Arts & Life
Tracing a trail of names in photos: Valley photographer’s new book chronicles Appalachian Trail thru-hike
By CAROLYN BROWN
Some people dream of taking months away from their jobs to hike the Appalachian Trail. For local photographer Carly Rae Brunault, hiking the trail from Georgia to Maine and meeting people along the way helped her deal with grief – and she’s since turned that experience into a book.
She’s every woman: Meet the western Mass chapter of the International Order of Mrs. Ropers
By CAROLYN BROWN
A character from the 1970s/1980s sitcom “Three’s Company” is bringing people in western Mass (and beyond) together for fun and good vibes.
Arts Briefs: Carle puppet show at UMass, genre-spanning music at The Drake
Children’s author Eric Carle, who lived in Northampton for decades, was known for books including “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Now, those books (and a few others) are part of a puppet show, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show,” which will be at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Tillis Performance Hall on Sunday, March 16, at 3 p.m.
Back Porch Festival returns next weekend: Tribute to Neil Young, ‘Bluegrass Spectacular’ and Lucinda Williams will headline
By CAROLYN BROWN
The roots music festival Back Porch Festival, which takes place in downtown Northampton, will return for its 11th year from Friday, March 7, through Sunday, March 9, with more than 60 performers.
‘We need to lead with hope and spirit’: Activist shares her vision of social change
By ALEXA LEWIS
AMHERST — Varshini Prakash no longer believes that we can “stop” climate change as she did when she was an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, when she was staging sit-ins and protests to pressure her school into divesting from fossil fuels.
State’s top educator holds court at Belchertown schools for Black History Month
By EMILEE KLEIN
For 15 minutes one morning last week, state Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler turned the Belchertown High School Auditorium into his history classroom, teaching the Belchertown student body about a series of individuals who shattered the glass ceilings for Black people in their respective industries.
Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: Gardening symposiums herald spring’s arrival
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.
Aging With Adventure: The challenge of caring
By ERIC WELD
I made a mistake.
PiNZ closes for good at Hampshire Mall, citing declining foot traffic
By SCOTT MERZBACH
HADLEY — PiNZ, a business featuring an eight-lane bowling alley, more than 40 arcade games and a restaurant and bar with seating for about 150 people, has closed at Hampshire Mall, 367 Russell St.
From seed to sweep: Fifth graders at Hartsbrook School make brooms from scratch
By EMILEE KLEIN
Fifth grader Hattie Griffin rubs the soft, thin tree trunk with one piece of sandpaper before switching to a different piece with a softer grit, hoping to make her already-velvety broom handle even smoother.
There is a Season with Molly Parr: Thick, chunky, creamy soup: Winter Fish Chowder that’s perfect after shoveling
By MOLLY PARR
Some of the best things to come out of my kitchen lately have actually been second takes: leftovers taking on a new life in a totally different dish. To wit, the roasted winter roots salad with quinoa and arugula was good, but my 9-year-old would argue that it was the quinoa patties with broccoli and cheddar served the next night that were even better. And our Valentine’s Day Shabbat dinner of lemon risotto, roasted salmon, whipped ricotta topped with roasted beets and blood oranges was fancy-restaurant good. But Saturday night’s winter fish chowder, made with the leftover salmon, was the most memorable dish of the weekend.
‘We called each other hermanas’: Colleagues remember beloved UMass voice professor, Paulina Stark
By CAROLYN BROWN
Paulina Stark, a professor emerita of voice at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1985 to 2005, died this month at the age of 88.
Valley Bounty: Time to tap: Family of sugarmakers continue to chase that sweet promise of maple syrup
By JACOB NELSON
Plenty of young kids tap a few maple trees, inspired by the sweet promise of maple syrup. Few become enamored with it to the point of kickstarting a family business. Cooper Deane, who helps run Bear Hill Sugar Farm, is one of them.
Arts & Culture: Five College Consortium launches LangMedia website; Ellsberg initiative at UMass to feature speech by activist-in-residence
AMHERST — The Amherst Business Improvement District (BID) in collaboration with Amherst Recreation will hold the fifth annual Fire & Ice Festival + Luminaria on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 3 to 6 p.m. on the Amherst Common. This event marks the culmination of Amherst’s weeklong WinterFest and has become a highlight of the winter season, attracting over 2,000 attendees each year.
New website will document life of Lucy Terry Prince, the earliest identified African American writer
By CHRIS LARABEE
DEERFIELD — The Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association has begun a multiyear effort to bring to life a project exploring the experiences of Lucy Terry Prince, the earliest identified African American writer. The work began last Saturday on the first day of Black History Month.
Planting hope in the garden: Artist Carrie Mae Weems, who named a peony for W.E.B. Du Bois, dreamed of a memorial garden
By LORETTA YARLOW
In 2013, the widely acclaimed artist Carrie Mae Weems — a charismatic artist, activist and educator, known for installations, videos and photographs that invite the viewer to reflect on issues of race, gender and class — was among 10 artists commissioned to participate in “Du Bois in Our Time,” an exhibition I curated when I was director of the University Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Pinball revival: City brewery new local hub for vintage arcade game’s return to the spotlight
By SAMUEL GELINAS
NORTHAMPTON — “It’s back. It’s back in a big way,” says Jamie Fleming, enthusing over the swelling popularity of pinball at Progression Brewery’s monthly pinball tournament — a competition that started underground in Fleming’s basement and has found a new home above ground as the vintage arcade games trend toward a revival.
‘If you can hit one note and hit it hard’: Western Mass Sacred Harp singers ready for biggest annual event
By CAROLYN BROWN
On Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9, the Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Community (WMSHC) will host their biggest annual event, the Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Convention, at Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Richard McCarthy: AI’s answer about power is ‘it depends’
By RICHARD MCCARTHY
In 2023, working with Mathew Berube, head of Information Services at the Jones Library in Amherst, several of my old columns were fed into ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot. AI produced a lengthy analysis of my writing. Then I wrote a new column, which we did not show AI, and Mathew asked AI to write on the same subject as the new column, in my writing style.
The future is bright and weightless: An eye-opening exploration of everything and nothing at a spa in Easthampton
By BOB FLAHERTY
My journey. Where it begins and ends I have no idea. I do know that I could use some healing along the way, I’m just not sure what it is I have. Although, yes, I am acutely aware of my mousetrap nervous system and my constantly yap-yap-yapping mind.
