Greetings. As the weather begins to warm, it’s time to think about getting outside to do some grilling. Spring seems to be taking a little more time in coming this year, even though the calendar indicates that this is the week. This recipe doesn’t need to be grilled, but it might entice us to into at least thinking about it!

Pork Tenderloin 

in a Balsamic Vinegar Marinade

1–1½ pound pork tenderloin

2 tablespoons water

1½ tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce   1 tablespoon marmalade

1 TBSP minced fresh parsley  ½ TBSP Dijon mustard

1 tsp dried thyme leaves   ¼ tsp ground black pepper

 

If pork tenderloin is in one piece, cut in half crosswise. 

Set aside.

In a shallow glass baking dish, combine remaining ingredients. Place tenderloin in the marinade and turn to coat all sides. Cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour, and up to three hours. Turn tenderloin in the marinade occasionally.

Preheat broiler or grill. If broiling, remove tenderloin from marinade and place on rack in broiler pan. If grilling, simply transfer tenderloin to grill. Reserve marinade. 

In a small saucepan, bring marinade to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes. Keep warm while meat finishes cooking.

Grill or broil tenderloin for about 18 minutes, turning meat so it cooks evenly, and the thickest part reaches 160 degrees F.

Allow tenderloin to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Drizzle marinade over each serving.

 

 

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In December, upper left, the bench at the new observation deck. It overlooks the newly cleared section of the arboretum. Top middle: The now-closed in stream. Trees with and without snow. 

 

 

 

Birthday bash set

for Palmer

arboretum

By Linda Lemmon

Town Crier Editor

WOODSTOCK --- In May the Palmer Arboretum kicks off its celebration of a century. 

The property, just behind Palmer Hall on Rt. 169, was donated by Minnie Palmer Dean in 1915.  Originally it was 5 acres and it was designed to be a walkway to Roseland, but the walkway was never done. The arboretum is currently just under 2 acres. It turned into a jungle in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Chairman of the arboretum's board, Bill Brower. 

In the past few years, with the help of grants and volunteers, the arboretum is being resurrected.

A rain garden was installed with the help of a grant and a master plan was created with the help of UConn students. The transformation is continuing, and May 4, the celebration of 100 years of the arboretum begins. Family Day in the Arboretum will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to Brower. It will include a scavenger hunt, tree identification, a picnic lunch, possibly music and much much more.

"We're looking forward to celebrating the arboretum's birthday," Brower said. A two-year celebration is planned.

The rain garden alleviates a drainage problem at the arboretum on the hill. In the last few months, the volunteers have enclosed a drainage swale to take care of more drainage problems in the arboretum proper. 

Brower said, "We had some great work days from (students from) Hyde and Pomfret schools. With the money saved, we put in a bed of five Chinese tree peonies from Cricket Hill Gardens in Thomaston. If these do well, we hope to scatter some more around the park. We got a discount on three plants and they donated two more. We also put in three mini oakleaf hydrangeas  by the sign for three-season interest . Sprucedale gave us a discount also."

He added, "We have a wildflower garden going in in the spring. Linda Kaplan, a master gardener from UConn’s program, has designed it. It will honor Arthur Manthorne, who cleared paths in the 'jungle' to begin the restoration of the arboretum in the '70s. Before he died a few years ago, he gave us some wildflowers from his nursery. This garden will add to the plants under the false cypresses."

In addition, Brower said, Matthew Sheldon and his son Conrad worked weekends to finish clearing the spring area of multiflora roses and euonymus (both invasive species). He said Matthew also cleared a huge walnut of huge smothering bittersweet vines and pruned some shrubs and plans to finish the path around the arboretum with a few bridges over the outlet of the springs.

 

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Shadow Play

The snow and the sunlight turned this bare tree on Route 44 in Pomfret into a shadow jungle. Linda Lemmon photo.

 

Boys’ Roundup

Woodstock’s 

magical run 

almost makes it

By Ron P. Coderre

Woodstock Academy, the CIAC defending Class L Champions, continued its magical run in the 2014 tournament with a pair of hard fought but convincing wins over two tough foes from the Southern Connecticut Conference, before falling to Windsor High School 77-64 March 14. In the tough battle, Centaur Chris Lowry reached the 1,000 point plateau.

Plainfield, a #18 seed, remained alive in the Class M State Tournament with a stunning win over #15 seed Wilcox Tech, in a game that many observers considered a mild upset but was eliminated in its next game.  Tourtellotte put up a valiant effort in its game against St. Bernard in the Class S tourney before succumbing in overtime.  Killingly ran out of gas against a deeper Ellington team and was eliminated in the Class M competition.

Centaurs Cool Under Pressure

Proving that the pressure from last season’s tournament run to the Class L title helped them to be prepared for this season’s tourney, Woodstock Academy moved into the State L quarter finals with a big win over Daniel Hand High School of Madison.  The game was forced to move to the Tourtellotte gym, when a sprinkler leak in the Woodstock Fieldhouse made the change to Thompson necessary.

The Centaurs almost gave away a 13-point 50-37 lead, which they held after three quarters, as Hands pressure defense temporarily stunned the Acads but a coach Greg Smith timeout helped reorganize his troops as they held on for a 60-55 victory.

Hand started the contest on fire, taking a 21-16 advantage at the first stop.  Some good Centaurs defense stymied the Tigers, holding them to only five second-half points as Woodstock went on a run to take a 29-26 halftime lead to the locker room.  

Woodstock continued to build the lead in the third stanza with a 14-0 run only to see Hand narrow the margin 58-55 with 16 seconds remaining in the contest.  A pair of Trent Peters free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining iced the win for the Acads as they continue to ride the magic carpet.

Once again it was a solid team effort with everyone of the “iron five” contributing to the final outcome. Lowry, who had a solid floor game on offense and was a nuisance on defense, was the team’s leading scorer with 17 points.  He was joined in double figures by John McGinn with 13 points and a bushel of rebounds.  Peters had eight points, including a pair of three-point bombs to go with his key shots from the charity stripe.  Adam Converse added nine points and Will Bourgeois with some explosive moves was also in double figures with 11 markers.

Woodstock, the #5 seed, defeated #28 Branford 49-39 in a Monday night contest played at Killingly High School due to the water problem at the Academy Fieldhouse.  In this one, the Centaurs jumped out to a 26-13 halftime lead and controlled the second half as they worked their way to the 10-point win.  Big John McGinn took control of the backboards and ended up as the game high scorer with 16 points.  His inside running mate Converse recorded 12 points and Lowry 11 for the 20-5 Centaurs who move on to face #4 seed Windsor (18-4) on the road.

Plainfield rode the coattails of hot shooting Ryan Pambuku who tallied 27 points, including five from beyond the arc, as the Panthers moved on in Class M with a solid 72-66 win over Wilcox Tech.  The win puts the Panthers of coach Bob Arremony at 13-10 on the year.

Pambuku wasn’t the only Plainfield player in double digits, as Will Robinson added 10 and Corey Anderson with a solid performance turned in 14 points.  After putting up a valiant fight, the Panthers were eliminated in a second round contest by Notre Dame-Fairfield 68-56.

Tourtellotte staged one of its patented fourth-quarter rallies in a game on the road at St. Bernard, as the Tigers outscored the Saints 23-15 in the final stanza to tie the contest at 59 apiece in regulation.  Their luck finally ran out in the extra five-minute period as the hosts outscored the Tigers 11-5 for a 70-65 win.

Kaevon Safford kept his team in the game before fouling out, scoring 27 points to lead all scorers.  Shawn Houle in his final game as a Tiger played outstanding on both ends of the court and finished with 24 points.  The Tigers of Mayor Tony Falzarano close the season at 12-11.

Killingly took a ride to Ellington and concluded its season with a 71-58 loss to drop the Redmen to 8-14 on the year.  Nick Hewitt and James Saritelli with 20 points apiece were the offensive weapons for coach Jim Crabtree.

      Scoring Leaders: Kaevon Safford – Tourtellotte – 24.3; Ryan Pambuku – Plainfield - 21.8; Kenny Grant – Hyde-Woodstock – 19.7; Nick Hewitt – Killingly – 17.7; Cam Winston – Pomfret School – 16.2; Dexter Thompson – Hyde-Woodstock – 15.5.

      Three-point Leaders: Mike Jezierski – Tourtellotte – 82; Danny Upchurch – Putnam Science Academy – 74; Kyle Menard – Putnam Science Academy – 60. 

RPC’s Super Standings: Putnam Science Academy – 29-5; Woodstock Academy – 20-5; Plainfield – 13-10; Hyde-Woodstock -  13-12; Tourtellotte – 12-11;; Marianapolis I – 12-13; Marianapolis II – 11-9; Pomfret School – 8-11; Killingly – 8-14; Putnam – 5-15; Ellis Tech – 0-20 .

 

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