Arts & Life
‘Not your mama’s ‘Newsies’’: Amherst Community Theater production updates the musical with women and nonbinary characters
By CAROLYN BROWN
Fans of the Disney musical “Newsies” generally know the titular group of characters as boys, but a local theater company’s upcoming production is expanding the show to include female and nonbinary characters.
The Smithsonian is coming to town: Town of Hawley partners with Mohawk Trail Regional School to host traveling exhibit on democracy
By MADISON SCHOFIELD
The Smithsonian is coming to the Mohawk Trail Regional School. The school has been selected to host the traveling “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America” exhibit in spring 2025.
A step in the right direction: Shutesbury woman teaches others to make simple shoes
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
Over the last few decades, many people felt inspired to learn skills that were common in earlier times. The recent pandemic era nudged even more people to take up practices like baking sourdough bread, knitting, building furniture, and a mind-boggling number of other pursuits. Tutorials are readily available through libraries and on the internet, but there are limits, right? We’re unlikely to find hobbyists handcrafting cars, building computers from scratch, or making their own shoes.
Let’s Talk Relationships: Your new year’s ‘evolution’: Taking stock of your relationship patterns
By AMY NEWSHORE
It’s that time again for thinking about the new year ahead and what aspirations we may have for ourselves. The beginning of a new year can awaken motivation to engage in habits, activities and goals that are good for us. For example, we might want to stop drinking or smoking, exercise more, be more patient with our spouse and children, eat healthier, treat ourselves with more kindness, or carve out more opportunities for fun and pleasure.
Faith Matters: God lives among us: And the message of Christmas belongs at all times and in all places
By THE REV. JASON A. BURNS
It always amazes me at how quickly the joy and excitement of the Christmas season subsides. I suspect it is because the joy of Christmas does not come from the virgin birth, from shepherds in their fields, from kings following a star, or from angels singing with the heavenly hosts. It isn’t about the beautiful decorations, the gorgeous music, the happiness of seeing and being with family, or watching our children open gifts from Santa. All of these wonderful things are byproducts of the fact that God lives among us.
Sounds Local: Hot soup and even hotter music: Acoustic quartet Moon Hollow performs at Warwick Town Hall this Saturday
By SHERYL HUNTER
What better way to spend a cold winter night than indulging in some hot soup and even hotter music. If this is your idea of a perfect evening, consider heading to the Warwick Town Hall on Saturday night, Jan. 11, when Wooden Fender and the Warwick...
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...
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.
