Arts

Speaking of Nature: Is this Grackle really common? Behold the bird’s colorful iridescence on a sunny day

03-26-2024 12:35 PM

By BILL DANIELSON

After a while, one learns what to expect with each month and each season. July is going to be hot and humid, October will be colorful and somewhat melancholy, January will be cold and sleepy, and then there is March. March is the month for which the...


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Stories bring the neighborhood home: ‘The Belt’ online oral history project shares Montview residents’ recollections of quirky riverside enclave

03-22-2024 1:49 PM

By MELISSA KAREN SANCES

On a springlike day in mid-March, three historians’ voices mingle with the buzzing of a drone. Claudia Lefko, Gail Hornstein and Ben James stand in the middle of the Montview Conservation Area while our camera captures the big picture — the vast, open...


Valley Bounty: Fermentation meets cooperation: Real Pickles in Greenfield supports and supplies the regional food system

03-22-2024 9:58 AM

By JACOB NELSON

A knock on the door interrupts the conversation. Someone is here to trade cheese for Real Pickles’ fermented veggies.Kate Hunter, a marketing coordinator, assistant sales manager, and worker-owner at Real Pickles, gets up to confirm the terms. Out the...


Book Bag: ‘I Could Have Been More Wrong’ by Kevin McCaffrey; ‘Fugitive from Injustice’ by Robert T. McMaster

03-22-2024 9:58 AM

By STEVE PFARRER

I Could Have Been More WrongBy Kevin McCaffreyFour Winds Press Kevin McCaffrey brings something to his poetry that other poets might consider employing more often: a sense of humor.In “I Could Have Been More Wrong,” McCaffrey, a South Hadley resident,...


Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Ethan Arsenault of Northampton

03-22-2024 9:51 AM

Readers, there is a future chef among us! These ravioli were made by 13-year-old Ethan Arsenault of Northampton. “For me, it’s about everything from scratch,” he said. “Homemade is always the best made.”How to enter: Snap a pic of something...


There is a Season with Molly Parr: A delicious soup, just not for me: Sharing this Hungarian Sweet and Sour Soup with Farro recipe so others may enjoy it

03-22-2024 9:50 AM

By MOLLY PARR

Have you ever loved something that hurt you? I’m not referring to a bad relationship — rather, a dish that you love, but your body hates? Maybe it’s something that gives you a headache, or makes your tummy uncomfortable. For me, it’s this sweet and...


A tale of murderous indifference: ‘The Zone of Interest’ offers a view of the Holocaust as chilling as its architects

03-21-2024 2:12 PM

By STEVE PFARRER

Hannah Arendt famously coined the term “the banality of evil” in her book on Adolph Eichmann’s trial in Israel in 1963, where the former Nazi official, a key organizer of the Holocaust, presented himself as a bureaucrat who was “just doing his job” in...


The Beat Goes On: A post-Mardi Gras show in Florence, a popular area band celebrates its newest album in Amherst, and more

03-21-2024 2:10 PM

By STEVE PFARRER

Mardi Gras took place last month, but you can catch some of its flavor at the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity on March 24 at 4 p.m. when Jon Cleary & The Monster Gentlemen come to the Florence venue — with the Soggy Po Boys opening the show.Cleary has...


Growing along with the land: Piyush Labhsetwar joins Grow Food Northamton as new farm and land stewardship manager

03-21-2024 2:08 PM

By PAT JAMES

Visiting his great-uncle’s farm in central India was a “magical experience” for Piyush Labhsetwar, Grow Food Northampton’s new farm and land stewardship manager. He relishes memories of picking ripe mangoes and oranges, drinking fresh cow’s milk, and...


Speaking of Nature: One lucky duck: Stumbling upon an entire flotilla of Common Mergansers

03-19-2024 1:23 PM

By BILL DANIELSON

It was a rainy Sunday morning at the beginning of March and I was suffering from cabin fever. It hasn’t been a particularly cold winter, but I had been cooped up nonetheless. Saturday had gone by without incident, like so many Saturday’s since the new...


The local logophile, an erudite Easthamptonite: Veteran Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski is the public face of the country’s oldest dictionary

03-15-2024 3:35 PM

By STEVE PFARRER

When Peter Sokolowski started work as an editor at Merriam-Webster 30 years ago, about 80 people worked at the venerable dictionary company in Springfield, including about 45 editors.But based on how quiet the offices were, it might have seemed the...


Valley Bounty: Maple syrup time: After year-long prep, Hickory Hill Farm readies for Massachusetts Maple Weekend

03-15-2024 3:35 PM

By JACOB NELSON

It turns out pancakes and hot air balloons have at least one thing in common: they both pair well with maple syrup.“Flying over the woods is a good way to find maple trees,” offers Paul Sena, owner of both Worthington Ballooning and Hickory Hill Farm....


Book Bag: ‘One of a Kind: The life of Sydney Taylor’ By Richard Michelson; ‘Joyful Song: A Naming Story’ by Lesléa Newman

03-15-2024 3:33 PM

By STEVE PFARRER

One of a Kind: The Life of Sydney TaylorWritten by Richard MichelsonIllustrated by Sarah GreenCalkins Creek Valley poet and children’s author Richard Michelson has often delved into history in some of his books for young readers, such as “The Language...


Lamenting language loss: Where would national identity be today if Irish was still spoken in Ireland?

03-15-2024 3:32 PM

By ROSEMARY CAINE

The 2019 Green River Festival had Rhiannon Giddens as the headliner on the last Sunday afternoon.I was intrigued by her background: a banjo player, violinist and singer, an ethnomusicologist trained in opera at Oberlin College, a charming beauty and...


Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Erin Carey of Easthampton

03-15-2024 3:31 PM

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! To celebrate, Erin Carey of Easthampton served her son corned beef and cabbage dinner while he was home for spring break.How to enter: Snap a pic of something delicious-looking and send it with your name, town and a sentence...


Righting the writing ship: Longstanding WriteAngles Conference returns after five-year absence

03-14-2024 2:48 PM

By STEVE PFARRER

Since 1987, the WriteAngles Conference had been an annual fixture in the Valley, typically held at one of the local colleges, bringing together area writers, poets, editors, publishers, and booksellers to examine all things literary.Then COVID-19...


Arts Briefs: Two-artist exhibits in Easthampton and Amherst, the South Hadley Chorale performs, and more

03-14-2024 2:40 PM

Artistic minds that think alikeEASTHAMPTON — City artists Ken Gagne and Adell Donaghue share a number of traits, from an inquisitive eye to a penchant for sketching surreal or humorous scenes in their drawings, yet that also engage viewers’...


Earth Matters: Living in a recycled material world: Hitchcock Center inspires a fossil free future

03-14-2024 10:22 AM

By MARGAUX PAINE

As the world grapples with environmental challenges, the Fossil Free Zones initiative, championed by Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO), takes inspiration from the transformative work at The Hitchcock Center for the Environment. The Center...


Speaking of Nature: Bring the birds to you: A behind-the-scenes tip of nature photography

03-12-2024 10:23 AM

By BILL DANIELSON

Every week, rain or shine, winter or summer, I try to find something fun, interesting and positive to talk about in my column. This is actually an easy thing to do, but what can be somewhat problematic is finding a photo that will pair nicely with the...


Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Linda Marston of Amherst

03-09-2024 10:01 AM

If you’ve yet to try cauliflower crust pizza, a gluten-free, higher-fiber alternative to traditional wheat-based pizza crust, Linda Marston’s Artichoke Pesto Pine Nut Pizza may make you a convert. “Cooked in the toaster oven on a pizza stone” for that...



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