Celebrating Youth In Narragansett

The Narragansett Prevention Partnership, which works to curb underage drinking and substance abuse, brought the community together on Sunday at the town beach for its second Narragansett Celebrates Youth gathering.

Beautiful weather, as good as any summer beach day, greeted the participants of the sand castle building contest and drew many people into the water and waves.

Centered around the North Beach Clubhouse, the free event hosted a number of activities for all ages. Cub Scout Pack 1 of the Narragansett Boy Scout Council was on hand to hold a beach clean up in conjunction with Narragansett High School athletes. The Boy Scouts were accepting donations for the food banks.

Narragansett Police brought along their fatal vision or “beer” goggles and guided people wearing them through a sobriety check, and they also rode along as people tried their hand at driving a golf cart through an obstacle course. The Dunk Tank drew a brisk business, with Pier students lining up to dunk their friends.

“We realized we needed to get the entire community involved and onboard helping kids with making the best decisions,” said Nancy Devaney, the coordinator of Narragansett Prevention Partnership.

“Most kids are doing the right thing and we are here to celebrate them and also reach out to the good kids who are making bad decisions.”

There was a chowder cook off throughout the day featuring Champlin’s, Riptides, PJ’s Pub, the Narragansett Grille, the Coast Guard House, the Hammerhead Grill and Pancho O’Malley’s.

Celebrity judges included chef Frank Terranova, meteorologist Tony Petrarca, Town Council President Glenna Hagopian, State Senator Jim Sheehan and Craig Stenning, the director of the Department of Behavior Health, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals.

The judges picked PJ's Pub as having the best chowder, while the people's choice award went to the Coast Guard House.

Nationally known musician Eric Barao was on hand for the world premiere of the music video of his song “To All You Guys,” an anti-bullying song. The video was shot at Narragansett High School and featured local students.

The clubhouse deck was a hive of activity, with free ice cream from Moo-Moo's, DJ David La Roche and face painting by Sue Pezza.

There was also a competition between the three contestants of the middle school's talent show – Gansett's Got Talent – and the high school's Gansett Idol.

Damon Aldrich won the Pier School competition, with Lily Moskwa taking second and Amanda Carberry in third.

For the high school, the winner was Samantha Comparone, with second going to Ethan Wright. Maddie Loomis took third place.