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CityState: Reporter
tional impacts of giving, isn’t surprised.
His research shows that the average person
is quite generous, and givers are happiest
when their gifts are local and personal.
The pandemic has afforded people myriad
opportunities to act on that inclination.
“Neighborhoods that didn’t think of
themselves as neighborhoods in the traditional
sense are becoming neighborhoods.
And once you’ve created a community, that
will be a lasting change,” he says. “After
the crisis is gone, the community will still
be there.”
March normally finds the grande dame
of Watch Hill readying herself for another
season of five-star dining and service to
well-heeled vacationers. Instead, the Ocean
House staff took advantage of the lull to
hold a wine education class for the staff.
Easter dinners and Mother’s Day lunches
were to-go, and president Daniel Hostettler
deployed his staff to prepare box lunches
for schoolchildren who normally receive
free and reduced-price lunches at school.
Its catering food truck was rerouted to the
Westerly ice rink, where three times a week
it dispensed lunches featuring items such
as pumpkin soup and shepherd’s pie and
other donated foods from partners such as
Del’s, Richmond Farms Fresh Market and
Dave’s Coffee.
“It’s a challenging time,” says spokesperson
Laurie Hobbs. “We all have to remind
ourselves about how we carry on and build
for the future.”
Cumberland’s Gotta Q did the same,
serving free lunches to children and adults
in need. Owner Michael Strout steered his
Texas barbecue business back to its roots
as a quick-serve operation, and customers
responded in force.
“We have a large social media presence,
and our customer base has been quite
appreciative,” says Strout. “They are tipping
the staff at a wonderful rate, and people
have been supporting the restaurant
by buying gift cards.”
Farm Fresh RI, which has acted as a
middleman between farmers and large
wholesale buyers since 2009, went retail.
For a minimum order of $60, shoppers
could order fresh local farm products
through the Market Mobile program for
pickup or delivery. Within two weeks, they
had so many customers, they had to hire
more staff.
“When we heard we were going to lose
a lot of institutional sales, it became clear
that there was no other way forward for
farmers to find a place to sell those bulk
items,” says sales manager Nikki Ayres.
“Our trucks have never been this busy, and
everybody’s so grateful — especially the
farmers to have this outlet to sell food that
would otherwise go to waste.”
Providence’s Wilbury Theatre was playing
Miss You Like Hell when the virus closed
the new musical, mid-run. But artistic
director Josh Short and general manager
Max Ponticelli had a pile of small-scale
original works they had planned to present
in April. With some socially distant blocking
and the right setup, why not stream?
They spent a week figuring out the technology,
then began rolling out classes and
performances. Live theater runs on a current
between the actors and the audience,
“but we have such a talented group, they
are able to dig into that emotional reservoir
and bring out that magic,” Ponticelli says.
“Because it’s so novel and exciting, the
energy is still there — even without the
audience.”
“We’ve gotten so many emails,” adds
Short. “People are pretty bored at home,
so they were thrilled.”
Matthew Lawrence lost his side gig putting
out his Law and Order Party newsletter
of arts and culture events. “Not a single
event was happening anywhere,” he says.
He decided to create his own event, hosting
virtual cocktail parties with two rules: “No
talking about the virus and no talking about
the election,” he says. “About a dozen people
show up. It’s gone pretty well.”
Teachers had ten days to rewrite their
lesson plans and atomize a single physical
classroom into many individual online
classrooms. North Kingstown’s Hamilton
Elementary School special education
teacher Tara Apperson was crash-coursing
it through web interfaces she had no idea
existed, filming metamorphizing caterpillars
and bean germination, and setting
up individual conferences with each
student.
“I think it’s a total miracle that everyone
was able to drop everything and put it back
out there in ten days,” she says. “I am walking
this fine line of emotional distress and
total joy and excitement.”
Amy Almada, a fifth-grade social studies
and English language arts teacher at East
Providence’s Emma Whiteknact Elemen-
34 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY/JUNE 2020