What's On in Downtown Westerly This Fall, From Wilcox Park to the UNITED

"This room has a different allure to it, plus it's very visible for people coming in and it's more accessible," Gail Kahover told The Westerly Sun. She was describing where the Friends of Westerly Library and Wilcox Park will hold their annual Used Book Sale this year. The sale usually runs on the library's third floor. This October it moves to the first-floor Reading Room, the large room to the left of the main entrance, "due to ongoing construction and other changes to the library," in Kahover's words as reported by the Sun.

The move is a small one, but the same thing is happening all over downtown this fall. The Friends are working around construction. A Revolutionary War memorial is headed for a corner parcel that still counts as part of the town's road network. A Broad Street storefront went dark at the end of summer. A chamber of commerce building on Main Street is in the design stage. The events are real and on the calendar. Many of the places hosting them are temporary, in transition or waiting on a decision, and knowing which is which makes October and November easier to plan.

The Reading Room, Oct. 19 to 24

The book sale is a four-day public event with two private nights before it. Here is the schedule the Sun printed:

• Monday, Oct. 19, 3 to 7 p.m. "Friends Only" Sip & Shop Preview Night
• Tuesday, Oct. 20. Dealers Night for booksellers
• Wednesday, Oct. 21 and Thursday, Oct. 22, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Public sale
• Friday, Oct. 23, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Public sale, shorter hours
• Saturday, Oct. 24, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Bag Sale, when the leftover stock is priced to go

All proceeds go back to the library and the park. Kahover credited the volunteers who sort, price, clean and set up the books, and said the Westerly Lions Club has historically helped sort the basement and carry stock upstairs. This year the books only have to make it to the first floor.

Peg Murphy-Bright, who chairs special events, said the sale falls during National Friends of Libraries Week and will have a literary theme. The UNITED is putting memorabilia about the sale in its front window. Westerly High School culinary arts instructor Jamie Finkelstein's class is making the snacks, and Watch Hill Catering is providing the drinks. The sale has partners up and down the block, even while the building it normally fills is under construction.

Wilcox Park Has a Backup Plan Built In

Outside, the 5th Annual Fall Fest & Pumpkin Stroll runs Saturday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Wilcox Park. There's free cider and doughnuts, games, and a costume parade at 5 p.m. The library lists a rain plan that moves everything indoors. It's the same pattern again: the event is fixed, and the place it happens can change.

The park's next big date is the Annual Tree Lighting on Saturday, Nov. 28, from 4:30 to 5 p.m. The library's closings page also lists the building as closed on Wednesday, Nov. 11, for Veterans Day. That date matters a few blocks east, too.

A Corner of Railroad Avenue, Still Pending

The Westerly 250th Commission wants to turn a small town-owned parcel on Railroad Avenue into Patriots Park. The site is opposite the intersection with West Street, across from the northeast corner of the Westerly Armory. It's an open area of about 74 by 42 feet next to the sidewalk. Commission member James Wolfe called it "basically unused real estate that we want to turn into a historical landmark."

The park would center on a polished black granite bench inscribed with about 387 Revolutionary War veterans and patriots with documented ties to Westerly. Researchers drew the names from pension records, militia rolls, cemetery lists, Town Hall records and other sources. Buzzi Memorials is making the bench. The commission passed on local stone for a practical reason Wolfe explained to the Sun: "We looked into Westerly granite, it's light in color, and when you look at these names etched into it, it's difficult to read them."

Finding the site took a while. The Armory's governing board told the town it has always kept its outside grounds clear of permanent memorials, and two other sites were ruled out before the commission settled on this one.

The plan is to dedicate the bench on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, and hand its care to the town's veterans honor roll committee. At the Sept. 28 Town Council meeting, though, Town Manager Shawn M. Lacey said the site is still part of the town's road network, and the council took no action. One council member asked for written support from the veterans group on the location and upkeep. Lacey said that if the group agrees, the council could consider a resolution endorsing the park's name. Wolfe thanked The Washington Trust Company for donating toward the bench. For now, Nov. 11 is the date organizers are working toward, not a confirmed ceremony. Check the next council agenda before you plan to attend.

16 Broad Street, Between Tenants

Knead Doughnuts, the Providence-based shop, served its last day at 16 Broad St. on Sunday, Aug. 30, after nearly five years downtown. Co-owner Adam Lastrina told the South County Star the lease had ended and the team had decided "to focus our efforts on other facets of our business." He spoke warmly about the town: "We loved our space. Loved the location. Summers were amazing. Great regulars and summer visitors alike. We will miss it!" Neighbors replied in kind. Owl & Dove, across the river in Pawcatuck, posted "Goodbye, sweet neighbors!"

As of this writing, no new tenant has been publicly announced for the space.

A little farther along, the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce is working on 170 Main St., the former Morrone Electric warehouse between Hallock's Appliances and Brumble Bikes. The chamber bought the 3,700-square-foot building in May 2025. The Sun reported a $75,000 Rhode Island Commerce grant for design, engineering and permitting on a mixed-use building with two upper-floor residences, and a renovation estimate of $800,000. That makes it a design-stage project. You won't see the finished building this season.

The Rooms That Are Booked Solid

Some downtown stages have no such uncertainty this fall. The UNITED at 5 Canal St. has bookings across its Black Box Auditorium, the Gallery Events Space and the Knick Music Lab. The Chorus of Westerly has two dates of its own. Both organizations post their schedules on live pages that change, so confirm before you buy tickets.

The Moretti date is the group's first appearance at the UNITED. Theatre representative Tim Cotter told the Sun the group could become a regular. Nov. 28 is a full day downtown: the Tree Lighting in Wilcox Park at 4:30 p.m., then Roomful of Blues on Canal Street.

Out at Napatree, the Schedule Follows the Season

Napatree Point has the fewest moving parts this fall, since its calendar follows migration and tides. The Watch Hill Conservancy lists a free monarch and insect walk with naturalist Bruce Fellman on Saturday, Oct. 3, and a free World Migratory Bird Day walk with science adviser Peter Paton on Sunday, Oct. 4. On Sunday, Nov. 1, there's a "Bird and Learn" walk and a bat film and presentation. On Nov. 14, Bryan Oakley leads a geology walk, with Sunday, Nov. 15 as the rain date.

Back in town, the Weekapaug Inn's restaurant is serving a $95 Pink Prix Fixe menu all of October, with proceeds going to the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation. And between the shows and the walks, the League of Women Voters of South County is holding free candidate forums at Town Hall on Oct. 8 and Oct. 15. Council members elected this fall will help decide what happens on corners like Railroad Avenue.

I grew up in Westerly, and I follow these downtown storefronts, buildings and town decisions as closely as I follow sales. If you want to talk about what's changing on your street, from 16 Broad St. to 170 Main St., or what it could mean for a home you own nearby, Brian Turano is glad to compare notes. Let's Connect.