Created in 1983 by a handful of citizens who were tired of the lack of services provided to their neighborhood, the organization todays counts more than 250 households and businesses as members and boasts a large volunteer network working with a full-time executive director. Bounded (roughly) by Broadway to the north, Cranston avenue to the south, and the service road to the east and Route 10 on the west, the WBNA provides help and assistance in repairing sidewalks, replanting trees, volunteer cleanup of the Dexter Training Ground.
One might say that much of the rehabilitation of this part of Providence, the "West End" I think it's called, is the result of the work of the WBNA. They are one of the driving forces behind renovating and remodeling many of the older buildings in the neighborhood as well.
We attended our first meeting of the WBNA on April 1 and heard about the party scheduled for the 6th at Julians on Broadway. Naturally we planned to attend. And so we did.
It was an overcast and drizzling afternoon when we headed over to Julian's.
You had to roll a pair of dice to get in -- paying whatever the roll was for cover. Of course Susan rolled a 10 and I rolled a 7. You would've thought one of us could've rolled "snake eyes."
Anyway, we had often walked by Julian's but had never been inside. It is very funky with lots of hard-to-find beers on tap and plenty of creative food on the menu.
The place was already starting to fill up so we grabbed a couple of glasses of wine at the bar and searched for someone to take our membership dues -- it turned out to be Jean, one of the WBNA officers. We proceeded to sign up and so are now officially members of the WBNA. While we didn't feel significantly different it left us both with a rather pleasant feeling. We're happy living here and want to do whatever we can to help support the growth and development of our neighborhood.After finding a table we had some of the delicious food provided for the occasion. The place was filled with families, young folks and older folks like ourselves.
A typical mix you might say, except for one tiny thing. There was only one person of color in the room, and to our knowledge not person of latino or hispanic or spanish or Central American origin. And yet our "neighborhood" is made up of, we have been told, a largely hispanic population.Curious, eh?
Wish you were here,
Steve
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