Past Issues of the Putnam Town Crier



PUTNAM — A Putnam man was arrested following a report of gunfire at a home.
Jeremy W. Nason, 40, 54 Edmund St. was charged with: criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm.
Putnam Police Department Chief Christopher D. Ferace said shortly after midnight Oct. 18, dispatch received a 911 call reporting an individual inside the residence of 54 Edmund St. was armed with a firearm.
When police arrived, gun shots were heard coming from within the home.
Assistance from troopers from CT State Police, Troop D was requested. House occupants advised via phone that no one was injured and all occupants had left the building and all occupants exited the residence, including the accused, without incident.
Ferace said the accused, a convicted felon, was illegally in possession of a handgun and responsible for firing off rounds inside the home. No additional details are available, and no additional arrests are expected.
Ferace credited the “outstanding work of the dispatcher and the first arriving patrol officers to insure this incident was resolved quickly and without injury.” All accused are innocent until proven guilty.

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PUTNAM — A 27-year-old man was arrested Oct. 18 and charged with burglarizing a Putnam Special Service District business.
Putnam Police Department Chief Christopher D. Ferace said Collyn Grenier, 27, of no certain address, was arrested without incident on an arrest warrant issued by the Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Ferace said the arrest stems from a commercial burglary that occurred last month in the Putnam Special Service District in which the accused entered the business while it was closed.
Grenier was charged with third-degree burglary and fifth-degree larceny.
All accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Anyone wishing to report criminal activity is encouraged to contact the Putnam Police Department tip line at (860) 963-0000 or by email at www.putnampolice.com.  All information will remain confidential.

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When Blanson Bihizi returned to Putnam Science Academy’s campus in early September, it was with the idea that he was going to play basketball again this year.
But as the open gyms went on, Bihizi, who played on both the Elite and Varsity teams last year, started thinking more and more about playing soccer.
“I just believe I’m more skilled at (soccer),” he said recently. “But I love both, and that’s the problem.”
Bihizi’s decision got a little bit easier – or maybe it is harder – last Monday after he made his debut with PSA’s Elite soccer team…and scored a goal in the process, helping PSA to a 3-1 home win over Hoosac.
The goal came off a free kick as Carlos Paniagua delivered a ball in front of the net. Rafa Altarriba got his foot on it first but his volley shot was knocked away by the keeper and right onto Bihizi’s foot. From there, it was like riding a bike as he put the ball into the back of the net.
The team-wide celebration included some big smiles and laughs.
“I was in the right place at the right time for sure, but words can’t even describe how I’m feeling,” Bihizi said. “Scoring a debut goal after playing for the first time in five years...it really means a lot to me. I’m 18 years old. The last time I scored a goal in a serious game, I was 12 or 13. It’s been a long time.”
While Bihizi’s goal finished the scoring for PSA, Assa Mora got it started in the first minute of the game, connecting off a corner kick, again delivered perfectly by Paniagua. Shemeza Rubeya added a goal – his third in the last two games – in the second half.
“We’re always happy to score early, but the problem is after we score, we get a bit complacent,” coach Kurt Lunzmann said. “We need to be consistent for as long as we can.”
That happened again Thursday as PSA traveled to St. Thomas More and came away with a 2-2- draw. Rubeya scored another goal in the eighth minute, but that was it for PSA until the game’s 90th and final minute when Anton Lemos connected for the equalizer just seconds before the whistle blew.
“The team showed character to fight back, and continued to play hard,” Lunzmann said. “Lessons must be learned though from naïve game management when going up 1-0 so early.”
As for Bihizi, Lunzmann is glad to have him aboard.
“He’s my type of player,” Lunzmaan said. “He listens, he sacrifices. No matter how good you are, if you can’t sacrifice your skills to help the team, it means nothing. Blanson automatically has that. (When he scored) I was happy for him. I think he now feels more part of the group. Coming from basketball, people were wondering what’s going on. Now he’s come and shown he can play - he’s not a bad player.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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The goal of every season is to have a special Opening Night at home.
Welcome a raucous crowd into the gym, watch the One Shining Moment video one more time, unveil a championship banner…it’s all there. It means the previous season ended in a special way as well.
PSA is going to do all that this year – with the season kicking off at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at home against Busche Academy – and plans to do it again around the same time in 2024. The way to get there – to a third straight national title and fifth overall – is to run the gauntlet of a schedule coach Tom Espinosa has put together for his wildly talented and deep team from now until mid-March.
“You can start with the second weekend of the season and the NEBL Tipoff, and it just keeps going from there,” Espinosa said. “We pride ourselves on playing what we think is the toughest schedule in the country. We play all the best teams in New England, and then outside the region we face some of the best in the rest of the country when we go to these national events.
“It’s a hard schedule. And as we know, as national champions, teams are always coming for us and giving us their best game.”
Among the highlights for PSA: Brewster and Newman at the NEBL Tipoff (Nov. 11-12); Hargrave and Massanutten at the National Prep Showcase (Nov. 17-18); Bradford Christian – which handed PSA two of its three losses last year – at the Zero Gravity Classic (Dec. 1); Cushing at the Hoop Hall Showcase (Jan. 13); the Power 5 Showcase in Springfield (Jan. 19-21); Mt. Zion at the National Prep Invitational (Feb. 1 and 3); and games with South Kent (Jan. 23 at home, Feb. 6 on the road).
Mixed in at the end of the first semester are two road trips for the first time since before COVID. PSA is headed to the Ohio Showcase to face Spire and Western Reserve on Dec. 9 and 10, respectively, then goes to the Sunshine Prep Classic hosted by IMG Academy in Florida for four games from Dec. 14-17.
“Our goal every year is to be the last team standing at the end and win another national championship,” Espinosa said. “There is so much that goes into it, and so many things have to go right for that to happen, but that is our goal. Kids have to buy in to each other and the coaches, we have to stay healthy, all that. It’s not easy … but that’s always the goal here.
“And if all that happens, then we know we’ll be prepared because of our schedule. We’re battle-tested. We’ll be ready.”
Your chance to see Putnam Science Academy’s Prep basketball team for the first time is coming up fast, as Mustang Madness has been scheduled 6 p.m. Oct. 30. PSA is coming off a second straight national championship and fourth overall.
“It’s always a fun night for the kids,” coach Tom Espinosa said. “A great night for the whole school, for the community to come out. It’s just a fun night.”
The event is free and open to the public, and features player introductions of both the boys’ and girls’ Prep teams, a 3-point contest, a Slam Dunk contest, a Kids’ Dunk Contest, and a chance to take pictures with some of the players, among other activities.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy

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Martha Clark
EASTFORD — Martha Clark died Oct. 20, 2023. She was born Feb. 20, 1928, in Westford, the daughter of Nathan and Lina (Wheeler) Armitage.
She attended the Westford Hill School, the Ashford Academy, Windham High School, and UConn where she studied home economics. She attended her first dress review when she was 10 and later the state dress review. She met her husband at an Eastford/Ashford Christian Endeavor meeting. She sewed a dress she wore to Darwin’s Senior prom and sewed her own wedding dress.
She was a member of the Westford Congregational Church and, for 75 years, a member of the Congregational Church of Eastford. She was shepherded through 4-H by her aunt Clara, and was active in the Ashford Grange, UConn Home Extension Service, Eastford Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary, The Whiton Family Association, and the Congregational Church of Eastford where she sang in the choir. She was a 4-H leader for several decades to dozens of young women in Eastford. She also sewed wedding and bridesmaid dresses, and a multitude of quilts for many of her friends and their children. She drove a truck when needed for her family business, was an avid reader, and a pretty good bowler. She enjoyed baking cookies, her quilters group, and the annual road trips the family took with their tent camper, and she traveled to 48 states.
After her children were away from home, she worked at the Eastford Post Office well into her 70s. She especially enjoyed cooking for a crowd or making cookies with three generations of children. It was not unusual for her to single handedly feed more than a dozen people in her home on short notice. For more than 70 years her home was a welcome gathering place for friends and family just wanting to stop for a chat, a coffee, cookies, or in need of a place to stay for a night, a month, or longer. She was a powerful force that will be missed.
She leaves two sons, William and his companion Connie DeWitt, Robert (Janet); a daughter, Mary Lou Fuller; grandchildren, Donavon Clark, Joanne (and Joe) Post, Jessi (and Dan) Dombrowski, Regan Clark and Nathan Clark, and four great-grandchildren Julia and Jenna Post, and Caleb and Lucas Dombrowski, a sister-in-law Charlene Armitage; nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her husband, Darwin, her brothers Bud and Gilbert, a son-in-law Richard Fuller, and daughter-in-law Agnes Clark.
The funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Oct. 28 at Westford Congregational Church, 368 Westford Hill Road, Ashford, with a reception to follow. All are welcome to bring a quilt made by Martha to the church. Burial is private. Donations: Congregational Church of Eastford, P.O. Box 177, Eastford, CT. Gilman Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Church St., Putnam, CT 06260.

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