It was a year of wins and losses, rebirth and renewal, challenges and compromise. Here are just a few of Bristol’s biggest stories from 2023 to enjoy as we pin up a new calendar and look forward to a new year of telling stories about our community.

Bristol’s Enright makes world history
The 11th Hour Racing Team, helmed by Bristol native Charlie Enright, won The Ocean Race 2022-23, the world’s longest and toughest team sporting event. It was the first time a US team has won in the 50-year history of the race.

Momentum was all theirs as 11th hour dominated the final legs of the race. They were leading in the overall standings with just one leg to go, when, on June 25 in The Hague, just 27 minutes after the start, the team was forced to retire from the final leg, following a violent collision with a competitor. The team put in a request for redress to the World Sailing International Jury and, following the hearing on Thursday, June 29, the Jury awarded 11th Hour Racing Team 4 points of redress, giving them first place on the overall race leaderboard.

“Any sailor will tell you that they want to win races on the water and not in the jury room, and after winning three legs back to back we felt exceptionally strong and confident going into the final leg,” said Enright. “We are pleased with the jury’s decision, although we wish we had had the chance to battle it out for this final leg on the water.”

“To be the first US team to be lifting this trophy is an exceptional honor…It’s not the way I would have drawn this up, but the victory is sweet all the same.”

Goodbye, Aidan
Aidan Graham was a man like many men — but unlike any other man in the long and storied history of Bristol, he (or at least, his eponymous establishment) sold a million beers (yes, the million beer milestone was reached in 2021) right here in the 02809, beginning in 1992 when he first opened Aidan’s Pub. You meet a lot of people and make a lot of friends when you spend that kind of time behind a bar, and after Graham lost his battle with cancer on March 8, Aidan’s was packed to the rafters with friends sharing memories of the beloved musician from Ireland.

Local restauranteur Ritchie Corrente knew Graham as well as anyone. “I was about 8 years old when my mother met Aidan Graham,” Corrente wrote in an online tribute. “…He was this real nice guy with big silly glasses, a blonde mullet and the funniest accent I‘ve ever heard.”

“Aidan was an awesome guy to grow up with, and working at Aidans was the coolest thing ever,” Corrente continued. “He was like a father to me but he was also my boss…We had our ups and downs but I know it all helped me become the man I am today.”

Robin Rug moves ahead
More accurately a laborious process than a singular event, the meetings, negotiations, and public hearings concerning the efforts of Brady Sullivan Properties to redevelop Robin Rug into the Bristol Yarn Mill reached a turning point mid-summer. That’s when the Planning Board approved a preliminary plan of the project by a 4-1 vote.

The plan calls for 127 residential units and 6,300 square feet of commercial space. The rehabilitation and reuse of the buildings will be in accordance with the guidelines of the RI Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission and the Bristol Historic District Commission. None of the historic buildings are intended to be removed and no additions or significant modifications to the existing buildings are proposed.

The 8-page decision, accessible on the Town website under Community Development, lays out the conditions that resulted from many hours of discussion and community input. “The ball is in the developer’s court now,” said Community Development Director Diane Williamson.

Deer hunting begins amidst vocal concerns
An agreement between the Town of Bristol and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) that was brokered to help manage the deer population in (and the associated health and public safety issues that come with it) received mixed reviews following its Sept. 15 rollout.

The agreement, which permits bow hunting on four town-owned properties through Jan. 31, is similar to cooperatives managed by DEM in other towns. Advocates hope it will put a dent in the excessive number of deer-human interactions in town (among the highest in the state); detractors say the plan is unsafe, inhumane, invasive, and not thoroughly thought out.

Alison Arruda, a Hopeworth Avenue resident, started a Facebook group and a petition against the hunting program “I am outraged that this wasn’t put to a vote for the citizens of Bristol, and I think there should be a town meeting about this.” She criticized the Town Council for not looking into more humane ways to deal with the deer population.

“Any time you have hunting occurring in a new area, whether rural or urban or otherwise, some certain number of people are going to be upset,” said Dylan Ferreira, the Principal Wildlife Biologist for DEM who advocated for the creation of the program through multiple meetings at the Bristol Town Council.

Town Council Chairman Nathan Calouro said that preventing tick-born illnesses and collisions between vehicles and deer remain worthy reasons to enact the program.

“I understand people are concerned, but so is the Council. I live here and my colleagues live here,” he said. “Hunting has happened in Bristol for years prior to this, it’s just never been front and center and has never been on Town land. I think that’s the distinctive difference here.” He also noted that the Council will be reviewing the program at the end of the season. “[Residents] should know confidently the police aren’t going anywhere, we are monitoring it, the police are monitoring it, we did it for the reasons stated and we should see a difference in those numbers with less Lyme disease and all the other things that go with it.”

Tee up!
The new Bristol Golf Park was opened to the public in late summer. The restoration of the Silver Creek watershed headwaters as an environmental project and recreational facility was a years-long project described by Town Administrator Steven Contents as an exercise in compromise between those who were focused on habitat restoration and others who concentrated on how to create a great course.

“I wanted both,” he said. “We have beautiful water quality, open space, and a recreational facility.”

“This is a national story, and it needs to be told,” said Robert McNeil of Northeast Golf Company, the management company chosen to run the course on behalf of the Town. “To take a property this depleted and make it available to everybody is remarkable.”

When thanks were given from all, and to all, from the Conservation Commission and Save Bristol Harbor; to Wenley Ferguson of Save the Bay and course designer Tim Gerrish; to all the Town departments, private businesses that lent a hand, and everyone in between, Ed Tanner, Bristol’s Principal Town Planner, was singled out for his unwavering commitment to the project.

“We have a playable 9 holes on what was this really compromised property,” said Ferguson. “Ed, you took on so much more than grant administration and project management. We’d still be in phase one if it wasn’t for you.”

A monumental task
It’s a project that has been going on for four years, and this October, it received due credit as Unity Park was given two of Preserve Rhode Island’s Rhody Awards — one for adaptive reuse, and the other for the all-around people’s choice of the best preservation project in the state.

Once upon a time, the expansive property at 500 Wood St., now Unity Park, was the centerpiece of Bristol’s thriving industrial heart — more recently, it was a stain on Bristol’s landscape, blighted and unable to pass inspection with the state Fire Marshal.

In 2019, Joseph Brito Jr., now the Unity Park CEO heard that the property would be going into receivership. Brito brought in Jordan Sawyer, owner of the Bristol Oyster Bar, to see if he saw the same opportunity Brito did. “It didn't look like this,” said Brito outside the beautifully rehabilitated Brick Pizza Co., Sawyer’s year-old establishment. “The doors were blown in, the floor was full of water, the seagulls were living here and not paying rent. And Jordan looked around and said he’d take it.”

“Years ago the owners of this property were the largest employers in town, but those jobs are long gone,” said Ed Cox, Unity Park CFO. “The anticipation that manufacturing would return was part of the reason that it it languished so long, but that wasn't going to happen. The time was right for the Town to realize that a blend of uses that would complement one another would be the best way to ensure the survivability and the vitality of the complex.”

The property today is truly mixed-use, with entertainment, office space, and manufacturing, as well as some blue economy businesses, like Flux Marine and Sea Legs.

“When I first visited the property this past winter, I was really blown away by the transformation of what had been a dilapidated, unsafe, and abandoned mill structure,” said Karen Binder, Blithewold’s Executive Director, at the presentation of the award. “To see it transformed into this vibrant and economic engine for the town was really amazing to me.”

Voters say yes to schools
Voters in Bristol and Warren overwhelmingly approved a school construction bond worth up to $200 million in September’s Special Election, by a margin of about 66% to 34%.

“I am so excited for our students and for our towns,” said Superintendent Ana Riley. “It's really so validating to know that the margin was so large, and it's just a real acknowledgment of the need and that people could see the vision of what we want for our kids.”

“The people of Bristol and Warren both are trusting us with this once in a lifetime investment in our kids,” said School Committee Chairperson Nicky Piper. “And what a message that sends to our kids; that they deserve better and are worth better.”

Piper said that she had been hoping the results would be definitive, indicative that a sizable majority of people in both communities were buying into the need for better facilities to foster a better educational environment for students, and hopefully lead to better outcomes and opportunities.

“Now the real work starts,” she said. “We continue to work with RIDE to get max reimbursement and work on the design phase. Our eyes will still be laser focused on fiscal responsibility and student outcomes. A lot of work is definitely ahead of us, but [this] is something we should be proud of.”

Saving some history
Longfield, Bristol’s longtime most visible fixer-upper, finally got the respect it deserves. Though its rehabilitation has been in the works for a couple of years, visible progress was finally made in 2023.

The iconic landmark at the north end of Hope Street was built in 1848 in the American Wooden Gothic Revival style. The house was designed by Russell Warren, who also designed Linden Place, the Francis M. Dimond House at 617 Hope St., and the Arcade, in Providence. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, notable for both its architecture and connections to some of Bristol's more prominent families.

Set on over an acre at 1200 Hope St., Longfield passed through several owners since its inclusion on the National Register, and over the years deferred maintenance has spiraled into outright disrepair. When it last sold in 2021, the interior of the house was stripped down to the studs, and though its historic architectural details have only been minimally altered over the years and intricate woodwork remains throughout the property, the exterior of the house took a huge hit from years of neglect. Before the current owner descended on the property with a team of carpenters and craftsmen, it looked as though the elements were going to finally win.

Today, Longfield is a success story thanks to Kyle Ritchie, a Portsmouth resident who has been in the home renovation and restoration business for over 20 years.

A ferry tale set in Bristol
When the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) suddenly closed the westbound lanes of 195 over the Washington Bridge at 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 11, the impact was entirely predictable. With the Henderson Bridge down to one lane and a construction pinch point on the Jamestown side of the Pell Bridge, Providence truly became “can’t get there from here” territory for the East Bay. The day after the shut down, before people had time to stake out alternate (though still not ideal) routes, travel times of upward of four hours were reported.

Commuters clamored for an alternative and the RIDOT delivered 10 days later, with the beginning of ferry service between the State St. dock and Providence’s India Point. Three ferries have been enlisted to provide departures every half hour from 6 a.m. until 10 a.m., followed by a break period from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then resuming each half hour until the last ferry leaves Bristol at 6:30 p.m., and Providence at 7:15 p.m. There is no fee charged the passenger; the estimated $5 million cost will come out of the DOT budget. The provisional plan is to operate this service for about 3 months, but DOT has revealed their contracts with the ferry providers allows them to end the service after giving two weeks of notice.

Passenger numbers have been anemic, and while the Christmas holiday may have something to do with that, the reality is that the service may not be convenient for a large majority people whose commutes bring them well beyond the India Point terminus. But for those who work in or near the Fox Point area of Providence, it is most welcome.

A theatrical homecoming
It’s been a challenging three years for the Bristol Theatre Company, compelled to leave their former home at the Town-owned Reynolds School in 2020 to make way for office space while the Town consolidated its real estate portfolio. With most of their infrastructure in storage, they were forced to mostly go dark, with the exception of a couple of nomadic productions. But now, as of this holiday season, the lights are back on.

It was less than nine months ago that a group of likeminded advocates for community theater filled The Event Room at Cutler Mills to propose a vision for the former 2nd Story Theatre on Market Street in Warren. The result? BTC has found a new home, thanks to In Your Ear Records, the new owner of the Theatre formerly known as 2nd Story. BTC chairperson Marie Knapman said that this whole arrangement actually coming together after the lofty wishes expressed during that meeting back in March is still a subject of amazement among her and other theater advocates.

Knapman says there’s still work to do to get back to how things were when they were at Reynolds, doing four shows a year. “A lot of people are like, you have a new home, that’s great. And it is, and we do have that potential, but we also have to juggle with everybody else. So we may have to still be in other places, too,” she said. “But the community sharing aspect of it is fabulous.”

BTC recently sold out two weekends of performances of “A Christmas Carol - a Play with Music” in their new home. Thanks to In Your Ear Theatre, the BTC (much like Tiny Tim) is going to survive to charm the masses for (at least) another season.