By MERI R. KENNEDY Outdoor 'Hocus Pocus' screening to benefit blanket drive Cranston Cares and Emily's Blanket Drive will present a "Movies in the Park" event on Sunday, Oct. 24, starting at 6 p.m. at the Atwood Avenue softball field in Cranston. The
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Cranston Cares and Emily’s Blanket Drive will present a “Movies in the Park” event on Sunday, Oct. 24, starting at 6 p.m. at the Atwood Avenue softball field in Cranston. The movie “Hocus Pocus” will be shown on the big screen. Admission is free, but attendees are asked to bring a blanket donation to help those in need.
Emily’s Blanket Drive is organized by Emily Sanita, who was inspired by a conversation with Shawn O’Rourke at the Providence Rescue Mission about the needs and struggles of the state’s homeless population. She collected over 200 blankets for those in need and she is continuing her mission with the goal to collect 1,000 blankets. Blankets can also be dropped off at The Thirsty Braver starting Oct. 3.
Garden City Center is getting set for a “pawty” with its fall Yappy Hour event, held outdoors on the Gazebo green. Not only will you get to hang out with your fellow neighborhood dog lovers and their pups, but Garden City will also be unveiling the topiary of its mascot contest winner, Louie.
The event will be held on Sunday, Oct. 3, from noon to 2 p.m. Enjoy sweet treats and giveaways for both humans and pups.
It’s October, so organizers wouldn’t be upset if your pup wanted to wear their Halloween costume. They may even have some prizes for the best-dressed pups! Stroll through Garden City’s dog-friendly stores (stores that pups can enter will have a “dog-friendly shop” balloon out front).
There will also be a chance to meet adoptable pups from Heart of RI Animal Rescue.
Tickets cost $10 and directly benefit Heart of RI Animal Rescue. Visit Garden City Center’s Facebook page for more details and to sign up.
The Rhode Island Day of Portugal Committee is hosting its first-ever 5K Road Race & Walk on Saturday, Oct. 2, at Colt State Park in Bristol. The event will benefit Nathan’s Angels and the American Cancer Society.
Registration to run or walk in the all-ages 5K costs $25. Additional information is available at ridayofportugal.org.
According to the committee, the Day of Portugal is a holiday celebrated every June in every corner of the Portuguese-speaking world. It commemorates the death of the revered Portuguese poe Luís Vaz de Camões in 1580.
Garden City Center will hold “Boo & View,” a family-friendly Halloween movie night, on Wednesday, Oct. 13, from 4 to 9 p.m. Tickets cost $10 per family. The event will include a double feature of Halloween classics, activities and fun for kids of all ages.
Join in starting at 4 p.m. for Halloween crafts at the Gazebo, games, snacks and fun family photo moments.
Once the sun sets at 6 p.m., they will start their first showing of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (runtime 25 minutes), followed by a screening of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (runtime one hour and 16 minutes).
Visit Garden City Center’s Facebook page for more details and to sign up. Pre-registration is a must. The event is recommended for kids 12 and under. Families should bring chair or blanket for comfort to enjoy the show.
The Fall Festival is back at Confreda Greenhouses & Farms, located at 2150 Scituate Ave. in Cranston.
This year’s festival theme is “Rhode Island Strong.” The activities include hayrides, the Corn MAiZE, the Animal Backyard and Pumpkin Patch.
For full information on the Fall Festival, visit confredasfallfest.com.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Donation Center will be in Cranston on Tuesdays in October, providing free curbside pickups for clothing, shoes, and small cloth items like blankets, towels and curtains. To schedule your free curbside pickup, visit website at bigsri.org/donateri or call (401) 921-2434, option 2.
A free farmers market with fresh vegetables, courtesy of CCAP and the OneCranston Health Equity Zone, is available from 4:30 to 6 p.m. every Thursday through Oct. 28. The market is located at the Oak Street parking lot at Bain Middle School.
The Gaspee Seniors will meet on Tuesday Oct. 5, at the Pilgrim Senior Center. The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m., and it will be apple dessert day. The following meeting will be on Oct.19 and will be the collection for the West Bay Market. Gaspee Seniors have seven new members and all new members are welcome.
The Rhode Island Dahlia Society will once again be able to hold in-person meetings at the Cold Spring Community Center, on Beach Street in North Kingstown. The next meeting will be Sunday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. and all are welcome to attend. This month’s program will be “Labeling Dahlias, Digging Tubers, and Saving Seeds.” The topic includes labeling/identifying your flowers prior to digging, how to dig up the tubers, and saving seeds for propagation. Storage methods will be covered in November's meeting. Please visit rhodeislanddahliasociety.org for more information.
In honor of Library Card Sign-Up Month, the Cranston Public Library is hosting a library card design contest. One winner from each age group (0-13 and 14-plus) will be chosen to have their artwork featured on a limited-edition Cranston Public Library card.
The contest is open to Cranston residents of all ages. You must have an OSL library card to enter. Those who do not have a library card can stop by any Cranston Public Library branch or visit cranstonlibrary.org/get-library-card to sign up for a library card, today.
Entry forms are available at any Cranston Public Library branch or can be printed at home at cranstonlibrary.org/library-card-contest. Submissions may be in any art medium (pencil, pen, paint, crayon, digital art, etc.) The entry deadline is 5 p.m. on Sept. 30. No late submissions will be accepted.
For full contest rules and information, visit cranstonlibrary.org/library-card-contest.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Rhode Island chapter will offer a Family-to-Family course beginning Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 6:30 p.m. This is a free and virtual eight-session educational program for family, significant others and friends of people with mental health conditions. It is a designated evidenced-based program. Research shows that the program significantly improves the coping and problem-solving abilities of the people closest to a person with a mental health condition.
NAMI Family-to-Family is taught by trained family members who have personal family experience and includes presentations, discussions and interactive exercises.
For more information or to register for this evidence-based program, visit namirhodeisland.org, call (401) 331-3060 or email beth@namirhodeisland.org.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and its Rhode Island chapter are offering some new youth content that may be helpful to local families as students return to school.
NAMI has completely overhauled the Kids, Teens and Young Adults section of its website, nami.org/youth. There are sections written for caregivers of children and sections written for teen and young adult audiences. Topics include when/how to ask for help and how to get it, what to do in crisis situations, how to talk about mental health, mental health and school, and so much more.
For more information on local resources, visit the Rhode Island chapter of NAMI at namirhodeisland.org, call (401) 331-3060, or email the local office at info@namirhodeisland.org.
The Cranston Parks and Recreation Department is excited to announce the return of its Women’s Fitness program for women age 18 and older.
The program will run through June 24, 2022. Classes will be held at the Pastore Youth Center, 155 Gansett Ave.
Mondays will be “Dance Aerobics” with Cathy from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays will be “Tunes and Tone” with Kristin from 6 to 7 p.m. Please bring one- to three-pound weights for Kristin’s class.
Please note the day and times for each class, as they have changed from previous years. When there is a Monday holiday, class will be held on Tuesday of that week from 5 to 6 p.m.
The registration fee is $40 for both nights and $20 for one night for each 10-week session. There will be four sessions total.
Session dates are as follows: Sept. 13 to Nov. 17 (Oct. 11 moved to Oct. 12); Nov. 29 to Feb. 2 (Jan. 3 and 17 moved to Jan. 4 and 18); Feb. 7 to April 13 (Feb. 21 moved to Feb. 22); and April 18 to June 22 (May 30 moved to May 31).
Register through the Google Form available at this link: forms.gle/M6CfsuqaeaMJwAdXA.
Payment in the form of a check or money order can be brought to class or mailed to the Recreation Department.
A walk to call attention to food insecurity and raise funds for local pantries is being planned by a group of area churches, including Woodbury Union, Lakewood Baptist, St. Benedict, St. Kevin, and St. Mark’s. The walk will be held on Saturday, Oct. 16. An informational planning meeting will be held on Saturday, Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. at Woodbury Union Church at 58 Beach Ave. in Warwick. All interested community churches, organizations and individuals are invited to attend. Call (401) 737-8232 or email woodburychurchri@gmail.com for more information.
On Sunday, Oct. 3, the group Hey 19 from Rhode Island, The Midnight Callers from New York City, and Soul Box and The Deluxtones from Boston will join in for a Rock & Roll Music Fest to benefit children in treatment at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston. Tickets cost $20 per person. The event will be held at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, located at 60 Rhodes Place in Cranston. For tickets and more information, follow the event’s Facebook page or visit eventbrite.com.
The Cranston High School East Thunderbolt Marching Band Invitational is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 16, at 6 p.m. at Cranston Stadium. More details to follow.
The Cranston Senior Enrichment Center has announced that the Cranston Senior Golf Tournament is back. The event will be held at the Cranston Country Club on Oct. 4-5 with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Registration costs $85 per person and includes 18 holes of golf with cart, continental breakfast, grilled hot dog and chips, a banquet immediately following play, and a great day of fun for all. For more information, call Jane at the center at (401) 780-6220.
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 50th class reunion for Mt. Pleasant High School will be held on Oct. 29 at the Santa Maria DiPrata Society, located at 29 Walnut Grove Ave. in Cranston. The evening will begin at 6:30 and run through 11:30 p.m.
Tickets cost $50 per person. Please contact Vin DeTora at (401) 232-0856 or Joan LaVallee Gelfuso at (401) 578-2220 and RSVP by Oct. 5.
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 (401) 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.
The East Greenwich Art Club will be exhibiting members’ work at Crestar Picture Framing, 51 Liberty St. in East Greenwich. The public is invited to the opening on Tuesday, Oct. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m., to meet the artists. It is a free event. The artwork may be viewed at Crestar until Monday, Oct.18, during their open hours.
The club will also be exhibiting small works at North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone St., North Kingstown, during the library’s hours, from Saturday, Oct. 2, until Friday, Nov.19.
New members are encouraged to join the club. For more information about the two exhibits or becoming a member, email info@eastgreenwichartclub.org or visit eastgreenwichartclub.org.
October’s birthstone is the Opal, which was valued by the Ancient Romans as the most priceless of all. The opal comes in a myriad of striking colors that often seem to swirl together and is a symbol of faithfulness, purity and hope.
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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