Narragansett and South Kingstown voters who want to learn about the people running for local and state offices will have three opportunities during the next three weeks, all of them courtesy of the League of Women Voters.

The events are being billed as “Meet the Candidates Nights,” and each will be devoted to a specific group of races.

The first, scheduled for Oct. 7 at Narragansett Town Hall, will focus on the Town Council and School Committee candidates in Narragansett.

The council race has 10 candidates running for five seats, while the school board race has seven running for five seats.

School board candidates will be up first, answering questions and also giving opening and closing statements, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The session with the council candidates will follow and is expected to run from 7:45 to about 9 p.m.

The second event, scheduled for Oct. 16 at South Kingstown Town Hall, will focus on the South Kingstown Town Council and School Committee races.

The council race has 10 vying for five seats, while the school board race has six running for five available seats, including one that was vacated last month. The board has seven seats in total.

As with the Narragansett forum, the school board candidates will be up first, from 6:30 to 7:30, followed by the council candidates from, 7:45 to about 9.

The third event, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Narragansett Town Hall, will focus on those running for the six General Assembly seats that represent Narragansett and South Kingstown.

The first hour will focus on the candidates for Senate District 36, which represents Narragansett and North Kingstown, and Senate District 37, which represents South Kingstown and Block Island.

In the District 36 race, incumbent Democrat James C. Sheehan is being challenged by Republican William J. Connelly. In District 37, incumbent Democrat V. Susan Sosnowski is challenged by independent Malcolm J. MacKenzie.

The second hour will focus on the candidates for House District 33, which covers parts of Narragansett, South Kingstown and North Kingstown; District 34, which covers parts of Narragansett and South Kingstown; District 35, which covers part of South Kingstown, and District 36, which covers parts of South Kingstown, Block Island, Charlestown and Westerly.

In District 33, incumbent Democrat Donald J. Lally Jr. is being challenged by Republican Tony Cirillo and independents Christopher H. Little and Christopher G. Buffum. In District 34, incumbent Democrat David A. Caprio faces no challenger on Nov. 4. In District 35, Democrat Michael A. Rice and Republican James K. Haldeman are vying for the seat held by Democrat John P. Shanley Jr., who is not seeking reelection. In District 36, incumbent Democrat Donna M. Walsh is being challenged by Republican David A. Cote and independent Matthew J. McHugh.

In a nod to the tough economic times, people who attend the forums are being asked to bring a non-perishable food item such as peanut butter, cereal and pasta, to donate to the Jonnycake Center.

“The number of families served by the Jonnycake Center has tripled, from 300 to 900, in the last year and the supply of food on hand at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank has decreased by half,” said Nancy Burroughs, voter services chairwoman for the League of Women Voters of South Kingstown and Narragansett.

The league is also encouraging residents to submit “thoughtful, comprehensive, productive questions” that can be used during the forums, said league President Pam Ancheta. Questions can be emailed to sknarr@lwvri.org.

Residents can also submit questions at the forums, though the league is encouraging people to send them in “well ahead of time” to the e-mail address, Ancheta said.

The forums will be broadcast live on Cox channel 17 and rebroadcast on Cox channel 18.

The moderator for the forums will be Barbara Meagher, a journalism professor at the University of Rhode Island and a former television reporter and news anchor.

redgar@projo.com