Grange Road could become new historic district valleybreeze.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from valleybreeze.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
4/14/2021
Mowry Fire Tower in need of ‘TLC’
Town officials last week allocated funds for the restoration of the Mowry Fire Tower, pictured here off Woonsocket Hill Road. The tower was built in 1956.
NORTH SMITHFIELD – The tower that stands in the woods off Woonsocket Hill Road might not look like much these days, but it has a long role in the state’s firefighting history.
Peter Branconnier, who visits the site regularly in his capacity as director of the North Smithfield Emergency Management Agency, said the steel structure is tagged with graffiti and the woods around it are torn up with makeshift ATV trails. The chain link fence around the tower, he said, is often cut from people trying to sneak up into the cabin at the top.
150th anniversary celebrations on hold in North Smithfield valleybreeze.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from valleybreeze.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
12/22/2020
Local families cherish memories of dads as Santa
Fred Carter of North Smithfield spent more than four decades playing Santa Claus. Many residents remember him traveling through the town with his horse and buggy to deliver lollipops to the children.
NORTH SMITHFIELD – While other children growing up in the 1960s might have bragged that their fathers were firemen or police officers, Ruth Goudreau and her siblings had them beat.
For their childhood and much of their adulthood, their father, Fred Carter, was known as the resident neighborhood Santa Claus, driving around North Smithfield with his horse and buggy every December to deliver lollipops and Christmas cheer. With his Irish skin and plenty of natural padding, Goudreau said, he didn’t need much help to become the big man.