Roberta Humble knows how to turn Rhode Island into a game

By Tessa Roy
Posted 12/1/16

Rhode Islanders are passionate about their state, and Roberta Mudge Humble has discovered a unique way of sharing love for the Ocean State with both the “native and naïve.”

Humble, originally …

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Roberta Humble knows how to turn Rhode Island into a game

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Rhode Islanders are passionate about their state, and Roberta Mudge Humble has discovered a unique way of sharing love for the Ocean State with both the “native and naïve.”

Humble, originally from Westerly, has lived in Warwick for more than 40 years. She teaches technical writing at the Community College of Rhode Island and has been at the school for 47 years. She’s also given presentations in every city and town in the state, addressed the State House for Rhode Island Independence Day, the National Conference of Secretaries of State, and said Governor Donald Carcieri recommended she “do something” with her positive positions on her home state.

Her “something” came in the form of Rhode Island-themed trivia books and games that are beloved by tourists and locals alike. Though it takes a lot of work for her to self-publish her works (she does have help from people she works with at CCRI and at the Westerly Armory), she enjoys helping to educate people on what the state has to offer.

“[I] get to tout Rhode Island and show people what Rhode Island is,” she said. “Most Rhode Islanders don’t know what they have.”

Her games, Rhode Test and Rhode Scholar, as well as the children’s book Rhode Island’s Friendly Faces, sold out. Humble had a DVD made to accompany her quiz book, The BIG Rhode Island Quiz and a CD to go with Sing Rhode Island, which features keyboardist Kevin Keough of Cumberland and soprano Maria Tavarozzi of Cranston. The songs can be sung to the tune of familiar favorites like “The 12 Days of Christmas,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and believe it or not, “Gangnam Style.” Plus, there are additional keyboard only tracks for “the Rhode Islander with singing aspirations.” Rhode Island for the Native and Naïve, a book full of puzzles, word searches, matching, and more. Humble has even made all her trivia portable with the “Rhode Island Card,” a plastic card that lists state “firsts” and “unique” qualities, like the first woman state attorney general and the only state to celebrate Victory Day.

In addition to all 39 cities and towns in Rhode Island, Humble has given presentations and speeches across the country, which inspired the book Little Rhody & the Other 49, which she said is her most “colorful” book. She spent a lot of time researching and reading up on other states to put this and her other works together, then made sure to put them into a format everyone could enjoy.

“You can get non-readers to read these,” she said of her whimsical books. “Other Rhode Island books are exceptionally good, but people won’t buy them because there aren’t enough pictures. The non-readers won’t buy those. Readers and non-readers will buy these.”

Her latest creation, Rhode Block, is a card game that replaces kings with Rhode Island beaches, queens with museums, jacks with state symbols, tens with events, nines with sports, and more with colleges, food, historic sites, theaters, parks and other features. It’s played like Crazy Eights and is difficult to win so long as the cards are shuffled well – neither Humble nor I could properly shuffle cards, so I accidentally won the game in just a few minutes as she tried to demonstrate how to play. We had a good laugh, which is Humble’s aim in sharing her products.

“If I can make people happy in their lives, and this includes being happy with their state, then I’m happy too,” she said. “I love the idea that these wonderful features about Rhode Island get passed on to people…Rhode Islanders have quite the magnificent state. I am very proud to live in a place with so much natural beauty and such a deep dynamic character.”

Humble loves animals, and when she’s not making games she spends time with her six pet birds, Buddy, Creamer, Smokey, Webster, Caleb and Toby, some of which she’s rescued, others she’s had for 32 years. She’s also a huge fan of historical buildings and is very involved with armories, having penned The Historic Armories of Rhode Island with Col. Howard F. Brown. A portion of the proceeds from her books and games go to the Westerly Armory, where she is the current and founding president of Westerly Armory Restoration, Inc.

Rhode Block can be purchased for $9.99 at Benny’s, Ocean State Apparel & More in Warwick, Twice-Told Tales in Cranston, Barrington Books in Barrington and Garden City, Books on the Square in Providence, Savoy Books in Westerly and the Westerly Armory. Humble said the game would soon be available in even more stores.

Comments

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  • RISchadenfreude

    Rhode Island IS a game- you just have to be politically-connected or "Know a guy" to play it.

    The title "RI and the Other 49" reminds me of an old gag: we used to take two University of Rhode Island car rear-window stickers and cut them up to spell "Rhode Island Is Not the Universe".

    Friday, December 2, 2016 Report this

  • ThatGuyInRI

    Ugh,

    I thought (hoped & prayed actually) the the election would bring the end of Dick Corrente commenting on everything. Unfortunately, I was wrong

    Thursday, December 8, 2016 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    ThatGirl, they must have deleted Corrente's comment.

    Friday, December 9, 2016 Report this