PrimeTime Magazine - September 2018

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John Kindl

Se pte m b e r 2018

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September 2018 1944 Warwick Ave. Warwick, RI 02889 401-732-3100 FAX 401-732-3110 Distribution Special Delivery PUBLISHERS Barry W. Fain, Richard G. Fleischer, John Howell MARKETING DIRECTOR Donna Zarrella donnaz@rhodybeat.com Editor / Creative Linda Nadeau lindan@rhodybeat.com WRITERS / CONTRIBUTORS Peder Schaefer, Don Fowler, Karen Kalunian, Larry Grimaldi, Elaine M. Decker, PRODUCTION Lisa Bourque Yuettner Brian Geary ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Donna Zarrella – donnaz@rhodybeat.com Bob Giberti, Lisa Mardenli, Melissa Miller, Cheryl Petrarca, Janice Torilli, Suzanne Wendoloski Classified ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Sue Howarth – sueh@rhodybeat.com A Joint Publication of East Side Monthly and Beacon Communications.

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Senior issues

Clem Labine

Larry Grimaldi shares the story of the major league pitcher

John Kindl

Rhode Island’s own pro ball player tells his tale

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LIFESTYLES What Do You Fink.........................................6 Animal Talk........................................................9 Events...............................................................10 That’s Entertainment!..............................14

Boys of Summer ON THE COVER: John Kindl l (Photo courtesy of John Kindl)

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September 2018

lifestyles

b y L arry G rimaldi

Woonsocket’s

Clem Labine In the 1972 book “The Boys of Summer,” Roger Kahn revived the memories of older baseball fans and introduced a new generation of fans to Ebbets Field and legendary Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s. “Dem Bums,” as the team was named by local sports reporters, captured the World Series championship in 1955 and sewed the names of icons such as Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Don Newcomb, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Preacher Roe, Carl Erskine, among others into the fabric of baseball history. Dodger hurler and Rhode Islander Clement Walter (Clem) Labine holds a prominent place in the book.

Labine was born in Lincoln on August 6, 1926. He was the son of a weaver, a common occupation for French Canadian immigrants of the era, but lived in Woonsocket. Labine returned to Woonsocket at the end of each baseball season to work as a sports clothing designer and later as general manager of the of the Jacob Finklestein and Sons Manufacturing Company sports apparel division. Labine died at age 80 on March 2, 2007 in Vero Beach, Florida after suffering two strokes during hospitalization for pneumonia. At the time of his passing, he was a celebrity coach at the Dodger Fantasy Camp.

Clem Labine pitched in the major leagues from 1951 through 1962. Most of his major league career was spent with the Brooklyn, then Los Angeles Dodgers.

He also pitched for the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates and the expansion New York Mets in 1962. Labine was a two-time All Star and three-time World Champion, having won in 1955 with Brooklyn, 1959 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and 1960 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. (The 1960 championship was a year of extreme personal distress. Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazerowski homered the 9th inning of the Series’ seventh game to send my newly-adopted favorite team, the New York Yankees to defeat).

It wasn’t the first time Labine’s career would intersect with baseball history Clem’s widow, Barbara (Todisco-Gershkoff) Labine was born in Providence and now lives in Lincoln. One room in Barbara’s home is devoted to mementos of her husband’s distinguished career. Walking into that room magically transports you into Brooklyn Dodger and Clem Labine’s legacies. A glass table top supported by three legs made of Clem’s bats sits in the middle of the room. Perched on the tabletop are Clem’s baseball glove, a replica of Ebbets Field, and a 1957 World Series pay stub encased in Lucite. Sketches drawn by the late Providence Journal illustrator, Frank Lanning, a framed collection of photographs celebrating moments of Dodger history featuring Labine with luminaries such as Robinson, Snider, Reese, and others, and several newspaper clippings featuring Labine’s achievements adorn the walls. One wall displays a cover of the June 3, 1957 Sports Illustrated cover proclaiming him as King of the Bullpen.

Barbara met Clem at while golfing at the Kirkbrae Country club in Lincoln in 1980. They married in 1982. Clem had lost his first wife, also named Barbara, a few years earlier. When Barbara was introduced to Labine, she had no idea that he was a former Major Leaguer. “As a kid, I would spend Saturdays at my grandmother’s house listening to the New York Metropolitan Opera, so I didn’t know much about baseball,” she laughs.

September 2018

A Diamond Among the Legendary Boys of Summer

Labine had four children with his first wife. Clem Labine Junior, died in 2012.

A United States Marine Corp veteran, he had lost his leg in a landmine explosion while on duty in Vietnam. They also had a daughter, Barbara Grubbs of Reno, and twins Gail Polanski and Kim Archambault of Smithfield. The Labine clan also included Barbara’s daughter, Susan Gershkoff of Lincoln.

While Barbara wasn’t initially aware of her husband’s storied diamond career, the baseball world certainly knew. Labine pitched in 538 major league games, the majority as a reliever. His competitive nature drove him to relish bullpen work. He told Dodger pitcher and teammate Carl Erskine, “I don’t want to start. I liked the pressure of coming into the game with everything on the line.” There was no save statistic during his career; but he was awarded 96 career saves retroactively when the “save” category became an official baseball statistic. In his major league career, Labine won 77 games and lost 56, with a 3.63 earned run average. Ironically, two of Labine’s best performances came as a starter. The significance of these two starts is partially obscured by the shadows of two of baseball’s most iconic moments.

In 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants (later of San Francisco) ended the season tied for first place in the National League. The winner of a three-game playoff would win the pennant and go on to the World Series. The Giants had won the first game.

Dodger Rookie Labine, whose 13 wins included 10 out of the bullpen, was tabbed to pitch the second game to keep Brooklyn’s title hopes alive. Labine threw a brilliant six-hit shutout in the Dodger 10 to nothing win, baffling the Giants with his trademark curve balls and sinkers. That game, however, was destined to be a prelude to the dramatic third game. The Giants five to four victory was highlighted by Bobby Thompson’s legendary “shot heard around the world” homer that broke the four to four deadlock.

On October 9, 1956, Labine was named the Dodger starter in Game Six of the World Series against the New York Yankees. If the Dodgers lost, the World Series championship would be claimed by their cross-town imperial and hated rivals. Labine seven-hit the Yankees in a 10-inning, one to nothing win. The Yankees won the seventh game and the Series crown the next day in a 10 to nothing shutout. Labine’s masterpiece was overshadowed by Yankee Don’s Larsen’s perfect game two to nothing win hurled the previous day.

While Labine was a confident, some say cocky, pitcher who achieved significant diamond success, he is remembered as kind, considerate, and generous by those who knew him. In 1955, Labine spearheaded fundraising relief efforts for hometown Woonsocket after two major hurricanes had pushed the Blackstone River over its banks to flood he city. Barbara noted that he always took time to talk with fans and sign autographs, even if he was in the middle of meal.

“He was a real gentleman,” Barbara mused. “He always stood up when a lady entered the room.” When Labine died, Hall of Fame Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully remarked, “He had the heart of a lion and the intelligence of a wily fox. And he was a nice guy too.”

Dodger Blue still runs deep for Barbara and she talks with former Dodger wives occasionally. Relaxing in her recliner for our interview, Barbara sported a t-shirt declaring, “If you lead a good life, say your prayers, and go to church, when you die you will go to Dodgertown.” No doubt, Clement Walter Labine resides in Dodgertown.

Larry Grimaldi is a retired freelance writer living in North Providence. Comments can be e-mailed to lvgrimaldi49@gmail.com.

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wHAT DO YOU FINK?

LIFESTYLES

by MIKE FINK

wickford It’s a bit like the Neverland that Hollywood designed: Brigadoon or Eden or Shangri-La. I call it “Wickford, Rhode Island” and we can get there in a quarter of an hour from Middlebridge.

At its shoreline harbor center stands a large boulder with some runic graffiti inscribed upon it. Plus a guard-rail of information about its story. Are those scrawled letters just an autograph scribbled by immigrants barely a century ago to lay claim on a mythical earlier invasion/occupation by Swedish/Nordic/Scandinavian Vikings? Or are they truly ancient evidence of a population that pre-dates our “English” forebears?

Those paragraphs offer no conclusion, just a provocative question. Seems the enormous rock was somehow stolen but then retrieved by local police and installed right here in the downtown public garden. Also within this wee walkway lie a boy and girl sprawled on the miniature lawn reading books: statues that recall the presence of a bygone small library and dedicated to the fine art of reading! The flowers are tended by the garden clubs of Wickford, and the antique shoppes and art galleries radiate out from this focal I went to Stockholm and Copenhagen in point. quest of Viking trail, and then, the Vikings Now I am just back from a journey to came to ME! to Newport, just across the Sweden and Denmark--Stockholm and Cobay from Wickford. I file these images as penhagen: my philosophy is, that you can evidence find what you seek right around the corner from your own homestead, point of departure. Sure enough, I was in quest of some phantoms, ghosts, spirits, of tombstones marking the passage of some heros and heroines of my generation. Garbo’s grave. ( her remains are not there, she was cremated and her ashes were secretly scattered to protect her privacy. Only her name is runically inscribed in gold.) The headstone of the director/discoverer who “created” Greta’s image on the silent screen. The globe bearing the name of Raoul Wallenberg, the “Righteous among the Nations” who saved many lives in World War II by signing his name to visas, risking his life just as a noble gesture! (I named my son for him: he was arrested by the Soviets and died in a gulag solitary confinement prison.) Never acknowledged by the Russians!

I knew all this before we flew on SAS as a pilgrimage, a mission impossible but a gesture of respect all the same. A salute...to what?

I guess I found my answer today in North Kingstown.

First Pitch The Rhode Island Hospice Veterans Partnership held its annual “We Honor Veterans” 65th Anniversary of the End of the Korean War event at McCoy Stadium last month, where veterans from across Rhode Island were honored and celebrated at a barbeque and PawSox game.

The game’s first pitch was thrown by Tony Parravano, a patient of Hope and a US Army veteran. Parravano served in the Korean War as a radio man in communication from 1952-1954. On the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War, Parravano received the Wire Fence Medal for bravery from President Obama at the White House for his bravery and service to our country.

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John Kindl It’s not often that the words “Rhode Island” and “professional baseball” connect, but when they do, it’s sure to be a story worth telling. So it is with the story of John Kindl, a Warwick native who played professional baseball in the farm systems of the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, and Seattle Mariners in the 1960s, before, like so many other budding professional athletes, he succumbed to the burdens of injuries and the calling of marriage and career.

“I was burned out by the end,” said Kindl. “Frustrated by the injuries and all that stuff. I’d had enough. I wasn’t the same hitter that I was before.”

Kindl was born in Providence but grew up in Warwick, near Warwick Pond. He played in the Warwick Little League, playing for the 1953 Kiwanis All-Star team that won the Rhode Island Little League Championship and another team sponsored by Rhode Island Sand and Gravel.

In a Beacon article from 1954, when Kindl’s Warwick Kiwanis team faced Westerly in the Rhode Island Little League championship, the reporter wrote, “The fans here remember Johnny Kindl! He’s the lad who crashed a homer with two aboard to sink the Westerly team last year.”

September 2018

Kindl attended Warwick Vets, but he didn’t play baseball until his senior year. He had a Providence Journal paper route from the time he was 13 until just before he turned 17, when he sold it to a friend so he could play high school ball.

That 1959 team won the high school state championship.

Next Kindl headed to The University of Rhode Island, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and played varsity baseball. He also bowled a bit, going to the national tournament in Detroit, Michigan.

John Kindl’s professional baseball career started in 1963, when he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals out of URI. Kindl was in graduate school at the time, pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, but that didn’t keep him from following his baseball dreams. He went to Cardinals spring training in March of 1964, and afterwards was assigned to Single-A ball in Winnipeg, Canada, playing for the Winnipeg Goldeyes, a minor-league team of the Cardinals named after the goldeneye, a smoked delicacy of the area.

“We had to cross the border all the time to play teams,” said Kindl. “And it was cold in the spring, but it was nice for me because it’s cold here in Rhode Island in the spring. So I was with that team for the cold season. I had to break in, you know, I was the rookie on the team.”

But break in he did. In 76 games with Winnipeg he hit .283 with 11 home runs.

From then on his career was launched. Kindl moved up the ranks. He played two seasons for the Tulsa Oilers, a Double-A, and then Triple-A, team in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Kindl’s first season, when the Oilers were in Double-A, he played in 136 games and hit 21 home runs. The next season, when they’d moved up to Triple-A, Kindl struggled and was pushed down to Double-A, in Arkansas, but an injury to one of the Triple-A outfielders cleared his path back to Tulsa.

“After about a month went by one of the other outfielders for Triple-A Tulsa got hurt, and they called me back up,” said Kindl. “That was a big break.

It’s unfortunate you have to have a break like that to do anything, but that’s how it is in sports. Somebody gets hurt, you

get the chance to play their position, you do well, that’s the only way you can advance. Fortunately, I did really well, and by July I was leading the league in hitting.”

But just when Kindl was reaching his peak, the injuries started piling up.

Near the end of his second season with the Oilers, in 1966, he dove for a line drive and bent back the fingers in his glove hand. It hurt like the dickens.

“But the manager wanted me in the lineup,” said Kindl. “So after about five days sitting around the manager comes up to me and says ‘Do you wanna play ball or do you wanna go home?’

And boy I was shocked. I don’t wanna go home, what am I gonna do in the middle of the summer? So he stuck me back in the lineup.”

Still, even with a bad hand, he finished the season in Tulsa batting .314.

Next year Kindl was assigned to the big league Cardinals club in spring training. He was playing with some of the great players of the that generation, like the great outfielder Roger Maris and the fireballing pitcher Bob Gibson.

In spring training games Kindl faced off against the Yankees and his favorite KINDL – PAGE 12

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Remembering the 1938 Hurricane: Are We Prepared for Another Storm?

Wednesday, September 19 at 6:30 pm North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone Street, North Kingstown.

On September 21, 1938, one of the most destructive and powerful hurricanes in recorded history struck Rhode Island. In observance of the 80th anniversary of this life-changing natural disaster, local filmmaker Carla Ricci, will show her Emmy nominated film One Day…A Story of Storm.

Following the film, Teresa Crean of the Coastal Resource Center will speak on how Rhode Island is prepared for another major storm and the destruction it can bring. A question and answer period will follow. Registration preferred. Call 401294-3306

Rhode Island Chinese Dragon Boat Races & Taiwan Day Festival September 8 100 Tim Healey Way, Pawtucket These exciting races use Taiwanese-style dragon boats from Taiwan and the skill of flag-catching in each race. Under a giant tent, the Taiwan Day Festival presents some top-notch cultural performances, art & crafts tables, interactive activities, and the popular dumpling eating contest. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Pet Walk 2018 Providence Animal Rescue League (PARL) will host its 29th annual fundraiser “Pet Walk” at Roger Williams Park Temple to Music on Saturday morning September 22, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.

Registration for walkers and their pets begins at 9:00 a.m. followed by a pet costume contest with hipster theme, marketplace, one-mile walk, lunch and speaking program.

This fun morning event will benefit the low cost spay/neuter and pet food pantry programs sponsored by The Rescue League and will also support the care and rehoming of thousands of pets in the coming year. Top fundraisers will win prizes!

For more information and to sign up for Pet Walk 2018 go to www.parl.org Walkers can create their own fundraising pages to recruit friends, family, and colleagues and encourage donations and support of this event and all PARL does for the community. Founded in 1913, PARL is a private non-profit that receives no public funding and therefore relies upon donations and revenue from signature events such as Pet Walk 2018.

To register visit www.parl.org or for more information contact Megan Yaffe, director of community programs (myaffe@parl.org), or by phone at 401-421-1399, x213

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September 2018

Animal Talk Local❤Adoptable❤Loveable

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Beautiful Bentley is a three year old stunning black beauty! His eyes are like giant green sparkling marbles, so amazing!

Poor Bentley had been injured and a wonderful lady helped him, he had to have several surgeries and ended up losing part of his tail. All of this hasn’t effected his sweet personality, all he wants is love and affection. If you’d like to meet Bentley you can stop by The East Greenwich Animal Protection League during their open hours: Tuesday 12:00-4:00, Wednesday 3:00-7:00, Thursday & Friday 1:00-5:00 and Saturday 12:00-2:00. They are located at 44 Worthington Road Cranston, RI or you can call 401-467-3670 for more information. Please tell everyone you know about Bentley, he deserves a loving home!

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PrimeTime | 11

GREAT COACHING KEY TO SUCCESS: John Kindl, an 11 year-old at the time, is seated second from the left, bottom row, arguably the smallest player on the team. He said he had great coaches in little league. (Courtesy of John Kindl) open a door. So they told me take a ■ KINDL (FROM PAGE 7) couple weeks off.” player as a kid, Mickey Mantle.

So Kindl was sent back to the In a newspaper report from 1966, minors. His hand never really properly Kindl’s pastor at Pilgrim Lutheran recovered. He had to start wearing a Church in Warwick, the Rev. Carl rubber foam pad to take off some of Bloomquist, was quoted as saying, “We the sting when he swung, so he had to always knew John was an outstanding change his hitting style. No longer could ball player. He could hit the ball he rip his hands through the zone to hit a country mile when he was just a the towering home runs that made him youngster.” infamous in Warwick as a kid. He was The pastor also laid out hopes that if traded to the Cubs, then the Yankees.

Kindl made the team, and the Cardinals The Cubs tried to make him into a third played the Mets, then “Maybe we could baseman. hire a bus and take a group of our church “Now third base drove me crazy,” members to see John play.” said Kindl. “Guys are knocking line His major league contract was for drives at me, boom, skidding off the $1,100 a month, to be paid to John grass, hitting me in the chest. It was Anthony Kindl, Jr., of 125 Edgehill real different being 90 feet away from Road, Warwick, Rhode Island. The the hitter than being 300. Barry Bonds contract was even signed by Stan Musial, father, Bobby Bonds, he was on the the Cardinals great, and in 1967 their [San Francisco] Giants team. One time general manager. he hit me so hard in the chest, bam, that But then disaster struck. the shortstop says ‘you ok?’. It skidded “After about two weeks of spring off the wet grass and hit me right in the training I did something to my hand, chest, a screaming liner. I picked it up I don’t know what,” said Kindl. “Man and threw him out, but I said gosh, I that thing was so sore, I could barely thought it would hurt a lot more than

12 | PrimeTime

LITTLE LEAGUE BEGINNINGS: Buddy Allenson, and John Kindl, right, played little league ball together for Warwick in the early 1950s. The Warwick 1954 AllStar team won the Rhode Island Little League Championship over Westerly, in a game that drew 1,100 fans. (Courtesy of John Kindl) that. But they didn’t make a third baseman out of me.”

His career ended finally in the Seattle Mariners farm system, to whom the Yankees had loaned Kindl for the latter part of the 1968 season.

“So I went into the managers office and told him I was going back to school to do my masters,” said Kindl. “So I quit in May of 1968, I quit completely.”

In the meantime Kindl had married Ruthie Huffmyer, who he met in Tulsa while playing for the Oilers.

He finished his thesis at URI and went to work in engineering in Florida.

He later operated his father’s jewelry business in Rhode Island.

Even though John Kindl never made it to the big leagues, he got to play with and against some of the greats. And it wasn’t always a sure thing that he’d be able to play at all. By the time Kindl had graduated college and was playing in the minors it was 1964, and the Vietnam War was in full swing.

“I had left URI to go to [my first] spring training and so my father calls me and tells me you’ve got some mail from the Army,” said Kindl. “They’d classified me 1-A since I’d got out of school.”

In 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin resolution was passed, giving the President the legal justification to pursue peace and security in Southeast Asia at any cost. The draft was ramping up.

“So maybe that day, or the next, we were playing and I’m out in the outfield and a guy hits a towering fly ball in the 9th inning and I’m waiting for it to come down and it’s like a voice from the sky says ‘you’re gonna get drafted if you don’t watch out,’” said Kindl. “I caught the ball and went into lunch. I go to the

manager, or to the general manager, and said my Dad got a letter from the Army.

I think I’m gonna get drafted. So they fly me home and see if I can get a job in the [Army] Reserves or the National Guard.”

The day he got home, a nervous wreck, Kindl dashed to the draft board to see what his situation was.

“So she looks me up in the file cabinet and I’m not in there,” said Kindl. “I’m on her desk.”

So Kindl headed to the Army Reserves and signed up all in one day.

The next day he got his draft notice in the mail, but he’d already signed up for the reserves. It was a close call, almost preventing him from pursuing his baseball career.

John Kindl lives in East Greenwich now, with his wife Ruthie. He enjoys fishing at a cabin they own in New Hampshire, as well as watching his grandson, Mason Snead, play ball games at Dickerman Diamond at the Providence Country Day School in East Providence.

September 2018

senior

retirement sparks

issues

b y elaine m . decker

Feng Shui for retirees

Feng shui holds that our environment is filled with Chi, or energy. At its core, feng shui is about promoting balance to maximize positive energy. If there’s one thing that retirees can use help with, it’s balance. I’ve plumbed the Internet for feng shui guidance tailored to our needs, particularly getting rid of clutter and getting restful sleep. I see several of you nodding: “Sign me up now.”

Feng shui aside, we know it’s good to get rid of clutter. Having stuff heaped all over can be dangerous. I have enough trouble navigating from point A to point B without having to pick my way around objects with sharp protrusions. Let’s face it, when we trip over something, it’s rarely a soft pile of laundry. Feng shui adds the negative that clutter prevents the flow of positive energy.

Unfortunately, the feng shui “how-to” sites don’t offer much practical advice on how to get rid of clutter. Fortunately, the staging process for listing our house when we downsized provided some guidelines. There are two aspects to de-cluttering. The first is deciding which things are keepers and which are not. The second is figuring out what to do with the keepers. (We know we should donate or toss the rejects.)

One feng shui site recommends that you ask yourself if you really love or need the item. If yes, it’s a keeper. You should also assess if it’s a match with your current life vision or if it harks from times you remember fondly. Those are each signs of keepers, too. Unfortunately, this quasi-helpful site then advises you simply to “find a proper place to store” the keepers. Not to worry. I can help with that.

Buy some large, plastic storage bins with snap-on covers. Get at least a dozen, as you’ll be labeling them with the alphabet and should be able to double up on many of the letters. Take all your keeper items, assign them a lettered label, and put each one in the bin with that letter. Stack the boxes in your basement, attic, garage or spare room. You have now disposed of all that nasty clutter and your Chi should be flowing beautifully.

Feng shui is also concerned with how the five elements—wood, fire, earth, metal and water—influence our lives. The element associated with restfulness is earth.

Earth shapes are either square or low rectangles. In our search for more restful sleep, feng shui would have us replace a bed with a high headboard with a futon.

If my husband and I did that, we’d take a half hour just to climb out of bed each morning. Besides, in winter, we drape an old comforter over that high headboard to reduce drafts.

Since the water element can help rejuvenate and renew Chi, that could be an option for restful bedroom décor. Don’t install a fountain in the corner, though. A background sound of running water is not a good idea for those of retirement age.

Still water is supposed to be rejuvenating, but a waterbed could be worse than a futon for aging knees. Hanging a crystal in the window is a safer way to recharge retirement Chi. Some other feng shui bedroom advice seems useful. Place your bed where it has a clear view of the door to promote a sense of security for restful sleep. If you have a TV or exercise equipment in the bedroom, hide it by draping something over it at night to “lower the sense of activity.” I doubt I’ll be tempted to start riding at 3 am, but my husband usually drapes his clothes on the Health Rider anyway. So I have that one covered, both literally and figuratively.

Finally, let’s talk about a good balance of yin (feminine) and yang (masculine) energy. Supposedly, seniors are prone to being overly yin, reflected in darker homes. You can yang it up by using lighter curtains (draperies slow down Chi) and opening up space. Replace yin furniture—cushiony and overstuffed—with yang—sleek and angular. (Sounds like a metaphor for me and my husband…)

Personally, I’d rather trip over yin than yang.

Yin colors are black, white and pastels, while yang are bright. To balance the two, you can alternate rooms—one yin-like, one yang-y. If that feels schizophrenic, have a predominantly yin color scheme, with yang accents (or vice versa).

I realize this is a lot to digest in one sitting, but I’m confident you’re up to it.

Especially if you fortify yourself with a nice glass of wine before you tackle this project. Just be sure you don’t spill it on your cushy, white, yin-perfect couch.

Copyright 2018 Business Theatre Unlimited Elaine M. Decker’s books include Retirement Sparks, Retirement Sparks Again, Retirement Sparks Redux and CANCER: A Coping Guide. Her essays appear in the anthologies: 80 Things To Do When You Turn 80 and 70 Things To Do When You Turn 70. All are available on Amazon.com. She’s also been featured in ReaderSupportedNews.org. Contact her at: emdecker@ September 2018

PrimeTime | 13

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

lifestyles

by DON FOWLER

REVIEW

THEATRE

Fabulous Fall Lineup ✔ Gamm moves to Warwick. ✔ 2nd Story closes, and many local theatres honor their tickets. ✔ Cranston’s Epic and Providence’s Trinity Rep, PPAC, Burbage,

and Wilbury theatres plan exciting theatrical productions. and college theatres offer inexpensive, quality productions.

It promises to be an exciting fall season for Rhode Island theatre! ✔ Community

PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER The Providence Performing Arts Center, located in the old Loews State Theatre building, celebrates the 90th anniversary of the architectural gem with a special free event (“To Be Announced) on October 6.

With the much-anticipated “The Band’s Visit” and “Hamilton” scheduled for later in the season, PPAC opens on September 1 with the revival of “Miss Saigon”, playing through September 30.

We remember seeing the original at PPAC and being overwhelmed with the music, story, and that helicopter landing on stage.

Call 421-ARTS for information and reservations.

The GAMM THEATRE The Gamm Theatre opens the season in its new Warwick Theatre on Jefferson Bld., with the Tennessee Williams’ classic, “The Night of the Iguana”, filling the renovated stage October 11-November 4. While the opening was originally scheduled for September, a bit more time is needed to complete renovations.

Call 723-4266 for reservations. Check them out on line at gammtheatre.org.

TRINITY REP An adaptation of Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice” is the first play of the season at Trinity Repertory Company, October 4 through November 4. Call 351-4242 for reservations.

BURBAGE Fresh off a busy summer, featuring a free outdoor play, Burbage Theatre presents the romantic, humorous “Shakespeare in Love” by Tom Stoppard, opening in late August and playing through September 19. The Pawtucket theatre is at 290 Roosevelt Ave.. Call 4840345 for reservations.

14 | PrimeTime

WILBURY Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive” was a big hit a few years ago at Trinity and won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize. Ahead of its time when she wrote it, the play fits right in with today’s #MeToo movement. It is scheduled to open on September 13 and play until October 20. Call 400-7100 for reservations.

Twin Oaks on a budget

We’ve been Twin Oaks fans since moving to Rhode Island in 1965.

We remember ordering the Quahog Pie and a salad with Roquefort for a buck.

We remember our daughter ordering a toasted cheese sandwich and a strawberry sundae with a sparkler on top for her birthday, with the waiters singing “Happy Birthday” off key.

No more sparklers (Fire safety laws), but the waiters still can’t carry a tune.

We’re tired of hearing Yogi Berra’s famous quote, ”Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

While it may be crowded on weekends and prime times, there is usually no wait during the week.

We still enjoy their Baked Stuffed Shrimp and rare Open Steak, and we order it on special occasions (Or when somebody else is treating). I get my shrimp with mashed potatoes in the middle. Joyce gets her steak extra rare.

We are never disappointed.

As regular customers, retired and on a fixed income, we can’t afford steak and shrimp every time, so we have selected a number of modestly priced meals. In our senior years, we eat less at a sitting, taking home half our meal and literally cutting the meal price in half.

Here are a few of our favorites: We often settle for water, but since their bartenders are the best in the state and drink prices are still some of the lowest in the state, Joyce will occasionally enjoy a Black Russian (the most generously poured in R.I.), and I will get the best Bloody Mary anywhere.

The bread basket is generous, filled with warm rolls.

Appetizers are usually not necessary, but I recommend their stuffies at only $2.75. If you are a true Rhode Islander, try the smelts, a rare treat to be shared at $8.75.

A sandwich at lunch comes with a load of hot French fries. My favorite is the Wild Oaker, stuffed with turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce ($9.95).

Joyce likes their hamburgers, always fresh, juicy, tender, and in her case, rare. ($7.75-$10.50).

My favorite entrée is the Provini Veal Cutlet, real veal gently cooked, served with red (Joyce) or brown (Don) gravy. I like it with mashed potatoes and cole slaw. Joyce has pasta. The large dinner comes with two generous pieces, but one is plenty for me. A bargain at $10.95.

My friend Tom ordered a pork chop with mashed and beets, and it was all he could do to finish the thick, tender chop. Again, the dinner comes with two chops, but you can get the one for only $13.50.

While Twin Oaks features a number of high end meals, including lobster, salmon, swordfish and crab legs, if you are a seafood lover, their baked scrod is as good as it gets ($14.95). The fish and chips special on Friday hangs off your large plate and is always good for leftovers on Saturday.

Twin Oaks bottles and sells their spaghetti sauce, and still carries on its fine tradition of Italian cooking.

The Italian Combination Plate ($13.95) is a challenge to any big eater, featuring meatballs sausage, peppers, spaghetti, and for a dollar more, veal.

Biggest bargain on the menu is the Chop Sirloin plate for $8.50. I prefer it over steak (Too lazy to chew).

We are usually too stuffed for dessert, but on occasion I will order their better-than-Mom-used-to-make Grapenut Pudding and bring it home for later ($3.95).

And no matter what I order, Gene, my favorite waiter. is there with a grin to tell me, “Excellent Choice”.

And it always is.

September 2018

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PrimeTime | 15

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September 2018