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November 16, 2011:
Rhode Island Music Hall
of Fame Coming Soon (WPRI-TV) -
Inductees will be announced this
spring - Rhode Island is getting its own Music
Hall of Fame. The non-profit corporation will
honor the legacy of musicians, educators and
industry professionals who've made significant
contributions to the national and local music
scene. The Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket
donated space inside its Main St. building to
display awards and memorabilia.
More
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November 13, 2011:
Corridor Celebrates 25
Years with Rally in
Train Station -
Woonsocket Call
The John H.
Chafee Blackstone River
Valley National Heritage
Corridor Commission
marked its 25th
anniversary by calling
on its longtime
volunteers and stalwart
supporters to help the
cultural heritage and
natural resource
district win designation
as a National Historical
Park. The appeal came
during a birthday
celebration billed as a
“Rally for Valley” held
Thursday evening in the
Providence & Worcester
Railroad Station at
Depot Square —one of the
dozens of significant
historic sites along the
corridor’s 40-mile route
between Worcester, Mass.
and Providence, R.I.
About 200 corridor staff
members, volunteers and
supporters gathered
inside the depot to hear
praise for their work
over the years and pep
rally-style speeches
from corridor leaders
and public officials
seeking to kick-off the
new designation drive
with enthusiasm. "Let's
not fight like we are
winning, we've got to
fight like we are
underdogs," said Robert
Billington, a corridor
commission member and
president of the
Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council, while
hosting the event.
More
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November 13, 2011: A
Rally for the Valley and
Push for the Park -
Woonsocket Patch
You don't
often find
preservationists,
environmental activists,
business people, and
politicians coming
together for a party,
but that's just what
they did Thursday night
to mark the 25th
anniversary of the
creation of the
Blackstone Valley
National Heritage
Corridor. The gathering
doubled as a pep rally
for a campaign to create
a new national park in
the region, one focused
on the history of the
Blackstone Valley as the
birthplace of America's
Industrial Revolution.
Bob Billington, director
of the Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council as well
as the emcee for the
bash, exhorted the crowd
to motivate others to
join the cause.
More
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October 13, 2011:
Boston Globe - Bill aims to make Blackstone River national park
The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor,
recognized as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, is
one step closer to being made a national historic park.
Members of Congress from Rhode Island and Massachusetts on
Thursday introduced legislation that would give park status to
the Old Slater Mill and nearby mill towns. The Slater Mill was
America's first successful textile mill and helped usher in the
Industrial Revolution. The Blackstone River runs from Worcester,
Mass., to Providence, and its waters powered the mill, in
Pawtucket. The corridor, which stretches nearly 50 miles,
includes 24 cities and towns.
More
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October 18, 2011:
Blackstone Valley could become park -
Congress considering National Park
designation Officials from the National Park Service were
in Rhode Island today to discuss how the Blackstone River Valley
could become the country's next national park.
More
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September 27, 2011 -
Discover Your Own
Heritage through
Ancestry Research
Research Workshop on
October 26, 2011
While the city of
Pawtucket, RI is
celebrating its 125th
anniversary, the
Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council welcomes
area residents and
visitors to discover
their own personal
heritage. On Wednesday
evening, October 26,
2011, from 7-8:30 pm,
participate in Life in
the Past Lane, a
genealogy workshop being
held at the Blackstone
Valley Visitor Center
Theatre, 175 Main
Street, Pawtucket, RI.
More
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September 23, 2011 - Tourism
Council Holds Annual
Dinner - Evening Times &
Woonsocket Call
Evening Times |
Woonsocket Call
-
September 20,
2011 -
Tourism Council to Honor
Two (Read down blog) -
Providence Journal
Former Providence
Journal reporter Dan
Barry, now with the New
York Times, and Central
Falls native Margaret
McKenna, president of
the Wal-Mart Foundation,
will be given special
awards at Blackstone
Valley Tourism Council’s
annual dinner on
Thursday at Twin River
in Lincoln. Barry is the
author of “Bottom of the
33rd,” which chronicles
the longest professional
baseball game played —
the Pawtucket Red Sox
and the Rochester Red
Wings in 1981. He will
receive the Excellence
in Arts Award. McKenna
heads the division of
the world’s largest
retailer that supports
community and nonprofit
organizations. She will
receive the Excellence
in Business and
Education Award.
Reservations must be
made in advance by
calling (401) 724-2200.
More
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August 24,
2011 - RI
tourism leaders to
discuss new sightseeing
tax - theday.com
Pawtucket,
R.I. (AP) — Starting
Oct. 1, Rhode Island
will impose its 7
percent sales tax on
tickets for sightseeing
tours, including bus and
boat tours. The tax is
expected to generate
$1.1 million annually.
Leaders of Rhode
Island's tourism
industry are set to
discuss how the new tax
will impact their
businesses. The
Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council plans to
host the meeting on
Wednesday morning at the
Blackstone Valley
Visitor Center Theatre
in Pawtucket. State tax
officials will attend
and are expected to
respond to questions
about the new tax.
More |
The Republic
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August 23, 2011 - Pawtucket
Celebrates 125 Years -
The Evening Times
PAWTUCKET —
Perhaps the best way to
describe the fun and
frivolity folks
experienced at McCoy
Stadium on Tuesday night
is this: Mayor Donald
Grebien's description of
his throwing out the
first pitch before the
PawSox' tilt against the
Syracuse Chiefs. “I
reached the plate, that
wasn't a problem, but it
wasn't a strike,”
laughed Grebien
afterward. “The good
news is Mike (Tamburro,
PawSox President) did
call it one. Congressman
(David) Cicilline had
said beforehand that
he'd give the city a
million-dollar grant if
it was, so I'll be
calling him tomorrow for
the check.” The event —
call it one heckuva
party to celebrate the
125th anniversary of the
city's incorporation —
saw young and old
chowing on hot dogs and
potato salad under the
first base-side
hospitality tent,
dignitaries welcoming
each other with
handshakes and dancers
showing off their
talents on the diamond.
More
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August 17,
2011 - Secretary
of Interior Tours
Blackstone Valley -
Woonsocket Call
A top Obama
administration official
came to Rhode Island
Wednesday offering
encouragement to the
effort to make the John
H. Chafee Blackstone
River Valley Heritage
Corridor part of the
National Park System.
After taking a quick
walking tour of the bike
path from Ashton Mill in
Cumberland to the
visitor’s center off
Route 295, Secretary of
the Interior Kenneth
Salazar pronounced the
area “inspiring and
uplifting.” He said of
converting the area from
the historic Slater Mill
in Pawtucket through the
mill villages of Ashton
in Cumberland and
Slatersville in North
Smithfield to the
Massachusetts villages
of Hopedale and
Whitinsville: “It is my
wish that it happen.”
More |
Politicalnews.me |
Video from Sen. Reed's
Office
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August 15,
2011 - Birth of
Blackstone River
national park may spell
end of commission -
Providence Journal
One after the
other, nearly all of the
more than 30 people who
stood at a microphone
told a representative
from the National Park
Service they want a
national historic park
established that’s
composed of several
sites in the Blackstone
River Valley. Robert D.
Billington was among
those supporters, but
made it clear he would
also like officials to
try for something
More
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August 7,
2011 - Rhode
Island Could Get
National Park
Designation - Providence
Journal
Put Cumberland’s busy Mendon Road commercial
strip in the rear-view mirror, turn onto Store Hill Road and
suddenly, at the bottom of a hill, a small village of red-brick
buildings emerges, quietly existing as if outside of time. Walk
along a footbridge over the Blackstone River, whose waters used
to offer only a bounty of discarded tires, dumped cars and
textile-factory chemical bubbles, and in a space of feet you
cross into Lincoln.
More
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August 3,
2011 - Ripples
from Central Falls bankruptcy could harm whole state, experts
say In the city once known as “Chocolateville”
because it attracted one of America’s first chocolate factories,
the nonprofit Confectioners Mill Preservation Society and the
family behind Mars chocolate bars considered investing millions
of dollars in Central Falls. They wanted to build a replica of
the original chocolate mill and create a museum. But those plans
are now on the back burner because of fiscal woes at the city,
state and national levels.
More
-
July 31, 2011 - Edward
Fitzpatrick: Creating a
new National Park in
Blackstone River Valley
- Providence Journal
As far
as I can tell, the
Blackstone River Valley
doesn’t contain a single
geyser, bighorn sheep or
giant sequoia. But it’s
still worth making parts
of the valley into a
national park. Now,
we’re not talking about
a national park like
Yosemite, Yellowstone or
Acadia. We’re talking
about a national
historical park such as
the New Bedford Whaling
National Historical Park
or the Adams National
Historical Park, in
Quincy, Mass., which
includes the birthplaces
of Presidents John Adams
and John Quincy Adams.
Most of the 45 national
historical parks aren’t
“parks” in the
traditional sense of
wide-open green spaces.
Rather, they’re urban
areas containing
historically significant
buildings.
More
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July
26, 2011 - Sales-tax
impact is focus of
briefing - Providence
Journal
Officials from the Rhode
Island Division of
Taxation will discuss
the expansion of the
sales taxes to package
tours and scenic and
sightseeing
transportation services
at a briefing sponsored
by the Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council on Aug
24 at 8:30 a.m. at the
Blackstone Valley
Visitor Center Theatre,
175 Main St., Pawtucket.
In general, a new law
included in the state
budget extends the
state’s 7-percent sales
tax to those services.
Those interested in
attending must register
in advance by contacting
the tourism council at
(401) 724-2200.
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July 12, 2011 - R.I.’s
first national historic
park could soon take
shape along the
Blackstone River / Video
A little boy sitting in
this 40-passenger tour
vessel as it readies to
head out on the
Blackstone River
announces to everyone:
“I’ve never been on a
boat in history.” Dianne
Mailloux, who
coordinates the tours,
smiles. “Well,” she
says, “we’re making
history today.” The
child’s innocent words
belie the turbulent
history of the river,
and what comes next
would have been
unthinkable many years
ago — the very act of a
tour boat carrying 27
Pawtucket children,
shoving off from a
Central Falls dock and
purring north on these
waters to experience
river nature.
More
|
Greenwich Time |
Turn to 10 |
Providence Business News
|
Boston.com
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May 11, 2011 - Governor
Chafee, RI Tourism Honor
Individuals and
Organizations that
Positively Impact
State's Tourism Industry
Governor Lincoln D.
Chafee, the Rhode Island
Economic Development
Corporation, the Rhode
Island Tourism Division
and other state tourism
leaders today honored
individuals and
organizations throughout
Rhode Island at the 26th
Anniversary Tourism
Unity Luncheon and
Travel Exchange. All
honorees were chosen
based on their
collaboration and
partnership, which has
positively impacted the
Rhode Island tourism
industry.
More
-
March 6, 2011
- Norwich
Bulletin - Tourism
expert: Make Norwich
appealing to residents
first Last
Monday, I drove up to
Pawtucket, R.I., to
interview Robert D.
Billington, president of
the Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council. A Rhode
Island native,
Billington is an
internationally
respected authority on
tourism and its role in
the economic
redevelopment of towns
and cities. Before a
city becomes a tourist
destination, Billington
said, it must first
focus on making itself a
great place to live and
work for those who
already live there. “If
we can make it a good
place for us,”
Billington said, “it
becomes an attractive
place to visitors.”
Billington said
Norwich’s new $3.38
million Downtown
Revitalization Program
is an excellent example
of the kind of
self-investment the city
needs to make if it is
to become attractive to
new businesses, new
residents and visitors.
“You’ve got a tool (the
bond package) we would
die for” is how he put
it.
More
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May 12, 2011 -
Providence Business News
- Tourism Industry Feted
by State
WARWICK -
Eight individuals,
businesses and
organizations were
honored for their work
promoting tourism in
Rhode Island during the
Tourism Unity Luncheon
and Travel Exchange held
Wednesday at the Crowne
Plaza Hotel
Providence-Warwick and
sponsored by the R.I.
Economic Development
Corporation and its
tourism division.
More
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March 26, 2011 - Star of
film 'Hachiko' to be
celebrated with bronze
statue
For six
weeks, the metal statue
was hidden in the
janitor's broom closet.
“It was a big secret,”
say Robert Pilkington,
principal of the Beacon
Charter High School for
the Arts. “Very few
people knew about it.”
But the secret's out
now, and soon Hachiko –
or at least a life-size
bronze likeness of the
famous dog – will be
appearing at a train
station near you, the
mirror image of the
original on the other
side of the globe.
More
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March 26, 2011 -
Prevention of future
massive flooding means
fight or flee
Robert D.
Billington, president of
the Blackstone Valley
Tourism Council, a
nonprofit
economic-development
organization that
promotes the Blackstone
River as a cornerstone
of development in
northern Rhode Island,
said his philosophy on
flood mitigation is:
Flood me once, shame on
you; flood me twice,
shame on me.
More
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March 4, 2011 - Smackdown on the
Blackstone - Op. Ed. by
Bob Billington
Revolutions don’t
happen accidently. There
must be a catalyst:
someone or something has
to be so unique and so
paradigm changing that
it sets the normal world
ajar. One of America’s
greatest revolutions
took place here in the
Blackstone River Valley.
In fact, the revolution
that gave America its
economic independence
began on the banks of
the Blackstone River in
Pawtucket.
More
ARTICLES AND
PRESENTATIONS
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Business Enterprises
for Sustainable Tourism Education Network -
Think Tank VI: “Corporate Social Responsibility for
Sustainable Tourism” -- University of Girona, Spain 2006
“Stakeholder Involvement, Culture and Accountability in the Blackstone
Valley: A Work in Progress” More |
Read Full Article |
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Word Format | Download PDF Format
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The
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor – Past, Present, and
Future.
January 15, 2005
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