- [Announcer] Support for "Our Town Tiverton" comes from Viti Automotive Group in Tiverton, Rhode Island.

Serving drivers throughout Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts since 1974.

Viti Automotive Group offers Mercedes-Benz and Volvo sales, certified pre-owned vehicles, and factory-authorized service and parts.

Located on Fish Road in Tiverton, Viti Automotive Group also provides vehicle maintenance performed by factory-trained technicians, along with pickup and delivery for eligible service appointments.

More information is available at Viti.com.

(mellow music) - [Pamela] Ocean State Media presents "Our Town."

(mellow music continues) The program where we learn about the people, places, history, and happenings of each town around Rhode Island through the eyes of those who live there.

(lively music) Watch now as they show us everything that makes their community a great hometown.

Along the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay in Newport County sits Tiverton.

(lively music continues) Its history, farmland, and seascapes are rooted in Rhode Island, but it was not always so.

The Wampanoag tribe lived for centuries in what's known today as Tiverton.

When colonists arrived in the 1600s, their first transaction of land was with Chief Massasoit.

The town was incorporated in 1694 by English colonists as part of the province of Massachusetts Bay.

In 1747, Tiverton became a part of Rhode Island.

In the early years, it was primarily a farming and fishing community.

That heritage can still be seen today.

Tiverton's coastal setting provides some of the most scenic vistas in the ocean state.

Please join us as we hear from the people and about the places that make this community one of a kind.

This is "Our Town Tiverton."

(pensive music) - The day the fire happened, there were three different towns and fire trucks.

It wasn't noticed until smoke started coming through the windows.

I realized all my pets had perished from smoke inhalation and most of my things were destroyed.

In the days and weeks that followed, not only was I dealing with burying nine pets that I lost in the fire, but I was also pleading with the town to let me fix the historical home and not make me take it down.

Life of the sanctuary these days is busy, it's bustling.

(lips smacking) - You're a nice bird.

- I am Wendy Taylor and I am the executive director of West Place Animal Sanctuary.

I had finished rebuilding from the fire.

That took about a year and a half or so.

And I wanted to find a way to give back.

The first thing I did was get licensed to be a wildlife rehabilitator.

I had to become an expert at everything that had to do with every type of species we were bringing in.

So I needed to learn everything about ducks and chickens and goats and sheep and horses and cows and pigs.

- You could see that these animals are sentient, they're emotional, they're intelligent, they're deserving of our care, and they often don't have anywhere else to go.

So what Wendy has created is truly amazing and it was a no-brainer to be a part of it in some way.

Since I've been there the past eight years, we only had one staff member, which was Wendy when I started as a volunteer.

We now have five full-time staff members.

Our volunteer base has grown to about 120 volunteers and student interns.

- West Place is a forever sanctuary.

So when animals come here, they stay here for the rest of their life.

- We have so many wonderful animals and the cast of characters is always changing, but currently some of my favorites are Diane the pig.

I definitely have a special bond with Diane.

I enjoy her sass, but also her sweetness.

I am a big fan of Sadie the goat.

She is the sweetest animal you'll ever meet.

She walks up to you, offers you her hoof.

She just wants to be around people.

She also has a boyfriend.

It's a sheep named Colby.

He's a big wooly sheep and I have one pair of pants.

There's nothing special about them, other than the fact that Colby loves them.

- Being on the Farm Coast here in Rhode Island, you know, we are appropriately and strategically located to help out so many farm animals, you know, in this rural landscape of Tiverton.

Being a local rural sanctuary, most recent thing that happened to us was a long time in the making.

And we are one of the winners for 2025 of the Land Rover Defender Service Awards.

We were able to customize our Defender 130, which was really exciting, because we turned it into a moving billboard, an advertisement for West Place Animal Sanctuary.

It's been out and about in the community, and hopefully it's a new way for us to reach a new group of interested people.

West Place is getting ready to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

We've been around for two decades and we're so proud of where we've come from and where we've gotten to.

I certainly hope that people in Tiverton see West Place as a great asset and benefit to the community.

I hope they see us as a necessity.

I hope that they can't remember what it was like before West Place came along.

(mellow music) (mellow music continues) (joyful music) - So here we have a case full of wonder.

- We have Mr.

Handsome here.

He's one of my newest favorites.

- It's a three-footer.

Tiverton Four Corners is this wonderful cultural center in our town.

Four Corners Center for Art and Design is the largest building down at Tiverton Four Corners.

You can spend all day there.

My name is Jennifer Jones Rashleigh, and my business is Cedian Painting Studio Gallery, and it's located at Tiverton Four Corners.

Ros and Jim Weir bought buildings, added a few with the intention of creating an arts district.

And it's been incredibly successful.

I met Ros Weir and found a studio.

And then a few years after that, Four Corners Gallery took over and I joined them at the location I'm at now.

This one in particular, I had a dozen people say, "Do you see the dog?"

And I was like, "Oh yeah.

(laughs) Actually I do."

I love the pillow 'cause you can use it and the art is part of your life.

- This will make a nice cocktail ring.

(pensive music) I am Peter Terpaeck.

I am the jeweler practitioner here at Studio by the Sea in Tiverton Four Corners and I've been here on the Corners for 15 years.

What I love about Tiverton Four Corners is how original all of the shops are.

There's a lot of originality.

There's a lot of hard work.

There's a lot of creativity.

We all support each other and I'm fairly certain we all enjoy doing it as well.

- My name is Galen Snow.

I am a paper montage maker and I use paper and glue exclusively with my art.

I love it.

It makes me happy.

And these are local scenes that I've made in original form and had printed.

You shouldn't feel intimidated by art.

We really hope that people come in and just let the stress go and take in the beauty of art.

- I'm so grateful to live in a town where there are so many artists and so many businesses that are interested in a creative community.

When people in the art find each other and make a connection, it is soulful and joyful.

There's possibility to connect and also find what is the best part of us, I think.

(joyful music) - [Andy] The library is more than a library here because this is a small town.

It's also the community center.

It's a meeting place.

It's an activity place.

And the library has something, if not for everyone, for almost everyone.

- [Speaker] Anything.

(group laughing) (joyful music) - My name is Andy Snider.

I've been a Tiverton resident part-time for 45 years and full-time for a few years.

I'm now the head of the board or the chair of the board of the Tiverton Library Foundation.

In terms of the history of the library, the Union Public Library is located in Tiverton Four Corners.

It's a historic building.

The people who live in the neighborhood consider it a fabulous resource for them and for their kids.

There was a third library, the Essex Library, which was located next to Town Hall on Highland Road, but that was maybe a quarter or less the size of this building.

(spirited music) About a little over 10 years ago, a number of the people in town got together and raised a significant amount of money and built this building.

The cost of the library and the whole transition was close to $28 million, town was not a small investment.

There are probably 30 or more different programs here a month.

There are a number of art programs.

There are movie programs.

There is a lecture series in the evening, a number of program for retired people that are here.

(people chattering) - Stand guard over candy corn- - [Andy] There are probably 10 or more program for kids.

One of the most popular are story time.

- Playing soccer (indistinct).

- [Andy] We just celebrated our 10th anniversary with several events.

- Here?

- Yeah.

- [Andy] But there is a tremendous number of very committed volunteers.

♪ Will be better than this I promise ♪ - Who contribute a lot to this library.

And Tiverton, as you may know, is an extraordinary community.

And virtually some people from every segment are involved in some part of the library functions.

So it's really a community center.

(group chattering) (joyful music continues) (pensive music) - Just looking back out at the amazing view of the Sakonnet River and the sky.

- I moved to Tiverton in 2014.

And then in 2022, we moved to Fogland Road in the 1750 farmhouse overlooking Fogland Beach.

It's a beautiful environment where I can create my work and be influenced by color and nature.

(spirited music) I'm Tiffany Peay.

My store is Tiffany Peay Jewelry and Healing Arts.

Having a shop is hard work, but it's a lot of fun, especially in a community.

I'm originally from Richmond, Virginia.

I studied jewelry there.

I moved my business to Tiverton in 2007.

I work with gemstones and pearls and I like color.

This is a riveting technique where I cut the chain and rivet the stone with my torch.

I create that ball.

It also has magical colors that are really rare at this point.

This acid green, tourmaline yellow is just stunning.

I've learned about gems and it turns out that they have healing qualities and they really raise your vibration.

So it's such a pleasure to connect with the people who buy my work and wear my work and are so happy with it.

- I love the landscape right outside of my door and it comes right through the door and into my work.

- [Tiffany] I'm very inspired by Peter's work.

(spirited music) Peter and I met in Newport at the Newport Art Museum, and he had been working there for 15 years.

- Tiffany came to Newport Art Museum to teach some of her jewelry making techniques, and that's when we met.

Where we live in the Fogland area, it's different every day, because you have the water and the ocean and the farm fields around and the sky and the interaction of light is just incredible there.

- [Tiffany] Peter's work is beautiful.

I'm all about color and so is he.

And so that really works.

- Just before COVID, I started helping out in her shop in the office doing some bookkeeping tasks.

And COVID sort of forced our hand a little bit, so I just took over everything at that point, (chuckles) since we were in our bubble.

Tiffany's work is jewelry and she has a beautiful room where she showcases her work and it's great wall space, so I hang my paintings in the shop.

- [Tiffany] I never imagined I'd be in a couple who shared my business with someone and it's a beautiful thing.

(spirited music) (joyful music) (people chattering) - The Tiverton Farmers Market definitely provides a platform for these vendors and these farms to showcase their wares and to connect with the local community.

You get to learn about where your food comes from, how it's made.

You get to meet how these people have come to where they are, and you get to learn a lot.

My name is Meredith Brower and I am the director and market manager at the Tiverton Farmers Market.

The farmers market, we started in June of 2020.

Everybody was trying to figure out COVID at that point.

We had stanchions.

We had arrows on the floor.

We were of course wearing masks.

We do 50 farmers markets a year.

We have a summer location and we have a winter locations.

Summer location is at the Town Farm Recreation Area right on Main Road, which is easily accessible.

And then the winter season, we move into the Tiverton Middle School.

The crowds are a little bit different in the summer.

We have a lot of tourists come through.

Our larger markets, we get over a thousand people go through.

The winter markets, it's more of our regular.

These are the people who support us week after week after week.

There's a lot to see at the farmers market.

We have a ever-changing and growing vendor list from baked goods, a lot of gluten-free options, seafoods and meats.

- The farmers markets have been an absolute key ingredient of our success to kinda get our brand out there and actually got our start here at the Tiverton Market.

- Out of the 50 markets we do, 10 are specialty markets, and we've added two new ones this year.

We're just coming up onto our Firefly Yoga and Wellness Festival, and we're gonna work with Sakonnet Vineyard, and that's gonna be September 19th in Little Compton at the vineyard.

Next season, it'll be year two of celebrating Quahog Week.

So that's the end of May.

Most fun and probably our biggest event is the Strawberry Social in June.

We actually go pick the strawberries, prep them in a local kitchen, and on that Sunday, we served 500 bowls last year of strawberry shortcake.

People get dressed up.

It's a wonderful day just to kinda get out.

Make sure you get there early because we usually sell out.

It takes a lot to run a market.

A few years ago, we got our nonprofit status.

We got a federal and our state nonprofit status, which allows us to go for grants.

We launched this campaign last fall calling Bridge the Gap because we need to bridge that gap of some of the funds and the grant funds that have sort of dried up over the last year.

So I don't do it all by myself.

The Tiverton Farmers Market has a board of directors.

It is seven local ladies, all entrepreneurs, artists, all live right here in the region.

They help me come up with ideas.

They help me run the market.

And they're really great about presenting new and innovative ways to bring joy and events to the market.

I couldn't do that without them.

(pensive music) (mellow music) (vehicle whirring) (choir vocalizing) - [Nancy] Greater Tiverton Community Chorus was started in 1980.

It's in its 46th year.

We call Greater Tiverton Community Chorus GTCC, so I'll say GTCC, which has been as large as 80-85 people to as small as roughly 35.

- Remind you, when you go out there, make sure you go out with confidence.

And most of all, you have fun, right?

All the hard work, we put that behind us and now we get to show.

- And so we've had some weaker points in the past two or three years, but I think we're on firm footing again.

My name is Nancy Papagno.

I live in Tiverton and I am just presently, for the past few months on the board, but I'm an Alto, proud Alto 1.

Apparently 22 people who went to one church in Tiverton, which I don't even think exists today, started it.

It is a 46-year-old institution in this area, not exclusively Tiverton.

I would say that the age range is from, at one point, high school up to considerably beyond retirement age.

You'll see a lot of white hair amongst the members, but we all enjoy one thing in common, and that is the love of singing, harmony.

Every year, we have two concerts.

One at holiday, Christmas time, and that's usually early December.

The other is what we call Spring Concert.

We try to make some money.

And with that money, we not only support ourselves, but we have in the past supported community projects.

Greater Tiverton Community Chorus is not just Tiverton, as the name applies.

So we take from Little Compton, from Westport, from Warren, from Bristol.

Of those, that small amount of us who are at GTCC, love music and we love to harmonize.

And singing is very healthy for the brain, for the body.

♪ Follow the ♪ ♪ For the ♪ ♪ Waiting for to ♪ ♪ To freedom ♪ ♪ Follow the ♪ - So we're always welcoming.

Particularly, as I said, because our numbers are down and we're looking for people, particularly of the tenor persuasion.

We'll probably buy people's services, so they could sing.

That's a joke.

If they could sing tenor.

We love, and we're always looking for newer members.

There are so many good things that come out of harmony, whether it's social connections, being in the one room singing.

You're emitting these sounds and it makes for harmony, and that word harmony is a big deal.

(audience applauding) (joyful music) - I began to appreciate all the wildlife you saw: the streams, the change of seasons.

And it does get into your bones, there's no question about it.

And making sure that it's available to other people, I think is part of a process that gets in your bones.

- For me, conservation in Tiverton is about accessing the land, the woods, the forests here.

Giving people the opportunity to get out in nature.

- Being able to go hiking in North Tiverton and get down to the beds is pretty special.

- The amount of land preserved by Tiverton Land Trust, I believe, is about 750 acres.

The goal with conservation is to try to get pieces of land that are contiguous.

The more land you have together, the better it serves habitat.

I'm Pam Thompson and I'm the president of the Tiverton Land Trust.

I've never seen a Sassafras this big, so when I met it for the first time, I was just blown away.

I've been involved with the Land Trust for probably five years now.

I started as a volunteer and then joined the board and then became president.

The Land Trust was founded in 1996 when Matta Farm was up for sale.

And that is the property that is now Pardon Gray Reserve.

- And there were, as I recall, four people there.

It was Mary Whaley, Martin Van Koff, Steve Barker, and Joe Bossam.

And Mary was a driving force and talked about the need for a land trust in town.

There was a proposal to build a very large housing area.

- [Pam] The Tiverton Land Trust purchased this land with the help of many, many, many local donors and prevented this farm from becoming a housing development of upwards of 80 houses.

- It set the stage, I think, for the growth of the Land Trust and the growth of further acquisitions.

- Our most active volunteers are with our land management committee.

So it's a group of people who monitor the trails.

Some of the volunteers oversaw the seeding of the warm season grasses that we planted in Pardon Gray Reserve.

Since 1996, the Land Trust has been a host to country days at Pardon Gray, which we are restarting again this year after a hiatus.

That is a huge community event that has brought the town together.

Pardon Gray Days is happening on October 3rd.

It's very much geared towards kids, but I think adults enjoy it too.

The critical project that the Land Trust is working on today is preserving 48.8 acres in North Tiverton.

We are trying to purchase the conservation easement on Hicks Farm, and the cost for that easement is $2.63 million.

So this is a heavy lift.

- Hicks Farm became the focus of the activity.

And that is as important as anything we could do in the town, activity right at the time.

It has trails.

It has views.

It's next to the water.

Is there a better spot?

- That's the critical part that people enjoy about conservation in Tiverton.

It's preserving a rural heritage that is just rapidly disappearing.

To experience that as you're walking through a landscape is just so restorative, and I think people respond to that.

(waves crashing) (wind fluttering) - Generations will follow us, but we preserve and protect what we have already acquired.

(joyful music) (nostalgic music) - When the organization first started, it was all about the tour.

And now it's grown into a much larger group, and we currently have around 200 members that participate in all different facets of the organization.

(joyful music) My name is Lindsey Epstein.

I am one of the vice presidents of South Coast Artists, and I'm also the communications chair for the organization.

South Coast Artists has been hosting an open studio tour for the past 23 years, and it's grown to include four towns: Tiverton, Little Compton, Westport, and Dartmouth.

- South Coast Artists started in the Tiverton region and did cross the line over into Massachusetts.

And the more artists we discover, the more community we build.

We go out to meet one another, to talk about creativity and art shows and what we should be looking at and paying attention to.

It's just very special.

- The reason why I like being on a tour and being one of the founders of it is that you could get out of my cloister, which this is, and meet people and meet fascinating artists, share stories with them and learn from them.

- [Lindsey] There's 75 artists that participate during the tour weekend.

When the tour weekend comes, you have this big brochure and a listing of all of the artists and a map, and you get to decide which studios you'd like to go visit.

So you can start your day here in Tiverton and choose which artists that you'd like to go see along your route.

That's kinda the beauty of this tour is that it's a self-guided tour throughout the town.

And you get to see different artists and studios that aren't normally open to the public.

You're going into artists' homes where they have their studios, so it's a different opportunity to interact with an artist and their artwork.

- Yes, those I did with the slab roller.

And put that up there and they're mounted on wedi board, which is nice and lightweight.

- [Lindsey] I am a potter and I live on East Road in Tiverton, which is just outside of the Four Corners area.

And I'm open for the Open Studio Tours.

I have my pottery wheel there.

I have my kilns.

(lid creaks and clunks) So it's a chance for you to come in and see the work being made and ask questions.

So you're getting a story along with the piece if you choose to take something home with you.

When I first moved to Tiverton, I had no idea about the art community or really anything about the town.

And it has such a rich history.

And South Coast Artists has really provided me that opportunity to grow my business, grow my artwork.

- We're all in this little area we call South Coast.

It started with six artists, and then it grew to about 30.

Then we grew to about 70 or 75, and now we're at over 200.

(joyful music) (ambient music) - These are about 18 of the original letters that dad had written to my mother while he was in Korea.

"Hello, Angie.

I will be frank with you.

I'm not going to go out with Jeanie again.

There's one girl I really love and never been out with, but I hope I get to know her better.

My name is Thomas Snell, and I live at 245 King Road.

And I am the ninth generation of direct father-to-son in Tiverton.

When we built this house, we tried to incorporate things from the old house.

Built around 1770-1780 is what they've determined by the brick.

The first Snell to come to Tiverton was Samuel Snell.

He was born in 1675, and he died in 1750.

I'm also part of the Tiverton Historical Cemetery Commission.

I'm not exaggerating if I say at least more than half of our historical cemetery, those that are buried there, are related to me.

My father was born on October 7th, 1933, and he resided at 245 King Road.

And my mother, Evangelina Santos, was born February 12th, 1935 on Florence Avenue.

I'm glad for the letters because the ultimate result of that is my sister and I were born.

In the 1950s, the Korean War broke out.

In 1952, my father joined the Marine Corps.

It was right in the middle of the Korean War.

He knew the draft might be coming around, so he decided to join.

My mother and father were in school and they were friends, but they never dated.

First letter that I have in the collection is from August 8th, 1952.

And my father writes to my mother, telling what's going on.

He's on the rifle range.

We could see a blossoming of a special kind of relationship.

I have not been in combat.

I have been in extreme conditions in the Marine Corps, so I can only sense how much more actual combat really is.

So the letters had to give dad a sense of normalcy.

I was not allowed to read the letters until mom passed.

She had made that clear because when I was young, I had found one, read it, felt guilty, told her that I read it.

And she says, "Oh, Tom, you and your sister can read those letters after I pass."

My mother passed June 24th, 2023.

And at that point, my sister and I put the letters in chronological order and read all 60 of 'em together.

It a powerful emotional connection after the fact, if you will, for both her, for both my sister and I. July 2nd, 1954, "Hello, Angie.

I received two of your letters today.

You see, they are using the planes to evacuate the French in Indo-China so we don't get mail regularly and not for a while.

I hope you don't get mad at what I'm going to tell you, but I thought you could take a hint.

I will be frank with you.

I'm not going to go out with Jeanie again.

There's one girl I really love and never been out with.

But I hope I get to know her better.

Her name is Angie Santos.

Do you know her?

I really love her.

It's funny how you can fall in love with a girl you've never been out with.

Well, Angie, I gotta leave you.

Does your family and relations know that you are going to go out with me when I get home?

If I do, write soon, loving luck, Leland."

We look at her parents, or at least I did, and I think that's who teaches us to be human, to have purpose.

And the first thing that my sister, and I remember we would read these and we'd look at each other and say, "We know Mom and Dad when they were 18 and 19 years old.

What a gift to see that."

They were married for 45 years with a lot of love and luck.

A phrase that he ended all his letters to Angie.

(ambient music) (joyful music) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Our Town Tiverton" comes from Viti Automotive Group in Tiverton, Rhode Island.

Serving drivers throughout Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts since 1974.

Viti Automotive Group offers Mercedes-Benz and Volvo sales, certified pre-owned vehicles, and factory authorized service and parts.

Located on Fish Road in Tiverton, Viti Automotive Group also provides vehicle maintenance performed by factory-trained technicians, along with pickup and delivery for eligible service appointments.

More information is available at Viti.com.

(mellow music) (joyful music) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues) (joyful music continues)