parks

To Everything There is a Season

/ Jason Major / Leave a comment

Early on the morning of May 6th, a group of five explorers began an observational journey through the trails of Salter Grove. 

Billy McGovern confers with Anonymous, Stella, Wesley, Gwen, and Michael (L to R, Michael not pictured) about their park exploration. 

The youngsters met at a cozy picnic table along Upland trail. They were shown a series of pictures of the same location at different times of the year. The explorers noted how the features of the pictures changed seasonally.

With the pictures in mind, the explorers next set out to find an interesting location in Salter Grove. Having chosen an appropriate spot, they began the process of documenting the area. Armed with pencils, crayons, and markers they drew their chosen location with great detail.

Back at the picnic table, the explorers displayed great enthusiasm while describing the features in their pictures that they found most interesting.

Gwen
Michael
Stella
Wesley

The explorers will keep their pictures in a safe location for a future adventure. During the summer, they will draw another picture of the same location to see how it has changed over time.

This was the second outing of a program being developed by the Friends of Salter Grove. This program aims to show that outdoor recreation and education with minimum technology is fun.

Like Scandinavian forest schools, the program aims to instill a sense of respect for the environment and the importance of having minimal impact while demonstrating how to use a shared space without impairing others’ enjoyment.

Turn! Turn! Turn! 

Volunteers Help Salter Grove Look its Best for Spring 

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The 2023 cleanup season at Salter Grove got off to a strong start on March 18, thanks to a big turnout of volunteers, including many first-timers.

Cold, grey, and windy conditions didn’t diminish the enthusiasm of families and individuals who had signed up for some outdoor activity in anticipation of Spring.

Nearly 30 people worked together to collect 302 pounds of trash and other debris blown in by winter storms.

Organized by Save the Bay, large volunteer groups contribute to the regular efforts of nearby residents to keep up Salter Grove and its surrounding shorelines for the public to enjoy.

Teams come out at least monthly from March to November.

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Making a Better First Impression

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Newly-planted parking area 

A good start to improving the appearance of the parking area was made with plantings of evergreen conifers in a damaged lawn area and the addition of rocks and winterberry to the rain garden by Atlantic Lawn and Garden. We are grateful for a grant from The Champlin Foundation, which funded this project. 

Artist’s rendering of planned new signage 

We are waiting on DPW’s schedule to remove the unsightly signage around the flagpole at the top of the parking area and to pour concrete pads for replacement signage and an additional waste receptacle. These components of the parking safety and esthetics project have been funded by a grant from the Vivian J. Palmieri Charitable Trust.

Come spring we’ll replace the plants that did not survive, fill in the gaps to more quickly establish ground cover, and seed the bare patches on the perimeter of the parking lot. Meanwhile, the latter are protected from erosion by jute mats.

Low plants were selected to preserve the view of the coves. Please help the plants grow healthily by not crossing the temporary barrier placed around them. 

New rocks challenge energetic young visitors

International Coastal Cleanups at Salter Grove

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Save the Bay hosted a corporate cleanup event at Salter Grove in 2019

Salter Grove plays an important role in the struggle for the health of the oceans as one of the settings of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) organized by the Ocean Conservancy and Save the Bay.

Each year, volunteers around the world join together in both cleaning beaches and documenting the waste and pollution that they find. The Ocean Conservancy launched this project over 30 years ago.

Salter Grove is the site of three of the 30 ICC events this year planned by Save the Bay as the Rhode Island State Coordinator. The first took place on September 11, which also coincided with the National Day of Service and Remembrance commemorating the 2001 terrorism attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Another public volunteer cleanup is scheduled for September 25, and a corporate group will do a cleanup in October.

This year’s total is one event shy of the 2019 record, when Salter Grove hosted four ICC cleanups and over 70 volunteers.

Additional ICC events are happening around the state. Last year, even with the partial shutdown of activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly 600 volunteers joined in the ICC, collecting more than 4,000 pounds of trash from Rhode Island Shores.

Top three trash items collected in 2020 RI International Coastal Cleanups:
11,662 cigarette butts
5,250 plastic pieces (under 2.5 centimeters)
2,623 plastic bottle caps
Source: 2020 International Coastal Cleanup / Rhode Island Report & Call To Action.

The efforts of individual volunteers and Save the Bay groups have improved the trash control situation at Salter Grove, but more needs to be done. Food and beverage packaging left behind by recreational visitors and washed in by the waves still pollutes the area and poses risks to wildlife.

Volunteer efforts are gradually bouncing back with the reopening of normal activity in the state. The number of volunteers per cleanup has returned to a little more than 60% of the 2019 average.

If you are interested in participating in a public cleanup and at least 13 years of age, visit Save the Bay and learn how to register. 

Finding Artistic Inspiration at Salter Grove

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Oil painter Pat Perry at Salter Grove on July 23, 2021

Salter Grove isn’t just a great place to picnic, play, and go fishing—you can also find it artistically inspiring like Pat Perry did in July! Pat set up her portable easel for a bit of “plein air” painting, capturing the beauty of the cove, causeway, and breakwater from the eastern shore under a bright summer sky.

Pat came “all the way” from West Greenwich to paint a view from Salter Grove.

And earlier today on the west side of the park, “sidewalk artists” Sabrina and Adam created quite an impressive display of magical beasts, national flags, and planets to explore in chalk on the paved path to the playground.

Adam and Sabrina and their sidewalk chalk masterpiece on August 2, 2021

You never know what may inspire you at Salter Grove!