South County Museum In Narragansett Gets $2K Grant For Summer Camp

NARRAGANSETT, RI — The South County Museum in Narragansett received a $2,000 grant from BankNewport to support the museum's partnership with Camp Fuller, a summer camp of the Greater Providence YMCA.

Museum officials said the South County Museum cares for and displays over 20,000 unique objects that encourage exploring Rhode Island's rich and diverse history. Its mission is to interpret southern Rhode Island's agricultural, marine, textile manufacturing, and resort histories. To further this mission this summer, the museum collaborated with Camp Fuller to educate children on the hand skills and tools used during the 19th century.

BankNewport's grant allowed the museum to host four camp field trips from June through August, during which campers worked with carpenter Steve Black in the museum's woodworking shop to construct wooden dragon boats and paddles that were taken back to the camp for races.

While on-site at the museum, campers toured the Metz Exhibition Hall and visited three other maker spaces, a 19th print shop, a blacksmith's forge, and the fiber shed demonstrating wool spinning, natural dyeing, and hand-sewing.

BankNewport President Jack Murphy, along with Greater Providence YMCA CEO Steven O'Donnell, visited the Museum's program last month to see first-hand the campers working to build two dragon boats in the woodworking barn. The campers used STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills to construct the boats while working in teams and raced them on the water.

"We were thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the South County Museum and the Greater Providence YMCA’s Camp Fuller this summer," Murphy said. "Science, technology, engineering, and math are incredibly important skills to learn at a young age, and it was impressive to watch the campers apply them to such a fun and unique project."

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