Thursday, July 24, 2014

Blessing of The Fleet Events

Looking for something fun to do this weekend, you better head to Narragansett. The Annual Blessing of The Fleet takes place and offers a Road Race with about 4,000 runners , a Seafood Festival and lots more. 

The Blessing of the Fleet has been a South County tradition for forty two consecutive years. What began as a ceremony to ask for "Divine Protection" for those who risk their lives harvesting the sea has blossomed into one of Rhode Island’s most popular 2 day events. 

The Blessing of the Fleet itself is a spectacularly colorful event that takes place at noon on Saturday, in Galilee. On a good day, hundreds of vessels line up to parade past thousands of spectators. 
The Blessing features a colorful parade of commercial and recreational watercraft, large and small. Each parading vessel is blessed by The distinguished clergymen, and judged for prizes in three different categories by State and local officials.
Local clergymen bless each and every decorated vessel as they pass before them and a panel of celebrity judges rate the decorations in a variety of categories. Recent years' judges included the Governor of RI, the Lt. Governor, Senator Reed, Congressman Langevin, Miss Rhode Island and other local dignitaries.


This is a great opportunity to meet all manner of people you might never see, crazy athletes, local fishermen & women who toil on the ocean to bring us fresh seafood year round along with locals & visitors enjoying the culinary delights RI has to offer. 

All this with the back drop of Narragansett Bay, The Port of Galilee & beaches to relax on. A truly unique Southern RI event with something for all the family. If a wee drop of rain should fall you can always try one of the many local hostelrys before you go on your way again. 

Whether you are on vacation in South County or just a local taking a break make sure to relax, and soak up the fun.


http://narragansettlionsclub.com/sub_category_list.asp?category=15&title=Blessing+of+The+Fleet

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Things to Do in South County Part One

We are so fortunate in South County and Southern Rhode Island to have so many different & diverse activities and ways to spend our free time. One of my favorites which doesn't involve the outdoors is our local theater. I have to say it's hard to choose from the great selection available but my vote goes to The Contemporary Theater Company,http://contemporarytheatercompany.com/ , in Wakefield.


This company is so committed to the community it serves, and offers a great range of performances. I have to admit to a personal interest here, I was fortunate enough to collaborate with The Contemporary Theater on one of their performances a few years back. They put on "The Gift of The Magi" in Midtown Cafe, a small restaurant on Main Street which I owned. This was a great experience and one I remember fondly.

Wherever you are in Rhode Island you are not very far from a theater company, we have The Granite Theater, Theater By The Sea, The Courthouse Center For The Arts, to name just a few all within a few miles of my home. A shore ride to Providence and I can go to The Gamm Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, The Vets, and many more.

So if you have enjoyed all the wonderful outdoor activities in South County and want to enjoy the arts, and a great evenings entertainment you wont have to look too far, and I haven't even mentioned all the musical possibilities in the state. Keep enjoying our great community & local life.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

South County Rentals are difficult to navigate... to say the least!




Looking for a Rental in South County? The rental situation in South County which includes North Kingstown, Narragansett, South Kingstown, Charlestown and the surrounding towns is difficult to navigate to say the least. When looking to buy or sell a home the tools are much more straight forward. All Realtors are members of the State-wide Multiple Listing Service and all of our listings are required to be on the MLS in the best interest of our clients. This way they are exposed to all the other Realtors and easy to find for the public. Sites like www.riliving.com and www.realtor.com are owned by the Realtors and our members share commissions to insure cooperation or "co-opetition" as some call it.


The local rental market has been historically managed by a few firms that have kept their clients exclusive. The State-wide MLS didn't offer a way for Brokers to enter Rentals and there was only a half effort to have them show up on riliving.com To be fair working rentals is a difficult job and the rewards are not as lucrative as Selling Homes. An agent still has to show the property, write a lease, collect fees, etc...and in some cases can be even more time consuming than a real estate transaction. So it is much easier to split up a $10,000 sales fee for a transaction than a $1,000 rental fee. Running a rental office can also be a double-edge sword. On one hand when your client goes to sell you would think they would be loyal to you based on all your hard work handling the rentals, but there can be so many problems that they may have a bad taste in their mouth.

Having said all this the State-wide MLS started to include Rentals as part of it's services in the beginning of 2013. Now just like buying and selling all the rentals will be included on those consumer sites and everyone would have the best exposure possible. At least that was the idea. The truth is that it is not required for MLS members to put the listings in the MLS and many of the firms that do handle rentals have not done so. I think eventually these firms will come to believe that it is in the best interest of the clients but this is just one man's opinion and I don't see it happening anytime soon.

So when someone calls my office I direct them to the many websites that you can find a rental in South County. I am sure this is not a complete list but these are the ones I know of...if you appreciate this information please forward it to some friends and keep Denelle in mind for your Real Estate needs. Thanks, Dale Denelle

ps: The photo included is NOT in South County :)


www.craigslist.org 

www.randallrealtors.com  

www.liladelman.com 

www.annobrienrealty.com

www.durkincottages.com

www.residentialproperties.com

www.vrbo.com

www.beachrentalsri.com

www.homeaway.com