Making a stark statement on the shooting of 19 elementary school children and their two teachers in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, Asbury United Methodist Church parishioners set up a circular row of Sunday School chairs in the island off Fair Street in Gaspee Plateau. Each of the chairs bears the name of a victim as well as a brief sentence about what they liked doing or a memory from a surviving relative. “It’s a place to quietly think and to think of what action should be taken,” said Jan Jones who with Andrea Dunn advanced the concept of the memorial to church members. “We got lots of encouragement from the congregation,” she said. Jones, pictured here, thought the memorial would remain in place for about a week. She is hopeful it will serve as a “vessel of change” so that we might “embrace each other.” (Warwick Beacon photo)