SPORTS WE TOOK UP AS ADULTS
THRWINGBK40LB-ERS-NOT16 OZ-ERS = CURLING
HAZARDS-BUNKERS-CLUBS-ROUNDS = GOLF
BRINED CUKE SPHERE, NOT SPEAR = PICKLEBALL
ULTIMATE
CURLING stones weigh between 38 and 44 pounds. I believe the stones at the club I belonged to were 40 pounders.
Michaela and I attended a Learn-to-Curl event in September 2016 and had so much fun we joined the curling club for sessions the following winter. I stuck with curling for a few winter seasons but got lost in the turmoil of the club’s quest to find a long-term home. The “bubble” ice rink seen in the photo of Michaela below collapsed in November 2019. The club moved from this location to another rink in the Cranston complex and then to Smithfield and in between offered summer curling in Cranston and nearby Hopedale, MA.
To be honest, I was rubbish at curling. I enjoyed it a lot but I really never was very good at it and now I’m a bit more leery about traipsing about on ice. Michaela stuck with it much longer, being active in the club up until last season. I believe she has opted to take this season off however.
At some point Catherine also attended a Learn-to-Curl event and participated in summer curling league(s). Below are pictures of Michaela (top) and Catherine (lower photo) on the ice. Michaela is throwing a stone, Catherine is sweeping the path of a stone.
I feel I must mention that it is customary for those participating in the sport of curling to also participate in the post-sport activity of broomstacking. Broomstacking is essentially socializing and drinking, so 16 oz curls could technically be considered part of curling.
I’ve been sledding on a GOLF course and I’ve walked recreationally on a golf course but I have never been on a golf course to play golf so I have no fun family golf photos to share. If you have some, email them to me and I’ll add them to this post.
I believe those that fit into the “took up the sport as adults” category would be Bill, Karen, Mary, and Lou. Karen continues to play in a league regularly. Lou’s golfing has led to volunteer work at the RI Children’s Golf Club housed at Coventry Pines. I’m not sure if Mary is still actively golfing. I believe Bill golfs with Lou and Karen on vacation trips.
I am aware that Bob and Russ may have join some sub-set of the above group but I believe both of them played golf as teens.
A rather large sub-set of the family has given PICKLEBALL a try. In the photo below, taken earlier this month at McGinn Park, Sarah, Karen, me (Nancy), Norma, Annette, Mary, Jan, Jen, and Bill take a break from the morning’s grueling matches for a group photo.
Additionally, Dave and Lowell play (or were playing as of this past summer) pickleball somewhat regularly. It’s a natural follow-on to racquet sports they may have already played but I’m fairly certain they didn’t play pickleball until they were adults. Megan M had plans to learn/play this summer but I’m not sure if that ever happened.
ULTIMATE (some say “Ultimate Frisbee” but I believe that is not the official, sanctioned name of the sport)
Some erroneously refer to the sport of ULTIMATE at “ultimate Frisbee” but the official name of the sport does not include “Frisbee.”
I think Catherine started playing ultimate in college. It may have been while she was in high school but I think college is more likely. The photo below was taken in April 2013 at URI, I believe.
For anyone not knowing what ultimate is, here’s a AI synopsis of the game:
Ultimate is a fast-paced, non-contact team sport where players score by catching a disc (Frisbee) in the opponent’s end zone, similar to football or basketball, but with unique rules like not being able to run with the disc, relying on quick passes, and being self-officiated under the “Spirit of the Game” for fair play. Two teams, usually with seven players each, try to advance the disc down a rectangular field by passing to teammates, with possession changing on incomplete passes, interceptions, or if the disc goes out of bounds, leading to rapid transitions from offense to defense.
RI AMUSEMENT PARKS WE HAVE VISITED
MAGICALLY CHARMED WOODLAND = ENCHANTED FOREST
CRAGGY, ROUGH SITE NEAR WATER = ROCKY POINT
FALCATE GROUNDS = CRESCENT PARK
FOURTH
ENCHANTED FOREST operated from 1971 until 2005 in Hopkinton, RI. It was small (about 30 acres, most of them being “forest”), all rides/attractions were designed for younger children. I went at least one time with Catherine. Below is a photo of her on the little Ferris Wheel. Although I have been there and I know it was located on Rt. 3, I don’t believe I could place where it was if I drove by it today. Did any other family members take kids there?
The July 19, 2025 puzzle addressed favorite rides at ROCKY POINT but did not provide a history of the park; a brief park history is provided below.
Rocky Point opened in the late 1840s as a picnic spot with customers usually arriving via steamship from Providence. The park’s heyday was in the first decades of the 20th century when the park was a major resort with multiple hotels and entertainment offerings.
Damage from the 1938 hurricane led to a 10-year closure. Although the park did well after re-opening post-hurricane, it suffered decline in attendance during the latter decades of the century and eventually closed in 1995. The State of Rhode Island eventually acquired the land and re-opened the space as a 124-acre recreational park in 2014.
The current space has a few remnants of park rides and structures. Its current use as a “passive” recreation area is primarily used for walking and fishing. There are several several didactic panels addressing various historical tidbits related to the property such as notation of the first use of a telephone by a U.S. president. In 1877, Alexander Graham Bell placed a call in Providence to President Rutherford B. Hayes at Rocky Point. Another panel informs visitors of a 1914 Providence Grays baseball game in which Babe Ruth hit a home run into Narragansett Bay.
Falcate grounds? Did we all learn a new word this week?
To be honest, I had written this clue months ago and when I sat down to work on the puzzle this week I saw this and thought it was a typo. But no, “falcate” in fact means sickle- or crescent-shaped.
CRESCENT PARK was located in the Riverside section of East Providence, RI. It opened in 1886. The park’s Looff Carosuel is all that remains and is operational during summer months.
Like Rocky Point, Crescent Park suffered damage from the Hurricane of 1938. The park changed ownership over the next few decades and closed in 1979.
I have vague memories of Crescent Park. Do any of the siblings remember it better than I?
Below is an image I found online of the park as it stood in 1965.
NON-RI AMUSEMENT PARKS WE HAVE VISITED
WATERWAY ADJACENT = RIVERSIDE
COULD BE ABE’S REC&RELAX PLACE = LINCOLN PARK
FABLE TERRITORY = STORY LAND
DEEP-WATER OF MATTATUCK CHIEF = LAKE COMPOUNCE
RIVERSIDE Amusement Park was the predecessor of Six Flags New England. Located in Agawam, Massachusetts, the park was visited by family members several times before the change to Six Flags in the late 90s.
LINCOLN PARK was located on the North Dartmouth/Westport line in Massachusetts. It closed after the 1987 season. I have very faint memories of this park. I can remember roughly the layout of Kiddie Land and two favorite rides there being the pump cars, which I think I never had enough strength get myself through completely unaided, and the little Ferris Wheel. I imagine the ride that most will remember however is the Comet roller coaster. Although I’m quite certain I never rode this roller coaster, I do remember it. Its presence loomed large both in physical space and auditory bandwidth it consumes. The Comet was one of those beastly wooden coasters – and like others of its ilk, it was plagued by accidents and safety deficits over the years. The safety records of the Comet and other rides in the park were paramount in the park’s ultimate demise.
I found the following from a Wikipedia page dedicated to the park interesting: “The most popular ride was the “Monster Ride,” where diabolical creatures were plotting your demise from beyond the railways. It featured two papier-mâché monsters overlooking your entry from the second floor balcony.” It sounds like something little kids wouldn’t easily forget, I however, have absolutely NO memory of it.
I have never been to STORY LAND (nor Santa’s Village for that matter) but I know quite a few family members have been to Story Land. Below are some photos I believe to have been taken at the Glen, New Hampshire amusement park targeted for young children. The last photo (stolen from Sarah) is really quite extraordinary in that Sarah managed to take a selfie on the rollercoaster and not only captured everyone in her party on the ride but also those in her party OFF the ride – that’s Jan and Eva standing on the other side of the chainlink fence.
It’s also possible that some of the other photos were taken at Hershey Park. I failed to mark the copies of these photos (graciously supplied by Annette) in any manner such that I would know for certain (bad file management).
In Bristol, CT, the actual geographical feature, Lake Compounce, gets its name from Chief John Compound, a Mattatuck-Tunxis Native American.
I have never been to LAKE COMPOUNCE (geographic feature or amusement park) myself (except off-season last year to take the picture below) but I know Catherine has been with either friends or with a NK Rec Dept field trip.
Has anyone else been? Oh, and by way of comparison, it’s 332 acres. The Enchanted Forest in Hopkinton, RI only occupied 30 acres and the RI State Park build at the site of the former Rocky Point Amusement Park is 124 acres.
PLACES WE’VE BEEN LOCKED IN OR OUT OF
PERSONAL ABODE
OUTDOOR RECREATIONAL FACILITY
PERSONAL CONVEYANCE
SCH READING COLLECTION LOCALE = UNIVERSITY LIBRAY
PERSONAL ABODE
I locked myself out of my house on Nausauket Road at least one time. I remember doing this when Michaela was an infant and she was sleeping on my bed. I think she was so young that she hadn’t even managed to roll over yet but I was beyond myself that she was somehow going to roll off the bed before I got into the house. That did not happen. I have also locked myself out of The 461 at least two times. I’m happy to report there were no babies in danger in either of those cases.
I can’t be the only one to have been locked out of their personal abode…got a story to share?
OUTDOOR RECREATIONAL FACILITY
Naval Station Newport operates Carr Point, a recreation facility (camping sites, ball fields, cookout pavilions) on Aquidneck Island. The facility is not far from where I worked and I often went there to enjoy the view of the bay during my lunch breaks. On one particular occasion I went to the park to fly a kite after work. I DID take notice of a sign indicating the facility closed at 8 PM. However, whoever was assigned to close and lock the gate that day did so early and when I went to leave, I realized I had been locked in. I had a cell phone with me and I was (after several phone calls) able to get someone to come back to unlock the gate.
POV = PRIVATELY-OWNED VEHICLE
I looked high and low for the postcard sent to me from New Hampshire by the Hughes and Joseph families recounting their most recent CAR lock out incident – but sadly, could not find it. I believe I even posted it on Facebook years later when I happened across the card, but again, I looked and I can’t find that posting.
In a nutshell…the families were locked out of car(s), I believe at Clark’s Trained Bears (or maybe I think this because there were bears on the postcard). As the written text on the card indicated, Norma and Karen were “not happy campers.”
SCH READING COLLECTION LOCALE = UNIVERSITY LIBRAY
I don’t have much for you here other than Jan told a story this summer about having been locked in the library at URI after late-night studying.
4 responses to “December 13, 2025 – Puzzle Discussion”
Okay I didn’t get any of them.
Need to dumb done the discriptions.
As always loved the write up and pictures.
Great job Nancy
I did not get any of them.
Yes, I did get locked in the URI library one night.
I was doing some late night studying and it closed 1 hour earlier than I thought it did.
The lights did not go out.
I found a janitor to let me out.
Sarah, Eva, and I took the girls to Story Land for maybe 4 years each summer. Molly and Megan eventually got older and had summer jobs. I have many good memories of those trips. Sarah’s selfie is legendary in our family. As Nancy said, she got everyone on the ride and Eva and me watching from behind the fence.
I didn’t get any of them.
I couldn’t even get what any of the individual clues were!
Going back to week one we are a bunch of Monowatts!
I spent many a Friday night at Rocky Point in my youth! Very sad when it closed although I have to say they’ve done a beautiful job with it!
I don’t really remember Crescent Park or Lincoln Park. But I would guess that I must have gone to them. Will need to check with Karen
I have never been to Lake Compounce but I’m pretty sure my kids have been there with their grandparents.
And yes I’ve locked myself out of multiple houses and cars I’ve owned over the years!
I got none but love these old pics. I pieced together a few of the clues but didn’t get any categories together.
I think I maybe went to Enchanted Forest on a Rec field trip when I was a kid and maybe with my friend Heidi and her family.
And I MISS Rocky Point! I have memories of that place in every stage of my life. I would’ve loved to have taken my kids.
I LOVE Storyland! The most epic thing about that selfie was I was just trying to get us all on the roller coaster. I didn’t realize I even had Muffin and Eva off the ride until I looked at it later!