Eight Years Since "The Station" Fire

On Sunday, February 20, it will be eight years since the fast-moving fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick claimed 100 lives and forever changed the lives of many hundreds more. To mark that grim moment in the history or Rhode Island's family, WSBE will reprise the documentary, "41" on February 20 at 11 p.m.  41 the story about the fire's youngest victim, Nicholas O'Neill, who was 18 at the time of the fire.

Earlier that day,  a memorial service is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. on the site where the nightclub once stood on Cowesset Avenue. The memorial service program, directions, and more information is available at The Station Fire Memorial Foundation.  This story by WPRI updates the efforts to create a permanent memorial park on the site.

Sunday night's film, 41, was produced and directed by Christian De Rezendes and Christian O'Neill (Nicky's older brother). It paints a portrait of Nicky's 18 years - packed full in so short a time with the young man's prolific writing, composing, acting... and his fascination with the number 41. But what makes the film so remarkable is the story after the story: what happened - and continues to happen - after the deadly fire took his life on February 20, 2003. Signs are everywhere that Nicky's spirit continues to move among his family and friends. Even strangers.

"41" is a story of uplifting hope, insight, and comfort. And it may change the way you think about life and death.

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WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on digital 36.1; Cox/Verizon/Full Channel 08; DirecTV 36; Dish Network 7776; ComCast subscribers, please check local listings for the channel number in your area.

Viewers with high definition (HD) capability can receive WSBE Rhode Island PBS HD programming over the air on digital 36.1, Cox 708, Verizon 508, ComCast 819.

Marking the Grim Anniversary of The Station Nightclub Fire

Saturday, February 20th, marks a grim anniversary for Rhode Island: it is the night The Station nightclub fire snuffed out 100 lives and irreparably altered the lives of 300 more who survived the inferno. Even seven years later, stories are still being written, opening old wounds fresh and new. Admittedly, for the loved ones of the 100 - brothers and sisters, sons and daughter, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives - seven years is a blink in time. As for the rest of us who were not directly affected, we are reminded that life can be turned upside down in a matter of minutes.

On Saturday night at 10 P.M., WSBE Rhode Island PBS will re-broadcast the film, 41. It's a story about the fire's youngest victim, Nicholas O'Neill, then only 18. The film was produced and directed by Christian De Rezendes and Christian O'Neill (Nicky's older brother).

This earlier blog, from our television debut of the film in November, describes the documentary and includes a video clip from WPRI's The Rhode Show of an interview with Nicky's father, Dave Kane.

41 will be re-broadcast on Monday, February 22 at 2:30 A.M. 

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air on digital 36.1; Cox/Verizon/Full Channel 08; DirecTV 36; Dish Network 7776; ComCast subscribers, please check local listings for the channel number in your area.

WSBE Learn transmits over the air on digital 36.2; Cox 808; Verizon 478; ComCast 294.

Viewers with high definition (HD) capability can receive WSBE Rhode Island PBS HD programming over the air on digital 36.1, Cox 708, Verizon 508, ComCast 819.

Tale of a Monarch

My father passed in March 2006. What my brother and I thought might be a bad cold or even pneumonia was actually a massive coronary that unexpectedly but quite efficiently swept our dad from our lives. Stunned, I remember standing outside the hospital and saying to my brother, "We're orphans." An odd reaction to be sure, especially for a grown woman with 4 college and high school children of her own. Having lost my mother a little more than a year before, the sense of loss and abandonment was overwhelming.

About a year after my dad passed, monarch butterflies started to appear around me in greater frequency than I considered usual, and in places I considered odd. I was not looking for butterflies, mind you - but each seemed to make sure I noticed it, fluttering close enough to demand my attention.

One of the oddest places was right on the beach at Scarborough. Not the grassy area where wildflowers grow, but the breezy sandy beach. I've seen plenty of sea gulls there, but never the elegantly fragile orange and black wings of a monarch butterfly. Yet that summer, it happened a few times.

The other oddest place was right here at work. On the north side of the station building is storage with double garage doors. The "driveway" area is completely paved with aging asphalt, and abuts another commercial property's paved driveway. There is a tall steel microwave tower, a dumpster, and chain link fencing. The only thing remotely green are weeds invading cracks in the pavement.

One pleasant afternoon that summer of 2007, I was outside enjoying the weather as I edited some material. Sitting on a low concrete platform near the door, I was visited by a monarch butterfly. I had never seen butterflies in that area before - moths and other insects, maybe, but not butterflies, and certainly not monarchs. This one didn't just flutter by. It actually landed on my knee! It perched, opened and closed its wings a few times, then fluttered off.

And thoughts of my dad immediately washed over me.

I share this very personal story with you because I just watched the full version of 41, a remarkable story about the Station nightclub fire's youngest victim, Nicholas O'Neill.WSBE Rhode Island PBS airs this documentary tonight at 8 P.M. I invite you to watch the film, too, and hear the way this young man touched - touches - lives of those around him in unexpected and lingering ways.

Your comments about the film and stories of your own experiences are most welcome.

- Lucie Raposo Houle

At Times Heartwarming and Heartbreaking, "41" Will Touch You

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to meet the two filmmakers of 41, Christian De Rezendes and Christian O'Neill, at an event at the elegant Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket. It's not surprising that these two talented and charming young men created such a good film as 41.

What is 41?

It's a remarkable story of The Station nightclub fire's youngest victim, Nicholas O'Neill (Christian O'Neill's brother). It paints a portrait of Nicky's 18 years - packed full in so short a time with prolific writing, composing, acting... and an obsession with the number 41. But what makes the film so remarkable is the story after the story: what happened - and continues to happen - after the deadly fire took his life on February 20, 2003. Signs are everywhere that Nicky's spirit continues to move among his family and friends. Even strangers.

41 is a story of uplifting hope, insight, and comfort. And it may change the way you think about life and death.

41 airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS on Wednesday, November 18 at 8 P.M.

The Rhode Show (on WPRI-TV 12) did a story this morning about the documentary, including an interview with Nicky's father, broadcaster Dave Kane. Here is the video from WPRI.com

Click the link below to view the documentary trailer. And for more information, go to http://www.41themovie.com/index2.html

"41"

On the night of February 20, 2003, hundreds of rock music fans gathered at a local club in West Warwick, RI, to hear a national band. But ebullience turned to unfathomable grief when indoor fireworks ignited material in the club and the small building burned to the ground.

One hundred souls passed that night. Sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sisters, brothers, friends. "41" tells a remarkable story of the youngest among them: Nicholas O'Neill.

It is a story of uplifting hope, insight, and comfort.

And it may change the way you think about life and death.

"41" has received a number of awards, including Best Documentary-Narrative by the Blue Mountain Film Festival (Ontario), and Best Soundtrack from the Director’s Chair Film Festival (Staten Island, NY). The film also played at the Woods Hole Film Festival in August. Film critic Phil Hall of FilmThreat.com, has hailed "41" as “a much-needed reminder of all that is good in the world… a soul-enriching experience, one of the year’s finest accomplishments.”

"41" airs on WSBE Rhode Island PBS on Wednesday, November 18 at 8 P.M. Click the link below to view the trailer. For more information, go to http://www.41themovie.com/index2.html