All Pawtucket All The Time

12TH ANNUAL LABOR DAY OPEN HOUSE

 On Labor Day, Monday, September 6, the Museum of Work & Culture will be holding it’s 12th annual Labor Day Open House from 9:30 – 4:00 pm.
Admission is free at the Museum and all its events today!

This year, we celebrate the opening of the new exhibit “Going to Work: 20th Century Settlers in the Blackstone Valley.” Ethnic music and dance performances will enliven festivities outdoors, and Greg Rubano will  present on baseball star Napoleon Lajoie in the ITU Hall. Museum volunteers will be on hand to assist visitors in perusing through the 71 archival binders on Catholic education and to accept donations of memorabilia on Catholic schools worldwide.
 
The “Going to Work: 20th Century Settlers in the Blackstone Valley” exhibit is a permanent addition to the Rhode Island Historical Society’s Museum of Work & Culture in Woonsocket. The exhibit shares the stories of immigration and migration experience to the Blackstone Valley in Rhode Island during the 20th century, and includes voices of the various ethnic groups that have called the area home, such Italians, Portuguese, Greeks, African-Americans, and Colombians.  

Come see the exhibit for the first time on its opening day and learn how the project was put together and how it will continue to grow as well.
 
To celebrate the exhibit’s official opening, please join us in
welcoming the Greek Pride of Rhode Island Hellenic Dance Troupe from the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Pawtucket, the Rancho Danças e Cantares from the Clube Juventude Lusitana in Cumberland, and Dana Maguire, West African and Afro-Caribbean drummer, with guests Issa
Coulibaly and Jesus Andujar. Performances will take place outdoors in River Island Park, with the Museum’s ITU Hall as a rain location. Please feel free to bring your own chairs.
 
Greg Rubano is an avid collector of baseball items.  His collection is accompanied by a multitude of stories and songs celebrating the national pastime.  His talk will focus on Woonsocket’s own Napoleon Lajoie, who was a pioneer of the American League and set several baseball records.

Lajoie is sometimes called the American League’s first Superstar!  The presentation will also include songs from that era of baseball
interpreted by Jean O’Donnell. The homecoming of a native son and nationally beloved baseball star was the occasion for celebration in the city of Woonsocket.  The presentation will reveal the impact of this Hall of Famer upon the game he so loved.
 
Many thanks to the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission and to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations for their generous support.
 
TIMELINE for Labor Day Open House, 9:30am – 4:00pm
10:00am – Presentation by Greg Rubano — Celebrating the Birthday of Rhode Island’s Greatest Baseball Star Napoleon Lajoie, ITU Hall
11:00am – Performance by the Greek Pride Dancers, River Island Park
(rain location – ITU Hall)
12:00pm – Presentation by Greg Rubano — Celebrating the Birthday of Rhode Island’s Greatest Baseball Star Napoleon Lajoie, ITU Hall
1:00pm – Performance by the Rancho Danças e Cantares, River Island Park (rain location – ITU Hall)
2:30pm – Performance by Dana Maguire, Issa Coulibaly and Jesus
Andujar, River Island Park (rain locaton – ITU Hall)
 
 The Museum of Work & Culture is located at 42 South Main Street,
Woonsocket, RI  02895.  
 

With Governor Don Carcieri directing that Rhode Island use $32.9 million to close a $38 million state deficit, rather than its intended purpose of restoring school programs and preventing increased class sizes by hiring back laid-off teachers, Democratic candidate for Congress David Cicilline issued the following statement today:

“There are few responsibilities as important for our government as providing a quality public education for our young people. I am disappointed to learn today that the Governor is proposing to use money specifically designated for improving public education for any other purpose than that.”

“Governor Carcieri should allow the funds Congress approved to be used for their intended purpose of restoring school programs and protecting education jobs, especially considering that he signed a state budget that cuts state education aid by $29 million for the current fiscal year. Further, with our state expected to face a deficit as large as $320 million in FY2012, the Governor should take the lead in proposing innovative ideas that will revitalize our state’s long-term fiscal future.”

“Congress approved these funds with the intention that they support school programs and protect educators from massive layoffs. The Governor’s proposal could seriously jeopardize our state’s ability to compete for future federal funds if Congress and the Obama Administration have reason to believe they will not be used for their stated and intended purpose.”

“As our students begin another school year today, I strongly urge Governor Carcieri to reconsider his decision.”

ANTHONY GEMMA ANNOUNCES HE WILL NOT TAKE HIS FIRST YEAR CONGRESSIONAL SALARY; WILL USE MONEY TO CREATE FOUR JOBS TO START HIS JOBS PLAN

August 31, 2010 [PROVIDENCE] Anthony Gemma, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress from Rhode Island’s First District, tonight announced that, for his first year in office, he will not take his $174,00o congressional salary.  Instead, he will use the money to fund four
administrative positions to launch and develop his jobs plan.

“My Congressional 21st Century Jobs Plan is complex and, in terms of its
initial demands on talent and time, challenging,” explained Gemma.  ”To
demonstrate my commitment to a plan that will create 10,000 jobs within five years, make Rhode Island the wellness capital of America, and break
unemployment’s stranglehold on our economy, I’ll jump-start its
implementation by using my salary to pay for four dedicated staff
positions.”

In addition, Gemma said that he will not accept a raise until senior
citizens receive Social Security cost of living adjustments.

Gemma noted that his campaign’s mission is to reinvent and reinvigorate
public service.  ”To accomplish that mission,” he said, “I must act as well
as talk like a 21st century congressman.  My funding of these positions may
be viewed as both a practical and symbolic act.  With jobs plan-dedicated
staffers in place on day one, we will hit the ground running and provide
much-needed impetus to the economic recovery of Rhode Island.”

Gemma spoke of his sense of urgency.  ”I have talked with scores of families
whose lives have been uprooted by economic crises,” Gemma continued.  ”Just yesterday I received a phone call from a woman whose northern Rhode Island home will be taken by the bank in two days.  She and her husband had to break the news to their children, and she was sobbing uncontrollably.  These
are good, hard-working people who are innocent victims of a ruined economy.”

Gemma said, “Once in full swing, my Congressional 21st Century Jobs Plan,
which the Providence Journal has called “the most detailed to emerge from
any candidate in this eight-person race,” will spell the beginning of the
end for the misery that is being experienced by too many Rhode Islanders.

Gemma concluded, “There is no time to waste.  Unemployment and
underemployment must end now.  Unfair Social Security practices must end
now.  And I intend to hasten the day.”

 The Black Box Theatre at Artists’ Exchange seeks actors ages 8-80 for various roles in its 2010 production of “A Christmas Carol.”

Auditions will take place on 9/26 from 1-5pm, 9/28 and 9/29 from 6-8pm, 10/2 from 10am-2pm, 10/5 and 10/6 from 6-8pm and 10/9 from 10am-2pm.

Appointments will be 10 minutes in duration. Actors should prepare a monologue, bring sheet music and be prepared to sing a song and to read from the script. To sign up for an audition, contact Rich Morra, Artistic Director of the Black Box Theatre at rich.morra@artists-exchange.org or 401.490.9475.

It’s time for a Recovery High School in Rhode Island

By Senator John J. Tassoni, Jr.

Last month I received a phone call from a distressed mother. She had just read an article in CommonGround: “Recovery high schools provide second chance to students” (July, 2010). She wanted to know which recovery high school in Rhode Island she could send her son, whom she feared would fall back into the cycle of drugs once he went back to his school. Unfortunately, I had to explain to her that we did not have a school in Rhode Island and that the article in the paper was about schools in Massachusetts and in other states.  However, I was able to help her. I put her in touch with Mike Blackburn at Treatment Solutions, and her son was placed in one of the recovery schools in Massachusetts.

The fact is that students with serious drug and alcohol problems do not fare well in traditional high schools.

The majority of students who complete treatment relapse upon returning to school because of a lack of ongoing aftercare. Almost all students who return to school after completing treatment – 93 percent – report being offered drugs on their first day back. Within 90 days, fully half of these students are using drugs or alcohol at or above levels they had been prior to treatment.

Making matters worse in Rhode Island is the fact that the state has among the highest rates in the nation of drug use among children of a high school age, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The survey finds that among youths ages 12 to 17 years: 12.68 percent used illicit drugs, 11.14 percent reported binge alcohol abuse, 5.67 percent had illicit drug dependence or abuse and 5.11 percent need, but are not receiving, treatment.

Recovery high schools are a cost-effective way to help Rhode Island students in recovery stay sober and drug free while improving academic success. Recovery high schools originated in Minnesota in 1989 in response to the high rate of relapse among teens who returned from a treatment environment to a traditional high school setting. There are 24 recovery high schools in operation today, in eight states, including three in Massachusetts.

The schools are small, averaging between 20 and 40 students, allowing for a small student-teacher ratio.

More importantly, the schools have proven effective. Recovery high schools improve academic performance, increase graduation rate and are cost effective over the short-term and long-term. 

The recovery high school model also affords significant savings to Rhode Island taxpayers when compared to traditional treatment methods. Currently, students with substance abuse issues are typically sent to the state’s training school at an annual cost of $138,750 per student. A further burden of $1,000 per day is incurred when students require hospitalization for psychiatric treatment, and about $76 per day when residential substance abuse treatment is necessary. 

What is the annual cost for each student enrolled in a recovery high school? In most cases, less than $20,000.

Massachusetts launched three recovery high schools in 2006, and 97 students were enrolled. Of these, 72 percent completed the school year, 80 percent were able to maintain a high level of commitment to their recovery, and the majority of students earned final grades of B or above.

It’s time to fight back against the prevalence of drugs in our schools and give struggling students a fighting chance to live healthy and productive lives free of addiction. It’s time we join our neighbors and bring a recovery high school to Rhode Island.

September 8th

What:
The Gamm Theatre and Pawtucket Armory Center for the Arts are pleased to host “An Interview with the Candidates for Mayor of Pawtucket, Donald Grebien and Henry Kinch, Jr.”, with a special focus on Pawtucket’s burgeoning arts and cultural economic development.

When:
Wed. Sept. 8 from 7-8:30 pm

Where:
The Gamm Theatre,172 Exchange St., Pawtucket, RI Seating is limited, please plan to arrive early.

Details:
Moderated by: Richard Kazarian, Jr.
Sponsored by: The Pawtucket Times
Special Thanks to: Pawtucket Alliance for Downtown Success, RI Citizens for the Arts, Pawtucket Arts Collaborative

We sincerely apologize to our Jewish Pawtucket residents for inadvertently scheduling this event during the high holidays

Opponents believe Blackstone Valley voters deserve close-up with candidates

Woonsocket, RI -  Bill Lynch and David Segal, candidates for the Democratic nomination in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, today called on their opponents to join them for a debate in Woonsocket before the September 14th primary.
 
“We’ve debated throughout the East Bay and Providence, and are glad to have had the opportunity to have engaged with voters throughout those parts of the district,” said Segal.  “But we believe that northern Rhode Islanders ought not be neglected, and that their votes and opinions are as valuable as those of all other Rhode Islanders.  We ask that our opponents agree to meet us for a debate in Woonsocket.”
 
“The Blackstone Valley is the heart of the 1st Congressional District, and also the scene of some immense economic hardships. It is essential those of us running to represent the people of northern Rhode Island have the opportunity to discuss with voters our plans for getting our state working again,” said Lynch. “It would be an enormous disservice to constituents not to speak to the issues that matter here – unemployment, mortgage reform, access to capital for small businesses, among others. I look forward to meeting with my opponents in Woonsocket.”
 
Lynch and Segal announced they will hold a joint town hall meeting in Woonsocket prior to September 14th, regardless of their opponents’ responses to the debate request.

(left to right) Robert Andrade, EVP/COO, Pawtucket Credit Union,  Don Grebien,  Former Pawtucket Mayor Robert Metivier, Tony Pires, insurance company owner and former House Finance chairman. Not pictured: Former City Councilor and state Rep. William Vieira

PAWTUCKET – Don Grebien, candidate for mayor in the Sept. 14 primary, announced the members of his Financial Review Team, who have been analyzing the city’s budget to determine areas for potential cost savings and other efficiencies, as well as helping Grebien formulate an economic development plan for Pawtucket’s future.

Grebien noted his Financial Review Team brings decades of practical experience in private industry to the task of reforming how the city can better operate.

Members of the team are Robert Andrade, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Pawtucket Credit Union, which has approximately $1.2 billion in assets; former Mayor Robert Metivier, himself a former chief executive at PCU; Tony Pires, the former state representative from Pawtucket who for years chaired the top House financial committee and for decades ran his own private insurance company; and Fairlawn native William Vieira, the former city councilor and state representative.

“I am honored that such a distinguished group of people with such deep financial experience has signed on to help my campaign with the crucial task of helping to restore order and fiscal discipline to Pawtucket’s finances,” Grebien said. “That task is even more important as the city continues to struggle with its current budget deficit of approximately $12 million.”

Grebien noted that details of his economic development plan have already been released and are available on his website at www.dongrebien.com. He said the Financial Review Team’s work analyzing the city’s approximately $202 million budget is ongoing and would continue in the transition to a Grebien administration.

Pawtucket Arts Festival

September 10-12 and 17-19

Photo Credit:  Robert Emerson

The Community Players open their 90th Anniversary Season with You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. This delightful musical comedy invites audiences of all ages to take a trip down memory lane and spend a day in the life of their favorite Peanuts’ characters, Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, Linus, Sally and, of course, Snoopy as they tackle kite-eating trees, book reports, glee club, baseball and a host of misunderstandings.

This family-friendly musical will be presented September 10-12 and 17-19 at Jenks Auditorium, Division Street, Pawtucket (across from McCoy Stadium) as part of the 2010 Pawtucket Arts Festival. Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm (*note special time) and Sundays at 2 pm, with an additional matinee Saturday, September 18 at 2 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth through high school. Admission for Community Players members is $12 (members must show their 2010/2011 membership card at the door to receive the reduced rate). Season memberships entitling members to admission to the 4-show season may be purchased at the door.

Directed by Andrew g. Bobola, with musical direction by Ron Procopio, the production features the talents of Derek Capobianco, Greg Gillis, Ryan Leverone, Joseph Nicastro, Erika Pastel and Kimberly Simone.

Reserve online at www.thecommunityplayers.org or call (401) 726-6860.

Festival Ballet Providence

Festival Ballet Providence (FBP) Principal Dancer Jennifer Ricci will be celebrating her 20^th season as a professional dancer. Such an accomplishment is remarkable in and of itself for a “normal” sedentary desk job. But to do so as a professional dancer, given all the rigorous physical and emotional demands, is virtually unheard of.

      The average length of a professional dancer’s on-stage career is 10-15 years with most retiring in their early thirties. For many, chronic injuries make this timeframe much shorter. And while this interviewer was not about to ask the diminutive Ms. Ricci her age, just a cursory review of her career will show that she has already exceeded her life expectancy as a dancer.

      She describes her first day of ballet class at the age of four as one of “the greatest and most exciting experiences in my life.” But ballet, initially anyway, was not her choice. To combat recurring arm dislocations, a family doctor suggested exercise as a way of strengthening her muscles. It was her mother, who wasn’t allowed to take ballet, who ultimately introduced Ms. Ricci to ballet; “I’m living my mother’s dream,” she declares with a smile. The young dancer would go on to spend countless hours, days and years taking ballet classes before being invited to join FBP, where she has remained for the last 20 years.

      Ms. Ricci recounts several instructors she worked with throughout her career, but when the names Christine Hennessey and Winthrop Corey are mentioned, her tone clearly changes; in 1978, they co-founded FBP, referred to then simply as Festival Ballet. It wasn’t until the company moved from its original home in North Providence to its current location in RI’s capital city that Providence was added to the name.

      Of the late Ms. Hennessey, Ms. Ricci notes, “she was the most beautiful person I ever met. She was at times like a delicate flower and other times her passion would take your breath away. She did everything: she directed, choreographed, worked with me one on one, made costumes, taught class, cleaned the studio, cleaned the costumes … but most of all she was my away from home mom. I will miss her forever and she is the reason I can never let go of FBP. I can still hear her words: ‘Don’t give-up little one.’”

      Ms. Ricci is also quick to point out how inspirational her sister Jaclyn has been throughout her career. She too danced with FBP but retired at the age of 26 because “she wanted to leave at the top of her game. She got married, bought a new home, had horses and was content with her new lifestyle.” In the absence of Ms. Hennessey, Ms. Ricci admits that her sister became “the only one I could rely on for the truth in critiquing my performances.” And, interestingly enough, while the two sisters were dancing together there was never, as  one might expect, any sibling rivalry , “Jaclyn gave me my inspiration and I gave her her inspiration; we laughed, cried and danced our hearts to the limit, sometimes even performing on stage side by side. We were, for awhile, simply referred to as the ‘Ricci Sisters.’ When she left, I felt like I lost a part of my soul.”

      When asked about her longevity in a discipline dominated by injuries and younger dancers, Ms. Ricci refers to a litany of daily exercises, “I do my own special warm-up every morning consisting of push-ups, sit-ups, abdominal punches and tons of stretching – all day. It’s very important to stretch even when not dancing and especially when you work another job that consists of standing for 8 hours.” Oh, did I mention that in addition to dancing 8 hours a day, she also works full-time at Ross Simmons in the Providence Place Mall?

      Yes, given her daily regime, Ms. Ricci can put most people half her age to shame. When asked of any secrets she could divulge to aspiring dancers, “Believe in yourself, enjoy life and laugh as much as possible [something I noticed over the course of the interview she has no problem doing] and above all listen. Dancing should be enjoyable both to watch and perform. Also, don’t dwell on things that you don’t like about yourself because then you will never be happy or confident.” When pushed for something a bit more revealing, she confesses, “I love my sweets – especially chocolate mid-day to give me an extra boost of energy.”

      When the inevitable question about how much longer she can continue dancing comes-up, she replies with the unabashed confidence of a teenager, “I can keep dancing as long as my body stays injury free and healthy and as long as the audience still enjoys watching me. And, as long as I feel young and look young then we’re good – but then again I can always keep coloring my hair.” She does, though, someday envision herself as an instructor, going so far as to even provide a name her future school – “The Ricci Center for Dance.” Maybe she can install a fountain of youth there as well to pass on some of that Ricci agelessness.

      Festival Ballet Providence will be kicking-off its 33^rd season on October 1 with Viktor Plotnikov’s Carmen; Ms. Ricci will be dancing the title role. And, in December, she will once again perform her signature piece, Arabian from The Nutcracker. Each year audiences are left breathless when the stage darkens and the spotlight fixes on Ms. Ricci and her sculpted abs as she seduces all with her smoldering stare and flexibility that elicits audible gasps.

      Recently, NY dance critic and former American Ballet Theater dancer Lisa Rinehart (and long-time partner of dancing legend Mikhail Baryshnikov) wrote the following, “She [Ms. Ricci] gives herself over to a role as though her life depends on it and, in fact, I think it does. A true artist.” To see when and where Ms. Ricci will be performing or to learn more about Festival Ballet Providence check: www.festivalballetprovidence.org