Regional

Auditions: Sine Nomine will hold auditions for all voices Monday at 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Fall River. Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and English Renaissance works are programmed. For information, contact Paul Cienniwa at pcienniwa@newportbaroque.org or call (617) 470-8469.

Garden Club to meet: The Quononoquott Garden Club will meet Monday at 11 a.m. at St. Mark’s parish hall in Jamestown, Following the business meeting, a luncheon will be served. At 1 p.m. there will be a presentation by Roger Marshall, local journalist and author who will discuss “Putting the Garden to Rest for the Winter.” His talk will include tips on the winter care of perennials, grasses and shrubs and he will also touch on pruning in the garden.

Benefit for Community Fund: The Newport County Chamber of Commerce will hold a reception and clambake Sept. 16 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Spa on Goat Island to raise funds for and public awareness of its recently formed the Newport County Community Fund. The fund will award annual grants for up to $1,000 to charitable organizations who are contributing to the quality of life, education, community and business in Newport County and Rhode Island.

The reception will begin with cocktails at 5 p.m. followed by the clambake at 6:30. For information and reservations, call 847-1600 or visit www.newportchamber.com.

Barrington

Open house: Barrington Community Theatre will hold an open house for students ages 8 to 18 interested in theater, Monday and Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Barrington Middle School, Middle Highway. The evening will include theater games and an opportunity for students and parents to try out the program.

The fall session begins Sept 15 with auditions for the 12 plays that will be produced in the fall. All plays will rehearse for one hour per week, the same hour each week, Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. Students can be in one, two or three plays depending on their availability. This fall, for the first time, there will also be small class theatrical dance and small class acting and singing lessons offered.

Students need to be registered for the program before auditioning for the plays. For information on the Barrington Community Theatre, contact Joel Hellmann at 433-2323. To register a student for the program, contact Barrington Town Hall 247-1900 ext. 308.

Bristol

Garden Club to meet: The Bristol Garden Club will meet Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Burnside Building, Hope at Court Streets. Club member Sybil Simon will give a presentation on “The History of Floral Design.”

The club is celebrating its 80th birthday and the theme of this month’s meeting is “Another time and Place.” Several senior members will share their thoughts on being a Bristol Garden Club member and some special memories of past meetings. The public is invited to attend.

Open for visitors: The Bristol Historical & Preservation Society, 48 Court St., will be open Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. The society will have photographs from the 1938 hurricane on display as the 70th anniversary of the hurricane is this month. The museum shop and book sale will also be open. Call 253-7223 for more information.

Clam boil: The Bristol Train of Artillery, 135 State St., will hold a clam boil Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. Included in this all-you-can-eat clam boil will be clam chowder, clams, white potato, sweet potato, onion, New England style hot dogs, sausage and fish.

For those that would prefer something from the barbecue, grilled marinated steak with baked potato, bread and salad will also be offered. Drinks will include soda, water, beer and wine, which can be purchased at a reasonable price.

Tickets are $22 for the clam boil or barbecue. Children’s meals will also be available at $3 each and include pizza, drink and dessert. All proceeds will benefit the Bristol Train of Artillery to help keep a 230-year-old tradition alive. For tickets, call Herb Deveau, 253-3927 or Ray Murray, 254-1558. The deadline to purchase tickets is Monday.

Newport

Virtual tour of gilded age gardens: The Preservation Society of Newport County will host noted author and garden historian Eleanor Weller Reade for an illustrated lecture on Gilded Age American Gardens Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Rosecliff, Bellevue Avenue.

Reade will share hand-colored historic slides of legendary landscapes across America, including Mrs. Arthur Curtiss James’s Blue Garden at Beacon Hill House in Newport, the scene of some of the most extraordinary garden parties of the early 1900s; and the sunken garden at The Elms, created circa 1914.

Reade is a garden historian and an interior designer living in a two-acre series of garden rooms in the Maryland countryside. She is the coauthor with Mac Griswold of The Gilded Age of American Gardens 1880-1940 (Abrams 1991).

Reservations are required and can be made by calling 847-1000 ext. 154. Admission is $5 per person, or free for Preservation Society members.