Photo: Abby Fox

 BY ABBY FOX

Lots of East Greenwich businesses won “Best of” Rhode Island awards at last Thursday’s annual party, but Fat Belly’s stood out in the three prizes it took home: best neighborhood bar, best burger and best pub.
Fat Belly’s has been on Main Street East Greenwich since February, with the first Fat Belly’s established in Warwick in 2006, but the team behind it – owner Scott Parker and his former students, chef Chris Miele and manager Sal Buscemi, have worked together much longer.

Photo: Abby Fox
Frenchtown Road resident Elizabeth Stitt decided for her 7th birthday, July 19, that in lieu of presents this year, she’d prefer that her friends bring donations to the animal protection services, the Potter League, in Middletown. So over the weekend, the Stitts dropped off bags of dog toys and treats.
 “She was very willing,” her mother said.
Here she is with her nine-year-old brother James and their two pet guinea pigs.
 

 BY ABBY FOX

A combination of rain showers, drunk driving and a curve in the road at London and Main Streets appear to have caused the death of one Johnston resident and the serious injuries of his passenger, near 2 a.m. Saturday morning.
Robert Tellez, 38, of Calumet Street in Johnston and Dina Paquin, also 38, of Westwood Manor Drive in Providence, had gone to the beaches at Quonset Point Friday, then to karaoke night at the Kingstown Bowl in North Kingstown.

Photo and story: Abby Fox

By ABBY FOX

To catch the next in-person tour of the school construction and renovation projects ongoing at the middle school and the high school science labs, the early birds have the advantage.
The public tours are held every other Thursday, with the first tour of the high school construction at 7:30 a.m., and 8:30 a.m. is the time for the tour of the middle school. Ken Romeo of Strategic Building Solutions, of Old Saybrook, Conn., the project manager, gives the tours, and people meet in the back parking lots to gather and borrow a hard hat.

By Abby Fox

The Department of Public Works moved into its new home – the old police station, underneath the police department – on June 30. The roughly $450,000 project was done mostly by the DPW employees, including the carpentry, sheet rocking, jail cell and office wall demolition, and painting, while the electrical, and mechanical (HVAC) and plumbing work were subbed out, DPW director Joe Duarte said.
The renovation work began in early February.
  Doing most of the work themselves will pay off, the employees said. “The original construction estimate was $825,000,” said Wayne Pimentel, building official. “It’s a really big savings. It took a lot of time and effort on everybody’s part; it consumed an enormous amount of time for everybody to coordinate and do the work.” With the savings Pimentel said, the town will save itself having to issue the bonds that weren’t needed.  “It’ll hold down the tax rate,” he said. “It took up a lot of time but we all realized where we were, budget-wise and staff-wise. It was a nice project, because we were all going to benefit. It is a beautiful space, really nice.”
 Here, Special Project Coordinator Peter Bamberry waves out  of the new office. If the window looks familiar, that’s because he’s waving from what used to be the East Greenwich police station, moved several months ago to First Ave.
Bobby Wheeler worked on the brick. George Castro, Hugo Aragon and Ken Toeves painted, while Charlie Phillips was the construction superintendent.

Photo: Abby Fox

Norma Harris, one of the many lifelong Michael Jackson fans affected by the pop legend’s sudden death a couple of weeks ago, recently found the autograph she got from the man himself in 1973, when they were both 14-years-old.
Harris was on an airplane with her uncle Stevie, coming back to Providence from St. Louis, where they had just seen the Jackson Five in concert. To their amazement, the Jacksons were just four seats in front of them on the plane. “My uncle told me to take my ticket to them for an autograph; I was so nervous,” she said.
Harris has all of Jackson’s albums at home, she said. “I used to listen to them all the time,” she said. Lately, she’s brought some of his music in to Norman’s Restaurant, while news about Jackson has been playing almost constantly on the TV.
“My uncle totally surprised me” with the tickets, she said, and in 1973, it cost only $22 to see Jackson in concert “I never thought I’d get the chance to see him,” she said.
“I’m pretty proud of it,” she said of her souvenir. “I loved all his albums. He had a great voice, and lot of good music.”
When last Tuesday’s memorial in Jackson’s honor came on TV, Harris said she watched the whole show, or as much as she could, while working at Norman’s. “It was a nice tribute; it was what he deserved,” she said.

Nancy Stepen and one of her creations.

By ABBY FOX

Sharon Smith is exhibiting “South County Dunes” and “Granny Apples” during the Nancy Stephen Gallery art reception at South County Hospital, East Greenwich, July 15. The show, with about 55 paintings from 25 artists, is from 6 to 8 p.m.
“Nancy has been my mentor,” said Smith, who’s into her third summer taking classes at her school. “She has taught me a lot; my paintings have really developed,” she said. “It’s not just the technical part of painting; it’s the spiritual part. I think there’s such great quality here, because people pull out something within themselves.”
Nancy Scelsa, the owner, shown here with a study of contrasts she recently painted, said it’ll the gallery’s biggest show of the summer. “It’s nice they’re supporting the arts,” she said of the health center. (Dr. Mary Christina Simpson is the OBGYN physician who spearheaded the show, the center said.)
The Nancy Stephen Gallery and School of Art has been in East Greenwich for 14 years. “I want the community to know we’re here, as a venue for students to express their creativity,” she said.
Scelsa and her school can be reached at 884-8979. If you miss the reception, the show will hang for the next three months. The address of the South County Hospital Medical and Wellness Center is 3461 South County Trail.

 Photo: Abby Fox
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse talks with Andrea Keating at the Green Door about health care, as part of his tour last Wednesday morning of Main Street.

BY ABBY FOX

Last Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) saw firsthand how The Chocolate Delicacy makes their chocolate, admired locally-made products at the Green Door and complimented Sprigs on its flowers, but he was visiting all these Main Street shops for a specific reason – to hear their concerns about the American health care system.

Photo: Abby Fox
Renovation work of Cole Jr. High and the high school began June 25. Here,the site outside Cole is cleared for building. The large old tree outside of the school came down, but project manager Jon Winikur of Strategic BuildingSolutions said a couple of pieces of it were saved for posterity.

By Abby Fox

The school building committee voted Tuesday for a metal roof, as opposed to a rubber roof, for the new Cole Middle School, but didn’t come to a decision between red brick or a more tan-colored brick.

Photo and article by Abby Fox

Gavin McHale is reading a newspaper while he waits in the waiting room of University Family Medicine, but if he gets bored, he can look up and admire two paintings of local artist Sarah Mutton.
The paintings got there thanks to a program offered by Fostering Arts, based in Foster, wherein businesses hang art made by locals for free, while the artists get good exposure.
Artists are encouraged to sign up for this program by calling Executive Director Kim McHale, at 451-8848.
“The art is on display as long as everyone likes,” or until it’s sold, McHale explained. “I can’t prove stuff will sell, but you have a better chance of selling it if it’s hanging somewhere than if it’s sitting in your studio,” she said.
Artists can also get exposure by submitting samples of their work on the group’s web site, fosteringArts.org, for an annual fee of $55.
“It’s fantastic,” she said. “The art’s been well received.”
Admission is open, but the art has to be something the businesses are comfortable with seeing on their walls, she said.
To meet McHale or some of the artists involved, or to learn more about Fostering Arts, the group is holding a July 4 Family Fun Day Cook-Out at the Little Rhody Vasa Park in Foster, or at the open studio tour in Foster, Glocester and Scituate, in November.