Coggeshall Farm: Wool and Fiber Festival Saturday May 21

Coggeshall Farm: Wool and Fiber Festival Saturday May 21
A celebration of wool and fiber arts and artisans!

Join fiber and textile enthusiasts from across the Northeast at Rhode Island's only Wool and Fiber Festival.

See craftspeople demonstrate traditional and contemporary fiber arts; purchase your own textile supplies, equipment, and gifts to take home; watch the hand shearing of sheep, and help with 18th century textile and farm work.

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM: Be careful parking. The ground is soft and wet and soon to be muddy!
$8.00 for Adults; $5.00 for Seniors and Children (6-12); Children under 5 Free. Museum Members-$5.00

The Work We Value, The Intelligence We Ignore: Is the Work that Made America Great Valued Any Longer?

Mike Rowe comments on Manual Labor and the widening skills gap in our country. He is the host of the Discovery Channel's show Diry Jobs founded as a tribute to his grandfather. We have "shovel ready" projects but no one who knows how or wants to use a shovel!
"It occurred to me that I had become disconnected from a lot of things that used to fascinate me. I no longer thought about where my food came from, or how my electricity worked, or who fixed my pipes, or who made my clothes. There was no reason to. I had become less interested in how things got made, and more interested in how things got bought." Link to short video clip and essay here:
http://tinyurl.com/6druxce

Habitat for Humanity party on June 4 on Goat Island

Not many East Bay residents know that there is an active chapter of Habitiat for Humanity right here. The East Bay Chapter of HFH is currently building a home in Newport off Spring Street for a family of three and hope to build the next somewhere in Bristol County in the near future.

The chapter needs your support at their major fundraiser on June 4th. Join them for an evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, live music and dancing while overlooking the iconic Newport skyline at the Regatta Club on Goat Island.

The Seaside Soiree on June 4th helps our neighbors in need. As the sun sets on the City-by-the-Sea, celebrate for an extraordinary cause and partake in a fantastic silent auction. Tickets are just $75 before May 27, $90 after May 28th and at the door, ALL INCLUSIVE.

Visit www.habitateastbayri.org to purchase through Pay Pal or call 888-270-5274 or 253 7837 for tickets and information.

Susan Donovan
President HFH East Bay RI

How to train your dragon character sketches!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=20alb2pVBPM

Mount Hope Farm needs volunteers this Saturday May 14

Mount Hope Farm can use your help this Saturday May 14

The Pepsi Cola Company, Mount Hope Farm, Bristol Parks and Recreation, and the URI Master Gardeners are hosting a
Clean Up Day at Mount Hope Farm
on Saturday, May 14, beginning at 8:30 AM.

Volunteers can lend a hand with a variety of projects from painting to landscaping. The URI Master Gardeners will oversee the restoration of the Governor Bradford House Gardens using a vintage Haffenreffer-era landscape plan. This is a great opportunity to learn about historic landscape design and basic gardening skills from master gardeners, while helping to preserve Mount Hope Farm. Other projects will include painting, erecting a new pasture fence, invasive brush removal and more.

Please join us for this fun-filled volunteering opportunity sponsored by Pepsi, who has graciously provided funding for the clean up, corporate volunteers and refreshments.

To volunteer, please email your name to peg@mounthopefarm.com or call 401-254-1745.
Volunteer registration is in the Barn on Saturday morning.

Southside Community Land Trust Rare Plant sale at City Farm this weekend

http://tinyurl.com/3go6uwb

East Bay Sailing Foundation Fundraiser

There will also by a silent auction which has some amazing items from an American Eagle charter to a sailing lesson on Kestrel to fabulous sailing gear from Helly Hansen, KInder Industries and others. Email Jim Dollins at jdollins1@cox.net to receive a list of the 25 auction items.
Click on image once to enlarge.

Mount Hope Farm and the Pepsi Challenge on Saturday May 14!

Volunteers wanted for Saturday, May 14 to help MHF and our troops overseas.
Click on image once to enlarge.

Bristol Conservation Summit Friday night at Audubon

Where: Audubon Environmental Education Center, 1401 Hope St, Bristol, RI 02809
Date: Friday May 6, 2011
Time: 6:30pm–8:30pm
Sponsored by the Bristol Land Conservation Trust. Marks the 25th anniversary of the organization. Light supper, cash bar.

Telephone: Ray Payson 253-0247
Price: $15 for Land Trust participants; $25 for general public
Click on image once to enlarge.

Amourri's Gas prices up .35 in a month!

I thought Amour meant Love and that 'Amour RI' meant Love Rhode Island... But this is definitely not the case with current gas prices in Bristol's only downtown gas station called Amourri's. Here are their prices for the past month for unleaded regular:
$3.62 April 4
$3.67 April 9
$3.86 April 18
$3.91 April 25
$3.97 May 5

addendum:
$3.99 May 6

How is this affecting air travel and shipping rates? We welcome your comments.

Free Yoga at Bristol Yoga Studio in May

The Bristol Yoga Studio and the Bristol Good Neighbors Soup KItchen are teaming up! This is your chance to try out a yoga class for free and to make a modest contribution to the soup kitchen. Yoga classes are open to all levels of experience! Go to www.bristolyogastudio.com to review the schedule.
Click on image once to enlarge.

Bristol Zoning board denies Countrywide Gold in 4-1 vote Monday night

For those of you new to Preserve Bristol - creating the Formula Business Ordinance was how we spontaneously formed in 2004 fighting the arrival of the downtown Dunkin Donuts. DD was grandfathered but the ordinance was approved in June 2004. Image above shows one of our campaign buttons from 2004!
Some of the reasons for the denial of the motion given at the Zoning Board Meeting on Monday May 2, 2011 were the following:
The unique character of Bristol would be adversely affected by this new type of business. It is not consistent with the image of the downtown area. It would be a negative influence on the preservation and character of the community and does not compliment other businesses in the historic district. (especially being next door to a TOY store.) Related article by Christy Nadalin in Tuesdays PATCH. http://patch.com/A-hgzd