Highs & Lows

Outdoor & Nature

🌼 Daffodil season Wickford style: Daffodil Days in Wickford Village. April 10–13. Enjoy music, fun, and food throughout the village all weekend. Celebrate the season among thousands of blooming daffodils.

🧤 Yank weeds, plant good vibes: Orchard Community Work Day in Olneyville. Join the crew clearing space for a May tree planting. Free tools, fresh air, and a good excuse to get muddy. Sign up online—location sent after!

🎨 Bagels and brushes: Saturday ‘Bagels & Brushes’ at Maxwell Mays Wildlife Refuge in Coventry. Snack on coffee and bagels, and paint solo or with others—indoors or plein air. Studio’s open, creativity’s flowing. $30 members, $40 non-members. Teens to adults welcome.

🐑 Spring into history: Opening Day at Coggeshall Farm Museum in Bristol. Experience 18th-century farm life with music, spinning, hearth cooking, and blacksmithing. The kitchen garden is alive with new growth. Step back in time!

🌕 Cycle Newport's moonlit shores: Full Moon Rides: the Ocean Loop by Sunset and Moonrise in Newport. Experience a 15-mile group ride during sunset and moonrise, featuring harbor and ocean views. Helmets and lights required. Riders must be 18+. Pre-registration mandatory.

🌾 Grow with the community: 2025 Urban Agriculture Kick-Off in Providence. Engage in workshops, get expert gardening tips, and pick up free seeds. SCLT members enjoy complimentary organic compost—don't forget your bucket.

🐣 Meet the chicks, eat dessert: Chickens at Ocean House with Casey Farm at the Seaside Ballroom. See hens and chicks, learn sustainable farming, enjoy a slideshow, lemonade, and sweet treats. Family-friendly and spring-ready.

Rhode Island's oldest community theater, The Community Players, currently celebrating their 103rd season, is proud to present Merrily We Roll Along through April 13, 2025. Produced at Jenks Auditorium located on Division Street in Pawtucket, across from McCoy Stadium.

Food & Drink

🍰 Your mini Paris escape: Groundswell Compound in Tiverton. Always good café vibes, garden paths, and home treasures all in one stop. Feels like France—no passport required. Sounds like the perfect pit stop on a lazy Saturday morning.

🍷 Folk, wine, and BBQ smoke: Gooseneck Vineyards Events in Wickford. Pete Siner plays indie-folk with Lumineers vibes from 2–5 PM. BBQ by South County rolls in noon–4!

🥘 Seven kitchens, one destination: Have you been to Track 15 in Providence yet? They bring together awesome local chefs under one historic roof. Think pier-to-plate seafood, sourdough pizza, Anatolian dishes, Indian street food, and more, with a full bar - and they’re open every day!

🐣 Eggs, artisans, and eats: Annual Easter Specialty Market at Tiverton Middle School. Over 50 vendors offering seafood, meats, baked goods, and crafts. Kids can join the Easter Scramble activity. Free entry. April 13, 10 AM–2 PM.

🍸 Sip spring for a buck: Tini Time at Stoneacre Garden in Newport. Celebrate Daffodil Days with $1 martinis from 4–7 PM. Limit two per guest—cheers to that!!

Charitable Rhody

🕰️ Step into military history: Veterans Memorial Museum offers a vast collection of medals, uniforms, artifacts, and more. “Honoring Veterans, preserving history, and educating the public.” Visit Tuesdays or Saturdays, 10 AM–4 PM. Group tours by appointment. This nonprofit museum keeps Rhode Island’s military history alive—donations welcome!

Entertainment

🎼 Experience the power of the organ: Saint-Saëns Thundering Organ Symphony at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Conductor Radu Paponiu and violinist Rachel Barton Pine present pieces by Ortiz, Childs, and Saint-Saëns. Tickets available from $20.

🎶 Storytelling in song: Cheryl Wheeler w/ Kenny White at Courthouse Center for the Arts in West Kingston. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler, joined by pianist and guitarist Kenny White, known for his clever, thought-provoking lyrics. All ages welcome.

🎵 Bluegrass brilliance: Jacob Jolliff Band at Blackstone River Theatre in Cumberland. Don't miss Jacob Jolliff's lightning-fast mandolin and his band's tight harmonies in an unforgettable night of music.

🎤Concert with a purpose: ✴️ STAFF PICK ✴️ Bring It On Home: Laden Valley, The Ballroom Thieves & Chance Emerson Live Concert at Jane Pickens Theater in Newport. Three powerhouse acts to support local music education. One-night-only event showcasing three powerhouse acts. Doors at 7 PM, music at 8 PM. Don't miss it!

🎹 An afternoon of excellence: Lun Li, violin with Min Young Kang, piano at Grace Note Farm. Award-winning duo presents a program of precision and emotion in a historic rural setting. Reservations required.

What’s Cooking, Rhode Island?

We are kicking off recipe & story collection for code-named “The Rhody Weekender Community Cookbook” this week. Get your recipes and the stories that go with them on deck! Meanwhile we will work on some better book title options we can vote on!

We are going to shoot for 75 recipes, and we’ll report weekly how we do!

Since I have one VERY CONTROVERSIAL recipe, I’ll start with that one, a Rhode Island Red Clam Chowder.

If we get 10 great clam chowder recipes, I assure you, we’ll run all 10.

And you can submit as many recipes for any category as you like!

But when we get to 75 we are going to close access to submission, so submit your recipe and story now! Ask Grandma, ask Dad, ask Auntie Nan. Get ’em in here if they were family-famous foods!

Arts, Crafts & Culture

🖌️ Create your own Pysanky: PYSANKY – a.k.a. Painted Easter Eggs with Hanka Robertson at Bristol Art Museum. Join Hanka Robertson for a session on traditional egg decorating—fees: $47 members, $57 non-members.

🌿 Sustainable design in focus: Tour of Community MusicWorks with 3sixØ Architecture on Friday evening at Community MusicWorks, Providence. Join architects Bardt and Leski for an in-depth look at the building's eco-friendly features and role in urban renewal. Tickets: $10 for members, $15 general.

🌀 Spin your first masterpiece: Pottery Wheel Lesson – Saturdays 10:00 am at Create! Color Art Studio. A 1.5-hour private session includes clay, tools, bisque firing, and glazing. Ages 10+. Appointments only—reserve 48 hours ahead.

🎉 Celebrate 150 years of stories: PPL 150th Birthday Party at Providence Public Library. Maker Day, scavenger hunt, block party, story time, and custom swag. Family-friendly, full of surprises, and totally free.

🎞️ Step into the world of large format: Large Format Photography Workshop at WaterFire Arts Center, Providence. Learn the art of using large-format cameras. Focus on technique and creativity. All equipment supplied. Sign up in advance.

Rhody Kiddies

🍃 Discover the magic of trees: Tree Friends at Blackstone Field, Providence. Join guided walks, make leaf rubbings, and learn how trees combat climate change and purify water. Family-friendly event. Sign up to secure your spot.

🌸 Spring joy down on the farm: Easter Egg Hunt on the Farm at Butterfly Farm. Meet the farm's newest additions, Thunderbird and Beep. Egg hunts, food trucks, and festive art. April fun for the whole family. Tickets are limited!

🥚 Hunt eggs the wild way: Camouflaged Egg Hunt at Audubon Nature Center in Bristol. Kids 3–10 search for brown eggs in nature, win prizes, and learn to spot the well-hidden ones. Golden egg finds get extra rewards!

Wicked Li’l Trivia

Rhody Moments

• 🍽️ Dining out of habit, not hunger: What's a restaurant that people keep going to out of nostalgia or habit, not because the food is actually good? A thread delving into RI spots where tradition trumps…good taste? Familiar names pop right up. You know what this one's going to be about. You know, you just know, the restaurants that are going to get named. You don’t even have to guess, LOL.

• 🌄 Beyond the beaten path in RI: What's a part of Rhode Island that is severely underrated? Discussion on RI's under-appreciated spots. The discussion is really, really great! You are absolutely going to end up with a few weekend trip ideas!

• 😢 Saying goodbye to an icon: Goodnight, sweet prince. This week we saved the worst and best for last. A drone montage marking the end of a beloved RI establishment. You have 2 guesses, and they are pretty close to each other. Community members share heartfelt goodbyes. “Hello Darkness…” WOW! Give yourself a few minutes on this one!

That’s it for this issue of The Rhody Weekender. See you next week!

Your TRW Team:
Douglas Bonneville, Publisher
Mary Bonneville, Editor