EDITORIAL

Rocky Point’s movie mastermind

John Howell
Posted 6/23/15

I couldn’t find Lauren Slocum, but that really didn’t surprise me.

For starters it was dark. And then judging from the dark forms spread out on the grass, there were hundreds of people. She …

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EDITORIAL

Rocky Point’s movie mastermind

Posted

I couldn’t find Lauren Slocum, but that really didn’t surprise me.

For starters it was dark. And then judging from the dark forms spread out on the grass, there were hundreds of people. She could have been anywhere in the crowd.

This was Lauren’s doing and it had exceeded her expectations. It was Thursday night and this was the first of four free summer movie nights at Rocky Point.

Lauren, president and CEO of the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, has a knack for dreaming up and then pulling off community-based events. Whether it is the chamber’s annual installation ceremonies with their unique themes, venues and entertainment or other chamber-sponsored events, she’s planned it and pulled together the volunteers and money to make it happen.

She works from a cubbyhole in chamber offices across from City Hall. Her desk is piled with booklets and papers and her computer keyboard and monitor is festooned with post-it-notes of various colors.

I remember some years ago hearing about the chamber “block party” and thinking Lauren planned to rally the membership for an outdoor event with live music, outdoor grills, tents and games for the kids. No, Lauren was looking for something more, something over the top, something special for “this” chamber. Her block party was on Block Island.

Lauren explored outdoor movies at Rocky Point this winter, researching vendors that provide the big screens and how it might all come together at the state’s newest park where porta-johns are the accommodations and generators are needed to provide power. This was not a plug in and play event. There were a lot of details and strategy to be worked out. She started at the top, running the idea before Mayor Scott Avedisian, who is a Lauren fan and saw the importance of city involvement if this was going to fly. From there, she turned to the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) that runs the park and would have the final say.

DEM didn’t have an answer right away. There have many requests to use the park. DEM wanted to do something this summer, the first since the park was cleaned up with the removal of the Shore Dinner Hall, other buildings including the cottages at Rocky Beach and replacement of the Midway with its sweeping field of green. There was talk of concerts, farmer’s markets and even bringing in carnival rides for a week or two. The Lions Club put forth a proposal to bring in rides, but that was dropped over the issue of who would be responsible for security. The club apparently thought the city or state should provide it.

Meanwhile, although she didn’t have a green light from DEM, Lauren realized if movie nights were to become a reality, she would need to line things up. She budgeted the four nights at $10,000 and solicited sponsors. She got vendors, including food trucks, to pencil in dates. She started building the buzz.

She knows the affection people have for the park and played off that after the city built a walking path on the 41 acres of shoreline it acquired with the Rocky Point 5K. The 5K is another one of her ideas. The road race, which will be run this Saturday, has become a favorite with funds raised going to support non-profits. She is hopeful of donating $5,000 to each of three non-profits selected as beneficiaries this year in addition to writing checks for the Rocky Point Foundation and the Warwick Neck Elementary School.

I didn’t doubt the movie night would be a hit from the start, although other than this paper, the chamber website and the word getting out on social media, it hadn’t gotten much attention. When it comes to anything to do with Rocky Point, word travels quickly.

When I arrived at the Palmer Avenue entrance Thursday night, the city’s Department of Public Works had the place lit up like a night construction site on Route 95. Even well after the movie started there was a consistent stream of vehicles as well as people who had parked outside the park or were walking in from the neighborhood. Although there was ample parking, soon the entrance was shut down about 9 p.m. to ensure the safety of those leaving before the end of the show. A strong southerly wind put a chill on the crowd as well as being a hindrance to the erection of the two screens.

DPW Director Dave Picozzi gave me a ride on an all terrain vehicle. He said 450 cars were parked inside the park. There was probably a good 150 more between those parked on Rocky Point Avenue, Palmer Avenue and the city lot. Dave thought as many as 2,500 had turned out for the first movie night. Lauren put the total at 1,500 to 1,700.

Either way, it was a huge turnout.

Finding the headquarters tent for operations was easy. Phil, Lauren’s husband, was holding down the operation along with Bob DeGregorio and his wife, Lori. They knew Lauren was off on some mission, but only had a guess between the food trucks and the movie operators.

The next morning I caught up with Lauren by telephone. She was ecstatic the way things worked out, although she would have preferred it to be not as windy and warmer. And then she had other ideas on how to improve the experience. I wouldn’t have expected less. No doubt, there will be changes … and she is looking into requests for bigger screens and the showing of “Jaws.”

But then she’s also taken on another project: an online “buy a bucket” campaign. The plan is for small, medium and large bucket contributions to raise funds to paint the Rocky Point arch.

Don’t be surprised to find her with a paintbrush. For when she sets her mind to it, things happen.

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