Brick Church Music Series continues

DEERFIELD — The First Church of Deerfield’s “Brick Church Music Series” continues on Sunday, Oct. 22, with organist Amanda Mole.

Mole will perform at 3 p.m. at the First Church of Deerfield, 71 Old Main St. Mole has won several international awards, including first place at the eighth International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo, which is one of the largest of its kind in the world. Mole will perform music by Bruhns, Pachelbel, Buxtehude, Schumann, Sweelinck and J.S. Bach.

The concert serves as a fundraiser for the First Church of Deerfield with a suggested donation of $10 to $20 at the door. Handicap parking is available behind the church and a reception will be held in Deerfield Academy’s Caswell Library following the performance.

Church hosting fire safety presentation

SHUTESBURY — Every 93 seconds there is a fire in a home somewhere in America, and every two hours and 18 minutes someone who is not an emergency responder dies in a fire, according to a 2021 study by the National Fire Safety Association. A few simple steps can greatly reduce the chance of a house fire or a related injury or death.

Fire Chief Lenny Czerwonka will present an informational program on winter and holiday fire safety on Thursday, Oct. 26, 6:30 p.m. at the Shutesbury Community Church, 6 Town Common Road. The public is invited.

Topics to be discussed include the importance of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, household fire hazards, wood stoves, safety precautions for holiday decorations and preventing kitchen fires. Senior citizens are encouraged to attend and parents are welcome to bring their children. There will be time for questions. Refreshments will be served.

The program is part of an ongoing series of community public service and educational programs hosted by Shutesbury Community Church.

Library to host reading of Conway resident’s books

CONWAY — The Field Memorial Library will host resident Peter Rosnick on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 10:30 a.m. for a read-along of his two newly published children’s books.

Rosnick will read “JoJo and the Gazork” and “JoJo and the Eagle,” and will engage with children as he reads through the stories. The event is geared toward children 3 to 7 years old. Kids will hear about how JoJo saves the town from the sneeze of a Gazork — a mystical creature — and how JoJo helps the eagle and its chicks during a mighty storm.

Author presenting new book ‘Moonlight Visions’ at Whately church

WHATELY — Resident Gary Wilson will present a program and sign copies of “Moonlight Visions,” his new novel that was published this summer, at the First Congregational Church of Whately, 177 Chestnut Plain Road, on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 1 p.m.

“Moonlight Visions” is a collection of tales arranged in prose and verse that came to Wilson in his dreams. Story settings range from foreign countries to fantasy worlds.

“Readers will be entertained by shapeshifters, magic pills, the keyhole of frightening visions, and even swept away to the Far East and Africa for adventure,” according to church Minister Cynthia Crosson, who also wrote the book’s foreword. Refreshments will be served.

“Moonlight Visions” is available at Greenfield’s World Eye Bookshop, Boswell’s Books in Shelburne Falls and Amherst Books, as well as garywilsonbooks.net and other online retailers.

Talk on French and Indian Wars to be held at Frontier

SOUTH DEERFIELD — A presentation on the French and Indian Wars will be held on Sunday, Oct. 22, at 2 p.m. in the Frontier Regional School auditorium.

Amherst College historian Kevin Sweeney will present “French and Indian Wars: Writ Large and Small” and explore the period from 1688 to 1763. The event is sponsored by the Friends of Deerfield and refreshments will served by Kathleen Tomaus Catering.

Student wins third prize in global essay contest

DEERFIELD — Bement School student Zimo (Iris) Zhu won third prize in the junior division of the John Locke Institute’s 2023 global essay competition.

Iris won for her essay responding to the question, “What is something important, about which nearly everybody is wrong?” The competition, which is hosted by the John Locke Institute in Oxford, England, received more than 19,000 submissions across all categories. Iris traveled to England to present her essay and accept her award in September.