Trivia fundraiser for CHSE Band

A trivia fundraiser for the Cranston High School East Band will be held Friday, Feb. 8, at Lemongrass Restaurant, 1138 Post Road, Warwick. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and trivia begins at 7 p.m. Teams will compete for prizes including top score and best team name. There will be a 50/50 raffle and a chance to win a mystery gift card paired with a bottle of wine. Tickets cost $30 per person and include a full dinner buffet. A cash bar will be available, and the event is for those 21 and older. All proceeds will go to the Cranston East Band. To purchase tickets, email cealumniband@gmail.com or call/text Sara at 536-0264.

Notes from Senior Services

Volunteers are needed to assist eligible and qualified applicants complete the Rhode Island Property Tax Relief Claim Form (RI 1040-H) for this coming tax season. Training will be provided. If you are interested please contact the Cranston Senior Enrichment Center’s RSVP office at 780-6159.

As the weather changes and the snow piles get higher, the center’s Transvan can help seniors with errands. A one-month pass costs $25. For more information, call 780-6218 or 943-3341.

CHSE Indoor Percussion and Color Guard Competition

Enjoy the sights and sounds of more than 20 indoor percussion and color guard groups as Cranston High School East hosts a New England Scholastic Band Association competition for the fourth consecutive year. The event will be held in the Cranston East gymnasium on Saturday, March 16. Doors open at 3 p.m. Color guard performances begin at 4 p.m. and percussion performances start at 6:30 p.m. There will be an intermission between the performances, and raffles and a full concession stand will be available. Admission costs $10 for adult and $8 for seniors and students. Children age 5 and under will be admitted free of cost. For more information, visit the “CHSE Indoor Percussion & Color Guard Competition” event page on Facebook.

Ward 1 Community Breakfast

A Community Breakfast with Ward 1 Councilwoman Lammis Vargas will be held at the Edgewood Yacht Club, 1 Shaw Ave., on Saturday, Jan. 26 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The event is not a fundraiser and there is no cost to attend. “During the campaign I pledged to be accessible to my constituents and host community conversations throughout the ward,” Vargas said in a statement. “This is a great way for me to learn and listen about the issues and concerns you may have, share ideas that would continue to improve the quality of life in Ward 1, keep each other abreast of what’s going on in our backyard and, of course, meet our neighbors.” For more information, find the “A Community Breakfast with Councilwoman Vargas” event page on Facebook.

‘Pizza & Politics’

Ward 3 City Councilman John Donegan will host a “Pizza & Politics” community conversation on Saturday, Jan. 26, from 1-3 p.m. at Basil’s Pizza, 1270 Cranston St. “As the new City Council member in Ward 3, I want to be accessible to my constituents,” Donegan said in a statement. The event is not a fundraiser, and the councilman plans to hold a similar gathering each month. For more information, find the “Pizza & politics: A Conversation with Ward 3 Councilor Donegan” event page on Facebook.

‘Inquiring Minds Want to Know’ at CHSE

Cranston High School East will host its next “Inquiring Minds Want to Know” student breakfast from 7:30-9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 15. Principal Sean Kelly is expected to provide a “State of the School Address” during the event, after which students will have the opportunity to ask questions. The focus of the breakfast is to engage students in discussions about the school climate and forge connections between students, staff and administrators.

Client Choice Food Bank now available at CCAP

Comprehensive Community Actions Food Bank is now a client choice food bank, which allows clients to select their food instead of receiving a pre-packed or standard bag of groceries. They are not given items they have already, do not like, or cannot eat for health or personal reasons.

Why give clients a choice? Imagine your family needs food. Your kitchen has some items but not enough to make meals for the next few days. You need to visit a food pantry. When you go to the food pantry, you are handed a pre-packed or standard bag with food you already have at home. There are also some items your family does not like. Youre not sure what to do with the food. If you had been able to choose the foods you need and like, your family could have enjoyed a well-rounded, nutritious meal.

Every month, the CCAP Food Bank serves more than 800 families. They need your help. Join in lending a helping hand by hosting a CCAP food drive in your church, work place, service group, school or community.

For more information about CCAP and how to help, visit comcap.org or contact Joanne Gregory, vice president of social services, at 562-8333.

Baby Book Boogie

Hosted by the Cranston Public Librarys Oak Lawn Branch, Baby Book Boogie will be held every Friday morning.

Children ages 0-2 and their caregivers are invited to help a book come to life through music and movement. We will also sing and dance along to favorite childhood songs. Registration is not required, but they will give out free tickets half an hour before the program opening at 10 am. The program is limited to 25 children and their caregivers.

The Oak Lawn Library is located at 230 Wilbur Ave. For more information, call 942-1787.

New Year, New Network

Are you ready to build your business and connect with more professionals and decision makers?

If youre planning on starting your 2019 on the right path and need to establish new business relationships, you first need to establish yourself as a professional that others also want to have in their network, said Pat Paolino Cruz of Pat Cruz Events. Showing up is 80 percent of the job. As the saying goes, Out of sight, out of mind.

Statewide Networking Kickoff will be held at Chapel Grille in Chapel View in Cranston on Jan. 30 from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Our events serve as a perfect catalyst for you to meet new people, make new connections and build relationships, that lead to future business. Our monthly happy hour formatted events welcome between 100 and 200 people consistently. Complimentary appetizers are provided by the venue. Cash bar and valet parking available, said Cruz.

Tickets are $12 in advance (eventbrite.com) and $20 at the door.

Looking to further showcase your products or services to the network? A very limited amount of vendor tables are available at $125 and can be secured on first come, first served basis.

Ms. Wheelchair RI 2019

On Feb. 8, there will be a competition for Ms. Wheelchair RI. All contestants must be at least 21 years of age, use a wheelchair 100 percent of the time in public, have a great personality and be willing to be an advocate in Rhode Island and beyond.

This is not a beauty contest but rather a competition of advocacy and education.

The event will be held at the Imperial Room at 1 Rhodes Place in Cranston. Vendor tables cost $25 each with a limited amount of tables and no duplication of items. Tables will be given on a first come, first served basis.

For sponsors, the fees are $25 for your name in the program, $50 for an ad in the program, $100 for a half-page in the program and $150 for ad in program and on all promotional material and mention in all press releases.

For more information, contact Tina Guenette Pedersen at her work charity at mswheelchairri2018@yahoo.com.

Cranston library offers free home delivery of books

The Cranston Public Library will deliver anything that has a three-week loan period. Patrons never pay a late fee or fine, because the library picks up all the materials within that three-week time frame.

The volunteers deliver books (in regular or large print), audiobooks, magazines, music CDs and documentary DVDs to any homebound Cranston resident living in their own home.

Due to concerns about chain of custody, they are unable to deliver to nursing homes or assisted living facilities.

Contact Karen McGrath at 781-6116 or karenmcgrath@cranstonlibrary.org to register for the service or become a volunteer driver.

Residential Rehabilitation Grant Program

This program provides low-interest loans to income eligible Cranston homeowners to assist them in making needed repairs and improvements to their homes and to correct code violations.

For more information, call the Department of Community Development at 461-1000, ext. 7205.

Free yoga for breast cancer survivors

The Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Foundation and Yoga at Studio Exhale offers yoga for breast cancer survivors every Sunday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Yoga at Studio Exhale, 1263 Oaklawn Ave., is the place to be to explore slow flow, gentle movement to create space in the body and eliminate stress. This class is designed to restore the nervous system and help release deeply held tensions from the body and mind. Visit gloriagemma.org for more details.

Celebrate Lincoln’s birthday

The town of Lincoln, Rhode Island, was named in honor of our sixteenth president in 1871. Visit Arnold House, Arnold House, 487 Great Road, Lincoln, on Saturday, Feb. 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and learn about President Lincoln’s visits to the Ocean State and the history of this land that became Lincoln. Tour the museum and enjoy birthday cake. For more information, call 728-9696 or visit historicnewengland.org.

To submit your news from the community, email Meri R. Kennedy at CranstonChatter@aol.com. Photos in jpg format are accepted and news can range from community events, promotions, academic news and nonprofit events. Email today and see your news in our column in the Cranston Herald. Please include a daytime telephone number in case we require any further information. Be sure to check out our website at cranstononline.com.