Community space takes off in Pomfret
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
ABINGTON — On a mission to create more community space, the town is transforming the old concrete pool near Gwyn Careg into an outdoor meeting space.
First Selectman Maureen Nicholson said the town’s DPW crew cleaned out the 50-foot by 100-foot pool recently. There are still some hoops to jump through, including a double check with the town’s insurance, the town’s building inspector and the contractor. In addition, there is still some tree work that needs to be done there.
She said she believes the contractor will have a “window” to do the project within the next couple months.
Plans call for building a deck in the deep end of the pool so that the whole pool will be about 3 to 4 feet deep. The space can be used for community space, perhaps concerts, community gatherings and more. She added that the concrete will create “great acoustics” for any musical presentations.
There is a “trough” along the edge of the pool and she believes it can be filled in with plantings.
“We are hoping to perhaps do a mural around the pool wall,” she said.
In addition, plans call for the construction of a pavilion in the parking lot at the entrance to the area. Nicholson said she hopes that that can be accomplished this summer, also. The pavilion will be 20 feet by 40 feet and will add to the community space efforts in town. It can be used for gatherings and also for the town’s very strong bicycle riding community.
“This is very exciting,” she said.
The pool was part of the old Gwyn Careg estate. The pool house is gone.
Years ago the town bought 150 acres of the old estate. According to Wikipedia, Gwyn Careg’s main house on the property is a two-story brick structure built c. 1760, altered in the late 19th century and again in the 1920s, giving it a Colonial Revival appearance. When the property was developed as a country estate in the 1920s by Eleanor Clark Murray (who gave the property its name – “pure stone”), it included significant landscape design by William Jackson, a noted New York City landscape designer. Despite a significant period of neglect in the 20th century, the property has one of the most extensive collections of specimen trees in the state. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. It also included a zoo.
Nicholson said she’d love to take down some of the chain link fencing on the town’s property there — the only remnants of the zoo.
Both the pool project and the pavilion project will be paid for by the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allotment. Towns that had not spent all their ARPA funds were against a deadline of Dec. 31, 2024, to “encumber” the funding. Putnam and Pomfret both did that.
Nicholson said ARPA projects must be finished by the end of 2026 but these two will be finished long before that. ARPA funds are intended for outdoor projects, recreation, health and wellness, she said.
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The old Gwyn Careg pool has been cleaned up, ready for the next steps toward community space.
Food Share
going strong
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM/NECT — While the uncertainty of federal support for food programs might be hanging in the background, the Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse’s Food Share program is going strong.
Bruce Hay, coffeehouse vice president and Food Share organizer, said thus far, they are not seeing much effect from the federal support uneasiness.
The event, which started during COVID-19, is held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month. It is staffed by volunteers and it is open to all and it’s free.
He said suppliers are all having trouble one way or another. For example Midwest Food Bank in Manchester has the food but is having trouble getting truck drivers. The amount of food the veterans group picks up has not changed.
Food also comes from Connecticut Food Share, which deals with the state and federal government. The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse’s program is one of two in the state where Connecticut Food Share drops off pallets. The Connecticut Food Share truck comes early to the Putnam farmers market pavilion on Kennedy Drive to drop off pallets, he said. “They give us a good amount,” Hay said but he never knows what might be on the seven or eight pallets. When the pallets arrive at 8:30 a.m. at the pavilion, Hay has to look at what’s on the pallets and estimate how many of each food can go in each box or bag for distribution. “I see what I’ve got on that delivery and go from there.”
One change he’s seen with Connecticut Food Share, he said, is that the food is “nearer to its expiration date;” however, that has no effect on the local program because that food is long “gone by that date.”
Hay said the area’s need is still there. The volunteers serve between 250 and 280 cars at each Food Share. Six months ago, the number served was about the same. A year ago, the figure was about 200 cars served.
For the Food Share this Thursday, July 3, Hay said in addition to the usual foods, he will have eggs. “Everybody will get at least two dozen eggs,” he said. If there are eggs left toward the end, they will give out more than two. In addition, they will offer cheese and hot dogs — just in time for the Fourth of July the next day. He added local vendor Windham Pepsi has given the local Food Share two pallets of soda.
He said eggs will easily keep five weeks past the best by date.
Hay said he opens service to the line of cars at 9:30 a.m. and it keeps moving until 11. He said he’s seen cars start to line up on Kennedy Drive at 5 a.m. The Food Share is drive through.
If there’s any food left, it goes to the Putnam Elks for their first-Saturday food share, the food program at St. Joseph’s Church in N. Grosvenordale and the local VFW and American Legions posts.
The smallest number of volunteers he has had was 40 and the highest number of helpers he’s had is 60.
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Doesn't Happen Without Volunteers
The Danielson Veterans Coffeehouse Food Share takes place the first Thursday of every month from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the Putnam Farmers Market Pavilion on Kennedy Drive, Putnam. All are welcome. Bruce Hay, in the red hat, is vice president of the coffeehouse and the Food Share organizer. This photo was taken last November. Linda Lemmon photo.
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 860-963-0000.
June 16
Harley Davidson, 31, homeless/Buck Street, Putnam; possession of controlled substance - first offense, sixth-degree larceny.
June 20
Edward Charles Ernst, 62, Church Street, Putnam; violation of protective order.
Collyn Grenier, 29, homeless, Danielson; first-degree criminal trespass, sixth-degree larceny.
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Records Broken by Woodstock Academy Athletes
Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain (bottom, fifth from left) set a school record enroute to a fourth-place finish last Wednesday at the CIAC Heptathlon championship. The junior broke the school record in the javelin, set in 2010, by just about a foot with a throw of 126-feet, 10-inches. She finished with 3651 points in the event. Fellow junior Eli Manning finished with 4805 points to place ninth in the CIAC Decathlon championship Freshman Lucas Hecker (top, fifth from left) recorded a third-place finish in the 3000-meter Steeplechase, finishing in 10 minutes, 44.11 seconds. Earlier in the week, junior Avery Plouffe broke her own school record at the CIAC Hammer Throw competition with a toss of 122-feet, 10-inches to finish sixth overall. Photos by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy.