NORTH SMITHFIELD – Two Scouts with Troop 1139 Slatersville aim to help beautify the town landscape with projects that will highlight village history, and will bring light and walking paths to an existing park.
Jesse Wright and Peter Crowshaw presented service projects to the Town Council Monday night, which both hope to complete in order to achieve their Eagle ranking.
Wright, a Glocester resident and senior patrol leader of the town-based troop, said he aims to continue the work started in 2019 by Scout Cameron Martin by building and installing signs marking two of the town’s villages.
“The village signs of North Smithfield will be a nice aesthetic to the town and will be a draw-in to certain landmarks and businesses,” Wright said. “North Smithfield is a town like no other, where history is part of life and culture, and it’s incorporated into its buildings, and architecture, and landscaping.”
Cameron, Wright noted, installed signs in Primrose and Forestdale as part of another Eagle Scout project six years ago. Those signs can be found by the Forestdale Schoolhouse, and at the corner of Greenville Road and Providence Pike, respectively.
The new signs, to be erected in Slatersville and Branch Villages, will be “as identical as possible,” to the originals, he said, with a green and white color scheme stating each village’s name and year of incorporation. For Branch Village, he hopes to utilize the fire department property at the corner of Saint Paul Street and Great Road, while the sign for Slatersville will go in front of North Smithfield Public Library, pending approval from the facility’s Board of Trustees. He noted that Library Director Susan Dubois and Fire Chief David Chartier are both in support of the effort.
“For all intents and purposes is it approved,” explained Public Works Director Raymond Pendergast. “There should be no problem at all.”
Wright said he intends to raise funds through in May and June, with the signs to built and installed in this fall.
Councilor David Punchak asked if DPW staff would perform any needed maintenance.
“When they’re new, they look fantastic,” Punchak said.
Wright noted that the signs installed in 2019 are still in great condition.
“Maintenance is not a huge concern,” Wright said.
“The two that are presently there we’ve never had to maintain,” agreed Pendergast. “I would definitely take care of that for them.”
“I think having signs for the villages of the town will cement the town’s legacy for having a deep cultural and historical town,” Wright added.
Crowshaw’s project, meanwhile, will target James S. Slater Memorial Park at the intersection of Routes 102 and 146A. The park is dedicated to James Slater, who served as town clerk from 1903 to 1914, and as a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1914 to 1915.
“The most significant thing that James S. Slater did, and the reason why the park is dedicated to him, is because he was the sole record holder that confirmed Rhode Island was the first of the 13 colonies to declare its independence from Great Britain on May 4 of 1776,” Crowshaw explained.
The park also holds memorials for Amy Jarret, the Vietnam War and World War II veterans, and multiple areas in the town’s “Adopt a Spot” program.
Crowshaw plans to add flagpole lights, along with 300-foot-long, five-foot-wide stone dust walkways.
“The benefit of having these walkways installed is that the community will have greater access to the park,” said the scout, adding that with the new lighting, flags will no longer need to be taken down at night. “The town and community will have a more beautiful site.”
To complete the work, Crowshaw and his volunteer team will need to excavate a 30-foot-long, two-foot-deep trench for electrical service, and install watertight conduit and 12-volt wiring.
“This has to be inspected by the electrical inspector,” he said, noting that the area will be infilled with sand bedding and loam.
He said the work will take just three days and will be completed sometime between April 26 and May 17, with total costs totaling $12,000.
“I’ve done some major fundraising work,” said Crowshaw, noting that he solicited several local businesses for materials, and held a collection at Goodstuff Smokehouse in Blackstone, Mass.
Pendergast said that Crowshaw has been working with two senior DPW staff members – Jeff Allard and James Vadenais – for months on planning.
“This is quite the project, if you haven’t noticed,” Pendergast said. “He’s done a tremendous amount of work on this.”
The director noted that the town maintains the park, and that electric service is paid for through the DPW budget.
“This project, I can see, is going in the right direction,” Pendergast said. “I think it’s a great project. I think he’s gone overboard.”
Councilors unanimously approved the initiative.
