“On the Avenue, By the Sea, and Off the Beaten Path” well captures the spirit of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust’s signature fundraiser, “Evening at Home.” Congenial gatherings that take place across this treasured land (from Portsmouth to Newport) offering intimate Farm-to-Table dining experiences in private home, gardens, and Land Trust properties. Many benefits include the opportunity to meet friends of friends and see parts of the island with which the guest may not be as familiar. A mid-summer’s night, July 16th is the perfect date, just as the heat starts to break and the breezes pick up. After all, dining in a private residence is a welcome alternative to under a tent in such humid times. Especially, when 100% of the proceeds go directly to the Land Trust!

As one attendee observed, “Evening at Home is such an easy Yes. Relaxed atmosphere, great food, intelligent conversation and fun people!  You can’t ask for anything more.” 

Here’s a scenic potpourri of this year’s gatherings and settings, starting with Parterre… as you enter the garden gates (feature image above) for cocktails, and then move on to the house for dinner…

On Newport’s historic “Point,” a sweeping lawn overlooking the Harbor provides a backdrop to the much-anticipated ShuckinTruck’s yummy locally sourced seafood buffet menu…

A formal French setting on Newport Neck, the experience heightened by the hand-painted wallpaper surrounding this grand salon…

To a real New England “clambake,” steaming atop a mound of seaweed over a deep pit of burning rocks, followed by supper under a pavilion on the conserved, former Christmas tree farm, Spruce Acres.

It was an evening to be sitting on a terrace, dining under the darkening blue night.

With market lights overhead that add a welcome note of informality, while dining at cozy round tables, the Aquidneck Island Land Trust’s Executive Director, Terry Sullivan (with jacket) updates guests on the One Island. One Future initiative.

“Evening at Home” is the Land Trust’s much-anticipated summer fundraiser, which includes an opportunity to financially support the current land conservation project, Rocky Brook Orchard. “Keep it Forever Farmland!”

Founded in1995, the Aquidneck Island Land Trust is committed to protecting the natural beauty and environmental health of our island by preserving open spaces, safeguarding habitats and watersheds, promoting sustainable land use, and espousing responsible development and conservation stewardship. One island. One Future