20th Annual Swamp Yankee Days

Description

Celebrate "The Good Old Days"



Two new police chiefs to keep watch on cows
ashaway: Let's see those cows try to cheat now!
The Rotary Club of Chariho announced this week that the Cow Chip Bingo Celebrity Judges for 2012 are the area’s two new police chiefs - Chief David Palmer of Hopkinton Police, who started on the job in January, and even newer Chief Jeffrey Allen, head of Charlestown Police Department by less than a month.
Cow Chip Bingo is one of the highlights of Chariho Rotary’s annual Swamp Yankee Days festival being held at Crandall Field this weekend.
For the uninitiated, the game involves purchasing a “deed” corresponding to a square on a grid laid out in a section of the festival grounds. At 2 p.m. on Sunday, three cows, provided by Ledyard Lewis of Beriah Lewis Farm in North Stonington, are turned out into the field and prizes are awarded to the owner of the square chosen by the cows for depositing their “chips.”
The cows, however, do not always deposit neatly within a given square, which is where the judges come in. It will be the Chiefs’ responsibility to determine which square contains the larger portion of chip.
While waiting for the winning deposits to fall, however, the chiefs will have plenty of time to interact with the public, who are encouraged to come watch the action and say “hello.”
Swamp Yankee Days is held Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. till sundown and also features old-time farming exhibits, antique tractor display and parades, an antique car show, the South County Idol singing competition, food tents with jonnycakes, chowder and clamcakes, and strawberry shortcake. Musical entertainment includes the RI Old Time Fiddlers Club, Ben Friert Music, Happy and the Moonshine and Styff Kitty.
Admission is free.
Chariho Rotary raises funds to provide assistance to multiple charitable causes, sponsors blood drives, provides volunteers at the RICAN food pantry, awards some $16,000 each year in scholarships, and most recently provided labor and funds to build the Chariho High School’s new courtyard.
Rotary Club membership represents a cross-section of the community's business and professional men and women. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds.
The Rotary Club of Chariho is accepting new members. The Club meets Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. at Richmond Country Club, 74 Sandy Pond Road in Richmond, and can be reached by calling David Henley at 401-935-9771, by email through the club Website, www.charihorotary.org, or by mail at Rotary Club of Chariho, P.O. Box 543, Hope Valley, RI  02832.