“It comes down a lot faster than it goes up.”

Ginny Barham is correct. In less than five minutes, her husband, Lonnie and John Welch removed one of the 26 wreaths that had adorned the period lamp posts that line West Shore Road in Conimicut. Another team followed Barham and Welch to remove the white lights that swiveled down the posts to give the village its Christmas touch.

In total, a team of 14 volunteers, six on wreaths, six on the lights and two packing everything away in the basement of yet another Conimicut volunteer, had put away the holiday season decorations Monday morning. Such organization and volunteer involvement is the standard in Conimicut.

Six teams of volunteers on a rotating basis – they call themselves the litter bugs – patrol the village center on a weekly basis unless, of course, it’s buried in snow. Not only do discarded coffee cups and trash disappear but also any weeds that might dare spring from cracks in the sidewalks or along West Shore Road curbs. There’s more to the army.

The Conimicut Village Association has an “adopt a block” program where businesses and residents on West Shore Road take responsibility for keeping a block clean. CVA members have also partnered with Save the Bay to perform weekly cleanups of Conimicut Point.

Barham laughs thinking of the times she and cleanup crews she’s working with hear, “you must work for the city.”

The association is 200 strong with a core group of 25 to 30 who do much of the heavy lifting.

Barham has served as association president since 2009.

“It became my full-time job when I retired from the military,” she says. The Barhams moved to Conimicut from Cranston in 1995.

In an email newsletter last week, Barham summarized recent events including the Christmas tree lighting and the student choruses from Sherman and Hoxsie Schools that were hosted along with Santa and Mrs. Claus by Woodbury Union Church Presbyterian. The church, Friends Way and the CVA sponsored the Halloween Spooktacular where the community was invited to display their carved pumpkins in Donovan Park and there were games with prizes and Halloween refreshments.

In the newsletter, Barham notes for a first time the Conimicut Branch Library participated in the Christmas lighting, opening its doors for children activities and hot chocolate.

“The village looked beautiful thanks to the CVA volunteers that put up the wreaths and wrapped lights around the poles and also thanks to Warwick DPW that once again put the lights on the tree in Donovan Park.”

“The big news,” she writes is that the village has a new business with Colleen and Tim Collins having relocated their East Greenwich spa – Tranquil Touch Mind Body Spa – to 753 West Shore Road. She goes on to report that the Collins brought the property that includes the smaller adjacent storefront and have found someone who will be opening a coffee and pastry shop (Cafe Namaste) in that space in the first half of 2023.

“Unfortunately,” she continues, “as one door opened, another one closed. The Community Police Substation stands vacant and condemned and our Ward 4 Community Police are now headquartered at the Warwick PAL office, 80 Bend Street, adjacent to Confreda Sports Field.” The police presence once so visible in the village is no longer there.

When asked about it last week, Mayor Frank Picozzi said the small building owned by the city has multiple issues. He said a decision hasn’t been reached on whether the police substation would return or what to do with the building. Ward 4 Councilman Jim McElroy said he would like to see the substation reopen in the village center.

The CVA is also responsible for the sidewalk planters and hanging flower baskets that brighten the village from spring to fall. The plantings require regular watering – this past summer it seemed almost daily – that is also undertaken by the association.

The association has advocated and been instrumental in winning grants for a number of capital projects over the years from improvements at Conimicut Point Park to the Bay overlook at Beach Avenue, street front improvements and Donovan Park in the village center. The CVA backed the administration’s plan to renovate Conimicut Lighthouse with letters of support for federal grants.

Barham is hopeful the project will come to fruition given the impact of inflation and what that has done to the cost of capital projects.

While she looks to the positive, Barham says she has also become a “realist” when it comes to dreams for the village. She would like to see additional efforts made at the point park including the replacement of stands of dead black pines with trees more resistant to rising sea level and more frequent storms such as that over the Christmas weekend that flooded the point and washed away sands along the south beach.

The association is active in keeping residents informed and holds monthly meetings where community police provide updates and address concerns. This fall the association conducted a candidates’ forum where the public heard candidates outline their platforms that was followed by questions and answers. The association holds an annual village-wide yard sale and over the years staged events to spark interest in businesses opening in the village.

Funding for CVA projects largely comes from membership dues that start at $10 and go up to $100.

“We have some who are even more generous,” she said.

 Barham said the association collects about $3,000 in membership dues.

“Conimicut thrives because of volunteers who love the village,” she said.

The next CVA meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. at Woodbury Union Church. The website is conimicutvillage@aol.com.