Rename Conimicut Point after Hayes

Conimicut Point sounds like an old Indian name of no great

    significance today. But one young man, Stephen Hayes, drowned there

    recently while  going to the rescue of two children. They were saved

    and he is dead at age 31.

        Fishermen familiar with that sandbar extending a few hundred yards

    into Narragansett Bay know what a  treacherous nightmare it is when

    the tide rushes in. Anyone on it will feel his feet sinking deep

    into the sand and could soon be sucked under water.

        Living nearby on Church Ave, I take frequent walks to Conimicut

    beach. It has its charms but on the whole strikes me a melancholy

    place, at times even desolate. Certainly not a friendly place to

    swim with the " polluted " sign  never removed. From the shore it

    seems that any swimmer will  quickly find himself in deep water .

        It amazes me that people pay for admission to this pathetic

    "recreation area " in the summer time. Of course there should be

    a lifeguard or two there. But nearby Oakland Beach is much nicer

    with its grander view - and bars.

        I think Conimicut Point might well be renamed after the heroic

    young man who gave his life to rescue an 11 year old boy  and a

    nine year old girl.

        I recall a novel by Albert Camus, " The Fall ".The hero, a Parisian

    lawyer fancied himself a very high minded type until one night : he

    was walking along the wharf when he hears the desperate screams of

    a woman drowning. But the water was cold and dangerous. He refused

    to even attempt a rescue. In a few minutes he learned that he was

    a miserable coward despite his very successful life.

       Whenever I take my pensive walks to Conimicut Point I will think

    about Stephen A. Hayes and the qualities that can make human beings

    rise above the level of rodents .