Meet therapy dogs at library

GREENFIELD — Children can meet and spend time with certified therapy dogs in the Greenfield Public Library’s Children’s Room on Thursday, April 17, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. The program is free and intended for ages 3 to 12.

Grief support group planned monthly

GREENFIELD — Join other community members on Monday, April 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Greenfield Public Library for “Moving Forward with Their Light Within: A Grief Support Group,” hosted by Angela McCarthy and friends.

McCarthy, a Greenfield resident, looks to offer a safe space for sharing the journey of grief. While those experiencing grief often feel isolated and alone, experiencing grief is a common thread that connects everyone.

All are welcome, regardless of where they are in the grieving process — if it’s been days, weeks, months or even decades. Attendees will share resources such as books, podcasts, songs and quotes, as well as conversation.

This program, scheduled for the second Monday of each month, is free. For more information, email librarian@greenfieldpubliclibrary.org or call 413-772-1544.

Automated recycling transition team continues outreach

GREENFIELD — The city is gearing up to roll out its automated recycling collection program this summer and, in anticipation, the recycling transition team will host several community events in April.

The city’s transition from a manual, dual-stream recycling method to automated, single-stream recycling is thanks to a $2.05 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded in September 2023. The grant is part of the EPA’s Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program, known as SWIFR.

Upcoming events where residents can learn about automated recycling include:

■Monday, April 21, from noon to 3 p.m. at Energy Park — Earth Day celebration. Organized by the Interfaith Council of Franklin County, the Earth Day celebration will highlight the importance of sustainability. The recycling team will share how automated recycling furthers the city’s sustainability goals.

■Tuesday, April 22, from noon to 3 p.m. at the Greenfield Public Library — Recycling Open House. Those who are interested in checking out the new recycling carts or asking any question about automated recycling are encouraged to stop by the library.

■Tuesday, April 29, from 1 to 2 p.m. at the John Zon Community Center — Automated Recycling Outreach Meeting. The automated recycling transition team will host its sixth public meeting to share a presentation on automated recycling and answer community questions. This meeting will be both in person and remote, and will be recorded for viewing at a later date.

“We are only a few months away from implementing our new automated recycling program,” Mayor’s Office Communications Director Matt Conway said in a statement. “We hope that these events, along with several past outreach meetings and informational tabling sessions, provide the community with all there is to know about automated recycling.”

The Automated Recycling Transition Webpage, featuring an archive of past meetings as well as background information and resources, can be viewed at greenfield-ma.gov/residents/automated_recycling_transition_/index.php.

Sunday program to explore native plantings in Greenfield yards

GREENFIELD — As part of a Greening Greenfield program, residents are invited to visit local yards to explore how to transform their yards to have more vibrant native landscapes that will be a haven for birds, butterflies, pollinators and other critters, while also combating climate change through increased sequestration of carbon dioxide.

On Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. as weather and public interest permit, Greening Greenfield plans to feature a yard with a unique focus such as spring ephemeral flowers; a mini forest that replaced a large swath of lawn; a yard being transformed from having non-native plants to native shrubs, trees and flowers; and native plantings that grow under large shade trees.

Attendees of the yard explorations will also hear about when to accept non-natives and when to take them out, as well as learn about managing invasive species and soil care.

“Loss of native habitat is the major cause of losing over one-third of our birds in the last 50 years,” Nancy Hazard, of Greening Greenfield, said in a statement. “This is something that we can do something about, and it has been so fun to watch the many birds that now visit my yard.”

Doug Tallamy, author, entomologist and co-founder of the Homegrown National Park, says that if every person transformed half of their lawn, it would create more native habitat than all of our national parks put together.

Greening Greenfield has also created a resource of public native gardens in Greenfield called “Building a Pollinator Corridor” that makes it easy to explore these places and/or to volunteer to help maintain them. These public spaces have been built by many different groups and people all working toward the common goal of building native habitat.

While the program is not expected to start this week, Greening Greenfield is inviting people to sign up to receive a Thursday announcement about the following Sunday’s yard exploration by emailing info@GreeningGreenfieldMA.org or by calling 413-774-5667 and leaving a name and email address. Visit GreeningGreenfieldMA.org to learn more about Greening Greenfield.

Auditions planned in advance of On the Boards festival

GREENFIELD — The LAVA Center at 324 Main St. is holding auditions for the third annual On the Boards festival of new play readings by mostly local playwrights.

The LAVA Center seeks a wide diversity of actors to perform in readings in a variety of plays. Auditions will take place on Saturday, May 3, and Monday, May 5. Performances will take place the weekends of June 7, June 14, June 21 and June 28.

Honoraria will be offered. No memorization will be required, nor will preparation be needed in advance of auditions. Experience is welcome but not necessary.

For more information or to sign up for an audition slot, visit thelavacenter.org/on-the-boards.