Join us on December 6th as we celebrate this festive event, with holiday music beginning at 2 p.m.  Stroll through the many shops along the wharf, offering cookies, hot chocolate and cider.  Frosty the Snowman arrives at 4:30 and a holiday sing-a-long begins at 5 p.m.

The 38th official Christmas on Bowen’s Wharf is marked by the Lighting of the Christmas Tree at 6 p.m.  The tree will stand majestic as her many branches extend towards the sky, awaiting the glow of her lighting, signifying the commencement of the season.

Also not to be missed is the Holiday Harbor Illuminated Boat Parade by Sail Newport. Large and small vessels decorated with lights, will sail through the harbor for all to view.  Weather permitting, Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive by boat to great young ones and listen to their individual wishes.

The event is FREE and open to the public.  Meet us at our office at One Bowen’s Wharf, where anticipation and excitement will make you and the wharf come alive.

Named one of the 20 most popular things to do in Rhode Island by Yankee Magazine, “Main Street Strolls” have been a catalyst for the revitalization of Main Street in East Greenwich.  Aided by an influx of local shops and restaurants, the strolls have become a tradition throughout the summer months.

Our East Greenwich office, conveniently located on Main Street, participated in each month’s stroll, handing out treats ranging from popcorn to s’mores and fresh iced coffee courtesy of Felicia’s Coffee.

The strolls, run by Bruce MacGunnigle, Town Coordinator for East Greenwich, each have their own theme and were originally intended to span from May-September.  Because of their overwhelming popularity, 3 winter strolls have been added for December.

Word of mouth, local ads, and banners throughout the town have helped to spread the word.

The first winter stroll will be held on December 4th at 5 p.m.

The event will include the lighting of the town Holiday Tree in front of Town Hall and a window decorating contest for all of the businesses on Main Street.  Make yourself at home at our office at 413 Main Street, where will be serving hot chocolate and sweets!

Click here to learn more about Main Street Strolls.

Every year as the weather gets colder, I find that I become more vigilant in trying to use less energy and reduce my overall heating bill. Here are a few simple and inexpensive ways to save energy:

Keep the house a degree cooler:
Setting your thermostat just one degree cooler can reduce your fuel bill by as much as 3%. At my own home, we all wear sweaters and keep the thermostat around 64°.

Cut shower time:
Although long, hot showers are tempting in the winter, cutting shower time in half and slightly lowering the temperature of the water can save up to 30% of water heating costs.

Wrap the water heater:
The location of your water heater can play a role in the amount of energy used to heat water. If your water heater is in a cold place like a basement or garage, wrap an insulation blanket around it to prevent heat loss.

Use ventilation fans sparingly:
Kitchen, bath or other ventilation fans should only be used when necessary. They pull the warm air out of the house, making your heating system work harder to maintain the set temperature.

The Rhode Island Association of Realtors released their third quarter statistics last week, and to no surprise, distressed home sales are driving the market. More than 1 in 4 single-family houses sold in the third quarter were foreclosures or short sales. More than half of all the distressed sales were in Pawtucket, Providence, Cranston and Warwick, with double-digit price declines in these communities.

Foreclosures and short-sales drove down the median prices 18% from last year to $230,000, excluding these distressed sales, the statewide median price of houses sold during the third quarter was $268,500.

Read the Full article posted by Sally Lapides on Real Estate Insight.

Listen to the Podcast below:

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Our favorite time of year is fast approaching – the second week of December, which is Distribution Week for Adopt-A-Family, Inc. in Woonsocket.

For some of us, it’s an annual reunion with a couple hundred of our dearest friends; some we’ve known for 20 years and only see for one action-packed week in December.

Now in its 26th year of operation, Adopt-A-Family is a non-profit Rhode Island corporation whose mission is to provide Christmas gifts of toys, games & clothes for needy children in Woonsocket. Sandy Soares, an agent in our Cumberland office, has worked for Adopt-A-Family as Program Coordinator for many years and has been part of the organization since 1990.

Since 1992, 24,692 children have been provided for through the organization’s efforts in a city where 35% of the children live below the poverty level. In 2007 alone, they provided for 2,220 children…enough kids to fill 100 classrooms!

At the time of this writing, the organization has donors for 660 families but they are still looking for donors for an additional 350 families in need. Certainly this year has been a difficult one and many charitable organizations are seeing a big drop-off in contributions.

If you would like to help a family who might be right in your own backyard, contact Sandy Soares at 401.766.2291 ssoares@residentialproperties.com or adoptafamily@cox.net. The last date to “adopt” is December 1.

Photos by: Al Belisle

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