NORTH SMITHFIELD – Music filled the Slatersville Congregational Church common last Friday night as In Lieu of Flowers headlined the official launch of Sanctuary Sounds, a new community music series aimed at creating an all-ages, sober-safe space for performance and connection.

The free Aug. 22 concert drew about 50 residents with lawn chairs and blankets to the triangular green in front of the 1838 church, a space that has long served as the social heart of Slatersville.

“This isn’t just a church event. We want it to be a community hub: a safe, sober, all-ages place where people can gather around music,” Ann Colton, a deacon at the church and one of the lead organizers of the series, told The Breeze .

The Slatersville green is one of very few surviving village commons in Rhode Island.

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