Putnam pg 9 3-15-12
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- Category: Past Issues
By Ron P. Coderre
This week’s sporty hello goes out to longtime friend and good guy Ted Messier Sr. He’s always been behind any activity that benefits youngsters. Messier, who is now in his mid-90s, is still very active and enjoys reading about the goings-on in local sports.
Putnam native Steve Peluso who winters in Rotonda West, Fla., with his wife Tina, writes with news and a newspaper article from the Sunshine State. The article, written by Doug Fernandes of the Fort Myers Herald Tribune, is all about the new Boston Red Sox spring training ballpark, which is being dubbed Fenway Park South.
The official name of the facility is JetBlue Park at Fenway South. The Red Sox have been in Fort Myers since 1993 and in order to keep the franchise there the city along with JetBlue built the ballpark, a replica of Boston’s 100-year old Fenway Park, which was officially accepted on the register of Historic Places. The $78 million dollar facility in Florida features a Green Monster and dimensions the same as Fenway North.
On Saturday, Feb. 25 the Red Sox unveiled the park to visitors with ceremonies featuring many Red Sox alumni on hand along with the ownership. According to Fernandes’ article, many fans with cameras were allowed to explore the park’s nooks and crannies. From behind home plate, Bill and Marie St. Martin, Red Sox fans from Putnam, Conn. took in the view.
“Spectacular,” Bill St. Martin said to Fernandes. “They did a great job.”
The St. Martins, who still live in Putnam, have long been active in the community. For many years they were the backbone of the St. Mary’s Circle of Fun. They were also involved in the Putnam Little League and Putnam High School sports when their three sons were active participants.
Thanks to Peluso, a standout Putnam Clipper athlete from the Class of 1954, where he was a lineman for coach Jim Greenhalgh and ran track for coach George St. Marie, for passing the information along. He also wrote, “Enjoy your column. I get the paper mailed here.”
It’s nice to know that RPC and the Putnam Town Crier continue to keep locals informed even when they winter in sunny climes.
Putnam High School
Class of ’48 Enjoys
Mini-Reunion…
A half dozen members from the PHS Class of 1948 were spotted enjoying a repast and some good old walks down memory lane at Someplace Special Restaurant on Wednesday, March 7. The group, most from the area but not all, gets together as often as possible and the stories and opinions fly fast and furious. Some restaurants call these groups ROMEO’s, Retired Old Men Eating Out.
On hand were Russ Burgess, Leon “Bingo” Gothreau, Jim Saitis, Pete Seraphin, Stan Sheldon and Dr. Ed Pitkin. Pitkin is a PhD retired aerospace engineer who now lives in Mansfield. Pitkin Road in Putnam derives its name from the family, which once made its homestead in that area. Burgess, whose real first name is Leroy (bet you didn’t know that), is the former longtime principal of Putnam Elementary School who now lives on Cape Cod.
Seraphin, of course, is known for his involvement in local politics. What many don’t remember is that he once was a ferocious lineman for the Clippers and helped produce two undefeated seasons at the school when football was thriving on the campus. Gothreau, who got the name Bingo because fans shouted “Bingo" every time he scored a touchdown, has done a great job of keeping the group together.
Saitis is still a very familiar figure around town. He’s an avid walker and one of the Putnam Public Library’s best patrons. Sheldon is a former first selectman in Pomfret. And was part of the Pomfret connection when that town sent its students to Putnam High School.
Although the group is fast approaching the octogenarian stage of life, they’re all still very active.
Snow Bowling – It’s Not
What You Think It Is…
If you’ve ever been to the town of Camden, Maine, you’re probably familiar with the Camden Snow Bowl and the associated toboggan races held there in February each year. The event, the U.S. National Toboggan Championships, actually takes place on a constructed wooden iced-down chute that begins on Camden’s highest hill and proceeds down the course to the frozen lake below. The racers actually reach speeds of 40 miles per hour, which are measured by radar, from the time they exit the “teeter-totter” until they trip the laser at the finish.
For the past 10 years Quinnatisset Country Club superintendent of grounds, Mike Coty, has been participating in this event, which draws huge numbers of participants. Competition is held in the 2-man, 3-man and 4-man toboggan divisions.
Coty, who is the anchor or 4-man for his team, competed with his brother Steve Coty of Hancock, N.H., and the father-son duo of Jim and Nathan Scranton of Chesterfield, N.H. Steve Coty builds the team’s toboggan and serves as the crew’s pilot or 1-man.
The three-day event features practice on Friday; qualifying on Saturday; and competition on Sunday. There were 170 teams in the 2-man competition, 150 in the 3-man and 210 in the 4-man. The Coty team enters two divisions. They failed to be one of the 25 qualifiers in the 2-man, just falling out of the top 25. However, in the 4-man they finished a respectable 27 out of 210. According to Coty the best the team has ever done was a fourth place finish three years ago.
“It’s extremely exciting as you navigate the chute, which is slightly wider than the sled itself. The course is tree-lined to maintain the consistency of the ice as much as possible. So all you see are tree branches until you break to the finish,” said Coty in describing the thrilling competition.
Following his annual trek to Camden it’s back to the sedentary life of Thompson for Coty, where he watches the grass grow at Quinnatisset assuring that it meets the standards of the golfers who call Quinny home.
RPC’s Closing Thought For The Day: Found in a Chinese restaurant fortune cookie – The ox is slow but the earth is patient.