Sunday, February 27, 2011

Friday, February 25, 2011

Nat Philbrick to speak at Brown on March 2


Nat Philbrick, a Brown grad, is on a book tour for THE LAST STAND and will be speaking at Brown on March 2 Wednesday at 5:30 pm at the BROWN UNIVERSITY
List Arts Building Room 120
64 College Street
Providence, RI
http://nathanielphilbrick.com/events-appearances

Sunday, February 20, 2011

A movie of Bristol from 1929

The Bristol Historical Society recently found an old black and white silent movie in one of their storage rooms labeled "Roy Pearse Movies, August 1929, Bristol, Newport, Nantucket". It includes sailing on Narragansett Bay and plenty of photos of downtown Bristol, Newport and Nantucket. Running time is about an hour.
Monday February 28, 2011 at 7pm
Lower Level of the Rogers Free Library, Bristol RI
401 253 7223

Saturday, February 19, 2011

ZUMBA classes at Reynolds School on High Street Bristol

If you have never tried ZUMBA here is a list of classes in downtown Bristol held by Deana Viera. Many people absolutely love ZUMBA. Why don't you give it a try...that is if you can find a parking space!
Monday 7:30pm
Tuesday 6:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am and 6:30pm
Thursday 6:30pm
Saturday 9 am
Zumba Gold for Seniors
Wednesday 10 am
The classes are incredibly cheap:
10 for $50 or $7 per class
D O I T!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Mount Hope Farm Wine & Chocolate party on March 19



What could be better than to drink wine, eat chocolate and shop!
Mount Hope Farm is holding a Wine and Chocolate Party in the Barn on Saturday, March 19 starting at
7:30 pm. There will also be a silent auction. Price $40. pp. Call the Farm for details. 254 1745
Click images once to enlarge.

Fantastic night of Boating questions at HMM


For those of you already tired of winter and thinking about all the spring boating projects waiting to be done, Herreshoff Marine Museum has the ideal evening out for you. In partnership with Points East, and kicking off their winter presentation series, they welcome you to join them at "ASK the EXPERTS" night, on Thursday, February 24 at 7:00 PM at the HERRESHOFF MARINE MUSEUM.

They have brought together a group of specialists on every phase of boat maintenance - sails, rigging, electrical, plumbing, engines, paint, etc. to get you started on the right path. Ben Hall of Hall Spars, Henry Little of North Sails, Paul Dow of New England Boatworks, Dennis Klodner of DePaul Diesel, Mike Moriarty of IMTRA, and Brian Gustafson of New England Tech will be here to address your inquiries and provide information. So bring all your questions, and enjoy free refreshments courtesy of Cisco Brewers of Nantucket. As always, admission is free for Museum members, and $5 for all others.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Polo on Second Beach this weekend!

Polo by the sea
The 23rd annual Newport Winter Festival, among New England’s largest winter extravaganzas, will begin this Friday and continue through Sunday, Feb. 27. Among the more than 150 events scheduled are the return of Newport Polo Inc.’s Beach Polo, which will be played at Second Beach during low tide on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The event will feature up to four competing teams playing in 4-chukker matches. The Turnbull Group of Merrill Lynch-Providence, the event sponsor, will host a hospitality tent for spectators.

LOCATION: Second Beach (Sachuest Town Beach), 474 Sachuest Point Road, Middletown. Saturday, Feb. 19, and Sunday, Feb. 20, 2 p.m. (weather permitting). FREE and open to the public. For more information, visit the website or call (401) 846-0200. Additional information regarding Newport Winter Festival is available at www.newportwinterfestival.com.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Chip Osborne: Simple Steps to Organic Lawn Care


Chip Osborne of Osborne Organics
The Pennfield School, Portsmouth, RI
Monday, March 28, 2011 at 6pm-8pm
Sponsored by the Aquidneck Land trust. A free lecture.

This is especially important in terms of water quality runoff issues for those of us who live on Narragansett Bay.
Lawn fertilizer runoff is a huge pollutant.

The Living Lawn, A Lawn for Living: Simple Steps to Organic Lawn Care ... In this presentation, Chip Osborne, of Osborne Organics in Marblehead, MA, will help participants understand how we can all become better conservationists at the most local level, our backyard. Public health, our children's health, storm-water runoff, and water quality issues are all reasons why we should begin to reduce our dependence on synthetic and chemical products to grow our lawns and gardens. Mr. Osborne will present "Simple Steps to Organic Lawn Care," a detailed approach to a natural lawn care program so that participants can become better conservationists in their backyards and gardens this spring. This free presentation is made possible through a collaboration of the Newport Garden Club and the Aquidneck Land Trust.
Reception with refreshments 6:00pm - Start of the Presentation 6:30pm - RSVP to Courtney Huth at chuth@ailt.org or 849-2799 ext. 19

Learn to be a Launch Driver

If getting paid to drive a launch boat or a water taxi sounds like the ideal summer job, Confident Captain may have the course for you.
Confident Captain/Ocean Pros will offer a Launch Operator License Class in Newport on March 19 and 20. The 16 hour, $350. course meets the US Coast Guard training and exam requirements to enable the operator to apply for the Launch Operator license. Completion of the course exempts students from having to take the licensing exam at the Coast Guard.
For details, visit: www.confidentcaptain.com

Valentine's Breakfast at the Cup Defenders on Wood Street


A Bristol Fourth of July Committee event!
Click once to enlarge image.

Herreshoff Gala is Saturday, June 4


Click on image once to enlarge. Tickets are $250 pp

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Providence Children's Film Festival Feb 17-22

This is in Providence. Looks fabulous! DO it!
http://www.providencechildrensfilmfestival.org/

Baby Goats for patting at Simmons Farm

If you're looking for something relaxing, free and fun to do with or without your kids, think about driving over to Simmons Farm in Portsmouth on Rte 114 near Greene Lane. They have new baby goats in their newly built barn. This time of year they are only open to visitors on Friday from 3 - 6 pm.

Warren Community Garden meeting

Don't know if Bristol has such a group. If so please let us know about it. If not, this might be a good meeting to go to to understand what's needed to do it.
There will be a public meeting lead by Warren Town officials at 7 pm Tuesday, Feb. 15 at the Mark. V. Quirk School introducing the Warren Community Garden which formed last year and will head into its first growing season in 2011.

Cash for Gold store planning to open in Bristol

Perhaps you have heard the rumors. Now we know its for real.
Another Formula Business is set to open in Bristol. Bristol already has 3 Real Estate companies and 1 investment company that have come in since the 2004 FB ordinance was created. (Dunkin Donuts came in before the ordinance was created.) The latest one plans to open in the old 'Novel Idea' bookstore space at 450 Hope Street. The business is called Countrywide Gold Buyers LLC (CGB) http://tinyurl.com/6jsetcs and the owner makes it clear that he is not a traditional pawn shop. He swaps cash for gold, platinum, silver and silverware and sells nothing. CGB has more than 6 identical businesses in RI and in Miami FLA. The businesses are not franchises and are privately held by the owner. Although he wanted to open in Barrington, he is planning a similar shop in Warren.

You are probably wondering what happen to Bristol's Formula Business ordinance within the downtown Historic District.
It still is in effect. It was never created to totally ban chain stores from Bristol which would be unconstitutional. What it does is place specific restrictions and regulations on what formula businesses can and cannot do - such as not exceeding 2500SF in gross floor area (450 Hope Street is 1450'SF) or not exceeding 65' of street frontage and not having drive up windows to name a few. It must "complement those businesses already in the historic zone and help promote and foster the local economic base as a whole." (This might be debatable since there are already two stores in the historic district that buy gold for cash. Coggeshall and A Jour Jewelers.)
The owner, Mr. Luis Junco, an ex- US Marine Sergeant currently lives in Warwick, RI. The store will have some comfy furniture. He plans to encourage friendly gatherings not unlike TupperWare parties where groups of friends come together to sell their wares in a "Gold Party" and designate a portion of the proceeds to go to a church or a non-profit. He also added the word "Gallery" to his name (Countrywide Gold Buyers and Gallery) because he plans to sell and display art to beautify the place - some made into sculptures created from recycled car parts! In his application to the Zoning Board he states: "Countrywide Gold Buyers LLC is a privately held Green company that engages in the purchase and re-sale of broken, used and outdated, gold, silver and platinum. We also make and sell metal art work out of scrap "recycle" parts." He later states: "CGB is committed to serve the communities where we do business, not only by paying the highest and most competitive prices in the industry but also by educating our customers about the detrimental effects that gold mining has on our environment." Other than an interior paint job, adding some display cases and changing the carpet to a wood floor, his renovations will be minor.
His next step is to go before the HDC on Thursday, March 3 to get a "Certificate of Appropriateness" and then before the Zoning Board on Monday, March 7. His business plan went before the Planning Board last night (the only item on the agenda other than a DEM Stormwater presentation) and gained a recommendation to move forward to formally apply to Zoning. It passed with a 4-1 vote. Please plan on attending these meetings if you have comments. If there are any changes I will update you.

Question: Is a full store better than an empty one?
Is the flip side of this BUYING LOCAL? Recently I have heard that three more stores are closing in the downtown. Studio Six, Time and Thyme Again and Organically Good. Please post your comments. They are welcome.

Blogger Correction: I posted a comment on Patch http://tinyurl.com/5wv6dnq about formula business restrictions. I apparently mis-spoke when noting that the number of stores was a violation of the Bristol Formula Business ordinance. The number of identical stores (six or more) only defines them as a formula business which then requires them to go before the 2 boards sited above to get special permits. It does not prevent them from coming into Bristol as a formula business. LG

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

HDC applications made easy!

The HDC is reaching out and wants to help streamline applications when possible!
It is suggested that people try to show up for this workshop if living within the Bristol downtown Historic District.
A Bristol Historic District Workshop titled "HDC Applications Made Easy" will be held on Wednesday, March 2 from 7 - 8:30pm at the Rogers Free Library, 525 Hope Street, Bristol RI. Presenters will be: Arnold Robinson, AICP and Eric Hertfelder

RI DOT/Bristol Downtown Project meeting



THE TOWN OF BRISTOL WILL BE HOSTING A
PUBLIC INFORMATION SESSION
WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
ON THE TREES AND LANDSCAPE FEATURES
OF THE HOPE STREET (RT. 114) RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT
IN DOWNTOWN BRISTOL

TO BE HELD
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011
BEGINNING AT 7:00 O’CLOCK PM
BRISTOL TOWN HALL
10 COURT STREET

THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO ADDRESS THE COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS FROM THE PREVIOUS TOWN/RIDOT SESSION HELD ON DECEMBER 15, 2010.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Gaslands at Jane Pickens on Wed Feb 16


This is a one time showing only.
"GASLAND just might be the best film of the year."
- The Huffington Post
To reserve/register please email or call Newport Film

info@newportfilm.com
401.649.2784
Click on image once to enlarge.