WARWICK, R.I. -- Get out those old snapshots!
The city is looking for "retro" photos to adorn its 2014 municipal calendar which charts trash and recycling days for residents.
For years the popular calendar has also served as a local photography contest with hundreds of photos taken in Warwick submitted for consideration.
Mayor Scott Avedisian said that this year, he decided that the city would do something a little different and ask for older photographs to "help celebrate the city's rich history."
"It will be very interesting to see what we get," Avedisian said. "And one of the reasons we decided to do it is that it will also be very interesting for younger people, or people who haven't lived in the city very long, to see how things used to look."
City officials have learned the hard way not to underestimate the popularity of the calendar, which was initially paid for by a state recycling grant.
That funding source eventually dried up and about two years ago the city decided to stop printing the calendar in order to save about $32,000 a year.
Instead of getting kudos for frugality, city officials were swamped with complaints from residents who wanted their calendars back in their rightful places on kitchen walls or refrigerator doors.
The city scrambled to find the money and had the 2011 calendars in the mail by March.
In light of such popular demand, Avedisian said that his administration is working to expand the artistic aspect of the 2014 calendar.
The Warwick Museum of Art will help promote the call for photographs, he said. And, since only 12 can be chosen, the museum has also agreed to work on putting together an exhibit so more of the submissions can be displayed.
People who would like to submit photos can send prints or scan them to a disc in jpeg, tiff or epf formats.
Photos can be emailed to sanitiation@warwickri.com or mailed to the Department of Public Works, attention Christopher Beneduce, 925 Sandy Lane, Warwick R.I., 02889.