East Bay

01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, December 14, 2004

REGIONAL

Grange news: A roasted pork dinner was served at Saturday's meeting of the Newport County Pomona Grange, which was held at Conanicut Grange in Jamestown. The entertainment for the evening was by Oliver Alloux, a fiddler. Guests at the meeting included Thomas Richmond, Washington County Pomona Grange master, and John Lawson III, deputy of the R.I. Stage Grange and master of Rumford Grange. Washington County Pomona members were invited guests.

Among announcements, the Newport County Pomona Grange has delivered new dictionaries to the third grade students in all Newport Public Schools.

The next meeting of the Newport County Pomona Grange will be held Feb. 12 at Kickimuit Grange with a potluck dinner at 1 p.m. followed by the meeting at 2. The program will be by youth and Newport County Juniors. Those planning to attend are asked to bring something for the "red" drawing. Next month's meeting has been canceled.

BRISTOL

Elks event: The Bristol County Elks Lodge 1860, held its annual Special Needs Christmas party Dec. 6 with 67 local men and women attending. Highlights included distribution of gifts by Santa Claus, plus plenty of food, as well as music provided by disc jockey Dave Valerio. Several of the attendees entertained the gathering with Christmas songs and demonstrations of their expertise with the Hula-Hoop.

This year's party was enhanced by the support of the Bristol County Chapter of the R.I. Association of Retarded Citizens. This organization provided gifts for the attendees, scheduled the donated services of the disc jockey and supervised the games and contests throughout the afternoon.

Hip-hop class: The Bristol Department of Parks and Recreation will hold an after-school hip-hop program beginning Jan. 7 at the Bristol Community Center, Thames Street. The program will be held each Friday for six weeks. There is no fee, but the program is open to Bristol residents age 13 to 18 only, and registration is required. Classes will be held from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. Space is limited. Call (401) 253-1611 or (401) 253-7000, ext. 149.

LITTLE COMPTON

Christmas concert: The Little Compton Community Center will host its annual Christmas concert with Navy Band Newport's Brass Quintet Thursday at 7:30 p.m. This is a family concert guaranteed to get the audience into the holiday spirit. The concert is free. Refreshments will follow in the dining hall. Donations to the food bank are being accepted.

MIDDLETOWN

St. Jude Children's Hospital benefit: A benefit for St. Jude Children's Hospital will be held Jan. 15 at Villari's Martial Arts Studios, 823 West Main Rd. The program is being coordinated locally by Jesse Harding.

St. Jude Children's Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. For information visit www.stjude.org.

The money raised at this event will help ensure that children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases will have a better chance to live. To participate in this program, registration information is available by contacting Villari's at (401) 847-0184.

NEWPORT

Unveiling ceremony: Local and state dignitaries led by Newport Mayor Richard C. Sardella and Martin Luther King Center board president Victoria Johnson will gather Friday at 11 a.m. at the Common Burying Ground, Farewell Street, to participate in an unveiling ceremony for a historic sign commemorating the God's Little Acre section of the cemetery.

Funding for the design and construction of the historical sign was made possible by grant from the Newport County Fund of the Rhode Island Foundation.

This cemetery section contains several hundred original burial markers of 17th- and 18th-century slaves and later free persons of African descent that describe a time when Newport, and Rhode Island, was at the center of the transatlantic slave trade.

For more information regarding God's Little Acre and the history of Africans in early Newport, visit www.colonialcemetery.com.

Task force to meet: The Newport Substance Abuse Prevention task force will meet Monday at 2:30 p.m. in the Newport Police Department Community Room, 120 Broadway. The public is invited. Call (401) 849-3915 for information.

Living Nativity: The Cluny School, Brenton Road, will present its Living Nativity next Tuesday beginning at 6 p.m. on the school field. This re-creation of the first Christmas will include the entire student body as cast members or choir members. The evening will be narrated by a guest speaker and will include live animals provided by Simmons Farm in Middletown.

The event is free, and will be held even if it rains. Blankets and safe personal illumination are recommended. For additional information, contact event organizer, Hillary Davidson, (401) 841-9753.

Entries sought: The Newport Art Museum is welcoming entries for its annual Juried Exhibition, to be held Jan. 22 to March 22. This event is open to all artists in the area, whether in the traditional fine art disciplines of paint, works on paper and sculpture or in the areas of fine crafts. Cash prizes will be awarded and winners will be encouraged to participate in gallery talks about their work. The jurors this year are Gretchen Keyworth, director of the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Mass., and Robert Dilworth, professor of Art at the University of Rhode Island.

Artists may enter one work, executed during the past year, which has not been previously exhibited at the Newport Art Museum. Each work must be clearly labeled with the artist's name, address, phone number as well as its title, medium, and insurance value. All works must be exhibition-ready -- framed, wired and ready to hang. All entrants must be current members of the Newport Art Museum, but membership dues will be accepted when work is delivered for judging.

Entry forms can be requested by calling the museum, (401) 848-8200 or by downloading from www.newportartmuseum.com. The entry form includes information regarding entry fees, dates of drop off and pickup, etc.

Grants awarded: Three grant programs have awarded the Preservation Society of Newport County a total of $500,000 toward the estimated $1.2-million cost of repair and restoration of the roof at Chateau-sur-Mer (1852), a much-needed project that is expected to get under way in the spring.

The National Park Service has pledged $250,000 from the Save America's Treasures program, an additional $150,000 has been awarded by the Rhode Island-based Champlin Foundations and the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission has provided $100,000.

Chateau-sur-Mer, the Victorian mansion built for China Trade merchant William Shepard Wetmore and home to former Rhode Island Gov. and U.S. Sen. George Peabody Wetmore, is threatened by extensive leaking and water damage. The roof has been patched periodically through the years, but has never undergone major preservation and restoration. The project will include the removal of decayed membranes and roof-deck materials; the replacement of the flat seam metal roofs and the slate Mansard roofs with suitable waterproofing underlayments; the repair of the wooded roof decks; the removal, restoration and reinstallation of the decorative roof metalwork; the repair of masonry chimneys; the renovation of gutter and drainage systems; the repointing and cleaning of exterior granite ashlar masonry; and the repair and repainting of exterior windows, doors and woodwork.

Chateau-sur-Mer is one of the Preservation Society properties that have been designated Official Projects of Save America's Treasures, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, dedicated to the preservation of our nation's irreplaceable historic cultural treasures for future generations.

To learn more about Chateau-sur-Mer and the other Preservation Society properties, visit www.NewportMansions.org.

PORTSMOUTH

Crafts and face painitng: The Portsmouth Free Public Library's children's room will host crafts and face painting for children of all ages Dec. 22 from 4 to 6 p.m. No need to register, just stop in for some holiday spirit. For more information, call the children's room at (401) 683-9457.

TIVERTON

Democrats to meet: The Tiverton Democratic Town Committee will meet Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the ground-floor hall of the Countryview Estates Community Center, Hurst Lane.

Half price sale: The Trinity Trader Gift Shop, 1956 Main Rd., will offer all Christmas items at half-price, along with sweaters and skirts, Thursday and Saturday and Dec. 23. The shop is open Thursdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All proceeds are for the benefit of Holy Trinity Church.

Poetry slam: The Four Corners Arts Center will present a verbal competition for poets Saturday at 7 p.m. at The Meeting House, 3852 Main Rd., Tiverton Four Corners. The night will include an open mic, open poetry slam with cash prizes and feature a two-time national poetry-slam semifinalist, Marlon Carey (aka Inphynit). Brent Hutson, of Little Compton, and Mike Cellemme, of Tiverton, will host the evening. The poetry slam competition will include three rounds of original poetry, scored and tallied upon content and performance. Judges will be selected from the audience. The poetry slam has been funded in part by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.

All are welcome to this free event. Refreshments will be available. Doors open at 7 p.m. and performances will begin at 7:30. Come early to sign up. For directions or for more information, call (401) 624-2600.

WARREN

Christmas concert: St. Mary of the Bay, Main Street, will present a free concert of Christmas music Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. Included will be a chorus and chamber orchestra featuring members of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and musicians from Rhode Island College. The program will include "Hallelujah Chorus," "O Holy Night," "Carol of the Bells," "Gesu Bambino" and many others. For more information, call (401) 245-7000, ext. 10.