Arts & Life
‘The clouds changed everything’: Local photographer’s work on display at Greenfield Public Library through Feb. 28
By MADISON SCHOFIELD
The Greenfield Public Library welcomed its first local artist as part of a new program to host monthly art exhibitions. “Clouds in Shades of Gray” by Paul Jablon will be on display in the conference room gallery till the end of February.
Valley Bounty: Time to tap: Family of sugarmakers continue to chase that sweet promise of maple syrup
By JACOB NELSON
Plenty of young kids tap a few maple trees, inspired by the sweet promise of maple syrup. Few become enamored with it to the point of kickstarting a family business. Cooper Deane, who helps run Bear Hill Sugar Farm, is one of them.
Planting to support birds: Ecologist maps out a plan at Greening Greenfield’s Supporting Birds in Our Community series
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
A crowd recently gathered at the Second Congregational Church to hear ecologist and educator Dr. Martha Gach describe how to support birds by growing and tending plants. Gach delivered a sobering update: the number of birds worldwide has decreased by 30% since 1970; nearly 3 billion birds died unnaturally in that time span.
Glimpse into historic Viking life: Red Apple Farm to host The NorthFolk Night Market, Feb. 22 and 23
By DOMENIC POLI
Grab your tunics and chain mail – Red Apple Farm is getting ready to host The NorthFolk Night Market!
Faith Matters: ‘I will break their hearts of stone’: In these turbulent times, let us all open our hearts to love
By THE REV. LINDA M. RHINEHART NEAS
Composer Dan Schutte wrote, “I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone.”
Sounds Local: Do It Now to perform in Wendell on Feb. 15
By SHERYL HUNTER
Combine John Sheldon’s extraordinary guitar playing with the powerful words of Beat Poet Laureate Paul Richmond and Tony Vacca’s excellent percussion skills, and you have the makings for a special night of words and music.
Something sweet for Valentine’s Day: The legend of the Neiman Marcus chocolate-chip cookie
By TINKY WEISBLAT
We tend to associate chocolate with Valentine’s Day. Americans will spend billions of dollars for that holiday this Friday, much of that money on chocolate. It seems like the perfect romantic gift.
Chiseled to perfection: Ice sculptors wowed the crowds at 103rd annual Winter Carnival
By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI
Of the festivities available for folks who attended the 103rd annual Winter Carnival, few, if any, turn heads like the series of ice sculptures displayed along Main Street during the carnival’s opening night.
‘Your body is really the only thing you have’: Young local artist yearns to build a life beyond nightmarish pain
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
Lily Bix-Daw, 25, heads to Dallas this week for intricate surgery to address idiopathic condylar resorption, a degenerative and debilitating condition affecting the jaw and many adjacent body parts. ICR would test anyone’s endurance and sanity, yet despite steep challenges, the Easthampton resident is on schedule to receive her BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst this spring, having pursued her degree while enduring staggering pain, disfigurement, and financial hardship.
Planting hope in the garden: Artist Carrie Mae Weems, who named a peony for W.E.B. Du Bois, dreamed of a memorial garden
By LORETTA YARLOW
In 2013, the widely acclaimed artist Carrie Mae Weems — a charismatic artist, activist and educator, known for installations, videos and photographs that invite the viewer to reflect on issues of race, gender and class — was among 10 artists commissioned to participate in “Du Bois in Our Time,” an exhibition I curated when I was director of the University Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Let’s Talk Relationships: In the spirit of boldness and openness: Bringing the conversation to a new local TV show
By AMY NEWSHORE
Being that relationships play such a huge part in the quality of our lives, I am expanding beyond my relationship coaching practice and monthly newspaper column to host a local television show. It will be called “Let’s Talk Relationships,” the same name as this column. I want to provide you, my readers, as well as others in our local community, an additional resource where you can benefit from the discussions we will be having about important, relatable relationship topics.
Faith Matters: Invoking God in politics: Learning from Lincoln’s humility
By THE REV. RANDY CALVO
This coming Wednesday is Abraham Lincoln’s birth anniversary. In his Second Inaugural Address, as the President of a divided Union, he realized that people of faith were praying to the same God for different outcomes. Lincoln was humble enough to dare not equate God’s will with that of either side, saying, “The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.”
Sounds Local: A side project of his side project: Christopher Elliott, aka Buzzard, aka Satiricus Doomicus Americus, releases new music
By SHERYL HUNTER
Most local music fans know Christopher Elliott as half of the indie folk duo Austin & Elliott. Montague resident Elliott, and his partner Lisa Austin, have played their edgy brand of acoustic music at Coop concerts and other local venues for many years now. The songs he’s written for the pair sometimes included elements of darkness, but this material has nothing on Elliott’s recent solo projects.
Speaking of Nature: A rare visit from our largest woodpecker: At long last, a Pileated Woodpecker came to explore my dead pines
By BILL DANIELSON
Last Friday morning I woke up with a splitting headache and bloody sinuses. Every muscle in my body ached and I was utterly exhausted even after a full night of sleep. I walked out to check on the wood stove, then sat down and contemplated my next move. The threat of inclement weather and my general physical state combined to convince me that going to work was not an option. So I filled out the paperwork for a sick day and then went back to bed.
A generous food writer and her biscuits: Remembering Nathalie Dupree, ‘the Julia Child of the South’
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Nathalie Dupree died last month at the age of 85. Known as one of the doyennes of Southern cooking, Nathalie was a chef, cookbook author, and television personality.
‘There’s a majesty to grief’: Poet and UMass professor Peter Gizzi wins prestigious 2024 T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry
By CAROLYN BROWN
Peter Gizzi, professor of poetry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently won the 2024 T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, one of the world’s most prestigious poetry awards.
‘Eyes on Freedom’: Audio documentary on Wally and Juanita Nelson will premiere at the Sunderland Public Library next week
By CHRIS LARABEE
Civil rights activists, war tax refusers, supporters of local agriculture and advocates of simple living Wally and Juanita Nelson left an outsized impact during their decades in Franklin County.
Inspired by Pessoa and his many personas: New anthology features American responses to a Portuguese poet
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Charles Cutler of Hawley first became fascinated by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa in the early 1960s when Cutler was in Lisbon on a Fulbright Scholarship. Pessoa turned into one of his favorite writers to teach as a professor at Smith College for more than 40 years.
Valley Bounty: For the love of chocolate: Richardson’s Candy Kitchen maintains sweet relationships in a farming community
By LISA GOODRICH
Richardson’s Candy Kitchen in Deerfield celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. The Woodward family has operated the business since 1983, when they took over where the Richardsons left off. Owner Kathie Williams (née Woodward), grew up in the business, which has always had strong ties with the local farming community.
Not just numbers on a page: The impact of underfunding on children and education workers across the state
By DOUG SELWYN
Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka recently stated that she was hearing from senators around the state that schools within their districts were badly underfunded and so it was time to re-examine the state’s approach to funding, which is welcome news. I hope that President Spilka and her colleagues take the time to listen to and take seriously the stories that those actually working in the schools have to tell about the impact of underfunding on the children and education workers across the state. It is one thing to look at funding formulas, and quite another to realize that the numbers on the page carry a real impact on the lives of real children. That became very clear to me at a recent Zoom on educational funding.
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