By MERI R. KENNEDY MS Dream Center seeks 'Exceptional Individual' nominees The MS Dream Center is looking to reward outstanding individuals in the community by recognizing their efforts to "make a difference," and we need your help! Nominate someone for
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The MS Dream Center is looking to reward outstanding individuals in the community by recognizing their efforts to “make a difference,” and we need your help! Nominate someone for the “Exceptional Individual Contest” and tell us why you think that person is deserving of being acknowledged.
Three people will be chosen and each will receive two tickets to the upcoming “An Evening to Remember” event on Saturday, Sept. 25, starting at 6 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. Each person will receive special recognition at the event.
Entries must be received by Wednesday, Sept. 1, via online submission at msdreamcenter.org; please include contact information of nominator and nominee as winners will be contacted directly. Winners will be determined by representatives of the MS Dream Center and Accessible RI.
“Shakespeare Under the Stars” will come to Cranston on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 27-28, at the Governor Sprague Mansion, located on Cranston Street.
What Cheer, Shakespeare? Theatre Company, founded by Cranston resident Joseph Wallace and his partner Karen Valcourt, will be staging Shakespeare’s comedy “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at 7 p.m. both nights, weather permitting.
The company has been producing “Shakespeare Under the Stars” in various locations throughout southern New England. It is the longest continuously running Shakespeare company now performing in Rhode Island. With a style that can be best described as “irreverent,” the company strives to bring Shakespeare to everybody, regardless of their previous experience or knowledge. While remaining true to the text, the actors wear modern clothes, and there’s almost no scenery. The focus is on entertaining the audience with some of the greatest works ever produced.
Several members of Wallace’s and Valcourt’s Company are former students from the drama program at Cranston High School East, where Wallace has taught for 31 years. Several Rhode Island theater veterans also make up the cast and crew, including director Christopher Ferreira, who has worked for most of the amateur theater companies in the state.
Tickets for the event cost $20 online at eventbrite.com and $22 at the door. Children 14 and under will be admitted free of charge. For more information, call or text (508) 933-4233.
On Wednesday, Aug. 11, Garden City Center will wrap up its free summer concert series with an ’80s Night featuring the band Fast Times. The concert will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Gazebo. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be moved to Thursday, Aug. 12, at the same time. A shout-out to Audi Warwick for sponsoring this year’s concert series.
Black Lives Matter RI PAC, Cranston Forward and the Rhode Island Working Families Party will host a “How to Run for Office” training event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 22, at the Cranston Public Library’s Central Library at 140 Sockanosset Cross Road.
This training is geared toward people with little or no experience with campaigns and will cover everything from how to determine which office to run for, what you need to know in terms of deadlines and requirements, and what you need to do to have an effective campaign. The organizers encourage people to attend who want to help elect good people to public office, as well as anyone who may want to run for office or manage a campaign themselves.
A subsequent more in-depth training series will be offered by RI WFP in September 2021. People who are not Cranston residents may also attend, but in the event of limited capacity, preference will be given to Cranston residents and members of the co-hosting organizations.
To register, visit www.cranstonfwd.us/howtorun.
Do you want to design a garden, or rework an older one? Cranston Public Library invites you to join us for “Gardens by Design” on Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central branch.
Presenter Oliver Chamberlain will discuss the design ideas of Harold Caparn (1864-1945), president and fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Caparn taught a course on landscape architecture at Columbia University and designed many of the gardens in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Brooklyn, New York.
Chamberlain’s recently published book “A Clear Vision to Future Delight” is the basis for the discussion. Copies of the book will be for sale after the event.
The event is free and open to the public. To register, visit www.cranstonlibrary.org. For assistance, call (401) 943-9080, ext. 3, or email zach@cranstonlibrary.org.
Chamberlain was on the faculty of Bowling Green State University, Ohio, for 18 years, and spent the next decade as executive director of an arts center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He learned early about horticulture and garden design from his grandfather, a nurseryman, and his father, a horticulturist, who was a superintendent of the estate of the Chairman of Sears Roebuck.
Chamberlain was given Caparn’s archive in 2005, and following extensive research, published a comprehensive view of his work in 2013 and articles on him for the Cultural Landscape Foundation, in “Shaping the American Landscape” and in his book on Caparn’s works and writings. For more information, visit www.haroldcaparn.com.
St. Kevin’s Church in Warwick is hosting a yard sale and flea market on Saturday, Aug. 14, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will take place outdoors, weather permitting, at St. Kevin’s, located at 333 Sandy Lane. Sellers can purchase a booth for $20. To reserve a spot, or for any questions, contact Laurie at (401) 524-6207.
The Cranston Public Library presents “Lise Meitner: A Physics Love Story” on Saturday, Aug. 21 at 3 p.m.
In this virtual program, Edward Sierra will offer an engaging and informative presentation about the life and science of Lise Meitner. Meitner, born into a Jewish family, was an Austrian and later Swedish physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics. She was one of the great experimentalists of her day. Einstein dubbed her “Our German Madame Curie” during their Berlin heyday in the roaring 1920s.
Meitner is the unsung hero of nuclear fission, having played an essential role in its 1938 discovery. That year, when Hitler’s rise to power put all Jewish scientists at risk, Meitner made a daring escape out of Germany. She faced both gender and racial discrimination yet never ceased to pursue her work – the science that was the passion of her life.
This program is free and open to the public. To register, visit www.cranstonlibrary.org. For assistance, call (401) 943-9080, ext. 3, or email zach@cranstonlibrary.org. The Zoom link will be emailed shortly before the event.
Sierra began his career in the United States Navy. Upon completion of a two-year training program, Edward reported to the Electrical Division onboard the U.S.S. Billfish SSN-676, which was a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine. He went on to work as a field operator at the Hope Creek Nuclear Power Station in New Jersey, and then as a nuclear reactor operator at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is the president-elect of the Long Island Chapter of the American Nuclear Society. He has earned graduate degrees from New York Institute of Technology, Dowling College and Marist College.
Warwick Center for the Arts, located at 3259 Post Road in Warwick, will host “Resilience: a Juried Exhibit for Native American Artists” from July 31 through Sept. 4. An opening reception, free and open to the public, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 5.
This exhibit is a collaborative partnership between the Warwick Center for the Arts, Tomaquag Museum, and RISCA’s Atrium Gallery Travelling Exhibits. It is being curated by Angel Beth Smith of the Narragansett tribe, a professional artist with more than 30 years’ experience providing artistic content, teaching, and marketing support to academic institutions, churches and private organizations.
For more information, visit www.warwickcfa.org.
The Cranston Senior Enrichment Center’s RSVP program needs volunteers to help in many ways in the community. One is to transport homebound seniors to medical appointments or run errands for them.
The program is also seeking RSVP school readiness volunteers to assist Glen Hills Elementary School’s staff and students with an array of school activities and events.
Also needed are RSVP recycling volunteers who educate the community with assistance and guidance from Rhode Island Resource Recovery professionals on a variety of topics such as waste reduction and reuse, recycling and composting. Learn more about Resource Recovery – who they are, what they do, how they work, and much more, including a tour of the facility.
If you are interested in becoming a Cranston RSVP volunteer, contact Karen at 780-6159 for an interview. You must be 55 years of age or older to volunteer and a BCI is required. A mileage reimbursement is given to cover your travel cost. RSVP also provides insurance protection in the event that your or someone else is injured while performing your volunteer duties.
What if you do not drive or do not have a vehicle? No worries. RSVP will provide you with transportation to your volunteer station.
This year’s 49th annual St. Mary’s Feast Society 5.5-Mile Road Race will be held on Saturday, Aug. 14. Save the date, start training and stay tuned for more information.
Our Lady of Grace Church, located at 4 Lafayette St. in Johnston, would like invite vendors to participate in its Holiday Bazaar on Oct. 17. There will be crafters, vendors, a penny social, food and more. For information, contact Pat Leon at (401) 529-7592.
The annual Mayor’s Picnic will be held on Friday, Aug. 20, at Brayton Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Transportation will be provided from the Cranston Senior Enrichment Center.
Tickets go on sale July 12 and the cost is $3 per person. Call Lisa at 780-6215 to make your reservation.
Cranston High School East’s class of 1960 will hold its 61st reunion on Sept. 12, 2021, at the Cranston Country Club. A social hour will begin at noon and dinner with entertainment follows at 1 p.m.
The cost is $50 per person and the deadline to respond is Sept. 1. For details and reservations, contact Dolores DiMeo Carroll at (401) 942-0949 or dolores1120@verizon.net.
Ricky Gagnon, director of the New Hope Art Gallery located in the Cranston Senior Enrichment Center at 1070 Cranston St., has announced the gallery is once again open with a new show coming this fall.
Guests can come to see the current show in their large gallery located on two floors of the center. This show features wonderful art in many styles and media from 50 local, special needs and senior artists. Our current show will run until Oct. 1.
They will feature a new fall show with a scheduled opening on Tuesday Oct. 26, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Come visit and enjoy the art. Regular gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except holidays.
The dates of the 35th annual Cranston Greek Festival have been announced as Sept. 10-12, 2021. More updates will follow.
Attention all golfers 65 and older – if you are interested in golfing in a mixed league, the Over 65 Golf League, on Mondays at Harbor Lights, 150 Gray St., Warwick, please contact Carol Desforges at Desac63@gmail. Please indicate your name, phone number and email in your message.
To be a member or a spare (sub) in the league, you pay dues which include season play (May- Sept. 13, 2021), playoffs (Sept. 20- Oct. 4), scramble tournament (Oct. 13) and a banquet with distribution of prizes (Oct. 13). The membership dues are $55, or $30 for spares not attending the banquet.
Through the Books @ Home program, the Cranston Public Library provides free home delivery of books and other materials to qualifying, homebound residents of Cranston.
It doesn’t matter if you are permanently or temporarily homebound. Books, music and videos are delivered every three weeks at no charge.
For more information about Books @ Home, call the library’s Auburn Branch at (401) 781-6116 or visit www.cranstonlibrary.org/homebound-services.
Save the date – CCAP has announced plans to hold its 2021 Chip for Charity golf tournament on Wednesday, Sept. 15, at Harbor Light Golf Club in Warwick. Sponsorships and foursomes are available. For more details, contact CCAP’s Lee Beliveau at (401) 562-8353 or lbeliveau@comcap.org.
As a nonprofit community action program, CCAP needs to raise funds to assist families it serves. A large number of families CCAP serves have lost their jobs, suffered an illness, or experienced a different type of crisis, usually through no fault of their own. Last year, CCAP touched the lives of more than 40,000 people and provided over $1.2 million in uncompensated services.
Chip for Charity, presented by Neighborhood Health and Mutual of America, is CCAP’s largest fundraiser during the year to benefit its programs and services.
Be Kind RI is a new program that connects volunteers to their neighbors across Rhode Island through text alerts to coordinate food deliveries from grocery stores and food pantries. To sign up, go to BeKindRI.org. Volunteers must be 18 or older and undergo our background check. Be Kind RI is open to those in Rhode Island experiencing COVID-19 risk factors, including seniors 65 and older, anyone with underlying health conditions, those in quarantine or isolation, anyone experiencing a lack of childcare, and those who would otherwise experience difficulty in obtaining food. For assistance signing up, call 877-958-8785.
August was named in honor of Augustus Caesar and originated with the Roman calendar. It has 31 days because Augustus wanted as many days as Julius Caesar’s month of July had.
To submit your news from the community, email Meri R. Kennedy at CranstonChatter@aol.com. This includes virtual events which should be submitted two to three weeks ahead of the event. Photos in jpg format are accepted and news can include community events, promotions, academic news and nonprofit events. Email today and see your news in our column in the Cranston Herald.
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