McGee Toyota of Putnam is open!
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
The words “wide open” would apply — on many levels.
The long-anticipated McGee Toyota of Putnam opened its doors April 14.
The dealership moved from Dudley into its new modern, soaring building after months of site work, construction and all the finishing touches.
Everything is modern, expansive and every tiny detail that would add to the customer’s experience was thought out and achieved. For kids that might get antsy they even have a coloring book set for the kids.
The service entrances on the left side of the building on Rt. 44 in East Putnam are spacious entries to 20 service bays, according to General Manager Richard Geremia.
The doors open automatically and the customer drives in — appointments not necessarily needed. The car would pause on a piece of equipment embedded on the floor that would take a measure of the depth of the tire tread and check alignment and more. Other modern equipment would help the service staff recognize that the vehicle is already a customer. It's all for providing the best service experience.
The 20 service bays run the width of the back of the building and Geremia said they have 17 techs including three master techs. Next to that is an extensive parts department
“There shouldn’t be much wait at all for customers,” he said.
For their short waits customers settle into a massive lounge complete with a coffee bar plus, a two-story stone fireplace, a large TV and comfortable chairs and couches. Everywhere in the dealership — every table and space is wired with phone chargers.
The entire width of the front building is a showroom with 12 sales desks and a soaring brightly lighted ceiling and top to bottom windows. One small section of the front space is for car delivery in case it happens to be raining.
The service area and the showroom and the lounge are two stories tall.
Tucked behind the showroom are offices. There about 15 salespeople. That combined with the service department employees and others, about 60 people work there, he said.
Geremia said the goal is to sell 250 to 300 vehicles a month. He characterized the Toyota brand as exciting.
The McGee family picked East Putnam because of its proximity to three states and the visibility from a major highway, I-395. All together, it took about three years to bring the idea into reality.
Outside, he said they have about 150 vehicles, 50 percent new and 50 percent pre-owned.
Geremia said the whole focus is the customer experience. “If we can do that well, then everything else takes care of itself, falls into place.”
He added McGee Toyota of Putnam is looking forward to supporting local businesses, even down to buying the coffee in the coffee bar locally. Local businesses, he said, “support each other, grow together and become good neighbors.”
For additional photos, including photos of the building's progress from March 2024 through today, go to our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger.
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McGee Toyota of Putnam General Manager Richard Geremia in the entry section of the service department. More photos on page 12. Expanded photo array Wed. night on our FB page: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger. Linda Lemmon photo.
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Clockwise from above: The service lounge. The showroom. The fireplace. The vast service bays.
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The following charges were listed in the Putnam Police Department logs. The people charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. The Town Crier will publish dispositions of cases at the request of the accused. The dispositions must be accompanied by the proper documentation. The Putnam Police Department confidential Tip Line is: 860-9963-0000.
March 31
Jeffrey D. Mylen, South Main Street, Putnam; first-degree criminal trespass, sixth degree larceny.
April 2
Kayla H. Rieder, Carpenter Street, Warren, Mass.; failure to respond to infraction.
Grant gives Community Garden a lift
April 1st was an exciting day for TEEG. June Ferarro and Sofia Thurber, Putnam Rotary Interact Club co-presidents, presented Carl Asikainen, TEEG executive director; and Chelsea French, Resource Developer, with two checks. The first, $1,000 grant from the Rotary District 7890, is for upgrades to TEEG’s irrigation and pest control screening for its community garden. The second check was $100 from the Interact Club for a new garden cart. The Interact Club, along with many other volunteers, said they’re excited to be working in the garden again this year. From left: June Ferraro and Sofia Thurber (co-presidents of Interact); Carl Asikainen, executive director of TEEG; and Chelsea French, TEEG Resource Developer.
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
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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