Ordering an extra shot at Custom House Coffee in Middletown will soon have new meaning. Besides coffee, tea, cappuccinos and lattes with shots of espresso, customers soon be able to order such coffee-based drinks as an Espresso Martini, Irish Coffee, or frozen mudslide, or a bottled beer or glass of wine touting the labels of local breweries and vineyards. Custom House Coffee is building upon its existing menu with alcohol-based products that compliment the coffee house theme. The hot and frozen alcohol-based drinks will incorporate many of the coffee or smoothie products already found on its…

The function of the Maher Center ranges from helping with early childhood development to placing adult clients in full functioning jobs, many of which they carry out on site. Among its wide range of services, the not-for-profit agency provides group housing, transportation and job and life coaching to their clients. The Maher Garden Center in Middletown is one of many businesses that fall under the agency's umbrella, employing 15 clients each day with varying forms of disabilities. One of these employees is Mary Burns who has been with the Maher Center since she was three years of age. She …

Keeping the farm in the family is top priority for Simmons Farm. “We have always treated it as a family business,” Brian Simmons said during a recent visit to the farm. It was not until Brian and Karla took over the farm that the transition to organic farming began. In fact, it was previously a dairy farm and commercially grew sweet corn. Simmons recalled, “We were known for growing sweet corn which is kind of the antithesis of organic farming. We felt it was important to have that certification when we started just because we wanted people to know that we were not going to be doing things …

Hoop dreams In the summer of 2006 Susan Whitney attended a Rhythm and Roots concert. She saw a woman hula hooping to the music and became mesmerized. Whitney was so enthralled by the hoops that she spoke with the woman, Jessie Newton of Washington, D.C., and Newton ended up selling her one. That night, Whitney dreamed about hula hooping. In the morning, Whitney got right up and started hooping. She hooped for five hours taking just one break.  By the end of that time she was black and blue, but she had mastered the hoop. Whitney is still in touch with Newton to this day. Soon her sister …

Downtown Designs, an eclectic Newport gallery, features the work of local artisans and jewelry designers. Its storefront is operated by individuals with disabilities, right alongside longtime artist and jewelry designer Lianna Slater, and the gallery features the work of Studio 57 artists, among other creative lines, artists and collaborations.  Both Downtown Designs and Studio 57 are arms of the Middletown-based non-profit organization Looking Upwards. “We help people find what is most meaningful in their lives and use art and design as a creative expression,” said Michelle Banks, the Day …

Linda Phelan is a survivor. It’s no surprise, then, that the Healing Co-Op and cancer support groups she co-founded have survived over the last decade — during a time when even the most established non-profits have struggled. Phelan says times have been especially tough on the Co-Op, and its future remains uncertain as the cancer survivors there institute various fundraising efforts to keep it afloat and seek greater community support. What's kept the Co-Op going seems to be what's never wavered in Phelan all these years: hope. Foundations Phelan, a Middletown native, was just 29 when she was…

One of the most popular family beaches in Rhode Island, for many many years, has been Peabody's Beach, one of Rhode Island's last privately owned beaches, found on the north end of Sachuest Cove near the town-owned Third Beach. The cove beaches have always attracted families with young children because it doesn't get big waves like some of the surrounding beaches. It also has the best sea glass and sea shells for treasure-hunting. Peabody's Beach has been a family-run business for more than 100 years. According to Restcom Peabody Jr., "My Grandfather purchased (Peabody's) Beach back in 1906 …

Arleen Kaull and Chris Johnson first met John Bourne when he was 16 years old, as he came through the Middletown Senior Center to fulfill his 20 community service hours following a minor run-in with the law. Bourne was stopped by Newport police for driving an unregistered car without his license. It was an embarrassing lapse in judgment, Bourne admits today—now seven years later, revealing that wide, perfect white smile that led to his impulsive act back then; Bourne was so excited to see his braces removed that day and wanted to share the moment with friends. He had already taken driving …

Bob Bringhurst and Becky Bowden first met at school, here in Rhode Island, when they were young. In typical fashion Bob and Becky grew up, married other people and moved away. As fate would have it they each got divorced and both moved back to Aquidneck Island at the same time. Becky from Alaska and Bob from Texas and Alabama. When they ran into each other again, both realized they had similar goals. Becky always wanted her own business and Bob, while down south had had fallen in love with "barbecue." Why barbeque? “With so many seafood, hamburger, Chinese, gourmet and grill restaurants …

Now that Wes Anderson’s filming of “Moonrise Kingdom” is wrapping up this week, local barber Shelly Bowen Shough of Esquire Barber Shop can now reveal the supporting role she played during the filming of the 1960s period film. Shough recreated those crisp, precision cuts and razor straight parts and tight waves held down by Brylcreem that have defined the look of men’s and boys’ haircuts from the 1960s. ("A little dab will do ya!") Her clientele in recent months has included Anderson’s lead actors, Bill Murray and Ed Norton, along with several of the child actors who played Boy Scouts. Murray…

Surfs up, Aquidneck Island! Flat Waves Restaurant, a funky and friendly beach style diner in Middletown has re-opened its doors. What’s more, the local favorite has expanded with a new surfside mobile food service to be found throughout the summer at Second Beach. Known for its Hawaiian plates, the story behind Flat Waves goes that owner Will Burgess from Portsmouth went on a 10-day surfing trip to Hawaii with his family and just couldn’t get enough of the Hawaiian flavors he left behind. So Burgess brought a bit of Hawaii to Middletown last summer and took a big chance on local palates when …

J. Michael Hill, president of F.M. Properties believes green is good, and after decades of developing residential and commercial properties both locally and in New York state, he has decided to make it a key factor in his current and future projects. He has become a Certified Green Professional as designated by the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB), a member of U.S. Green Building Council, and a partner with Energy Star. Hill has been building modular homes for more than a decade and in September of 2010, he had what is expected to be Newport’s first NAHB Gold Star rated home …

Every parent anticipates that when that bundle of joy comes home from the hospital, that little bundle will need a bunch of, well...stuff. What many don't anticipate is how much stuff. Clothes, toys, and special items change for every stage of those ever changing needs. Alison Murphy, co-founder of Be Green Kids Consignment Sales mused, “Here I was living in this apartment and suddenly I was tripping over high chairs and toys. It all felt crowded.” She began talking about this with Meredith Brown, her sister-in-law and co-founder of Be Green. They lamented that typical mothers would buy tons …