Past Issues of the Putnam Town Crier

 
 
Then
This is what the First Congregational Church of Pomfret looked like almost a year ago.
 
& Now
This is the church on April 21 when crews were demolishing what was left of the building after a fire in December.
 
 
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New Room
Marie Gauvin, project manager, shows off one of the new private patient rooms in the now-open first phase of the Day Kimball Emergency Department. Linda Lemmon photo.
 
 
 
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- The Department of Public Health April 21 approved the first section of the Day Kimball Hospital's new Emergency Department. The department will be open April 23 in the new space.
Day Kimball Healthcare officials celebrated the finish of the first section last week. Phase One of the construction includes a new ambulance entrance, one of two nurses stations, the resuscitation room with two beds and eight private patient rooms. According to Marie Gauvin, project manager, 2015 will see the second phase open, adding eight more exam rooms. Reconfiguring walls and halls will merge the current emergency department space with the new space.  The entire project is 23,066 square feet and renovation of the current space.  Heathcare officials said that the state-of-the-art Emergency Department will allow registration at patient's bedsides to accelerate care and make the ED process more efficient. They said the establishment of all-private treatment rooms "perhaps the most significant improvement." It will offer privacy, confidentiality and dignity for individuals. The number of patient rooms will double. 
Gauvin said that several new technologies will allow faster, better care. A "point of care" testing area will allow 10 minutes for cardiac blood testing rather than 45 minutes. Pregnancy tests that must be performed before a woman is x-rayed, can be done very quickly. Some tests, she said, can be done in three minutes rather than 45.
Decontamination is now possible. In addition a separate covered ambulance entrance has been constructed that will be equipped to easily convert to a hazardous decontamination zone or to receive mass casualties.
Gauvin said all patient service rooms now have all the equipment they need in them. No "carts" with equipment will have to be wheeled from one room to another. In addition, she said that because the population is, unfortunately, getting larger, the ER now has a bariatrics room with a lift that can handle up to 700 pounds and a scale that can also weigh more overweight people. 
 
 
Clipper 
baseball &
softball
riding high
By Ron P. Coderre
The student population at Putnam High School has been decreasing in the past years to the point where depending on whom you listen to there are less than 300 students in the building on Woodstock Avenue.  
In looking at that figure it’s amazing that this spring the boys’ baseball team and girls’ softball squad are doing as well as they are.  Realizing that the numbers are low must mean that the talent level is better than average.   At this early juncture of the season, both teams are playing at a .500-level or better.
The men went through a perfect week winning a pair of lopsided contests, including a shutout tossed by Josh Allard.  The ladies split a pair of contests, riding the strong arm of Mackenzie Livingston.
Putnam & Plainfield Post Perfect Weeks
Putnam went on a hitting tirade, giving winning pitcher Allard all the support he required as the Clippers shutout Windham Tech in its opening game of the week 18-0 in a Constitution State Conference contest.  The Clippers produced a barrage of extra base knocks as Jacob Guertin, Nick Foucault and Joe Hill had doubles in the victory and Tyler Genest had a three-bagger.
The Clippers followed up that win with a 25-4 lambasting of Parish Hill behind the tosses of Foucault.  Genest and Guertin had two-baggers and Hill had a double and a triple to go along with two triples off the bat of Luke Sarsfield.  Putnam is 3-2 overall and 3-2 in the CSC East.
Plainfield meanwhile remained perfect at 3-0 with a rare 4-2 victory over New London.  Mike Esposito was the winning pitcher, raising his record to 2-0.
Tourtellotte went through a heartbreaking week losing a pair of games that easily could have gone into the W column as they fell to 1-3 on the season.  Leading 11-3 entering the top of the seventh against Griswold, the Tigers allowed the Wolverines to score nine runs and post an exciting 12-11 comeback victory over a disappointed Tourtellotte nine.  Benny Brissette had a pair of doubles for the Tigers.  Against Woodstock Academy of the ECC Large Division, Tourtellotte lost 5-2 giving up all the runs early in the game before settling down.  Billy Harrington picked up the win for Woodstock which raised its record 2-2 overall.
Earlier in the week the Centaurs lost a pair of Large Division games, 10-6 to Ledyard and 5-0 to East Lyme.  Dan Murphy (double) and Trent Appleton (triple) were the lone bright spots for Woodstock against Ledyard.  In the loss to East Lyme the Centaurs managed only three hits.
Killingly (0-3) is still searching for its first win of the season as is Ellis Teach (0-4).  The Redmen were dropped by Montville 7-1 and lost 5-4 to Griswold, allowing the Wolverines to push across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.  The Techsters lost to Bacon Academy 6-1 in an out-of-conference contest.  It took Pomfret eight inning but the Griffins prevailed over neighboring prep rival Marianapolis 7-4.
Tough Week for Local Softball Teams
The wins were few and far between this week for local softball teams but the Putnam Lady Clippers managed to pick up a victory as they pummeled Parish Hill 22-2 after having lost earlier in the week 12-9 at the hands of Windham Tech.  Putnam is 3-3 overall thanks to Livingston who has hurled every contest.
Plainfield at 3-1 on the year and 1-0 in the ECC Medium was perfect on the week, rolling over New London 22-4 and winning a nail biter over Ledyard 3-1.  Keri Lehtonen was the winning pitcher for the Lady Panthers in both games.  
Woodstock Academy, Tourtellotte and Killingly were a combined 0-5 during the vacation week.  The Centaurs (1-2 & 0-1) were dropped 9-1 by Ledyard and 6-1 by East Lyme.  Tourtellotte (2-1 & 0-1) was a 6-1 loser to St. Bernard.  Killingly (0-4 & 0-2) lost to Montville 4-3 and Stonington 6-1.   
Ellis Tech (2-2 & 2-2) split two contests, beating Cheney Tech 35-23 in a game that resembled a football score more than softball.  Sheriden Murphy hung on for the win.  The Eagles then lost another high-scoring affair to Norwich Tech 22-10.
Marianapolis remained perfect on the season at 5-0 with a pair of satisfying victories.  The Lady Knights opened with a 9-5 win over Pomfret School (3-1).  Elaina Consentino and Riley Hehir with three runs batted in apiece paced the Marianapolis win.  The Golden Knights closed out the week with an easy 15-0 shutout over Chase Collegiate School.
 
 
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Demolition
Crews removed the remainder of the First Congregational Church of Pomfret Monday. The church plans to rebuild. More photos on page 6. Linda Lemmon photo.
 
 
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The remainder of the First Congregational Church of Pomfret was razed April 21. The congregation intends to rebuild the church building that was destroyed by fire in December. 
 
 
 
 
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
POMFRET --- The day after Easter the First Congregational Church of Pomfret began its rebirth. 
Demotion of the church building, which was destroyed by fire in December, took just a day. 
While the building was insured, rebuilding something in modern times usually requires more money than the insurance company covers. 
The church is also raising money but has been proactive on the rebuilding process. 
An architect has been hired. 
Call 860-928-7381 for information on donating.
Peter Lange, spokesman for the church and its efforts to rebuild, said that the congregational would like to see a new church building finished by the church's 300th anniversary, October 2015. "But I think the time might be too short," he said.
He added that the town of Pomfret, led by First Selectwoman Maureen Nicholson, and officials at the Pomfret School across the street from the church's property, have been "incredibly helpful." 
Pomfret School allows the congregation to worship in its Clark Chapel. 
The church was founded in 1715 and the church building that burned was built in 1850. 
 
 
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 963-0000.
April 8
Ethan Zinski, 22, Ring Street, Putnam; sixth-degree larceny.
April 9
Stacy Smith, 30, Underwood Road, Putnam; breach of peace.
Timothy Smith, 26, Underwood Road, Putnam; breach of peace.
April 10
Theodore Cyr-Patridge, 20, Powhattan Street, Putnam; four counts of second-degree failure to appear, three counts of first-degree failure to appear.
April 14
Brent Camhi, 50, Providence Pike, Putnam; violation of probation.
 
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