By Doug La Rocque
With many family, town officials and well-wishers looking on, the town officially commemorated Sue Putnam’s more than 30 years of service to Grafton as its Town Clerk. [private] The ceremony took place this past Saturday in the Town Park, where Putnam was presented with a plaque to be mounted on the gazebo, and with a Burning Bush planted in front, Sue’s favorite shrub.
Speaking with The Eastwick Press, Putnam said moving into the current Town Hall was one of her fondest memories. When she started, her office was in her mother’s home on Old Road. Moving, painting and organizing a real office she called exhilarating.
Decorating the gazebo at Christmas time is another fond remembrance, recalling the time she had 12 wreaths around the structure, and one time working on it in the December cold until two in the morning. Electronic record keeping was one of the biggest changes she dealt with over her time in office. When she started, everything was written by hand or perhaps on a typewriter. One of the first innovations she found to be very helpful, was when the Town purchased a word processor, and of course from there on to computers.
And while Putnam had regular hours, that never prevented her from helping out town residents, at virtually any time of the day, 364 days a year. Sue took Christmas Day off, but otherwise was always open for business. She even recalled many an early morning with hunters knocking on her door before dawn on the opening day of the season, giving them their license and sending them off with some hot coffee and a pastry.
During her time in office, Putnam said she saw the Town Board turn over five times, and she has served five supervisors. In closing, she wanted to thank all her friends and the many townspeople that made her three decades in office such a pleasant memory. [/private]