University of Rhode Island - Renaissance / Grist Yearbook (Kingston, RI)

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They were carving pumpkins and she decided to put yellow pigtails on one and display it on the mailbox to amuse the mailman. Then at Thanksgiving, her hus- band made a chicken wire cor- nucopia as a mailbox decoration. What started out as a small amusement developed into more elaborate decorations such as a small Christmas tree and a velvet- covered Valentine ' s Day heart. Soon after that she came up with the idea of using the Rhode Island Red as her decoration for the mailbox. I looked all over the place for a plastic chicken and finally found one in an Ann Hope store. Now my niece sends them to me as birthday presents whenever she can get her hands on one. From her small beginnings Mrs. Goodwin has built up quite a col- lection of chickens. I added a mate and two baby chicks and now I have six families (sets) of them in my chicken coop, she said. She has approximately ten full-sized chickens in her workshop; some are unusable, so they are used if a part is needed for another that has been damaged. In the workshop Mrs. Goodwin has a wide variety of outfits for the chickens; from rain gear (which she said is everyone ' s favorite) to the wedding outfit. On Thanksgiv- ing she dresses them up as pilgrims, complete with tall, black hats. The chickens wear hand- knitted sweaters when the weather gets cold and their hair is real hair that Mrs. Goodwin artful- ly arranges. Unfortunately the mailbox has been the target of vandals, causing Mrs. Goodwin to bring the chickens into her workshop every evening. But she said she doesn ' t mind doing this and she plans to cqntinue displaying the chickens. Once Mrs. Goodwin received a Good Citizenship Award from URI for her mailbox. Since 1976 she has headed a drive to restore a veterans memorial that she found in the basement of a town building and now has stored in her garage. Mrs. Goodwin has also under- taken town beautification pro- jects, such as planting flowers on town-owned land. Mrs. Goodwin however, is most well known for her mailbox. There ' s no doubt The Chicken Lady has the most famous mailbox on Route 138 and she said several people stop by each day to ask her about the chickens. She also gets mail from all over the country from people who have seen her mailbox. She said she feels flattered when people compliment her on the chickens, but the best thing is watching how many people smile when they pass my mailbox. tjto, Joann Muller Chicken Lady 25

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A URI Landmark: The Chicken Lady ' s Mailbox T here ' s a family that lives on Route 138 that has a very special place in the URI communi- ty. But it ' s no ordinary family. It ' s a family of plastic Rhode Island Red Chickens perched on a mailbox that has been delighting passers-by for the past 21 years. Their keeper, Antoinetta Good- win, affectionately known as The Chicken Lady, takes great pleasure displaying the chickens dressed in outfits she makes herself. Each new season, holiday, or other event brings out a new wardrobe for the chickens: the start of the football season, the wedding of URI students she has befriended or any other occur- rence pertaining to URI or the Kingston area. Mrs. Goodwin started deco- rating the mailbox in October 1961 with her brother. 24 Chicken Lady

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LINES: No matter how much you avoid them, you always get caught in one. The first thing you notice as a URI freshman is all the lines you must wait in. After the aggravation of waiting in lines at Registration for classes which are already filled, you may think you ' re through . . . but you soon find out how wrong you were. Everywhere you go . . . lines, lines, lines. First thing in the morning, there ' s a line for the shower; that ' s not too fun if you woke up 20 minutes late and you have an exam in your first class. You finally make it to the dining hall (with wet hair) and you ' re greeted by a long line for breakfast. Commuters have their fair share of lines too — the lines at the traffic lights and then the lines at the Ram ' s Den to get the breakfast you missed because you were running late. As one student observed, If you don ' t have much time, forget trying to get something hot because by the time you get it, the class you were running to is over. The dining halls are notorious for long lines, especially on breakfast night at Hope, but it ' s no big deal — it gives students a chance to see what looks good or what is edible and they have time to decide if a PB J is a safer choice. 26 Lines