AMHERST — By defeating the reigning champions, Amherst Regional High School earned the Collamore Cup as the champions of the long-running television quiz show “As Schools Match Wits.”
Seniors Tessa Grace Levenstein of Amherst, Jonas Kaplan-Bucciarelli of Shutesbury and Louis Triggs of Chertsey, England, and sophomore Kabir Narayanan of Amherst, defeated Northampton High School in the competition broadcast June 9 on WGBY Channel 57.
Amherst took a 190-165 lead into the 90-second lightning round, where correct answers are worth 5 points and incorrect answers cost a team 5 points. With just 18 seconds left in the game, the teams were tied at 190 points. But Northampton’s players missed two questions in a row, allowing Amherst to narrowly win, 190-185.
The Amherst team, coached by Chris Gould, Marc Keenan and Stephen Bechtold, won its first championship since the 2012-2013 season, and the 11th championship overall in the program that debuted in fall 1961.
During the show, the Amherst players were asked what it would mean to win. Levenstein said it would mean “bringing joy and glory to my teammates,” while Triggs said a victory would “breathe life” back into the school’s hallways.
An event that celebrates freedom and justice and marks the 153rd anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Texas will be held Tuesday.
Juneteenth takes place from 5-8 p.m. at Groff Park on Mill Lane.
“OurStory: The Story of Our Struggle for Freedom” is the title of this year’s program and will feature Stone Soul Soldiers Peter Brace Brigade Civil War re-enactors, the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School’s West African Drum and Dance Company and the Amherst Gospel Choir.
There will also be a theatrical reading of a new play on the 1841 trial of the liberators of Angeline Palmer. Palmer was an African-American girl living in Amherst who was rescued after her employers tried to sell her into slavery.
For more information about Juneteenth, send email to Amilcar Shabazz at amilcar shabazz@gmail.com.
Juniper writers
The Juniper Summer Writing Institute at the University of Massachusetts begins Sunday and runs through June 23.
Readings will take place daily at 7:30 p.m. in Bezanson Recital Hall in the Fine Arts Center.
On the first evening, Bianca Stone, a poet and visual artist, and Joy Williams, author of five story collections and four novels, will be the featured writers.
Books will be available for sale and the authors available for signings.
The Juniper Summer Writing Institute brings together writers of all levels to work closely with world-renowned poets and writers.
The Amherst Survival Center will celebrate its new solar panels becoming operational with an event June 21 from 1-1:30 p.m.
The 84 solar panels at the 138 Sunderland Road site were installed in late winter by Northeast Solar as a gift from Morey Phippen and Brian Adams. Phippen and Adams have donated solar panels to 15 local nonprofit organizations since 2016.
Lynn Griesemer, president of the Amherst Survival Center’s Board of Directors, said in a statement the panels were a generous and creative gift.
“The panels themselves improve not only the functionality of the building but give the center a visible and practical way to express it’s commitment to sustainability and reducing our organization’s environmental impact,” Griesemer said.
Mindy Domb, executive director of the Amherst Survival Center, said the panels will mean lower operating costs and being able to devote more resources to connecting people to food, clothing, healthcare and community.
Ice cream will be served during the program.
A longtime resident of downtown Amherst who does weeding on the streets and sidewalks is making the case for an improved fountain at Sweetser Park.
Bill Elsasser recently told the Select Board that the Enos Cook Memorial Fountain evokes eeriness because of its slight water flow and archaic design.
Elsaser said a college or high school design class could be given the assignment of creating an inexpensive yet more dynamic fountain for Amherst.
MONDAY: Design Review Board, 6 p.m., First Floor Meeting Room, Town Hall; Dog Park Task Force, 6 p.m., Town Room, Town Hall; Town Meeting Advisory Committee, 7 p.m., Room 101, Bangs Community Center.
TUESDAY: Bylaw Review Committee, 9:30 a.m., First Floor Meeting Room, Town Hall; Regional School District Planning Board, 9:30 a.m., Ramsdell Community Room, Pelham Library; Amherst School Committee, 6 p.m., high school library.
