Woodstock CT Café

This is a re-post of a June 12, 2008 article in response to a comment by Con.

Mr. Foye justifies the need for more athletic fields because “students participating in athletics at the Academy equates to nearly 50% of the student population.” He also says that athletic participation is increasing the demand for more athletic fields. I took a look at his 50% participation number by counting the number of athletes listed for each team. I found that in the year ending 2006 there were 15 boys teams including JV teams and one freshman football team, and 16 girls teams including the cheerleaders. This is an impressive number of teams. There can be no question that the number of team players increased because of the advent of the football team. It’s often stated by the football booster club that having football provides a sports program for 80 students.

If you add up the number of boys listed on all of the boys teams, there appear to be 302 positions; for the girls there appear to be 262 positions. So there are as many as 564 positions on teams, close to Mr. Foye’s 50%. However, if you are familiar with the names on these teams, you see that there are quite a few players that are on two or three teams. I estimate that a third of the team slots are filled by multiple sports players. For example, you will find that most players on the boys and girls basketball teams are also on the soccer, cross-country, tennis, track, or softball and baseball teams; likewise, wrestlers will also be on the football team; and soccer players will also play multiple sports. The players on the Indoor Track team are probably the very same players that are on the Outdoor Track team with the exception of the shotput, javelin, and discus throwers who would break too many windows. Multi-sports athletes are found for the girls as well as the boys. If you take into account this one-third and subtract it from the 564 total positions, the actual number of students participating in sports is about 33% or about 376 (out of 1135 students), still a substantial number. But, of course, the Academy has established a pattern of inflating the numbers whether in scholarship or sports. At the bottom of this article I have placed a table listing the counted numbers of participants on each sports team.

The inference in Mr. Foye’s letter published earlier this week (an article below) is that 50% of the student population will benefit from the expansion of the athletic fields. Of course, this is not true. There are only about 80 (at most) football players between the varsity, JV, and freshman teams, or 7% of the student population.

The top picture (below) shows an aerial view of the current athletic fields. These fields contain a football field, a soccer field, a lacrosse field, a baseball field, a softball field, tennis courts, track team areas, and even a place to launch the shotput, javelin, or discus. So what’s missing? Read the rest of this entry »

From Adriano Frechel: “I have to say this was one of the best metric century rides I’ve ridden here in New England. The scenery was just amazing. I can just imagine how that whole area looks like in the fall. I definitely would do this again. I noticed that the route also shared some roads that the Ashford century uses. Great food and wonderful volunteers. Thanks again for making it a great experience!”

These are scenes from the 11-mile Family Fun Tour which started at 10 AM this morning. The 32-mile ‘race’ began at 9AM and the 62-mile ‘race’ began at 8AM. The riders in the latter two races were too fast to catch on camera – just one big blur.
Read the rest of this entry »

From a friend of a friend. John

Wednesday, 12 September 2001

Hi Joe,

It was good to talk to you this morning. You perked me up after a very depressing day plus.

Tuesday was a horrible day, and I still feel like hell. But I am alive and well. I want to try to write down all that happened, so that we won’t forget. I haven’t been thinking as straight as I’d like. Many other people who survived, especially those who were actually at ground zero will also try to put into words what they saw.

I arrived at work Tuesday morning as I usually do just before 7:30 AM. I stopped at the “Gourmet Deli” on Fulton Street and bought my coffee and a roll. I went up to my office on the 6^th floor at 222 Broadway (one block east of the World Trade Center, WTC, buildings). I’m a consultant working for Broadcort Capital, Inc., a subsidiary of Merrill Lynch. I’m usually the first person to arrive on the sixth floor as I was on Tuesday. I brought up my computer and started going through my email, enjoying my coffee and my roll. My cubicle is the first one everyone passes as they enter in the morning, so there were the usual “good mornings” and a number people stopping to see what “Quote of the day ” I had put up.

I was working on a document for our up coming Retail Entitlements project at about 8:45 when we heard the rumble of what sounded like a huge explosion. Our building actually shook. We went over to the west side of the building to take a look and saw that the north tower (WTC1) of the WTC was on fire at about the 87^th floor. Someone commented that it must have been quite a bomb and wondered aloud as to how they got that much explosives so high up in the tower. As I was looking at the side of the building, I commented to Steve (my boss’s boss) that it looks as though a rocket or a missile had hit the building. As I said that, I almost shouted, “Oh s—, Bin Laden.” Steve told one the people to turn the TV on in the conference room. We walked over and started watching the news coverage. They were commenting that they thought it was a bomb. Then they announced it was believed that it was an airplane. We said it was an awfully big hole for a piper cub. Someone commented that it must have been a jet of some kind. Then CBS said it was an airliner. It was at this point that we saw the 2nd plane approaching. Everyone starting screaming and crying as it crashed into WTC2. Our building reverberated with the force of the explosion.

Sometime between the first and second attack, a number of people came into the office. Eric came in and went back out so fast I actually forgot, latter on, that he had been in. Naum, came in, in a total state of panic. He was so upset. His daughter goes to Styvesant High School which is three blocks north of the WTC on West Street. He was so distraught that he was speaking half in English and half in Russian. Alex another consultant in my group, started to try to calm Naum by speaking to him only in Russian. It was helping for a minute or two then he said he was going to find his daughter. Steve told him to be careful.

I tried to call my wife, Linda, who works in Princeton, NJ. I could not get through to her to let her know that I was all right. I was worried sick. Thank God email worked, her notes were so reassuring to me. Between 9:00 AM and Noon we must have sent each other 50 notes. Email was my “life saver” when it came to reaching family and friends. With all of the telephone circuits down email was the only way to get through. The telephones worked going east and north but not west. I actually did get one cell phone call through to my son Terance, a high school senior. I was greatly relieved when they put my call through to his classroom. They were watching the grisly scene on the television in their classroom. I was able to get through to my other children and other family members via email. Read the rest of this entry »

… because it is rare to hear from Allan in a public forum and he has done a good job as First Selectman. This is from The Villager published today.

Click to enlarge the starting point of all three bike routes.
Riders assemble at the Woodstock Elementary School – bear left toward main entrance. There will be a big white tent where you can register. Open registration will begin after 7am.

The metric century (62 mile) starts at 8 AM, the 31 mile ride at 9 AM, and the Family Fun ride at 10 AM. These are absolutely beautiful biking routes throught the bucolic hills and valleys of the Quiet Corner. A Butts roast beef sandwich lunch is provided starting around noon. Those who want to just stop buy to purchase a sandwich please come. There will be a DJ as well. Anyone wishing to volunteer or just applaud the bikers as they come into the finish are very welcome as well. The weather is looking good for the weekend.

Online

registration: http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=13269

Find more information at the WEF website .

The Graveyard Grind is less than a month away! This great event will be held on Saturday September 10, 2011. GG’11 is WEF’s first annual bike event that we are sponsoring to raise money for our great school programs. This year’s event is not a race, but a self-guided tour through bucolic Woodstock and surrounding towns. A map will be provided and the course will run by scenic graveyards with notable history included. There will be rest stops with refreshments along the 30 and 60 mile course, followed by a meal and entertainment upon completion. The event will start and end in Woodstock.

On-line registration is now open at: Please visit Bikereg.com for information about this and other upcoming bike events.

The Family Fun 11 mile Ride:

0 Head south toward Frog Pond Rd
0.07mi Turn right onto Frog Pond Rd
0.13mi Head southwest on Frog Pond Rd toward Route-169 S
0.14mi Slight right onto Route-169 N
0.69mi Head north on Route-169 N toward Roxbury Rd
0.9mi Turn right onto Hill Cemetery Rd
0.91mi Head northeast on Hill Cemetery Rd
1.06mi Head north on Hill Cemetery Rd toward Academy Rd
1.12mi Turn right onto Academy Rd
1.18mi Turn left onto Old Hall Rd
1.23mi Turn left onto Route-169 S
1.24mi Head northwest on Route-169 N toward Old Hall Rd
1.74mi Turn left onto Joy Rd
2.43mi Head west on Joy Rd toward Dividend Rd/Reynolds Rd
4.04mi Head north on Joy Rd toward County Rd
4.07mi Turn right onto County Rd
5.99mi Turn left onto Woodstock Rd
6mi Head southeast on Woodstock Rd toward County Rd
6.96mi Head east on Woodstock Rd toward Dugg Hill Rd
7.2mi Turn right onto Dugg Hill Rd
8.24mi Dugg Hill Rd turns slightly right and becomes Roseland Park Rd
8.32mi Head south on Roseland Park Rd toward Senexet Rd/Senexet Rd No 1      
9.47mi Head south on Roseland Park Rd toward Cornfield Point
10.31mi Head south on Roseland Park Rd toward Stone Bridge Rd
10.52mi Turn right onto Route-169
10.53mi Head northwest on Route-169 N toward Route 171
10.9mi Head northwest on Route-169 N toward Frog Pond Rd
10.92mi Turn right onto Frog Pond Rd
10.99mi Turn left

32 mile Ride:

Read the rest of this entry »

from Crestfallen Cafer,

Blizzards, four feet of snow on the ground, ice storms, thunderstorms, a tornado, a hurricane, flooding, power out for a week and then….. this.

See the Cafe’s unlimited supply of treasures.

The RTC and DTC are keeping their candidates for municipal offices a secret. The Cafe would like to post the candidates for office. Please send us your nominees.

http://www.woodstockrepublicans.com/ ”Congratlations (sic) to Cathy Abissi of Woodstock!”

http://www.woodstockctdems.org/Home_Page.php  No news???

DTC and RTC (left and right, respectively):

I went to a non-profit event yesterday – the UConn football game at Rentschler’s Stadium - where UConn beat lowly Fordham 35-3. After the first half, the game was lackluster but I stayed in the stadium for the last second of the game and enjoyed being there.

We used to have season tickets but we stopped years ago because we didn’t like sitting with drunks and stepping around pools of barf.

I still have our ticket stubs on our bulletin board from the first game at the “Rent” on August 30, 2003, when Becki, Mariah, little Ernie and Zach Wetzel, and I sat on the 40 yardline close to the field (lower arrow below). UConn surprised everyone by beating the Indiana Hoosiers. On that California-like day it was a splended venue, and it still is.

Yesterday I experienced something that had dramatically changed since I last attended a game. I purchased my two tickets on TicketMaster online and actually printed them out instantly. I wondered if these pieces of paper that only cost about $15 each would actually get me into the stadium.  I was able to pick my seats online which turned out to be good seats on the 20-yardline (upper arrow), in the shade of the of the press boxes on the west side of the stadium.

What had changed? … Answer: Security. The first evidence of this was when I entered the gate with my two pieces of paper after putting up my arms to be frisked. I wasn’t sure if I needed to go to a ticket window and exchange my pieces of paper for real tickets. To get in (you can’t re-enter) the guy at the gate read the barcode on my piece of paper electronically. I realized at that moment that they knew how much I paid, my name, contact info, and my seat where I was sitting … and could quickly retrieve this information … and this was also true for the other 45,000 in the stadium. I wonder if they could track where I was by GPS – probably not, but this will come in the future.

Of course this electronic database for each game gives UConn an accurate accounting of the attendence, revenues, and goings on at the Rent although it doesn’t extend to the cash ($15) for parking and the food I did not buy.

Another piece of evidence of security was the frequent announcement that you can text security (or call) on your cellphone if you want to report bad behavior or something that’s not right (Remember the fight at the Fair?). Then there was the security staff in red shirts walking and standing at scheduled times in each section of the stadium. When I entered and left the stadium, I passed the bomb squad truck parked next to the stadium. And then there was the presence of police and security staff in the parking areas. Even the ingress and egress to and from the parking areas was better managed so that there was no tedious waiting in line in a traffic jam.

If the non-profit Woodstock Agricultural Society wanted to demonstrate FAIR accounting and distribution of their revenues, the Fair could adopt such a barcode system for accurate accounting and a security system that is now, more or less, non-existant. How about barcoding the parking tickets also?

from db

The Woodstock Fair is like the smell of cow manure I don’t necessarily like it but I cannot imagine our town with out it. Every year I swear I am not going and every year I alter my driving habits a couple days before to check out the set up. The challenge for me is to spend any money on local groups.

Hit the Lions for chili, the Putnam church for a frappe (always hear “what’s a Frappe”) then potato heaven from the Pomfret church.

It is sad that the fair has priced out so many of our local groups/schools. As a kid I had to work the grinder booth for sports, the roast beef booth for band and help set up for the East Woodstock cornet band and the bingo tent for the fire Dept.

Muddy Brook still does bingo but now in a building. Some of the bingo cards say “buy war bonds” and “keep’em flying”. I was surprised to see so many kids playing, where else can you sit down for .25 cents a game.

The animal barns are real nice now and I love the Brun barn. I could skip the whole midway but my daughter will drag me through.

So yes I will also complain about the fair and the traffic but yet go again today.

CL&P says that it serves 4080 residents in Woodstock of which 90 still have no electricity. This is as of 9 AM today, Sunday, seven days after power was lost. We got ours back only at about 4PM Friday even thought we are on a state road, Route 197. The traffic light at 197 and 169 was on by Wednesday and all trees had been removed from 197 by then in preparation for the Fair.

Visitation to the Cafe during and after the hurricane. Green bars are page clicks and blue bars are unique visitors.

Sign on English Neighborhood Road in North Woodstock.

Thursday at the Brooklyn Fair Grounds … Coffee anyone?

This posted on Facebook from Becki’s sister, Barbara - “Hey Woodstock – you made the Channel 2 news in Cali! Guess power for the fair raised the ire of those who went without power for the last week.”

Route 197 is now restored.

The red shading in the map below shows what residential parts of Woodstock have received electricity as of mid-day Friday, five and a half days after the outage. If anyone knows of other of electrified areas of Woodstock, let us know.

CL&P tells us that most Woodstock residents will be restored by 11PM Monday, the 5th. What has been addressed here is the needs of the Woodstock Fair and the schools, yet this does not help the schools because all of the bus routes are blocked.

All of the pictures of fallen trees below are on bus routes. However, it turns out that the tree lying on wires on Route 197 (picture 1) has been removed from blocking the road although that tree still hangs on the wires at the side of the road. It is interesting that this one tree was fixed even though the Woodstock road crew was barred from addressing any tree that touched wires (according to Allan Walker on WINY). My conclusion is that the part of this tree blocking the road was removed to open all access routes from out of town to the Fair this weekend. Thank God someone also arranged to have the traffic light turned on at the intersection of Routes 169 and 197 so that the part of the 170,000 outsiders coming from the West, North and East would not create driver chaos at this intersection. But as I write this, no one has power near that intersection. Hopefully when I get home later, I’ll be pleasantly surprised that this has been corrected. If the intersection light works, why not the electricity to the houses near the intersection?

The repairs that CL&P made in Woodstock up to now have made perfectly good sense in that these were the easiest repairs to make (with no fallen trees in the way) and they satisfied all of the important people in Woodstock, e.g. the Agricultural Society. But this had to be done because of the 170,000 that will start to arrive tomorrow (Friday). I would not be surprised to learn that the Ag Society contacted the important politicians and CL&P leadership to make sure this happened ASAP because the Fair Grounds was filling up with vendors and big money can be made. Even though the rides run on generators, the Fair will be a gigantic user of electricity until Tuesday. From CL&P’s point of view it makes perfectly good business sense to repair the lines that use the most electricity first.

So the rest of us will continue to live our shabby lives until us little people can be served next week.

Click each page to isolate and enlarge.