Regional

Concert season opens: The Muir String Quartet will open the 12th Concerts at the Point 2008-09 Series starting Oct. 5 at 3 p.m. at Westport Point Congregational Church, Main Road, Westport, Mass. Quartet members are Peter Zazofsy and Lucia Lin, violins; Steven Ansell, viola, and Michael Reynolds, cello. The program will include Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K 546, Ravel’s Quartet in F Major, and the Brahms Quartet in C minor Op 51 No 1. The pre-concert showcase will start at 2:30 p.m. and feature violinists Julia and Emily Brandenburg.

The Concerts at the Point Series includes the American String Quartet on Oct 26; the Claremont Piano Trio on Nov. 16; the Triton Horn, Violin, Piano Trio on Jan. 4, and the Boston University Opera Institute on March 15.

Tickets for the series are $90, individual tickets are $20, and $10 for students. To reserve, call (508) 636-3901. For information, visit the web-site, www.concertsatthepoint.org.

Annual Session of the Grange: The 122nd Annual Session of the Rhode Island State Grange will be Oct. 2 to Oct. 4 beginning at 8:30 a.m. each day, at the Ramada Inn, 940 Fall River Ave. (Route 6), Seekonk, Mass.

Special guests representing the National Grange will be Linda Chase, Flora of the National Grange and first lady of the Massachusetts State Grange and her husband, Calvin Chase, master of the Massachusetts grange.

There will be reports of resolutions that the delegates or alternates representing local granges in the state have assigned to them. There will also be reports and awards presentations from directors of state committees. Some of the directors will have special presentationswith their reports.

Other highlights will be the Obligation of the Fifth Degree, followed by the conferral of the Sixth Degree in full ritualistic form, on Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.

The state session is open to all local Fourth-Degree members with the exception of the first day, Oct. 2, when the grange is opened in the Sixth Degree and lowered to the Fourth Degree and the conferral of the Sixth Degree on the evening of Oct. 2.

There will also be a state banquet on Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. The menu choices are fish, ham or chicken. Tickets are $25 per person. For information on the banquet, call Jeannette Kenyon, (508) 676-0367.

Barrington

YMCA programs: The Bayside Family YMCA will offer programs this fall. Among the new choices are Intermediate Paddling Skills and Beginners’ Kayaking. The fee is $100 for either program.

Youth Basketball League registration begins Oct. 6. Restructured this year, YBL is taking the shape of a series of instructional clinics followed by a season of game play. Skill levels are purposefully mixed on teams to promote a setting for lessons in skill, sportsmanship and teamwork. Travel team opportunities exist for those players already participating in YBL who desire a more homogeneous level of competition.

The Men’s Competitive 35+ Basketball League is open for registration. There is a limit of 52 players. Players may register for either the 4 on 4 league (six players per team), the 5 on 5 league (seven players per team) or both. Players registering for both leagues need only pay one registration fee. Game time is the same for both leagues: Wednesdays from 6:30 to 10:30 pm. Registration closes October 3. An e-mail address is required for registration.

For more information or to register contact the Bayside Family YMCA at 245-2444. Financial assistance is available. Information can also be found at www.ymcagreaterprovidence.org.

Bristol

Author to speak: Pulitzer Prize-winning author David K. Shipler will explore his novel The Working Poor: Invisible in America, tonight at 7 p.m. in the Campus Recreation Center Gymnasium at Roger Williams University, Ferry Road.

Shipler’s book is this year’s selection for the Reading Across the Curriculum Program, in which all first-year students, faculty and staff participate in a joint reading of a notable piece of literature. The program has brought authors Ishmael Beah and Jhumpa Lahiri to campus in the last two years.

The Working Poor through personal testimony chronicles the growing number of working Americans and their families who live hopelessly close to the edge of poverty.

The event is free and open to the public as space allows.

Outdoor movie: The Coggeshall Farm Museum, Poppasquash Road, will hold a movie night Friday featuring Oh Brother, Where Art Thou under the stars. The event will include a popcorn machine and a fire will be going. All are welcome to arrive at 7:30 p.m. for a social hour followed by the movie around 8:30. Bring blankets, chairs and something to drink.

Annual meeting: The Bristol Narrows Improvement Association will hold its annual meeting Sunday at 2 p.m. at 28 Lindberg Ave., the home of officers Dave and Tim Kemmy.

Numerous agenda items will be discussed including an update on the Waypoyset Preserve Trust and the election of officers. Lunch will be provided after the meeting. New members are welcome and current members are asked to attend. Annual membership dues are $5 per family. For information, call 253-4675.

Talk on ’38 Hurricane: The Bristol Historical & Preservation Society will present “A Look Around Bristol After the Storm,” a look at the local effects of the ’38 Hurricane by Joan Roth on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Mount Hope Farm Barn, 250 Metacom Ave.

Roth will lead the audience on a photo tour beginning from her childhood home and traveling around Bristol with reflections on the events of the times. Pictures from the society’s collection will be on display. Participants are welcome to bring pictures and memories to share. In addition, there will be a display of news reports and photos of the storm.

Light refreshments will follow the talk. For information and to arrange for a ride, call 253-7223.

East Providence

Gardening program: The Riverside Branch Library, 475 Bullocks Point Ave., will present “Putting your Garden to Bed,” tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. This workshop, led by a URI Master Gardener, will teach participants how to complete the fall cleanup of vegetable and flower gardens. There will also be information on how to mulch for the winter; plant bulbs; take care of shrubs, trees, roses and lawn in the autumn, and how to properly clean and store gardening tools. This program is free and open to all. For information, call Meredith Bonds-Harmon at 433-4877.

Chowder House: The Church of the Epiphany, 1336 Pawtucket Ave., will hold its next Chowder House Friday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Food is also available for take out. The kitchen offers all three kinds of chowder, clam cakes, stuffies, and meals for children that are not seafood. All of the food is homemade, including desserts. For information, call 434-5012.

Retirees to meet: AARP Chapter 1302 will meet Oct. 2 at 12:30 p.m. at the Riverside Congregational Church, 15 Oak Ave. The meeting will be followed by a Halloween trick or treat bag auction. Members are asked to bring gifts valued at a minimum of $3. Also, tickets to the November sandwich buffet will be sold at the meeting. Members are asked to bring non-perishable food items for the East Providence Food Bank, as well as gifts for Rhode Island troops overseas. Items needed include toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, combs, shaving cream, disposable razors, hair brushes, shampoo, conditions, lotions, magazines, hand towels and puzzles.

Little Compton

Game night: The Brownell Library, the Commons, will hold game night tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. Young adults in grades 6 and up are invited to play chess, checkers, cards and more. Bring a favorite game along. Pizza and drinks will be served. Registration is required and can be done by calling 635-8562 or stopping by the library.

Newport

Annual 5K Mansion Run: Salve Regina University’s ninth annual 5K Mansion Run and Fun Walk, an event that starts and finishes on the university’s historic Bellevue Avenue/Ochre Point campus, will be held Saturday at 9 a.m.

Open to the general public, proceeds will support the university’s Mercy Relief Fund. The road race annually attracts several hundred participants from the Salve Regina community and the general public as $1,300 in cash will be awarded to the top male and female finishers in several age categories.

The U.S.A. Track & Field-sanctioned 3.1-mile course weaves participants in a scenic tour past many Gilded Age mansions. The race is one of many activities being planned on campus during its annual celebration of Fall Festival Weekend.

Registrations received by Friday cost $15. People may register online by visiting www.salve.edu/run or in person from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, in Room 312 of Ochre Court.

Race-day registration, which will cost $20, begins at 7:30 a.m. in the Rodgers Recreation Center on Salve Regina’s campus. Long-sleeved Mansion Run T-shirts are guaranteed for the first 400 paid registrants. For more information, contact Matt Boxler, 341-2156.

Geocaching program: Avid geocacher Chris Kracik will present “An Introduction to Geocaching” Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Newport Public Library, Spring Street. This new “treasure hunting” activity is a little science and a little sport. Geocaching combines the use of the Internet for starting clues, plus global positioning technology and outdoor fieldwork to find hidden caches. There are over 800 sites for geocaches in Rhode Island.

Portsmouth resident Kracik is a seasoned geocacher who has stashed as well as found hundreds of geocached items. He will cover the basics, from “what it is” to “how to get started” and how to make it into fun for the whole family. If time and weather permit, there will be a little hands-on hunting in Aquidneck Park after the presentation. Contact Pat LaRose at the reference desk for more information. This program is free and open to all.

Portsmouth

Author to speak: Jan Shapin, author of the novel A Snug Life Somewhere, will give a talk on “Fact and Fiction, Writing a Historical Novel,” tomorrow at 6:30 pm at the Portsmouth Free Library, 2658 East Main Rd.

Shapin, of Newport, recently won second place in the Writers Circle Inc. playwriting contest. She has had a number of plays produced, including a version of A Christmas Carol set in South County performed at the Colonial Theatre in Westerly. A Snug Life Somewhere, her first novel, concerns the political and labor unrest during and immediately after the First World War.

Theprogram is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so those planning to attend are asked to call in advance 683-9457, or stop by to sign up for the program.

Pumpkin Festival: Escobar’s Highland Farm Corn Maze, 133 Middle Rd., will host a pumpkin festival Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (the rain date is Sept. 28). Activities include face painting and pumpkin crafts and scarecrow making. Michael Higgins, environmental artist from the Magic Garden in Tiverton, will make a chainsaw sculpture from 1 to 4 p.m. Hayrides will begin at 11 a.m.

Admission to the maze is $7 for ages 12 and up, $5 for ages 5 to 11, and free for ages 4 and under. Call 683-1444 for information.

Warren

Book discussion group: The George Hail Library, 530 Main St., will host a three-part environmental book discussion group called People and Planet: Global Environmental Change, in collaboration with the University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium. The group will meet on three Wednesdays at 11 a.m. at the library.

The first meeting will be a discussion on the book Field Notes from a Catastrophe, by Elizabeth Kolbert, Oct. 8. The second meeting will discuss Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Nov. 12. The final meeting will be a discussion on the book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet, by Mark Lynas, Dec. 3.

All of the books are available for pickup at the library. The group will culminate with a discussion led by a scientist from the URI program. The group is limited to 10 participants. Call the library for information and to register, 245-7686. Information can also be found at www.georgehail.org.