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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260901T120000
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SUMMARY:Teen Café: Summer Edition
DESCRIPTION:Teen Café: Summer Edition offers teens a welcoming place to relax\, recharge\, and connect with friends during the summer. Held daily in the Teen Space\, the casual drop-in program provides a comfortable environment where teens can enjoy refreshments\, conversation\, and a break from the summer heat. \nWhether stopping by for lunch\, a quick snack\, or simply to spend time with friends\, Teen Café creates a laid-back atmosphere designed just for teens. With friendly conversations and a dedicated gathering space\, it’s an easy way to meet new people\, catch up with familiar faces\, or unwind between summer activities. \nEvent Details\n\nEvent: Teen Café: Summer Edition\nSchedule: Daily\nDate Featured: Thursday\, July 9\, 2026\nTime: Noon-2:00 p.m.\nLocation: Teen Space\n\nWhat’s Included\nTeens can enjoy: \n\nCold drinks\nLight lunch\nTasty snacks\nFriendly conversation\nA welcoming space to relax and socialize\n\nWho Can Attend\nTeen Café is designed for teens looking for a fun\, informal place to spend part of their summer day. \n  \nContact:\n\nLynn Dougan401 596-2877 x301 \n\n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/teen-cafe-summer-edition/2026-09-01/
LOCATION:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\, 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260901T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260901T230000
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CREATED:20260512T032734Z
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SUMMARY:Trivia & Taco Tuesday with DJ Trivia RI at Surf Cantina
DESCRIPTION:Trivia & Taco Tuesday with DJ Trivia RI at Surf Cantina turns Tuesday nights in downtown Westerly into a mix of tacos\, drinks\, and friendly competition. With $3 tacos running from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and trivia kicking off at 7 p.m.\, the weekly event blends casual dinner plans with the kind of lively group atmosphere that keeps tables talking\, laughing\, and debating answers long after the first round begins. \nTrivia & Taco Tuesday with DJ Trivia RI brings a more energetic spin to the usual trivia-night format thanks to DJ Trivia’s fast-moving style and crowd interaction. Teams gather around baskets of tacos and drinks while competing through rounds that can shift from pop culture and music to sports\, movies\, and random knowledge. The setup works especially well inside Surf Cantina’s coastal-inspired atmosphere\, where the laid-back vibe keeps the night social even for people who are mostly there for the tacos and margaritas. \nTuesday nights in Westerly tend to feel quieter before the summer weekend crowds fully arrive\, which gives events like this a strong locals-night feel. Surf Cantina’s Canal Street location adds to that energy\, drawing groups of friends\, coworkers\, and trivia regulars looking for an easy midweek outing that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Between the taco specials\, upbeat trivia atmosphere\, and downtown setting\, the night offers a fun excuse to break up the workweek without overcomplicating it. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/trivia-taco-tuesday-with-dj-trivia-ri-at-surf-cantina/2026-09-01/
LOCATION:Surf Cantina\, 15 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Surf Cantina
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260902T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260902T203000
DTSTAMP:20260621T021216Z
CREATED:20260621T012345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260621T021216Z
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SUMMARY:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K
DESCRIPTION:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K gives participants a chance to stay active\, meet new people\, and explore the heart of downtown Westerly in a fun and welcoming group setting. Held on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer\, the event encourages walkers and runners of all experience levels to get outside and enjoy the community. \nRather than a competitive race\, the weekly gathering focuses on fitness\, social connection\, and enjoying the local area. Participants can choose to walk or run the 5K route\, making it accessible to everyone from seasoned runners to those simply looking for an enjoyable midweek outing. \nWhether you’re training for a larger race\, looking to add some movement to your week\, or hoping to connect with fellow outdoor enthusiasts\, Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K offers a free and friendly way to spend a summer evening. \nEvent Details \nWhen: Every Wednesday \nTime: 6:30 p.m. \nLocation: One Of One Athletics Club\n26 High Street\nWesterly\, RI \nDistance: 5K \nAdmission: Free \nHighlights \n\nWalk or run at your own pace\nWeekly community event\nExplore downtown Westerly\nOpen to all fitness levels\nMeet fellow walkers and runners\n\n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/downtown-westerly-walk-or-run-5k/2026-09-02/
LOCATION:One of One Athletics Club\, 26 High Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:One of One Athletics Club
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260904T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260904T200000
DTSTAMP:20260627T003925Z
CREATED:20260531T175641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260627T003925Z
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SUMMARY:The First Friday Art Crawl in Downtown Westerly
DESCRIPTION:The First Friday Art Crawl in Downtown Westerly brings together local artists\, galleries\, artist studios\, creative spaces and more throughout downtown Westerly’s arts district on the first Friday of every month. Typically from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. and often later\, visitors can stroll between galleries\, artists studios and creative spaces to experience all Westerly (and spilling over into Pawcatuck) has to offer. \n \nVisitors can enjoy painters\, photographers\, sculptors\, ceramicists\, jewelry makers\, graphic designers\, illustrators\, mixed media and many other types of artists and art forms during the First Friday Art Crawl. One of Downtown Westerly’s main attractions\, the evening Art Crawl allows visitors to stroll between participating locations while meeting artists\, viewing new work and enjoying the creativity that flourishes in downtown Westerly. Many of these locations are galleries\, artist studios\, restaurants and community spaces that open their doors for guests to enjoy art\, conversation and yummy food while supporting local creatives. \nArt enthusiasts\, date night seekers\, families\, and more enjoy the First Friday Art Crawl. Beginning as a simple art stroll downtown in the early 2000’s\, the First Friday Art Crawl has developed into a monthly celebration of local artists and businesses that continues to thrive. Check out which venues are participating and see the most current crawl map prior to attending\, as it may change monthly. \n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/the-first-friday-art-crawl-in-downtown-westerly/2026-09-04/
LOCATION:Downtown Westerly RI\, 5 Hight Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Downtown Westerly
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260904T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260904T210000
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SUMMARY:Speakeasy Choir: Come On Eileen at the UNITED
DESCRIPTION:Speakeasy Choir: Come On Eileen at the UNITED is a one-night pop-up choir on Friday\, September 4\, where the audience doesn’t come to hear the singers. They become the singers. \nThe 18-and-over event begins at 7 p.m. in the UNITED’s Gallery Events Space in downtown Westerly. Over the course of approximately 90 minutes\, participants will learn the harmonies to Dexys Midnight Runners’ 1982 hit “Come On Eileen.” Then the newly assembled choir performs the song with the five-piece UNITED House Band. \nNo long-term commitment to a chorus is required. It’s one song\, one night and one temporary choir. \nKaraoke With Harmonies\nThe UNITED describes Speakeasy Choir as something like karaoke taken to another level. \nInstead of individuals taking turns singing along with a backing track\, everyone attending becomes part of the same singing ensemble. \nParticipants learn the song together\, including its harmonies\, before putting everything together for a final performance. \nThat makes the evening part social gathering\, part music workshop and part concert. \nIt also removes one of the bigger barriers to joining a traditional choir. Nobody is signing up for months of rehearsals or preparing for a formal concert season. \nThe entire process happens in a single evening. \nThis Month’s Song Is “Come On Eileen”\nSeptember’s selection should give the room plenty to work with. \nDexys Midnight Runners released “Come On Eileen” in 1982 on the album Too-Rye-Ay. The song became an international hit and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. \nIts sound was unusual even by early-’80s pop standards\, mixing pop and soul with prominent fiddle and Celtic influences while repeatedly shifting its tempo and intensity. \nMore than four decades later\, its chorus remains instantly recognizable. \nAt Speakeasy Choir\, however\, knowing the song from the radio isn’t the same thing as knowing your part. \nThat’s where the first portion of the evening comes in. \nLearn It\, Then Perform It\nThe Speakeasy Choir format gives the group about 90 minutes to turn a room full of individual voices into an ensemble. \nParticipants work through the song and its harmonies together before the evening culminates in a live performance. \nFor that final run-through\, they aren’t singing to a karaoke track. \nThe five-piece UNITED House Band provides live accompaniment. \nThe band is made up of instructors from the UNITED Music School along with other musicians from southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island. \nThat final performance is the payoff: the temporary choir formed earlier that evening gets to perform the song with a full live band. \nA Collaboration With the Chorus of Westerly\nSpeakeasy Choir is presented jointly by the UNITED Theatre and the Chorus of Westerly. \nThe Chorus has been part of Westerly’s cultural landscape since 1959\, when George Kent founded the organization. \nIts traditional work is considerably different from spending a Friday evening singing Dexys Midnight Runners. The Chorus of Westerly is known for large-scale choral performances and has brought together both child and adult singers throughout its history. \nSpeakeasy Choir takes that choral idea and removes much of the formality surrounding it. \nThere’s still an ensemble. \nThere are still harmonies to learn. \nThere’s still a performance at the end. \nIt just happens in a much more casual setting\, with a pop song and a house band. \nA Choir That Exists for One Night\nThat’s really the appeal of the concept. \nMost choirs are built around continuity. Singers rehearse together\, learn a repertoire and prepare for performances weeks or months away. \nSpeakeasy Choir is deliberately temporary. \nThe group that walks into the UNITED on September 4 doesn’t exist yet. \nDuring the evening\, the participants become a choir\, learn their parts\, rehearse together and perform. \nThen it’s over. \nThe Chorus of Westerly and UNITED have used the format with other popular songs in previous editions\, making the song itself the changing centerpiece while keeping the one-night collaborative format intact. \nThis time\, everyone gets to be part of Dexys Midnight Runners. \nEvent Details\nEvent: Speakeasy Choir: Come On Eileen\nDate: Friday\, September 4\, 2026\nTime: 7 p.m.\nVenue: UNITED Theatre\nLocation: Gallery Events Space\nAddress: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nPresented By: The UNITED Theatre and Chorus of Westerly\nSong: “Come On Eileen” by Dexys Midnight Runners\nFormat: One-night collaborative choir\nSession Length: Approximately 90 minutes\nFinal Performance: Participants perform with the five-piece UNITED House Band\nAge: 18+\nTickets: $15 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/speakeasy-choir-come-on-eileen-at-the-united/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260905T200000
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SUMMARY:Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at the UNITED
DESCRIPTION:Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at the UNITED in Westerly on Saturday\, September 5\, bringing a seven-piece collision of funk\, soul\, jazz and rock to one of the theater’s most intimate performance spaces. \nThe show begins at 8 p.m. in the UNITED Black Box Auditorium\, with DELA & Steady Rock Easy opening the night. Floor tickets are $30 and general-admission standing room\, while the $50 balcony offers reserved seating. Both prices include fees. \nThe size of the room is worth noting because Karl Denson is accustomed to considerably larger stages. \nSince 2014\, he’s been the touring saxophonist for the Rolling Stones. \nBut the Stones are only one part of a career that has connected Denson with Lenny Kravitz\, Steve Winwood\, The Greyboy Allstars\, Slightly Stoopid and a remarkably long list of musicians stretching across jazz\, funk\, rock\, soul and the jam-band world. \nAt the UNITED\, he brings his own band. \nAnd Tiny Universe has been doing this for more than 25 years. \nThe Call From the Rolling Stones\nKarl Denson was already decades into his career when an unexpected opportunity arrived in 2014. \nThe Rolling Stones needed a saxophonist. \nBobby Keys\, whose saxophone had become an important part of the Stones’ sound through performances including the famous solo on “Brown Sugar\,” was ill and unable to tour. \nDenson’s connection came through Lenny Kravitz. \nKravitz was having dinner with Mick Jagger when he learned that the Stones were looking for a saxophone player. He recommended Denson\, who soon found himself talking with Jagger. \nDenson got the job. \nWithin weeks\, he was flying to Australia and New Zealand to play with the Rolling Stones. \nKeys died in December 2014. Denson remained with the touring band\, taking on a role that put him alongside Jagger\, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood on stadium stages around the world. \nMore than a decade later\, the Stones connection remains part of his musical life. \nTiny Universe remains something different. \nBefore the Stones\, There Was Lenny Kravitz\nDenson’s relationship with Kravitz went back much further. \nHe played saxophone on Kravitz’s early recordings and toured with him as the singer’s career took off around the turn of the 1990s. \nThat put Denson inside music that freely mixed rock\, soul\, funk and psychedelia rather than respecting clean genre boundaries. \nIt’s a philosophy that would follow him. \nDenson could play jazz. \nHe could play funk. \nHe could step into rock. \nHe could play flute as comfortably as saxophone. \nAnd rather than choosing one of those worlds\, he built a career moving among them. \nThen Came The Greyboy Allstars\nIn the early 1990s\, Denson became a founding member of The Greyboy Allstars in San Diego. \nThe group emerged from the rare-groove and acid-jazz movement\, drawing heavily from the funky soul-jazz of the 1960s and ’70s while developing its own improvisational identity. \nThe Greyboy Allstars became one of the defining bands of the West Coast groove scene and helped introduce a new audience to music that lived somewhere between a jazz club and a dance floor. \nDenson never really abandoned that intersection. \nHe’s a jazz musician who doesn’t think jazz requires people to sit still. \nJazz You Can Dance To\nThat idea is essential to understanding Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. \nThis isn’t smooth jazz. \nIt isn’t traditional bebop. \nAnd it isn’t a conventional funk band with a saxophonist standing off to one side. \nImprovisation is built into the music\, but so is groove. \nTiny Universe can move through jazz\, soul\, funk\, rock\, R&B and psychedelic music within the same performance. Horn arrangements and solos coexist with heavy bass lines\, keyboards\, guitar and drums. \nThe musicians can stretch a song. \nThey can change direction. \nThey can follow an idea that wasn’t necessarily part of the plan when the song began. \nBut there’s another requirement. \nIt still has to move. \nDenson even titled his 2001 album Dance Lesson #2. \nThe name wasn’t especially subtle. \nTiny Universe Has Been Doing This for More Than 25 Years\nKarl Denson’s Tiny Universe has developed its reputation primarily onstage. \nThe band has performed around the world\, including Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival. \nIt has played Madison Square Garden alongside Dave Matthews Band and James Brown. \nTiny Universe was the first late-night act at the inaugural Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in 2002\, putting the band near the beginning of a festival culture that would become a natural home for its combination of improvisation and dance music. \nNew Orleans has become another important stop. \nKDTU’s late-night shows around Jazz Fest have regularly turned into collaborative affairs\, with musicians dropping in and the performances stretching deep into the night. \nThe list of people who have joined Denson over the years is formidable. \nSteve Winwood. \nLenny Kravitz. \nMaceo Parker. \nFred Wesley. \nWarren Haynes. \nJohn Oates. \nIvan Neville. \nLukas Nelson. \nMarcus King. \nJoshua Redman. \nBernie Worrell. \nRolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell and vocalist Bernard Fowler have joined him as well. \nThat willingness to let musicians enter the Tiny Universe and alter its chemistry is part of the point. \nThe Band Has Shared the Road With Almost Everybody\nThe touring history tells the same story. \nKDTU has toured with or appeared alongside acts including the Allman Brothers\, My Morning Jacket\, D’Angelo\, The Roots\, Public Enemy\, Parliament-Funkadelic\, Bob Weir\, Slightly Stoopid and Widespread Panic. \nIn summer 2026 alone\, Tiny Universe has appeared on bills involving Nile Rodgers & CHIC and major festival artists across funk\, jazz\, reggae and jam music. \nThe Westerly show falls during the band’s “Summer in September” run. \nDenson and company play Maynard\, Massachusetts\, on September 2\, followed by Portsmouth\, New Hampshire\, on September 3 and Brattleboro\, Vermont\, with Rebirth Brass Band on September 4. \nThen comes Westerly on September 5. \nThe following day\, Tiny Universe heads to New York for the Adirondack Independence Music Festival. \nYes\, Karl Denson Was in Coming to America\nThere’s also a wonderfully strange detour in Denson’s résumé. \nSexual Chocolate. \nIn the 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America\, Murphy plays several characters\, including spectacularly self-confident soul singer Randy Watson. \nWatson’s band is Sexual Chocolate. \nDenson was in it. \nIt could have remained a tiny piece of movie trivia from early in his career. \nInstead\, decades later\, Denson resurrected the joke. Tiny Universe has performed as Sexual Chocolate\, including a performance at San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival. \nDenson also returned for the 2021 sequel Coming 2 America. \nSo the man playing saxophone in Westerly September 5 has been a member of both the Rolling Stones’ touring band and Sexual Chocolate. \nThere probably aren’t many résumés containing both. \nTiny Universe Has Its Own Catalog\nThe famous associations can obscure the fact that Tiny Universe has built a substantial body of its own music. \nThe band’s albums include Dance Lesson #2\, The Bridge\, Brother’s Keeper\, New Ammo and Gnomes & Badgers. \nThe records reflect the same refusal to remain inside one musical lane. \nBrother’s Keeper brought together musicians connected to The Dap-Kings\, The Greyboy Allstars and Lenny Kravitz’s band\, along with guests including Meshell Ndegeocello. \nNew Ammo combined Denson’s originals with dramatically reworked material from other artists. The album includes the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and Beastie Boys’ “Sure Shot.” \nThat’s another recurring Tiny Universe idea. \nA cover doesn’t have to be a reproduction. \nPrince\, Beastie Boys and the Stones All Enter the Universe\nOver the years\, Denson has built entire performances around interpreting other artists. \nTiny Universe has tackled music associated with Prince\, Ray Charles\, Beastie Boys\, Run-DMC and the Rolling Stones. \nThe concept isn’t impersonation. \nDenson takes familiar material and rearranges it for the musicians standing onstage with him. \nA hip-hop track can become live funk. \nA rock song can acquire horns and extended improvisation. \nA familiar composition can be pulled apart and rebuilt until it sounds like Tiny Universe. \nThat same approach appears on the band’s studio albums. \nIt’s one reason a KDTU set can accommodate an original composition\, a funk workout and an unexpected cover without sounding like three different bands have taken the stage. \nGnomes & Badgers Brought Some Famous Friends Along\nTiny Universe’s Gnomes & Badgers pushed the collaboration even further. \nDenson brought in a group of guests that reflected the musical territory he’s occupied throughout his career. \nLukas Nelson participated. \nSo did New Orleans musician Ivan Neville. \nGuitarist Anders Osborne joined the project. \nAdrian Quesada\, known for his work with Grupo Fantasma and Black Pumas\, contributed. \nAnd Chuck Leavell brought another Rolling Stones connection. In addition to his decades with the Stones\, Leavell played with the Allman Brothers Band during one of its defining periods. \nThe album wasn’t an attempt to choose between rock\, jazz\, soul and funk. \nIt was an argument that the choice isn’t necessary. \nThe Current Tiny Universe\nThe current touring lineup surrounds Denson with horns\, guitar\, keyboards and a rhythm section capable of moving between tightly arranged funk and open improvisation. \nKarl Denson handles saxophone\, flute and vocals. \nRicio Fruge plays trumpet and sings. \nRicky Giordano plays guitar and contributes vocals. \nRashon Murph is on keyboards. \nParker McAllister plays bass. \nAlfred Jordan handles drums. \nDanielle Barker adds vocals. \nIt’s a seven-piece configuration with enough firepower to operate as a horn-driven funk band while retaining the flexibility that has always defined KDTU. \nDELA & Steady Rock Easy Opens the Night\nThe opening band isn’t an arbitrary addition to the bill. \nDaniel “DELA” Delacruz has his own history with Denson. \nDelacruz is the saxophonist for Slightly Stoopid and spent years on the road with Denson\, whom he describes as a longtime friend and mentor. \nEventually those connections produced a record. \nDelacruz\, Denson and members of Los Angeles reggae band The Aggrolites collaborated on Opening Night\, a jazz-influenced reggae album released through Stoopid Records in 2017. \nAfter returning from California to the Northeast\, Delacruz assembled DELA & Steady Rock Easy. \nAnd the musicians he recruited come with impressive résumés of their own. \nTrombonist Brian Thomas has played with John Brown’s Body. \nTrumpeter Mark Berney has connections to The Skatalites. \nGuitarist Steve Fell has worked with Marco Benevento. \nBassist Aaron Bellamy comes from The A-Beez and the Sam Kininger Band. \nDrummer Jesse Hayes has played with The Toasters. \nKeyboardist Cameron Greenlee also has ties to The Skatalites and Naya Rockers. \nThe result is jazz musicianship applied to reggae\, ska and groove. \nWhich makes considerably more sense once Karl Denson takes the stage. \nFrom Stadiums to the Black Box\nThe UNITED’s Black Box Auditorium changes the scale considerably. \nDenson can spend part of his year performing on enormous stages with the Rolling Stones. \nOn September 5\, he’ll be inside the restored UNITED Theatre at 5 Canal Street in downtown Westerly. \nThe Black Box is designed to put the audience much closer to the performers than a traditional arena or large theater. \nFor this show\, the floor is entirely general-admission standing room. \nAnyone who wants a seat needs a balcony ticket. \nThat standing-room configuration may also be the more natural way to experience a band whose leader has spent decades insisting that jazz and dancing belong in the same room. \nBecause Tiny Universe isn’t really designed to be observed politely from a distance. \nIt’s designed to move. \nEvent Details\nEvent: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe\nDate: Saturday\, September 5\, 2026\nDoors: 7 p.m.\nShow: 8 p.m.\nLocation: UNITED Black Box Auditorium\nAddress: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nHeadliner: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe\nSupport: DELA & Steady Rock Easy\nMusic: Funk\, soul\, jazz\, rock and improvisational groove\nAge Restriction: All ages\nFloor Tickets: $30\, fees included\nFloor Seating: General-admission standing room only; no seats\nBalcony Tickets: $50\, fees included\nBalcony Seating: Reserved seating\nTicket Policy: Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable \nKarl Denson’s Tiny Universe Touring Band\nKarl Denson — saxophone\, flute and vocals\nRicio Fruge — trumpet and vocals\nRicky Giordano — guitar and vocals\nRashon Murph — keyboards\nParker McAllister — bass\nAlfred Jordan — drums\nDanielle Barker — vocals \nFurther reading: \n\nKarl Denson’s Tiny Universe\nKarl Denson Bio\nKarl Denson Music\n\n  \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/karl-densons-tiny-universe-at-the-united/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260906T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260906T220000
DTSTAMP:20260831T002602Z
CREATED:20260831T002602Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260831T002602Z
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SUMMARY:The FIXX\, Colin Blunstone and Peter Asher
DESCRIPTION:The FIXX\, Colin Blunstone and Peter Asher at the United bring three distinct chapters of British rock history to Westerly on Sunday\, September 6\, for a triple bill stretching from the first British Invasion through new wave and the MTV era. \nThe show begins at 7:30 p.m.\, with doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are $73 to $83\, including fees. The orchestra section is sold out as of publication\, but tickets remain available in the center and balcony sections. \nCalling this simply a night of ’80s music wouldn’t come close. \nBetween the three acts are connections to The Beatles\, The Zombies\, James Taylor\, Linda Ronstadt\, the birth of MTV-era new wave and some of the most recognizable records of the past 60 years. \nThe FIXX and the Sound of the MTV Era\nFor anyone who had MTV playing in the early 1980s\, it doesn’t take long to recognize The FIXX. \n“One Thing Leads to Another.” \n“Saved by Zero.” \n“Red Skies.” \n“Stand or Fall.” \nThe British band emerged at precisely the moment when music videos were becoming inseparable from pop music\, but there was something darker and more complicated underneath their sleek new-wave sound. \nFormed in London in 1979\, The FIXX developed a combination of guitar\, synthesizers\, sharp rhythms and often politically or socially observant lyrics. The sound fit the new decade without sounding quite like anyone else occupying it. \nTheir breakthrough in the United States came with 1983’s Reach the Beach. “One Thing Leads to Another” became the band’s biggest American hit\, while “Saved by Zero” became another defining song of the era. \nMore than four decades later\, much of the lineup responsible for that sound remains together: vocalist Cy Curnin\, keyboardist Rupert Greenall\, guitarist Jamie West-Oram and drummer Adam Woods\, joined by bassist Dan K. Brown. \nThis isn’t a version of The FIXX built around a lone surviving member and a new backing band. \nThe musical core remains remarkably intact. \nThe Voice Behind The Zombies\nThen the clock moves backward another 20 years. \nColin Blunstone was still a teenager when he became the lead singer of The Zombies\, one of the most distinctive groups to emerge from Britain’s first great wave of rock bands. \nHis voice is immediately recognizable on “She’s Not There\,” the band’s 1964 breakthrough. \nThen came “Tell Her No.” \nAnd finally\, “Time of the Season.” \nThat last song appeared on Odessey and Oracle\, the 1968 album that would eventually be regarded as one of the landmark records of the psychedelic era. \nThere’s an irony to its success. The Zombies had already broken up by the time “Time of the Season” became a major hit in America. \nBlunstone went on to build a solo career that included albums such as One Year\, Ennismore and Journey. He also became the voice behind “Old and Wise” by The Alan Parsons Project. \nHis Westerly performance is designed to travel through that entire history\, combining Zombies classics with material from his solo career and collaborations. \nBlunstone is now 81. \nWhat began as a teenage adventure has become a career spanning seven decades. \nThe Zombies were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. \nPeter Asher’s Extraordinary Trip Through Pop History\nAnd then there’s Peter Asher. \nHis career almost sounds invented. \nAsher first became famous as one half of Peter & Gordon during the British Invasion. Their 1964 recording of “A World Without Love\,” written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon-McCartney\, reached No. 1 in both the United States and Britain. \nPeter & Gordon followed it with a string of hits including “I Go to Pieces\,” “Lady Godiva” and other Lennon-McCartney compositions. \nBut performing turned out to be only the beginning. \nAsher became an A&R executive at The Beatles’ Apple Records\, where he signed and began working with a young American singer-songwriter named James Taylor. \nWhen Asher moved to the United States\, his second career exploded. \nHe became Taylor’s manager and producer and went on to produce some of Linda Ronstadt’s defining recordings. Across the decades\, his work has connected him with artists including Carole King\, Joni Mitchell\, Neil Diamond\, Cher and Diana Ross. \nHis producing career earned multiple Grammys. \nAnd he’s still doing it. \nAsher co-produced Barbra Streisand’s 2025 album The Secret of Life: Partners\, Volume Two\, putting him in recording sessions involving another extraordinary collection of artists more than 60 years after Peter & Gordon first reached No. 1. \nHe was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. \nSongs With the Stories Behind Them\nAsher’s portion of Sunday’s concert takes a different form from a conventional rock set. \nIt’s built around songs and storytelling. \nHe performs on vocals and guitar\, joined by Robert Berry on piano\, bass and vocals and Aubrey Richmond on violin\, mandolin and vocals. \nThat format gives him room to do something few musicians can. \nHe can tell stories about the British Invasion because he was there. \nHe can talk about The Beatles’ Apple Records because he worked there. \nHe can talk about discovering and producing records with James Taylor because he did it. \nAnd he can play the songs that started the entire journey. \nThree Generations on One Stage\nThat’s what makes the combination of these three acts more interesting than a conventional nostalgia package. \nPeter Asher takes the story back to the British Invasion and the orbit surrounding The Beatles. \nColin Blunstone brings the unmistakable voice of The Zombies and the increasingly adventurous British pop music that followed. \nThe FIXX picks up the story more than a decade later\, when another generation of British musicians crossed the Atlantic through FM radio and a new television network called MTV. \nTheir careers don’t belong to the same moment. \nThat’s the point. \nPut them together and Sunday’s concert becomes something close to a musical timeline: from “A World Without Love” and “She’s Not There” to “Time of the Season\,” “One Thing Leads to Another” and “Saved by Zero.” \nRoughly 20 years separate some of those records. \nMore than 60 years separate the earliest from the concert happening in Westerly. \nA Rare Tour Comes Through Westerly\nThe Westerly performance is part of a month-long U.S. tour bringing the three acts together. \nThe tour begins September 2 in Massachusetts and continues through September\, making the UNITED one of the early stops. \nIt’s also a particularly fitting show for the restored downtown theater. \nThe UNITED Theatre originally opened in 1926 and has been reborn as a regional film\, music and arts venue. Its Black Box Auditorium offers a much more intimate setting for these artists than the arenas and large theaters their music has filled over the decades. \nFor this performance\, the room will be fully seated. \nAnd some of those seats are already gone. \nThe orchestra section is sold out as of publication\, with tickets still available in the center and balcony. \nFor three artists whose careers collectively stretch back to the early 1960s\, there’s still an audience that wants to hear what comes next. \nEvent Details\nEvent: The FIXX\, Colin Blunstone and Peter Asher\nDate: Sunday\, September 6\, 2026\nShow: 7:30 p.m.\nDoors: 6 p.m.\nLocation: The UNITED Theatre\nAddress: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nVenue: Black Box Auditorium\nTickets: $73–$83\, inclusive of fees\nAges: All ages\nSeating: Fully seated performance\nTicket Availability at Publication: Orchestra sold out; center and balcony seats remain available\nPerformers: The FIXX\, Colin Blunstone and Peter Asher \nThe FIXX\, Colin Blunstone and Peter Asher bring more than six decades of British rock and pop history together for one night at the UNITED Theatre in Westerly. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \nURL’s \nThe FIXX \nColin Blunstone \nPeter Asher \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/the-fixx-colin-blunstone-and-peter-asher/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-FIXX-Colin-Blunstone-and-Peter-Asher.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260908T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260908T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T220743Z
CREATED:20260908T220743Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T220743Z
UID:10007520-1788879600-1788894000@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library
DESCRIPTION:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library gives local students a chance to stock their backpacks without spending a dollar as the new school year gets underway. Westerly Library & Wilcox Park is turning its Pop-Up at Coy into a temporary school-supply store from Tuesday\, September 8\, through Saturday\, September 12\, with everything in the shop available free to students. \nFamilies can find backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, notebooks\, markers\, pencils\, pens\, rulers and other donated supplies. There is no purchase involved and no admission charge. The idea is simple: take the school supplies a student needs. \nThe shop runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday\, 1 to 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. \nA Community School-Supply Drive Becomes a Free Store\nThe shelves at the Free School Supply Shop were filled by the community before students ever walked through the door. \nWesterly Library began collecting new and gently used school supplies on August 3\, placing donation bins near its entrances and inviting residents to contribute through September 8. \nThe library’s suggested donations covered many of the expenses families encounter at the beginning of a school year: backpacks and lunchboxes\, calculators and rulers\, folders and notebooks\, along with everyday supplies such as pencils\, pens and markers. \nInstead of simply distributing prepacked bags\, the library has taken a different approach. \nThe donations become inventory for a temporary shop where students can look through the available supplies and choose what they need. \nThat distinction may seem small\, but it gives students and families some control over what they take home. A teenager who needs a calculator and notebooks isn’t necessarily looking for the same supplies as an elementary school student who needs markers\, pencils and a lunchbox. \nThe library describes the shop as offering a variety of supplies free to any student. \nFive Days to Stop In\nThe Free School Supply Shop isn’t limited to a single afternoon. \nWesterly Library is opening it across five days with different hours to give families several opportunities to visit: \n\nTuesday\, September 8: 3–7 p.m.\nWednesday\, September 9: 3–7 p.m.\nThursday\, September 10: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday\, September 11: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\n\nThat means families who can’t make an after-school weekday visit still have Friday afternoon and Saturday options. \nBecause the shop consists of donated items\, selection will naturally depend on what the community contributed and what remains when a family visits. Anyone hoping for the widest selection should consider stopping in earlier in the week. \nThe Pop-Up at Coy Was Built for Ideas Like This\nThe school-supply shop isn’t taking over a conventional meeting room. \nIt’s happening in The Pop-Up at Coy\, a small storefront-like space immediately inside the front of Westerly Library. \nThe room has had quite a few lives. \nIt originally served as the library’s reception office and was once the office of Sallie Coy\, who joined the organization in 1911 and became the longest-serving librarian and library director in its history. Coy remained director until retiring in 1960. \nOver the years\, the space also served as the circulation desk and the Friends Bookstore. A 2017 renovation transformed it into a café. \nIts latest incarnation deliberately moves away from having one permanent purpose. \nWesterly Library now uses The Pop-Up at Coy as a temporary activation space where local organizations\, small businesses\, nonprofits\, community resources and other projects can set up for limited periods. The library describes the concept as a way to give visitors opportunities to see\, experience and learn about different community offerings. \nFor five days in September\, its purpose couldn’t be much more practical: shelves of free supplies for students heading back to class. \nMore Than Books at Westerly Library\nThe school-supply project also fits the broader role Westerly Library has carved out for itself. \nThe library is operated by the private nonprofit Memorial and Library Association\, which was established in 1892 to commemorate local volunteer soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War. \nWesterly Library opened in 1894 with about 5\,000 volumes. The original building included considerably more than books\, with a gymnasium\, bowling alley\, art gallery\, museum and meeting space for the Grand Army of the Republic. \nMore than 130 years later\, the idea of a library as a community space remains. \nToday’s collection contains more than 287\,000 items\, while the building also houses public computers\, meeting and programming spaces\, youth areas\, a Makerspace\, the Hoxie Gallery and local history collections. \nPrograms range from children’s storytimes and craft sessions to technology instruction\, support groups\, book clubs and community-resource programs. \nThe Free School Supply Shop belongs to the latter category. It doesn’t require a class\, lecture or workshop to be useful. It takes something families need and makes it available in a familiar public place. \nAnd There’s a 15-Acre Park Outside\nA trip to the school-supply shop can also include some time outdoors. \nWesterly Library shares its downtown property with Wilcox Park\, a 15-acre Victorian strolling park and arboretum. \nThe original park land was donated in 1898 by Harriet Wilcox in memory of her husband\, Stephen Wilcox\, the local industrialist and inventor who had earlier donated the land for the library and $25\,000 toward its construction. \nHarriet envisioned a park that could be enjoyed by the working people of Westerly and neighboring Pawcatuck. \nLandscape architect Warren H. Manning\, who had worked with Frederick Law Olmsted and later became a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects\, designed the park while incorporating much of the site’s existing vegetation. \nToday\, Wilcox Park contains 159 different tree species and 43 cultivars\, including seven recognized Rhode Island Champion Trees. \nSo a stop for notebooks and pencils doesn’t necessarily have to be an errand in and out of a building. The park is directly outside and remains open from dawn until 9 p.m. \nFree Really Does Mean Free\nThere isn’t a complicated eligibility requirement buried in the description. \nWesterly Library says the supplies are available free to any student. \nThere is no admission charge listed\, no registration requirement and no requirement that families purchase anything else. The library’s event is categorized for families\, adults\, teens\, tweens and children\, reflecting the fact that school-supply needs don’t end after elementary school. \nFor families buying supplies for multiple children\, or for anyone facing an unexpectedly expensive back-to-school list\, even a few notebooks\, folders\, pens or a calculator can take something off the bill. \nAnd because the inventory came from donations\, the Free School Supply Shop turns one family’s extra backpack or unused package of pencils directly into something another student can use. \nThat’s community programming at its simplest. \nDetails\nEvent: Free School Supply Shop\nDates: Tuesday\, September 8–Saturday\, September 12\, 2026\nTuesday–Thursday Hours: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday Hours: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday Hours: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\nAdmission: Free\nWho Can Participate: School supplies are available free to any student\nRegistration: No registration listed\nAvailable Supplies: Donated school supplies may include backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, markers\, notebooks\, pencils\, pens and rulers; selection depends on availability\nLocation: The Pop-Up at Coy\, Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\nAddress: 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nPhone: 401-596-2877\nLibrary Hours: Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed Sunday\nWilcox Park Hours: Daily from dawn–9 p.m. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/free-school-supply-shop-at-westerly-library/2026-09-08/
LOCATION:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\, 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Free-School-Supply-Shop-at-Westerly-Library.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260908T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260908T230000
DTSTAMP:20260512T032734Z
CREATED:20260512T032734Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260512T032734Z
UID:10001476-1788883200-1788908400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Trivia & Taco Tuesday with DJ Trivia RI at Surf Cantina
DESCRIPTION:Trivia & Taco Tuesday with DJ Trivia RI at Surf Cantina turns Tuesday nights in downtown Westerly into a mix of tacos\, drinks\, and friendly competition. With $3 tacos running from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and trivia kicking off at 7 p.m.\, the weekly event blends casual dinner plans with the kind of lively group atmosphere that keeps tables talking\, laughing\, and debating answers long after the first round begins. \nTrivia & Taco Tuesday with DJ Trivia RI brings a more energetic spin to the usual trivia-night format thanks to DJ Trivia’s fast-moving style and crowd interaction. Teams gather around baskets of tacos and drinks while competing through rounds that can shift from pop culture and music to sports\, movies\, and random knowledge. The setup works especially well inside Surf Cantina’s coastal-inspired atmosphere\, where the laid-back vibe keeps the night social even for people who are mostly there for the tacos and margaritas. \nTuesday nights in Westerly tend to feel quieter before the summer weekend crowds fully arrive\, which gives events like this a strong locals-night feel. Surf Cantina’s Canal Street location adds to that energy\, drawing groups of friends\, coworkers\, and trivia regulars looking for an easy midweek outing that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Between the taco specials\, upbeat trivia atmosphere\, and downtown setting\, the night offers a fun excuse to break up the workweek without overcomplicating it. \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/trivia-taco-tuesday-with-dj-trivia-ri-at-surf-cantina/2026-09-08/
LOCATION:Surf Cantina\, 15 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Surf Cantina
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Trivia-and-Taco-Tuesday-with-DJ-Trivia-RI-at-Surf-Cantina.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T220743Z
CREATED:20260908T220743Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T220743Z
UID:10007521-1788966000-1788980400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library
DESCRIPTION:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library gives local students a chance to stock their backpacks without spending a dollar as the new school year gets underway. Westerly Library & Wilcox Park is turning its Pop-Up at Coy into a temporary school-supply store from Tuesday\, September 8\, through Saturday\, September 12\, with everything in the shop available free to students. \nFamilies can find backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, notebooks\, markers\, pencils\, pens\, rulers and other donated supplies. There is no purchase involved and no admission charge. The idea is simple: take the school supplies a student needs. \nThe shop runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday\, 1 to 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. \nA Community School-Supply Drive Becomes a Free Store\nThe shelves at the Free School Supply Shop were filled by the community before students ever walked through the door. \nWesterly Library began collecting new and gently used school supplies on August 3\, placing donation bins near its entrances and inviting residents to contribute through September 8. \nThe library’s suggested donations covered many of the expenses families encounter at the beginning of a school year: backpacks and lunchboxes\, calculators and rulers\, folders and notebooks\, along with everyday supplies such as pencils\, pens and markers. \nInstead of simply distributing prepacked bags\, the library has taken a different approach. \nThe donations become inventory for a temporary shop where students can look through the available supplies and choose what they need. \nThat distinction may seem small\, but it gives students and families some control over what they take home. A teenager who needs a calculator and notebooks isn’t necessarily looking for the same supplies as an elementary school student who needs markers\, pencils and a lunchbox. \nThe library describes the shop as offering a variety of supplies free to any student. \nFive Days to Stop In\nThe Free School Supply Shop isn’t limited to a single afternoon. \nWesterly Library is opening it across five days with different hours to give families several opportunities to visit: \n\nTuesday\, September 8: 3–7 p.m.\nWednesday\, September 9: 3–7 p.m.\nThursday\, September 10: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday\, September 11: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\n\nThat means families who can’t make an after-school weekday visit still have Friday afternoon and Saturday options. \nBecause the shop consists of donated items\, selection will naturally depend on what the community contributed and what remains when a family visits. Anyone hoping for the widest selection should consider stopping in earlier in the week. \nThe Pop-Up at Coy Was Built for Ideas Like This\nThe school-supply shop isn’t taking over a conventional meeting room. \nIt’s happening in The Pop-Up at Coy\, a small storefront-like space immediately inside the front of Westerly Library. \nThe room has had quite a few lives. \nIt originally served as the library’s reception office and was once the office of Sallie Coy\, who joined the organization in 1911 and became the longest-serving librarian and library director in its history. Coy remained director until retiring in 1960. \nOver the years\, the space also served as the circulation desk and the Friends Bookstore. A 2017 renovation transformed it into a café. \nIts latest incarnation deliberately moves away from having one permanent purpose. \nWesterly Library now uses The Pop-Up at Coy as a temporary activation space where local organizations\, small businesses\, nonprofits\, community resources and other projects can set up for limited periods. The library describes the concept as a way to give visitors opportunities to see\, experience and learn about different community offerings. \nFor five days in September\, its purpose couldn’t be much more practical: shelves of free supplies for students heading back to class. \nMore Than Books at Westerly Library\nThe school-supply project also fits the broader role Westerly Library has carved out for itself. \nThe library is operated by the private nonprofit Memorial and Library Association\, which was established in 1892 to commemorate local volunteer soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War. \nWesterly Library opened in 1894 with about 5\,000 volumes. The original building included considerably more than books\, with a gymnasium\, bowling alley\, art gallery\, museum and meeting space for the Grand Army of the Republic. \nMore than 130 years later\, the idea of a library as a community space remains. \nToday’s collection contains more than 287\,000 items\, while the building also houses public computers\, meeting and programming spaces\, youth areas\, a Makerspace\, the Hoxie Gallery and local history collections. \nPrograms range from children’s storytimes and craft sessions to technology instruction\, support groups\, book clubs and community-resource programs. \nThe Free School Supply Shop belongs to the latter category. It doesn’t require a class\, lecture or workshop to be useful. It takes something families need and makes it available in a familiar public place. \nAnd There’s a 15-Acre Park Outside\nA trip to the school-supply shop can also include some time outdoors. \nWesterly Library shares its downtown property with Wilcox Park\, a 15-acre Victorian strolling park and arboretum. \nThe original park land was donated in 1898 by Harriet Wilcox in memory of her husband\, Stephen Wilcox\, the local industrialist and inventor who had earlier donated the land for the library and $25\,000 toward its construction. \nHarriet envisioned a park that could be enjoyed by the working people of Westerly and neighboring Pawcatuck. \nLandscape architect Warren H. Manning\, who had worked with Frederick Law Olmsted and later became a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects\, designed the park while incorporating much of the site’s existing vegetation. \nToday\, Wilcox Park contains 159 different tree species and 43 cultivars\, including seven recognized Rhode Island Champion Trees. \nSo a stop for notebooks and pencils doesn’t necessarily have to be an errand in and out of a building. The park is directly outside and remains open from dawn until 9 p.m. \nFree Really Does Mean Free\nThere isn’t a complicated eligibility requirement buried in the description. \nWesterly Library says the supplies are available free to any student. \nThere is no admission charge listed\, no registration requirement and no requirement that families purchase anything else. The library’s event is categorized for families\, adults\, teens\, tweens and children\, reflecting the fact that school-supply needs don’t end after elementary school. \nFor families buying supplies for multiple children\, or for anyone facing an unexpectedly expensive back-to-school list\, even a few notebooks\, folders\, pens or a calculator can take something off the bill. \nAnd because the inventory came from donations\, the Free School Supply Shop turns one family’s extra backpack or unused package of pencils directly into something another student can use. \nThat’s community programming at its simplest. \nDetails\nEvent: Free School Supply Shop\nDates: Tuesday\, September 8–Saturday\, September 12\, 2026\nTuesday–Thursday Hours: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday Hours: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday Hours: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\nAdmission: Free\nWho Can Participate: School supplies are available free to any student\nRegistration: No registration listed\nAvailable Supplies: Donated school supplies may include backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, markers\, notebooks\, pencils\, pens and rulers; selection depends on availability\nLocation: The Pop-Up at Coy\, Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\nAddress: 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nPhone: 401-596-2877\nLibrary Hours: Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed Sunday\nWilcox Park Hours: Daily from dawn–9 p.m. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/free-school-supply-shop-at-westerly-library/2026-09-09/
LOCATION:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\, 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Free-School-Supply-Shop-at-Westerly-Library.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T203000
DTSTAMP:20260621T021216Z
CREATED:20260621T012345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260621T021216Z
UID:10006071-1788978600-1788985800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K
DESCRIPTION:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K gives participants a chance to stay active\, meet new people\, and explore the heart of downtown Westerly in a fun and welcoming group setting. Held on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer\, the event encourages walkers and runners of all experience levels to get outside and enjoy the community. \nRather than a competitive race\, the weekly gathering focuses on fitness\, social connection\, and enjoying the local area. Participants can choose to walk or run the 5K route\, making it accessible to everyone from seasoned runners to those simply looking for an enjoyable midweek outing. \nWhether you’re training for a larger race\, looking to add some movement to your week\, or hoping to connect with fellow outdoor enthusiasts\, Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K offers a free and friendly way to spend a summer evening. \nEvent Details \nWhen: Every Wednesday \nTime: 6:30 p.m. \nLocation: One Of One Athletics Club\n26 High Street\nWesterly\, RI \nDistance: 5K \nAdmission: Free \nHighlights \n\nWalk or run at your own pace\nWeekly community event\nExplore downtown Westerly\nOpen to all fitness levels\nMeet fellow walkers and runners\n\n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/downtown-westerly-walk-or-run-5k/2026-09-09/
LOCATION:One of One Athletics Club\, 26 High Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:One of One Athletics Club
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Downtown-Westerly-Walk-or-Run-5k-Wednesdays-at-630-pm.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T213000
DTSTAMP:20260907T012619Z
CREATED:20260907T012619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260907T012619Z
UID:10007488-1788978600-1788989400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:One of One Athletic Opening Party
DESCRIPTION:One of One Athletic Opening Party celebrates its newly opened downtown Westerly gym on Wednesday\, September 9\, bringing together members\, neighbors\, and the local running community at its new home on High Street. \nThe celebration begins at 6:30 p.m. at 26 High Street\, giving people who haven’t visited One of One yet a chance to check out the gym\, meet the community that’s forming around it\, and join the team in celebrating its arrival downtown. \nThe evening will include Run Club Westerly\, food from neighboring The Space\, and a DJ. \nA New Fitness Community in Downtown Westerly\nOne of One Athletic has opened as a boutique-style gym and coaching-focused training space in the heart of downtown Westerly. \nThe gym emphasizes individualized training rather than the anonymous experience of a large fitness center. Its approach centers on personal coaching\, strength and wellness\, with training tailored to individual goals and fitness levels. \nThe facility includes a variety of workout equipment as well as an outdoor training area and an InBody body-composition machine for members interested in tracking changes beyond the number on a scale. \nBut the community surrounding One of One extends beyond the gym itself. \nThe group has also developed a local following through its run club\, bringing people together for social runs and workouts outside the facility. \nThe September 9 party is a chance to celebrate bringing that community into a permanent downtown home. \nRun Club Westerly Joins the Party\nRun Club Westerly will make the opening celebration part of its regular Wednesday gathering. \nThe club will hold its run from One of One and return to the gym for its post-run gathering\, combining the group’s usual Wednesday activity with the larger celebration. \nThat connection makes sense for a gym presenting itself as more than a place filled with exercise equipment. The social side of fitness has been part of One of One’s identity\, and the opening party puts that community at the center of the evening. \nPeople don’t have to participate in the run to attend the celebration. \nOne of One is inviting anyone interested in the new gym to come by\, see the facility and join the party. \nThe Space Brings Food to the Celebration\nThe opening party is also getting some help from another High Street business. \nThe Space\, located just down the street at 38 High Street\, will provide food for the evening. \nThe event venue has become part of downtown Westerly’s growing collection of independent businesses\, providing a flexible gathering space for private parties\, workshops and community events. \nFor the One of One celebration\, however\, The Space is coming to the gym. \nA DJ will provide music throughout the evening\, giving the celebration more of a party atmosphere than a traditional fitness-center open house. \nA Chance to Check Out One of One\nAlthough One of One Athletic is already open\, the September 9 event provides a natural opportunity for people who have been curious about the new High Street gym to finally walk through the doors. \nThere’s no workout required. \nVisitors can see the training space\, meet people involved with One of One and get a feel for the community surrounding the gym while enjoying the opening celebration. \nFor existing members and Run Club regulars\, it’s also an opportunity to celebrate something they’ve already helped build. \nThe gym’s opening adds another locally operated business to a compact downtown where restaurants\, shops\, entertainment venues and community spaces sit within a few blocks of one another. \nOn September 9\, One of One gets its official party. \nEvent Details\nEvent: One of One Opening Party\nDate: Wednesday\, September 9\, 2026\nTime: 6:30 p.m.\nLocation: One of One Athletic\nAddress: 26 High Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nFeaturing: Opening celebration\, DJ and food from The Space\nAlso: Run Club Westerly run and post-run gathering\nPurpose: Celebrating the recently opened One of One Athletic gym in downtown Westerly \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/one-of-one-athletic-opening-party/
LOCATION:One of One Athletics Club\, 26 High Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:One of One Athletics Club
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T190000
DTSTAMP:20260908T220743Z
CREATED:20260908T220743Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T220743Z
UID:10007522-1789052400-1789066800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library
DESCRIPTION:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library gives local students a chance to stock their backpacks without spending a dollar as the new school year gets underway. Westerly Library & Wilcox Park is turning its Pop-Up at Coy into a temporary school-supply store from Tuesday\, September 8\, through Saturday\, September 12\, with everything in the shop available free to students. \nFamilies can find backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, notebooks\, markers\, pencils\, pens\, rulers and other donated supplies. There is no purchase involved and no admission charge. The idea is simple: take the school supplies a student needs. \nThe shop runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday\, 1 to 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. \nA Community School-Supply Drive Becomes a Free Store\nThe shelves at the Free School Supply Shop were filled by the community before students ever walked through the door. \nWesterly Library began collecting new and gently used school supplies on August 3\, placing donation bins near its entrances and inviting residents to contribute through September 8. \nThe library’s suggested donations covered many of the expenses families encounter at the beginning of a school year: backpacks and lunchboxes\, calculators and rulers\, folders and notebooks\, along with everyday supplies such as pencils\, pens and markers. \nInstead of simply distributing prepacked bags\, the library has taken a different approach. \nThe donations become inventory for a temporary shop where students can look through the available supplies and choose what they need. \nThat distinction may seem small\, but it gives students and families some control over what they take home. A teenager who needs a calculator and notebooks isn’t necessarily looking for the same supplies as an elementary school student who needs markers\, pencils and a lunchbox. \nThe library describes the shop as offering a variety of supplies free to any student. \nFive Days to Stop In\nThe Free School Supply Shop isn’t limited to a single afternoon. \nWesterly Library is opening it across five days with different hours to give families several opportunities to visit: \n\nTuesday\, September 8: 3–7 p.m.\nWednesday\, September 9: 3–7 p.m.\nThursday\, September 10: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday\, September 11: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\n\nThat means families who can’t make an after-school weekday visit still have Friday afternoon and Saturday options. \nBecause the shop consists of donated items\, selection will naturally depend on what the community contributed and what remains when a family visits. Anyone hoping for the widest selection should consider stopping in earlier in the week. \nThe Pop-Up at Coy Was Built for Ideas Like This\nThe school-supply shop isn’t taking over a conventional meeting room. \nIt’s happening in The Pop-Up at Coy\, a small storefront-like space immediately inside the front of Westerly Library. \nThe room has had quite a few lives. \nIt originally served as the library’s reception office and was once the office of Sallie Coy\, who joined the organization in 1911 and became the longest-serving librarian and library director in its history. Coy remained director until retiring in 1960. \nOver the years\, the space also served as the circulation desk and the Friends Bookstore. A 2017 renovation transformed it into a café. \nIts latest incarnation deliberately moves away from having one permanent purpose. \nWesterly Library now uses The Pop-Up at Coy as a temporary activation space where local organizations\, small businesses\, nonprofits\, community resources and other projects can set up for limited periods. The library describes the concept as a way to give visitors opportunities to see\, experience and learn about different community offerings. \nFor five days in September\, its purpose couldn’t be much more practical: shelves of free supplies for students heading back to class. \nMore Than Books at Westerly Library\nThe school-supply project also fits the broader role Westerly Library has carved out for itself. \nThe library is operated by the private nonprofit Memorial and Library Association\, which was established in 1892 to commemorate local volunteer soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War. \nWesterly Library opened in 1894 with about 5\,000 volumes. The original building included considerably more than books\, with a gymnasium\, bowling alley\, art gallery\, museum and meeting space for the Grand Army of the Republic. \nMore than 130 years later\, the idea of a library as a community space remains. \nToday’s collection contains more than 287\,000 items\, while the building also houses public computers\, meeting and programming spaces\, youth areas\, a Makerspace\, the Hoxie Gallery and local history collections. \nPrograms range from children’s storytimes and craft sessions to technology instruction\, support groups\, book clubs and community-resource programs. \nThe Free School Supply Shop belongs to the latter category. It doesn’t require a class\, lecture or workshop to be useful. It takes something families need and makes it available in a familiar public place. \nAnd There’s a 15-Acre Park Outside\nA trip to the school-supply shop can also include some time outdoors. \nWesterly Library shares its downtown property with Wilcox Park\, a 15-acre Victorian strolling park and arboretum. \nThe original park land was donated in 1898 by Harriet Wilcox in memory of her husband\, Stephen Wilcox\, the local industrialist and inventor who had earlier donated the land for the library and $25\,000 toward its construction. \nHarriet envisioned a park that could be enjoyed by the working people of Westerly and neighboring Pawcatuck. \nLandscape architect Warren H. Manning\, who had worked with Frederick Law Olmsted and later became a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects\, designed the park while incorporating much of the site’s existing vegetation. \nToday\, Wilcox Park contains 159 different tree species and 43 cultivars\, including seven recognized Rhode Island Champion Trees. \nSo a stop for notebooks and pencils doesn’t necessarily have to be an errand in and out of a building. The park is directly outside and remains open from dawn until 9 p.m. \nFree Really Does Mean Free\nThere isn’t a complicated eligibility requirement buried in the description. \nWesterly Library says the supplies are available free to any student. \nThere is no admission charge listed\, no registration requirement and no requirement that families purchase anything else. The library’s event is categorized for families\, adults\, teens\, tweens and children\, reflecting the fact that school-supply needs don’t end after elementary school. \nFor families buying supplies for multiple children\, or for anyone facing an unexpectedly expensive back-to-school list\, even a few notebooks\, folders\, pens or a calculator can take something off the bill. \nAnd because the inventory came from donations\, the Free School Supply Shop turns one family’s extra backpack or unused package of pencils directly into something another student can use. \nThat’s community programming at its simplest. \nDetails\nEvent: Free School Supply Shop\nDates: Tuesday\, September 8–Saturday\, September 12\, 2026\nTuesday–Thursday Hours: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday Hours: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday Hours: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\nAdmission: Free\nWho Can Participate: School supplies are available free to any student\nRegistration: No registration listed\nAvailable Supplies: Donated school supplies may include backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, markers\, notebooks\, pencils\, pens and rulers; selection depends on availability\nLocation: The Pop-Up at Coy\, Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\nAddress: 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nPhone: 401-596-2877\nLibrary Hours: Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed Sunday\nWilcox Park Hours: Daily from dawn–9 p.m. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/free-school-supply-shop-at-westerly-library/2026-09-10/
LOCATION:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\, 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T200000
DTSTAMP:20260908T225340Z
CREATED:20260908T225340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T225340Z
UID:10007526-1789063200-1789070400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and the American Revolution
DESCRIPTION:The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and the American Revolution brings the remarkable story of a Boston FM station that became part radio experiment\, part rock & roll clubhouse\, and part countercultural information network to United Theatre in Westerly for a one-night screening Thursday\, September 10\, at 6 p.m. \nLong before podcasts\, social media or the internet gave practically anyone a platform\, WBCN challenged the idea of what a radio station was supposed to be. Its DJs chose their own records. Its news department covered movements and stories mainstream broadcasters often ignored. Its microphones captured everyone from activists and political figures to young musicians on the verge of becoming famous. \nDirector Bill Lichtenstein knows that world from the inside. He joined WBCN as a 14-year-old volunteer in 1970 and eventually worked at the station for years. His two-hour documentary uses a vast archive of recordings\, photographs\, and film to reconstruct the period when WBCN found itself at the intersection of music\, Vietnam\, Watergate\, civil rights\, women’s liberation\, LGBTQ rights\, and a generation questioning nearly every institution around it. \nBefore WBCN\, There Was the Boston Tea Party\nThe story really begins with a music venue. \nIn 1967\, Ray Riepen opened the Boston Tea Party\, which quickly became one of the centers of Boston’s emerging underground music scene. For only a few dollars\, audiences could encounter bands that would soon become enormously important\, including The Who\, the Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin during its first American tour. \nRiepen saw something happening around him that wasn’t being reflected on Boston radio. \nOn March 15\, 1968\, WBCN changed formats from classical music to free-form progressive rock. Instead of programmers in an office determining precisely which records would be played and when\, the people behind the microphones were given extraordinary freedom. \nAlbum tracks could replace three-minute singles. A DJ could follow Aretha Franklin with Cream or Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Announcers didn’t have to pretend they had no opinions about Vietnam\, drugs\, politics or the cultural upheaval happening outside the studio. \nMusic\, news and politics began bleeding into one another. \nThe station became a place where listeners weren’t simply consuming programming. They were joining a community. \nThe Radio Station Became Part of the Revolution\nWBCN didn’t merely report on Boston’s counterculture from a comfortable distance. \nIt was inside it. \nThe documentary places the station against the larger upheaval of the late 1960s and early ’70s: the Vietnam War and draft\, anti-war demonstrations\, clashes between police and protesters\, civil rights activism\, the emerging women’s and LGBTQ liberation movements and eventually the political crisis surrounding Richard Nixon and Watergate. \nWBCN gave airtime to people and movements that received little or hostile treatment elsewhere in mainstream media. \nIt also developed an unconventional news operation. \nDanny Schechter became the station’s “News Dissector\,” while other members of WBCN’s staff blurred the traditional boundaries separating broadcasters from their audience. A Listener Line allowed people to call the station with questions and information around the clock. \nFor young listeners accustomed to the polished authority of network television and AM radio\, WBCN sounded radically different. \nBruce Springsteen Called His Mother\nThe politics are only half the story. \nWBCN existed during an extraordinary period in rock history\, and Lichtenstein’s archive captures artists before some of them became icons. \nThe film includes Bruce Springsteen’s first radio interview and live in-studio performance in 1973. During that early appearance\, the future superstar was still unknown enough to use his moment on Boston radio to say hello to his mother. \nThere’s also Patti Smith’s first radio concert in 1975\, along with rare archival appearances involving David Bowie\, Lou Reed\, Jerry Garcia and others. Jane Fonda and activist Abbie Hoffman appear in the archive as well. \nThat’s one of the documentary’s strengths as a time capsule. \nThe audience knows what happened afterward. \nSpringsteen became Springsteen. Bowie became Bowie. Patti Smith became one of punk’s defining figures. But the recordings preserve moments when careers and movements were still unfolding and nobody in the room knew exactly where they were headed. \nThe DJs Didn’t Have a Playlist\nPerhaps the hardest thing to explain to someone who grew up with tightly programmed commercial radio is just how unusual WBCN’s approach was. \nThere was no predetermined playlist dictating every record. \nThe announcers were personalities because they were actually allowed to have personalities. They could select music\, talk about it\, discuss politics and respond to what was happening around Boston. \nCharles Laquidara became one of WBCN’s defining voices. Other station figures included J.J. Jackson\, Tommy Hadges\, Sam Kopper\, Marsha Steinberg and Schechter. \nThe freedom produced radio that could be unpredictable\, messy\, deeply personal and occasionally confrontational. \nIt also created the possibility of discovery. \nA listener didn’t already have to know which song they wanted to hear. The person on the other side of the radio could surprise them. \nLichtenstein’s companion history of WBCN describes the period from 1968 through Watergate as one in which the station became a hub connecting rock music\, psychedelia and anti-war politics in Boston. \nBill Lichtenstein Was 14 When He Joined the Station\nThis isn’t a filmmaker reconstructing a culture he encountered decades later. \nBill Lichtenstein was part of it. \nHe began at WBCN in 1970 as a 14-year-old volunteer working the Listener Line. He eventually became an announcer and remained at the station into the 1970s before building a career as a journalist and documentary producer. \nHis work has earned a Peabody Award and dozens of journalism honors\, and his writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times\, The Nation\, The Village Voice and The Boston Globe. \nLichtenstein eventually spent years assembling WBCN’s history from the people and material that survived it. \nThe documentary draws on rare archival audio and visual material alongside interviews with the people who were there. The story was also expanded into Lichtenstein’s 304-page book WBCN and the American Revolution: How a Radio Station Defined Politics\, Counterculture\, and Rock and Roll\, published by MIT Press in 2021. \nThe Movie Has Returned With a New Title\nSome viewers may recognize this film under a shorter name. \nLichtenstein’s documentary originally circulated as WBCN and the American Revolution\, winning the DC Independent Film Festival and later airing nationally on PBS. \nIn 2026\, it returned to theaters under the expanded title The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and the American Revolution. \nThe new theatrical release runs approximately 119 minutes and reframes the film for another moment when questions about who controls information\, which voices get heard and what responsibilities media organizations have to the public have returned to the center of American life. \nThat makes this more than a documentary about old radio. \nIt’s an examination of an idea about media that now seems almost radical again: that the public airwaves were a public resource\, and that a broadcaster could treat its listeners as participants rather than an audience to be packaged and sold. \nWhen Radio Could Create a Community\nWBCN itself didn’t remain the station depicted in the documentary forever. \nFree-form FM grew into big business. Progressive rock radio became commercial rock radio. Corporate ownership expanded\, playlists tightened and the industry that had once allowed a collection of young broadcasters to experiment eventually became much more structured. \nBut for a period beginning in 1968\, WBCN demonstrated something unusual. \nA radio station could introduce someone to a band\, tell them what was happening at an anti-war demonstration\, put an activist on the air\, take a phone call from a listener and create the feeling that everyone tuned to the same frequency belonged to something happening in real time. \nThat’s what makes a two-hour documentary about a defunct Boston radio station potentially interesting even to someone who never heard WBCN. \nThe technology is obsolete. \nThe argument about what media is for isn’t. \nDetails\nEvent: The Airwaves Belonged to the People: WBCN and the American Revolution\nDate: Thursday\, September 10\, 2026\nTime: 6 p.m.\nRuntime: Approximately 120 minutes\nDirector: Bill Lichtenstein\nGenre: Documentary / Music / Media History\nVenue: UNITED Main Cinema\nAddress: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nFormat: Special one-night-only screening\nAccessibility: The UNITED’s cinemas are wheelchair accessible; audio amplification\, descriptive audio and closed-captioning devices are available for supported screenings\nTicket Policy: Movie and event tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable\nBox Office: 401-388-8208 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/the-airwaves-belonged-to-the-people-wbcn-and-the-american-revolution/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007508-1789155000-1789160400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-11/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260911T213000
DTSTAMP:20260910T034128Z
CREATED:20260910T034127Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260910T034128Z
UID:10007536-1789155000-1789162200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Simply the Best – Tina Turner Tribute
DESCRIPTION:Simply the Best – Tina Turner Tribute brings the music\, energy\, and sheer force of Tina Turner’s stage presence to downtown Westerly on Friday\, September 11\, with Jenn Cristy and a live band taking over the UNITED’s Black Box Auditorium. \nThe 7:30 p.m. concert isn’t designed as a Tina Turner impersonation. Cristy isn’t trying to convince the audience that Turner has somehow walked onto the stage. The production describes itself as a celebration\, built around the songs and the explosive live-performance style that made Turner one of rock music’s defining performers. \nThat means Proud Mary\, River Deep – Mountain High\, What’s Love Got to Do with It and The Best\, along with music spanning Turner’s career in rock\, soul\, R&B and pop. \nAnd Cristy brings a considerably deeper musical résumé to the job than simply being able to sing the songs. \nJenn Cristy Toured and Recorded With John Mellencamp\nBefore creating a nationally touring Tina Turner tribute\, Jenn Cristy spent part of her career onstage and in the studio with another Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. \nCristy toured and recorded with John Mellencamp as a backing vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. \nHer credits on Mellencamp’s 2001 album Cuttin’ Heads are unusually extensive. She played flute\, percussion\, piano\, organ and violin in addition to singing background vocals. The album also included musicians Steve Jordan and Willie Weeks and guest vocal appearances by Chuck D\, India.Arie and Trisha Yearwood. \nCristy’s work with Mellencamp took her onto national television as well\, with appearances that included Today\, Late Show with David Letterman\, Good Morning America and Larry King Live. \nShe eventually established her own career as a singer-songwriter and touring performer\, working across rock\, pop and soul and developing projects through Bloomington\, Indiana-based One Pulse Entertainment. \nThat versatility turns out to be particularly useful when the artist you’re celebrating is Tina Turner. \nThis Isn’t a Look-Alike Show\nThe distinction Cristy makes about Simply the Best is worth noting. \nIt’s not an impersonation. \nTribute shows can take several forms. Some attempt to reproduce a performer visually as closely as possible\, right down to costumes\, mannerisms and physical resemblance. Others concentrate almost entirely on recreating the original recordings. \nCristy’s show takes a third approach. \nShe’s interested in recreating what it felt like to watch Tina Turner perform. \nThat means the voice matters\, but so do movement\, personality\, interaction with the audience and the sense that the person at the center of the stage is having as much fun as everyone watching. \nCristy has said she has long felt a kinship with Turner’s music and performing style. \nIt’s easy to understand the attraction. \nBoth are singers who don’t stand still behind a microphone. \nTina Turner Was Built for the Stage\nThere are artists whose definitive work lives on records. \nTina Turner was different. \nThe records mattered\, but the stage completed them. \nHer voice could be gritty\, soulful\, vulnerable or ferocious. Then there was the physical performance: the dancing\, the hair\, the miniskirts\, the heels and the seemingly inexhaustible ability to command an arena. \nTurner didn’t simply sing rock music. \nShe performed it with an intensity that helped redefine what a female rock frontperson could look and sound like. \nThe Rock & Roll Hall of Fame describes her as an artist who shattered barriers for Black women in rock while raising the standard for generations of lead singers who followed. \nThat influence reaches from Janis Joplin and the rock performers of Turner’s early career through Prince\, Beyoncé\, Janet Jackson\, Rihanna and generations of artists who came afterward. \nCristy’s challenge Friday night isn’t simply hitting Turner’s notes. \nIt’s finding some of that electricity. \nBefore Tina Turner\, There Was Anna Mae Bullock\nThe story began far from an arena stage. \nTina Turner was born Anna Mae Bullock in Brownsville\, Tennessee\, in 1939 and grew up in the rural South. \nHer musical career began after she encountered Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm in St. Louis. Eventually she joined the act\, adopted the name Tina Turner and became the focal point of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. \nBy the 1960s\, the revue had developed a reputation as a formidable live act. \nThen came one of the great recordings of the era. \nRiver Deep – Mountain High Was Too Big to Fail\, Until It Did\nProducer Phil Spector saw something in Tina Turner that went beyond the revue. \nIn 1966\, he put her voice at the center of River Deep – Mountain High\, constructing one of the grandest examples of his famous Wall of Sound production technique around her. \nToday\, the recording is regarded as a landmark. \nAt the time\, America largely ignored it. \nThe single performed much better in Britain than in the United States\, where it failed to become the enormous hit Spector expected. \nTurner’s performance\, however\, was undeniable. \nShe had a voice capable of standing in front of an almost absurdly dense production and not disappearing inside it. \nDecades later\, River Deep – Mountain High remains part of the repertoire Cristy brings to the stage. \nAnd it represents an important part of Turner’s story. \nShe could sing over almost anything. \nThen Came Proud Mary\nIke & Tina Turner released their version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary in 1971. \nThey didn’t simply cover it. \nThey rebuilt it. \nThe arrangement famously begins slowly before exploding into the fast second half that became inseparable from Tina Turner. \nIt was a major hit and earned the duo a Grammy. \nMore than half a century later\, it’s almost impossible to imagine a Tina Turner tribute that doesn’t include it. \nThe song also captures why a live tribute to Turner works differently from a conventional greatest-hits show. \nEveryone knows what’s coming. \nThe audience knows the tempo is going to change. \nThey know the performance is about to take off. \nAnd they wait for it anyway. \nLeaving Ike Turner Meant Starting Over\nBehind the success was an abusive marriage that Turner later described publicly in painful detail. \nShe left Ike Turner in 1976. \nThe separation brought personal freedom but didn’t immediately bring career security. Turner had to rebuild. \nFor several years she performed wherever she could\, including television appearances and smaller venues\, while the music business increasingly treated her as a performer whose biggest years were behind her. \nShe was a Black woman entering her 40s in an industry particularly unforgiving of women as they aged. \nThen Tina Turner pulled off one of the most extraordinary second acts in popular music. \nPrivate Dancer Changed Everything at 44\nTurner released Private Dancer in 1984. \nShe was 44 years old. \nThe album transformed her from a veteran performer fighting to maintain a career into an international superstar. \nBetter Be Good to Me became a hit. \nThe Mark Knopfler-written Private Dancer became one of her signature recordings. \nBut the song that changed everything was What’s Love Got to Do with It. \nIt reached No. 1 in the United States and became Turner’s biggest hit. \nAt an age when the music industry routinely considered female pop stars past their commercial peak\, Turner was suddenly bigger than she had ever been. \nThe song earned three Grammy Awards\, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. \nThe comeback wasn’t nostalgia. \nIt was a new peak. \nMTV Met Its Match\nTurner’s timing was perfect in another way. \nMTV had arrived in 1981 and was transforming popular music into an increasingly visual medium. \nTurner was made for it. \nShe didn’t have to invent a camera-friendly stage personality. She’d been developing one for decades. \nVideos for songs from the Private Dancer era introduced her to an audience that may have had little memory of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. \nHer look became instantly identifiable. \nHer movement became part of the songs. \nAnd her voice worked just as well against the polished synthesizers and arena-rock production of the 1980s as it had against soul and R&B arrangements two decades earlier. \nShe had reinvented herself without ceasing to sound like Tina Turner. \nWe Don’t Need Another Hero and The Best Kept It Going\nThe comeback didn’t stop with one album. \nTurner starred as Aunty Entity opposite Mel Gibson in 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and recorded We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) for the soundtrack. \nThen\, in 1989\, she released Foreign Affair. \nThat album included The Best. \nThe song wasn’t originally hers. Bonnie Tyler had recorded it first. \nBut Tina Turner took possession of it so thoroughly that most people now associate the song with her. \nIts enormous chorus\, Turner’s vocal delivery and its natural fit with an arena crowd transformed it into another signature song. \nIt also gave Cristy’s tribute its obvious name. \nAn Eight-Piece Band Recreates the Music Live\nSimply the Best isn’t built around backing tracks and a singer. \nThe touring production uses a full eight-piece live band\, allowing the arrangements to retain the punch that Turner’s music needs. \nThat’s particularly important because the catalog covers several musical eras. \nRiver Deep – Mountain High comes from the densely orchestrated soul production of the 1960s. \nProud Mary moves from slow-burning soul into full-speed rock and R&B. \nWhat’s Love Got to Do with It belongs unmistakably to the polished pop production of 1984. \nPrivate Dancer is moodier. \nWe Don’t Need Another Hero is cinematic. \nThe Best is built for an arena. \nCristy’s touring materials also reveal a broader repertoire including Nutbush City Limits\, Let’s Stay Together\, I Can’t Stand the Rain\, Better Be Good to Me and Private Dancer. \nThe show even reaches beyond Turner’s own recordings for an eclectic selection of additional favorites. \nThe common denominator isn’t one musical genre. \nIt’s energy. \nTurner’s Career Ultimately Lasted More Than 50 Years\nTina Turner eventually became one of those rare artists whose life story became almost as culturally familiar as the songs. \nShe sold out stadiums around the world. \nShe wrote autobiographies. \nAngela Bassett portrayed her in the 1993 film What’s Love Got to Do with It. \nHer story became the stage production Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. \nThe documentary Tina revisited both her career and the complicated reality of repeatedly being asked to relive the most painful period of her life. \nAnd the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted her twice. \nIke & Tina Turner entered together in 1991. \nThirty years later\, Tina Turner was inducted again as a solo performer in 2021. \nShe died in Switzerland in 2023 at age 83. \nBy then\, the comeback that once seemed so improbable had become only one chapter in a career spanning more than half a century. \nThe UNITED Makes This One Intimate\nFriday’s Westerly performance isn’t happening in a giant arena. \nIt’s in the UNITED’s Black Box Auditorium. \nThe show is fully seated\, which makes this a more intimate version of a production that tours nationally. \nThat could work particularly well for Cristy’s approach. \nTurner’s concerts were famous for scale\, but her stage presence depended on connecting with an audience. In a smaller room\, there’s nowhere for the performer to hide and considerably less distance between the front row and the band. \nCristy has spent years touring as a performer in her own right. \nShe isn’t trying to become Tina Turner for two hours. \nShe’s taking what Turner left behind and putting it back where much of it made the most sense in the first place. \nOn a stage. \nWith a band. \nAnd with Proud Mary waiting to speed up. \nDetails\nEvent: Simply the Best – Tina Turner Tribute\nDate: Friday\, September 11\, 2026\nTime: 7:30 p.m.\nRunning Time: Approximately 120 minutes\nPerformer: Jenn Cristy\nProduction: Simply the Best: A Tribute to the Music of Tina Turner\nMusic: Rock / soul / R&B / pop\nBand: Full live band\nVenue: UNITED Black Box Auditorium\nAddress: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nSeating: Fully seated performance\nTicket Policy: Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable\nAccessibility: The UNITED is wheelchair accessible; the theater recommends contacting the box office before purchasing tickets if accessible seating is needed\nBox Office: 401-388-8208\nParking: Street and public-lot parking is available in downtown Westerly \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/simply-the-best-tina-turner-tribute/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Simply-the-Best-–-Tina-Turner-Tribute-Brings-the-Queen-of-Rock-n-Roll-to-the-UNITED.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T140000
DTSTAMP:20260908T220743Z
CREATED:20260908T220743Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T220743Z
UID:10007524-1789210800-1789221600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library
DESCRIPTION:Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library gives local students a chance to stock their backpacks without spending a dollar as the new school year gets underway. Westerly Library & Wilcox Park is turning its Pop-Up at Coy into a temporary school-supply store from Tuesday\, September 8\, through Saturday\, September 12\, with everything in the shop available free to students. \nFamilies can find backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, notebooks\, markers\, pencils\, pens\, rulers and other donated supplies. There is no purchase involved and no admission charge. The idea is simple: take the school supplies a student needs. \nThe shop runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday\, 1 to 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. \nA Community School-Supply Drive Becomes a Free Store\nThe shelves at the Free School Supply Shop were filled by the community before students ever walked through the door. \nWesterly Library began collecting new and gently used school supplies on August 3\, placing donation bins near its entrances and inviting residents to contribute through September 8. \nThe library’s suggested donations covered many of the expenses families encounter at the beginning of a school year: backpacks and lunchboxes\, calculators and rulers\, folders and notebooks\, along with everyday supplies such as pencils\, pens and markers. \nInstead of simply distributing prepacked bags\, the library has taken a different approach. \nThe donations become inventory for a temporary shop where students can look through the available supplies and choose what they need. \nThat distinction may seem small\, but it gives students and families some control over what they take home. A teenager who needs a calculator and notebooks isn’t necessarily looking for the same supplies as an elementary school student who needs markers\, pencils and a lunchbox. \nThe library describes the shop as offering a variety of supplies free to any student. \nFive Days to Stop In\nThe Free School Supply Shop isn’t limited to a single afternoon. \nWesterly Library is opening it across five days with different hours to give families several opportunities to visit: \n\nTuesday\, September 8: 3–7 p.m.\nWednesday\, September 9: 3–7 p.m.\nThursday\, September 10: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday\, September 11: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\n\nThat means families who can’t make an after-school weekday visit still have Friday afternoon and Saturday options. \nBecause the shop consists of donated items\, selection will naturally depend on what the community contributed and what remains when a family visits. Anyone hoping for the widest selection should consider stopping in earlier in the week. \nThe Pop-Up at Coy Was Built for Ideas Like This\nThe school-supply shop isn’t taking over a conventional meeting room. \nIt’s happening in The Pop-Up at Coy\, a small storefront-like space immediately inside the front of Westerly Library. \nThe room has had quite a few lives. \nIt originally served as the library’s reception office and was once the office of Sallie Coy\, who joined the organization in 1911 and became the longest-serving librarian and library director in its history. Coy remained director until retiring in 1960. \nOver the years\, the space also served as the circulation desk and the Friends Bookstore. A 2017 renovation transformed it into a café. \nIts latest incarnation deliberately moves away from having one permanent purpose. \nWesterly Library now uses The Pop-Up at Coy as a temporary activation space where local organizations\, small businesses\, nonprofits\, community resources and other projects can set up for limited periods. The library describes the concept as a way to give visitors opportunities to see\, experience and learn about different community offerings. \nFor five days in September\, its purpose couldn’t be much more practical: shelves of free supplies for students heading back to class. \nMore Than Books at Westerly Library\nThe school-supply project also fits the broader role Westerly Library has carved out for itself. \nThe library is operated by the private nonprofit Memorial and Library Association\, which was established in 1892 to commemorate local volunteer soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War. \nWesterly Library opened in 1894 with about 5\,000 volumes. The original building included considerably more than books\, with a gymnasium\, bowling alley\, art gallery\, museum and meeting space for the Grand Army of the Republic. \nMore than 130 years later\, the idea of a library as a community space remains. \nToday’s collection contains more than 287\,000 items\, while the building also houses public computers\, meeting and programming spaces\, youth areas\, a Makerspace\, the Hoxie Gallery and local history collections. \nPrograms range from children’s storytimes and craft sessions to technology instruction\, support groups\, book clubs and community-resource programs. \nThe Free School Supply Shop belongs to the latter category. It doesn’t require a class\, lecture or workshop to be useful. It takes something families need and makes it available in a familiar public place. \nAnd There’s a 15-Acre Park Outside\nA trip to the school-supply shop can also include some time outdoors. \nWesterly Library shares its downtown property with Wilcox Park\, a 15-acre Victorian strolling park and arboretum. \nThe original park land was donated in 1898 by Harriet Wilcox in memory of her husband\, Stephen Wilcox\, the local industrialist and inventor who had earlier donated the land for the library and $25\,000 toward its construction. \nHarriet envisioned a park that could be enjoyed by the working people of Westerly and neighboring Pawcatuck. \nLandscape architect Warren H. Manning\, who had worked with Frederick Law Olmsted and later became a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects\, designed the park while incorporating much of the site’s existing vegetation. \nToday\, Wilcox Park contains 159 different tree species and 43 cultivars\, including seven recognized Rhode Island Champion Trees. \nSo a stop for notebooks and pencils doesn’t necessarily have to be an errand in and out of a building. The park is directly outside and remains open from dawn until 9 p.m. \nFree Really Does Mean Free\nThere isn’t a complicated eligibility requirement buried in the description. \nWesterly Library says the supplies are available free to any student. \nThere is no admission charge listed\, no registration requirement and no requirement that families purchase anything else. The library’s event is categorized for families\, adults\, teens\, tweens and children\, reflecting the fact that school-supply needs don’t end after elementary school. \nFor families buying supplies for multiple children\, or for anyone facing an unexpectedly expensive back-to-school list\, even a few notebooks\, folders\, pens or a calculator can take something off the bill. \nAnd because the inventory came from donations\, the Free School Supply Shop turns one family’s extra backpack or unused package of pencils directly into something another student can use. \nThat’s community programming at its simplest. \nDetails\nEvent: Free School Supply Shop\nDates: Tuesday\, September 8–Saturday\, September 12\, 2026\nTuesday–Thursday Hours: 3–7 p.m.\nFriday Hours: 1–5 p.m.\nSaturday Hours: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.\nAdmission: Free\nWho Can Participate: School supplies are available free to any student\nRegistration: No registration listed\nAvailable Supplies: Donated school supplies may include backpacks\, calculators\, folders\, lunchboxes\, markers\, notebooks\, pencils\, pens and rulers; selection depends on availability\nLocation: The Pop-Up at Coy\, Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\nAddress: 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nPhone: 401-596-2877\nLibrary Hours: Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed Sunday\nWilcox Park Hours: Daily from dawn–9 p.m. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/free-school-supply-shop-at-westerly-library/2026-09-12/
LOCATION:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park\, 44 Broad Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Westerly Library & Wilcox Park
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T150000
DTSTAMP:20260915T022633Z
CREATED:20260910T183522Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260915T022633Z
UID:10007544-1789210800-1789225200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival
DESCRIPTION:4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival fills the sky above Wuskenau Town Beach with color Saturday\, September 12\, as the free family festival returns to the Westerly shoreline from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. \nPresented by the Misquamicut Business Association\, the annual event is open to everyone\, whether you’re bringing a favorite kite from home\, picking up a children’s kite kit at the beach or simply coming to watch. \nThere’s also a little friendly competition involved. \nOrganizers will award a $100 prize for the Best in Show kite\, creating plenty of incentive to bring something more ambitious than the old plastic diamond kite that’s been sitting in the garage. \nBut competition isn’t really the point. \nThe invitation from organizers is simpler: bring your creativity\, bring the family and help fill the sky above Misquamicut with color. \nFour Years of Kites Over Misquamicut\nThe Misquamicut Kite Festival is still a relatively young tradition. \nThe Misquamicut Business Association launched the event in 2023\, and it has returned to Wuskenau Town Beach each September since. \nThe second annual festival was held in 2024. \nThe third followed on September 6\, 2025. \nNow the festival returns for its fourth year on September 12\, 2026\, retaining the same four-hour format from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. \nThere’s an appealing simplicity to the concept. \nNo tickets. \nNo complicated schedule. \nNo need to know anything about kite flying before arriving. \nJust a beach\, the Atlantic wind and as many kites as people can get into the air. \nBring a Kite or Pick Up a Kids Kite Kit\nFamilies don’t necessarily need to arrive equipped. \nKids kite kits will be available on site\, giving younger visitors an opportunity to get into the air even if they don’t already own a kite. \nThose who do have one are encouraged to bring it. \nThat leaves plenty of room for everything from inexpensive children’s kites to homemade creations and the more elaborate designs that will compete for Best in Show. \nThe festival’s $100 prize provides a reason for experienced kite builders and creative families to put some effort into their entry. \nAnd a kite festival has an advantage over many competitions. \nEven the entries that don’t win become part of the show. \nWhy the Beach Is Such a Good Place to Fly\nAnyone who tried to fly a kite in a backyard as a child probably remembers the frustrating part. \nRun. \nWatch it rise. \nWatch it stall. \nRun faster. \nWatch it crash. \nTry again. \nThe beach removes some of those problems. \nOceanfront locations tend to offer more consistent wind because there are fewer buildings\, trees and other obstructions disrupting the airflow. \nWuskenau Town Beach opens directly onto the Atlantic\, providing the combination kite flyers want: a large open area and coastal wind. \nThat doesn’t guarantee perfect conditions. Wind speed and direction still matter\, and a very windy day can actually make flying more difficult. \nBut when conditions cooperate\, a beach can turn kite flying from an exercise in sprinting into something much more satisfying. \nGet the kite above the turbulent air close to the ground and let the wind do the work. \nThere’s More Going On Up There Than String and Wind\nA kite stays in the sky through the same basic aerodynamic forces involved in aircraft flight. \nWind moves across the kite’s surface and produces lift. \nThe kite string provides tension\, while gravity and drag pull in other directions. The kite’s shape\, angle to the wind\, tail and bridle help keep those competing forces balanced. \nChange one thing and the kite behaves differently. \nA tail isn’t merely decorative\, for example. It can add drag and stability\, helping prevent some kite designs from spinning or diving. \nThat’s why homemade kite building can quickly become an accidental science experiment for kids. \nChange the shape. \nMove the bridle. \nAdd a tail. \nRemove some weight. \nTry again. \nThe immediate feedback is difficult to miss. \nEither it flies or it doesn’t. \nKite Flying Is Much Older Than the American Beach Vacation\nThe idea of putting something on the end of a string and sending it into the sky goes back thousands of years. \nKites are generally believed to have originated in ancient China\, where suitable materials such as silk and bamboo allowed builders to create lightweight structures capable of flight. \nThey eventually spread through Asia and into other parts of the world. \nAnd kites weren’t always toys. \nOver the centuries\, people used them for military signaling\, measuring distances\, scientific experiments and meteorological observations. \nOne of the most famous American experiments came in 1752\, when Benjamin Franklin used a kite during his investigations into electricity and lightning. \nMore than a century later\, experiments with kites helped researchers understand aerodynamics during the period leading toward powered flight. \nBy the time beach communities like Misquamicut developed into popular vacation destinations\, kites had become firmly established as recreational objects. \nIt’s hard to imagine a more natural pairing. \nWuskenau Is the Town Beach Beside Misquamicut State Beach\nVisitors who haven’t heard the name Wuskenau Town Beach may still know exactly where it is. \nThe Westerly-owned beach sits at 311 Atlantic Avenue\, immediately beside Misquamicut State Beach. \nIt’s also sometimes called New Town Beach locally. \nThe location provides direct access to the broad sandy shoreline that has made Misquamicut one of Rhode Island’s best-known beach communities. \nWuskenau is a simpler facility than the larger state beach next door\, but that’s not much of a drawback for a kite festival. \nThe attraction Saturday is overhead. \nMisquamicut Has Been Reinventing the Beach Season\nThe festival also fits a larger effort by the Misquamicut Business Association to make the beach community more than a July-and-August destination. \nThe association organizes events throughout the year\, including the Misquamicut Springfest\, FallFest\, Drive-In Movies and other community programming. \nThe Kite Festival arrives at an interesting point on the calendar. \nBy September 12\, the peak summer vacation season is winding down. Schools are back in session. The crowds of midsummer have begun to thin. \nBut southeastern Connecticut and southwestern Rhode Island still have weeks of potentially beautiful coastal weather ahead. \nThe ocean doesn’t disappear after Labor Day. \nNeither does the beach. \nA free Saturday kite festival gives families a reason to come back. \nA Good Kite Can Be Almost Anything\nFor people thinking about entering the Best in Show competition\, kite design has moved far beyond the familiar diamond. \nThere are delta kites. \nBox kites. \nParafoils. \nCellular kites. \nDragons. \nAnimals. \nGeometric designs. \nAnd enormous inflatable creations that can turn a kite festival into something resembling an airborne parade. \nSome designs are engineered primarily for performance. \nOthers are essentially flying artwork. \nThe festival hasn’t announced restrictive design categories for its Best in Show competition\, leaving plenty of room for imagination. \nThat makes the contest accessible to kids as well as serious hobbyists. \nA technically sophisticated kite might be impressive. \nSo might something completely ridiculous that actually flies. \nYou Don’t Need a Kite to Enjoy This One\nThat’s another advantage of the Misquamicut Kite Festival. \nSpectators get essentially the same view as participants. \nThe entire sky becomes the display. \nFamilies can walk the beach\, watch the different designs go up\, see which creations stay aloft and which require a little more persuasion\, and take in an early September afternoon beside the Atlantic. \nAdmission is free. \nThe festival runs for four hours. \nAnd there’s no obligation to participate. \nBut considering kids kite kits will be available at the beach\, staying strictly on the spectator side may prove difficult for families with younger children. \nDetails\nEvent: 4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival\nDate: Saturday\, September 12\, 2026\nTime: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.\nLocation: Wuskenau Town Beach\nAddress: 311 Atlantic Avenue\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nAdmission: Free\nAges: All ages\nParticipation: Open to everyone\nKites: Bring your own kite; kids kite kits will also be available on site\nCompetition: Best in Show Kite\nPrize: $100\nPresented By: Misquamicut Business Association\nSetting: Outdoors on the beach\nWeather: Kite flying and outdoor activities are weather-dependent\nParking: Wuskenau Town Beach has town-operated parking lots along Atlantic Avenue; check current Town of Westerly parking requirements before arriving\nEvent Contact: Misquamicut Business Association\, 401-322-1026 \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/4th-annual-misquamicut-kite-festival/
LOCATION:Wuskenau Town Beach\, 311 Atlantic Ave\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Wuskenau Town Beach
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T153000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T193000
DTSTAMP:20260817T215904Z
CREATED:20260817T215904Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T215904Z
UID:10007214-1789227000-1789241400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Westerly Land Trust Farm Dinner Celebrates Local Food at Barlow Nature Preserve
DESCRIPTION:[The dinner is sold out\, but you can register on a waitlist by clicking the Event Ticketing link at the bottom of the page] \nWesterly Land Trust Farm Dinner returns to Barlow Nature Preserve on Saturday\, September 12\, bringing guests together for an outdoor meal built around locally grown food and the land that produced it. \nThe annual dinner begins at 3:30 p.m. at the 80-acre preserve on Westerly Bradford Road. This isn’t simply dinner with a pretty farm as the backdrop. The location is part of the story. \nBarlow Nature Preserve has become a working example of the Westerly Land Trust’s efforts to connect conservation\, sustainable agriculture and the community. The property is home to Frontier Farm and Echo Rock Flowers\, and ingredients grown locally will make their way onto the dinner table. \nThis year’s meal will be prepared by husband-and-wife chefs Johan Jensen and Abbey Hemmann\, the team behind Whitecrest Eatery and Backdoor Kitchen. \nFrom Preserved Land to Working Farm\nThe story of Barlow Nature Preserve begins well before the first dinner table is set. \nThe 80-acre property became the Eleanor F. & Edward W. Barlow Nature Preserve following a bequest from Eleanor Barlow in 2018. The land contains an unusually diverse combination of agricultural fields\, upland forest and extensive freshwater wetlands and sits beside Rhode Island’s 111-acre Newton Swamp Management Area. \nRather than simply preserve the property and leave it untouched\, the Westerly Land Trust saw an opportunity. \nThe organization decided to make Barlow its headquarters while also returning part of the property to active agriculture. The existing farmhouse was renovated into office space in 2019\, and young local farmers were invited onto the land to begin rebuilding its agricultural life. \nToday\, that work can be seen in the fields surrounding the Farm Dinner. \nFarming With Conservation in Mind\nOnly about five acres of the 80-acre preserve are suitable for farming\, according to reporting by ecoRI News. That farmland is now used by Frontier Farm and Echo Rock Flowers\, which employ regenerative growing practices. \nFrontier Farm moved to Barlow in 2019 and developed a 2.5-acre commercial farm there. The farm grows vegetables\, fruits and herbs without synthetic chemicals or fertilizers and uses regenerative and no-till methods whenever possible. \nThat’s particularly important at Barlow because of what’s beyond the cultivated fields. \nThe property contains extensive freshwater wetlands adjoining Newton Swamp. Protecting soil and limiting agricultural runoff were important considerations when farming was reintroduced. The Land Trust worked with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service on irrigation and water infrastructure while its farmers committed to environmentally responsible soil-management practices. \nIn other words\, the vegetables growing here aren’t separate from the Land Trust’s conservation work. They’re part of it. \nThe Farms Behind the Dinner\nGuests at the Farm Dinner will be eating in the same landscape where food and flowers are being grown throughout the season. \nFrontier Farm focuses on sustainably grown produce\, while Echo Rock Flowers fills another part of the property with locally grown cut flowers. \nThe two farms also operate the seasonal Barlow Farm Stand\, selling produce and flowers grown on the preserve along with products from other area farms. For 2026\, the stand operates on an honor system and accepts cash and Venmo. \nThe Land Trust has increasingly used Barlow as a place where people can experience agriculture rather than simply read about it. Its Farm Squad children’s program\, for example\, introduces kids to planting\, pollinators\, soil health\, harvesting\, composting and farm biodiversity right on the property. \nThat makes the Farm Dinner something of a culmination of the growing season: people gathering around a table on land they’ve watched produce food throughout the summer. \nDinner by Whitecrest Eatery and Backdoor Kitchen\nFor the 2026 Farm Dinner\, Westerly Land Trust has invited chefs Johan Jensen and Abbey Hemmann to prepare the menu. \nThe husband-and-wife team is behind Whitecrest Eatery and Backdoor Kitchen and will create the meal around local ingredients. \nJensen is known for globally influenced cooking and an approach that puts flavor ahead of unnecessary formality. Hemmann brings an equally important ingredient to the evening: hospitality. \nThe result should fit the setting particularly well. This isn’t intended to feel like a restaurant dining room transplanted into a field. The idea is to gather around a table with neighbors\, eat food connected to the surrounding landscape and celebrate the people preserving and working that land. \nMore Than 80 Acres to Protect\nBarlow represents only one piece of a much larger conservation effort. \nThe Westerly Land Trust\, established in 1987\, now protects more than 1\,900 acres of forests\, wetlands\, grasslands and agricultural fields throughout Westerly. Its properties are used not only for conservation but also for public recreation\, environmental education and community programs. \nThe Farm Dinner celebrates that work while helping connect the people supporting conservation with the places being protected. \nAnd Barlow is particularly suited to telling that story because visitors can see several pieces of it at once: cultivated fields\, working farmers\, woods\, wetlands and trails all occupying the same protected landscape. \nExplore Barlow Nature Preserve\nThe dinner might also introduce some guests to a preserve worth returning to another day. \nBarlow Nature Preserve has two separate trail systems\, with routes through woods and along the agricultural portions of the property. \nOne trail area overlooks the hayfield and working farm\, with several trees identified by species. Another runs near Newton Swamp\, offering a more wooded walk with wetland and marsh views. \nVisitors heading toward the farm stand will also find a Little Free Library devoted to nature books. There’s even a hidden compartment on the back containing seeds visitors can take home. \nIt’s a small detail\, but it captures what Barlow has become: not simply land saved from development\, but land being actively used to get people interested in farming\, nature and conservation. \nEvent Details\nEvent: Westerly Land Trust Farm Dinner\nDate: Saturday\, September 12\, 2026\nTime: 3:30–7:30 p.m.\nLocation: Barlow Nature Preserve\nAddress: 449 Westerly Bradford Road\, Westerly\, RI\nChefs: Johan Jensen and Abbey Hemmann\nFeaturing: A locally sourced dinner celebrating Westerly’s farms and conserved land \nMore information is available at the Event Website link at the bottom of the page. \nYou can register to be put on a waitlist by clicking the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/westerly-land-trust-farm-dinner-celebrates-local-food-at-barlow-nature-preserve/
LOCATION:Barlow Nature Preserve\, 449 Westerly Bradford Road\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Barlow Nature Preserve
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Westerly-Land-Trust-Farm-Dinner-Celebrates-Local-Food-at-Barlow-Nature-Preserve.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007509-1789241400-1789246800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-12/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260913T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260913T153000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007510-1789308000-1789313400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-13/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260916T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260916T203000
DTSTAMP:20260621T021216Z
CREATED:20260621T012345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260621T021216Z
UID:10006072-1789583400-1789590600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K
DESCRIPTION:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K gives participants a chance to stay active\, meet new people\, and explore the heart of downtown Westerly in a fun and welcoming group setting. Held on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer\, the event encourages walkers and runners of all experience levels to get outside and enjoy the community. \nRather than a competitive race\, the weekly gathering focuses on fitness\, social connection\, and enjoying the local area. Participants can choose to walk or run the 5K route\, making it accessible to everyone from seasoned runners to those simply looking for an enjoyable midweek outing. \nWhether you’re training for a larger race\, looking to add some movement to your week\, or hoping to connect with fellow outdoor enthusiasts\, Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K offers a free and friendly way to spend a summer evening. \nEvent Details \nWhen: Every Wednesday \nTime: 6:30 p.m. \nLocation: One Of One Athletics Club\n26 High Street\nWesterly\, RI \nDistance: 5K \nAdmission: Free \nHighlights \n\nWalk or run at your own pace\nWeekly community event\nExplore downtown Westerly\nOpen to all fitness levels\nMeet fellow walkers and runners\n\n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/downtown-westerly-walk-or-run-5k/2026-09-16/
LOCATION:One of One Athletics Club\, 26 High Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:One of One Athletics Club
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Downtown-Westerly-Walk-or-Run-5k-Wednesdays-at-630-pm.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260917T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260917T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007511-1789673400-1789678800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-17/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T210000
DTSTAMP:20260921T030607Z
CREATED:20260914T013818Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260921T030607Z
UID:10007599-1789752600-1789765200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Raise a Pint to the Revolution Recreates the Night Westerly Chose the American Cause
DESCRIPTION:Raise a Pint to the Revolution will take Westerly back exactly 250 years on Friday\, September 18\, recreating a pivotal 1776 town meeting before shifting the celebration to Grey Sail Brewing for period music\, beer\, ale\, rum\, and a decidedly less serious round of Colonists-versus-Redcoats games. \nThis isn’t a generic Revolutionary War reenactment scheduled to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary. \nThe date is the point. \nOn September 18\, 1776\, Westerly men gathered and signed a declaration pledging allegiance to the newly independent American states. Contemporary town history records that 50 men enlisted in the Revolutionary forces after signing what was known as the Declaration or Test Act. \nOn September 18\, 2026\, Westerly will hold the meeting again. \nThe Evening Begins With the Meeting\, Not the Beer\nOrganizers are dividing the event into two parts: The Meeting and The Celebration. \nThe first is a period reenactment of the actual town event that took place 250 years earlier. \nActors portraying figures from Revolutionary-era Westerly will recreate the gathering and the decision facing local residents in 1776. \nVisitors won’t necessarily remain spectators. \nThe event invites modern-day “colonists” to sign their own allegiance to America before heading back for a pint. \nThe reenactment gives Raise a Pint to the Revolution something many semiquincentennial events can’t claim. \nWesterly isn’t simply commemorating something that happened somewhere in America during the Revolution. \nIt’s reenacting something that happened in Westerly\, on the same calendar date\, a quarter of a millennium later. \nWesterly Had Already Been Choosing Sides\nThe September 1776 gathering didn’t come out of nowhere. \nWesterly’s break with British policy had been developing for years. \nThe town’s own historical record notes that on February 2\, 1774\, local freemen met and adopted resolutions condemning oppressive measures imposed by Great Britain\, particularly the tax on tea. \nWesterly’s 1919 history even characterized the episode as the town’s own “tea party.” \nBy then\, resistance to British authority was spreading throughout Rhode Island. \nAnd Westerly had a particularly important connection to the emerging national movement through one of the most prominent political figures in colonial Rhode Island. \nSamuel Ward Took Westerly to the Continental Congress\nSamuel Ward was born in Newport but became closely identified with Westerly after settling there. \nHe served as governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and became an outspoken opponent of British taxation. \nIn 1774\, Rhode Island sent Ward and Stephen Hopkins to Philadelphia as delegates to the First Continental Congress. \nWard continued serving in the Continental Congress as the colonies moved toward independence. \nHe died in Philadelphia on March 25\, 1776\, only a few months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted. \nBut his family remained deeply connected to the war. \nHis son\, Samuel Ward Jr.\, served in the Continental Army\, becoming a captain in 1775 and major in 1776. He later served as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington and eventually became a lieutenant colonel. \nFor Westerly residents gathering in September 1776\, the Revolution wasn’t distant news arriving from Philadelphia. \nPeople from their own community were already part of it. \nSeptember 18\, 1776 Was a Dangerous Time to Pick a Side\nIt’s easy to look backward from 2026 and imagine American independence as inevitable. \nIt wasn’t. \nWhen Westerly’s men gathered on September 18\, the Declaration of Independence was barely two months old. \nAnd militarily\, things weren’t going particularly well. \nBritish forces had inflicted a major defeat on Washington’s army in the Battle of Long Island in late August. American forces withdrew from New York City in September\, and the British occupied the city. \nJust two days before Westerly’s meeting\, American and British troops had fought at Harlem Heights. \nWashington was still reporting on that engagement to the Continental Congress on September 18. \nSo the men gathering in Westerly weren’t signing onto a revolution whose outcome they knew. \nThey were choosing allegiance while the new nation was fighting for survival. \nThat makes the date considerably more interesting than simply saying Westerly supported independence. \nThey were committing themselves while the result was very much undecided. \nFifty Men Signed and Enlisted\nWesterly’s historical record describes what followed succinctly. \nOn September 18\, 1776\, 50 men enlisted in the Revolutionary forces after signing the Declaration or Test Act. \nThat was a significant commitment for a small colonial town. \nBy 1777\, Westerly’s population stood at only 1\,812 people. \nBy 1781\, the town had enrolled four companies of militia in addition to its quota serving in Continental battalions. \nA history prepared for Westerly’s 250th anniversary in 1919 estimated that the combined military commitment ultimately absorbed about one-fifth of the town’s population. \nThe Revolution was not an abstract political debate here. \nIt took people out of homes\, farms and businesses and put them into military service. \nRaise a Pint to the Revolution is built around the moment that commitment became formal. \nThen Comes the Party\nOnce Westerly has reenacted its revolutionary pledge\, the evening becomes considerably less solemn. \nThe celebration takes place at Grey Sail Brewing\, where organizers promise live period music\, beer\, ale and rum along with what they describe as “fuel for the Revolution.” \nThere will also be Colonist and Red Coat games. \nThe result should land somewhere between living history and a colonial tavern night. \nThat seems appropriate. \nTaverns were important gathering places in 18th-century America\, serving not merely as drinking establishments but as social centers where travelers exchanged news\, residents debated politics and communities conducted business. \nBeer\, ale\, cider\, punch and rum were thoroughly embedded in colonial social life. \nSo while nobody should mistake a modern craft brewery for an 18th-century tavern\, finishing a Revolutionary reenactment over a drink isn’t as historically incongruous as it might sound. \nRum Has a Particularly Good Claim to the Glass\nBeer gets top billing in the event’s title\, but rum may have the stronger Revolutionary-era New England credentials. \nThe triangular Atlantic trade made rum an important part of the colonial economy. \nNew England distilleries turned imported Caribbean molasses into enormous quantities of rum\, which became one of the region’s characteristic spirits. \nRhode Island was particularly involved in the colonial rum trade. \nThat history makes Grey Sail an unusually appropriate modern host. \nThe Westerly brewery shares its Canal Street property with South County Distillers\, giving the celebration access to both brewing and distilling traditions. \nThe drinks have changed considerably since 1776. \nThe idea of gathering together over them hasn’t. \nGrey Sail Has Its Own Westerly History\nGrey Sail Brewing is much younger than the event it is commemorating\, but its home has a history of its own. \nThe brewery opened in Westerly in 2011\, brewing its first batch of Flagship Ale on November 11 of that year. \nIts production facility occupies a brick industrial building at 63 Canal Street that was constructed near the end of the 1920s for the Westerly Macaroni Factory. \nThe building later served other commercial uses before Grey Sail transformed it into a brewery. \nNext door\, the Grey Sail Taproom and courtyard have developed into a gathering place for live music\, markets and community events. \nFor September 18\, the brewery becomes Westerly’s temporary Revolutionary tavern. \nThe Babcock-Smith House Connects the Celebration to 1776\nOne of the event sponsors is the Babcock-Smith House Museum\, and its connection to Revolutionary Westerly runs particularly deep. \nThe museum centers on the historic home of Dr. Joshua Babcock\, one of colonial Westerly’s most significant residents. \nThe Georgian house dates to around 1734\, putting it squarely within the world being recreated during Raise a Pint to the Revolution. \nBabcock was a physician\, public official and prominent citizen whose life stretched across Westerly’s transition from British colony to American town. \nHe was also Westerly’s first postmaster. \nThe town’s first post office was established in 1776\, the same year as the meeting being commemorated. \nIts first-year receipts totaled the wonderfully precise sum of one pound\, three shillings and eight pence. \nBefore that\, Westerly’s nearest post office had been in New London. \nToday the Babcock-Smith House preserves both that colonial history and another enormous chapter of Westerly’s story through its exhibits devoted to the local granite industry. \nThree Westerly Organizations Are Behind the Night\nRaise a Pint to the Revolution is sponsored by the Westerly 250th Commission\, Westerly Historical Society and Babcock-Smith House Museum. \nThat combination helps explain why the event goes beyond costumes and colonial-themed drinking. \nThe historical organizations have an actual local event to reconstruct. \nThe Westerly 250th effort\, meanwhile\, places it within the much larger America 250 commemoration marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. \nRhode Island is observing the anniversary through RI 250\, with events taking place throughout the state. \nBut September 18 gives Westerly something unusually specific to commemorate. \nExactly 250 years earlier\, townspeople were deciding what allegiance meant in a country that was only weeks old. \nYour $10 Ticket Buys More Than a Pint\nThe ticket covers participation in the commemorative event rather than functioning as a prepaid bar tab. Alcohol purchases should be expected to follow Grey Sail’s normal service rules\, including age and identification requirements. \nThe evening is scheduled from 5:30 to 9 p.m.\, with the recreated meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. \nThat leaves time to arrive\, settle in and get oriented before Westerly turns the clock back to 1776. \nThe Best Part Is Knowing How the Story Ends\nThe people at the original meeting didn’t have that luxury. \nThey couldn’t know that Washington would survive 1776. \nThey couldn’t know about Saratoga. \nThey couldn’t know France would enter the war. \nThey couldn’t know Cornwallis would surrender at Yorktown. \nThey couldn’t know there would someday be a United States celebrating its 250th birthday. \nAnd they certainly couldn’t know that 250 years to the day after their meeting\, another group of Westerly residents would gather on Canal Street\, raise glasses and reenact their decision. \nWe know what happened next. \nFor one evening\, Westerly gets to return to the moment when they didn’t. \nDetails\nEvent: Raise a Pint to the Revolution\nDate: Friday\, September 18\, 2026\nTime: 5:30–9 p.m.\nReenacted Meeting: 6:30 p.m.\nLocation: Grey Sail Brewing\nAddress: 63 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nOccasion: 250th anniversary of Westerly’s September 18\, 1776 Revolutionary-era meeting and pledge\nThe Meeting: Period reenactment of the historic Westerly town event with actors portraying Revolutionary-era figures\nAudience Participation: Guests will have an opportunity to sign an allegiance to America\nThe Celebration: Live period music\, beer\, ale\, rum and Colonist-versus-Redcoat games\nTickets: $10 base ticket price; online processing fees may apply\nFood & Drink: Available as part of the evening’s celebration; alcoholic beverages are subject to normal age and identification requirements\nSponsors: Westerly 250th Commission\, Westerly Historical Society and Babcock-Smith House Museum\nHistorical Date: September 18\, 1776\, exactly 250 years before the event\nHistorical Significance: Westerly history records that 50 men enlisted in the Revolutionary forces after signing the Declaration or Test Act on that date \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/raise-a-pint-to-the-revolution-recreates-the-night-westerly-chose-the-american-cause/
LOCATION:Grey Sail Brewing of Rhode Island\, 63 Canal St\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Grey Sail Brewing of Rhode Island
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Raise-a-Pint-to-the-Revolution-Recreates-the-Night-Westerly-Chose-the-American-Cause.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T120000
DTSTAMP:20260917T191159Z
CREATED:20260915T002435Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260917T191159Z
UID:10007604-1789812000-1789819200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Westerly Performing Arts Tour Takes Young Performers Behind the Scenes at Three Downtown Arts Institutions
DESCRIPTION:The Westerly Performing Arts Tour gives young singers\, musicians and actors something they don’t normally get from sitting in the audience: a look behind the curtain at three of Westerly’s major performing arts organizations and a chance to find out how they can become part of them. \nThe guided walking tour begins beneath the marquee at The UNITED Theatre at 10 a.m. Saturday\, September 19\, before heading through downtown to the Granite Theatre and George Kent Performance Hall\, home of The Chorus of Westerly. \nOver roughly 90 minutes\, participants will meet artists and educators\, explore performance spaces\, learn about training programs and discover opportunities to sing\, act\, play an instrument or otherwise become involved in Westerly’s performing arts community. \nFor a young person who knows they want to perform but doesn’t know where to begin\, that’s really the point of the morning. \nThree Stops\, Three Different Ways Onto a Stage\nThe tour isn’t simply a walk through three interesting buildings. \nEach stop represents a different part of the performing arts. \nAt The UNITED\, the focus includes music education and the many ways musicians can develop their skills. \nAt the Granite Theatre\, participants actually step onto the stage while learning about acting\, theatrical training and performance. \nAt The Chorus of Westerly\, the tour moves into vocal and ensemble training inside Kent Hall. \nTogether\, the three organizations offer a surprisingly broad introduction to what’s available to a young performer within a relatively small section of downtown Westerly. \nAnd participants will hear directly from the people who teach and create the work rather than simply picking up three brochures. \nIt Starts Under The UNITED Marquee\nThe first meeting point is one of downtown Westerly’s most recognizable landmarks: the marquee at The UNITED Theatre at 5 Canal Street. \nFrom there\, participants head behind the scenes. \nThe UNITED today is considerably more than a movie theater. \nIts modern arts complex contains a 750-capacity flexible performance space\, three cinemas\, an event and gallery space and a dedicated music school. \nThe building hosts concerts\, theater\, dance\, comedy\, films\, lectures and other programming while maintaining an increasingly substantial educational operation. \nYoung visitors on Saturday’s tour will get a closer look at that educational side. \nThe UNITED Music School Is a Working Training Center\nThe UNITED Music School offers instruction and performance opportunities across a range of instruments\, ages and ability levels. \nThe idea isn’t simply to teach someone how to play scales in a practice room. \nStudents can develop through lessons and ensembles while being conneGcted to an active performing arts organization where musicians are regularly rehearsing\, recording and appearing onstage. \nThe UNITED also extends its education programs beyond traditional instrumental instruction. \nIts broader arts programming has included songwriting\, voice\, photography\, video\, visual arts\, film and podcasting\, along with after-school programming for local students. \nThe tour gives prospective students a chance to see where that work happens and ask the people involved what participating actually looks like. \nThe Building Has Been Training Entertainers for a Century\, in a Way\nThere’s another reason the UNITED is an appropriate place to begin. \nIn 1926\, the original United Theatre opened as a vaudeville house. \nThat means the building turns 100 years old in 2026. \nVaudeville theaters were variety houses. A single bill could contain singers\, dancers\, comedians\, musicians\, novelty performers and other acts. \nThe United later became a movie theater before closing in 1986. \nDecades later\, a major redevelopment joined the historic theater with the neighboring Montgomery Ward building. Following an extensive renovation\, the new UNITED reopened in July 2021 as a multipurpose arts center. \nA building that once presented performers now both presents them and helps train the next generation. \nSaturday’s tour makes that connection unusually literal. \nThen the Tour Heads Through Wilcox Park\nFrom The UNITED\, the group walks through Wilcox Park toward the Granite Theatre. \nThat makes the event a genuine downtown arts tour rather than three disconnected building visits. \nThe park itself is one of the features that makes this possible. \nWesterly’s compact downtown puts theaters\, music spaces\, restaurants\, shops and historic buildings within walking distance of one another\, with Wilcox Park sitting near the center of it all. \nFor young participants\, the walk also demonstrates something that’s easy to overlook when visiting one venue at a time: \nThese organizations are neighbors. \nThey’re part of the same arts community. \nAt the Granite\, Young Performers Get to Step Onto the Stage\nThe second major stop is the Granite Theatre at 1 Granite Street. \nHere\, participants will step onto the stage and hear how theatrical training reaches beyond memorizing lines and learning where to stand. \nThe Granite specifically emphasizes the ways theater can develop confidence\, communication skills and personal growth. \nThose benefits matter even for children who never intend to become professional actors. \nGetting onstage requires speaking clearly. \nActors have to listen to one another. \nThey need to collaborate\, remember instructions\, adapt when something unexpected happens and become comfortable communicating in front of other people. \nA theatrical production is also intensely collaborative. \nThe person delivering the line may be the one the audience sees\, but performances depend on directors\, designers\, technicians\, stage managers and many others working together. \nFor a child interested in theater but uncertain about being the center of attention\, there are plenty of ways into that world. \nThe Granite Has Been Expanding Its Youth Programs\nThe Granite’s mission specifically combines entertainment and education\, and the theater has been developing dedicated programming for younger performers. \nIts Youth Theatre Program has included theatrical training\, summer camps and staged productions for young actors. \nRecent youth programming has been designed for participants roughly 8 to 18 years old\, giving children and teenagers the opportunity to work toward an actual performance rather than treating theater solely as a classroom exercise. \nSaturday’s stop gives prospective young actors and their families a chance to see the space before deciding whether that kind of program feels right for them. \nThat can be much more useful than trying to make the decision from a website. \nThe Granite’s Stage Is Inside an 1849 Church\nThe building itself has already spent more than 175 years gathering people together. \nThe Greek Revival structure was purchased for $200 in 1843 and became the Christian Chapel in Westerly. \nThe building was completed in 1849 and later became the Broad Street Christian Church. \nIts basic historic character survived remarkably well\, although the steeple required remodeling after being damaged during the Hurricane of 1938. \nThe building eventually found an entirely different purpose. \nIn 2000\, it reopened as the Granite Theatre. \nThe former church sanctuary became an intimate performance venue where actors now perform only a short distance from the audience. \nFor a young performer stepping onto its stage Saturday morning\, it’s worth looking around. \nThat’s not a purpose-built modern auditorium. \nIt’s another piece of Westerly history that the arts helped preserve. \nThe Final Stop Is Kent Hall\nThe walking tour continues to 119 High Street\, where another former church has become one of Westerly’s major performance spaces. \nGeorge Kent Performance Hall is home to The Chorus of Westerly. \nThe organization uses Kent Hall for rehearsals\, classes\, concerts and educational programs throughout the year. \nFor young singers\, this portion of the tour may be particularly useful because The Chorus of Westerly has made children’s musical education part of its identity from the beginning. \nParticipants will learn how singers develop musicianship\, vocal technique and ensemble skills\, and how children can progress into serious choral performance even without arriving with years of previous training. \nYou Don’t Need to Arrive Already Knowing How to Sing in a Chorus\nThe Chorus of Westerly explicitly says that children don’t need previous voice lessons\, formal music classes or other musical training to begin its children’s program. \nTeaching them is part of the job. \nIts children’s program is designed for young people approximately ages 8 through 18 and uses multiple levels so developing singers can be placed appropriately. \nEach young singer receives at least two hours of rehearsal per week. \nAnd this isn’t a children’s choir that exists entirely apart from the organization’s major performances. \nOne of The Chorus of Westerly’s founding principles was giving children and teenagers the opportunity to sing challenging music alongside adults in serious performance settings. \nYoung singers have long participated in the organization’s main symphonic and Pops programming. \nThat makes the Kent Hall stop less about asking\, “Can my child already do this?” \nIt’s about discovering how they can learn. \nThe Chorus Has Built a Program That Can Last a Lifetime\nThe children’s program is only one piece of The Chorus of Westerly. \nThere is an auditioned Symphonic Chorus for adults. \nThere are also non-auditioned programs designed to make group singing accessible to people with different experience levels and at different stages of life. \nThe organization has developed a Foundations Chorus\, Threshold Singers and an Encore Choir for older adults\, among other educational and outreach programs. \nThat creates an unusual continuum. \nSomeone can begin singing at Kent Hall as a child and remain involved in choral music well into adulthood. \nThe organization isn’t simply producing concerts. \nIt’s trying to create singers. \nKent Hall Has Heard Some Extraordinary Music\nThe room the young performers will visit has hosted considerably more than local rehearsals. \nThe Chorus of Westerly first performed there in 1968. \nOver the decades\, Kent Hall has welcomed internationally known musicians and ensembles including Yo-Yo Ma\, Pete Seeger\, Rudolf Serkin\, The King’s Singers\, Chanticleer\, The Tallis Scholars\, the Choir of King’s College Cambridge and the Vienna Boys’ Choir. \nIts history predates all of them. \nConstruction of the building began in 1886 as Westerly’s first Roman Catholic church\, Immaculate Conception. \nThe Chorus eventually acquired the building and undertook years of restoration and renovation. \nIn 2004–05\, a nearly $2 million project added an office wing and backstage access. Later work addressed the roof\, bell tower\, HVAC systems\, rehearsal spaces and lower level. \nToday it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. \nSo Saturday’s young singers will be standing in a room with some stories to tell. \nThe Tour Is Really About Finding Your Door In\nA child saying “I like music” doesn’t necessarily know what comes next. \nDo I need lessons? \nCan I join a band? \nWhat if I’ve never acted before? \nDo I have to audition? \nWhat happens at an audition? \nCan I sing in a chorus if I can’t read music? \nWhat if I want to work in theater but don’t want to act? \nThose questions can make arts organizations seem more intimidating from the outside than they actually are. \nThe Westerly Performing Arts Tour removes some of that barrier by putting families directly in the spaces and introducing them to the people who can answer those questions. \nThere’s no requirement that a participant emerge from Saturday morning having chosen an artistic career. \nFinding something they’d like to try is enough. \nParents Need to Come Along With Younger Participants\nThe tour is designed for young performers\, but participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. \nThat makes sense for another reason. \nParents are usually the ones who need answers about schedules\, commitments\, auditions\, costs and transportation before a child can join a program. \nInstead of a young person coming home excited about something and trying to explain it\, parent and child can hear the information together. \nThe UNITED asks participants to reserve a spot in advance. \nThe tour begins at the UNITED marquee at 10 a.m. The UNITED describes the guided experience as approximately 90 minutes\, while the Chamber calendar blocks out 10 a.m. to noon\, so families would be wise to keep the full two-hour window available. \nThree Institutions\, One Arts Community\nThe most interesting part of the Westerly Performing Arts Tour may not be any single stop. \nIt’s the fact that all three stops exist so close together. \nWithin one morning\, a young person can explore a century-old theater reborn as a modern music and arts center\, stand on the stage of an 1849 church transformed into a community theater and visit an 1880s church that became home to a nationally recognized choral organization. \nThey’re different institutions with different histories and specialties. \nBut they’re doing versions of the same thing. \nThey’re taking people who want to create something and giving them a place to begin. \nOn September 19\, they’re opening those doors together. \nDetails\nEvent: The Westerly Performing Arts Tour\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nStart Time: 10 a.m.\nCalendar Window: 10 a.m.–noon\nGuided Tour Length: Approximately 90 minutes\nStarting Point: The UNITED Theatre marquee/front entrance\nStarting Address: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nStops: The UNITED Theatre and Music School\, Granite Theatre and George Kent Performance Hall/The Chorus of Westerly\nAudience: Young performers and families interested in local performing arts opportunities\nUnder 18: Must be accompanied by an adult\nActivities: Behind-the-scenes theater visit\, music school introduction\, Granite Theatre stage visit\, choral education introduction and conversations with artists and educators\nWalking: The tour travels between downtown locations\, including a walk through Wilcox Park\nRegistration: Advance reservation is requested\nContact: The UNITED Theatre\, 401-388-8208 \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo reserve your spot\, click the Event Registration link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/westerly-performing-arts-tour-takes-young-performers-behind-the-scenes-at-three-downtown-arts-institutions/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T230000
DTSTAMP:20260913T232936Z
CREATED:20260913T232936Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260913T232936Z
UID:10007595-1789844400-1789858800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:WAAG Exhibition Brings Westerly’s Alternative Art Community Together at Studio 39A
DESCRIPTION:WAAG Exhibition brings more than 20 members of the Westerly Alternative Artists Guild together Saturday\, September 19\, for an evening gallery exhibition and art market at Studio 39A in Westerly. \nThe show runs from 7 to 11 p.m. at the grassroots arts and music space at 39A Beach Street. The format combines an exhibition with a market\, giving visitors a chance not only to see work by members of the newly organized guild but also to buy directly from participating artists. \nAdmission is particularly straightforward: \nBring a donation for the Westerly Animal Shelter. \nWAAG Is Creating a Place for Artists Who Don’t Always Fit the Traditional Gallery Mold\nThe Westerly Alternative Artists Guild\, or WAAG\, is a relatively new addition to Westerly’s growing arts community. \nAnd “alternative” is important to understanding what the group is trying to build. \nRather than defining art narrowly around traditional painting\, sculpture or the kind of work usually selected for a conventional fine-art gallery\, WAAG is assembling a community around artists working outside those boundaries. \nThe guild’s identity embraces the independent\, experimental\, DIY and sometimes unconventional side of making art. \nThat makes Friday’s exhibition as much an introduction to the organization as an art show. \nMore than 20 WAAG members are expected to participate. \nWith that many artists sharing one room\, visitors should expect variety rather than a single curatorial theme or medium. \nThis Is Both an Exhibition and a Market\nThe poster makes an important distinction: \n“A gallery & market art show.” \nThat means the evening isn’t designed solely around finished pieces hanging on a wall. \nArtists will have work available to browse and purchase\, turning Studio 39A into something closer to a temporary alternative-art marketplace. \nFor emerging artists\, that direct connection can matter. \nTraditional galleries generally select artists\, curate exhibitions and take a commission when work sells. Markets and artist-run shows can remove some of those barriers\, allowing creators to meet the people looking at their work and sell directly to them. \nFor visitors\, it also means this isn’t necessarily an event where you’re expected to quietly circle the room with your hands behind your back. \nTalk to the artists. \nAsk what they make. \nAnd if something grabs you\, find out whether you can take it home. \nStudio 39A Is a Natural Home for It\nStudio 39A is an all-ages\, grassroots art and music space at 39A Beach Street in Westerly. \nThe venue has become part of the area’s independent creative scene by providing a room for the kinds of artists and musicians who don’t necessarily have an obvious home elsewhere. \nThat includes intimate concerts and alternative music\, but Studio 39A isn’t simply a small music venue. \nIt operates as a community-driven cultural space. \nThat’s an important distinction for an event like this. \nWesterly already has established arts institutions\, galleries and performance spaces. Studio 39A occupies a different part of that ecosystem: smaller\, independent\, informal and intentionally accessible. \nWAAG fits naturally into that environment. \nWesterly’s Art Scene Is Bigger Than It Looks\nOne of the interesting things about this show is the larger arts community developing around it. \nWesterly has a surprising concentration of creative spaces within a relatively small area. \nThe long-established Artists’ Cooperative Gallery of Westerly operates as an artist-owned nonprofit gallery. The Hoxie Gallery presents exhibitions inside Westerly Library. Independent studios and shops have spread through downtown\, while the Westerly Arts Crawl has helped connect artists with businesses and the public. \nStudio 39A and WAAG represent another layer. \nThey’re not replacing those traditional institutions. \nThey’re creating an entry point for artists who may be younger\, emerging\, self-taught\, experimental or simply uninterested in fitting their work into conventional categories. \nA healthy local arts scene has room for both. \nThe DIY Poster Tells You Something About the Show\nYou don’t need much explanation of WAAG’s aesthetic after looking at the poster. \nHand lettering. \nUneven blocks of black ink. \nA roughly drawn eye. \nAlmost everything appears deliberately handmade rather than digitally polished. \nIt’s closer to a punk-show flyer or photocopied zine than a conventional gallery invitation. \nThat visual language has a long history in independent art and music scenes. \nBefore anyone could build a slick social graphic on a phone\, underground bands\, artists and promoters made flyers with markers\, typewriters\, scissors\, photocopiers and whatever else was available. \nThe imperfections became part of the identity. \nWAAG’s poster carries that same DIY spirit. \nIt doesn’t look like an invitation to an institutional gallery opening because this isn’t trying to be one. \nMore Than 20 Artists Means You Probably Won’t Know What You’re Walking Into\nThat’s arguably the best reason to go. \nA tightly curated solo exhibition gives you a deep look at one artist. \nThis is the opposite. \nWith 20-plus WAAG members participating\, the point is discovery. \nThe currently available public announcement does not provide a complete roster of every exhibiting artist or a piece-by-piece catalog\, and that’s information worth leaving open rather than guessing from social-media accounts associated with the organization. \nWhat is confirmed is the scale: more than 20 members of the guild\, a combination of gallery exhibition and art market\, and four hours to explore it. \nThe organizers are also encouraging visitors to follow @waag39a for updates as the show approaches\, so additional artist introductions may appear before Friday. \nAn Art Show for People Who Don’t Think They’re Art-Show People\nAlternative community shows can do something larger institutions sometimes struggle with. \nThey can lower the psychological barrier to walking through the door. \nYou don’t need to understand art history. \nYou don’t need to know whether something qualifies as expressionism\, assemblage\, lowbrow art or anything else. \nYou don’t even have to like everything. \nIn fact\, with more than 20 independent artists showing work\, you almost certainly won’t. \nThat’s part of the fun. \nFind the strange thing. \nFind the funny thing. \nFind the thing you don’t understand. \nFind the artist whose work makes you stop for another 30 seconds when everything else gets five. \nAnd if you’re someone making art at home who has never thought of yourself as the sort of person who belongs in a guild or gallery\, pay attention to the people exhibiting. \nThat may be the larger point of WAAG. \nA Four-Hour Snapshot of Westerly’s Alternative Art Scene\nWesterly has no shortage of polished cultural institutions. \nThis is something else. \nOne night. \nOne grassroots studio. \nMore than 20 artists. \nArtwork for sale. \nA handmade flyer that looks like it was designed specifically to make a graphic designer nervous. \nAnd admission that helps the WARM Center. \nFor WAAG\, the exhibition is a chance to put a relatively new artistic community in one room and show Westerly what its members have been making. \nFor everyone else\, it’s an opportunity to see what happens when the artists who don’t necessarily fit neatly into the established boxes decide to build their own box. \nThen cover it with art. \nDetails\nEvent: WAAG Exhibition: A Group Show\nDate: Saturday\, September 19\, 2026\nTime: 7–11 p.m.\nVenue: Studio 39A\nAddress: 39A Beach Street\, Unit 1\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nOrganizer: Westerly Alternative Artists Guild (WAAG)\nArtists: More than 20 WAAG members\nFormat: Group gallery exhibition and art market\nArtwork for Sale: Yes; the event is promoted as both a gallery and market show\nAdmission: Donation for the WARM Center\nAll Ages: Studio 39A operates as an all-ages community arts space\nUpdates: Follow @waag39a on Instagram for additional exhibition information and artist announcements \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/waag-exhibition-brings-westerlys-alternative-art-community-together-at-studio-39a/
LOCATION:Studio 39A\, 39A Beach St Unit 1\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Studio 30A
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/WAAG-Exhibition-Brings-Westerlys-Alternative-Art-Community-Together-at-Studio-39A.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T210000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007513-1789846200-1789851600@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-19/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T153000
DTSTAMP:20260908T005412Z
CREATED:20260908T005412Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260908T005412Z
UID:10007514-1789912800-1789918200@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre
DESCRIPTION:Almost\, Maine at the Granite Theatre opens Friday\, September 11\, for a two-week run of John Cariani’s romantic comedy about love found\, lost and occasionally turned upside down beneath the northern lights. \nThe Granite Theatre production runs September 11–20 in downtown Westerly\, with 7:30 p.m. performances on Thursdays\, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $30–$35. \nRather than following one couple through a conventional love story\, Almost\, Maine tells nine interconnected stories about the residents of a tiny fictional community in northern Maine. During the course of one cold Friday night\, relationships begin\, end\, stumble and take some wonderfully strange turns. \nWelcome to Almost\nAlmost isn’t technically a town. \nIn Cariani’s fictional geography\, it’s an unorganized community so far north in Maine that it’s almost in Canada. On a clear winter night\, with the aurora borealis overhead\, its residents experience a series of encounters that revolve around falling in love\, falling out of it or discovering that what they thought they understood about another person wasn’t quite right. \nThe structure is closer to a collection of short stories performed on stage than a traditional beginning-to-end narrative. \nMost of the scenes involve just two characters\, with different residents moving in and out of focus as the evening progresses. The stories stand on their own\, but the shared place\, time and themes gradually turn them into a portrait of one small community. \nCariani also gives the play a touch of magical realism. \nEmotions sometimes become physical things. Characters carry the consequences of love in ways that couldn’t happen in the real world\, yet the feelings behind those moments remain recognizable. That lets Almost\, Maine move quickly between comedy\, absurdity\, heartbreak and tenderness without becoming a conventional romantic comedy. \nA Play That Almost Disappeared\nThe story behind Almost\, Maine is nearly as unlikely as some of the stories inside it. \nJohn Cariani developed the play at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in 2002. It received its world premiere at Portland Stage Company in Maine in 2004\, where it broke box-office records. \nBy then\, Cariani was already familiar to Broadway audiences as an actor. He earned a Tony Award nomination for playing Motel the tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof and had appeared on television in Law & Order. \nAlmost\, Maine reached New York next\, opening Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in January 2006. \nThat production lasted only about a month. \nOrdinarily\, that might have been the end of the story. Instead\, after the play was published and became available to other theaters\, something unexpected happened. \nSmall professional theaters began producing it. Then community theaters picked it up. Colleges and high schools followed. \nAnd they kept doing it. \nFrom Short Off-Broadway Run to Thousands of Productions\nToday\, Almost\, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced contemporary American plays. \nThe play’s official site reports that more than 6\,000 theater companies in the United States have staged it\, along with more than 100 international companies. It has also repeatedly ranked among the most-produced plays in North American high schools. \nPart of the appeal is built into Cariani’s unusual structure. \nWith largely self-contained two-person scenes\, directors can distribute substantial material among an ensemble rather than building an entire production around one or two leading roles. Each vignette gives its actors a complete little story to develop. \nAudiences get something different from that structure\, too. One scene may land as broad comedy while the next turns unexpectedly bittersweet. Not every relationship works out\, and the title itself becomes something of a running idea. \nThings in Almost are frequently close. \nAlmost a town. Almost Canada. Almost together. Almost over someone. Almost happy. \nBut not quite. \nJohn Cariani Wrote About the Maine He Knew\nThe fictional setting wasn’t chosen at random. \nCariani grew up in Presque Isle in Aroostook County\, the enormous and sparsely populated region at the northern end of Maine. He has said those years shaped his affection for the landscape\, language and people that eventually found their way into Almost\, Maine. \nThe setting is intentionally remote. The cold matters. The darkness matters. So does the northern sky. \nAgainst that isolation\, the small interactions between people become bigger. A conversation on a bench\, an unexpected visitor at the door or an encounter between two neighbors can become the most important thing happening for miles. \nCariani eventually returned to the world he created in another form. In 2022\, he adapted Almost\, Maine into a novel\, expanding the interconnected stories and characters beyond what audiences see on stage. \nBut the theatrical version remains the work that made Almost into a place thousands of actors and audiences have visited. \nInside Westerly’s Historic Granite Theatre\nThe setting for this production has its own story. \nGranite Theatre occupies a restored Greek Revival building at 1 Granite Street in downtown Westerly. Long before actors performed there\, the building was a church. \nThe congregation that became the Broad Street Christian Church was organized in 1843\, and the building was completed in 1849. Its prominent classical façade and columns remain part of one of downtown Westerly’s distinctive historic structures. \nThe building eventually found a second life as a performance space\, reopening as the Granite Theatre in 2000. \nToday\, Renaissance City Theatre operates the Granite as a nonprofit theater\, presenting plays\, musicals\, family productions\, educational programs and special events throughout the year. \nIt’s also an intimate room. With roughly 140 seats\, the audience is close to the performers rather than watching from the distance of a large regional theater. That should suit a play built around small conversations and two-person encounters particularly well. \nOpening Night Begins a Seven-Performance Run\nAlmost\, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday\, September 11. \nA second evening performance follows Saturday\, September 12\, before the first Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. September 13. \nThe production returns the following Thursday and continues through Sunday\, September 20\, for seven performances in all: \n\nFriday\, September 11 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 12 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 13 at 2 p.m.\nThursday\, September 17 at 7:30 p.m.\nFriday\, September 18 at 7:30 p.m.\nSaturday\, September 19 at 7:30 p.m.\nSunday\, September 20 at 2 p.m.\n\nTickets range from $30 to $35. \nAccessibility at the Granite\nBecause the Granite occupies a historic 19th-century building\, accessibility comes with some limitations. \nThe theater performance space itself is wheelchair accessible\, but the Granite notes that its lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible. \nA small number of accessible parking spaces are available behind the building and need to be reserved. The theater recommends that anyone who needs accessible parking or has mobility concerns call ahead rather than relying on availability when arriving for a performance. \nDetails\nEvent: Almost\, Maine\nPlaywright: John Cariani\nOpening Night: Friday\, September 11\, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.\nRun: September 11–20\, 2026\nEvening Performances: 7:30 p.m.\nSunday Matinees: 2 p.m.\nNumber of Performances: Seven\nGenre: Romantic comedy\nVenue: Granite Theatre\nAddress: 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nTickets: $30–$35\nBox Office: 401-596-2341\nAccessibility: Theater space is wheelchair accessible; lobby and restrooms are not fully accessible\nAccessible Parking: Limited spaces are available and should be reserved in advance \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/almost-maine-at-the-granite-theatre/2026-09-20/
LOCATION:The Granite Theater\, 1 Granite Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:The Granite Street Theater
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Almost-Maine-at-the-Granite-Theatre.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T190000
DTSTAMP:20260915T215319Z
CREATED:20260915T215319Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260915T215319Z
UID:10007871-1789923600-1789930800@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Swing Band Benefit Concert Brings Three Big Bands and a Dance Floor to the UNITED
DESCRIPTION:Swing Band Benefit Concert fills the UNITED Theatre with brass\, reeds\, rhythm and the music of the big-band era on Sunday\, September 20\, as three regional jazz orchestras share the stage for a concert benefiting music education on both sides of the Connecticut-Rhode Island line. \nThe third annual benefit runs from 5 to 7 p.m. in the UNITED’s Black Box Auditorium in Westerly. This year’s lineup brings together the Time and Changes Jazz Orchestra\, As Time Goes By and the Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra. \nThe music reaches back to Frank Sinatra\, Benny Goodman\, Glenn Miller and Count Basie\, but this isn’t being presented as a sit-down history lesson. \nThe UNITED’s invitation is considerably simpler: listen\, dance\, and donate. \nAnd the money raised goes back into music\, supporting the UNITED Music School and music programs in the Westerly and New London public schools. \nThree Bands\, One Concert\nThe structure gives the evening something closer to a miniature big-band festival than a conventional concert. \nTime and Changes Jazz Orchestra opens the show. \nThe group performs in the classic 17-piece big-band configuration\, the kind of lineup capable of producing the enormous ensemble sound associated with the swing era. \nNext comes As Time Goes By\, a local swing and jazz band that also organized the benefit. \nThen the Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra closes the evening with another 17-piece ensemble drawing musicians from around New England. \nPut all three together and there will be a lot of musicians moving through the UNITED stage in two hours. \nThat’s appropriate for music that was built around scale. \nWhy 17 Musicians?\nThere’s a reason two of Sunday’s ensembles are specifically described as 17-piece bands. \nThe classic big-band format generally divides its musicians into sections: saxophones\, trumpets\, trombones and a rhythm section. \nRather than simply having everyone play simultaneously\, arrangers can move melodies and harmonies among those sections. \nSaxophones can carry one passage before trumpets answer. \nTrombones can add a darker layer underneath them. \nThe rhythm section keeps everything moving while individual musicians step forward for solos. \nThen the arranger can bring the entire ensemble together. \nThat’s where the sheer power of a big band comes from. \nA 17-piece jazz orchestra can whisper\, but when everybody arrives at the same musical destination at once\, it doesn’t stay quiet for long. \nTime and Changes Opens With the Classic Big-Band Sound\nThe Time and Changes Jazz Orchestra gets first crack at the room. \nIts billing as a classic 17-piece big band immediately establishes the musical vocabulary for the evening. \nThis is music descended from the large jazz orchestras that became one of America’s dominant forms of popular entertainment during the 1930s and ’40s. \nBefore rock bands filled arenas\, big bands filled ballrooms. \nAnd before recorded music became the default soundtrack for a night out\, people danced to actual orchestras. \nThat connection between jazz and dancing is important to Sunday’s concert because the UNITED isn’t asking audiences simply to admire the arrangements. \nDancing is part of the evening. \nAs Time Goes By Is the Band Behind the Benefit\nThe middle set belongs to As Time Goes By\, the local swing and jazz group that organized the Swing Band Benefit Concert. \nThat gives the band’s appearance a different role. \nThey’re not simply one of three acts on the bill. They’re helping bring the bands together around a common purpose. \nThis is now the event’s third year\, giving what began as a benefit concert the beginnings of an annual Westerly tradition. \nAs Time Goes By occupies the center position between two large jazz orchestras\, creating some musical variety while keeping the evening rooted firmly in swing and jazz. \nAnd its name couldn’t be much more appropriate for a concert drawing heavily from the American songbook. \nSean Nelson Jazz Orchestra Closes the Night\nThe final set belongs to the Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra. \nLike Time and Changes\, Nelson’s group is a 17-piece jazz orchestra\, with the UNITED describing its membership as musicians drawn from across New England. \nNelson is a trombonist\, composer\, arranger and bandleader whose work spans jazz performance and large-ensemble writing. \nA jazz orchestra gives an arranger an unusually broad musical palette. \nInstead of thinking only about melody\, chords and rhythm\, the arranger can work with instrumental color: which section carries a line\, which instruments answer it\, where the ensemble pulls back and when the entire band comes roaring in. \nThat’s part of what separates hearing this music from a recording. \nA big band moves air. \nIn a live room\, you feel the brass as much as hear it. \nSinatra\, Goodman\, Miller and Basie Point Toward the Songbook\nThe UNITED is highlighting music associated with Frank Sinatra\, Benny Goodman\, Glenn Miller and Count Basie. \nThose four names cover a surprising amount of musical territory. \nGoodman’s orchestra helped push swing into the center of American popular culture during the 1930s. \nMiller developed one of the era’s most recognizable ensemble sounds\, producing recordings that became inseparable from the World War II generation. \nBasie’s orchestra approached swing differently\, with an extraordinary emphasis on rhythm\, space and blues. \nAnd Sinatra’s career connected the big-band era with the emergence of the modern solo pop vocalist. \nHe first became a national star singing with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras before establishing the solo career that eventually made him one of the defining American singers of the 20th century. \nSunday’s program isn’t advertised as a recreation of one specific orchestra or period. \nInstead\, those names provide the musical coordinates. \nThis Music Was Made for Dancing\nBig-band jazz eventually became something people often encountered in concert halls\, jazz festivals and record collections. \nThat can obscure its original function. \nPeople danced to it. \nSwing developed alongside an enormous social-dance culture\, and the relationship between dancers and musicians influenced the music itself. \nThe rhythm had to move. \nTempos mattered. \nArrangements needed momentum. \nA packed dance floor wasn’t a distraction from the orchestra. It was evidence that the orchestra was doing its job. \nThat’s why the UNITED’s “come listen\, dance and donate” description is more than a catchy invitation. \nDancing puts this music back into something resembling its original environment. \nNobody has to dance\, of course. \nBut the opportunity is there for anyone who hears a Basie-style rhythm section and finds sitting still increasingly difficult. \nThe Benefit Looks Forward While the Music Looks Back\nThe most important part of the concert may be what happens after the final note. \nProceeds from the 2026 event benefit the UNITED Music School\, along with music programs in the Westerly and New London public schools. \nThat gives the evening a nice symmetry. \nProfessional and experienced regional musicians are performing music with roots stretching back nearly a century to help younger musicians get access to instruments\, instruction and school music programs now. \nThe UNITED Music School operates as part of the theater’s broader educational mission\, offering music instruction and performance opportunities from its downtown Westerly campus. \nSupporting public-school programs extends the impact beyond the theater itself. \nAnd notably\, the beneficiaries cross the state line. \nWesterly is in Rhode Island. \nNew London is in Connecticut. \nMusic doesn’t care much about the border. \nThe UNITED Is an Appropriate Home for It\nThe setting also carries its own musical history. \nThe UNITED originally opened as a vaudeville theater in 1926\, placing its beginnings just before the big-band era exploded nationally. \nAfter decades as a movie theater and a long period of closure\, the building was extensively redeveloped and reopened in 2021 as a multidisciplinary arts center. \nToday it combines cinemas\, live-performance spaces and a music school under one roof. \nSunday’s concert brings all of those strands together particularly well. \nIt’s a live performance of music rooted in the first half of the 20th century\, presented inside a restored 1920s theater\, raising money to teach musicians who will carry music into the future. \nTwo Hours\, Three Bands and a Lot of Horns\nThere are easier ways to raise money. \nYou can hold a raffle. \nYou can sell baked goods. \nOr you can put three swing bands onstage\, assemble dozens of musicians\, clear some room for dancing and let Count Basie\, Glenn Miller\, Benny Goodman and Sinatra provide the inspiration. \nThe Swing Band Benefit Concert has chosen the latter. \nFor anyone who loves the sound of a full horn section\, Sunday evening should provide plenty of it. \nAnd every ticket helps make sure another generation gets the chance to learn how to make some noise of its own. \nDetails\nEvent: Swing Band Benefit Concert\nDate: Sunday\, September 20\, 2026\nTime: 5–7 p.m.\nLocation: UNITED Theatre\, Black Box Auditorium\nAddress: 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nPerformers: Time and Changes Jazz Orchestra\, As Time Goes By and Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra\nMusic: Big band\, swing and jazz\, including selections associated with Frank Sinatra\, Benny Goodman\, Glenn Miller and Count Basie\nAdult Tickets: $22\nUnder 18: $12\nBeneficiaries: UNITED Music School and music programs in the Westerly and New London public schools\nDancing: Encouraged\nPhone: 401-388-8208\nEmail: info@unitedtheatre.org\nAccessibility: The UNITED’s cinemas are wheelchair accessible. The theater recommends contacting the box office before purchasing live-performance tickets to discuss the best accessible seating location. Assistive listening devices are also available.\nTicket Policy: UNITED event tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. \nMore information is available at the Event Website link below. \nTo purchase tickets\, click the Event Ticketing link below. \n  \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/swing-band-benefit-concert-brings-three-big-bands-and-a-dance-floor-to-the-united/
LOCATION:United Theatre\, 5 Canal Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:United Theater
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260923T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260923T203000
DTSTAMP:20260621T021216Z
CREATED:20260621T012345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260621T021216Z
UID:10006073-1790188200-1790195400@thectbeacon.com
SUMMARY:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K
DESCRIPTION:Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K gives participants a chance to stay active\, meet new people\, and explore the heart of downtown Westerly in a fun and welcoming group setting. Held on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer\, the event encourages walkers and runners of all experience levels to get outside and enjoy the community. \nRather than a competitive race\, the weekly gathering focuses on fitness\, social connection\, and enjoying the local area. Participants can choose to walk or run the 5K route\, making it accessible to everyone from seasoned runners to those simply looking for an enjoyable midweek outing. \nWhether you’re training for a larger race\, looking to add some movement to your week\, or hoping to connect with fellow outdoor enthusiasts\, Downtown Westerly Walk or Run 5K offers a free and friendly way to spend a summer evening. \nEvent Details \nWhen: Every Wednesday \nTime: 6:30 p.m. \nLocation: One Of One Athletics Club\n26 High Street\nWesterly\, RI \nDistance: 5K \nAdmission: Free \nHighlights \n\nWalk or run at your own pace\nWeekly community event\nExplore downtown Westerly\nOpen to all fitness levels\nMeet fellow walkers and runners\n\n  \n 
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/downtown-westerly-walk-or-run-5k/2026-09-23/
LOCATION:One of One Athletics Club\, 26 High Street\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:One of One Athletics Club
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Downtown-Westerly-Walk-or-Run-5k-Wednesdays-at-630-pm.jpg
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