Frosting for a 375th party

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THEY GOT A DUSTING: The Greenwood Volunteer Fire Company & Museum rolled out some of its apparatus for the occasion.

SUGARY CELEBRATION: Brittini Rea of the Warwick-based Piece of Cake that lives by the motto “tastefully sweet, playfully unique” produced a rotating confectionary model of City Hall along with icons from Warwick locations for the celebration. She also baked cupcakes sporting the city’s coat of arms for everyone to enjoy. The Warwick Historical Society also had bags of M&M candies with happy birthday Warwick written on them for people to indulge.

DOWN TO THE BUTTONS ON HIS UNIFORM: John Currier, who at one time worked at City Hall, portrayed Civil War Union Major General George Sears Greene, who was born in Apponaug and volunteered at the age of 60 to enlist as a private. His request was denied, and rather he was commissioned as a colonel of the 60th New York Infantry. He was rapidly promoted, with the defense of Culp’s Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg being his more notable achievement. Currier played a role in saving the brass plaque and sword that commemorated Greene’s grave in Apponaug. While working for the city, Currier fielded a call from an area junk dealer who said he had something of interest. It was the plaque that vandals had pulled from the gravesite and sold as scrap. Indeed, Currier was interested and the plaque and sword are now on display in City Hall. To portray the role of General Greene, Currier copied his uniform as displayed on a statue down to the spurs on his boots and the buttons on his uniform.

REVIVING A PRACTICE: The Warwick Historical Society renewed its practice of presenting plaques to the owners of historic homes and buildings at the celebration with a presentation of a brass plaque to Daniel Santos, owner of the Edward Gorton House on Greenwich Avenue. Built about 1730 and known as “the old place,” Santos, who is a regional site manager for Historic New England, said the house has a rare “twisted” chimney where fireplaces from different rooms feed into a single center chimney. Santos described the property and how its prior owners, George and Stephanie Shuster, had done much to preserve it following the presentation made by Felicia Castiglioni Gardella, president of the society (seen here).

IN TUNE WITH HISTORY: Melissa Willis of the Providence Brigade Band plays a Christmas selection on an 1870s E flat cornet at Saturday’s party commemorating the 375th anniversary of the Shawomet Purchase from the Narragansetts by Samuel Gorton. Gorton’s theology was different from that of the Puritans, who tried and sentenced him for his religious beliefs. After his release from prison, he sailed to England, where he received an order of protection from the Earl of Warwick, who he recognized in naming the lands he acquired, thereafter known as Warwick.

Snow couldn’t stop the final event to the year-long Warwick 375th anniversary celebration held by the Warwick Historical Society at City Hall on Saturday. The Greenwood Volunteer Fire Co. Museum brought along the Tuscatucket hand pumper from 1828 and the Mack engine that still runs. Food trucks were in the City Hall lot and inside the building were displays featuring historic city places and people. And, so to speak, there was even historic music as the Providence Brigade Band performed selections – many of them Christmas favorites – on musical instruments from 170 years ago. Those attending also got to test their historical knowledge of the city with such questions as “where is Locust Farm?” Answers to the quiz were topics that had been brought up during events held earlier in the year as part of the celebration. Incidentally, what remains of Locust Farm is located on Sandy Lane west of St. Kevin Church. A pair of millstones define what was the farm entrance.