Mohegan — As East Lyme's Parks and Recreation Director since 2005, Dave Putnam is the ultimate behind-the-scenes guy.

You want to know how many parking spaces there are for the beach at McCook Point Park in Niantic? You ask Putnam. The schedule at the town's band shell? Him. Information regarding the renovation of the basketball courts at Bridebrook Park. Him again.

He is the former president of the Niantic Rotary. He is one of the founding members of the East Lyme Sports Hall of Fame, which will induct its third class on Dec. 9.

Blue-collar. Community-oriented.

The guy painting the lines on the softball field.

Which is one of the reasons you wouldn't necessarily associate the name "Dave Putnam" with the word "gala."

And yet there was Putnam last Friday night, fulfilling his newest job description as executive director for the Miracle League of Southeastern Connecticut, a $550,000 project which will give East Lyme an all-sports facility for children with physical, cognitive and developmental challenges.

It will be only the second Miracle League field in Connecticut, joining the already-existing facility in West Hartford as one of 300 organizations worldwide.

Early reports: Proceeds from Putnam's gala, entitled "Playing for a Miracle" and held at the Earth Ballroom at Mohegan Sun, exceeded $75,000, with ticket sales, donations and live and silent auction items. That puts fundraising for the Miracle League field, which will be built on the grounds of the Flanders Elementary School, over the halfway mark.

And here's how Putnam, one of the most community-centric men there is, accomplished that feat.

He involved the community.

"I fell in love with the project," said Don MacKenzie, president of Boats Inc., in Niantic, who originally became acquainted with the project when the Miracle League made a fundraising request to a charitable organization called the "Power of Together," with which MacKenzie is affiliated.

"He's doing this on his own. I asked him: 'Are you getting a stipend or anything?' He said no. That's Dave Putnam. I'll be a salesman for him. He's a great guy. I saw how sincere he was. And in this case the charity stays at home. It's something that would draw more attention to our town. I'm from Maine, but this is my home now."

The Miracle League drew a $10,000 donation from "Power of Together." Then, in August, MacKenzie dedicated his marina's 30th Annual One Tide Challenge fishing tournament to the Miracle League, presenting Putnam with another check for $10,921.

There were other events in between. Putnam is astonished by the outpouring of kindness from the businesses in town.

And then came the gala, featuring a Major League Baseball theme.

Only the major leaguers who came, including keynote speaker Bobby Valentine — the former manager of the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox — didn't take a penny either. Valentine, invited by Pete Walker — East Lyme native, Waterford resident and pitching coach for the Toronto Blue Jays — appeared for free.

So did Rajai Davis of New London High School and the Cleveland Indians, former UConn guys Nick Ahmed (Arizona Diamondbacks) and John Andreoli (Seattle Mariners) and Craig Breslow, Yale graduate and member of the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox, in addition to Walker.

Not only that, these guys brought some live auction items, too: an Aaron Judge jersey, signed and framed; Mike Trout jersey, signed and framed; Red Sox tickets, Yankees tickets, a set of Justin Timberlake tickets and dinner at Bobby Flay's restaurant donated by Mohegan Sun.

"It's an easy 'yes,'" said Walker, who agreed early on to be a part of the Miracle League's advisory board. "(Putnam's) done a fantastic job with this. He has a huge heart. ... Flanders is where I went to school. It's where I played kickball; we used to play kickball. The field is going to be where I used to have recess."

"I'm blown away by peoples' generosity," said Putnam, 54, a 1982 East Lyme High graduate. "You can't make that stuff up. People can feel good about getting behind this project."

Putnam originally became involved with the Miracle League-sponsored iCan Bike program offered by East Lyme beginning last summer. He saw the looks on the participants' faces, children with handicaps learning to ride a bike independently for the first time.

When the Miracle League of Connecticut was looking to expand, directors there asked Putnam for a recommendation where they might look. He told them to go no farther than East Lyme.

The town's all-purpose field will feature a synthetic surface, which will accomodate those with wheelchairs and walkers. It will "make a dream a reality" for families across the region.

"When we first introduced the project, Pete said he wanted to get involved ... keeping it local," Putnam said. "It's a great community. The beaches we have. The parks we have. It's easy to be passionate about."

This is the opinion of Day sports writer Vickie Fulkerson.

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