This is it! Trash program starts now

By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Casella Waste Inc. said although there were a “couple hiccups” in the changeover to the town’s new trash program, all will be in place when the new program starts May 1.
Casella’s Marc Morgan, Strategic Account Manager, Municipal Services, said any problems with service or carts (bins) would be handled by Casella, either through the email button on the company’s “Recycling 101” app or by calling 860-423-4527. Check the app to see if your pickup day changed. Recycling pickup will be every other week.
Putnam’s tax collector’s office will handle any questions on billing/payments. 860-963-6800, ext. 804.
Waste Support Systems of Windham, N.H. distributed the carts recently — approximately 5,000 trash and recycle bins.
On May 1 the new program kicks in. Casella will be using automated side arm trash trucks to pick up Casella trash carts and recycle bins. Therefore there will be no pickups of trash or recycle for residents not in the new program, nor for trash in a bag with a sticker on it placed on the ground.
The town asks that stickers continue to be used on the bags inside the carts until June 30. After that, the stickers will no longer be used. Town Administrator Elaine Sistare had said earlier that the town will probably stop selling stickers to the vendors June 1.
Carts should be placed on a flat surface at least 3 feet apart, with the front facing the road. For the arm to swing the trash cart to the top of the truck there should be 10 to 12 feet of clearance from tree branches, etc. Morgan said many people put the trash cart on one side of the driveway and the recycle ccart on the other side of the driveway. The carts should be clear of snow, landscaping, mail boxes and utility poles.
The carts have a serial number printed on them and an RFID tag. The trash truck driver will have a tablet that shows his stops. If the wrong bin or too many bins are out — not in line with what the tablet says — the driver will notify dispatch and a cart crew will take care of the problem.
The bill will be included in the tax bill with half the payment due in July and the other half in January.
The bill for eligible residents with a 65-gallon trash cart and the recycling cart will be $350 for the year (payment split in two, like the tax bill) The cost for 95-gallon trash cart and the recycle cart is $395 for the year.
Bulky waste had been handled with stickers for decades. You put a sticker on a bed frame and put it out for collection, said Highway Superintendent Travis Sirrine.
Beginning May 1 bulky waste will no longer be picked up curbside. The town’s Bulky Waste Collection will be May 18 at the Putnam Armory; and Aug. 17and Oct. 26 at the Putnam Middle School. No charge — you just need to show residency. Sirrine had said in January the town is looking into a transfer station that would take all waste except household garbage, but that’s sometime, perhaps, in the future.
The Highway Garage, 151 Fox Road will still accept mattresses, tires, electronics, and white goods during normal business hours. M-F 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM and the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month between 9 AM and 12:00 PM. Closed on holidays

.
 

caption, page 4:

The winner of the first D.L. Holke Award, Dean and Mary Hazard with their '34 Ford sedan and the trophy.  Pictured with Peter Regas, Mia Holke Longo, Misty Holke and David Holke. Linda Lemmon photo.


Honoring a friend’s life
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET — How to honor his friend who had passed. Sending flowers didn’t seem to fit for Pete Regas.
April 27, at the season’s first Tri-State Car Cruise, Regas created the perfect honor: an award named for his friend, David Lloyd Holke.
Holke, 79, died suddenly April 6, 2024. Regas said April 27 (“427”) was Holke’s favorite day — likely because the 427 engine was his favorite.
Regas created the D.L. Holke Award and the first winner was a 1934 Ford sedan owned by Mary and Dean Hazard. And yes, you guessed it, it has a 427 engine.
And Regas presented the award to the Hazards at 4:27 p.m.
Family members Mia Holke Longo, Misty Holke and grandson David were there.
The impressive trophy has flames on the pedestals. Naturally — it’s a fast car.
“I created this because Dave liked this car,” Regas said.
He added he intends to give the same award at Putnam’s Main Street Car Cruise in August.
It was the perfect honor as Holke’s obituary described him this way: “Through hard work, and determination, David would go on to found, own, and operate Thompson Tractor.
“David had an explosive, go-big-or-go-home personality. He loved to push the limit; as a bodybuilder, pyrotechnic engineer, outdoorsman. A lover of adrenaline and fast cars, you always knew when Holkie was near, you could hear the revving of his hotrod a mile away. Street racing, drag racing, ice racing; snowmobiles, motorcycles, boats, hot rods; on the land, the snow, the ice, or the water, he was a thrill seeker who had a love of speed and appreciation for fine craftsmanship.”

.
 

caption:

Above, the Testers. The Putnam Rotary Club installed some musical instruments at the Pomfret Community School and these kids, at the playground after hours, tried them out. Left, the installation crew from left: Matt Stachura from J.B. Concrete Products, Rotarian Woody Durst, John Barnes from J.B. Concrete Products, Rotarian Doug Porter and Rotarian and District Grant Committee Chair Karen Osbrey. Additional photos Wed. night on our FB page, Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger. Linda Lemmon photos.


By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET — The playground at the Pomfret Community School rings with children’s laughter — and now it will ring with music.
Some members of the Putnam Rotary Club last week installed two musical instruments at the playground area used by students and the public. No one told the students the instruments were going to be installed.
Principal Susan Imschweiler said, “The instruments were a big hit today at recess!”
The instruments installed after school last Friday included a Metallaphone (similar to a xylophone) and a trio of Bongo Drums.
The Music Garden at Pomfret Community School was funded through a Rotary Foundation District 7890 grant of $2,375 plus $1,200 from the Putnam Rotary Club. The concrete work was donated by J.B. Concrete Products.
District Grant Committee Chair Karen Osbrey said there are 350 children enrolled in Pomfret Community School but the playground serves as a public playground during non-school hours.
The Putnam Rotary Club has five service towns: Putnam, Woodstock, Eastford, Thompson and Pomfret. A larger musical instrument installation is already delighting people on the River Trail in Putnam. Osbrey said the club hopes to install instruments in all five of its service towns. She added that Thompson is building a playground and so a Rotary touch of music for that playground is likely the next one on the list.
Helping Osbrey install the instruments were Rotarians Doug Porter and Wayne “Woody” Durst.

..