By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — The Putnam Police Department is still looking for information from the district’s business owners. Communications Supervisor Duane Anderson said about 150 of the forms were submitted since the call went out last fall. But many more are still missing.
Imagine you’re the dispatcher for the Special Service District and a Putnam police officer finds a door unlocked at a downtown business after hours.
And you know there’s a 50 percent chance that the contact information you have for that business is completely outdated. Tick tock.
Such is the longstanding dilemma for dispatchers, Anderson said.
“The information we have on hand goes back to the 1980s,” he said. Lots of business information is outdated. Key holders have changed. Some businesses are no longer even in town. 
He estimated that 50 percent of the time there is no information available or it’s messed up. “An alarm is going off and there is no contact information,” he said.
Some 400 businesses in the Special Services District are affected so the department is still looking for current information from business owners/managers. Special Services District businesses are urged to go to www.putnampolice.com and there is a Business Key Holder Registration form under the Resources heading. Anderson said the information is confidential and will never be given out to anyone. He added that dispatch also has a key lock box. “If you wish,” he said, “you can drop off a key that we can keep in there, just in case.”
Police Chief Christopher D. Ferace said: “The business owner can update his/her contact info, plus a primary key holder and secondary key holder. Once the form is completed, hit the submit button and it is automatically emailed back to the PD.   …or you can stop by the PD complete one by hand and drop it off or email the Communication Supervisor Duane Anderson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..”
He added, “This updated information will certainly make the dispatcher’s job more efficient so there is accurate key holder information in the event we need to contact the business owner after hours. An example could be an alarm activation, the police in doing a business check and located an unsecured door left unlocked erroneously, or maybe we need to contact someone due to damage located.  The quicker we can notify the business owner the quicker whatever the situation is, it can be remedied.

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From Brazil to PSA to Hinds Community College
PUTNAM — Perseverance, flexibility, and an unwavering drive to develop as an athlete and a student have propelled Gian Filizzola’s journey from the soccer fields of Presidente Prudente, Brazil, to the Putnam Science Academy. 
Filizzola has committed to play soccer at Hinds Community College in Mississippi and is now getting ready for his next chapter.
“I chose Hinds because of the excellent structure of the school,” Filizzola said. “It has a very good level of sport along with good majors, so I can develop not only as an athlete but as a student. Another important point was the climate, because it is similar to the country I come from. What excites me most about playing there is meeting new people and having a new experience at a college in the United States.”
Filizzola first became interested in the game in a small Brazilian town, but he soon recognized that in order to achieve his objectives, he would need to explore outside of it. Leaving family, embracing uncertainty, and adjusting to new surroundings all required sacrifices.
“In soccer, I went through several clubs in Brazil, but I was never able to establish myself in any of them, which often led me back to my hometown,” he said. “As I got older, I realized I needed to find a way to combine my desire to be an athlete with my education.”
 “Because of a recommendation, my family and I started looking into PSA and saw that it would be a great opportunity to unite both goals—which led me to be here during my senior year,” Filizzola said.
In addition to his effect on the soccer field, Filizzola gained recognition for something even more surprising: despite never having played football before, he filled in as a kicker for the PSA football team.
“The transition was very unexpected but very positive,” he said. “At first I was a little afraid because it was something very new to me, such a traditional sport here that I had never seen or tried to play. But the coaches, along with the athletes, gave me a lot of help until I adapted and became a PSA kicker. I believe that the proximity to soccer helped a lot with this transition.”
Beyond the wins and statistics, Filizzola credits PSA with preparing him for the future.
“PSA helped me a lot on both counts,” he said. “On the sporting side, it got me out of the comfort zone of playing in Brazil and made me work hard to adapt to the style of play in the United States and the different positions I played during the year. As a person, it made me socialize and learn about different cultures around the world and, above all, improve my English.”
At Hinds, Filizzola has his sights set high.
“My goals for my collegiate soccer career are to compete at the highest level possible, contribute meaningfully to my team, and continue growing both as a player and a leader,” he said. “I want to help my team win championships, but also push myself every day to improve my technical skills, tactical understanding, and physical fitness.”
With his ambition, work ethic, and openness to new challenges, Gian Filizzola is ready for whatever comes next.
Rebecca Townes
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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Preview – Girls’ Track
Centaurs hope for a 3-peat
In a dual meet, the Woodstock Academy Centaurs girls’ outdoor track team has been a pretty tough customer.
For the past two seasons, the Centaurs have captured the ECC Div. I championship.
Coach Josh Welch doesn’t believe there is any reason to think the same will not happen again in 2025.
“That would be awesome and I think we have what it takes to do it,” Welch said. “It could be interesting to see if we have everybody in the right place at the right time but I think we have enough there. In a dual meet, head-to-head, we have a good shot.”
The Centaurs don’t have the numbers that a team like Norwich Free Academy possesses so in a multi-team meet like the ECC championship, it becomes more difficult. The Wildcats recorded 29 points alone in the pole vault alone to score a 151-149 win over the Centaurs in the Div. I-II championship a year ago.
But the Centaurs will have a diversity of strengths this season.
“Absolutely yes,” senior Juliet Allard said when asked if the Centaurs could repeat as Div. I champs. “We are back even stronger this year. We have some amazing freshmen coming up.”
The sprints, hurdles and throws will be strong points for Woodstock which has its first dual meet of the season April 9 at Stonington. 
The throws alone could net the team significant points this season.
Avery Plouffe comes over from a solid indoor track season which ended with a “bomb” throw, a 41-foot, 1 ¼-inch effort at the Nike Nationals in New York that broke the school indoor shotput record by 4 feet.
“I really didn’t expect to get as far as I did. We were really excited to have that throw and it just happened to be at Nationals where we needed it the most,” Plouffe said. “That energy that I had there is really going to carry over and inspire me going into the first meet. Knowing that you can have a four-foot p.r. like that is really kind of insane,:
The nice thing is that Plouffe is not the only weapon in the arsenal.
Lilly Morgis is solid in the discus and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain is a very good javelin competitor.
“Those are three people that could be state championship level throwers this year without a doubt. They should do very well and I think we will see a lot of first, second, and third-place sweeps from them in the ECC,” Welch said.
On the sprint side, Allard returns.
“It’s so hard to believe that this is it,” the senior said. “I’ve had so many amazing experiences here that it’s kind of heartbreaking actually. I’ve learned so much through this team and I’m going to miss it so much.”
Allard already owns a bevy of Woodstock indoor and outdoor school track records.
Records that she would not mind improving upon this year.
“Not so much so that no one can beat them. I just want to leave behind a good legacy and, hopefully, that will push my underclassmen teammates to beat those records. I want to improve upon them but I want to push them to reach those points that I hit,” Allard said.
Welch feels one record that could be within the senior’s reach is the 100-meter. What makes that record so special is that it has stood for almost 50 years.
Allard said the 300m hurdles is a focus as she feels it is her best chance to qualify for Nationals at the championship level.
Allard will be taking her skill set to Quinnipiac University to compete at the Div. I level next season. The Centaurs also have junior Emma Weitknecht who will focus on the 100m and 300m hurdles as well as relays.
Sophomore Elise Coyle has been looking solid at long jump and both she and Ava Eaton have been working on the triple jump where they will join Ella Lidonde who now owns the school’s indoor triple jump record.
There are some soft spots. The graduation of Jillian Edwards left a void in the high jump and the middle and distance events may need some shoring up.
“We had Julia Coyle and Talia Tremblay last year but we have some kids coming in that may help fill those spots,” Welch said.
Welch pointed out Melanie DiPippo as an up-and-coming distance runner while Nova Almquist has been getting her mile times down. The return of Olivia Tracy in distance events, will also help.
 “There are a handful of things I’m looking for. An undefeated dual meet season is well within our grasp and is the metric as to whether we did what we could do. The (ECC) championship meet is a whole ‘nother thing but we would like to put the pressure on for that," Welch said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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Juliet Allard, left, and junior Avery Plouffe. Photo by Marc Allard/Woodstock Academy.