55th Annual meeting – Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Narrow River Preservation Association Celebrates 55 Years at Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum
NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — October 7, 2025 — The Narrow River Preservation Association (NRPA) proudly celebrated its 55th anniversary with a special community event held on October 7 at the historic Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum. The evening brought together more than 100 guests, including local residents, community members, and distinguished guests such as the President of the Narragansett Town Council.
The event, which took place from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., featured appetizers, drinks, and a business meeting reflecting on NRPA’s ongoing commitment to protecting and preserving the Narrow River watershed. Attendees enjoyed an evening of connection, celebration, and shared purpose in support of one of Rhode Island’s most cherished natural resources.
NRPA extends sincere thanks to its partners — Friends of Canonchet Farm, Narrow River Land Trust, South County Museum, and the On Pettaquamscutt Winter Speaker Series.
Special thanks also go to retiring directors Sally Sutherland and Christine Ariel for their years of dedication and service on the board.
A heartfelt thank you to our current board members: David Allaire, Denise Murphy, Veronica M. Berounsky, Paula Santos, Kathleen Couchon, Whitley Saumweber, Kathleen Dolan, James Vogel, Peter Gelhaar, Craig Wood, and Brian Mattiucci.
Our current Board Officers were also in attendance: Veronica M. Berounsky, President; Craig Wood, Vice President; Paula Santos, Secretary; and David Allaire, Treasurer.
The 2025 Youth Environmental Achievement Award was presented to Chloe Wild, who volunteered at many events this season, including What Lives in the River and Art at the River. From carrying equipment to getting deep in the water to catch critters, Chloe has been a tremendous help to NRPA and is a joy to be around.
The 2025 Environmental Achievement Award was presented to Walter Berry, Ph.D. Walter is knowledgeable and consistent in his efforts with NRPA. This award recognizes his willingness over many seasons to share his scientific expertise at What Lives in the River and his ability to convey wonder and awe about the inhabitants of Narrow River.
Executive Coordinator Shirley Freitag executed the event seamlessly, ensuring a warm, engaging atmosphere that honored both NRPA’s rich history and its vision for the future. Special thanks to Michelle Lee Leonard for allowing NRPA the use of the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum for the meeting, and for sharing additional insights about Gilbert Stuart himself.
Many thanks to Steve Bonzagni for his delicious chocolate chip cookies – always a highlight!
Founded in 1970, the Narrow River Preservation Association has worked for over five decades to promote stewardship, research, and education surrounding the health and sustainability of the Narrow River and its surrounding ecosystem.
NRPA’s 54th Annual Meeting
Tuesday October 1, 2024
At its annual meeting at the Coastal Institute on October 1, Narrow River Preservation Association reviewed the past year’s events and news, held elections for their Board of Directors and Officers, hosted two informative speakers, and gave out its yearly Environmental Awards.
A moving and relevant welcome and land acknowledgment was given by Lorén Spears, the Executive Director of the Tomaquag Museum. Spears also treated attendees to a beautiful song in the Narragansett language.
Events Coordinator Marianne Chronley, gave an overview of NRPA’s 2024 Events. Chronley, who has overseen NRPA Events for two seasons, is stepping down, and will be replaced by Skylar Ceceri, who was introduced to the audience by President Veronica M. Berounsky.
NPRA President Berounsky and Vice President Craig Wood ran through the “Year in Review”. They tag-teamed on the highlights of 2024. One project unique to 2024 was an Eelgrass Survey that NRPA commissioned in response to a decline in eelgrass that was reported in 2023.
Vice President Wood said that NRPA continues to work with the Town of Narragansett to examine options for the mouth of the Narrow River that will allow safe recreational boating while maintaining and preserving critical habitats within the estuary. Wood is NRPA’s liaison to the Narrow River Land Trust (NRLT), so he updated the audience on NRLT achievements and goals.
Retiring from the Board are Kathy Byington who has been treasurer of NRPA for four years, she gave her final but positive Treasurer’s Report. Also leaving the BOD is Nate Vinhatiero who has served for eight years. Vinhatiero will stay on as a member of NRPA’s Advisory Board.
Administrative Coordinator Shirley Freitag conducted the elections, and welcomed five newly elected Board of Directors: Dave Allaire, Kathy Couchon, Kate Dolan, Brian Mattiucci and Denise Murphy. Three current Board of Directors Craig Wood, Paula Santos and Jim Vogel, whose terms expire this year, were all re-elected. They are joined by Veronica M. Berounsky, Sally Sutherland, Peter Gelhaar and Christine Ariel, whose terms on the BOD expire in 2025.
The twelve Board of Directors named above voted on their officers, as follows:
President – Veronica M. Berounsky
Vice President- Craig Wood
Treasurer- Dave Allaire
Secretary- Paula Santos
After the elections, Katherine Thompson, a PhD student at URI GSO, gave an informative talk titled “Three Decades of Monitoring, Web-based Geospatial Evaluations of the NRPA River Watch Monitor Program”. Thompson has been studying the use of GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping technology to graphically represent decades of data collected by volunteers in NRPA’s River Watch program.
“Casey Farm: A Case Study in Climate Action Planning” was presented by Jane Hennedy, who is the site manager of the Farm. She detailed Historic New England/ Casey Farms’ ambitious energy use reduction and carbon usage reduction goals from now until 2050.
NRPA’s Youth Environmental Achievement Award was presented to Maeve Laplante, in appreciation for the many years she has volunteered at NRPA’s Middlebridge Events, Maeve is a sophomore at Narragansett High School. Many Middlebridge residents reported seeing Richard Rochette picking up roadside litter on a daily basis, so NRPA awarded their Environmental Achievement Award to Mr. Rochette for his dedication to the cause. NRPA’s W.E.R. La Farge Memorial Friend of the River Award . was awarded to Jane Hennedy and Historic New England.
The evening ended with the 2024 Kayak Raffle. The kayak which was donated by Narrow River Kayaks, was won by Sherri Briggs of West Kingston. Concluding remarks by President Berounsky reiterated NRPA’s commitment to its new Mission Statement: The Narrow River Preservation Association (NRPA) engages people to preserve and protect the Narrow River (Pettaquamscutt Estuary) and its watershed
NRPA’s position paper on dredging the mouth of the Narrow River can be found here.
A PDF of the slideshow presented at the meeting can be seen here.
NRPA’S 53rd Annual Meeting Tuesday October 3, 2023
Many thanks to all who attended NRPA’s 53rd Annual Meeting at Coastal Institute Auditorium, URI Graduate School of Oceanography, 218 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI.
Members approved NRPA’s Board of Directors for 2023 – 2024
Officers:
President – Veronica Berounsky
Vice President – Craig Wood
Secretary – Paula Santos
Treasurer – Kathy Byington
At Large:
Chris Hubbard
Sally Sutherland
Nate Vinhateiro
James Vogel
Christine Ariel (new)
Peter Gelhaar (new)
Andrew Neil (new)
NRPA’S 52nd Annual Meeting Friday October 7, 2022
NRPA’s 51st Annual Meeting Tuesday October 5, 2021
Thanks to everyone who attended NRPA’s 51st Annual Meeting.
The 2021 W.E.R. Friend of the River Award was awarded to Sally Sutherland, long time volunteer and advocate for Narrow River.
Two Environmental Appreciation Awards were presented:
Barry Devine – in recognition of his significant work creating The Pettaquamscutt Estuary: The Narrow River Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
Rosemary and David Smith – in recognition of their ten years creating, organizing, and hosting the winter speaker series: On Pettaquamscutt: Presentations on the Environment and History of the Narrow River Watershed.
The online meeting was recorded and can be viewed here:
