Berkshire Trail student nature program keeps track of animals in winter

One great advantage of attending school in the Hilltowns is that students can enter nature’s classroom simply by walking out the door. There, coyote, bobcats, squirrels and other animals leave behind a narrative of sorts, especially in winter, when their tracks leave clear evidence of their presence in the snow-covered woods and meadows.

Last week, at the Berkshire Trail Elementary School in Cummington, some 80 students from first through fifth grade had a chance to study animal tracks and "predator-prey relationships" during an all-day Animals in Winter workshop presented by 11 AmeriCorps workers.

Mae Wolf's moment in Cummington

Cummington resident Mae Wolf holds the distinction of being the oldest person in Cummington, at age 96. Following her in age are three men, and two of them are former poet laureates, William Jay Smith, 93, and Richard Wilbur, 90. Sandwiched between them is Vincent Ridel, 91.

Hilltown photo exhibit on the move

A girl skating on a pond and boy waving a rhubarb leaf like a magic wand as if to summon spring are two images that are part of a photo exhibit now on display at the Worthington Library.

Plainfield woman enjoys a 'kinship' that spans nine decades

Grandmotherhood, it seems, does not always depend on bloodlines. For Plainfield resident Kathryn Metcalfe, who is 99, that distinction came unexpectedly, in the form a 9-year-old girl named Sage Guiel.

Slowing life down subject of talk in Cummington

Poet Christian McEwen, a Northampton resident and author of "World Enough and Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down," will kick off the winter Coffeehouse Series at the Old Creamery Grocery on Route 9 in Cummington with a free reading and book signing on the title's subject: slowing down as a way to better enjoy life and explore your creativity.

Cummington welcomes fire truck (and Santa)

Arriving just in time to spread good cheer for Christmas, the town's brightly shining, new 3,000 gallon vacuum tanker fire truck was delivered the Cummington Public Safety Complex last Saturday.

Worthington woman's effort to send cheer to troops keeps growing

Worthington resident Louise Finn received a whopping 12,450 cards in response to her call for signed Christmas cards that have now been sent to Soldiers' Angels, a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization, where they will be placed in Christmas boxes to be sent to every deployed American soldier around the world in time for the holiday.