Plymouth Mass. has a rock and we have Rocky Point. They have the Mayflower, albeit a copy of the original, and we had the HMS Gaspee until we burned it.

Yet we have a lot more in common, as we discovered when a delegation of Plymouth town officials recently visited for a tour of City Park. A member of the group had played in a softball tournament at one of the park fields and was impressed with the layout of the park’s athletic facilities. With more than 130 square miles (abot three times the size of Warwick), Plymouth is the one of the largest, if not largest town in term of land mass in Massachusetts. Plymouth is looking is daft a plan for the long range development of Folgers Field, a 300-acre park that already has some playing fields and pickleball courts.

There was some good exchange between the Plymouth officials and their Warwick counterparts. They shared stories over the difficulty of hiring staff, park fees, concessions, hours of operation, maintenance, types of activities, groups using the parks and challenges. It was basically shop talk among peers with both sides coming up with fresh ideas and perspectives.

In addition to a park layout and amenities, Plymouth’s town manager Derek Brindisi is interested in hearing how Warwick has attracted tournaments and other events that have brought out of state teams into Warwick where they have rented hotel rooms, frequented restaurants and benefited the local economy. He would like to learn more about Warwick as well.

Currently Plymouth has an exchange with a Japanese city. A Plymouth delegation makes the trip every other year (no, they don’t take the Mayflower), and in the off years a Japanese delegation makes the trip here. You can bet they visit the Mayflower.

Brindisi suggests an annual or semi annual exchange between Warwick and Plymouth officials. Just from their short visit here, it’s apparent a lot can be learned.

It’s an idea worth exploring.

How about a Mayflower float in the Gaspee Parade? Better yet, sail it down here. We won’t burn it…I promise.