Help us polish up this diamond in the rough

Charlestown’s Crown Jewel

By Cheryl Dowdell, Friends of Ninigret Park, Sub-Committee Chair

Once a key training base for Navy pilots

Ninigret Park in Charlestown RI is a jewel in South County, where thousands of hikers, bikers, swimmers, soccer and ball players, stargazers and vacationers come from around the world to enjoy its beauty.

The Park was a gift from the United States when the Naval Training Station and Airfield was closed in the 1970’s. Since then, the Town of Charlestown has been making improvements.

Perhaps you have visited the Frosty Drew Observatory and Nature Center, the Dog Park, fished at Little Nini Pond or attended many of the annual events, including the Big Apple Circus, The Charlestown Seafood Festival, and The Rhythm and Roots Festival.

Then public land for nature and people

Charlestown’s Community Center is also located in Ninigret Park and offers many health, wellness and exercise activities for children, youth, adults, seniors and families. The Charlestown Community Garden feeds the hungry in our community and celebrates with a Harvest Festival in the Fall. Someone in your community may have benefited from this and other programs we offer.

The Town of Charlestown has recently created “Friends of Ninigret Park”. Our mission is to help provide for the care, maintenance and improvement of Ninigret Park so that we can continue to provide this wonderful venue for all in South County, in New England and beyond.

Our Ninigret Park Master Plan outlines the proposed improvements that we are striving to make and is available at the website below. Please take a look at all the exciting things that could be in our future. The Town provides what it can through local property taxes, but we need your help to polish up this “Diamond in the Rough”!

With big plans for the future

You can find more information and ways that you can help us with your tax deductible donations at the Town Departments, Parks and Recreation link at  www.charlestownri.org

There you will find our “Friends of Ninigret Park” Brochure and the Ninigret Park Master Plan pdf. In the near future we will also be looking for “Boosters” to help spread the word. For more information, you may call the Charlestown Parks and Recreation Department at 401-364-1222.

We look forward to seeing you at the Park!

A version of this article appeared as a letter to the editor of the Westerly Sun. Re-printed by permission of the author.