Beaches

  • Pavilion renovations complete

    Cassius Shuman
    Wed, Jun 27
    BIT Category: 
    News
    “It looks beautiful.” That’s what Recreation Department Assistant Cindy Lemon said when asked her thoughts about the newly renovated Fred Benson Beach Pavilion, which will be opening full-time this Saturday for the summer season. The pavilion has been freshly painted an eye-catching blue on its...

  • Beach Reads

    Cindy Lasser
    Tue, Jun 30
    BIT Category: 
    Community
    Natchez Burning Greg Iles $9.99 Natchez Burning is the first installment (862pages) in an epic trilogy that interweaves crimes, lies, and secrets of the past and present in a thriller featuring Southern lawyer and former prosecutor Penn Cage. The size is at first daunting but you will...

  • Surfing is an obsession

    Cassius Shuman
    Tue, Jun 30
    Surfing is a sport enjoyed by people in all walks off life at all times of the year in a variety of conditions. If you’ve had the fortunate experience of catching a wave, you’ll understand the true meaning of being at one with nature. “Surfing is the source,” said 15-year old Block Islander Gavin...
  • Worker’s Perspectives

    A Week in the Life of an Instructor at the Block Island Club

    Brooke Hammarskjold
    Tue, Sep 2
    For the past 13 summers on Block Island, the majority of my time here has been spent at my home away from home, the Block Island Club. Located on the northeastern side of the Great Salt Pond, the club was a place for me to further my passion for sailing, expand my (short-lived) interest in tennis,...

  • Michael Oppenheimer: Relaxing on Island, Reflecting on Choices and Cautioning the World

    Gloria S. Redlich
    Tue, Sep 2
    Though it’s been many years since I first sat down with Michael Oppenheimer on the open porch of his West Side island home, finding him there several weeks ago felt quite natural. The familiarity of the setting allows us to fall easily into conversation while looking out at rolling hillsides...

  • Wading with the Birds at Andy’s Way

    Judy Tierney
    Tue, Sep 2
    It’s never hard to convince me to go on a bird walk at Andy’s Way with Kim Gaffett, director of the Ocean View Foundation, whether it is a Crazy as a Coot meet-up or another OVF activity, it’s always fun and informative. I’ve done a few and will likely do many more. They are almost always at low...
  • I Tried It!

    Full Moon Paddle

    Brooke Hammarskjold
    Tue, Sep 2
    On July 12th, as many admired the super moon (a full moon that appears even larger than usual because of its closeness to the earth) from their houses, I was lucky enough to be out on the Great Salt Pond, part of a group of kayakers on a tour led by Corrie Heinz, owner of Pond and Beyond Kayak...

  • Under a Pink Pearl Moon

    Judy Tierney
    Thu, Jul 31
    On the island with three friends in the house, I was looking for something interesting to do at night during their visits besides the usual drinks with dinner or a movie, and while I was thinking, I happened to focus on a postcard lying on the dining room table in a large pile of recent mail. Maybe...
  • Cottage Industry

    The Block Island Oyster Company and Raw Bar at the Beachead

    Sara Dunleavy Berge
    Thu, Jul 31
    I watch oyster farmer and entrepreneur Dave Deffley swim out to his boat; while I take photos from the dry shoreline my sense of adventure pales in comparison. He swings around the back pond and picks me up at the Hog Pen, camera and note pad in tow. Once aboard, I find a place to perch amidst tubs...
  • I Tried It

    Banana Boating

    Isabella DeLeo
    Thu, Jul 31
    From a distance, I have often watched the banana boats serpentine through the harbor. With great curiosity, I would listen to the shrill cries of the people aboard these absurd canary yellow, banana-shaped tubes as they tore through the water with accelerating speed. I would watch them send a few...

  • Crazy as a Coot, Happy as a Lark

    Judy Tierney
    Tue, Jul 1
    On winter mornings when even the sun has difficulty deciding whether it should rise, almost nothing stirs on Block Island, not man nor beast nor machine. On our road, unless the transfer station is open, Howie’s yellow school bus is often the first and only vehicle to pass by my house until mid...

  • Marching with Adrian’s Army

    Renée Meyer
    Tue, Jul 1
    The group of volunteers meets at a most civil hour – 9 a.m. at the office of The Nature Conservancy on High Street. On this Wednesday there are a dozen. Some have done this for years, some, such as this writer are first timers. They are quite good natured for an army, and quite welcoming of the new...

  • Memories of the Mansion

    Martha Ball
    Mon, Jun 9
    “I try to have one project every winter,” Highway Department Head Mike Shea says, quickly qualifying it with: “Of course, it’s all weather dependent.” The comment brings to mind the clean-up of superstorm Sandy, winter storm Nemo, and several blasts in-between, which consumed their time last winter...
  • You don't have to be crazy, but...

    The 2014 Block Island Polar Bear Plunge

    John Barry
    Wed, Jan 1
    A hardy group of islanders descended upon Town Beach for the annual Polar Bear Plunge on Wednesday, January 1. And hardy they needed to be, for this was the coldest January 1 st on record going back at least ten years. Folks in full winter gear made their way past the beach pavilion and onto the...