Seniors and their parents from Warwick’s Pilgrim High School descended on Stillhouse Cove on June 1, 2023 to take advantage of the Park’s beauty for prom photos. Traffic nearly came to a standstill on Narragansett Blvd.
Category: Stillhouse Blog
Marc Clamage of Mansfield, MA chose a perfect May day to capture the colors of Stillhouse Cove. His work can be seen at:
https://www.ipaintwhatisee.com
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.
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.
By Trent Batson
May 27, 2022
Years ago, one of our daughters took up residence on Ocean Avenue and I, a retired university professor, had the privilege of walking her dog at Stillhouse Cove when she and her husband were at work. I loved the Cove as did Calypso, the dog.
More recently, I’ve had another privilege — serving on the Board of the Edgewood Waterfront Preservation Association that maintains Stillhouse Cove. I’ve stepped down from the Board now but wanted to continue to contribute to the EWPA in some way. My current research work is about human evolution and climate change — and, in these blogs, I’ll write about how those two relate to the good work at Stillhouse Cove.
I am launching, with the support of the EWPA Board, a monthly series of blogs about Stillhouse Cove and resilience work as climate change presents ever greater challenges to that work. The EWPA has done model work on resilience in the Cove and this blog series celebrates that work while also describing the larger context of how humanity is dealing with the climate crisis.
What happens at Stillhouse Cove is a microcosm of shorelines around the world and so is well worth following.
Musing on the Cove
You can sit on a bench in Stillhouse Cove in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, facing east, looking out over the bay, and watch the dawn break. Many do. Sometimes, in the rain. I told my granddaughter, when fog obscured the far shore, that the East Bay part of Rhode Island had floated away.
As you sit, song sparrows may sing or, in season, you may hear redwing blackbirds. You might see an Osprey bank over the water — or seagulls or cormorants — and geese or ducks feeding on the shoreline.
The sun reflecting off the Bay glitters. Dogs, walking their owners, sniff on by. Runners, silent on their feet, ghost past. Cars are surprisingly quiet as drivers slowly take in the scene.
In season, the sight of sailboats and “stinkpots” at the Yacht Club adds a sense of elegance and adventure.
Out in the channel, large freighters slip on down the bay, or churn up the Bay, heading for the Port of Providence.
And the Bay water, ever moving, full of life, remains unconcerned.
One can slip out of time sitting on that bench.