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Junior Logan Rawson, left, and senior Addison Tyimok are two of the few returning varsity players for the boys’ soccer team this fall. Photo by Marc Allard.


Woodstock Academy coach Paul Rearden came into the season with one train of thought.
He had lost 14 players to graduation and two of his better returning players decided to leave high school soccer and play at the club level.
This from a team that won just four matches in 2022.
“I was looking at this year as purely a rebuilding year,” Rearden admitted. “I just wanted to lay the foundations for next year.”
Lo and behold, tryouts started and he had close to 60 student-athletes.
“We have some really nice surprises and, in general, it’s a really promising season especially since there are only a couple of seniors in the mix. I’m looking forward to it,” the Woodstock Academy coach said.
Addison Tyimok, who along with Hunter Haynes, are the only seniors on the roster is one of only seven returning players on the team.
“We had summer league games and looked decent enough, got a few wins, but I guess we were all surprised by the quality of the players here,” Tyimok said. “The (seven) returning varsity players knew each other and we knew most of the guys who were on JV last year. We had to introduce ourselves to the new kids.”
But junior defender Logan Rawson said that has been going pretty well.
“Everyone is kind of adapting to each other and doing a pretty good job of it,” Rawson said.
Striker Austin Byer and midfielders Riley Wilcox and Garrett Bushey, along with sophomores Zach Armbruster and Trevor Gold are the only other returning varsity players.
The onus is now on Rearden to put the puzzle together.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on them but we have so many younger lads and even the older ones, don’t have many varsity minutes behind them,” Rearden said. “It’s chemistry. You can have all the right ingredients when you are baking a cake but if you put too much of one and not enough of the other, it falls flat, doesn’t it. It’s trying to figure out who will complement each other. We have a great group of lads and the ones who were here seem to be hitting it off with the new ones.”
If there is one improvement the Centaurs need to see, it’s putting the ball in the net.
Woodstock scored only 13 goals last season.
Byer tied with the now-graduated Noah Page for team-high honors with four each.
“I think we could be not the complete opposite, but we have a lot of potential attack threats,” Rearden said. “I would possibly say the most attacking threats across the squad that I have had since I’ve been here. Potentially. We have to see how they all fit together, their confidence, and can we get off to a good start, but it’s exciting.”
In addition to Byer and Gold, sophomore Alvara De La Quintana and freshman Adrian Vargas will be up in the striker role with Wilcox, Bushey, Armbruster, junior Shaun Mugagga, sophomores Quantiwah Sangasy and Aiden Bachand and freshmen Matt Johndrow and Aiden Sanchez competing for playing time in the middle.
“We have a bunch of good freshmen who can play, we have some exchange students who came in too and they’re doing pretty good,” Rawson said.
Tyimok and Rawson will be in the back along with Haynes, juniors Matt Hernandez, Owen Rigney, and Gabe DiPierdomenico and sophomores Nathan Faucher and William St. John.
Junior Eli Susi had the inside track of starting in the goal.
“I think we just have to play as a team, back each other up anyway we can, and hopefully get a few wins,” Tyimok said. “We’re just working on the chemistry right now and I think we’re really building on that. Then, we will start to focus on how to create and things like that.”
Boys' Soccer Schedule:
Thurs., Sept. 7: vs. Granby, 4:15 p.m.; Wed., Sept. 13:   vs. NFA, 4; Fri., Sept. 15:  vs. Somers, 4; Sat, Sept. 16: vs. Killingly, 11 a.m.; Mon., Sept. 18: at Bacon Academy  4:15; Wed., Sept. 20: vs. Waterford, 4:15; Sat., Sept. 23:  vs. Windham, 11; Tues., Sept. 26: vs. Fitch, 4:15; Sat., Sept. 30 at Waterford, 12:30; Tues., Oct. 3:  at E. Lyme, 6:30; Sat., Oct. 7: at Lyman,  6:30; Tues., Oct. 10: vs. Ledyard, 4:15; Thurs., Oct. 12: at NFA, 7; Sat., Oct. 14: at Stonington, 1; Wed., Oct. 18: at Fitch, 4:15; Wed., Oct. 25: vs. E. Lyme, 4:15.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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At the end of September, the South Woodstock Post Office will be closed permanently. The box customers will see their boxes moved to the main Woodstock Post Office, along with their South Woodstock zip code.



By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
SOUTH WOODSTOCK — The South Woodstock U.S. Post Office will be closing permanently Sept. 30.
According to customers, the owner of the property, Northeast Placement Services (NEPS), recently notified the post office that the lease for the office would not be renewed. No reason was given.
NEPS Executive Director Timothy Kettle, who notified the post office staff, could not be reached for comment.
A for-lease space next to Java Jive was suggested as an alternative, but the U.S. Post Office officials said no.
Those who have rented a box at the South Woodstock Post Office (there are no carriers, only post office boxes there) will have their box number AND zip code transferred to the main post office across from the Woodstock Trading Post (formerly Sweet Evalina’s).
Because the South Woodstock zip code will still be used, there will be no “duplicate” post office box numbers.

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Putnam Elementary/Middle
Everyday: Fruit. Monday: French toast sticks, scrambled eggs, hash browns. Tuesday: Hot dogs or corn dogs, baked beans, sun chips. Wednesday: Cheese-filled twisted bread, marinara sauce, pasta, broccoli. Thursday: Chicken tenders. Friday: Pizza, salad.
Putnam High
Monday: Chicken burritos power bowls or spicy chicken sandwiches. Tuesday: Meatball spaghetti dinner or bacon cheese burgers. Wednesday: Chicken tenders or chicken Caesar wraps. Thursday: Pasta Bolognese or "Wild Mike's" cheese bites. Friday: French bread pizza or buffalo popcorn chicken basket.
Woodstock public schools
Everyday: Fruit. Monday: Hamburgers, carrot sticks, ranch dip. Tuesday: Waffles, breakfast sausages. Wednesday: Chicken tenders, dipping sauces, mashed potatoes, wax beans. Thursday: Beef and bean burritos. Friday: Pizza, salad.
Pomfret Community
Everyday: Fresh fruits and veggies. Meatball & cheese wraps, Sunbutter & jelly. Monday: Lasagna roll ups. Tuesday: Rodeo burgers. Wednesday: Soft chicken tacos, corn, refried beans. Thursday: BBQ chicken, brown rice, carrots. Friday: Pizza, salad.

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This mural was unveiled last week. Artist Dot Burnworth is at right. Courtesy photo.

PUTNAM — RiseUP for Arts unveiled its latest public art project at the Putnam Elementary (PES) Open House Aug. 29, the evening before the start of school.
The piece is a playful, colorful large scale clay mural depicting an elephant teetering on a ladder, spraying the earth with a rainbow engraved with the words “kindness, happiness, community, generosity, compassion, and friendship.”  The center of the mural reads: “Together we can create a beautiful world.”    
The mural was conceived as a community-based public art project, which means it was an artist-led initiative in which members of the community (in this case, PES students) had the opportunity for hands-on participation.  Lead artist, Dot Burnworth, said: “This process of community involvement allows participants to express the shared values of their collective group while fostering a sense of pride and ownership over the space.  It is perfect for school settings — especially for kids who are not especially invested in their education.  It helps them feel a sense of belonging at school.”
Burnworth came up with the mural design by sifting through the kids’ drawings and comments, pulling together repeating images and themes.  She said, “The elephant climbing the ladder represents overcoming adversity in order to reach one’s goals.  The rainbow represents the ideas the students want to share with the world.”  
Creation of the mural began in February when Burnworth and fellow artist Heather Viveiros of Sawmill Pottery spent six weeks as resident artists at the elementary school.  During that month and a half, the students learned about the importance of public art, brainstormed ideas for the mural and got lots of time to work with the clay, creating border tiles as well as land and water tiles that were mosaicked into a three-dimensional Earth.  
After their residency at the school, Burnworth and Viveiros returned to their studio to create, glaze and fire the large pieces of the mural in their kilns.  Installation took the entire month of August, finishing just in time for an unveiling at the school open house.  The kids were thrilled.
Student Leah Gonsalves’s face lit up when she saw the mural on the wall.  “I can’t believe I helped make this!” she said.  This was just what the artists were hoping to hear.  Viveiros said, “The look of pride and amazement on all the kids’ faces as they looked up at the mural was the most gratifying conclusion to the whole process.”
The project was sponsored through a partnership between Putnam Public Schools and RiseUP for Arts, a statewide public art and youth mentoring organization.  Funding was received from The Last Green Valley, Weiss, Hale and Zahansky, Centreville Bank, and CT Office of the Arts.

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