericson getting the nod at pitcher and Lamarche at designated hitter.
Jack Sumner is the team’s ECC Scholar-Athlete with Bunning chosen as the team’s ECC Sportsmanship Award recipient.
The season is not over.
The Centaurs begin Class L state tournament play with a first-round game at home meeting No. 32 Branford at 4 p.m.
“I think we’re ready,” Elliott said. “We’re going to take the weekend off and have a great practice on Monday and then, we’re rolling.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy