caption:

Window and Brick
This is the sample wall that shows the Municipal Complex brickwork and a window has been installed. The windows on the second floor will have a concrete cap on the top and the windows on the first floor will have a concrete cap underneath. Linda Lemmon photos.



By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Downes Construction Company put the hammer down on getting the town’s Municipal Complex project “dried in” so work can continue through the winter.
Project Manager Tony DiMauro said Nov. 19 that the sheathing around the building should be finished next week. After that the air vapor barrier is sprayed onto the vertical walls and temporary windows are installed.
Prefacing his comments with “weather dependent,” DiMauro said the bricklayers can then get to work. Masonry work needs a temperature of at least 50, he said. Laying brick goes much faster when the bricklayers are not encumbered by the fire-rated plastic that would wrap around the scaffolding surrounding the building.  Once lower temperatures demand it, the wrap will go up and the temporary heat from the two propane tanks already installed will go on, allowing work to continue indoors. The bricklayers will continue working under the wrap.
Town Administrator Elaine Sistare said “folks won’t see the building for the wrap for a few months.”
The roof should be completed the first week of December, according to DiMauro. The roof’s layers consist of a layer of metal, then sheathing, then solid insulation then an air vapor barrier and then black asphalt shingles. The shingles are already on site.
Concrete work is pretty well finished. The building committee chose a “broom finish” concrete “floor” for the arcade area just outside the main entrance. It has a “picture frame” edge, like the sidewalks surrounding the project, Sistare said. Two two concrete staircases inside are done, DiMauro said.
To the side of the building where there are samples of how the brickwork would look, a window has been installed. The windows on the second floor would have a concrete sill on the top and the windows on the bottom would have a concrete sill on the bottom.
Sistare added that the historical documentation draft report on the Aspinock building on School Street has been submitted to the state. The state will add its comments and the project will probably get the go ahead to demolish the 1890s building around Christmas. That spot is where the entrance to the complex will be constructed — two lanes in and one lane out.  
The project is on budget and still on schedule to open in late summer/early fall 2021. The complex will be home to the new Town Hall, the Putnam Public Library, the Aspinock Historical Society, a senior center and a community center.

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New prep
programs
coming to
Woodstock
Academy
Subtraction has been the norm for many industries throughout the United States in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But there are those who continue to want to expand and see addition as possible.
The Woodstock Academy is looking forward to add not one, but two new athletic programs that will begin play in the fall of 2021 and possibly another in 2022.
Following on the heels of its successful boys prep basketball program, The Academy is planning to add a boys’ prep soccer team to its offerings next fall.
It will also move forward with plans to create a girls ice hockey prep program, something that was planned to begin this winter.
“In this time of the pandemic, it’s really exciting to have conversations about ‘What’s Next,’” Woodstock Academy head of school Chris Sandford said. “(The boys’ soccer program) is something we have talked about and worked on for, at least, two years having conversations about the direction with the Board (of Trustees).”
It is, truly, not easy to look forward because the future, especially the near future, is so unpredictable.
“I think we get frustrated and focus greatly on the day-to-day operations because of the pandemic and what’s happening today. We rarely get to talk about what’s happening beyond (Covid-19),” Sandford said.
For instance, this past week, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference postponed all high school winter sports in the state to, at least, Jan. 19 and admitted that it was a very optimistic date.
In response, The Woodstock Academy had planned to run an intramural program to keep its athletes active both on the basketball court and on the ice until January, but those hopes were thwarted when Connecticut governor Ned Lamont announced that all club and team activities including youth, high school, prep and adult, were also cancelled through Jan. 19.
Thus, the need for some optimism.
Sandford and Amy Favreau, the assistant head of school for enrollment, along with athletic director Sean Saucier have discussed the potential and the need for a boys’ prep soccer program.
According to Favreau, it would open the door for international students who hold F-1 visas to compete upon arrival in the U.S.
The CIAC currently does not allow international students on the visa to participate on a varsity level program in their first year at the school.
“The program is designed to combine domestic students and international students.  Our goal is to fill the team with students from the U.S. and abroad,” said Favreau.  “It is our hope that about half of the students on the team will be from somewhere in the U.S. We currently have partnerships with groups in Brazil, Spain, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, and Nigeria who are actively recruiting along with several conversations with students and families across the U.S.”
There is precedent as two other independent schools in Eastern Connecticut have hosted boys’ prep soccer programs.
“We’ve seen success in other places and we think we can replicate that here,” Sandford said. “It’s just like we did with the basketball program. The academic and athletic support here at The Academy is second to none in our region and this program will complement our current programs and will shine because of the support we will provide it.”
Saucier agreed. “I think growing the program is always a goal. We don’t want to get stagnant in what we do. Growth is always exciting and growing the athletic program, which will in turn grow the school, is a positive thing,” Saucier said.
The boys’ prep program will launch next fall with likely 18-22 players including some postgraduates and Favreau said there are hopes to offer a girls prep soccer program beginning in the fall of 2022.
A girls’ ice hockey prep program was supposed to have launched this fall.
But the virus made it near impossible to recruit student-athletes especially from a hockey-rich environment like Canada due to travel restrictions.
As it stands, hockey, as a whole, is a question mark this winter even on the high school level.
“I’m not sure what hockey will look like this year because they keep moving the (start) date. There are the issues of ice (availability) and travel, both in and out-of-state. We are still committed to the (prep) program 100 percent. Once we get by the pandemic and the public health limitations are removed, then we will be able to grow that program in the way we envisioned,” Sandford said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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PUTNAM — With social distancing keeping families and friends apart, Northeast Opportunities for Wellness, Inc. (NOW) has decided to call our flock of lawn flamingos out of retirement in order to inspire smiles and raise funds for NOW youth scholarships, outreach programs and wellness clinics.
The program – affectionately called “Flock-A-Friend” – invites individuals to donate to NOW and in return the organization will send a flock of friendly flamingos to the yard of a friend or loved one. The flamingos will stay for a short visit before moving on to a new location. The size of the flock varies, with options to send 15 flamingos for a donation of $50, 30 flamingos for a donation of $75, or 45 flamingos for a donation of $100. To ensure safe social distancing and sanitation, a NOW staff member will handle the setup and breakdown of the flock, with no other contact.
The previous “Flock-A-Friend” campaign launched in the spring of 2014 after NOW had received a donation of 50 lawn flamingos from Charlie Pious, president of Nutmeg Container. The flamingos had a successful stay in various yards of community members and businesses throughout May and June of 2014 before retiring. NOW Executive Director Sarah Wolfburg said: “These past months have been challenging for our community, with many people home and away from family, colleagues, teachers, and friends. Our hope is that the flock of flamingos, with their silly and bright appearance, will help spread some cheer and smiles as we continue to social distance.”
“Migrating” a friendly flock of flamingos to the front lawn of loved ones is easy. Simply visit the NOW website, www.nowinmotion.org and complete the flocking form – as soon as the flock is free, they’ll fly right on over!

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