Learn about tea houses in Historical Society program
GREENFIELD — Jillian Gochinski will speak about tea houses during the Historical Society of Greenfield’s next program on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. in the Greenfield Public Library’s Community Room.
She will discuss three tea houses of the Connecticut River Valley in the early 20th century: the Sweetheart Tea House, the White Tea House and the Mary-Marguerite Tea Room.
According to the Historical Society of Greenfield’s Facebook page, Gochinski was educated at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she received a bachelor’s degree in history and is currently earning a master’s degree in history and public history. She also works as a curatorial assistant at Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield. In 2024, she was selected to be a summer fellow at Historic Deerfield’s Summer Fellowship program where she conducted research on woman-owned tea houses in the Connecticut River Valley.
Political comedy show to debut Sept. 25
GREENFIELD — A new political comedy show is launching at The LAVA Center as part of a recurring series. “Laugh Don’t Cry: A 100% Political Comedy Show” will debut on Thursday, Sept. 25, with two shows at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
According to organizer Paul Bennett, the show aims to fill a crucial gap in the community. The focus is on how to make working people’s lives better, addressing how the current system isn’t delivering and exploring where to look for answers. The show isn’t intended specifically for Democrats or Republicans, but rather for people who want better government for working people.
“There is so much stress here,” Bennett said in a statement. “I think many of us who are horrified by what’s happening need to get together and be silly and laugh in order to keep going. There are so many serious things happening that we need to experiment with silly.”
The inaugural shows feature comedians and musicians from across Franklin County.
“We’ve got sketches. We’ve got musical sets. We’ve got funny stories. We’ve got jokes,” commented Co-Producer Andrea Cohen-Kiener, who expressed excitement about the experimental venture. “This is an experiment. I know that we all need this. … I’m really looking forward to involving locals in making comedy that matters right now.”
To make reservations, visit thelavacenter.org/events/the-comedy-project-revue-2/. Doors open 30 minutes before each show. Sliding-scale tickets are $5 to $20, with reservations not held after 5:55 p.m. for the early show and 7:55 p.m. for the late show.