West Warwick and Westerly Are OUR TOWN Sites for 2016

When Rhode Island PBS put out the call in December for the next Our Town locations, residents from towns across the state stepped up. By the time the January 31 deadline arrived, it was clear that two towns had equally enthusiastic support.

"We are proud to announce that by popular decision, West Warwick and Westerly are the next locations for Our Town in 2016," said David W. Piccerelli, president of WSBE Rhode Island PBS. "We sincerely thank all those who submitted entries - community pride was clear - and we are thrilled about the winners." West Warwick will be featured in a documentary televised in September 2016, and Westerly will be featured in December 2016.

Piccerelli said enthusiasm has grown for the Our Town project - now in its third cycle - thanks to the fun and success of the first three projects. Our Town: Glocester, the first documentary in the series, debuted in December 2014, followed by Our Town: North Kingstown in September 2015 and Our Town: Portsmouth in December 2015. "The comments that we and the participants received in relation to each of these projects have been very inspiring. We're looking forward to building on that energy as we take the project now to West Warwick and Westerly."

YOUR VOICE, YOUR VISION 
Our Town is a community project wherein neighbors become filmmakers and tell the stories of Our Town. Part fund-raiser, part community builder, part historical and cultural documentary, and part "day-in-the-life" video scrapbook, Our Town shares with viewers the local legends, historical happenings, and backyard secrets of the particular town and its villages - untold or uncelebrated stories that capture the essence of the town.

"Our Town gives the community a platform to share stories and perspectives on the town in their own voices," Piccerelli said. "It's also a meaningful way for us to connect with our community."

YOU ARE THE STORYTELLER
Residents of West Warwick and Westerly are especially urged to participate, but one need not be a resident of the particular town - just have a great town story to tell. Planning meetings and a workshop lead up to two days allocated for filming. During the planning meetings, participants discuss and choose the subjects and locations they want to include in the documentary about their town.

"This kind of collaborative group project invites residents to be more involved with Rhode Island PBS, and with each other," said Jodi Mesolella, project director for Our Town, and director of membership and special projects at Rhode Island PBS. "The content is decided exclusively by the participants. They pick what will be in the film. If someone has an idea for a story, please come to the planning meeting and share it. We're looking forward to seeing what West Warwick and Westerly decide to do."

WHAT TO EXPECT 
In each town, Rhode Island PBS recruits up to 20 to 25 volunteers with video cameras. For this project, there are no restrictions as to age or experience and there is no cost or compensation to participate. For those with a story to tell but no camera to capture it, Rhode Island PBS has a camera to lend by appointment and with a security deposit, which is fully refunded when the camera is returned.

"We will offer guidance, technical advice and support to our volunteers, but this is definitely their story as told by them in the community," said Nicole Muri, Our Town project producer. Video recorded by the volunteers will be edited together by Rhode Island PBS to create a one-hour film of each town.

The first planning meeting in West Warwick will be in March, with the technical workshop for the volunteer filmmakers planned for early April. The deadline for video submission will be mid-June.

Westerly's first town planning meeting will be in August, with the technical workshop and filming deadline expected in September.

Although dates for shooting footage will be set, videographers need not wait, and are encouraged to shoot footage of any relevant event or storyline anytime up to the deadline for video submission.

INFORMATION
For information about joining the Rhode Island PBS Our Town project, and for details about meetings as the dates approach, visit ripbs.org/our-town/home, or call Jodi Mesolella (project director) at 401-222-3636, extension 209, Nicole Muri (producer) at extension 225, or email ourtown @ ripbs.org.

Carved from Stone: Legacy of a Granite Town

Rhode Island PBS proudly premieres Carved from Stone: Legacy of a Granite Town at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 3. The film chronicles the processes, products, people, and legacy of the granite industry in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Written and produced by Westerly resident Betty-Jo Cugini, with director of photography and editor Jim Karpeichik, Carved from Stone: Legacy of a Granite Town is based on the book Built from Stone: The Westerly Granite Story.

The film shows Westerly granite as the "gold standard," with hundreds of blacksmiths, carvers, stonemasons, and other craftsmen brought from Europe to ply their artistry, each contributing to the reputation of the beauty of the work and the durability of the stone.

Photos, interviews, and rare archival film footage of workers at the quarry from around 1920 paint a vivid portrait of the hard work of the granite industry that thrived in Westerly from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

Viewers will also travel to Gettysburg, where more than 70 monuments were built of Westerly granite, and on to Woodlawn Cemetery in New York, which boasts more than 30 Westerly granite mausoleums, statues, and other beautiful monuments.

Here is a link to the story in the Westerly Sun with insight about the film and Westerly granite. 

Hometown Flood: You'll Laugh, You'll Cry, You'll Cringe, You'll Cheer

All Rhode Islanders were affected in some way by the floods in March 2010. On Saturday, August 14 at 7 P.M. and Sunday, August 15 at 11 P.M., WSBE Rhode Island PBS airs Hometown Flood, a compelling story that puts local faces on what became national news.

When the rains came and the power went out, Chris Walsh’s camera went on - not because the Westerly filmmaker intended to make a documentary, but because Chris had always been interested in weather and… frankly, there was not much else to do at the time.

Chris had no way of knowing at the time that events unfolding under the watchful eye of his camera lens would make history. And that he would be one to capture it.

As Chris filmed various neighborhood locations – transformed into unfamiliar waterscapes – he talked to people and they opened up to him. One man openly wept as he surveyed his loss. It was at that powerful moment that Chris decided he had to make the documentary, to tell these stories.

Walsh talked to people in Westerly, Bradford, and Ashaway, Rhode Island, and people in neighborhoods across the bridge in Stonington, Connecticut. He also spoke with a meteorologist from the National Weather Service and Rhode Island meteorologist and reporter R.J. Heim, to get a comprehensive view of what was happening. Three months later, long after the flood waters receded, Chris revisited the same neighborhoods.

Hometown Flood is the video diary of those conversations. A film born of an interest in weather became a lasting, poignant chronicle of a history-making moment in Rhode Island, and a testament to the grit and resilience of Rhode Islanders.

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Hometown Flood is presented as part of the Rhode Island Stories, an ongoing Rhode Island PBS original series presenting films created by independent producers that tell stories about or by Rhode Island’s people, events, and locations. Rhode Island Stories airs Saturdays at 7 P.M. and Sundays at 11 P.M. on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.

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.