I describe myself as a cautious optimist: Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So the act of Williams, a 17th-century theologian exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, bestowing a name synonymous with divine protection and good fortune, seems lofty to me.
But after the Tourism Cares for Providence volunteering event, Sept. 14–15, I’m a believer in Providence. Here’s why.
In the week leading up to the event, the forecast was dire. It seemed that every few hours, one of my NTA colleagues scheduled to join me for the trip would lean in and declare that the predicted likelihood of rain had increased. A 50 percent chance of showers gradually became a 100 percent chance of torrential downpours.
I remembered these warnings as Laura Scott, June Calk, Doug Rentz and I arrived in Rhode Island the afternoon before the our work day. We had planned to spend our evening taking a ferry to Newport to see some the mansions that are under the care of the Preservation Society of Newport County, a long-time NTA member. As our catamaran headed into open water, we encountered heavy fog, only for it to pass and reveal a clear, golden evening when we docked at Newport. This perfect weather would stay with us for the rest of our time in Rhode Island, as if Providence were flouting the meteorological naysayers.
The next day, we joined 175 volunteers from the travel industry, who were spread between India Point Park, Burnside Park and Scialo Bros. Bakery. Tasks included planting, painting fences and railings, spreading mulch and decorative rock, and creating a mural. I was in Burnside Park, removing dirt from brick planters containing small trees. Masons then repaired the spots where tree roots had displaced the bricks. If no repairs were needed, our team would even out the soil and spread decorative gray and red rock around the base of the tree.
It quickly became clear that my dirt-digging cohort came to work—and so did the railing painters, planters and weed-pullers. As the day wore on and the to-do list grew shorter, we were directed to the perimeter of the park for fence painting. When it was time to clean up, our human capital had yielded significant dividends: 900 new plants at India Point and Burnside parks, a new mural celebrating Scialo Bros.’ 100th year on Federal Hill, and the equivalent of seven weeks of labor for the city of Providence.
Throughout the work day, locals passing by the park stopped and asked us about our project, and almost all of them seemed genuinely appreciative of the scores of volunteers who donated their time and energy. (The lone dissenter had a lot to say about the mayor.)
And this might be what was most providential about this and all other Tourism Cares projects: that, from an outsider’s perspective, hundreds of people would materialize from around the region and the country for a day of hard work. While I hesitate to call any part of my experience divine (although I did have an amazing seafood paella), when a community—be it geographical, professional or personal—unites to protect shared spaces, we all enjoy good fortune. That’s Providence.
To learn more about Tourism Cares and its clean-up projects, go to tourismcares.org.
Photos by Tourism Cares
