Gaspee Days 2025 by Beacon Media

★ Gaspee Days ★ 2025

The RI Fire Chiefs Honor Flight Hub salutes the Gaspee Day HEROES

Our Mission:

arciano to lead Gaspee Days Parade m

A familiar face in Warwick, Father Robert Marciano has been selected as Grand Marshal of this year’s Gaspee Days parade.

Known to parishioners as Father Bob, Marciano is currently Pastor of Saint Kevin Parish and school. He is also President Emeritus of Bishop Hendricken High School, having stepped down from the role of president last year.

“Sarah Peshka from the Gaspee Days committee came to my house a few weeks ago with [former] Mayor Avedisian, who introduced us. She asked me to be Grand Marshal and I said they must be running out of candidates to ask,” he laughs.

“I really wanted this year’s chair to be somebody local to Warwick,” says Peshka, who as Parade Chair gets to make the final call about who gets to lead the parade, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this June. “And it was a super easy decision. Father Bob is super involved with the police

and fire departments and with Hendricken. He always does a lot of committee outreach. He really stood out above everyone else.”

Peshka’s parents have been active with the Gaspee Days committee for decades.

“This is my first year running the parade, but the joke in my family is that I’ve been taking part in it since literally before I was born,” she said.

She formerly worked at the Warwick Police Department. “I saw the impact he had on oﬃcers there. He’s just a really good guy. Incredibly kind, very easy to work with, very accommodating.”

“As a Warwick native, it’s a great honor to be designated,” Marciano says.

He grew up going to the old Saint Francis of Assisi school and later Bishop Hendricken, graduating in 1975. He has marched in the Gaspee Days parade many times.

“I usually walk with either the police department or the fire department, since I’m the chaplain for both departments. They fight over me,” he laughs. “Ah, well it’s nice

to be loved.”

This year Marciano won’t be walking in the parade at all. The Grand Marshal gets to sit in a convertible.

Last year Marciano got the Bishop Hendricken Marching Band to perform in the parade, a first for the school, something he says is fun for the band and also great PR for the school.

Must Attend Events at

“It’s all families,” he says about the parade, “and it’s a very big event. Warwick is a very family-oriented town, so it brings out a lot of people. People camp out the night before, they get very excited. And patriotism is on the rise right now. And then it all ends with people partying at the end of the route in Cranston.”

● MARCIANO to page 19

Beacon Media photo

awtuxet Rangers mark a changing of the guard Recruitment is a top priority p

By MATTHEW LAWRENCE

Few things make people unhappier than tariﬀs. It’s as true today as it was in 1772, when a group of Rhode Island men set fire to the HMS Gaspee, a revenue schooner that patrolled Narragansett Bay to enforce customs laws.

Two years later, the Pawtuxet Rangers were founded on October 29, 1774, to protect Pawtuxet Village.

Along with Gloucester Light Infantry in Chepachet and the Kentish Guards in Newport, the Rangers was one of several militias set up in the state before the Revolution.

Actually, the charters for the Kentish Guards and the Pawtuxet Rangers were signed on the same day, but since the Newport militia’s charter was signed earlier in the day, they have the right to march ahead of the Rangers in every parade except Gaspee Days.

In 1972, Pawtuxet’s fife and drum corps was resurrected in advance of the country’s bicentennial in 1976. In 1974, the Rangers were reactivated by Robert Lynch, still under the original 1774 charter.

Lynch was the first Commander of the rejuvenated Rangers and remained in charge until 1998. The next Commander was K. Frederick Holst, followed by Ronald W. Barnes, who took the helm in 2004 and remained until last month.

Today the Rangers operate under the umbrella of the National Guard and formally serve as troops of the governor. Pawtuxet Village has been pretty safe for over a century now, so most often they are called upon to perform ceremonial duties at state functions.

Wanting to branch out a bit, Barnes stepped down in April and now focuses his time on the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in Boston. The new Commander is Col. Philip Rowell, now in his sixteenth year with the Rangers. He began as a private, firing muskets in parades, but has been the Executive Oﬃcer (second in command) since 2017.

Rowell has lived in Rhode Island since he was two years old, growing up in the Lakewood neighborhood of Warwick. He now lives in Edgewood. He recently retired from his day job with Southern Rhode Island Newspaper Group.

The rangers operate out of Armory Hall. Discretely located on quiet Remington Street, it was built by the state for the Rangers in 1843, after the they supported Governor Samuel Ward King during the Dorr Rebellion. At the time, only white male landowners were allowed to vote in elections, and Dorrites were a group of disenfranchised mill workers and other election reformers who believed that land ownership should not be a prerequisite

Waterfront Dining at RIYC

Col. Philip Rowell of Cranston, now in his sixteenth year with the Rangers, is the new commander. Submitted photo by Jim Turner

to voting.

Lt. Col. Ken Gilbert is now Executive Oﬃcer, the second in command after Rowell. A member of the Rangers since 1988, he grew up in the Village and became interested after a member visited a class he was taking about Rhode Island History at CCRI. He too is recently retired, having worked in quality control for AstroNova Aerospace. A man who likes to keep busy, Gilbert is on the board of Warwick Historical Society, chairs the Gaspee Encampment Committee, and builds model ships in his spare time. His replica of what the Gaspee may have looked like is on the second floor of Armory Hall.

Lt. Adrian Beaulieu is the Rangers’ new Adjutant—“the paper shuﬄing job,” according to Rowell. He joined

● RANGERS to page 19

Colonel Philip Rowell, Commanding Officer From pawtuxetrangers.com

Coastal1 Credit Union was founded on the principle of “people helping people.” That’s why we’re proud to celebrate Gaspee Days! Because we believe that supporting our community is the smarter way to bank.

Enjoy the Celebration

Members

the Pawtuxet Rangers fire off a volley during the 2017 Gaspee Days Parade as participants and people along the parade route look on. Beacon Media photo

Paid for by Friends of Bill Foley, Martha Foley, Treasurer

The Pawtuxet Rangers are one of the few historical militia in the country to have a fife and drum corp. Submitted photo

awtuxet Rangers HQ remains a vibrant piece of history p

The Pawtuxet Rangers operate out of Armory Hall. Discretely located on quiet Remington Street, it was built by the state for the Rangers in 1843, after the they supported Governor Samuel Ward King during the Dorr Rebellion.

At the time, only white male landowners were allowed to vote in elections, and Dorrites were a group of disenfranchised mill workers and other election reformers who believed that land ownership should not be a prerequisite to voting.

The Armoy’s first-floor museum was an Eagle Scout service project for James Rowell, the son of the Ranger’s new commander Col. Philip Rowell. Since then, other Eagle Scouts have organized diﬀerent rooms of the building into exhibition spaces. A memorial garden on the property was another Eagle Scout

● MUSEUM to page 13

An entire portion of an upstairs room is dedicated to teaching about the burning of the Gaspee, and includes paintings and historical artifacts. Beacon Media photo

Catholic Cemeteries

of the Diocese of Providence

For years, Catholic Cemeteries has made it a mission to bury the dead and encourage families to be laid to rest on consecrated Holy ground. Today our mission remains the same. As we adapt to meet our families’ needs while abiding by the teachings of the Church

Catholic Cemeteries works diligently on providing many options based on both the family’s preference and nancial concern of a nal resting place. We o er both traditional in-ground burial as well as Mausoleum entombment. You can inquire by calling 401-742-0796 to schedule an appointment.

Ensure the gi of pre-planning for you or a loved one by o ering peace of mind knowing that your family won’t have to make di cult decisions during the stressful time.

We understand our veterans are o en brought to our national or state veterans’ cemeteries to be with their brothers in arms. In as much, those locations are o en a far drive to visit or may hold limitations with burials. Catholic Cemeteries honors all who have served with a veteran discount on any grave space located in any of our numerous cemeteries. Our Veteran section located at Resurrection cemetery is a serene setting where all can visit to pay homage to their loved ones. e central monument and memorial bricks within this section enable families to memorialize their loved one regardless of nal resting place.

Ranger Ronald Barnes stands by the door which once provided entry to the Sabin Tavern, the local spot where colonial patriots planned to board and burn the HMS Gaspee, a significant event leading up to the Revolutionary War. Beacon Media photo 2018

A modern Pawtuxet Ranger uniform on display at the company’s new museum exhibit at the Pawtuxet Armory Hall. Beacon Media photo 2018

Pawtuxet

Pawtuxet Rangers insignia on display in the militia’s Armory. It is one of many colonial artifacts that is on display at the Armory museum.

project.

The company shut down in the 1850s when it seemed like Pawtuxet Village no longer needed protection, and the Hall was sold to Harmony Lodge, a Masonic group. Later it became storage for Pawtuxet’s volunteer fire department, and then it was sold to a private resident.

The Hall has been updated considerably since it first opened. Originally, the floor would have been made of oyster shells, a safer alternative to wood in a space used to store firearms and gunpowder.

The space has a medical display case with items brought out for encampments, to show how injuries might have been treated in the 18th century.

Upstairs rooms are dedicated to the building’s history. One room is about its Masonic period. Another is about the Gaspee Committee. Another is a library with about 500 titles that anyone can browse by contacting the Rangers to set up a time.

● MUSEUM from page 10

Armory Photo courtesy of Pawtuxet Rangers

ll are welcome to Gaspee service at Trinity a

Along with the parade, the oldest Gaspee Days tradition is a service at Trinity Episcopal Church, also celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2025. It’s called the Community Service and Concert for Gaspee Days, and this year it takes place on Tuesday, June 10.

“In 1965 there was the service, the parade, and that’s it,” says former Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, one of the organizers of the service. Though hosted at the church, the service is actually organized by the Gaspee Days Committee. It made sense for the former Warwick mayor to get involved, since he was a former committee president and a senior warden at the church (essentially the liaison between the pastor and the congregation).

The service has evolved over time. First it was an Episcopal service, then it became an Ecumenical service, meaning that other Christian denominations were involved. Later it became an Interfaith service, with non-Christian religious leaders participating including a rabbi and an imam. Now it’s a broader service for the whole community.

“Local clergy will also play a part through readings and prayer,” Rev. Susan Wrathall says via email. “We will hear a brief history of the Gaspee and remarks from the Gaspee Days Committee and 2025 Parade Grand Marshall.”

“It’s about people coming together to think about what Gaspee Days means and what America means in these times,” Avedisian says. “The service has evolved for the better.”

Another big change is the date. Last year the service moved from the morning of the parade to the Tuesday evening prior.

“We moved it away from the parade last year because it was too much,” says Mark Russell, another organizer of the event. “Nobody came, and it was almost unbearable for Gaspee Committee members. Last year was the first year it wasn’t on parade day, and it works much better that way.”

“Mother Susan will open the service, I will welcome people, and then we move on to singing lots of patriotic songs,” says Avedisian. “There will be thoughtful remarks from the

committee president, Mother Susan, the Grand Marshal of the parade who this year happens to also be a priest, and others, with everyone talking about our hopes and aspirations for the future. Where do we want to go as a people? Where do we want to go as a group?”

“We have a rabbi coming, and the pastor from Pawtuxet Baptist church,” says Russell. “We made it more into a concert than a prayer service. We’ll have the St Peter’s Children’s Choir, the West Bay Chorale and the Trinity Choir.”

\“There will be a few prayers, because we are after all in a church,” says Avedisian, “but we respect that this event is all about the community coming together.” According to the church’s website, the Episcopal Church is an inclusive church, aﬃrming the dignity and equality of all human beings.

“And then we have a little reception after in the basement of the church,” says Russell. “There’s been a resurgence of people wanting to know about our history and how we got to where we are,” Avedisian notes. “It’s going to be a good year for everyone.”

In June 2020, during COVID, the Pawtuxet Rangers played a selection of songs followed by the firing of muskets in an abbreviated and somewhat private –so as not to draw a crowd – observance of Gaspee Days. Beacon Media file photo

Trinity Church on Ocean Ave in Cranston will host a service on Tuesday, June 10. Beacon Media photo by Matthew Lawrence

Carving the way

Coastal

photo by Matthew Lawrence

elping each other is all part of the business h

In the middle of Pawtuxet Village, a small bookshop has been keeping locals entertained for forty-five years. Twice Told Tales was first opened by Kathy and Chuck DeGrace in 1980. After a decade and a half, the couple moved north and sold the business to Karen Calkins, who still operates the store today.

“I took over the store when I retired from teaching,” Calkins says. In her earlier life, she taught high school, started the medical assistant program at Bryant College (now Bryant University), and studied computer information systems. “Now I’m in my thirty-first year here.”

In 2012 Calkins moved the shop a few blocks away from its first location at the corner of Bridge and Broad Streets, into the Village Art and Antiques space at 2145 Broad Street. The two businesses now exist side-by-side. More spacious than the previous shop, the new space allowed Calkins to begin stocking other items, including women’s clothing, as well as expanding cards and the children’s book section.

The books are mostly towards the back of the store. The store primarily consists of gently used titles which change regularly. Most recently a large collection of sci-fi paperbacks was sold to the store. The cookbook section is always well stocked. Calkins says it’s a big hit with culinary students at nearby Johnson and Wales.

“I try to support locals,” she says, and sells Pawtuxetthemed items like coasters and stationery. Coastal Carve Engravings makes laser cut maps and wooden ornaments that map local shorelines.

There’s a section of the store dedicated to local authors like historian Henry A.L. Brown and Janet Hudon Hartman, who lives in the Village and wrote a biography of Ephraim Bowen, Jr., a man who at the age of 19 was the youngest in the party that burned the Gaspee. The shop has some signed copies of books by local poets and authors, as well as coastal-themed guides to lighthouses and kayaking.

Aside from books, the shop also carries a number of items made right in the neighborhood, like Ian Sanderson’s wooden boat replicas and hand-painted shells.

“I thought about doing away with the books when Borders closed and everyone said that books were over. Everyone thought Kindles and iPads were the future, but they weren’t. We actually got a bump in business once Borders wasn’t around. People still like to have a book,” she said.

Since the Borders chain closed in 2011, Twice Told Tales has been the only general interest bookstore in Cranston.

Calkins describes herself as a book lover. She even stocks the Village’s Little Free Libraries. “I was an avid reader and supporter of local libraries,” she says, though she admits that running the store has severely reduced

her free time for reading.

“Running a business chews up a lot of time,” Calkins says. “It would be nice to travel.”

The right half of the shop is Village Art & Antiques, owned by Warwick residents Lil Mangan and Pam Sheridan. The shop oﬀers a mix of items.

“We used to specialize in fine china and glassware,” Mangan says, “but that’s less popular now. We have a lot of costume jewelry, because Rhode Island was the costume jewelry capital. What else? We like artwork, we like pottery. Really we never know what people will bring us.”

“We help each other,” Magnan says about the two businesses sharing space.

The shop owners decorate for Gaspee Days with flowers and bunting, but they stay closed on the day of the parade. “There are too many people, it’s a madhouse. We wouldn’t even be able to get in to open the store,” says Calkins, an Edgewood resident. The shop’s cozy layout isn’t meant for throngs of people.

Though the doors will remain closed, both Calkins and Mangan are big fans of the parade day. “We’re extremely proud of Gaspee Days,” Magnan says. “There’s so much community involvement putting it together.”

“We especially like to support other merchants in the Village,” Calkins adds. “It’s tough to be in business these days.”

Karen Calkins stocks the little lending library at Twice Told Tales. Beacon Media photo by Joy Fox

Karen Calkins of Twice Told Tales along with Pam Sheridan and Lil Mangan of Village Art and Antiques were ready for holiday shoppers last season. Beacon Media photo by Joy Fox

Gaspee Day Parade. 2024 Beacon Media photo. To the delight of spectators, the Gaspee burns in Pawtuxet Cove. 2024 Beacon Media photo

The Saint Kevin Parish and School Community are Proud to Announce Father Robert Marciano

as the Grand Marshal of the 2025 Gaspee Day Parade

“I’m deeply honored and proud to be named Grand Marshal of the 2025 Gaspee Days Parade—it’s an honor and privilege to celebrate our rich history and the spirit of freedom with this incredible community,”

– Father Marciano, KCHS, Pastor of Saint Kevin Church

Join the Saint Kevin Parish and School Community as We Celebrate

Friday, June 6th - 6pm • Warwick Country Club

$100 per person | $175 per couple

Tickets can be purchased at the St. Kevin Parish Office

Channel 12’s Mike Montecalvo and Tony Petrarca will serve as celebrity auctioneers

Gala Honorees

Distinguished Service Award:

Lt. General Reginald Centracchio, USA Adjutant General Rhode Island National Guard Retired

Saint Kevin Medal of Honor Winners: Judy O’Neil, PhD, Parish Trustee, Saint Kevin Church

Jeanine Woodmansee, Dean of Faculty, Saint Kevin School

Bryan and Maryann Barrette, Music Ministry, Saint Kevin Church

All proceeds to benefit the Saint Kevin School’s Mission of Excellence in Education

He has received numerous honors for his work, and in 2023 was promoted by Pope Benedict to become Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre, a papal order first founded almost 1000 years ago.

Father Bob also spent time in Washington, where he was Chief of Chaplains for the Air National Guard from 20082010. Upon returning to Rhode Island he assumed new duties as State Command Chaplain for the Rhode Island National Guard and JFHQ Chaplain. He is the first RI Air National Guard Chaplain to achieve

the rank of Colonel and to serve in that capacity. He retired from that position in 2016, after 36 years of service as an Air Force Chaplain.

Marciano also served as the pastor of Sts. Rose and Clement, where he served for 12 years.

Earlier this year he received the Captain Michael Forde award from the Warwick Police Department for outstanding service to the community and in February received the Distinguished Service award from the Warwick Fire Department.

“I wear a lot of hats,” he says. “It’s been a long road, and I love every minute of it.”

● RANGERS from page 7

a few years ago after retiring from Providence College, where he was Dean of International Studies. He has lived in the Village since 2007.

“My goals as Commander are first to get through the transition,” says Rowell. “And then to increase membership numbers and entice younger people into the ranks. Three or four younger men have recently joined the musket line, but we need more.”

The Rangers can be seen in the encampment at Pawtuxet Park during Gaspee Days. They also march in the parade, their striking red uniforms impossible to miss.

“It’s important to preserve history,” says Gilbert. “It keeps it alive.”

“This was Bob Lynch’s idea back in the 1970s,” Rowell says. He wanted a uniform that looked striking in parades.

Lynch also had another motive. Since recreations of Colonial battles were becoming popular in the 1970s, he thought the red uniforms would get the Rangers hired to play the Redcoats in these mock battles. It worked.

“Now somebody boos us in every parade because they think we’re British,” says Beaulieu.

Anyone interested in joining the Rangers can visit the signup table during the Arts and Crafts Fair on Memorial Day weekend.

Lt. Adrian Beaulieu is the Rangers’ new Adjutant. Submitted photo by Jim Turner

Lt. Col. Ken Gilbert is now Executive Officer of the Pawtuxet Rangers. Submitted photo by Jim Turner

● MARCIANO from page 4

Father in uniform at an event at the Bishop Hendriken Prayer Garden in 2022. Beacon Media photo

Congratulations Fr. Marciano

Father Marciano,

Congratulations on being nominated Grand Marshal! What an amazing honor! Your dedication to our community truly shines through. ank you for all the wonderful work you do as Pastor of Saint Kevin Church and School, and as the Chaplain for the Warwick Police and Fire Departments. You are, SIMPLY THE BEST!

Discover Rhode Island's Revolutionary Story

Upcoming Events

Visit the RI250 Community Calendar and stay up-to-date about upcoming events in your community!

Rhode Island’s story is unique, and as we approach the nation’s Semiquincentennial anniversary, there will be opportunities to learn about and engage with Rhode Island’s history throughout our state. We invite all Rhode Islanders and visitors to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States by joining the RI250 Commission and community partners for upcoming events!