And they will be added to the worldwide collection found on Dambo\u2019s TrollMap<\/a>, which shows trolls as far away as China, South Korea, and Australia, and as close as as Vermont and Maine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get Globe Rhode Island Food Club<\/p>\n A weekly newsletter about food and dining in Rhode Island, by Globe Rhode Island reporter Alexa Gagosz.<\/p>\n Dambo uses recycled and reclaimed wood, plus found objects, to create the trolls.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s beautiful and important for us to try to reuse and recycle the resources we have in the best way,\u201d Dambo said. \u201cA lot of our problems come from us humans being too wasteful. We are filling our houses, our gardens, our oceans, our rivers, and our landfills with all different types of trash.\u201d<\/p>\n Dambo said he has heard that Rhode Island\u2019s highest point is the Central Landfill. Actually, the highest point is 812-foot-high Jerimoth Hill<\/a>, in Foster. But his point is that humans are building mountains of trash when they should be finding new uses for what they have instead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest problem is we are drowning in trash,\u201d Dambo said. \u201cBut everyone knows that one man\u2019s trash is another man\u2019s treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he bought the lifeboat for the East Providence troll for $500 on Facebook Marketplace. \u201cIt shows we can make a big beautiful thing to bring out millions people with just a $500 scrap metal lifeboat,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Dambo said just about everything people buy nowadays ends up as trash, and people are buying more than ever. \u201cWe have to remember we live for such a short time, unlike trolls, which live for 100,000 to 200,000 years,\u201d he said. \u201cThey can see the impact humans have on the world.\u201d <\/p>\n Dambo said all the trolls are part of an overarching fairytale that he is creating, and the original concept called for creating six trolls in Rhode Island that are part of a chapter about a \u201cthunderstone<\/a>.\u201d He said he hopes to return next year to write the final part of that chapter.<\/p>\n He said \u201cLittle Boulder\u201d is sitting on a rock, holding a staff with a bird house at the end. He said birds help trolls see by scouting the area and bringing back information. <\/p>\n On Thursday, the whirr and buzz of drills and saws filled the woods around Browning Mill Pond as volunteers cobbled together \u201cYoung Boulder.\u201d<\/p>\n Julian Lynch, a master troll builder, explained that he was using curved slabs from oak whiskey barrels to fashion the troll\u2019s beard. He said Dambo often highlights things that people take for granted \u2014 such as the abundance of stones in Rhode Island.<\/p>\n \u201cThomas was very inspired by the stones,\u201d he said. \u201cIn Denmark, there\u2019s not very many rocks. There\u2019s no bedrock. It\u2019s just a sand island.\u201d<\/p>\n Lynch said the trolls help draw people out at a time when many are becoming more isolated.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world\u2019s becoming more and more digital, and the trolls are an analog way to get into nature and meet people and community,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we involve volunteers on everything we do. We want to build the community around the trolls \u2014 bring people together and get them off of their screens and into the forest.\u201d<\/p>\n In Rhode Island, more than 240 volunteers helped build the three new trolls, he said, explaining that each troll had eight volunteers a day for 10 consecutive days.<\/p>\n Meg Lettieri, of Hebron, Conn., volunteered to help build \u201cYoung Boulder\u201d along with her sister, Rennie Simmons, of North Smithfield.<\/p>\n Lettieri said Thursday was her first official day after retirement from 30 years as a school teacher. \u201cI wanted to do something fun on my first day that everybody else was back at work,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a big outdoors person. I like to hike. And I love to help people. So this was something fun to do because I don\u2019t really know what my next purpose is.\u201d<\/p>\n Lettieri said trolls will feed people\u2019s sense of adventure.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want to go and hike and see something unique, and the fact that it stands for recycling in our environment \u2014 I love to preserve environment,” she said. \u201cIt shows that you can make something beautiful out of things that aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Rhode Island Commerce, the state\u2019s economic development agency, has provided $515,000 for the five trolls as part of its Placemaking Initiative<\/a>. That includes $200,000 for the East Providence troll, $132,500 for the North Kingstown troll, $132,500 for the Arcadia troll, and $50,000 for the Charlestown trolls.<\/p>\n Rhode Island Commerce spokesman Matthew Touchette said Dambo\u2019s trolls have proven to be popular throughout the world.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw an incredible opportunity to build on the popularity of the trolls in Charlestown to create a troll trail and have them appear throughout the state,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of people see our size as a negative, but our small size has a lot of benefits, as well. We are able to have people view all these trolls in a day.\u201d<\/p>\n Louise Bishop, president of the South County Tourism Council, said 6,300 people visited Charlestown\u2019s Ninigret Park when the first two trolls were unveiled there last year \u2014 four times more than usual \u2014 and 67,000 visited between the May ribbon cutting and July 30 last year. She said a geolocation company reports that visitors came from all over, including Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, and Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have people coming and they see everything else, staying a couple days at hotels, dining, and seeing other sites,\u201d Bishop said. \u201cThat is the whole point of this being the Rhode Island Troll Trail \u2014 that we share the assets of the state with our visitors.”<\/p>\n North Kingstown recreation director Chelsey Dumas-Gibbs said, \u201cAs a recreation director, the drive for me was to put something into nature where families can be excited about going outside and exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n People will be able to hike to the trolls, and she envisions artists finding inspiration from the sculpture, and even doing yoga with a troll. <\/p>\n Dumas-Gibbes noted Dambo weaves stories around each troll, but she also hopes each visitor creates their own story. \u201cI am hoping they can create their own magic with it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @FitzProv<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/5VQ2YIYA7I765DACH5SBKACM3U.jpg\")
A volunteer screws a oak stave from a recycled whiskey barrel into place. The staves are resistant to insects and rot.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff![\"Volunteer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/22JLQGT3ONHXFG4JS53VTUULRQ.jpg\")
Volunteer Kim Maschin, of Johnston, R.I., works on making earrings for the finished troll. Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\"Rennie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AT2CCI37BFHQ7EAHL3DOEXKERU.jpg\")
Rennie Simmons, a volunteer from North Smithfield, R.I., chars oak staves from recycled whiskey barrels.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n![\""Master](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/VFLHYE6BHZ5LGFSTQX5MAYZARU.jpg\")
“Master Troll Builder\u201d Julian Dylan Lynch drills on the troll beard.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/KDVYKURAQX4SLV6CAJPXXBNKQQ.jpg\")
Members of the Wallace and Schmidt families made the trip on a \u201cTroll Hunt\u201d to watch the construction.Barry Chin\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n