The more official association began with the other founding partners , Ned Grace , who owned the Old Grist Mill in Seekonk , Massachusetts , started the Capital Grille , opened Hemenway ’ s and created the chain of Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse restaurants , and Ted Fuller , who owned the local chain of Gregg ’ s restaurants . Venturini was hired to lead lobbying and legislation for Rhode Island ’ s hospitality industry in 1988 , but no one could predict what she ’ d be dealing with in 2020 and 2021 .
“ She thrives in chaos ,” says RIHA ’ s Singleton , who recalls her response to a previous crisis when the Station Nightclub fire devastated the community . Venturini and RIHA staff called on restaurant partners to feed first responders and families . “ There are a number of different examples like this , but when coronavirus happened , her reaction was that people need us , our members need us , the industry needs us ,” Singleton says .
When work needs to be done , Venturini is like a first responder for restaurants . “ Anyone who is in a leadership position in the hospitality industry went through gut-wrenching stuff . You have people you ’ ve known and cared about for years , and they built these small businesses and were in danger of losing them ,” says Kristen Adamo , president of GoProvidence , the Providence and Warwick Convention and Visitors ’ Bureau . “ She was instrumental in working with the leaders and developing legislation that saved businesses and probably saved lives .”
Venturini acknowledges RI Commerce for kicking in funding so businesses could quickly adapt to new restrictions and outdoor dining . She made herself available around the clock for consultation about issues . During the most critical time , her husband says she had nightly calls at 10 p . m ., and was awoken by a call at three in the morning .
“ Rhode Island Commerce was working twenty-four-seven in shifts ,” Venturini says . “ They would check in to make sure whatever they were going to do would work because they didn ’ t know the industry . It used to be a standing joke that I had my date night with all the regulators .”
VENTURINI GREW UP IN PAWTUCKET AS ONE OF NINE CHILDREN . “ I am in the middle of six boys with two older sisters ,” Venturini says . “ Doesn ’ t that tell you a lot ?”
Her father died of a sudden heart attack at work at age thirty-six , leaving his wife and her mother to care for the nine children , including the youngest who was born six weeks after he died . Her mother did most of the child-rearing alone , but was surrounded by a church community that offered support .
“ A lot of neighbors hated the fact that we were very boisterous but they were always there to help ,” Venturini says .
She remembers being hungry as a kid , living in a three-bedroom tenement with lack of heat . There were days when all she had to eat was a piece of bread and maple syrup . “ I lived for survival ,” she says . “ When you are in survival mode , you don ’ t remember things , you just get by .”
Venturini learned quickly about being on-the-ball and proactive . “ If I didn ’ t eat fast , my brothers were on my plate ,” she says . Knowing what it ’ s like to be hungry certainly plays a role in her career in hospitality . “ I
think it ’ s unconscionable that we have people hungry in a country like ours .”
At age fourteen , Venturini visited a local dry cleaner looking for work . She got a job and that ’ s where she met her best friend , Ted Fuller ’ s future wife , which eventually led to her career path when he co-founded the Rhode Island Hospitality Association . She was out of the house in her own apartment by age sixteen and worked a handful of jobs , including one with the Pawtucket / Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce . She took bookkeeping night classes at Bryant University during high school , and took more classes at RISD , where she earned a certificate in interior design . She never used it , nor obtained a degree . “ I didn ’ t have the money to invest . I had to work ,” she says , but she thought she might be interested in bookkeeping . “ I was fascinated by how people run businesses .”
She took on various roles working for a chemical business in Cranston and then a short stint at a national chemical business . In 1988 , she was approached by Fuller , Ned Grace and Bill DeAngelus Jr . about taking over RIHA . In the beginning , they didn ’ t have enough members to sustain a salary for her , so Grace paid her out of his own pocket . There wasn ’ t an office then , either ; Grace gave her a spot in his East Providence office . “ He thought it was important enough to the industry that he paid for it ,” Venturini says .
Grace is the only remaining living founder of the trio , and he still stays in touch with Venturini . “ Dale is a very tenacious , focused , hard-working , persistent gal . And she ’ s also very personable ,” he says . “ She was always able to combine her personality with the task at hand and she impressed us as being a person who would be very successful with the charge of protecting and promoting the Rhode Island Hospitality industry .”
And she ’ s fashionable , too , with a collection of big hats , eyeglasses and accessories , including her metal belt buckles , that make her vibrant personality shine through .
44 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l DECEMBER 2021