National Grid has made a map of when folks around the state will be getting back their power, and for some Rhode Islanders, this disruption may last until September 5th. In fact, the RPL Providence Office just got power back this morning! Hurricane Irene: The Aftermath pictures have been rolling in from our colleagues like crazy over the past few days, so we created another slide show of hurricane damage throughout the state.

If you have had power, cable and internet, or just a cell phone that works on controlled usage because your battery may die soon, you must have been following what Irene has left behind. Besides the streaking kid on The Weather Channel, the picture has been pretty bleak in places like North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont. Watching historic covered bridges being washed away by flood waters is painful.

Locally, we have seen mostly tree damage, which in turn has been the culprit for downed power lines and power outages. We have a few pictures from the around our state, and (except for the power issue) it looks like we really dodged the bullet this time around.

Here’s a pictorial view from around the state submitted by our agents and staff:

I heard a story the other day that got me thinking about things irreplaceable. A family making a cross country move hired a company to transport their items. There is nothing unusual about this decision, people hire moving companies every day. However, during the transport, a wheel blew out on the truck and the driver didn’t notice. The friction of the rubber against the other wheels started a fire, and this burned the back of the vehicle. All of their possessions contained therein were destroyed—family photo albums, important documents and, of course, their furniture. A lifetime worth of belongings were lost in an instant.

This got me thinking about the approaching Hurricane Irene. We may not always know when or how disaster will strike. While we can’t control these types of events, we can assemble safeguards that will protect us in the chance of an emergency. One important defense is insurance. While mainstream in regard to homes and cars, this is often overlooked in terms of possessions. Even on something as commonplace as a move, insurance is paramount.

However, if a relocation involves an item that is especially precious to you, (or you happen to be in the path of a major hurricane) it might be a good idea to move it yourself. This does not extinguish the possibility of fiasco, but I think it might give you more control over the outcome. Insurance will reimburse you the estimated cost for what has been lost, but it can’t replace a lifetime worth of memories.

Our Cumberland office recently underwent a service upgrade for internet. In the process of this effort, we’ve discovered that the house (that is our office) was formerly the home of Ray Mullin, owner of Ray Mullin Music. His popular store was founded in 1929 and originally headquartered in Pawtucket next to the LeRoy Theater. In fact, there was a tunnel between the theater and the music store, so when big acts performed, they could sneak out through this passage. Sandy Soares got her first guitar (a Les Paul) from Ray Mullins and Debby Smith used to babysit his grandchildren. Today, both the Pawtucket store and the LeRoy Theater are gone; the Company has relocated to Swansea.

This got us thinking. Time works differently in Rhode Island. Instead of living by that clock thing hanging on the wall, nostalgia seems to be the dominant rhythm of life here. While new construction may change the terrain, the Rhode Island conscious is embedded in the past. Just ask a true Rhode Islander for directions. Instead of street names, they will most likely be given by landmark. And usually this landmark will be outdated, like where the old I-195 used to be. With this trait in mind, we’ve created a list of some famous Rhode Island Used-To-Be’s that are important to our culture.

If you live in the Ocean State and are over the age of 20, there’s a really good chance you have some childhood memory of Rocky Point Amusement Park. This Warwick Park, established in 1847, grew quickly in popularity, and from the 1850’s through the 1980’s it was the most popular attraction in New England. Tom Flanagan remembers spending Saturdays there, full of laughter and cotton candy. The park closed in 1995 and was demolished in 2007. The town of Warwick is currently looking to make the land into a public park.

Much like Rocky Point, Crescent Park in East Providence (named for the crescent shape of the Riverside beach) was renowned in its time. Founded in 1886 by George Boyden, the venue was known as the “Coney Island of the East”, with hot air balloons and extravagant carousels providing the Park’s main attractions. Tom Flanagan also remembers the delicious candy apples he enjoyed here (there is a theme here with Tom about amusement venues). The park closed in 1979, and the surrounding area was developed. The only remnant of these sweet roots is the Crescent Park Carousel, which remains open to this day.

Today, The Towers set the backdrop to the Narragansett social scene, but they once provided entrance to the Narragansett Pier Casino, another source of turn-of-the-century entertainment. The Casino was completed in 1886 and provided a refuge for the areas social elite, offering a variety of recreational opportunities, such as boating, tennis, billiards, bowling, cards, and shooting. The venue also had restaurants, stores, reading rooms, a theater, a bandstand, a ballroom, and a beautiful beach. While Residential Properties Ltd. has been around for a long time (this year is our 30th anniversery!), none of us were there to enjoy the pleasures of The Casino, since the building burned down in 1900. However, locals like Anita Langer cherish The Towers for uniting a community with their granite walls.

Our final used to be is much less romantic, but is a part of Rhode Island history none-the-less. In the 1980s, Providence was included in the Guinness Book of World Record for holding the distinction of World’s Widest Bridge. Known as the Crawford Street Bridge at 1,147 feet, the structure grew when several normal sized bridges were covered with decking and turned into a parking lot. Oh yeah, this monstrosity was located across the Providence River. Ed Hardy remembers thinking this bridge was gross in his youth. This monstrosity has since been dismantled; the river has been moved; Waterfire caldrons line the center of where the bridge was; and the whole transformation turned the area into an asthetically pleasing area. While this demolition was integral in developing our Capital Center, we just couldn’t let you erase this Used-To-Be from your memory. So, remember, you can get to the downtown area from the East Side by crossing over the river where the world’s widest bridge was.

Admittedly, we’ve left out numerous landmarks that could be used for directions, so you can expect another Used-To-Be compilation in the near future.

Getting your property in front of serious buyers and generating lots of interest in it is the way to sell your home. A good agent will work to get as many people to view your home as possible. And since most buyers start their search on the internet these days, standing out in the crowd will help develop traffic. Engaging video is one of those tools which can help create the buzz. That’s where the marketing and technology departments enter.

For the past two years, Residential Properties Ltd. has been making property videos and posting them online. We like the media primarily because of the flexibility and creative aspects. Combining the talent from the two departments to film, write, record, and edit, we’ve found that we can work off of each other to fine tune the product into something that will attract, inform, and make viewers want to visit the property.

Our videos have been viewed over 22,000 times on the ResProp YouTube channel, and we’d like to think this is not a fluke. We are thrilled to have some very talented individuals who make it their business to deliver an interesting and effective product to our clients. Working on other projects besides our own movies helps bring creativity to them. For instance, IT Director Tom Flanagan was recently on an award-winning 48 Hour Film Project team. Their video, entitled “The Lip Dub” had to be written, shot, edited, and scored in only a weekend. The team rose to the occasion, adjusting their “creative process” to succeed in this high pressure environment. They were awarded Best Cast Ensemble, Best Choreography, and Viewers Choice.