Downtown Planning Initiative To Become Main Street Assoc. of East Greenwich

After wrestling with a short list of possible names, members of the Downtown Planning Initiative merged words from several choices and came up with Main Street Association of East Greenwich. The group's mission - to enhance living in the Town of East Greenwich, including the improvement of Main Street and surrounding areas - will remain the same.

The group, which has been operating under the wing of town government, decided recently that more financial support might be generated if contributions were tax deductible. They will have to take on some obligations, such as their own insurance, but think there is benefit to being financially independent.  Close ties will be maintained with Town Hall.

The next big event on the group’s calendar is their involvement and support of the  East Greenwich Lions Club Hill and Harbor Turkey Trot, a 5K run scheduled for Saturday Nov. 26. Online registration is available now at http://registration.strands.com. Registration the day of the race begins at 7:30 am at the Varnum Armory.  The race takes place through the streets of the waterfront and hill.

Looking ahead, board members plan to observe a scavenger hunt in Providence to determine if a scaled-down version would work locally.  Another committee is investigating the potential of a summer kick-off event on the waterfront.

During the meeting, Chairman Doug Truesdell asked the members to critique the two colonial-style streetlights in front of Town Hall. Light bulbs in the two fixtures have been replaced with a brighter and more economical LED-type bulb. Similar streetlights lining Main Street currently give off a lower-density golden glow.

The town is considering different cost and energy-saving possibilities and LED bulbs for Main Street is one of them.