Our 50th Anniversary Celebration

Save The Bay 50th Anniversary Logo Square

In 2020, Save The Bay marked 50 years of protecting and improving Narragansett Bay.

As we conclude the extended celebration at the end of 2021, we’re taking pause to look back on how we marked this important milestone: from the history we reflected on, to the events shared with our community, and the way we set our eyes on the future.

Keep reading to learn more, and THANK YOU to all the Save The Bay members, partners, volunteers and supporters who made arriving at this anniversary and its celebration possible.

The Save The Bay Community Through The Years

The 50th Anniversary Campaign

A woman in a wetsuit emerges from the finish funnel at Save The Bay's annual Swim fundraiser, holding the hand of a young boy who is cheering for her.First launched in 2014, the 50th Anniversary Campaign was developed to position Save The Bay to lead the continued cleanup of Narragansett Bay into the next half-century. The campaign, which invited donors to “Be a Champion for Narragansett Bay,” was built around four core funds, each one designed to strengthen our capacity, flexibility and financial foundation to needed to combat emerging environmental threats and sustain our strategic commitment to future generations:

  • Bay Defense
    GOAL: $2 million
    PURPOSE: Create a rapid response fund for environmental threats
  • Organizational Sustainability
    GOAL: $3.4 million
    PURPOSE: Provide recurring financial support
  • Public Access
    GOAL: $0.6 million
    PURPOSE: Expand visitor capacity and reduce carbon footprint
  • Capacity Investments
    GOAL: $2.0 million
    PURPOSE: Make strategic investments in organizational capacity

When we launched the quiet phase of this comprehensive Campaign in 2014, we set the ambitious goal of raising $8.0 million. We are pleased to report that, as of the end of 2021, we exceeded our goal by raising more than $8.4 million. More than 200 individuals, foundations, and organizations contributed to the Campaign in gifts ranging from $100 to $500,000.

Already, campaign support has allowed us to strengthen Save The Bay in crucial ways. We established the Bay Defense Fund, which enhances our ability to respond to unexpected environmental challenges. We doubled the size of our endowment in order to help underwrite the costs of our education programs, and raised the funds to add a new education vessel to our fleet. We improved public access at Fields Point by completing a new public fishing pier and dock, and we retired all of our long-term debt.

The successful completion of the 50th Anniversary Campaign represents a major milestone in the history of Save The Bay. The funds raised will allow us to marshall the resources necessary to protect beautiful Narragansett Bay and its adjacent coastal waters for future generations.

THANK YOU to all who contributed, helping us commemorate 50 years of Bay advocacy in this fashion:

ANONYMOUS (4)

JOAN AND RICHARD ABRAMS

JOHN J. ALVES, JR. AND ANNE B. MILLER

AMICA INSURANCE

ALDEN AND EMILY ANDERSON

ARBELLA INSURANCE FOUNDATION, INC.

JANE AND GREG AUSTIN

BANKNEWPORT

JOHN AND DARIA BARRY FOUNDATION

CAROL AND DAVID BAZARSKY

BAZARSKY FAMILY FOUNDATION

KENDRA BEAVER

PAMELA J. BENJAMIN

KAREN A. BENSON AND JOHN F. BENSON

BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF RHODE ISLAND

JEFF AND ABBY BOAL

FRANCES BOOTH

WALTER AND MARGUERITE BOPP

BORDEN LYON FAMILY FUND AT THE RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION

LAURIE AND RUUD BOSMAN

ROBIN BOSS

MIKE AND LAURA BOTTARO

ALEX BOWEN AND SARAH CHAPPELL

NICK AND WENDY BOWEN

MR. AND MRS. JACK BREWER

BROWN UNIVERSITY

CYNTHIA J. BUTLER

RONDI BUTLER

TAMMY AND CHRIS CAMILLO

DON CARLSON

MATTHEW CARLSON

ROB AND JACKIE CARLSON

KAITLYN CEDERGREN

THE CHAMPLIN FOUNDATION

BARBARA AND DUNCAN CHAPMAN

JOSHUA AND KRISTEN CHERWINSKI

CITRIN COOPERMAN & COMPANY, LLP 

COAST TO COAST PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS

MARILYN AND JERRY COHEN

GEORGE L. COLEMAN

MR. AND MRS. JOHN P. COLLINS

GIB AND DIANE CONOVER

JAMES M. COX FOUNDATION

SUSAN COUTURE

WENDY H. CRANDALL AND MR. CHRIS A. D’AGUANNO

THE HASSENFELD FAMILY FOUNDATION


*Deceased

THE HAZARD FAMILY FOUNDATION

MR. AND MRS. GLENN M. CREAMER

BARBARA VAN SCIVER CROUCHLEY

BUD AND MAUREEN CUMMINGS

CVS HEALTH

MR. AND MRS. LEWIS DANA

MR. AND MRS. GLENN DARDEN

JUDY AND KIM DAVIS

KIRSTIN AND JUSTIN DESHAW

ADOLF AND JOSEPHINE DIBIASIO

ELIZABETH DILL AND CHRIS ROWBOTTOM

KIMBERLY AND BRADFORD DIMEO

STAN DIMOCK

BOB AND RENA DIMUCCIO

KATY DORCHIES AND GERRY NUTINI

DENISE AND HARRY DOWLING

CLOVER M. DRINKWATER (IN MEMORY OF MARY O. MACDONALD)

ELIZABETH AND JAKUB DZIARMAGA

ANNE G. EARLE

WILLIAM AND AUDREY ELY

THE NORMAN AND ROSALIE FAIN FAMILY FOUNDATION

WENLEY FERGUSON AND JOHN WOLF

FISH FAMILY FOUNDATION

F. L. PUTNAM

MAUREEN FOGARTY

PAMELA AND DAVID B.* FORD

SARA FOSTER

MICHAEL GAMACHE AND URSULA HAERTER

JANE GARNETT AND DAVID BOOTH 

STEPHEN AND DEBORAH GEREMIA

STEVE AND KATE GERENCSER

MICHAEL GEWIRZ AND CLEO SMART GEWIRZ

GAIL A. GINNETTY

DR. STEPHEN E. GLINICK AND DR. ELIZABETH A. WELCH

STEVE AND PAMELA GODFREY

LISA GOULD AND KURT VOSS

GRUBEN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

CATHERINE AND JEFF HALL

TOPHER AND MARTHA HAMBLETT

JENN HARRIS

PAMELA J. HARVEY

ADAM AND STEPHANY HESSLER

DOUG AND NANCY HINMAN

EMMA CLYDE HODGE MEMORIAL FUND

ANNE HOLLOWAY

EMMA HOLMES

INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES

THE ISLAND FOUNDATION

MICHAEL JARBEAU

JOHN KAPLIN

KATE AND HOWARD KILGUSS

ELENA KISSEL

MR. STEPHEN KOOPMAN

JARVIS W. LAMBERT

FRASER AND BETTY LANG

KATHLEEN AND JEFFREY LANPHEAR

LUCILLE ROSSIGNOL AND PAUL LAVIOLETTE

CAMILLA W. LEE

CHARLES P. LEE MEMORIAL FUND AT THE RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION

CHRIS AND SARAH LEE

MARGARET GODDARD LEESON AND ROBERT LEESON, JR. 

JULY LEWIS

LYNN AND ROB MANNING

FREDERICK R. MATTIS

THE ALLETTA MORRIS MCBEAN CHARITABLE TRUST

EUGENE AND BRONWYN MCDERMOTT

KATE MCPHERSON

DEVIN MCSHANE

CHARLOTTE METCALF

SUSAN AND TED MOCARSKI

CLARKE AND BETSY MOODY

F. PAUL MOONEY, JR.

MARCIA MORRIS

RUTH K. MULLEN (IN MEMORY OF JIM MULLEN)

LESLIE MUNSON

BILL AND JANE NAPOLITANO

ALAN AND VIRGINIA NATHAN

DR. ANDREW AND CHERYL NATHANSON

NAVIGANT CREDIT UNION

CHERYL AND JOHN PACE

LYNNE AND TIM PALMER

LYNN AND MICHAEL PELLEGRINO

DEBORAH PENN

GLEN AND MARSHA PETAJA

AIDAN AND KATE PETRIE

PETER AND SHERI PHILLIPS

WARREN AND DEBORAH PRELL

PRINCE CHARITABLE TRUSTS

THE PROSPECT HILL FOUNDATION

SHARON PURDIE AND TED SYBERTZ

CHARLES RARDIN AND JANE SHARP

JOHN RECTOR AND TERESA LEVEL

REI

CRAIG RICHARDSON AND SARAH BEINECKE RICHARDSON

ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY

THOMAS AND MARGARET ROGERS

TATIANA RYNEARSON

ED AND CINDY SABATO

ANNE F. SAGE AND JESSE D. SGRO

GEORGE M. AND BARBARA H. SAGE FUND

SALTEN WEINGROD FAMILY FUND AT THE RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION

MARY AND MICHAEL SCHWARTZ

SHARPE FAMILY FOUNDATION

PAUL V. SHERLOCK CENTER ON DISABILITIES AT RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE

GEORGE W. SHUSTER, JR. AND STEPHANIE L. VAN PATTEN

JOSEPH AND ROSALYN SINCLAIR FOUNDATION

ROSALYN SINCLAIR

BENNETT AND LISSA SINGER

SAMUEL SLADE AND SUSAN COUGHLIN

ERIC AND PEGGY SMITH

CURT SPALDING AND PATRICE MILOS-SPALDING

STARKWEATHER & SHEPLEY INSURANCE BROKERAGE

MEG AND DON STEINER

JONATHAN F. STONE

PHYLLIS SUBER

MR. AND MRS. SHIVAN SUBRAMANIAM

HOWARD AND KIMBERLY SUTTON

ED AND CINDY SZYMANSKI

CHRISTINE TANANONE

ABIGAIL TEST

O. ROGERIEE THOMPSON

JED THORP AND SARAH HARRIGAN

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

LISA VAILLANCOURT

VAN BEUREN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

ROBERT VIERRA

POLLY WALL

ALISSON WALSH AND ADAM BRAVER

TONGTONG WANG

KENNETH WASHBURN

WATERSON TERMINAL SERVICES

DEBORAH E. WILEY

WENDY WOODWARD

ROD AND NATALIE WRIGHT

JOHN ZITZMANN AND CHRISTINE O’BRIEN

Constructing the M/V Rosemary Quinn

A landing craft vessel, docked at the Save The Bay pier at Fields Point in Providence.
Save The Bay educators board the Rosemary Quinn as they embark on a trip to test lessons and activities on the new vessel.

Save The Bay staff and board recognized the need for a new education vessel prior to the beginning of the 50th Anniversary Celebration. With support from the John and Daria Barry Foundation and early campaign funds, we designed and constructed a landing craft to support our education, habitat restoration and volunteer programs.

The vessel is complete with a head, cover from sun, seating, and, of course, the ability to pull up close to shore, providing access to hard-to-reach locations around Narragansett Bay.

The vessel was christened during our 50th Anniversary Celebration at our Bay Center headquarters in September 2021 and made its debut public appearance during the 2021 Seal Tour season in Westerly.

A dive into history

With the advent of our 50th anniversary, we reflected on the work, effort, and commitment that led to both the founding of Save The Bay and to the cleanup of the beautiful Bay that is the very heart of our mission.

Saving Narragansett Bay: How People, Passion, and Perseverance Made All The Difference
Save The Bay’s book, Saving Narragansett Bay beautifully captures the battles, the stories, and the personalities that have fought to protect and improve Rhode Island’s greatest natural resource over the past five decades. With a narrative crafted by local author, Todd McLeish, and stunning photography by iconic Rhode-Island-based photographers Onne van der Wal, Salvatore Mancini and Carmel Vitullo, this 10-chapter book captures the heart of the battle for Narragansett Bay—the perfect commemoration for our 50th Anniversary.

Ways We’ve Saved The Bay
A dive into our archives revealed one historic victory after another. As we launched our 50th Anniversary Celebration, we began sharing these stories with our readers on our blog and in the four 50th Anniversary issues of our Tides magazine (Spring 2019-Fall 2020).

A slate of celebratory events

Earth Day Birthday Party
Browse our Earth Day Birthday album!


On Saturday, April 27, 2019, Save The Bay kicked off our 18-month 50th Anniversary Celebration with our first Earth Day Birthday Party in the Easton’s Beach Rotunda! A free, family-friendly event, the Earth Day Birthday Party brought the community together with a morning beach cleanup and an afternoon of free performances, activities, refreshments and more.

Ten additional 50th Anniversary-themed events took place during the celebration years, including three annual Swim fundraisers, three Taste of The Bay events, two Artist for The Bay sales, and two seasons of our International Coastal Cleanup, and more.

While the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many of these events being converted into either virtual events or events with remote components, our supporters and guests still demonstrated their enthusiasm by swimming, fundraising and cleaning up waterways from afar.

50th Anniversary Celebration
Browse our 50th Anniversary Celebration album!

The entire celebration culminated with an official 50th Anniversary event in September 2021 at our Bay Center headquarters in Providence. Campaign supporters, members and staff gathered for food and drink as we christened our newest education vessel, the Rosemary Quinn, and presented Sen. Jack Reed with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to environmental education and legislation.

50th Anniversary Timeline of Events
  • 2014: Launched the quiet phase of the 50th Anniversary Campaign with a goal of raising $8 million to ensure the future of the organization
  • April 2019: Kicked off our 18-month anniversary celebration with the first free Earth Day Birthday Celebration on Easton’s Beach in Newport
  • May 2019: Cut the ribbon on our new fishing pier and boat launch at Fields Point in Providence, expanding on the existing public access at our headquarters site.
  • February 2020: Began construction on a new education vessel, funded by early contributions to the 50th Anniversary Campaign
  • May 2020: Published Saving Narragansett Bay—a 10-chapter coffee-table book written by Todd McLeish—outlining the history of the cleanup of Narragansett Bay
  • July 2020: Extended the celebration by one year due to COVID-19
  • July 2021: Completed construction of the Rosemary Quinn, a new landing-craft education vessel, funded by the 50th Anniversary Campaign
  • September 2021: Held our 50th Anniversary Celebration with campaign supporters and members at our Bay Center headquarters, at which we presented Sen. Jack Reed with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to environmental legislation
  • December 2021: Concluded the 50th Anniversary Campaign and Celebration

Many thanks to our generous 50th Anniversary sponsors:

 

Sage Family Foundation

Thank you, Waterson LLC for supporting our 50th Anniversary and our 2020 Events season!

Navigant logo

 

 

REI logo

 

Logo of FL Putnam, 50th anniversary celebration sponsor

 

BCBSRI, a 50th anniversary sponsor

Citrin Cooperman Logo

Thanks, Roger Williams University, for sponsoring our 50th anniversary celebration!

Many thank to Brown University for sponsoring our 50th Anniversary celebration

Arbella Insurance Foundation Logo

 

Starkweather & Shepley Logo

 

 

 

Coast-To-Coast Promotional Products logo

 

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