Arts & Life
Speaking of Nature: The blue jay that stood guard: Observations during a solid week of unfettered access to the birds
By BILL DANIELSON
The final week of 2024 was particularly calm and delightful for me. After the hustle and bustle of hosting a family gathering, my wife and I were able to nestle down into the “holiday bunker” and enjoy some much-needed R&R. For one solid week we were...
Mulligatawny for National Soup Month: A history of the Indian soup and its appearance in a memorable ‘Seinfeld’ episode
By TINKY WEISBLAT
January is National Soup Month. This designation makes perfect sense to me. When the weather turns cold, as it often does at this time of year, I can sip and serve soup at any hour of the day or night.Last week I prepared one of my favorite hearty...
Knowledge is power, period: Turners Falls menstrual cycle educator offers holistic approach to pelvic health
By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN
To Julia Demillones Moore, knowledge about periods is power. Moore, who goes by “Julia Moon Beam” online, is a menstrual cycle educator and a pelvic steam practitioner from Turners Falls. Through her two businesses, Wise Gal Period Mentor and Moon...
Plans for clay studio taking shape at Artspace in Greenfield: New space for ceramics education expected to be available in fall 2025
By AMALIA WOMPA
Fueled by community and donor support, Greenfield’s Artspace Community Arts Center is undergoing substantial transformations that are set to be completed in 2025.In 2023, Artspace received a $14,000 matching grant from the Massachusetts Cultural...
Classical at the club: Series at The Drake makes new room for chamber music
By CAROLYN BROWN
Most people don’t see local bars as venues for classical music, but a concert series at The Drake in Amherst is helping redefine and expand where classical music belongs.Chamber@The Drake, the venue’s classical music series, brings performers to play...
The Montague Elks turns 50: This year, they hope to elect their youngest female Exalted Ruler in half a century
By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN
Over fifty years ago, in November 1974, the Montague Elks Lodge No. 2521 inducted its first class of Elks. Half a century later, the Montague Elks are still a strong herd with 485 members.The early ElksBefore the Montague Elks Lodge No. 2521 was...
Faith Matters: The sacredness of ordinary days: Every morning is an opportunity to encounter God’s presence
By THE REV. CANDI ASHENDEN
As the holiday glow fades and January settles in, the humdrum of daily life returns. The decorations are boxed up, the festive meals are a memory, and the calendar flips back to workdays, school schedules, and to-do lists. For many, this transition...
Sounds Local: 2024 Franklin County musical highlights: Noteworthy concerts, releases, and remembering those we lost
By SHERYL HUNTER
It’s hard to believe that it’s already 2025, but before we can fully embrace the new year, let’s look back at some of the highs and lows of our local music scene in 2024.The area’s biggest live music event is the Green River Festival, which is now...
Speaking of Nature: Last year in bird watching: A review of 2024, a record-breaking year for bird sightings and photos
By BILL DANIELSON
Happy New Year everybody! I was delighted to have a snowy celebration for this iconic winter holiday and I hope that you are sitting happily with your feet up and a warm beverage in your hand. I am just finishing an hour of bird watching at my kitchen...
Illustrated local history book resurfaces: Three-volume ‘History of Ashfield’ tells the story of the town from its settlement in 1742 through 1960
By MADISON SCHOFIELD
In the Ashfield town archives exists a special treat for local history enthusiasts: a one-of-a-kind history book with photographs, newspaper clippings and letters from the early 1900s. “History of Ashfield” is a three-volume series covering the town’s...
Make way for duck art: Great Falls Discovery Center displays top entries of the 2024 Massachusetts Junior Duck Stamp competition
By MADISON SCHOFIELD
Stamps have run a-fowl at the Great Falls Discovery Center. The center is currently home to the top entries of the 2024 Massachusetts Junior Duck Stamp competition. Every year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hosts a duck stamp competition as a way...
Growing in harmony with nature: Montague’s Bigfoot Food Forest shares the benefits of growing ‘three sisters style’
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
Stepping into an animal enclosure after dusk on Friday the 13th, I moved slowly among feathery shapes that appeared grey in December’s early darkness. The full moon, low in the sky, was the only light source; the atmosphere was eerie and wholly...
Valley Bounty: Made with the essence of the full moon: Full Moon Ghee has a new owner but the same healing recipe
By JACOB NELSON
Golden, rich, and delicious, “ghee is basically clarified butter,” explains April Poirier. “But it’s so much more than that.”Poirier is the new owner of Full Moon Ghee, an Ashfield-based business she recently bought from founder Hannah Jacobson-Hardy....
Sounds Local: A variety of ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve: Reggae in Turners Falls, family-friendly in Orange, First Night in Northampton, and more
By SHERYL HUNTER
It’s time to dust off your party hats and dancing shoes because we’re about to welcome 2025! New Year’s Eve is only days away, and if you want music to be part of your New Year’s Eve celebration, we have a few suggestions, ranging from kid-friendly...
A new approach to the ever-evolving latke: Trying out Southwestern Latkes for Hanukkah this year
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Hanukkah begins Wednesday night, Christmas night. I love having the two holidays coincide, which they don’t always do since Hanukkah is determined by a lunar calendar. I celebrate both so it tickles me to wallow in celebration and to sing Christmas...
Giving the gift of Christmases past: Deerfield children’s letters to Santa resurface after decades
By CHRIS LARABEE
From 1952 to 2008, children in Deerfield had an opportunity to write letters to Santa Claus and, after some time, a letter from the big man himself would be sent back to the child.Now, decades later after many of the letters were likely forgotten, a...
‘My hands just knew’: Descendant of Finnish immigrants weaves authentic birch bark wares
By DOMENIC POLI
Drive along South Prospect Street in Millers Falls and you might catch a glimpse of some antlers hanging from a red garage set back from the roadway. They belonged to a female reindeer and were a gift from rural herders during a 2003 trip to Finland....
Love is in the airwaves: Queer dating radio show creates connections and community
By CAROLYN BROWN
Finding love is all about finding someone on your wavelength. A radio show at the University of Massachusetts Amherst wants to help the local queer community make romantic connections, one guest DJ at a time.On the show “Queer Yenta Radio Hour,” which...
Faith Matters: Mary knew. Do we?: What faith can be when we imagine a world of love and belonging
By THE REV. DR. CHRIS DAVIES
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was radical — a prophet, even, in a world that offered little hope for an unwed pregnant teenager.For many Christians, Sunday, Dec. 22 is the Fourth Sunday of Advent — the day that symbolizes love — wherein Mary’s song of...
Book Review: Two books by former ministers in our area: ‘Postcards from Inner Space’ and ‘Where Do Butterflies Go at Night?’
By TINKY WEISBLAT
I recently read two books by former ministers in our area whom I am lucky enough to have known. Both books are full of life and color, and both show a sensitivity to nature. That’s about all they have in common, other than my hearty recommendation...
Your Daily Puzzles
An approachable redesign to a classic. Explore our "hints."
A quick daily flip. Finally, someone cracked the code on digital jigsaw puzzles.
Chess but with chaos: Every day is a unique, wacky board.
Word search but as a strategy game. Clearing the board feels really good.
Align the letters in just the right way to spell a word. And then more words.
