April 29, 2023: After the EWPA Annual Cleanup, Colin Murphy, Richard Finlay, Ray Mooney, and Garrett Quinn pulled a large piece of wood from Stillhouse Cove.
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BARBARA RUBINE, PRESIDENT, PRESENTED THIS YEAR’S AGENDA AND GOALS. Approximately sixty community members were in attendance.
PRESENTATIONS ON THIS YEAR’S MEETING THEME: The Future of Trees in Edgewood: Hear from Tree Experts on Where We Are and Where Are We Going. First, a 7-minute film was screened of David Schwartz, an arborist with over fifty years of experience, speaking of the special challenges to trees in urban Rhode Island.
Finally, our keynote speaker, Robert (Lou) Allard spoke about the RI Department of Environmental Management’s programs to encourage the conservation and promotion of urban trees in the State. After the presentation, he answered questions from the audience.
FIND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD’S TREE EQUITY SCORE HERE: You can even search your own house lot. www.treeequityscore.org
In 2015, the City of Cranston erected a rotary at the junction of Narragansett Blvd. and Ocean Avenue as a traffic calming measure. This followed years of incidents involving inebriated late-night speeders slamming into the area’s yards and houses. Since then, the Edgewood Waterfront Preservation Association (EWPA) has invested a considerable amount of energy and money in maintaining the shrubs and flowers in the rotary garden.
Unfortunately, the site continues to be abused by the same population of out-of-control drivers, resulting in frequent damage to the plantings (and their own vehicles). Neighbors come out to find a Kia or Nissan perched on the junipers. In 2020, a particularly creative driver bounced off the rotary and then proceeded to fly down Ocean Avenue through the barrier and into the Bay! It is not uncommon for large trucks to drive over the garden when they have difficulty negotiating the rotary.
In at least one case, the EWPA is seeking to recover the cost of the damage through a driver’s insurance company. Should the Rhode Island Liquor Stores Association adopt the spot?
VIEW A SHORT FILM ABOUT OUR ROTARY.
Super volunteers Donna Fieldman and Wenley Ferguson planted beach grass off Strathmore Place on a cold, blustery March 30, 2023 to replace the grasses that were washed away during the December 23, 2022 storm.
Cranston’s Departments of Public Works and Parks & Recreation brought in heavy equipment last week to clear large objects that were lodged in Stillhouse Cove following the near-record high tide of December 23, 2022. Participating were Ray Tessaglia, Parks and Recreation Director and John Corso, Highway Department Manager. Dennis Conte, City Mason, can be seen cutting up a dock.
Donald Macdonald returns to his childhood neighborhood several times a week to walk along the shore, write poems, and share his verse with new friends.
Tom Wojick traverses the same path with a camera capturing wonderful images at all seasons.
In 2022, the EWPA Board instituted monthly maintenance activities. These included the May seeding of the infiltration area; the July removal of invasive loosestrife from the salt marsh; and cleanups of the Park, the infiltration area, the boat ramp and the rotary.
Over the last several years, EWPA has engaged in a number discussions of potential flooding scenarios in our area. On December 23, 2022, we got a full-blown demonstration.
The Fox Point Hurricane Barrier was closed when the water level there peaked at 9.2 feet at 8 a.m. thanks to a 3.79-foot storm surge. It was the ninth-highest level ever recorded at the Fox Point gauge and the highest since Hurricane Bob in 1991.
The photos below demonstrate the flooding’s local impact.
On July 15, 2022, twenty Mystic Aquarium STEM Advantage campers from Cranston public schools (grades three to six) eagerly explored the water, shoreline and grass area at Stillhouse Cove. They proudly showed their friends the large clumps of seaweed and silversides, clams, and crabs they found.
Caitlyn Blankenship, statewide coordinator for STEM Advantage RI, said the campers visited Stillhouse Cove to learn how to be environmental stewards while advancing their knowledge on aquatic research. Campers took water samples to test the Cove’s Ph levels, oxygen and turbidity.
The campers were too engrossed in their activities to pay much attention to their high- profile visitors including Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and Cranston City council members Lammis Vargas, Jessica Marino and John Donegan. Also present were representatives from the United Way, the YMCA, the Rhode Island Foundation, and the Edgewood Waterfront Preservation Association (EWPA).
See the Cranston Herald article below for full details.
On December 7, 2022, more than two years of work by EWPA and a team composed of a filmmaker, an artist, and a mason culminated in the unveiling of the “End of the Line” trolley sculpture and historic marker.