Happening this weekend...

Smoke Shop Raid 10th anniversary....Fund-raiser for WARM, Jonnycake Center....Master Gardeners' tour
By Will Collette

Smoke Shop Raid Memorial

Last year's memorial

On Sunday, the Narragansett Indian Tribe will conduct a ceremony memorializing the 10^th anniversary of the infamous Smoke Shop raid in 2003.

Then Governor Donald Carcieri dispatched dozens of state troopers to “execute a search warrant” at the site on South County Trail where the tribe was selling tax-free cigarettes as an economic development measure. Tribal leaders and tribal police officers resisted the troopers, arguing that their sovereignty was being violated. Several members of the tribe were injured and others were arrested. 

Later, a federal judge ruled in favor of the state, and against the tribe on the legality of the smoke shop. The event will take place Sunday afternoon, July 14, at the site of the shop on Route 2.

Halloween in July

On Saturday, July 13, WARM and the Jonnycake Center will host a joint fund-raiser at the Westerly Elks Lodge from 7 PM to 1 AM.

The event will feature all-you-can eat food, music, costume contests and a raffle that features a guitar autographed by Taylor Swift. Admission is $20 a person.

Weekend tour of URI Master Gardeners’ Gardens

You can get a look at some of Rhode Island’s best gardens this weekend by taking the URI Master Gardeners’ tour on Saturday and Sunday, 10 AM - 4 PM, rain or shine. Thirty-five gardens are on the tour spanning southern RI.

To take the tour, you need to pick up the official 2013 Guidebook for $20 – the guidebook not only tells you where to go and what each garden features, but also serves as your ticket of admission.

You can buy the guidebook at these locations:

The Farmer’s Daughter                      
716 Mooresfield Road (Route 138)              
Wakefield, RI
401-792-1340     

                       

Highland Farm                          
4235 Tower Hill Rd (Route 1)                  
Wakefield, RI
401-792-8188

Schartner Farms                          
South County Trail (Route 2)                  
Exeter, RI                              
401-294-5900      

                      

Broadview Garden Center& Florist              
5 Langworthy Road                      
Westerly, RI  02891                      
401-322-0390

Proceeds from the event will benefit programs of the URI Master Gardener Association. Click here to visit the official "Gardening with the Masters" website.