The guest speaker at our meeting was Roberta Mudge HUMBLE, Professor of English and Tehnical Communications at the Community College of Rhode Island.
Ms. Humble is also a lecturer and consultant, an author of seven books on Rhode Island, a member of numerous organizations and committees, and the recipient of many awards and honors.
Her personal interests are just as varied - from US Military, to NASCAR, to birds, to kayaking, and almost above all, to her dedication to the preservation of historic armories, especially the Westerly Armory.

We had quite an entertaining meeting. After a short introduction to the history of our state she spent some time testing us with a multiple answer quiz. With the exception of two or three questions (out of 34)
we did quite well - and would probably have received a grade ofaround 90%.

Questions like "What city or town was the birthplace of the United States Navy?"stumped some of us. Most thought it was Newport but the answer was East Greenwich.
Another questions was "How big is Rhode Island in miles?" The answer is 48 miles x 37 miles. (Easy way to remember is that it is four dozen miles by a little over three dozen miles.)

She also introduced her latest project - the Trivia game she named "Rhode Test". The game consists of 2 x 3 cards that are divided into different categories, such as RI favorite Foods, RI people, RI First, Best & Uniques, etc. The leader asks four
questions of the participants. The answer to the first hint is worth four, the next hint is worth three, etc. An example of the type of questions:
Rhode Island Geography: What is the largest island in Narragansett Bay?
(Answer is worth four points);
Hint: Middletown (three points);
Hint: Portsmouth (two points);
Hint: Newport (one point); ANSWER: AQUIDNECK ISLAND

The game was introduced a few weeks before the holidays and made a hit with people interested in the history of our state and in having fun learning more.

This game and Ms. Humble's books are available through the Westerly Armory, PO Box 614, Westerly, RI 02891
you can go to their website at Home Page
PVHistory@yahoo.com