AMHERST — Amherst Forward, a political action committee that developed from Amherst for All’s advocacy for a new town charter adopted by voters in 2018, is winding down this summer.
Those who are on the group’s email list recently received communication about Amherst Forward coming to an end.
“Over the last four elections our priorities and work remained the same — we sought to identify and help elect thoughtful, pragmatic town councilors and to keep our electorate informed,” the leadership team wrote, adding that the email list provided voters with information about candidates and how to stay on top of critical issues.
Originally formed to encourage and support candidates to run for the Town Council that replaced the Select Board and representative Town Meeting, Amherst Forward endorsed four main priorities: balanced development, infrastructure to support town needs, deeper civic participation and thriving public schools.
Amherst Forward’s creation, though, raised concerns about a loss of political civility in town and creating more divisions, as Amherst hadn’t previously had such a PAC.
The current leadership team is Clare Bertrand, Laura Draucker, Kent Faerber, MaryAnn Grim, Bennett Hazlip, Jan Klausner-Wise and Ray LaRaja.
“With eight years behind us, we can look back with pride as to what we helped support — a new form of government filled with dedicated individuals sacrificing many hours to serve our community,” the email notes. “This includes candidates we endorsed, and those that we did not — we are thankful for them all.”
The email also calls for putting a stop to personal attacks, which diminish the chances at having contested elections, but that the town needs to have hard conversations about budgets, infrastructure projects, development and housing.
“We need to be willing to entertain all ideas without judgment or assumptions about motives. We need to avoid echo chambers that make us suspicious of our neighbors. We need to focus on moving forward.”
Any money left will be donated to the Friends of the Jones Library Capital Campaign.
Food service employee remembered
RuthAnn Hatt, the longest food service employee for the Amherst public schools, was remembered at a recent school committee meeting for her 46 years of work.
Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman said Hatt, who died June 26, leaves an extraordinatory legacy of service and, even in retirement, occasionally returned to the schools to interact with students, including this past May. Hatt was the food services manager at the middle school starting in the late 1990s.
“She dedicated decades to generations of students and staff,” Herman said.
Disability Pride Month event
The Jones Library Kids Room will feature a storytime July 16 at 11 a.m. at the temporary location at 101 University Drive with Olympians Tory Dixon and Juan Dixon and children’s librarian Mia Cabana serving as readers. People are strongly encouraged to wear masks to create an accessible environment.
Tory Dixon is a two-time Paralympic swimmer, earning two bronze medals at the Seoul, South Korea Paralympic Games and also competed in the Barcelona, Spain games. She swam competitively for 20 years as part of the Western Mass Tigers.
Her husband, Juan Dixon, part of the Powerlifting Team, also competed in the Seoul and Barcelona Paralympics, and earned both a silver and a gold medal in the New York Games despite weight class disputes.
Tory Dixon now works at Stavros, while Juan Dixon works in the Office for Students with Disabilities and Deaf Services at Holyoke Community College.
The event is being jointly sponsored by the library, town’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department and Amherst Recreation.
Rebellion, Resistance and Refuge conference
An international summit put together by Slavery North, a specialized academic initiative based at the University of Massachusetts, is underway, with scholars, cultural preservationists professors and students participating in challenging the conventional understandings of regional and international borders of British North America.
Timed to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the conference, “Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution” is running through Sunday.
The conference is prioritizing the realities of enslaved and newly freed Black populations and explores shared histories spanning from Massachusetts and regional New England to the Canadian coastal settlements of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
“We are centering the aspirations, resistance and experiences of enslaved communities across these borders during the war,” says Charmaine A. Nelson, founding director of Slavery North. “This event brings together international perspectives to interrogate unstudied archives and overlooked art and material culture.”
The four-day schedule features two keynote lectures and eight research panels, investigating Black musicians, mariners, military service and regional histories across New England and Atlantic Canada.
Assistant planner departs
Jacinta Williams, an assistant planner who has supported the Zoning Board of Appeals since spring 2024, is leaving her position.
Zoning Board of Appeals Vice Chairman David Sloviter offered thanks for her diligence and competence.
“She was a very attentive and organized staff liaison,” Sloviter said. “I miss her already.”
Planning and Economic Development Director Jeff Bagg is adding liaison to that board to his responsibilities.
Meeting
MONDAY: Local Historic District Commission, 3 p.m.
