Portsmouth's new Town Administrator, John Klimm, has been working with volunteers to produce a weekly cable access half-hour on town issues, and they're now available on YouTube. This week's touches on communication and citizen engagement — worth a look.
Tomorrow, perhaps, there will be a more journalistic post, but tonight, I just want to say a huge THANKS to everyone who came by Glen Park for the Portsmouth Pride Coalition picnic.
My unofficial head could had more than 125 people. There was a constant buzz at the tables under the pavilion as people chatted, listened to the PHS Jazz Ensemble, and enjoyed hot dogs and burgers. Dozens of kids were running around playing games and having fun. I met a lot of new people and had some great conversations.
And as I was sitting there, I was struck again by what a wonderful place we live in. I was so proud of our town's Glen Park (and the wonderful volunteer committee that manages it!). I was so proud of the band we were listening to, all recent graduates from PHS and their awesome music program. I talked with several parents who stopped by on their way to football practice and it reminded me our great sports traditions. I had conversations with other folks about our great local businesses, and some of our underappreciated local historical spots.
We live in a town with a lot to be proud of. And I'm very thankful that so many people came out this afternoon to share their pride in Portsmouth. Thank you, and thanks to Gary Vaspol and the other folks on the organizing team for making this all happen.
Moved permanently to Portsmouth. I had just left academia (the first page of the black-and white composition notebook I started on this date in 1991 has the mangled "Faculty" bumper sticker from the NY Institute of Technology unceremoniously plastered on the front cover) and I took the summer off to write, which seems an unimaginable luxury now. My first step was getting a driver's license, a library card, and stopping by Town Hall, which in those days, I think was next to "The Mac Shop" in the shopping plaza with Tak Pao City.
I still have the official Town welcome packet in my notebook, a blurry multi-generation xerox signed by Robert Driscoll and Carol Zinno. "We are pleased that you have chosen Portsmouth to make your home. Though we are the smallest community in population on Aquidneck Island, we like to feel we have a big heart, as big as any community anywhere."
Hurricane Bob and the coup in Russia were lurking, unforeseen, in the near future. But I was just enjoying this charming house where my grandparents had lived and my mother grew up, and discovering this wonderful town that is now our home.