It was so good to see so many families with young children at the Merry Maple celebration last week.
There were some different elements from previous years. Santa came on the Amherst Fire Department truck in front of the UMass Marching Band. Usually the truck arrives last.
Also, the band didn’t play as they marched in. But they are spectacular to look at and hear. My friends and I admired the tubas that were generously decorated.
Lighted wands were handed out and they added more light.
Many thanks to all the groups and people who made the event happen.
Unfortunately, nothing could be done about the biting wind. It was cold.
Also thanks to Tony Maroulis and Claire Bertrand for directing the car safely out of the parking lot that somehow managed to enter despite the barriers and crowds of people. The car was pulling in as the band was ready to enter.
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Another different holiday tradition: The Boy Scouts didn’t set up their usual wooden hut used for keeping warm when they sell Christmas trees at Kendrick Park. A metal trailer was parked on site this year when I drove by. However, the trees were the standard firs.
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Kari Ridge of Leverett sent me some good news. The Leverett Village Co-op is holding a Holiday Silent Baskets Auction through 7 p.m. Dec. 17 with various themes sponsored by generous donors. Pickup is Dec. 18.
Kari wrote that the fundraiser will help the co-op stay afloat through the quieter winter It’s at 180 Rattlesnake Gutter Road and open every day from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m., according to the email.
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The Woman’s Club, of which I am a member, is having a Thursday night series. This month, Marilee Packard Kloc, who owns Daylily in South Deerfield, will speak about her art and the artists featured at her shop. The in-person meeting begins at 6 p.m. on Dec. 16 for social time, while the speaker starts at 6:30 p.m. The program is also available via Zoom. Visit the club’s website at amherstwomansclub.org for the link.
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The Human Rights Day remembrance in Amherst will focus on three rights that are central concerns for Amnesty International: rights of prisoners, rights of children and rights of women, according to an email from Martha Spiegelman of Amherst. The program will be held Saturday, Dec. 11, at 1 p.m. in the Jones Library. The program, linked to International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, is an annual tradition in Amherst.
The program speakers are local Amnesty members with direct experience in the three subjects. Mohamed Elgadi, a longtime advocate for human rights, endured torture in the Ghost Houses prisons of Sudan. He has long headed up key human rights organizations: as a longstanding coordinator of the Amherst-Western Mass chapter of Amnesty, called AI-Group 128, and as a leading member of Torture Survivors.
Alexis Stranko, a U.S. Air Force veteran, is an activist against child trafficking and child soldiering. She has been a volunteer in protection of children who are subjected to abuse, and she has been a mentor for children striving for education.
Emily Grybko, co-president of the Amnesty chapter at Amherst Regional High School, has worked extensively on women’s rights, along with gender, sexuality and identity-based human rights.
The event is free and open to the public.
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