Bringing Neighbors Together

On a bright, chilly October morning, the Henry Bowen Anthony Fountain, the centerpiece of Lippitt Park for 77 years, got a new “west” plaque. The bronze plaque, one of four with unique art deco-style designs inlaid in granite at the four points of the compass around the fountain, is thought to have been missing since the 1980s.

The Summit Neighborhood Association commissioned the design and fabrication of a replacement plaque. The original design was lost to time, but local artist Maret Bondorew created a new one that keeps with the themes of the surviving three. The “north” plaque evokes the dark, starry night; the “east” includes a sunrise and industrial gears suggesting the start of the working day; the “south” conveys warm mid-day sunshine.

     Bondorew drew inspiration from the sunset and the relaxing end of a working day for the new “west” plaque. Healy Plaques of Manville used Bondorew’s design to cast the bronze and provide it to SNA, after which Providence Parks Department staff members provided installation labor, materials and expertise.

The bright, new bronze will match the dark, greenish patina of the other plaques with time.

Sincere thanks go to Maret Bondorew, Healy Plaques, the City of Providence Parks Department, and State Senator Gayle Goldin for the provision of a state senate grant for neighborhood beautification.

The fountain was built in 1940 in honor of Henry Bowen Anthony, a mid-19th century U.S. senator and governor of Rhode Island, but had been deactivated in 1982. With the support of the City of Providence and The Champlin Foundation, the Summit Neighborhood Association spearheaded the restoration of the fountain in 2011, with a modern re-circulation system.

Celebrating the new plaque are, from left, Ethan Gyles (SNA). Marcello and Giovanni (Parks Department, Anneliese Greenier (SNA), Roger (Parks Department) and Maret Bondorew (artist).

Our friends at The Miriam Hospital alert their neighbor to the following:

*On Wednesday, October 11, the hospital will be conducting a decontamination drill, which will involve the erecting of the decon tent outside of the emergency department.  Personnel will drill using “decon” suits and other emergency equipment.

Please do not be alarmed. The hospital regularly drills for emergencies such as building  evacuations, active shooter, and more so that in an emergency we are prepared to help the patients and the community we serve.

*On Saturday, October 14 we will be adding humidification equipment to the Fain Building roof.  The work will begin at 8 am with an anticipated completion at 4pm.  We can only do this work with minimum patient activity in the building therefore we must complete the work on a Saturday.

As usual, if you have any questions or concerns please call The Neighborhood Hotline at (401)-793-4040 or email Monica Anderson, Director of Community Relations and Corporate Citizenship at TMHneighbors@lifespan.org

FRIGHT NIGHT “lite”!
The Providence Children’s Film Festival is delighted to partner up with Celebrate Providence and the Summit Neighborhood Association to bring the first ever FRIGHT NIGHT “lite” show under the stars in Lippitt Park. With Halloween just around the corner, this reel of shorts will hopefully get you in the mood for witches, ghouls, and things that go bump in the night. Most films allude to something a little scary but we are pretty sure you will sleep well afterward. If you stay for the last two, you might need to leave the lights on! Popcorn will be poppin’ and hearts will be stoppin’ on Friday, October 20th at 6:30 pm. Cozy up by bringing your own blankets and/or chairs. Follow PCFF or SNA on Facebook for last minute changes due to weather. The Facebook event is here!

One of the event’s goals was the exchange of pleasantries.

About 500 shoppers picked up maps Sunday from SNA in what one participant called “the best yard sale I ever had.”

“I’m almost wiped out,” said one seller on Colonial Road about noon, midway between the 10 a.m.-to-2 p.m. limits. She added that she would definitely “do it again.”

But the main ideas was to exchange treasures.

She was talking about SNA’s annual neighborhood-wide yard sale. Sellers paid a fee to get on the organization’s list and map, then put out their treasures on their own front lawns, although one operated out of a garage that faced the street. There were 19 locations plus several who chose to bring their goods to the parking lot of Citizens Bank on Hope Street where SNA had a booth to hand out the maps. Sellers could also stop by to get balloons supplied by the Hope Street toy store Henry Bear’s Park.

Prospective buyers picked up maps at the SNA booth at Citizens Bank parking lot.

Buyers with maps in hand then proceeded around the neighborhood to find the promised bargains. Some stores on Hope Street also put out merchandise in sidewalk sales.

But besides the exchange of household treasures, the exchange of neighbor-to-neighbor pleasantries was a major goal of the yard-sale system. It aimed to promote face-to-face meetings of people in Summit, and according to Anne Holland, the member of the SNA board of directors who organized this year’s event, even people from outside the neighborhood, including Congressman David Cicilline and City Councilor Nirva LaFortune, seized the opportunity.

One seller said it was the best yard sale she had ever had.

One of the participating sites in the 2016 sale.

Register below to participate in the giant Summit/Hope yard sale on Sunday Sept 24th, 10am-2pm. You can sell from your home (you’ll be included on our official maps & get balloons to mark your location) or sell from your own table at the Citizens Bank parking lot.

Registration is $10 per household. Limited to Summit/Hope area residents, and items from your own household unless you are a member of the Hope St Merchants Assn. Sign-up deadline Thursday Sept 21st! Questions, contact SNA yard sale coordinator Anne at aholland@gmail.com

Registration is closed

As of Tuesday, city workers had added the bench around the news shade tree and installed fencing to protect areas of new grass.

A city Parks Department worker Friday floats the concrete on one of the sidewalks leading to the new bridge

A backhoe early in the week moves sand around in the Summit Avenue Park playground.

Construction has begun on the next phase of the renovation of the Summit Avenue Park.

A backhoe and piles of sand have taken up residence to do initial site work for concrete walks, logs, a bridge, boulders, a log tunnel, bench and sandbox. Also coming are a Little Library, a tree, playground mulch and painting, according to Wendy Nilsson, city parks superintendent.

The original schedule was for the park to be closed until Aug. 21, when the preliminary work was supposed to be finished, but obviously things happened. New equipment is on the way and was scheduled to be installed by mid-September. Then new grass will be planted.

The Parks Department apologized for having to close the facility while work is in progress, but the tight space raises serious safety concerns.

Nirva LaFortune, left, hugs a supporter outside a polling place on election day

Nirva LaFortune won the opportunity to represent Ward Three on the Providence City Council in an election Wednesday characterized by low voter turnout.

Democrat LaFortune took 94 percent of the vote, or 1,261. Republican David Lallier Jr. got 55 votes and Independent Chris Reynolds got 22 votes, according to figures in The Providence Journal.

LaFortune told Journal reporter Jacqueline Tempera she’s focused on connecting the people in her ward. “Everyone really wants to come together, to get to know each other and to figure out how we can help one another,” she said. “We want to know how we can be stronger advocates and collectively be a strong voice not only for the ward, but also for the city.”

In the primary-election campaign, there were two “un-debates” cosponsored by the Summit and Mount Hope Neighborhood Associations. In the first, the candidates only listened to the issues raised by Ward Three residents. In the second, the political hopefuls offered their approaches to solving those issues. The discussions made clear that there is a wide divide between the two neighborhoods.

On election day, LaFortune told The Journal, “This is one of the most diverse wards in the city. I think concerns vary from neighborhood to neighborhood and street to street.”

LaFortune, 34, is manager and advisor of the Presidential Scholars Program at Brown University. She oversees and coordinates all elements of the program plus planning programs in the District of Columbia to support students from historically under-represented groups and students with the greatest financial need.

She moved to Providence from Haiti when she was 3 years old and now lives in the Mount Hope neighborhood with her children. During her campaign, she focused on immigrant rights, often drawing on her own experience, and her support of the Providence Community-Police Relations Act. She has not run for public office before.

Turnout for the special election was low — with just 1,341 of the ward’s more than 10,000 voters casting a ballot. By midafternoon at the Summit Commons polling place only about 250 residents had voted.

This special election came after Kevin Jackson, a longtime city councilman, was recalled in May after being indicted on embezzlement charges. Jackson, who held a council seat for 22 years, was arrested and indicted on charges that he embezzled from a youth sports program he founded in the 1970s. He has pleaded not guilty. He was forced out of office by a voter petition drive and a recall vote.

The Journal reported that as of Aug. 8, when the latest campaign finance report was due, LaFortune had more than $5,000 left in her account. This is more than four times the amount her Republican opponent Lallier had left. Reynolds reported that he had no money in his account as of July 19. LaFortune received donations from Sen. Harold Metts, D-Providence, Darlene Allen of Adoption Rhode Island, Stephen Hug from Family Service of Rhode Island, and former Providence mayor Joseph Paolino, The Journal said.

At midafternoon, there were plenty of voting booths available at Summit Commons.