'Waste' plastic will turn into a bench
POMFRET – Plastic waste was collected for recycling and because the town’s campaign was so successful, the town earned a much-needed park bench.
After six months of dedicated effort, the Pomfret Recreation Department has successfully collected more than 1,000 pounds of plastic waste for a recycling initiative aimed at supporting local environmental efforts. The campaign’s success is being celebrated as a testament to the growing awareness of plastic’s environmental impact and the importance of recycling, said Recreation Department Director Carrie Wolfe.
The initiative, which called on residents to donate their used plastic, has garnered an overwhelming response from across the Quiet Corner. Wolfe said. She and Beverly Champany, Recreation Commission Board member, said receiving contributions from all around the Quiet Corner area, illustrated how people are becoming increasingly conscious of their environmental footprint.
“It’s amazing to see how much plastic we truly use in our daily lives,” said Wolfe. “The response was incredible, and it’s clear that the community really cares about making a positive impact on our environment.”
As part of the initiative, the collected plastic will be used to create a much-needed park bench. The final design was selected by Wolfe and Champany who chose the color for the new addition. The bench is expected to be delivered soon, providing much-needed seating options for visitors to the Recreation Park.
“This is just the start,” Wolfe added. “The park definitely needs more seating, and we’re hopeful this project will inspire further efforts to improve the park and continue addressing issues like plastic waste.”
With the new bench soon to be installed, the Pomfret Recreation Department is excited to continue working together with the community to make their environment cleaner and more sustainable.
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caption:
First Selectman Maureen Nicholson, above, and Recreation board member Bev Champany.
Rotary giving goes on for weeks
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — The Putnam Rotary Club had so many donations to make that it went on for weeks. And still continues into April!
More than a dozen deserving organizations were invited to the Putnam Rotary Club meetings to receive donations to their organizations.
February and March donations were made to:
The Arc ECT, Community Café, Northeast Placement, American Red Cross, United Services, NOW, TEEG, the Pomfret-Eastford Little League, the Putnam Little League, Woodstock Little League, the Thompson Little League and Tri-Town American Legion baseball.
Putnam Rotary Club President Doug Porter said: “The Putnam Rotary Club donates to more than 40 organizations, including social services groups, youth-focused groups, community projects, international projects and our main focus, local scholarships. During these months the club is pleased to honor these groups at our weekly meetings.”
President Porter said he was honored to present checks to these groups — and there are more coming in April. He also thanked the club members who work to raise the money for these donations and the local community members who support the Rotary Club fund-raising efforts.
He added that the local community has been “very supportive” of the club’s two main fund-raising events, the Ronald P. Coderre Golf Tournament and the club’s 2/20 drawing.
“All the money from these events goes to support our donations and scholarships. Last year the club provided $32,500 in scholarships to local high school students. In addition the club provided almost $24,000 total for community projects, international projects, social service groups and youth groups,” he said.
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captions:
Service Organization group: Porter, Diane Manning (United Services), Carl Asikainen (TEEG), Tayler Shea (NOW), Tim Kettle (NEPS). Linda Lemmon photo.
Little League Group, from left: Everett Shepard (Tri Town), Josh Kinsella (Thompson), Eric Mauer (Woodstock), Putnam Rotary President Doug Porter, Christin Martin (Putnam), Jill Olsen (Pomfret-Eastford). Linda Lemmon photo.
Interactors help at special swim meet
PUTNAM — March 29 was the first time the Putnam Rotary Club’s Interact Club volunteered at the Special Olympics swim meet, but it won’t be the last.
Sofia Thurber, co-president of the Interact Club, said, “They were paired up with an athlete from different teams. Their job was to hang out with the athletes and make sure they got into the pool on time for their event. When the athletes weren’t swimming the Interact volunteers did arts and crafts and other activities in the gym with them.”
There were approximately 100 volunteers from all over Windham County and more than 100 athletes.
It was a good experience for the Interact Club and Thurber said she hopes the Interact Club will continue to volunteer at this event next year.
The club thanked Paige Perry and Gabriell Cerasiello from Putnam High School and Sofia Thurber, June Ferraro, Isabelle McGlynn and Pavanny Phav from Tourtellotte Memorial High.
caption:
Helpers
From left: Gabriell Cerasiello, Paige Perry, Sofia Thurber, Pavanny Phav, Isabella McGlynn and June Ferraro.
Honoring Vietnam vets
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse last week honored Vietnam veterans on a 50th anniversary of the war’s end, complete with a cake, patches, pins and a program on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
More than 100 attended, served breakfast by the Putnam Lodge of Elks.
Veteran Ron Pariseau’s program on the Vietnam era started with the start of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He explained how Maya Lin, a 21-year old Yale University architecture student won the competition with her black granite memorial design. It was dedicated in 1982.
The design is meant to symbolize the closing and healing of a wound.
The granite came from India and was cut in Vermont. At its highest point the monument is 10 feet tall. It’s 246 feet long on each of its two sides with 70 separate inscribed granite panels. There are four panels on each end without names. The land given for the monument could not support the weight of the stone, he said, so there are 140 concrete pylons that go down into bedrock to support the monument.
The casualties — the youngest was 15 and the oldest was 63. One-hundred twenty listed its foreign countries as their home of record. Veterans killed on the first day numbered 997. Veterans killed on the last day of the conflict were 1,448. The total number of names on the memorial is in the mid-58,000s.
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