Above: An earlier time: Skating in front of Eldredge Field circa 1970s. The EGFD used to flood the field in the winter to create an ice rink. Photo courtesy of Bruce Mastracchio. Photographer unknown
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This Week
Monday, January 22
Town Council meeting – The meeting takes place in Council Chambers at Town Hall at 7 p.m. They will be hearing from the Land Trust about a two-year work plan, will sit as the Board of Licensures for some liquor license renewals, and will vote on awarding a bid for construction of two pickleball courts at Academy Field. They will also discuss the school construction plan as well as the formation of a school construction committee that will see the school construction related to the $150M bond approved by voters last November through to completion. Find the full agenda, including the Zoom link, HERE.
EG Republican Town Committee meeting – The EGRTC welcomes guest speakers Jennifer and Sean O’Leary, of Greenwich Bay Brokers, who will discuss the future of East Greenwich real estate by examining the trends, forecasting the market movements, and revealing rising neighborhoods in 2024. The EGRTC will also be highlighting its focus on the upcoming election and efforts to bring balance to the community and the state. The meeting takes place at Safehouse Restaurant. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7.
Tuesday, January 23
School Committee meeting – Among the items on the agenda is a discussion of the special education audit. The panel meets in the library at Cole Middle School at 6 p.m. Find the agenda (and Zoom link) HERE.
Zoning Board meeting – The meeting takes place in Council Chambers at Town Hall at 7 p.m. Find the full agenda, including the Zoom link, HERE.
Business After Hours – The EG Chamber’s monthly Business After Hours will be at Healthtrax, 1000 Division St., from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free to members and nonmembers alike. Register by emailing [email protected] or 401-885-0020.
NK Community Chorus Rehearsals Resume – Rehearsals for the Winter season of the North Kingstown ADULT CHORUS will begin on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, with registration at 6:30 p.m. and rehearsal at 7 p.m. YOUTH CHORUS begins rehearsal on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 5:30 p.m. The ADULT CHORUS welcomes everyone from high school students to senior citizens. No prior experience or audition is needed. The chorus meets weekly on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. Rehearsals for the Spring 2024 season will be held at Quidnessett Elementary School, 166 Mark Dr., N.K. Auditions and North Kingstown residency are not required. The Youth Chorus rehearses weekly on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the same location. Online registration is available for both choruses at www.nkchorus.org. For more information, call 401-573-7564 or email at [email protected].
Thursday, January 25
School Building Committee meeting – The advisory panel will meet at 8 a.m. at Swift Community Center.
Friday, January 26
Shrek the Musical, Jr. – Eldredge presents Shrek the Musical, Jr., in the auditorium at the high school at 6 p.m.
Saturday, January 27
Shrek the Musical, Jr. – Eldredge presents Shrek the Musical, Jr., in the auditorium at the high school at 11 a.m.
Looking Ahead …
Tuesday, February 6
East Greenwich Art Club meeting – At the club’s monthly meeting, Robert Horton will present Starscapes and Constellations: “Easy” Astrophotography. After a brief meeting, Horton, the manager of Astronomy Labs and the Labs Observatory at Brown University, will discuss how easy it is to take dramatic photos with minimal equipment, as he provides a few tips on creating beautiful images of stars, the moon, planets, and other celestial treasures from your own backyard. Horton has been an active observer and astrophotography maker for close to 50 years. The meeting and presentation take place at the United Methodist Church, 1558 South County Trail, from 7 to 9 p.m. It’s free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact the club at: [email protected], or at the website: www.eastgreenwichartclub.org.
Wednesday, February 7
Planning Board meeting – The panel meets in Council Chambers at Town Hall at 7 p.m. The agenda (and Zoom link) will be available closer to the meeting date.
Monday, February 12
Town Council meeting – The panel meets the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers at Town Hall. The agenda (and Zoom link) will be available closer to the meeting date.
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Typo? It’s the Ladd Observatory at Brown University.
Not sure it’s a typo. Maybe just how his job is titled?
Re: The Picture
The outside courts at Academy Field would also be flooded for the similar purpose. But no denying Bleachery Pond was the more popular place people would go to skate. Now you can download the App.
Across Middle Road to the north is Payne’s pond as evidenced by gravestones along Cedar Avenue. Since these ponds were fed by marshes as this town is realizing, when frozen some kids would walk from Dedford Plat on the frozen marsh to get to Payne’s where most of the hockey games were played. Bobby, Dana, David, to name a few. To get to Payne’s from Kenyon one would cross through Gene (or Jean) Eddy’s property. Such intrusion was never suspect as everyone knew bout everyone. Cops weren’t as regularly summoned.
Nearly as school was over and mainly as long as EGVFD approved the safety of these ponds, people were skating.
I don’t ever recall the EGVFD testing the cove or for that matter the pond by Trafalgar being approved for skating or for that matter driving a car on the former. Generally a hearth would be laid out by the cove or on the ice at Trafalgar.
Bill and his brother Ned each year would be seen just south of what is now the Transfer Station spearing for eel after chopping through a 6-8”+ sheet of ice as each tide that rolled in would leave a layer as the tide receded.
At times if ever inclined one could walk from Goddard Park across the ice to Buttonwoods, Warwick.
The original rope swing on the Cedar Avenue side of Bleachery before homes were built was used not only for air aerobatics during a summer swim but also for a makeshift catapult to send one jetting across the ice providing your timing was free of error.
Most weekends Bleachery during the winter months had numerous skaters of most all ages.