Knights of Columbus sets 133rd
anniversary celebration
PUTNAM — July 20 everyone is invited to celebrate the 133rd anniversary of Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus. The celebration will begin at 9 a.m. with a public, regular Sunday Mass at St. Mary Church of the Visitation.
This will be followed immediately, shortly before 10 a.m., the new St. Therese Parish sign outside, in front of the church will be dedicated. The sign was recently commissioned by and purchased for the parish by Cargill Council with generous support from St. Mary’s Circle 543 of the Daughters of Isabella.
Celebrations will conclude with a short, public memorial prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at St. Mary’s Cemetery at the grave of Cargill Council’s first Grand Knight, Edward Mullan.
He served as the Catholic family fraternal group’s first elected leader, starting from its beginning, on July 26, 1892, and continuing in the position until 1895. Mullan died in 1916, at the age of 61. Council officials are holding the service at his grave, to symbolize all the council’s members down through the organization’s first 133 years.
The three events will be conducted by St. Therese Parish’s Pastor and Cargill Council’s Chaplain, the Very Reverend David P. Choquette.

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‘Square your shoulders – Look to the future’
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
WOODSTOCK — The occasional spritz of rain didn’t diminish the high spirts of graduates at the 135th commencement of The Woodstock Academy.
Not one iota.
Poet laureates Emily Smock, 2025, and Avery Nielsen, 2026, shared their poetic address, “Something Big” and the future, while a mystery, is exciting. ”What the future holds, and sure home is always here and the same things you’ve always known. But out there is a mystery, a future left untold. Isn’t that exciting?” 
“A future we can hold and shape in our own hands … new friendships, new interests, new memories. We will make so many remarkable things.”
Class President Kira Greene said: “Today is more than just a celebration of the end of high school. It marks a powerful transition, a moment to reflect on all that we’ve experienced and to step boldly into the future that lies ahead. This isn’t a conclusion, but a beginning, a new chapter awaits and we hold the pen.”
She reminded her classmates that they learned more than equations or essays. “We learned resilience, empathy and how to adapt in a world that is constantly evolving.” She said “We press forward. That determination, that ability to keep going is what defines us. It’s what will continue to define us, no matter where we go next.”
“Let’s build lives grounded in compassion, purpose and the courage to leave every place a little better than we found it.”
The Katheryn Robertson Essay award winner, Margaret McHugh, noted the struggles of the high schools years but “Education makes me lighter. Education gives my life lightness.” She said education has given her the tools needed to create something extraordinary. The tools are already inside her.
The winners of the Yale Honor Cups were Evelyn Young and Katherine Ritzou. The winners of the Donald and Hope Williams scholarships were Young and Ritzou and Xandor Miller (valedictorian) and Kira Greene (salutatorian).
According to Associate Head of School Holly Singleton, the graduation rate this year is 100 percent.
Graduates include:
David Abbamonte; Ashley Abrams; Olivia Aleman 6, 15, 16; Juliet Allard 3, 12, 13, 15, 17; Diogo Andrade; Thiago Andrade; Ayden Angel-Ouimette 4, 16; Eli Apperson; Angelina Auger; Cody Austin; Ajani Banton 13; Brayden Bardan 3; Linnea Barlow 6, 16; Brandon Baron; Gunnar Basak 5; Addison Beausoleil 3, 6; Kylee Beausoleil; Lillian Beausoleil 7, 14, 15, 16, 17; Kaitlyn Becker 3, 11, 15, 16; Jay Beebe-Olivo; John Bennett 14; Henri Bessette; Mikayla Bessette 3, 7, 12, 14, 15; Nathan Billings 5; Bradley Blair; Madison Bloom 4, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Logan Blow; Liliana Bottone 3, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14; Mason Bourget; Allie Boyd; Lucas Boynton 5, 16; Aiden Brailsford 15; Madisen Braunstein 4; Emma Brody 4, 7, 12, 14, 16, 17; Alexander Brouillard 10; Om Brown 4; Indigo Brown-Nevala; Katelyn Bruce 4, 7, 12, 14; Abigail Budd 6, 16; Garrett Bushey 13; William Bushey; Austin Byer 14; MJ Castaneda Banderas 3, 12, 14; Matthew Chace; Tyler Chamberlin 13; Ryder Chaput; Jiahao Chen; Abdullah Choudhry; Samuel Clark 4, 12, 13 Seamus Coleman; Abigail Converse 3, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16; Emilia Costa 4, 12, 14, 17; Emma Costa 3, 12, 17; Leah Costa 15; Finley Couture; Keegan Covello 9; Benjamin Cross 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17; Olivia Dahl 3, 17; Shauna Daka; Chi Dam 3; Luke Davis; Filippo De Giorgi 3; Jacqueline Dearborn 4, 6, 7, 12, 14, 16; Brady DelFarno 18; Grace DelSanto; Xahvi DeRoza; Sam Desmond 13, 18; Anthony Detoro 18; Bella DiGregorio 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16; Gabriel DiPierdomenico 5, 7, 14; Richard Duncan; Jonathan Eddy; Abigail Elliott 4, 10, 14; Brady Ericson 5, 13; Katie Erskine; Julian Escobar; Sam Espeseth 17; Jude Essuman; Junior Fagundes; Giovanni Farina 5; Maizy Ferreira 16; Chico Filho; Chandler Folkerts 3, 7, 12, 14, 17; Madelyn Frechette; Paige Drew Frenier; Jayden Fuller.
Also: Ela Gadoury 9; Olivia Gadue; Livia Gerum 6, 15, 16; Bri Gifford; Alyssa Gilbert; Ella Gilchrist 3, 14, 16; Gavin Gluck; Madison Goetz 10; Ava Golden 3, 7, 14, 15, 16; Erick Goldoni; Brooke Goodell; Tanner Graham 3, 8, 12, 13; Zoe Grant; Kira Greene 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; Adyson Grether 3, 7, 14, 16; Phoebe Griffin 4, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17; Kyle Grist; Elyana Groccia; Sophie Gronski 3, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15; Gabriella Guay; Brooke Hagerman; Avery Hardacker 3, 7, 9, 14, 15; Meadow Harnois; Mason Hayes; Matthew Hernandez; Rodrigo Herruzo; Yuena Hoang 6; Abigale Houle; Christian Ireland; Madeline Jezierski 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16; Thomas Johnson 15; Jacob Jordan; Enoch Joseph; Emily Jurnovoy 3, 7, 8; Aidan Kane; Kason Kelly 3, 11, 14, 16; Muhammad Kiani 4; Jocelyn Kraus 6, 10; Avery Kuchy; Cassidy Ladd 13; Eli Laffert; Aribella LaFleche; Dominic LaFleur 10; Matthew Lai; Destiny LaMarre; Aiden Lamp; Jaiden Lamson 18; Leo Larkin 5, 16; Alexis Laskoski; Lilliana Latour-Gervais; Isabella Lefebvre; Olivia Lefevre; Celine Leffingwell; Matt Letourneau 4, 7, 12; Kevin Lewis 3; Max Lim 11; Valerio Lorigiola; Georgia Lukachie 4, 14; Hong Luo; Gabriel Luperon-Flecha; Chyanne Machamer 3, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15; Audrey MacPherson 4, 6, 12, 14; Steeven Mady; Marie Mairson 6; Emma Manis 3, 7, 11, 14, 15, 16; Devlin Mansolf; Margaret Marshall; Olivia Martocci 5, 17; Gianna Materas; Isabella Mawson 17; Emily Mayne 6; Margaret McHugh 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 17; Alvaro Medrano López 4, 13; Christian Menounos 3, 12, 13, 14, 16; Kira Mesick; Sophia Milardo 3, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16; Xandar Miller 1, 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17; Dorisabel Mojica 3, 11, 13; Matthew Montanez 18; Aurora Moore; Ryley Morin 5, 6, 7; Timothy Mozzi 5, 7, 15; Shaun Mugagga.
Also: Camden Nason; Luna Nguyen 5; Thao Nguyen; Kaya Nichols 16; Ty Nichols; Bailey Nordman 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 16; Keira Notis; Dezo Novotny; Brady O’Brien; Catherine O’Brien 8, 17; Angelica Oliveira; Raiden Olsen; Lydia Orlowski; Avin Orvos; Kelsey Pabon; Francesco Panetta; William Papineau; Aiden Paquin; Jiwoong Park 3, 11; Lysette Parmentier 4; Tomas Pejkov 3; Adriano Peniche Gasque; George Perreault; Diana Petrova 10; Alice Pham 3; Andy Pham 3, 16; Bryce Plouffe; Grace Pokorny 3, 7, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15; Erik Proctor; Evan Quinn; Logan Rawson 13; Macy Rawson 4, 7, 12, 13, 14; Tristan Reynolds; Katherine Ritzou 3, 7, 12, 15, 17; Freya Robbie 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 16; Elizabeth Roberts; Cameron Robida; Maya Rodriguez 3, 14, 15, 16; Haydon Rowland. 
Also: Colton Sallum 3, 12, 13, 14, 15; Ethan Salony; Ava Salsich 4, 7, 9, 15; Amir Sanchez; Marco Sanchez; Sophia Sarkis 13, 14, 15, 16; Kaleb Schulz; Austin Sebastian 3, 11, 14, 16; Isabella Selmecki 3, 7, 12, 13, 16; John Shea; Dylan Shinkiewicz; Nina Silva 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17; Kristina Sirrine; Olivia Smith; Emily Smock 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17; Mia Sorrentino 3, 12, 13, 14, 16; Kaylee Spring; Juliana Stacy; Eli Susi 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17; Michael Susi 4, 13, 14, 15, 17; Brock Swabby 5; Daion Swan-DeSilva; Bailey Sweeney; Olivia Tappenden 4, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16; Alexandra Tetreault 18; Avery Thienel 5, 12, 14, 15; Hayden Thistle; Lauren Thomas 3, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16; Lola Thomas; Kevin Thomson 3, 13; Ben Thorstenson; Zander Tidwell; Riley Titchen; Harley Tolman; Carter Tosetti 18; Khang Tran 11, 14; Tien Tran 3; Kaelyn Tremblay 13, 14, 15; Wyatt Tucker; Mariia Ursal 3, 8, 9; Chauntel Vandal; Alexis Vargas 18; Bella Vasconcelos; Autumn Wade 9, 18; William Wasko 10; Gwendolyn White 3, 6, 14, 15, 16; Haley Whitehouse; Jack Wiggin 5, 6; Jillian Wiggin 6; Riley Wilcox; Arthur Witek; Pola Wysocki; Evelyn Young 3, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15; Kevin Yu; Daniela Zeka; Marcus Zuidema.
Honor Codes: 1. Valedictorian; 2. Salutatorian; 3. Summa cum laude; 4. Magna cum laude; 5. Cum laude; 6. Art National Honor Society; 7. English National Honor Society; 8. German National Honor Society; 9. Italian National Honor Society; 10. Latin National Honor Society; 11. Math National Honor Society; 12. National Honor Society; 13. Scholar-Athlete Honor Society; 14. Science National Honor Society; 15. Social Studies Honor Society; 16. Spanish Honor Society; 17. Tri-M Honor Society; 18. Military.

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More photos on page 5. Expanded photo array Wed. night on our FB page. Linda Lemmon photo.

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Caps: Photo by Madison Millar

Left: Ethan Salony (Courtesy photo). Above: Drying the seats. Right: Best seat in the house. Linda Lemmon photos.

Hometown Heroes
Capt. Addison Warner, U.S. Army 
By Michael Rocchetti
Captain Addison G Warner was a Union Army Officer and Cavalry Commander from Putnam who fought and died in the Civil War. His gallantry and heroism was so notable that Putnam’s Civil War Veterans Organization was named in his honor – the Addison G. Warner Post #54 of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Warner was the son of Benjamin and Sally Warner. He was born Nov. 19, 1835, in New York.  By 1860, he was living in Pomfret with his younger sister Harriet and her family, and he was working in Putnam as the high school principal. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted for a three-month stint as a Private with Rifle Company A of the 2nd CT Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In May of 1861 his unit was sent to Northern Virginia to help defend Washington D.C. Here they saw action at the First Battle of Bull Run. Afterwards, the unit returned to Connecticut, and by Aug. 7, 1861 he was mustered out. Upon his return to Putnam he married Angeline Elizabeth Gleason. They had one daughter – Pamela Sarah Warner, born in Pomfret.
Warner re-enlisted as a Captain in the Union Army on Dec. 30, 1863, as the Commander of Company I, of the 1st Regiment CT Volunteer Cavalry, part of the Cavalry Corps under the command of General Philip Sheridan. Warner saw action in the Overland Campaign of 1864 in numerous engagements in Virginia including the battles of Grove Church, Todd’s Tavern, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Mechanicsville and Ashland.
The Battle of Ashland, on June 1, 1864, found the 1st CT Cavalry, along with other Union regiments, nearly surrounded by Confederate forces in the town of Ashland, Vir., north of Richmond. The following account of the battle, from The Military and Civil History of Connecticut During the War of 1861-1865, by W. A. Croffut and John M. Morris, describes Captain Addison G. Warner’s bravery and how he died:
"Confederate rebels charged down two of the roads on Warner’s position, but his squadron resisted the onset, and turned it back. The rebels mounted another charge. Captain Warner was shot through the body. Though mortally wounded, he kept his saddle, and continued to rally and cheer on his men with determined and extraordinary courage. He soon received three other gunshot wounds, when, faint from loss of blood, he fell from his horse, and died gloriously. Sergeant Alexander McDonald of Norfolk CT, who assisted him on the field after he was wounded, wrote the following account:
“I was only a few feet from him when the rebels came charging upon us, and could hear his calm, bold tone of command, ‘Stand fast, boys! Give it to them!’ When numbers forced us to retire, and brave Major Blakeslee rallied us again, I saw Capt. Warner standing about a dozen yards in front of the regiment. I rode up, and asked him what he was doing there. He said, ‘Mac, I’m wounded in the shoulder.’ I urged him to go to the rear. He refused. The regiment swept forward, and we with them. The captain, regardless of his wound, was again foremost in the fight, and held his ground when it became a hand-to-hand contest. We were for a moment separated; when Sergeant Wheeler called out, ‘Mac, Captain’s wounded.’ In a moment, I was at his side. His first wound was through his body, close under his shoulder: that he did not seem to mind. The next broke his leg below the knee, and he was unsteady in the saddle. Wheeler caught him as we turned him around, —almost by force; for he insisted on facing the enemy. We had gone but a few steps, when another ball struck him in his thigh, severing an artery. He was in possession of all his faculties; but he did not betray pain. A moment more, and a ball passed through his head; but even this did not cause instant death. He was now very weak; and I had my arm around him, trying to guide the horses with the other. We struck a tree, which separated us; and he fell. His foot caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged some distance, until the horse, by kicking, disengaged him. We rallied, drove the rebels back, and brought the captain off. I took his head on my lap, and asked him if he knew me. ‘Yes, —Mac,’ said he. ‘Oh, my poor wife and child!’ And then his face would change, and he would cry, ‘Rally, boys! — rally for the old flag!’ . . . When we dug a grave to bury our heroic commander, the bullets flew like hail.”
Capt. Warner was reburied, at the Grove Street Cemetery in Putnam. In Putnam, Post #54 of the Grand Army of the Republic was established 13 April 1882, and named in memory of him. Hometown Heroes is a series published in the Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger with this mission: We owe it to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to make sure that they are never forgotten, and that 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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