The banquet room of Lang’s Bowlarama on Niantic Avenue was packed Sunday afternoon in support of Democrat City councilman Robert Ferri and his  bid for mayor of Cranston, or maybe to score an afternoon of free bowling.

Numerous significant figures in Rhode Island politics were in attendance, from every Democrat on the city council, to several members of the General Assembly, the Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore, to a representative of U.S. Senator Jack Reed.

Ferri was introduced by brother Frank G. Ferri, head of Cranston Democrats Maria Bucci, and city council president Jessica Marino, all of whom praised him for his commitment to service and experience as an everyday Cranstonian.

Ferri, dressed in bowling attire, began his speech along a similar vein, listing his credentials:

“I am a son, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a hard worker, a former business owner, a cyclist, a bocce player, a former small business owner and yes, a damn good bowler.”

On the issues which would take center stage as part of his platform, he spoke first about his intentions to make city hall more communicative, transparent, and technologically up to date.

“Do you know that you can't file a complaint or apply for a license online in the city of Cranston?” he asked the crowd. “This is what, 2024?”

He spoke of creating a newsletter for city hall, and was reminded by someone in the crowd to plug his own newsletter, which he said has a subscribership of 6,800.

Echoing Ferri’s interview with the Herald which was published the week before, he spoke of the need to improve the city’s basic services. Specifically, he spoke of safer playgrounds, improvements to the city’s bike path, which in its current incarnation he describes as looking “like a bomb landed on it” due to the amount of litter on the trail, the city’s rodent problem, what he describes as weeks long waits to have trees trimmed, and crumbling roads and sidewalks throughout the city.

“So when people say basic things,” he said. “Those are the things that need to go into the budget first. Not at the end when you say we can't afford them.”

Ferri touched on the need to build affordable housing in Cranston. He spoke briefly on the need to address the city’s environmental challenges, especially the city’s flooding problems, renewable energy needs, and the loss of Cranston’s forests to overdevelopment.

He spoke briefly about the need to speed up improvements being made to the city’s schools. He spoke of his desire to support Cranston’s police and fire departments. Something he said was a particular sticking point for him, he spoke of the need to make sure city employees are paid a fair wage.

And, of course, he took a shot at Budlong Pool.

“Five bids came in,” he said. “And every single one of them was more money than we allocated to build the pool.”

Ferri closed with a call for support and volunteers, and told a fable of a clever frog who tricked a lion into serving as his enforcer by showing him how all the animals steer clear of the frog, the lion unwitting to the fact that it was he and not the frog who the animals wanted to avoid. He styled himself the frog and the people of Cranston his lion, before relinquishing the mic and stepping into the crowd to shake the hands of supporters.

Ferri, the former owner of Town Hall Lanes and as mentioned previously, an avid bowler, was supported by a particularly significant person in those circles: four time Olympic gold medalist for bowling Gazmine “GG” Mason. Mason, whose family lives in Cranston, felt the need to come out in person when they heard about Ferri.

“I didn't know too too much about him,” she said. “But I just told my parents after listening to him speak, I really like him. He's super down to Earth.”

Mason said a lot of what Ferri spoke of resonated with her, and that she believes the things he says. She hopes Cranston’s next mayor will be someone with “resilience, persistence, and [is] one for the community.”