Gaspee Days 2019

Gaspee Days 2019

Celebrate History. Celebrate Community.

May 2019 | A Special Supplement from Beacon Communications

View this section online @ www.rhodybeat.com

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 2

3 • May 2019 • Gaspee Days

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 4

Playing with fire ‘Great partnership’ creating new vessel for Gaspee burning

By DANIEL KITTREDGE Providence-based nonprofit The Steel Yard has “a lot of experience setting stuff on fire,” its public projects director, Tim Ferland, said with a laugh.

Among the largest annual events for the organization is the Halloween Iron Pour.

In short, the group’s Sims Avenue location becomes a fiery industrial-art display with molten iron used to set large sculptures aflame.

Because of that background – and in keeping with what Ferland calls The Steel Yard’s commitment to “connecting communities to artists” – the organization has been a perfect match for a special project of the Gaspee Days Committee.

The vessel before and during the 2018 burning ceremony.

As the committee eyes the impending 250th anniversary of the burning of the HMS Gaspee, it has started the process of creating a new vessel – or “silhouette,” as it is known – for the ceremonial burning that concludes each year’s Gaspee Days celebration.

Late last year, after connecting with the Gaspee Days Committee “through the grapevine,” Ferland and Howie Sneider, The Steel Yard’s executive director, paid a visit to a committee meeting to see what its members had in mind. The result has been a partnership that both parties believe will be rewarding for one another and the broader community.

“I think it’s going to be a great partnership, and it’s going to be a fun partnership, too,” Ferland said.

“It’s not only an investment in our communities, but an investment in each other …they can see the vision of what we want to accomplish,” said the Gaspee Days

“I think it’s going to be a great partnership...”

Offering mortgage options to suit your specific needs whether you’re looking for your first home or your home for retirement.

Make your home into the showplace you’ve always wanted it to be with an Ocean State Credit Union Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit.

Make an appointment today to meet with our Mortgage Specialists

OceanStateCU.org | 877.397.1900 or 401.397.1900 Coventry 1584 Nooseneck Hill Road • 1076 Main Street

West Warwick

North Kingstown

744 Main Street

7373 Post Road

Federally insured by NCUA

5 • May 2019 • Gaspee Days

Part of that mission, Ferland said, involves working with municipalities and nonCommittee’s Karen Kenney, who chairs the ceremonial burning event.

That vision begins with rehabilitating the current silhouette, which has been in profits on projects involving public amenities and art installations.

“In a nutshell, I connect communities to artists … We go out and find projects, or service for more than 20 years and once appeared on the Travel Channel series “Booze other nonprofits or organizations that are in need, or cities and municipalities that are Traveler.”

“Right now we’re in our first stage … We’re going to kind of gussy up and make the in need of a project,” he said.

Ferland cited the organization’s work with the town of Bristol to create new trashold float work one last time, give it a send-off this year,” Ferland said.

Specific work will include new rigging for the silhouette’s sails and the installation of cans and bike racks. The items “kind of reflect what the community wants to see and new flotation devices. Ryan Giviens, president of the Gaspee Days Committee, noted how the community feels about their neighborhood.”

“In essence, we help brand a community in the way the community wants to be that the vessel was in need of work after capsizing during the 2018 burning ceremony. branded,” he said. “Anything that we can blend art “Last year, before it capsized, it was a really, really into, we love to do it.” good burning,” he said.

Kenney said the hope is for the new vessel to be an Once the current vessel makes its last voyage, the fun evolving process, particularly with the 250th anniverreally begins. sary of the nation’s “First Blow for Freedom” drawing Ferland said the new silhouette will have additional nearer. A fundraising campaign to support the project “bells and whistles” and will be “hopefully a lot safer.” is planned for later this year.

He said there are “a lot of cool ideas floating around” “We’re planning a huge celebration for [the 250th about features that should be included in the new ves— Tim Ferland, Public Projects Director, The Steel Yard anniversary], so we’re kind of gearing the silhouette up sel – a remote starter for the blaze, for example, and to that … making it super-spectacular, because it is the perhaps even the ability for it to submerge beneath the centerpiece of what we do,” she said. water.

“There’s a lot of great ideas that I got from the community … and that’s kind of Kenney praised Ferland and the staff at The Steel Yard for their willingness to help my job, to figure out what’s going to be possible,” he said. “I think it’s going to look realize the committee’s vision.

“We’re committed to The Steel Yard … They’ve been so easy to work with,” she said. great … it’s going to be a really fun process.”

This year’s symbolic burning of the Gaspee will take place June 9 at 4 p.m. in PawHe added, “This isn’t just a straightforward job. This is going to take a good amount tuxet Park. of creative and design to get this to work the way we want it to work.”

To learn more about The Steel Yard and ways to support its work, please visit The Steel Yard, according to its website, is “committed to cultivating an environthesteelyard.org. ment of experimentation and a community strengthened by creative networks.”

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 6

‘Bring people together’

History, community at heart of Gaspee Days

By DANIEL KITTREDGE

Why are your local friends switching to Greenwood Credit Union?

Because, we’re Local, too!

- Free, No Minimums Checking - Locally Based & Local Decisions - Great Rates & Personal Service See our rates and open your account online or just stop by!

greenwoodcu.org 401-739-4600 2669 Post Road, Warwick

Doing What’s Right. . . For You!

Federally Insured By NCUA Equal Opportunity Lender

The Proclamation Ceremony that kicks off each year’s Gaspee Days festivities is a favorite of Ryan Giviens.

The “sea of children dressed in colonial garb” for the gathering – held ahead of the Walking Tour of Historic Pawtuxet Village – is particularly impressive, he said.

“History was always something difficult to get me interested in growing up,” said Giviens, president of the Gaspee Days Committee. “So to see these kids genuinely interested in it, because they’re growing up in a historic community, it’s just really incredible, because they’re enthusiastic about it and they know what they’re talking about.”

He added, “The fact that we get to address this audience of eager, educated kids who care about history and community the way we do is just really rewarding. And you can feel it makes a difference.”

As Gaspee Days marks its 54th year, Giviens has placed an emphasis on what he calls a “modern tagline” for the event – “Celebrate History. Celebrate Community.” Those words, he said, express a dual approach that has been the focus of organizers in recent years – carrying on a proud tradition while growing its reach and, in doing so, helping to ensure its sustainability.

“We have our traditions, we have our ways that we do things, and we like to hold onto those. They’re near and dear to our hearts,” he said. “I think it’s more about mindset … It’s the way that we’re doing it. We’re reaching out to the community. We’re trying to bring people together – educate them, celebrate with them and have a good time.”

He added, “Every year, we’re very gently evolving, but still remaining true to our heritage.”

Bar & Grill “Historic Pawtuxet Village” 401-228-7444

www.orourkesbarandgrill.com

LOBSTER ROLL IS BACK!

Check Out Our Seasonal Food & Drink Menu

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND ~ OUTSIDE PATIO OPEN ~ The Gaspee Days Arts & Crafts Block Party Fundraiser perhaps best exemplifies the new tagline.

Giviens noted that the first Block Party event several years ago drew a couple hundred people. By last year, the crowd had swelled to roughly 1,500.

“It’s grown exponentially,” he said.

Gina Dooley, first vice president of the Gaspee Days Committee, spoke about the importance of the Block Party to the committee and the overall festivities.

“It started out small … But now, it’s a huge event,” she said, noting that it is one of the committee’s largest fundraisers each year. “It’s just a sea of people having a great time. That’s probably the most modern event that we have.”

Other more modern additions to the festivities include the Warwick Symphony Orchestra performance and the Blessing of the Fleet.

“We’ve got all of these boaters, young and old, lined up,” Dooley said of the blessing.

The Arts & Crafts Festival held over Memorial Day weekend has also grown, drawing new vendors and participants alongside longtime veterans of the event.

“I think we’ve got a really interesting mix this year,” Dooley said.

Giviens pointed to the selection of John Reckner, founder of Passion for Pumpkins and the creative mind behind the Roger Williams Park Zoo Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular, as indicative of a new approach – one that looks beyond just celebrities for the ceremonial position and to people who have a different kind of impact on the community. He praised Katie Perlini and her fiancé, Andy Brown, for their work as co-chairs of the Gaspee Days Parade.

“For me, it makes me feel very rewarded as president to see, without any direction, we all share in that same kind of vision, that we’re about history and community together,” he said.

Dooley, who will take on the role of Gaspee Days Committee president in September, said the group is always looking for more volunteers. She urged members of the community to become involved and spoke about the “great pride” that comes with putting on each year’s festivities.

“It’s just an unbelievable experience,” she said.

Perlini recalled driving in a convertible down the parade route last year, her first as a chairperson. She saw a veteran in the crowd rising to his feet – and said the moment that followed represents why she is so dedicated to Gaspee Days.

“As we passed, he stood … he took his cap off and saluted the car,” she said. “It gave me chills. I was like, ‘That is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.’”

Giviens, too, spoke of the importance of Gaspee Days – both for himself and the thousands who enjoy the various events each year.

“I still get chills every single morning driving down the parade route, and actually even sometimes the night prior, because you see all these chairs lined up along the street, empty,” he said. “It’s hours before the start of the parade … and people are already lining chairs up. That’s how much the community really, really enjoys it.”

Friday, May 24: Saturday, May 25: Sunday, May 26: Monday, May 27:

Clear Blue 9 PM Matt Kearns 8:30 PM Ricky Lauria 4:30 PM Outside Patio — Weather Permitting Gooseberry Road 1 PM Outside Patio — Weather Permitting

2ND FLOOR

BREFFNY’S FUNCTION ROOM Beautiful Views of the Cove Available for Special Functions

Call Laurie O’Rourke 401-499-7061

23 PECK LANE, WARWICK, RI

Historic Pawtuxet Village

7 • May 2019 • Gaspee Days

O Rourke’s

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 8

‘Spectacular’ selection Reckner, creative mind behind Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular, to serve as grand marshal of Gaspee Days Parade

By DANIEL KITTREDGE John Reckner, founder of Passion for Pumpkins Inc. and the creative force behind the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Park Zoo, will serve as grand marshal of the 54th annual Gaspee Days Parade.

“He does great work for the community,” said Katie Perlini, who is co-chairing this year’s parade along with her fiancé, Andy Brown.

The origins of the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular – which features more than 5,000 pumpkins with a range of themes and draws well over 100,000 visitors annually – trace back to a getaway Reckner and his family made to Vermont in the mid-1980s. A postal worker at the time, he had studied art in college and was inspired by a display of intricately carved and decorated pumpkins he saw during the trip.

The story goes that one night after returning home, while out walking his dog, Reckner’s vision for his own seasonal display crystallized.

“I’m back home in Oxford, Massachusetts, taking my dogs for a walk through the woods one evening, and it’s like a light goes off – giant pumpkins with detailed images and background music in a nice, woodland setting,” he told the Warwick Beacon in 2017. “Three elements come together to create it all.”

In 1988, Reckner decorated a large hemlock tree in his neighborhood with intricately carved, illuminated pumpkins. The response from the community was overwhelming, and bigger plans were soon in the works. The production company Passion for Pumpkins was formed to create and run the displays, which initially served as a fundraiser for Oxford’s school system.

In 2001, the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular came to Roger Williams Park Zoo for the first time. Proceeds from the event support care of the zoo’s animals, as well as education and conservation efforts.

Similar annual displays have since been created in Louisville, Kentucky, and at the Minnesota Zoo. A new display outside Chicago is planned for 2020 in conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America.

“It’s amazing how, over the … years I’ve been doing this, it’s been like a magnet,” Reckner told the Beacon regarding the many people whose efforts make the displays possible. “Landscape architects, illustrators, portrait painters – these people work seven days a week. They’re in here from early morning to midnight. I think the term might be a ‘labor of love.’ That’s what it is.”

Perlini said the selection of Reckner as this year’s grand marshal stemmed from experiences she and Brown have shared during their relationship. The couple has made visiting the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular a highlight of their fall calendar since they started dating – and Brown proposed to her after their trip to the display this past year.

“We landed on someone, and something, that was dear to our hearts,” she said.

Ryan Giviens, president of the Gaspee Days Committee, praised Reckner’s selection. He noted the important role the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular plays in helping the zoo carry out its mission.

“This program is about enrichment and making [the animals’] lives more comfortable and enjoyable,” he said.

To learn more about Passion for Pumpkins, visit passionforpumpkins.com. For more information about the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular – which returns Oct. 3 through Nov. 3 – visit rwpzoo.org/jols.

— Katelyn Perlini, Parade Co-Chair

Welcome to Pawtuxet Village...The oldest little village in Rhode Island...founded in 1638!

2190 Broad St. Pawtuxet Village Cranston, RI 401.780.8700 www.revolutionri.net

#JointheRevolutionRI

CELEBRATE GASPEE DAYS WITH US!

9 • May 2019 • Gaspee Days

“He does great work for the community.”

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 10

THE IMPERIAL ROOM

At One Rhodes Place

401.467.7102 Hillary Williamson, Director of Sales

hillary.williamson@gmail.com ShrinersRI.com

One Rhodes Place Cranston, RI 02905

parade mace bearer The Gaspee Days Committee has announced the selection of U.S. Sen. Jack Reed as the mace bearer for the 54th annual Gaspee Days Parade.

Rhode Island’s 46th U.S. senator, Reed will carry the historical Rhode Island Mace down the parade route on Saturday, June 8, beginning at 10 a.m.

Born and raised in Cranston, the son of a World War II Navy veteran and a homemaker, Reed graduated from West Point in 1971 and was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant in the regular Army. He went on to serve in the 82nd Airborne Division as an infantry platoon leader, a company commander, and a battalion staff officer. He eventually joined the faculty at West Point, teaching cadets about economics and international relations as an associate professor within the Department of Social Sciences.

Reed served as a professor at the U.S. Military Academy until August 1979, when he resigned from active duty as a captain. He continued serving in the U.S. Army Reserves until June 1991, when he left the Reserves with the rank of major.

Over the course of his military career, Reed earned the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge and Expert Infantry Badge.

The Rhode Island Mace has been carried at the head of the Gaspee Days Parade every year since the first observance of Gaspee Days in June 1966. The mace has been used in the inaugural ceremonies for Rhode Island governors by the high sheriff of Providence County since Gov. Charles D. Kimball was sworn in on Jan. 7, 1902.

The mace, made of historic fragments of wood, is closely associated with the historical backgrounds of the state and the nation.

The eagle on the top of the mace was carried through the Civil War on top of a staff which wore a Union battle flag. Part of the wood was once taken from the much-hated British revenue schooner HMS Gaspee, which was burned after being caught on a sand bar off Gaspee Point on the evening of June 9, 1772.

Another portion of the wood came from colonial Governor Arthur Fenner’s homestead in Cranston, which was built in 1680 and demolished in 1895.

The Gaspee Days Committee is a civic-minded nonprofit organization that operates many community events in and around Pawtuxet Village, including the famous Gaspee Days Parade each June. These events are all designed to commemorate the burning of the hated British revenue schooner, HMS Gaspee,

by Rhode Island patriots in 1772 as America’s “First Blow for Freedom.”

Franklin E. Mirrer, M.D. Orthopaedic Surgeon, Inc.

INNOVATIVE SURGEON in Shoulder and Knee ACL Reconstruction Sports Medicine Arthroscopic Surgery • Fractures Franklin E. Mirrer,

M.D., B.C.O.S., F.A.A.O.S. Head Team Orthopedic Surgeon Providence College Athletics ______________________ College Physician for the Community College of Rhode Island (Knight Campus) _________________________ Dr. Mirrer has past experience caring for NFL and Division I Collegiate Football players

ON-SITE X-RAY ON-SITE PHYSICAL THERAPY Please call

(401) 739-9050 for a prompt evaluation.

215 Toll Gate Road, Suite 206, Warwick

w w w.fmspor tsor tho.com

NEW LOOKS FOR SUMMER

FAMILY EYECARE BY

DR. JACQUELINE BOISVERT PERSONALIZED SERVICE

401.262.0042 Stop & Shop Plaza, 74 Frenchtown Road, North Kingstown

www.rhodeeyeland.com

11 • May 2019 • Gaspee Days

Reed to serve as

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 12

Conspiracy?

Historian sees deeper plot at work in Gaspee Affair

By DANIEL KITTREDGE “In general, conspiracy theories don’t do well in a historical sense,” historian Dr. John Concannon told the Rotary Club of Warwick during a recent luncheon presentation.

When it comes to the burning of the HMS Gaspee, however, historical perspective has not dispelled the probability of a deeper plot having been at play. Rather, it has brought the contours of the apparent scheme into focus.

“We’ve always thought that the burning of the Gaspee was just a happenstance situation where the British armed schooner that was enforcing customs regulations for Rhode Islanders ran aground …Well, there’s a little bit more to it than that,” Concannon said.

“The evidence that I present here will be that it was

definitely a conspiracy.”

The case is, indeed, persuasive. At the heart of the theory is John Brown, the prominent Rhode Island merchant who organized the meeting at Sabin’s Tavern in Providence to plan the attack on the Gaspee.

According to the common telling of the story, Brown – along with Abraham Whipple – organized and led the raiding party after learning the Gaspee had run aground on a sandbar while pursuing the packet sloop Hannah up Narragansett Bay in early June 1772.

Concannon, however, believes Brown’s orchestration of events was far greater in scope.

Brown, he noted, was a member of Samuel Adams’ Sons of Liberty. He had a clear interest in pushing back against British authority – and was well positioned to weather, and even capitalize on, the fallout.

“John Brown knew that if he burned the Gaspee …

the British would just throw more ships into the bay, which is exactly what happened,” Concannon said.

He added, “John Brown was looking for something that would be attractive to continued colonial interest in disposing the British rule on the American colonies, and burning the schooner would have made an attractive target for him because it represented the continued taxation and oppression of the British against the Americans.”

The political and economic landscape was ripe for the push toward independence. Concannon noted that Rhode Island’s royal charter provided it with “unique liberties” in terms of religious life, political affairs and the judiciary compared with the other British colonies.

“We had become relatively independent in our thinking and our ways of working in Rhode Island, much more than the other colonies had been,” he said.

Benjamin Lindsey, the captain of the Hannah, “knew every nook and cranny of the bay.” The Gaspee was also designed to perform deep-water patrols, while the Hannah was built to easily navigate coastal areas.

Additionally, Concannon said Dudingston had gotten word that the Hannah had previously been found to carry cash and gold – making it an “enticing target for customs officers and British naval officers … who gained a very sizable portion of any illicit goods or cash that [they] found.”

When the Hannah did not lower its flag to the Gaspee in Newport on June 9, 1772 – which Concannon called a “terrible breach of customary paying tribute to the crown” – the pursuit was on.

Perhaps the most convincing piece of evidence from Concannon’s presentation centers, again, on Brown.

“It turns out that John Brown actually had run aground on Gaspee Point himself some 12 years previous, at exactly the same tidal and moon conditions that would trap the Gaspee 12 years later,” he said.

Brown’s experience allowed for the “perfect” time to be chosen for the raid on the Gaspee, Concannon said, affording the colonists an environment of maximum “silence and darkness.” The exact same circumstances, he said, were extremely rare in the months surrounding the attack.

“We’re talking about a very narrow timeline … There

wasn’t enough time to get all of this together without significant pre-planning,” he said.

The rest of the Gaspee story, passed down through generations, is well known locally. Dudingston and his crew were taken prisoner, and the Gaspee was set aflame the next morning. British efforts to identify and punish the culprits proved unsuccessful despite the offering of a sizeable reward.

To the chagrin of many locals, the Boston Tea Party of 1773 – more than a year after the Gaspee’s burning – has gotten far broader recognition for its role in the American Revolution.

But Concannon said the Gaspee Affair’s significance cannot be understated.

The incident’s royally appointed investigators, he said, “really bypassed the American judicial system” – producing a powerful reaction from colonists who sought and expected the same rights as all British citizens.

“This created disaffection,” Concannon said. “The Americans no longer trusted the British to regard their own rights, and we started to have thoughts of independence from England.”

Quoting John Adams, he added: “The revolution was affected before the war commenced. The revolution was in the hearts and minds of the people.”

It was, it seems, certainly in the heart and mind of John Brown in 1772.

13 • May 2019 • Gaspee Days

The state’s reliance on a maritime economy – and its infamous role in the Triangular Trade of the slave era – also played a vital part in fostering the environment that led to the Gaspee Affair.

The Gaspee and its commander, Lt. William Dudingston, arrived in local waters for the purpose of curtailing smuggling and enforcing trade laws. To many colonists, that represented a form of oppression – and abuses by the British as they carried out their mission only heightened that perception.

“The Gaspee was one of these ships deliberately designed to prevent the smuggling that was going on,” Concannon said. “It threatened the entire Rhode Island economy that was based on this maritime trade.”

After a stint in Philadelphia, the Gaspee arrived in Narragansett Bay in January or February of 1772. Concannon said a variety of factors point to its being raided and burned just four months later as much more than an “amazing coincidence.”

Concannon noted that to the best of historians’ knowledge, Dudingston had never sailed north of Warwick Neck prior to the Gaspee Affair. At the time, the colony’s governor was located in Newport, so there was little reason for the British commander to travel up to the Providence River.

On the night of the raid, Concannon said, Dudingston’s usual pilot was not aboard the Gaspee. In contrast,

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 14

‘It all happened right here’ Walking Tour set for 19th year

By JACOB MARROCCO The 19th annual Guided Walking Tour of Historic Pawtuxet Village will kick off Gaspee Days on May 18 starting at 12:30 p.m., and lead organizer Bobby Green is ready to get started.

Green has been involved with the walking tour for five years now, but this is the first time he has run point.

Students in grades two through eight from E.T. Wyman Elementary School and St. Peter Tri-Parish School are the main players at 17 sites on the trail. The students assume the roles of documented residents of colonial Pawtuxet.

Green’s love for the event began when his son, Raymond, returned home one day with the paperwork for the tour.

“I went to a couple of the after-school sessions and saw what it was about and I was immediately hooked,” Green said. “I couldn’t believe it. And to see it grow and how the kids, they take it so seriously – I had second-graders coming up to me two weeks after we gave out their lines and

saying, ‘Oh, we already know our lines!’”

Raymond has been taking part in the tour for five years and will head to Toll Gate next year, while Green’s daughter Adrianna has just one year left at Wyman.

However, he said he simply won’t be able to walk away from the tour next year.

He has a difficult time picking a favorite exhibit from among the “living museum” that is the walking tour, but he has a soft spot for the Christopher Rhodes Mansion.

“To see something like that, to see that house built in the way it was and to see it withstand the test of time and everything else,” Green said. “I like them all and they do a fantastic job. The kids, they’re the ones that make it.”

The tour starts in the park and moves up along Post Road before turning around at the cemetery and ending at the Armory.

Green said the ideal number of students to run the tour is 70. The minimum, he said, is 50, and any more than 70 can be difficult to control.

“It is probably something that you

will never see again in your life, because there’s no other place that’s going to do it,” Green said. “If you love your country, and you love the United States, and you love what we stand for, the freedom and the independence, then this is definitely something for you to come see. It all happened right here.”

The burning of the HMS Gaspee was one of the most significant events preceding the American Revolution. The attack took place in June 1772, predating both the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere’s midnight ride by three years.

The assault on the Gaspee was a watershed moment, and Green doesn’t want to let anyone forget it.

“This is where it started, right here,” he said. “It wasn’t the Boston Tea Party.

It was right here, right in our own backyard. It’s amazing to uncover all that history that happened right here, and you’re

living it. You’re living right where it happened. It’s unbelievable. Nobody can ever take it away from you.”

Green said the community support for the Walking Tour is tremendous. Village Cleaners, one of the sponsors, cleans all of the costumes. Students did canning fundraisers at Stop & Shop and Shaw’s this past weekend, raising more than $900.

Green also thanked the Wyman PTA and Principal Ron Celio, whose desire to keep participating in the Walking Tour has continued to drive one of Gaspee Days’ most notable events.

“It’s definitely become a program that’s part of the community over here,” he said. “They expect it. Everybody knows around here, every second or third week of May, it’s the Walking Tour. It kicks off the season. It’s the week before the Arts & Crafts Fair, and I don’t think that Gaspee would be the same without it, honestly.”

and ONE GREAT dining experience

70 shops, services & eateries GardenCityCenter.com 401.942.2800 I Route 2, Cranston, RI 02920 Managed by The Wilder Companies

15 • May 2019 • Gaspee Days

10 alfresco restaurants

Gaspee Days • May 2019 • 16