EDITORIAL

Witness history at Gaspee Point

Posted 7/19/22

You have a unique opportunity right now to bear witness to something once in a lifetime. If you ever dreamed as a kid about finding buried treasure, you’ll especially not want to miss out on a …

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EDITORIAL

Witness history at Gaspee Point

Posted

You have a unique opportunity right now to bear witness to something once in a lifetime. If you ever dreamed as a kid about finding buried treasure, you’ll especially not want to miss out on a chance to see this real-life treasure hunt unfold.

Sure, the chances of finding anything related to the HMS Gaspee off the coast of modern Warwick are slim – and nobody is pretending otherwise – but just as millions of people scratch off lottery tickets each day hoping for a shot at some life-changing amount of cash; it’s the allure of that small chance that you might win that makes it all the more exciting.  And in the case of the hunt for the Gaspee, you don’t even need to pay for the experience. All the better in today’s inflation-ravaged world.

The team that has been assembled by Dr. Kathy Abbass represents a gold standard for community volunteerism. They are disciplined, dedicated, and passionate for the work they do, regardless of the low percentage of success and in lieu of a paycheck. The private donations that have funded this endeavor, too, represent a kind of excitement for uncovering some of our own most valued and hallowed history – an inspiring bit of optimism born from the excitement of potentially discovering something hitherto unearthed.

And although we are aware – in the event something that can be tangibly connected to the Gaspee actually is uncovered – that it will not be some grand structure resembling a picture book pirate ship, the enormity of such a discovery would send shockwaves well beyond Narragansett Bay. What is being searched for is one of the earliest connections we have to the American Revolution that paved the way for our country as we know it; all of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the heroic.

So what exactly do you have to lose? At the very worst, you’ll be able to spend some time chatting with enthusiastic members of your community in a beautiful setting during the brief period of time where the wind coming off Gaspee Point in Warwick is welcome and refreshing rather than bone chilling. Take the whole family, because you never know what might inspire the next generation of explorers and truth seekers.

We will keep our expectations low, but our hopes and spirits high, for some big news to come out of this hunt in the weeks ahead.

Gaspee, editorial

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