Category: Stillhouse Blog Page 2 of 3

Every Friday morning for the last six weeks, 40 Cranston school kids from all over the city (grades K -6) came to Stillhouse Cove as part of a summer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) camp program. Their teachers used the Cove as a laboratory regarding local ecology. EWPA’s Barbara Rubine and Donna Fieldman explained the challenges that erosion poses to the marsh and park and highlighted the different ways the problem is addressed at this location. On the last day of camp, in an effort to support the work of the EWPA, the students sold shells and rocks they had found along the shore and painted.

Exposition was grouped by grade level: K – 1 Group with teacher Berkis Rodriguez and TA Sheryl Peacock; Grades 2 – 3 with teacher Lena Cabral and TA Donna Pagano; and Grades 4 – 6 with teacher Keith Lavin and TA Hedy Tessier. This is the third consecutive year that Stillhouse Cove has hosted a STEM program.

Thanks to Scott Molloy for sending on this 1952 bus schedule for the Edgewood – Eddy Street line. It was a “trackless trolley” that required a turnaround in what is now Stillhouse Cove Park. Note that the first inbound departure was at 5:23 AM and that last outbound bus from downtown arrived at 12:35 AM.

On June 17, 2023, several volunteers spent a drippy Saturday morning cleaning up Stillhouse Cove Park. Colin Murphy, Tom Ladue, and Donna Fieldman concentrated on cleaning mold off the Park’s benches. Linda Sardone and Melissa Carden (with son Charlie) focused on the beach area and marsh edges. The benches look great!

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.

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.

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.