Open auditions for Valley Players’ first production

AMHERST — The Valley Players, the Pioneer Valley’s newest community theater group, has announced open auditions for its first production, Nick Payne’s award-winning play of love, loss, and parallel universes, “Constellations.”

Auditions will be held Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 12-13, from 6-9 p.m. at the Munson Memorial Library, 1046 South East St., Amherst. Auditions slots must be booked in advance at valleyplayers.org. No preparation or prior performance experience is required. All auditioners will read from excerpts from the script. Though the play is written with two characters, the Valley Players production is looking to cast eight actors, four in each role.

The show goes up Oct. 11–20 at the Munson Library with a pay-what-you-can ticket price.

The Valley Players is an volunteer-run nonprofit that relies on contributions of donors and business sponsors. All contributions are tax-deductible and go to support the organization’s mission and programming. Anyone who wants to donate or become a business sponsor, or find more information about the group, can do so at valleyplayers.org.

OneHolyoke taking applications for 3 affordable homes

HOLYOKE — OneHolyoke CDC is seeking qualified applicants for three Holyoke homes that the organization has for sale, with purchasers being selected through a lottery process with the goal of increasing housing affordability in Holyoke. The homes are each priced at $225,000, below market rate, and located at 278 Pine St., 291 Walnut St. and 299 Walnut St.

Qualified applicants who meet certain guidelines — such as having a household income not exceeding 80% of the median income level, committing to living in the home for a minimum of 10 years, and completing a first-time homebuyer education course — will receive a lottery number from OneHolyoke, with three applicants being selected at random who will be offered the opportunity to purchase one of the three homes. A completed application and all necessary paperwork is required to receive a lottery number.

Information about the homes for sale, the lottery process and the application can be found at oneholyoke.org/homes-for-sale/.

OneHolyoke will be hosting a Facebook Live Q&A session on the OneHolyoke CDC Facebook page on Friday, July 26 for those interested to find out more information about the lottery process. The English session will be held at 4 p.m. and a session in Spanish will be held at 5 p.m.

Children’s Museum of Holyoke holding Summer Book Fair

HOLYOKE — The Children’s Museum at Holyoke is holding its second annual Summer Book Fair Friday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, at the museum at 444 Dwight St.

The museum has collected over 7,000 new and gently used books for all ages and in multiple languages, donated by the community, nonprofits, publishers and authors. All books are sold under a “pay-what-you-can” model.

Each day will feature different activities and offerings available for free in the upstairs picnic area during the fair, with face painting scheduled for Friday, ice cream social for Saturday and bookmark making on Sunday.

Every family who participates with the Book Fair will receive one free raffle ticket (with the option to purchase more) for the chance at winning one (or more) raffle prizes.

Granby Library to present ‘Messages from the other side’

GRANBY — “Messages from the Other Side” with local psychic medium, Lisa Lanno, will take place Thursday, Aug. 1, at 5:30 p.m., at the library at 297 E. State St.

At the 90-minute program, Lanno will connect the audience with loved ones passed, bringing both validations and messages. This event is limited, but it will be filmed. Please sign-up by contacting the library at 413-467-3320.

Lanno is a western Massachusetts-based international psychic medium and ghosthunter. She is online at QueenParanormal.com.

For more information, call the library at 413-467-3320.