By Credit search: For the Recorder
By TINKY WEISBLAT
I still can’t see anything but snow and ice in my Hawley yard, but new life is in the air nonetheless. My driveway has started looking and feeling muddy, a sure sign that the fifth season is upon us.
By MITCH FINK
President Donald Trump’s return to office has raised questions about the future of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding Massachusetts secured for its east-west rail plan.
By MICKEY RATHBUN
I received the announcement of the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association (WMMGA)’s spring symposiums earlier this month, when the wind was whipping the falling snow into spiraling towers of white. In early February, it’s hard for the imagination to break through the winter doldrums. Will we ever feel the touch of soft spring breezes or enjoy the sight of green shoots pushing through the cold dark soil? The WMMGA symposiums help us to jostle our gardening passions out of hibernation and into activity, even if only mental.
By TINKY WEISBLAT
An author event tomorrow, Sunday, March 16, in Erving will explore the process of creating historical fiction from historical fact. Novelist J.A. McIntosh will also discuss the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir.
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
“My mother fed birds in our backyard, which backed up to a nice woodland,” Greenfield resident Pat Serrentino, a lifelong bird observer, said.
By SHERYL HUNTER
Saint Patrick’s Day is only days away, and for the band Ragged Blue, that means a busy weekend ahead. They’ll be playing Celtic music at a variety of shows this weekend.
By BILL DANIELSON
The first week of March came with a roller coaster of emotions. Saturday, March 1 was absolutely amazing. For the first time in months the weather seemed to be warming and there was a moment when I actually considered cleaning off the table on my deck and sitting outside in the sunshine. A large flock of red-winged blackbirds and common grackles arrived that morning and suddenly the yard was full of songs and the murmur of hundreds of birds talking about their plans for the day. It was joyous, it was refreshing, and it was short-lived.
By ADA DENENFELD KELLY
NEW SALEM — After receiving new language for the conditions of the site plan for the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art, the Planning Board approved the museum’s application last week.
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Although strictly speaking I have little or no Irish blood (one of my great-grandmothers was Scots Irish), I still like to dress in green and make something Irish for Saint Patrick’s Day. This week I’m concentrating on Colcannon, basically gussied-up mashed potatoes. This dish adds lovely green vegetables to the spuds.
By MELISSA KAREN SANCES
Her phone pinged and a grey bubble rose to the surface: “Are you ready to come back?”
By LISA GOODRICH
“When people think of farms, they tend to think of the summer, abundance, corn fields, and flowers. What people don’t realize is that farms function year-round, and there are many business models that allow farmers to grow products year-round or have products year-round to sell,” says Hannah Logan, Market Manager of the Greenfield Winter Farmers’ Market.
By GUSTAVO ATENCIO FLORES
GREENFIELD — Greenfield Community College students, alumni and community members came together for a night of food, drinks and awards at the “Building Bridges and Belonging: GCC’s Celebration of Community” fundraising dinner last week.
By SHERYL HUNTER
Peace, love and protest will be the theme of this year’s Mud Season festival. Presented by the Shea Theater and the Dave Bulley Band, the all-day, family-friendly festival will be held at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls on Saturday, March 15, from noon to 11 p.m. There will be crafts, food, craft beverages, and plenty of music, with 11 acts performing on two stages.
By GEORGE MILLER
NORTHFIELD — The time may come when Pioneer finds itself in a life-or-death struggle on its path through the Division 5 state basketball tournament, but the first two rounds haven't yet presented any such obstacles for the unbeaten and top-seeded Panthers.
By BILL DANIELSON
Last week I regaled you with a story about a red-tailed hawk. This bird kept showing up in my yard and forlornly staring out across my back yard in the hopes of finding something to eat. At the time, the problem was one of precipitation, or, rather, the precise combination of temperature and precipitation. Snow, followed by rain, followed by prolonged temperatures below freezing had resulted in a landscape that was covered by a thick shell of ice.
By TINKY WEISBLAT
We are awash in anniversaries this year. A century ago, in 1925, Mussolini rose to power in Italy. The Scopes Monkey Trial drew international attention to a modest courtroom in Dayton, Tennessee. Scotsman John Logie Baird aired the first public display of a television signal. And Irving Berlin published the eternal song “Always.”
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Eric Bennett of Northampton will share his lifelong love of penguins next Saturday morning at the Greenfield Public Library.
By HETTY STARTUP
In very tough times, we lean hard on community and faith. We did this during the horrors of Jan. 6 and on 9/11. In past decades, some of us drew deeply from our moral stance about civil rights and we need to do so again. Some of us prayed at vigils against the Iraq war and more recently held our faith communities close during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are, if you like, the chapters of our experience as people of faith. They may help us feel that we were there; they date and define us. May we prevail. In between, here are a couple of my chapters.
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
Stella Verlander, a Greenfield High School senior who plans to study political science in college with an eye toward an environmental law degree, is president of the GHS Sustainability Club. Verlander revived the club following pandemic interruptions, with the aim of educating people about issues related to conservation, climate crises, and political action. “Any obstacles are not about lack of interest,” she said. “The real problem is ignorance.”
By SHERYL HUNTER
As we approach the end of February, the idea of sitting in the West Whately Chapel, enjoying some fine acoustic music while snacking on watermelon sounds quite appealing. And hold onto that thought because the Watermelon Wednesdays concert series is gearing up for its 2025 season, and it’s not too far away!
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