Another afternoon together,
Another day of gorgeous weather,
Another GHCA picnic in the books,
And a super thanks to all the cooks,
To the volunteers I give a cheer,
I’m sure they will be back next year,
From the apps to the mains,
No one could complain,
And the desserts had a flair,
That was well beyond compare!
The tents are down,
The tables are clear,
And Don and Judy are on call for next year!
Ciao!
Maureen Koehl
Congratulations to Bill Keen and Harry Morse, our champions at this year’s GHCA Bocce Tournament held on Saturday, August 8th. After a very competitive final match, second place was awarded to the team of Don Geisler and Anna Kroesser.
Thank you to all who played, watched and helped out to make yet another successful Bocce Tournament at GHCA. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s tournament!!
Bocce Tournament Sponsors: Harry Morse, Maureen Morse, and Massood Abolfazli
GHCA’s 7th annual PorchFest and open mic session was held in Mal and Bonnie O’Connor’s backyard at 17 Border Avenue, on July 25th. The record-setting crowd of friends and neighbors enjoyed picture-perfect weather and filled the shady yard with lawn chairs and refreshments to comfortably experience two hours of music and bonhomie. Thirteen talented acts delivered an exciting program of folk, pop, rock, jazz, bossa nova, blues, and even cowboy poetry. Many veteran PorchFest performers returned, and we welcomed many new performers to the stage. From young, fresh talent performing in public for the first time to seasoned professional musicians, our roster was greeted with enthusiastic cheers and sincere appreciation from the lively crowd throughout the show.
We are already looking forward to next year’s event and we invite you to appear on the lineup in 2027. Start practicing your selections now to be ready for next summer’s event. We look forward to seeing you and your friends and family there!
-Bonnie O’Connor
Green Hill Civic Association’s 4th annual food truck night was held on Thursday, July 9th in Green Hill Park. Organized by Marcia Ryter, with set-up support from Dawn McCabe and Maureen Morse, the event featured several new food trucks this year: South County Barbecue, Farm to Sandwich, Newport Chowder and Lobster, and Luca’s Ice Cream. We had a great turn out and the enthusiastic crowd of neighbors agreed the offerings this year were the best yet. With delicious food, fabulous weather, and a festive atmosphere, Food Truck Night 2026 was a big success! Many thanks to Marcia for managing this fun event.
Green Hill celebrated America’s 250th birthday with our biggest and most imaginative parade yet!
All participants came out prepared for fun despite the record breaking heat wave.
There were wonderful displays of patriotism from decked out automobiles, bicycles, wagons and families marching the parade route.
Thank you again to the team that works to make this great event happen, the handsome and clever Tim O’Connor, Phil Percuoco, Massood Abolfazli, and Meg O’Connor for handling the audio and emcee tasks.
Thank you very much to our Green Hill volunteer group who took care of marking the route, answering questions, prizes, and safety of participants and spectators:
Maureen, Rita and Harry Morse
Linda and Steve Shaknaitis
Mary Ann and AJ Emanuel
Marcia Ryter, Dawn McCabe and Linda O’Connor
More than sixty “young at heart” kids took to the street on Sunday morning, July 5th to let their creative juices flow onto the pavement of Land and Sea Drive with sidewalk chalk.
The theme this year was “We the People”. Children, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all had fun drawing everything from ice cream trucks to astronauts, beach goers, and lots of fireworks!
We had an exciting raffle and ended with Francesca, our favorite ice cream truck owner topping off the morning.
Many thanks to AJ Emanuel and Tim O’Connor for traffic control as well as Dawn McCabe, Mary Ann Emanuel, Linda Shaknaitis, Maureen Morse, Lori Tardiff, and Marcia Ryter for encouraging the artists and keeping the “canvas” safe.
Sunday, August 17, 2025, will go down in history as the best GHCA picnic ever! The weather cooperated and the crowd was the largest and most congenial ever with old-comers and new-comers mingling and getting acquainted. The food display, from the antipasto and clam cakes… to the wings and wraps… and all the mains and salads in between, leading to the dessert table offering baked fruit, pies and burnt butter chocolate chip cookies satisfied one and all! I hope everyone got a slice of Brian Jackson’s hot out-of-the oven pizza, too! Thanks to the bakers and eaters who made the
afternoon a gustatory success.
And a huge thank you to the Social Committee picnic planners and the incredible gang that showed up to help set up the tables and raise the tents; and then stayed to help put the recreation area back to basics. I think the tent crew is ready to take their show on the road! Picnickers were so busy talking and eating that the corn hole tournament took a back seat until the clouds began showing up, but all was well and the competitors got their chance to challenge last year’s champs.
I’m sure I will forget someone, and I hope we can call it a senior moment, but the picnic wouldn’t have been such a success without the help of Louise Jackson, Joan Jackson, Laurel Lefebvre, Marie DiMauro and Suzanne Werth. See you all next August!
– Maureen Kohl
Click to see photos here: https://greenhillcivic.com/2025-annual-picnic-and-cornhole-tournament/
This year’s Annual GHCA Bocce Tournament, held on August 2nd, was a smashing success! With mother nature delivering a beautiful day, a wonderful time was had by all. The event was a great balance of neighborly competitiveness for the contestants and fun for all. After a close finals match, the winning team this year was Dave Dineno and Rick Topshe, with second place going to Dave and Donna Bennett (all first time tournament players). Many thanks to our GHCA Social Committee member Marsha Ryler’s, whose great fund raising provided the top finishing teams with generous gift certificates from the General Stanton Inn and the Breachway Grill.
It was so great to see so many new participants among the full field of 32 players with several teams on a waiting list. Everyone enjoyed the great coffee, cookies, zucchini bread and watermelon provided by our event organizers. The bocce court was in pristine condition thanks to the tireless pre-tournament surface preparation as well as manicuring and raking after each match by Massood Abolfazli.
This fun event was a testament to our GHB community’s spirit, alongside all the other creative and enjoyable GHB social events. A special thanks to the many event volunteers who made the tournament run smoothly, including Rita Morse, Dawn McCabe, Tim and Linda O’Conner, Joan Jackson, and Tim and Mary Beth Spillane.
– From the GHCA Social Committee Bocce Coordinators: Harry Morse, Maureen Morse and Massood Abolfazli
For photos of the event, click https://greenhillcivic.com/?page_id=3443
GHCA’s 6th annual PorchFest and open mic session was held in Mal and Bonnie O’Connor’s backyard at 17 Border Avenue, on July 19th. With plenty of afternoon shade for comfort and a gorgeous, low-humidity, temperate day, our audience once again topped the record number set the previous year.
The count is unofficial, as people are welcome to come and go, but at peak attendance 123 people were tallied sitting, standing, meandering in the yard enjoying the sounds. The greatest number brought their lawn chairs and snacks with them to settle in for the 2 hour program of folk, pop, rock, singer-songwriter, jazz, bossa nova, blues, and old time music plus a recitation of cowboy poetry. This year’s stars included both returning and first-time-at-PorchFest performers.
We are already looking forward to next year’s event and we invite you to appear on the lineup in 2026. It is a lot of fun, and you won’t find a more forgiving and appreciative audience anywhere outside your own living room. Pick your favorite selections now, and you’ll have plenty of time to hone your performance by next summer. We hope to see you and your friends and family there!
Bonnie & Mal O’Connor
For more photos, click here.
“It all started in America” was the theme of Chalk Day 2025. Neighborhood children and adults came out to share the pavement on Land and Sea Drive using sidewalk chalk and their imagination to draw everything from vacuum cleaners to McDonald’s and its Golden Arches.
Once again Brickley’s generously donated raffle prizes won by Ava, Connor and Leila. Enjoy that ice cream kids!
Thanks to all the volunteers and artists who make Chalk Day a safe and fun morning for everyone, young and not so young!
For more pictures, check out 2025 Chalk Day
– Linda O’Connor
