Scholarship winners excel: The future is in good hands
By Linda Lemmon 
Town Crier Editor
It seems impossible but the caliber of the Putnam Rotary Club’s scholarship winners seems to rise each year. 
At the Dec. 30 Rotary Scholarship Celebration Rachael Johnston, chair of the scholarship Committee, said she and members of the committee were “blown away by the athleticism, social, community service, and “oh yes, and they fit some academics in there, too” of the scholarship winners.
Each winner filled their high school careers and now in college, with community service, academics and leadership roles. Many are in accelerated programs. In the students’ speeches they listed off dizzying number of academics, clubs, volunteer work and more. 
This year the club and its foundation awarded $37,000 in scholarships to seven students and a second scholarship to one of last year’s winners, Eric Levesque.
Serena Smith, who is attending the University of Rhode Island, received a John O’Brien Scholarship. Susan Phaneuf, who spoke for the O’Brien family, said John O’Brien graduated from Tourtellotte Memorial High School but “needless to say, in the 1920s scholarships were not plentiful.” Scholarships, she added, are all about opportunity.
Sofia Thurber, who is attending Emmanuel College, was awarded an A. Leon Archambault Scholarship. Denise Archambault said “Our family is extremely proud to be able to carry on Leon’s name and to go ahead and foster your education. So good job!”
Pavanny Phav, who is attending the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, received the Maurice Beaulac Scholarship. Family member Maureen Beaulac said: “My dad loved being a Rotarian, the camaraderie with many of you that are here. It was something that was so meaningful for him and he really prided himself on the service that the Rotary Club performed in the community to help students.  They are so impressive; he would have been blown away by the community service, the clubs, the sports, the work and the academics that all of the scholarship recipients demonstrate year after year. He would have been very proud and honored because he was the first one in his family to go to college. So to see it kind of being paid forward in his memory would be very meaningful.”
Four students received a Raymond and Violet Brousseau Scholarship: Abigail Converse (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), Jane Ferraro (Connecticut State College Quinebaug Valley), Lucy St. Germain (Salve Regina University), and Kaelyn Tremblay (Wentworth Institute of Technology). In addition, Eric Levesque (UConn) received the second half of his two-year scholarship.
Johnston described Ray Brousseau as a true American, a veteran of WWII. Ray was a member of the Rotary Club for more than 60 years. “He was loyal and dedicated to the motto of Rotary, ‘Service Above Self’.” The Brousseaus did not have children and, according to Ronald P. Coderre, “They were such community servants that they wanted their name to continue.” When they passed they left sizeable donations to the Putnam Rotary Club for scholarships, to Day Kimball Health and to their church, the Congregational Church of Putnam.

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From left: Kaelyn Tremblay, Serena Smith, June  Ferraro, Pavanny Phav, Lucy St. Germain, Abigail Converse, Sofia Thurber, and Eric Levesque. More photos on our FB page Wed. night. Linda Lemmon photo.