caption, page 6:
Drug Take Back
Putnam PRIDE and the Putnam Police Department held a drug take back event at the Riverview Marketplace Oct. 27. Left to right: Putnam Police Officer Joe Sharkey, Romeo Blackmar, PRIDE coordinator; and Joy Blackmar. Linda Lemmon photo.
PRIDE's
proud
contributions
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
As the Putnam PRIDE coalition takes its next step with its upcoming merger with the Hale YMCA, its programs are a proud monument of more than 10 years of hard work.
The town's PRIDE donations account, which totals more than $13,000, is on the agenda for a special town meeting Nov. 5. Electors are being asked to authorize the transfer of the donations account to the Hale YMCA.
Putnam PRIDE Coordinator Romeo Blackmar said: "Our biggest anticipated change for the future (with Hale YMCA) is expanding the reach of substance abuse prevention to as many communities as possible in the Quiet Corner. It is our hope and desire to continue to carry the message that 'Prevention is Key' to saving the lives of our children … one child at a time."
Blackmar said PRIDE was established under the Drug Free Communities Grant in October of 2006 for the first cycle of funding for five years ending in September of 2011. After two years of not qualifying for a second five years of DFC funding, PRIDE finally was able to secure the second cycle of funding starting October 2013 and ending Sept. 2018.
Funding has run out and the Drug Free Community Grant is no longer renewable under the current legislation he said, "so PRIDE needed to join with another nonprofit organization and the YMCA stepped up and offered to adopt the PRIDE mission as part of the YMCA’s goals."
If, and when, the town voters approve of the transfer of the PRIDE donation account, the YMCA will become fully responsible for the coalition, he added. Blackmar said plans for completing the takeover of PRIDE are still not 100 percent clear right now. "We will continue to meet with the executive director of the Hale YMCA with a 'Task Force' to be formed to make the necessary arrangements to complete the merger. " Blackmar said he is now acting as the coalition liaison to the Y in assisting the transition.
Blackmar is proud of several programs Putnam PRIDE spearheaded. In fact, PRIDE twice garnered national recognition. Blackmar said: "PRIDE has been cited nationally by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). In 2015 we were one of the first coalitions to conduct Mobile Drug Take Backs in our Senior and Public Housing units. PRIDE was selected as one of only 10 presenters at the CADCA Conference in Washington D.C. 'Ideas Fair' for our Mobile Drug Take Back campaign. In 2017 PRIDE was cited as a 'Noteworthy Entry' in the 'Know More Before You Pour' Social Media Competition conducted by CADCA and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This campaign 'There are no “Apps” for Saving Their Lives' was a product of several members of our local media partnerships."
Blackmar said some of the PRIDE initiatives to reduce and eliminate underage drinking, tobacco, marijuana and other drug use will continue to be targeted in the seven towns that are currently being served by the YMCA. "The events that PRIDE has been part of in the past like Particle Accelerator, Drug Take Back Days, Healthy Kids Day, Family Day celebration, Red Ribbon Week… are all initiatives that we would like to see continued and expanded under the new leadership of the YMCA," he said.
He added: "Our Drug Take Backs have been a proven success. At one point 2015-16 PRIDE was the only Drug Free Community Coalition in the state to have all three of the DFC Grant programs at the same time. We were able to secure a four-year STOP ACT Grant in 2012 and a two-year DFC Mentoring Grant in 2015-16 to become a Mentor to the Griswold PRIDE Coalition. In that same year our PRIDE Logo was adopted by the Windham DFC Coalition as part of their restructuring.
"We also have seen a steady reduction in the use of alcohol and tobacco products by our targeted age group of youth ages 12-17. In conjunction with the Putnam Police Department and the State Liquor and Tobacco Control, we have seen fewer violations of sales to minors in the community. One of the major initiatives started back in 2009 was the elimination of sales of drug paraphernalia in gas stations and stores. This was a program started by former Police Chief Rick Hayes and the Putnam Business Association in cooperation with PRIDE. Making Putnam a 'Safe and Friendly”' community was part of the ongoing Community Policing policies established by Chief Hayes."
The Drug Take Back program is held twice a year, even if the DEA did not sponsor them, he said. PRIDE and the Putnam Police Department were at the Riverview Marketplace Oct. 27. Folks in 30 cars turned in a little more than 30 pounds of prescription drugs. That's the lowest amount collected, but Blackmar blames the wicked weather. The DEA Drug Take Back started here in September 2010. He said Putnam PRIDE has had a total of 17. The average take back is 150 pounds. In total, Take Back days have brought in little more than 2,500 pounds and the Prescription Drug Box at the Putnam Police Department lobby has taken in 3,500 pounds since it was installed in May 2013, Blackmar said. So the total collected is 6,000 pounds. "We haven’t included the P.D. drop box for this year, but on average they are getting 40-60 pounds every two months. (About 500-750 lbs. in the take back box alone every year.)" he said.
Blackmar has served as PRIDE coordinator since February of 2009 until October of 2011, when funding ran out the first time. From 2011-2013 he served as a volunteer Coalition chairman. In 2013 he was rehired as coordinator and has served in that capacity until the grant ended in September. Blackmar said: "Over the past 12 years more than 75 adults and some 425 students have participated in one way or another with PRIDE and for that I will always be grateful for their contributions in making Putnam 'A Safer, Friendlier and Healthier' Community. "
Blackmar said the reasons so many prescriptions are dropped off are: Overprescribing of medications in the past has been a source of the large amounts being collected both on Take Back and in the P.D. Box. and a lot of people have been holding onto medications that have expired or have had adverse reactions to them and are discarding them soon after having a reaction.
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captions, page 2:
Celebrate
The Centaurs seniors and their parents celebrated Senior Night prior to the match with Conard Oct. 24 at the Alumni Fieldhouse at the Academy (Photo by Greg Smith/Woodstock Academy)
Going Up
Sammie Orlowski (15) and Amelia Large (21) go up for Woodstock Academy attempting to block the shot of RHAM’s Julia Hancin (18). Contributed by Brenda Orlowski.
Volleyball team
guaranteed #1
rank in tourney
The Woodstock Academy volleyball team had quite the exciting week.
It celebrated Senior Night with a 3-0 win over Class LL Conard Oct. 24.
It followed that up with a 3-1 win over the team that beat the Centaurs in last year’s Class L state championship match, RHAM, on Friday.
That win gave the Centaurs their first-ever undefeated regular season and guaranteed them their first No. 1 ranking in the Class L state tournament.
“It’s pretty amazing and very special,” Woodstock Academy coach Adam Bottone said of the 18-0 regular season. “It’s hard to put into words and I don’t think it has really sunk in yet for me just because my mind is on the ECC tournament and state tournament and wanting to do well there. When the season is all said-and-done, that’s when it will sink in. It’s hard to have that kind of success and try to keep the train going and keep the team motivated and their heads in the right place. That’s my focus rather than reflecting back on the success but it’s a pretty awesome thing.”
And finally, the Centaurs downed Killingly, 3-0, Oct. 27 in an Eastern Connecticut Conference Division 1 tournament quarterfinal match.
An exciting, but exhausting, three games in four days.
“Everyone was kind of tired so it was kind of rough at the beginning,” senior Natalie Low said of the win over the Redgals. “We kind of held our own and picked it up in the second set.”
Killingly, which finished the season with a 4-17 record, hung close in the first set before falling 25-16.
Up 20-13, the Centaurs finished things off with Low getting an ace and Paula Hernandez (19 kills) getting three kills off of sets from Sammie Orlowski (29 assists). Orlowski polished things off with a kill of her own off a set from Low.
“It was brutal,” Bottone said of having to play in a must-win game if the Centaurs wanted to continue on in the ECC tournament just about 20 hours after beating the Sachems in Hebron
“You kind of just avenged the loss in the championship game last year and are flying high with a real intense environment at their place so I knew we would be down a little. I was actually happy with the results we had,” said Bottone.
The Centaurs downed the Redgals in the second set, 25-11.
A big key in that set and in the third that followed, won by Woodstock Academy, 25-14, was senior Maddy Gronski.
She stepped behind the service line and delivered nine straight points to raise a 12-9 Centaurs lead to an insurmountable, 21-9. She did the same in the third set where she delivered eight straight service points to put the Centaurs ahead, 21-8.
Bottone said Gronski was effective when she delivered three service points in the first set but was kind of just lobbing it over.
“We have a term we use, ‘flean’, which means flat-and-clean,” Bottone said. “I wanted (Gronski) to get them down more, make them float a little more and give them trouble. That’s exactly what happened. She stepped up nice.”
The top-seeded Centaurs (19-0) moved on to meet No. 4 Fitch in Groton in an ECC semifinal on Monday (the match finished too late for this edition). The championship match is at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 31 at Norwich Free Academy.
The one thing about beating RHAM is that the Centaurs, if they weren’t feeling the pressure before, are probably feeling it a little more now.
Beat the defending champs and everyone is gunning for you.
“I feel like all the eyes are upon us. It’s going to be exciting and nerve-wracking for the rest of the season,” Low said.
The Centaurs were their normal selves in the first set, feeding off the energy provided by RHAM and its fans on “Dig Pink” night in Hebron, and quieting them down with a 25-12 win in the first set.
“The first set we had a lot of energy and motivation, but we got comfortable in the second,” Orlowski said.
Comfortable is not something a team can be against a program like RHAM.
The Sachems (16-2) handed the Centaurs a 25-21 loss.
It was the first time since Sept. 21 at Fitch that the Centaurs lost a set.
“It wasn’t like that game was a blowout, it was a back-and-forth for most of the set,” Bottone said.
A couple of errors late in the set cost Bottone’s squad.
“It’s a testament to their personality and mindset that they didn’t let things bother them. We were able to bounce back because we knew RHAM was a good team, we knew what to expect and that their defense was going to be good and it was going to be a battle. Losing a set to them was not unexpected,” Bottone said.
The Centaurs, behind their leaders, rallied.
They downed the Sachems in the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-12.
Hernandez finished with 32 kills and 20 digs; Orlowski had 45 assists; Gronski 28 digs and Low contributed 18 kills and 16 digs.
Orlowski said the perfect regular season was a result of staying the course.
“We just played our best all season. I don’t think we had any let ups and when we started to, we stopped right away and went back to our game. It was a big accomplishment for us. We’ve just taken it game-by-game and it has paid off,” Orlowski said. “Now, we just have to go into the postseason with the same mindset, even more so.”
That mindset was in evidence against Conard.
The Centaurs celebrated Senior Night and then went out and took care of business.
The Centaurs came out of the gate and scored a 25-9 win in the first set against the Chieftains Oct. 24.
“That set was amazing,” Bottone said. “We came out on fire, very similar to how we played against East Lyme. I think we kind of took them off guard a little.”
It set the tone for the night as the Centaurs followed up with a pair of 25-18 victories to score the 3-0 win.
“I’m actually really surprised just because of how loose we do play,” Gronski said. “Previous years, we were thinking we have to get this point. It was serious. This year, we we’re very relaxed and we win a lot of games that way.”
While it was a special night for the seniors, Gronski, Bekah Wesler, Rachel Durand, Orlowski, Emma Green, Danuse Horka, Low, and McKenna Gagnon, it was hardly their focus.
“I wasn’t thinking that it was our Senior Night and we had to win. I was thinking that I wanted to have fun playing. That’s why we are doing so well,” Gronski said.
She also played pretty well, getting 23 digs in the win.
Orlowski had 26 assists while Low (17) and Hernandez combined for 30 kills.
Cate Di Giacomo had 18 assists for the Chieftains (14-4).
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
..
Then
This is the Putnam Post Office in 1955 with recruiting posters on it. Putnam Town Crier file photos.
& Now
This is the Putnam Post Office today.
Woodstock public schools
Monday: Hot dogs, fruit. Tuesday: Chicken tacos, refried beans, fruit. Wednesday: Mozzarella sticks, marinara sauce, fruit. Thursday: American Chop Suey, wax beans, fruit. Friday: Pizza, carrot sticks, fruit.
Putnam Elementary/Middle
Monday: Mozzarella sticks ,marinara sauce, corn. Tuesday: Popcorn chicken potato bowls. Wednesday: Hot dogs, baked beans, "Spooktacular Treat." Thursday - Wolf Meal: Beef burgers with cheese, sherbet. Friday: Putnam Special Pizza, salad.
Putnam High
Monday: Orange chicken bowls or spicy chicken sandwiches. Tuesday: Spaghetti with meatballs or bacon cheeeburgers. Wednesday: Grilled chicken sandwiches or cheese quesadilla. Thursday: Chicken potato bowls or turkey Cobb salad. Friday: Pizza or fish and chips
Pomfret Community
Monday: Pizza crunchers, carrots, fruits. Tuesday: Chicken soft tacos, refried beans, fruits. Wednesday: BBQ beef on rolls, three-bean salad, fruits. Thursday: Mac n' cheese, broccoli, carrots, fruits. Friday: Cheeseburgers deluxe, vegetarian baked beans, fruits.
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