Cluck! supporters rally for proposed Providence farm supplier

By Paul Grimaldi PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- About 100 people turned out Sunday morning to rally behind a woman who wants to open a farm supply store on Broadway -- the dividing line between Federal Hill and the Armory District.

Cluck! -- the store Drake Patten wants to open along the thoroughfare -- has become divisive in its own right, pitting newer neighborhood residents against a primarily older generation of Sts. Vartanaz Armenian Apostolic Church -- a congregation formed before World War II.

The dispute spilled into R.I. Superior Court, where a judge ruled last week that Patten had failed to properly notify two abutters of her plans.

At the rally, Patten announced she would continue efforts to open Cluck!.

"Neighborhoods only grow when people work together," she said.