Living on the Edge: Life at Roy Carpenter's Beach

Monday, November 5, at 6 pm, Westerly Library is pleased to present “Living on the Edge: Life at Roy Carpenter's Beach”. This program explores Roy Carpenter's Beach, in Matunuck, R.I., as a model for understanding how a coastal community will be affected by storm damage and sea level rise. Roy’s is a seasonal community of 377 individually owned cottages that sit on 50 acres of land owned by the Carpenter family, and within the last several years storms have caused the area severe coastal damage.  With each storm prediction comes the dread that there will be more loss, and each season brings new challenges. Photographs by Kathie Florsheim will provide the backdrop for this presentation on data gathered by area scientists on climate change and its effect on our coast.

This event is sponsored by the South Kingstown Land Trust, the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, and the Rhode Island Sea Grant. Presenters will include photographer Kathie Florsheim, R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council geologist Janet Freedman, architect/planner Kenneth Filarski, and URI landscape architecture professor Angelo Simeone, all discussing the future of one iconic Rhode Island beach community.