Many of us thought we were in August yesterday, with the thermometer reaching 96 degrees at the national weather station in Warwick. Thankfully, we are back to normal temperatures today. 
The point of that is Memorial Day weekend is deemed the start of summer. The barbecues are cleaned, primed and ready to start cooking. Memorial Day is really a rather somber occasion. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. For those interested in paying homage to the military, the Providence Journal has a list of parades in the cities and towns and events for the weekend. And to liven things up a little, there are other interesting events happening around the area. The Annual Gaspee Days Arts & Crafts Festival is held on Memorial Weekend. It attracts approximately fifty thousand visitors for three days, where they can look at the wares of the up to two hundred craft exhibitors that will be on the Narragansett Parkway in Warwick. As an addition to Brown University's commencement this weekend, the University’s Office of Alumni Relations and Division of Advancement is sponsoring the partial lighting of Waterfires, Barnaby Evans' installation artwork. This lighting is titled The circle of fires and will will burn brightly in Waterplace Basin and continue from there down to Steeple Street. The fires will be lit shortly after sunset at 8:12 p.m.
The point of that is Memorial Day weekend is deemed the start of summer. The barbecues are cleaned, primed and ready to start cooking. Memorial Day is really a rather somber occasion. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. For those interested in paying homage to the military, the Providence Journal has a list of parades in the cities and towns and events for the weekend. And to liven things up a little, there are other interesting events happening around the area. The Annual Gaspee Days Arts & Crafts Festival is held on Memorial Weekend. It attracts approximately fifty thousand visitors for three days, where they can look at the wares of the up to two hundred craft exhibitors that will be on the Narragansett Parkway in Warwick. As an addition to Brown University's commencement this weekend, the University’s Office of Alumni Relations and Division of Advancement is sponsoring the partial lighting of Waterfires, Barnaby Evans' installation artwork. This lighting is titled The circle of fires and will will burn brightly in Waterplace Basin and continue from there down to Steeple Street. The fires will be lit shortly after sunset at 8:12 p.m.
