AMHERST — Dogs dressed in their finest and most creative Halloween costumes, along with their human companions, are being invited to the second annual Halloween Pawty being put on by the Friends of the Amherst Dog Park on Sunday afternoon.
Running from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Old Belchertown Road site, the event is both fun and a fundraiser for the Friends group, said Brenda Bushouse, who chairs the group.
Bushouse said since the dog park’s opening in the summer of 2022, Amherst residents, along with people from throughout the area and those visiting town, have come to the site, which is fenced in and has one side for large dogs and one side for small dogs. There is also water available for dogs and shade structures.
The Friends group regularly gets emails expressing gratitude for the project. “It’s become such a valuable community asset,” Bushouse said.
During the event, awards will be given for best dog duo, best owner/ dog, most original and best food. The judges will be Dr. Marci Lowy, a veterinarian at South Amherst Veterinary Hospital, and Molly Russo, owner of Lichtenburg Veterinary Hospital in Springfield.
A suggested donation is $5 per entrant, with money raised going for upkeep and improvements, such as the addition of a dog park lending library. While the town’s Department of Public Works does the major work on site, day-to-day maintenance of mowing, weeding, sweeping stone from the paths and filling up the poop bags is handled by the Friends.
There will also be a raffle with donations from Smithland Pet & Garden Center, Amherst Dog Wash and Amherst Books.
Bushouse invites people to join the Friends, which has 65 members. “We have a dedicated group of volunteers who are very committed,” Bushouse said.
Go to amherstdogpark.org, Instagram @amherstdogpark or Facebook at amherstmadogpark for more information.
Absentee ballots for the town’s Nov. 7 election are available from the town clerk’s office, with early voting at Town Hall starting Monday.
Early voting, running through Nov. 3, takes place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily in the First Floor Meeting Room.
The town election will decide the make up of the 13-member Town Council, five-member School Committee and six-member trustees for the Jones Library, with those who win seats sworn in on Jan. 2.
The Amherst Regional School Committee recently held a moment of silence to honor Barry Brooks, the longtime guidance counselor at the Amherst Regional Junior High School who died earlier this month at age 81.
Interim Superintendent Douglas Slaughter said Brooks was stalwart community member.
School Committee member Irv Rhodes said Brooks’ passing is a loss for the town. “Barry was really an incredible member of this community,” Rhodes said.
Brooks was a fonder of the Amherst A Better Chance program, which gives students of color from underprivileged communities an opportunity to live and learn in Amherst. Even after Brooks retired, he came back to work with the schools and served as a mentor for Talib Sadiq, now the principal at both the middle and high schools.
A celebration of life will take place Saturday at 2 p.m. at the middle school auditorium with a reception to follow in the middle school cafe.
During the weekly Amherst Farmers Market Saturday, a Harvest Health Fair will be held on the Town Common, with free vaccinations on the site for all Indigenous people.
In addition, the Mass General Brigham mobile van will provide blood pressure and diabetic screenings. The festival is sponsored by Ohketeau and Mass General Brigham. People who need a ride to the event should call 857-273-2068, ext. 203.
Amherst firefighters extinguished a small fire this week in a box truck carrying shredded papers, whose driver stopped right in front of the Central fire station on North Pleasant Street Monday afternoon when the odor of smoke was detected in the cab.
On-duty crews located a fire in the product carried in the Valley Green Shredding vehicle and quickly extinguished it. The cause is still being investigated
SJ Sindu is returning to Amherst to read from her book of short stories “The Goth House Experiment” and to talk about her writing Saturday from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Jones Library’s Woodbury Room.
Sindu attended elementary and middle school in Amherst and is now assistant professor of English at Virginia Commonwealth University.
For more information, contact Janet Ryan, head of programming and outreach, at 413-259-3223.
