Dinner served a la bridge
Patrons get a meal and a view with city’s ‘Twilight on the Blackstone’
WOONSOCKET — City residents Laurent and Janet Gendron have been married for 67 years and have called Woonsocket home their entire lives. They remember when the old Court Street bridge consisted of steel grates that could prove treacherous to women walking the streets in heels.
But all those years, not once did they think they'd be dining on the span that overlooks the Blackstone River with scenic views of downtown. Not until Saturday evening, that is, when they and about 250 others noshed outdoors as part of the Downtown Woonsocket Collaborative's “Twilight on the Blackstone.”
“It's something new and different and that's what Woonsocket needs,” Janet Gendron said. “It's something exciting.”
“The bridge has been something I remember way back,” her husband Laurent added. “I know it's sturdy, I saw it put up … It's great to see this part of the city coming alive.”
The fete was a celebration that offered patrons a unique opportunity to dine 100 feet above the waters of the Blackstone River, which DWC officials said would reconnect guests to Main Street. Woonsocket establishments Kay's Restaurant, Ciro's Tavern on Cherry, Brick House Club & Pub, and Kentastic Cakes provided the meal, drinks, and dessert.
Tickets sold for $75 per person, $140 per couple, or $480 for a table of eight. All told, about 250 people were dining on the span Saturday night.
City Councilwoman Melissa Murray, the chair of the DWC's promotions committee, said she “couldn't have asked for better” in anticipating Saturday night's outdoor gala. “The attendance is beyond my expectations, but a beautiful, perfect night worked in our favor,” she said with a smile.
“I never expected 250 on the bridge but the outpouring of support has been spectacular,” Murray added.
“This bridge is a perfect venue. People drive over it every day but never stop to appreciate the beauty of the river and the architecture,” she later said. “It's having a nice event to look at Woonsocket from a different perspective than what you see everyday, a way you've never looked at it before.”
The Downtown Woonsocket Collaborative is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and promoting downtown Woonsocket, with the objective to make downtown Woonsocket a “vibrant destination city” by restoring city history for the modern world, officials say.
Murray said that Woonsocket is a community that has “a lot to offer,” and there are many opportunities to showcase the “beauty of downtown and its uniqueness.”
“I think the community and state are starting to realize how much potential downtown Woonsocket has,” Murray said.
Local residents Tim Forcier and Holly Barchiesi were taking in the Blackstone River on Saturday evening before sitting down to dinner. Forcier said that he's “big into city events,” noting that he takes drone pictures of historic Woonsocket landmarks, and he said the dinner gala was “really cool to bring people together.”
“It's so cool, the location's perfect,” Forcier said. “This represents Woonsocket as we see it. There's no other location like this here.”
Barchiesi added: “I was surprised they did something like this, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to be with friends and family … I'm impressed it looks as beautiful as it does.”
Murray said that following the success of Saturday night, she'd like to see Twilight on the Blackstone become a yearly event, saying, “There's huge potential” in downtown Woonsocket.