MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CUMBERLAND BOARD OF LICENSE COMMISSIONERS

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2026 at 7:30 P.M.

 CUMBERLAND TOWN HALL, EVERETT “MOE” BONNER, JR. COUNCIL CHAMBERS

45 BROAD STREET, CUMBERLAND, RHODE ISLAND

 

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Shaw called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM.

 

Members Present:  Chairman Shaw, Jr, Commissioners Kinch, Bradley Metivier, Magill, and Beaulieu

Member Absent:  Commissioner Sweet

 

ACCEPTANCE OF PREVIOUS MINUTES

A.  Acceptance of Minutes of the regular meeting of December 3, 2025.

 

MOTION BY COMMISSIONER KINCH, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MAGILL TO APPROVE.

VOTE 6/0.

 

LICENSES

A.    2025-2026 LICENSE RENEWALS

 

1.      VALLEY FALLS ENTERTAINMENT LLC dba Mickey's Valley View Pub, 46 Carpenter St (Pending Fire Approval and Building)

 

Everything is in order & the license has been issued.  No motion is necessary.

 

CLASS DL

1.      FORE COURT RACQUET & FITNESS CLUB INC dba Fore Court Racquet & Fitness Club, 44 Cray St (Pending Fire Approval)

 

Everything is in order & the license has been issued.  No motion is necessary.

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

Mike Bodie of Nate Whipple Highway in Cumberland approached the podium and stated he would try to make this short.

Mr. Bodie explained he had previously spoken at a town planning committee meeting concerning the revitalization of the historic Ann and Hope building, with his objective being to bring into focus the history behind the site, specifically the role that William Blackstone played. He emphasized that William Blackstone founded Boston. Boston has a plaque to honor him there, which we don't have here, and He settled at this Cumberland site in 1634. That's 2 years before Roger Williams set foot in Providence.

He stated his goal was to encourage developers of Ann and Hope to incorporate historic markers into the renovation, suggesting they use historic vocabulary such as "sage of the wilderness," "white bull" (noting it was Blackstone's pet that he rode on while reading), "Study hill," "Study hall," and "Massasoit" (explaining Massasoit was a sachem who greeted the pilgrims). He also mentioned "Catholic oak," explaining that Blackstone conducted many of his sermons under the Catholic oak tree, which was here until about 1942, chopped down, and suggested planting an apple tree to remember his yellow sweeting apple.

Mr. Bodie shared that he had met with the mayor to discuss William Blackstone's influence on Cumberland's development and how the town should honor him. He noted that the mayor mentioned perhaps we could convert the old dilapidated building directly behind the Cumberland library into a museum, adding that he believed Councilman Kinch had mentioned there was some dialogue about that before. He suggested this would tie the historic Nine Men's Misery site into it and proposed naming various trails at the monastery with names like Metacomet, King Philip, Canonicus, and Wampanoag.

He expressed frustration that Blackstone's name is buried in history, sharing that he had taken a course on King Philip's War with one basic text and about six companion volumes to read, but "Not one of the books, not one mentioned William Blackstone. Not one. It's amazing. You know, we're doing the same thing here in our town. We're avoiding who he is."

Mr. Bodie concluded by suggesting there should be signs welcoming people into a historic town that read, welcome to Cumberland, the home of William Blackstone 1634. Providence can't do that because we were here before Providence. No other town in the state can do that because we're here first.

He added historical context about how during King Philip's War, a week after William Blackstone passed away, Canonicus (who he believed was a sage of the Narragansett at the time) burned Blackstone's place down to the ground, with all his records lost, then went to Providence and burned Providence down before being killed right where William Blackstone was buried.

Mr. Bodie passionately stated, "There was so much history sitting here. And if we don't recognize it now, it's going to be buried forever. So I would really like to see the town honor William Blackstone." He expressed hope about tying this into education, saying "If you put a connection, we're going to draw a lot of people here and educate our kids. If the kids get it tied into something like that, they're more likely to settle in Cumberland. So if they're educated about it, they can have an association with it."

Commissioner Kinch responded, making one comment: "We had Ann and Hope in front of the ordinance subcommittee that Miss Beaulieu chairs, and Anne and Hope agreed to do exactly that, that they will make some kind of monument to William Blackstone when they're done. So when that gets closer, I'll make sure that they get in contact with you to see exactly what you may be looking for, and you two can work that out."

Mr. Bodie replied "Excellent," and added that he thought it would be nice to try to tie this into the schools. He reflected on his 41 years in education, noting ironically that "we named buildings after certain individuals. And probably most of the teachers and students, they have no idea who that person was. Think about where you went to school and what's the name of the person. Sometimes it's named after the street, usually a significant historic person. And you graduate from that school, you have no idea who that person was. And we shouldn't let that happen to William Blackstone."

 

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION BY COMMISSIONER KINCH, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MAGILL TO ADJOURN AT 7:38 P.M.  VOTE 6/0.