Jan. 11: Committee Fair at Deerfield Town Hall
SOUTH DEERFIELD — The citizens’ group Engage: Deerfield will host a Committee Fair at Deerfield Town Hall on Sunday, Jan. 11, from 3 to 5 p.m., the latest event in the group’s Community Conversations series for residents to chat with town officials about their roles.
Members of the Selectboard, Zoning Board of Appeals, Community Preservation Committee, Open Space Committee and the Deerfield Economic Development Industrial Corporation (DEDIC) will start by telling attendees about their responsibilities before residents will be able to ask questions. Refreshments will be available.
“The event offers the opportunity for residents to meet and talk to neighbors involved in shaping Deerfield’s future, hear what’s happening and how to get involved,” reads a statement from Engage: Deerfield president Pat Ryan.
Admission is free but donations to Engage: Deerfield are appreciated to support the Community Conversations series. For more information, email hello@engagedeerfield.org or visit the group’s website, engagedeerfield.org.
Jan. 17: Reggie Harris to perform
LEVERETT — Singer-songwriter Reggie Harris will perform as part of Mount Toby Concerts on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m. at 194 Long Plain Road.
The concert series’ website describes Harris as a “storyteller and world-renowned song-leader who is a powerful interpreter of the global music narrative.” The website states Harris’ performances across the country deliver messages of joy, unity, tolerance and peace by “focusing new energy on the important role of music in the discourse for inclusion and the struggle for human rights, using the lessons of history as a base.”
To reserve a spot, email diacrowe@yahoo.com or call 413-835-1695. The suggested donation is between $15 and $25.
Cemetery fees to increase by $300
DEERFIELD — Starting in July, cemetery fees will increase from $350 to $650 per plot.
The Selectboard approved the recommendation from the Department of Public Works on Wednesday night. The bump in cost will fund the department’s current project digitizing and mapping all 13 of the cemeteries in Deerfield. A digital platform will give the DPW the ability to carry out the fee agreements through online software, which the $300 fee increase will also help to fund.
“I am so thankful that [Superintendent] Matthew [Morse] has worked on this,” Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel said. Referring to the digitization of the cemetery maps, he added, “We really need to get that done.”
Although the cost will nearly double, McDaniel described the cemetery plot fee as “very low” in comparison to other towns.
According to the DPW’s regional fee study that was included in its recommendation to the Selectboard, cemetery fees in nearby towns range from $600 to $1,000. A plot in Northampton has a $600 price tag and in Belchertown it costs $800, while Sunderland charges $500 per plot with a requirement of two at a time.
Deerfield resident named to university dean’s list
MADISON, Wis. — Deerfield resident and Deerfield Academy graduate Luke Shields, a student at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Engineering, secured a spot on the dean’s list for the fall semester.
Students must complete a minimum of 12 graded degree credits and meet their college’s grade point average requirements for the dean’s list. For the College of Engineering, dean’s list students must earn a semester GPA of at least 3.5 and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.
Jan. 17: Candlelight tavern night at Historic Deerfield
DEERFIELD — Teams will battle in a game of trivia on history as far back as the 1770s in Historic Deerfield’s Hall Tavern on Saturdays, Jan. 17 and Feb. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Visitors can also try out card games from history like Loo, Hazard and Whist, sip a mocktail based on a punch recipe from the 1700s and learn the recipe for a mock hot mulled cider.
Tickets are $20 for non-members and $15 for members. To buy tickets, visit tinyurl.com/CandlelightTavernNight.
Jan. 24: Geology talk with GCC professor emeritus
WHATELY — Greenfield Community College Professor Emeritus Richard Little will visit the S. White Dickinson Memorial Library on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. to discuss his studies of Whately’s geology and rare sedimentary structures called Jurassic armored mud balls.
“From colliding splitting continents to the Lake Hitchcock shoreline, Whately has amazing stories,” the event flyer reads.