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Volume XLVIII, No. 9 • June 2018
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BOS takes no action on East Street property by Shirley Murtha At the May 10 Board of Selectmen meeting, Town Manager John Ward recapped the history of the Requests for Proposals on 107 East Street, noting that the information gathering stages were complete. At this time, the board could accept the Hayes proposal, in which case a series of steps pursuant to the Granby town charter and to state law would follow, or it could reject the proposal, or take no action. The board proceeded to approve Selectman Sally King’s motion that no action be taken at this time. The current lease with House of Hayes is valid through the end of 2018, at which time the board will decide whether or not to renew it. State’s interest in development rights to 107 East Street Although concerned with the same property as the above action on the requests for proposals, the state’s interest
in purchasing the development rights to 107 East Street is not dependent on any action taken or not taken by the board regarding those proposals. On April 9, the state offered $412,500 for the purchase of those rights, the use of the property being restricted to only agriculture, preventing the use of the property for any type of recreational or educational use. The board has the same options as above, and again, under a motion presented by Selectman King, the board chose to not pursue the sale of rights at this time. Town Manager Ward did not know if the state’s offer was a one-time offer or if the proposal might be re-introduced at some future time. Report from Commission on Aging Human Services Director Sandra Yost gave an overview of the Needs Assessment Survey recently completed by the Commission on Aging. She presented the commission chair Patty Sansone and member Dave Watkins to explain the
BOS cont’d. on p. 5
Memorial Day Parade Schedule Granby’s annual Memorial Day parade and program will be held on Monday, May 28. The honorary parade marshal this year is William B. Moody, Col. U.S. Army (Ret.). The parade will line up at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot on Bank Street and step off at 10 a.m. sharp. Stops will be made to lay wreaths at the War on Terror, Legion and World War I monuments before continuing to the cemetery. Services there will include guest speaker Francis Armentano, retired community development director for the town of Granby. Pastor Chris Dion of Shepherd of the Hills Evangelical Lutheran Church will offer the invocation and benediction. There also will be a firing squad salute and taps. Following the service, the parade will return to the green and disband. After a brief recess, the Marquis of Granby Fife and Drum Corps and the high school marching band will present short concerts. A number of concession stands on the green will offer food for sale as well.
Inside P & Z minutes.................. 7
Humans of Granby............18
Gymnast Addyson Earl......17
Waypoints......................25
A group of Coach Dot Johnson’s former players presented her with a cap bearing her incredible overall winning record, attained over 34 years of coaching field hockey at Granby Memorial High School (393 wins, 83 ties, and 80 losses – a .779 winning percentage). Pictured here, from left to right: Carol (Christensen) Lorenzo, Carolyn (Sarr) Sheehan, and Sue Fullwood. Photo courtesy of Elaine Brassard
Legendary Granby field hockey coach Johnson honored By Trish Percival On April 29, at the 77th annual Gold Key Dinner hosted by the Connecticut Sportswriters’ Alliance, legendary Granby field hockey coach Dot Johnson was honored with a prestigious Gold Key Award. She knew she was going to be honored. That wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was that many of her former players, mostly from the 1980, 1982 and 1985 Championship Teams, were in attendance, eager to honor their former coach, mentor and friend. I was lucky enough to be one of those women. As Dot and the other 2018 honorees began their procession into the room, 12 of us donned our decades-old, maroon and gold, mothball-scented State Championship jackets and waited in anticipation for our beloved coach’s name to be called. When it was, we rose to our feet and cheered loudly—almost as loudly as we cheered each time our team bus pulled into the GMHS parking lot after a victory—and for a moment the procession was halted as “Miss J” stopped dead in tracks, stunned. It was our attempt to honor and thank the woman who gave us some of the most exciting moments of our lives, helped us be a part of something far bigger than ourselves and taught us some of the most important lessons of our teenage years. A true competitor who knows how to have fun A pre-Title IX, three-sport athlete in college, Dot Johnson was a pioneer in
women’s sports. She was a fierce competitor who loved to play; and, even more, loved to win. She carried that competitive drive into her career. When Connecticut high school field hockey first played a state tournament in 1973, there was just one open division, in which towns of all sizes competed. That didn’t deter Coach Johnson from entering and, sure enough, tiny Granby beat Guilford, a school with twice as many students, 2-1 to claim the first Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference field hockey title. The Granby Girls carried their coach off the field after the game and history was set into motion. The following year, Johnson led the Bears to the Class M championship, then five Class S crowns followed: in 1978, 1980, 1982, 1985 and 2000. After seven state titles and four second-place finishes, Johnson retired in 2002 with a 393-83-80 record, a .779 winning percentage. That’s right. She won seven state titles and had a .779 winning percentage. She was a coaching legend, and she established a tradition of excellence for Granby Field Hockey that continues today. Granby Field Hockey now holds 13 state championships, the most of any school in Connecticut history; current coaches Sandy Wickman Mason and Jody Bascetta both played for Coach Johnson when they were in high school. Coach Johnson knew how to elicit drive and determination from a group of high school girls in a way few could. Playing for Miss J was a commitment. We were
Coach Johnson cont’d. on p. 2
Photos by Peter Dinella