Sept. 14: Community Shred Day

GREENFIELD — In cooperation with PROSHRED Springfield, Freedom Credit Union is offering free Community Shred Days at four of its branches this fall, providing an opportunity for residents to securely purge unwanted paperwork.

The Community Shred Day at the Greenfield branch, located at 74 Main St., will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The public is invited to bring old bills, bank statements, tax returns and other sensitive documents for free, quick and secure on-site shredding.

Members and non-members alike may bring up to five file boxes or paper bags per vehicle. There is no charge for this service.

Conway attorney included in The Best Lawyers in America

SPRINGFIELD — Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., a multidisciplinary law firm with offices in Springfield and Northampton, has announced that one of its founders, Attorney Gary S. Fentin, has been selected for inclusion in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for his work in the fields of banking and financial law and commercial transactions/Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) law.

A resident of Conway, Fentin has concentrated his practice in the areas of commercial and real estate finance and development, industrial revenue bonds, affordable housing, business law, and business foreclosures and workouts. Within these practice areas, he also oversees the firm’s tax-exempt bond practice, and has served as the firm’s bond and/or purchaser’s counsel for more than 40 years.

Fentin is a graduate of Boston College Law School, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif honor society and served as an editor of Law Review. He obtained a master’s degree in taxation at Boston University Law School and completed an Intensive Mediation Workshop at Harvard Law School. He has been selected repeatedly for inclusion on both The Best Lawyers in America and the Massachusetts Super Lawyers lists.

The lists of outstanding lawyers are compiled by conducting peer review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. If the votes for a lawyer are positive enough for recognition by Best Lawyers, that lawyer must maintain those votes in subsequent polls to remain in each edition. Lawyers are not permitted to pay any fee to participate in or be recognized by Best Lawyers.

Silent film ‘Running Wild’ coming to Garden Cinemas

GREENFIELD — The classic silent film “Running Wild” (1927), starring W.C. Fields, will be screened at the Garden Cinemas on Monday, Sept. 2, at 6:30 p.m.

The screening will feature live accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based composer who specializes in creating music for silent films. Admission is $10.50 for adults and $8.50 for children, seniors and students. Tickets are available online at gardencinemas.net or at the door.

As a vaudeville performer and juggler, Fields cultivated a form of visual comedy and pantomime that transferred well to the silent screen. In all, Fields starred in 10 silent features in the mid-1920s.

In “Running Wild,” Fields plays Elmer Finch, a cowardly and henpecked husband who is disrespected by his stepson, his co-workers and even the family dog. But every dog has his day, and Finch’s comes when he undergoes hypnosis, which transforms him into a swaggering take-no-prisoners alpha male.

The Garden Cinemas’ silent film series aims to recreate the full silent film experience, with restored prints projected on the big screen and live music.

“If you can put it all together again, these films still contain a tremendous amount of excitement,” Rapsis said in a statement. “By staging these screenings of features from Hollywood’s early days, you can see why people first fell in love with the movies.”

Dean’s Beans coffee earns praise from Coffee Review

ORANGE — Two coffees roasted by Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee Co. have received exceptional ratings in articles written by Kenneth Davids for Coffee Review.

The Coffee Review article on the evolution of Fair Trade coffee states, “The good news is that you can find outstanding Fair Trade-certified coffees, such as the complex and well-balanced 92-point Ethiopia Sidama Boa Bedegelo from Orange, Massachusetts-based roaster Dean’s Beans. The package bears the seal of the Fair Trade Federation, which is a trade association of enterprises committed to equitable and sustainable trading partnerships. Dean’s Beans’ roastmaster and green coffee buyer, Brendan Walsh, says, ‘We’ve been committed to Fair Trade since Dean founded the company in 1993. As we see it, Fair Trade certification is a much-needed aid to millions of small-scale farmers around the world.’”

For fans of cold brew coffee, Coffee Review tested 44 RTD (ready-to-drink) canned coffees and only nine received a score of 90 or higher. This Coffee Review article named Dean’s Beans Nice Nitro organic black cold brew coffee as one of its top picks, with a score of 91. “Nice Nitro is especially good with milk — deep, balanced, pleasantly roast-rounded without tasting burnt … a satisfying blend of coffees from Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras and Indonesia. The added nitrogen gives it a fluffy mouthfeel that we found somewhat addictive,” the article reads.