AMHERST — The Amherst Farmers’ Market season starts Saturday, with vendors having items for sale from the Town Common next to Spring Street from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
This is the 55th season for the market, which last year had 56 vendor members registered, with an average of 36 vendors set up each week. The market closed after the last Saturday prior to Thanksgiving.
David Machowski, the market’s manager and director of operations, said many of the favorite member vendors will be back, along with several new faces.
As part of the arrangement with the town, the market reserves, for vendors and customer pick-up, 15 spaces in the Spring Street parking lot, six spaces on Boltwood Avenue and five spaces on South Pleasant Street.
Because the market also aims to address food insecurity, over the years it has secured grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Peoples Bank and Cooley Dickinson Hospital, with that money going through the Amherst Senior Center to benefit Ann Whalen Apartments and Clark House residents.
More public art
Additional traffic light control boxes are being painted around town this spring through the coordination of the Public Art Commission, with additional opportunities anticipated through Amherst Business Improvement District funding.
At the corner of Main and North East streets, the East Amherst village center, Tara Bilotta of Norwood recently completed a work that features salamanders.
Also getting underway is local artist Falcon Laina, handling a box at the intersection of East Pleasant and Tilson Farm roads, near the University of Massachusetts police station.
Tom Warger, who chairs the commission, said that two more boxes will be done this spring. One is at the intersection of Route 116 and East Hadley Road and the other will be at a to-be-determined site once permission is secured from Eversource.
In April, the commission will put out a call for artists for the electrical box on the Town Common and another on North Pleasant Street near a walkway to the Boltwood parking garage.
Dickinson Museum restoration
The Emily Dickinson Museum recently announced the start of the latest phase of restoration efforts, what is being called the forensic study of the Homestead’s east and north additions.
This work will set the stage for a full-scale restoration of the two wings of the 19th-century home where most of the family’s domestic labor took place.
“When the final phase of restoration is complete, the museum will have achieved one of the important goals it set for itself in 2003: returning the poet’s home – as faithfully as possible – to its appearance during the years she lived here and wrote nearly all of her striking and lasting poetry,” Executive Director Jane Wald said in a statement.
The forensic process will involve careful removal of items like gypsum drywall or dropped ceilings, to expose original features such as plaster walls and room divisions.
The museum is working with Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects to provide guidance about material to remove and Teagno Construction, Inc., to perform the work. Both companies previously were instrumental in the restoration of the original 1813 portion of the Homestead from 2021 to 2024.
Wald said the museum will use the results of what she terms the “building archaeology’ to uncover and highlight the lives of individuals who worked for the Dickinson family
In addition to restoration research, the museum is replacing the cedar shingle roof.
Rubbish Roundup coming
Amherst Rubbish Roundup, a clean-up event, is set for April 26 from noon to 2 p.m., with volunteer signup due by Sunday.
Residents and groups are invited to participate, including community organizations, businesses, families, neighborhood associations, student clubs and religious communities.
Volunteers will report to sites throughout Amherst, including Mill River Recreation Area in North Amherst, Town Hall and North Common in downtown and Groff Park in South Amherst.
Registration is at amherstma.gov/RubbishRoundup2026
Virtuoso organist
South Church Arts & Social Justice Series begins Sunday with Christopher Houlihan performing on the oldest working Casavant organ in the United States
The 3 p.m. concert at the church sanctuary, 1066 South East St., starts at 3 p.m.
Houlihan’s program will showcase the unique features and tonalities of South Church’s 1896 Casavant Organ, Opus 74. The Northampton firm Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc., rebuilt and installed the organ in 2012 and is an underwriter of the recital.
There is a suggested donation of $20 per person and reservations are recommended by calling 413-253-2977 or sending email to office@amherstsouthchurch.org.
Teacher of the Year
A 2010 graduate of the UMass Department of Music and Dance, Julia Edwards, née Handspicker, recently was honored as the 2026 Maine Teacher of the Year.
Edwards earned recognition for her role as the choral music teacher at Poland Regional High School and Bruce M. Whittier Middle School at Regional School Unit (RSU) 16 in Poland, Maine.
Edwards earned her bachelor of music degree in Music Education at UMass, where she studied oboe under recently retired Professor Fredric T. Cohen, and participated in a wide array of ensembles across several performance areas. Edwards cited many professors for setting the stage for her career success.
“The common thread throughout all of my learning experiences with UMass faculty was a deep care for students, which was coupled with expertise and a passion for the material,” she said.
Meeting
THURSDAY: Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m.
