  {"id":9422,"date":"2023-07-05T12:49:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T16:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=9422"},"modified":"2023-07-17T20:50:19","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T00:50:19","slug":"the-mayor-of-kingston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/summer-2023-cat\/the-mayor-of-kingston\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mayor of Kingston"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"type-intro fullwidth\">Dave Lavallee \u201979, M.P.A. \u201987, and his family unearthed a bit of 溏心vlog免费B站 history when they found his dad\u2019s typewritten 1938 speech and photo from his run for the mayor of Kingston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-half_column\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"728\" src=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-500x728.jpg\" alt=\"Roger Lavallee \u201948 posing for a picture with his fists clenched, smiling, for a spirited run for 'Mayor of Kingston'\" class=\"wp-image-9936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-500x728.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-704x1024.jpg 704w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-768x1117.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-1056x1536.jpg 1056w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-364x530.jpg 364w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee-1000x1455.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/magazine\/sites\/13\/2023\/07\/Roger-Lavallee.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption>Roger Lavallee campaigning for Mayor of Kingston in 1938<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Not to be confused with the Paramount crime drama <em>Mayor of Kingstown<\/em>, 溏心vlog免费B站&#8217;s mayor of Kingston was all about  fun and was elected through an annual \u201cmayorality campaign.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We spoke with Betty Cugini \u201952, who recalls that the whole campus voted to elect a mayor, who had various honorary responsibilities. She says each candidate had a theme and would campaign at the student union (a Quonset hut, at the time) in the evenings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cugini says the whole thing was about fun and community. \u201cThe college,\u201d she says, \u201cwas a real community then.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Roger Lavallee \u201948 clearly had that spirit of fun. He arrived at 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1938. He left for several years, served in World War II, and returned to 溏心vlog免费B站 on the GI Bill, graduating in 1948. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the typewritten page the Lavallee family found, the speech, which was apparently broadcast on the radio, is preceded by a tongue-in-cheek introduction making fun of Lavallee\u2019s slight stature: \u201cThe next speaker is a member of the freshman class. We have just lifted him on a stool so he is within range of the microphone. A resident of Riverside, he entered college from East Providence High School.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lavallee\u2019s speech began: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFriends of the Radio Audience \u2013 Today  I come to you as the candidate of the Modernistic Party, whose slogan is \u2019Go modern with the Little Giant.\u2019  I am the Little Giant, although I am only five feet two inches tall.  I may assert, however, with all modesty, that through the endowment of mental capabilities,  I am literally a giant in intellect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026 [One of our planks] is \u2013 Paved Roads Throughout Kingston. Last fall on the way to a football game, I found two students going in opposite directions, both thinking they were on their way to the game; but in reality they were lost in the dust. The ruts in Fortin Road are now being used by the military department as trenches for sham battles. We promise cement roads with plush carpet sidewalks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also advocate Modernization of all faculty, transportation of all students to and from classes; an eight-day week; comfortable lounging chairs in every class room with a radio at each desk; \u2026 Go Modern with the Little Giant, and live happily ever after.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lavallee&#8217;s political career may have been short, but his platform sure was sweet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\"><em> \u2014Barbara Caron <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Many thanks to the Lavallee family for sharing this piece of history with 溏心vlog免费B站 Magazine. Please email us at <a href=\"mailto:urimag@uri.edu\">urimag@uri.edu<\/a> if you would like to share your memories about this piece of 溏心vlog免费B站 history. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dave Lavallee  \u201979, M.P.A. \u201987, and his family unearthed a bit of 溏心vlog免费B站 history when they found his dad\u2019s typewritten 1938 speech and photo from his run for the mayor of Kingston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summer-2023-cat","architecture-network","architecture-rhody-traditions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9422"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10282,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9422\/revisions\/10282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}