When: Thursday and Friday, November 14 and 15
Where: Ninigret Park (see map in post for location of vault)
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District will remove a buried electrical vault that was used for runway lighting at the former Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Landing Field.
When: Saturday, November 9, 2024, 9am to 12pm (Rain date: November 10)
Where: Meet at the Charlestown Town Beach parking lot
The Charlestown Land Trust (CLT) invites you to join them for a rewarding community clean-up event. The clean-up team will remove litter and trash along Charlestown Beach and around protected properties on Ninigret Pond. Enjoy a morning outdoors with fellow community members and make a positive impact on our local environment.
Coastal planners in Rhode Island are asking the public to take photos of flooding of low-lying coastal areas that occurs during the upcoming extreme high tides (called King Tides) arriving October 16 through 20 and November 15 through 17 and share their photos using the MyCoast App. These photos can identify where resilience efforts are needed. You can take photos at any beach, or flooded roads, parking lots, buildings, seawalls, playgrounds, and yards.
When: Saturday, October 19 from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Where: Mill Pond Preserve, across from East Charles St. on South County Trail
RSVP: Please register for this event
The Charlestown Land Trust invites you to join them at Mill Pond Preserve for their annual S’mores Social. Enjoy a marshmallow roast with good company and conversation!
When: October 19 and 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Over 25 art workshops and exhibits in multiple locations in Hopkinton, Richmond, Charlestown, and surrounding areas
What: Visit local artists and artisans in their studios and workshops and view their amazing work
Cost: Free
When: Saturday, October 26 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Ninigret Park Parking Lot
Pre-register your trunk: Trunks and people handing out candy must pre-register to participate. For all others, this is not required.
Dress the kids in costumes and enjoy trick or treating with a twist; instead of going from house to house, participants will trick or treat from one decorated car trunk to another.
When: Wednesday, October 9 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Kettle Pond Visitor Center, 50 Bend Road, Charlestown
What: Charlestown Land Trust Members’ Annual Meeting with guest speaker Steve McCandless, Charlestown GIS Coordinator. Steve will speak on the issues facing the Charlestown Breachway, as well as proposed solutions.
When: Sunday, October 6 at 10:00 a.m. sharp. There is no rain date!!
Where: Meet at the Burlingame State Park main Parking lot, on Klondike Road
To celebrate October, the Breachway Bikers Community Group and Charlestown’s Block Island Sound Bikeway Committee invite interested cyclists to join them for a ride.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Rhode Island Headquarters is at the Kettle Pond Visitor Center on Bend Road in Charlestown. This is the headquarters for all of the National Wildlife Refuges in Rhode Island. What is needed? The greatest need is on weekends and Wednesday afternoons. Even volunteering once or twice a month is a huge help and shifts are only three hours long. Volunteers of all ages are welcome. This is also a great way for students to get volunteer hours!
When: Saturday, October 19, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Charlestown Town Beach
Help keep Charlestown Town Beach clean! Shoreline trash is ugly and dangerous to wildlife, and shoreline cleanups are a great way for volunteers to make a difference.
A full list of recreation offerings in Charlestown with event dates, including recreation programs for children and adults. The change of season doesn’t slow down recreation in Charlestown.
When: Thursday, September 19 at 4:00 pm
Where: Blue Shutters Beach in Charlestown
What: Release of two Sea Turtles
Phineas, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and Tullibee, a green sea turtle will be released.
When: Thursday, September 26 from 6 to 8pm
Where: Cross Mills Public Library, 4417 Old Post Rd., Charlestown
What: Coastal Ponds Management Commission member Art Ganz will give a presentation about the erosion of the barrier beaches and damage to the west jetty of the Charlestown Breachway
Cost: Free
What: Be Safe! Be sure to wear at least 200 square inches of florescent orange (usually a hat and or a vest) when hiking on state, federal, or other public and private open space.
When: *September 7, 2024 – February 14, 2025 for deer, and until May 18 for other game.
The Charlestown Land Trust has announced the expansion of protected land at the historic Amos Greene Farm in Charlestown. Thanks to the incredible generosity of landowners Carla and Russ Ricci, an additional 47 acres have been placed under conservation easement, bringing the total protected area on the Amos Greene Farm to 87 acres and increasing the Charlestown Land Trust’s total protected acreage to almost 700 acres.
Why: Household hazardous waste must not be placed in regular garbage!
When: Saturday, September 21, 2024 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Where: Richmond DPW – 51 Buttonwoods Rd., Richmond
Appointments are required for this event – link to register in post.
Where: Frosty Drew Observatory and Science Center in Ninigret Park
When: Saturday, September 14 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
What: Fourth Annual Inspire, Discover, Enlighten, and Awe (IDEA) Fundraising Exposition
Cost: Admission is free with the expectation that visitors will donate to help Frosty Drew achieve their yearly goals.
Early last month the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (NBEP) released “Into the Woods: Solar in the Forest” to examine the number and location of ground-mounted solar projects in the region and to assess how much green space has been lost to solar development. The NBEP mapped solar arrays in the forests of the 113 municipalities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut that make up the Narragansett Bay region. Nearly 4,000 acres in the region, most of which was undeveloped, have been cleared for solar projects. “By far, most solar projects were installed in forested areas or cropland,” according to the recently published study.
Rhode Island PBS has created some short segments called Trail Stories that they show between longer programs. This one features the fabulous Carter Preserve, the 1,100 acre preserve located in Charlestown and owned by the Nature Conservancy (TNC). The film opens with the Tarzan Brown Trail and is narrated by TNC’s Tim Mooney.
As it has for a quarter of a century, Rhythm & Roots will return to Charlestown, this Labor Day Weekend, August 30, August 31, and September 1. This year, the festival showcases music on three stages (the Roots, Rhythm, and Dance Stages) and will feature a variety of music styles, including Cajun, Zydeco, blues, country, bluegrass, Americana, and many other genres.
There is a plan to increase the resiliency of the breachway so it can support critical habitat for flora and fauna and help to ensure the continued viability of Ninigret Pond for the future. The plan would involve repairing the west seawall to help prevent future filling of excess sand in the pond and to enhance the barrier dune habitat. Dredging will also be needed to clear out the current sand blockage in the breachway.
When: Saturday, August 24 at 9:00 am
Where: Meet at Quonochontaug Yacht Club, 155 West Beach Road
Preregister: The tour will be limited to 20 kayaks. Preregister on a first-come-first-served basis by emailing: alicia@joinsaltponds.com or angela@joinsaltponds.com
Rain Date: Sunday, August 25th at 9:00 am
When: Saturday, August 17, at 10:00 am
Where: Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge
Cost: Program is free
Registration: Please pre-register as space is limited
Hands-on experience that introduces children and their families to a variety of aquatic creatures living in the salt ponds.
When: August 14-18
Where: 78 Richmond Townhouse Road (Route 112), Richmond, RI
What: The Washington County Fair is Rhode Island’s largest agricultural event, plus country music, food, a carnival, and more.
When: Monday, August 19, at 7 p.m.
Where: Kettle Pond Visitor Center, 50 Bend Rd., Charlestown
Cost: Free and open to the public
The featured speaker, Steve McCandless, will discuss the issues the breachways are facing and what is being proposed to address the issue at Charlestown Breachway in Ninigret Pond.
Where: All activities will be held on tribal land off of Rt. 2 and Old Mill Road in Charlestown
Cost: Admission is $10 for adults and $3 for children.
When: Saturday, August 10, and Sunday, August 11, 2024
What: Wildlife Wednesdays Lecture Series sponsored by Friends of the National Wildlife Refuges of RI
Where: All lectures held at the Kettle Pond Visitor Center, 50 Bend Road, Charlestown (map in post)
When: All presentations are on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM
Cost: Admission is free and all ages are welcome
When: August 2, 3 & 4
Where: Ninigret Park, Charlestown, RI
What: Three days of food and entertainment
The League of Women Voters of South County will publish Voter Guides in early October featuring local candidates for State Representative, Senator, Town Council, School Committee, and Planning Commission. They want to ask questions that relate to the current issues in our town. Please submit up to 3 topics/questions for local candidates. The League will use this input from the community to develop questions for live candidate forums and voter guides. The deadline to submit questions is July 27.
Each year, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) asks the public to assist with their Turkey Brood Survey by reporting sightings of female turkeys, or hens, and their babies, called poults, from July 1st though August 31st. These citizen reported sightings of wild turkey hens, both with brood and without, help with research efforts.
