You oughta see these pictures: Greenfield Garden Cinemas launches Talking Talkies series of essential 1930s films

By CHRIS LARABEE

As the Greenfield Garden Cinemas was completed in the late 1920s, Hollywood was introducing a novel idea into more and more movies: sound. In 2024, cinema co-owner Isaac Mass and local movie historian Jonathan Boschen are offering an opportunity to...

Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: Time for a garden makeover: Seek help from professionals to see the big picture

By MICKEY RATHBUN

Late summer isn’t a pretty time in the garden, at least not in my garden. The recent mini-drought has bleached out what passes for lawn, several large hydrangeas are drooping as they beg me for water, the daylily borders are shriveled and brown....

Earth Matters: Spotting rare birds among the common: Birdwatching tactics for observing abnormal bird behavior

By DAVID SPECTOR

Birdwatchers make lists. We list bird species seen by day, week, year, or lifetime. We list birds seen in a yard, town, state, or continent. We compete and get a special thrill from finding a stray from far away.It is a truism of birdwatching that...

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

Linda Marston of Amherst made this cauliflower crust pizza topped with homemade pesto, eggplant and portobello mushroom. She noted that the “eggplant and basil for the pesto were two of the garden items delivered to me last week by Phyllis Lehrer for...

A recipe for social justice: ‘The Revolution Will Be Well Fed’ is a cookbook for community organizing

By CAROLYN BROWN

A local author’s new cookbook aims to inspire activism through food designed for community organizing and social justice.“The Revolution Will Be Well Fed,” written by Corrie Locke-Hardy, features 50 recipes that are made for community activism —...

New college bar has potential, is spacious, lacks buzz: Spoke Live the place to go when Spoke is full

By EMILEE KLEIN

Spoke is a University of Massachusetts Amherst student treasure. One of the three college bars in town, Spoke offers the trifecta of a good college bar: space to dance, cheap drinks and a classic bar feel complete with a wall of fake IDs. The...

Only Human with Joan Axelrod-Contrada: ‘Live for today’: A lesson for those who struggle to be in the present

By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA

True confessions: I constantly struggle with the notion of living in the present, a mindset The Grass Roots embraced in their classic-rock hit “Let’s Live for Today.”As much as sage after sage has touted such advice, I’ve always had a soft spot for...

Speaking of Nature: The great southward migration

By BILL DANIELSON

One of the most remarkable things about birding in September is the number of strangers that you see. Having spent so much time observing the birds during the summer months, I have a very clear roster in my head of who the “regulars” are. Not only...

Arts Briefs: A little musical something for everyone in September, from country to Irish to indie punk

How time flies“I got sober in 1990 at age twenty-seven. A few years later, I started writing songs.” That’s how singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier begins the liner notes of her soon-to-be reissued, highly acclaimed album, “Drag Queens in Limousines,”...

Exorcism = Liberation at A.P.E. Gallery aims to inspire reflections on self, community

By ELISE LINSCOTT

A public art project by Puerto Rican artist Yanira Castro aims to undo the disconnection that happens as a result of colonization, and to think collectively about the future we, as a community, want to conjure.The project, titled Exorcism =...

Speaking of Nature: He’s the king of the tyrants: The eastern kingbird is an aggressive, spunky little bird with an oversized attitude

By BILL DANIELSON

About a mile to the east of my house, sitting at the side of the quiet country road upon which I live, there is a small man-made pond that is typical of the kind that one might find near a farm. There are actually several of these ponds along this...

‘Rock ’n’ roll was our religion’: In the wake of his best friend’s death, Jeffrey Foucault releases ‘Universal Fire’

By BOB FLAHERTY

The New Yorker once called Jeffrey Foucault’s music “Beat-up troubadour folk whittled to dolorous perfection.” Now try all that with electric guitars.Foucault, a Wisconsin native who now lives in Shelburne Falls, will appear with his band Friday night...

Giving the gift of access: Pay it Forward program helps local artists realize their projects’ full potential

By ALEXA LEWIS

Easthampton’s Old Town Hall has once again opened its doors to a diverse assortment of local artistic talent as part of CitySpace’s 2024 Pay it Forward program. As summer winds to a close, the 10 artists and groups selected to this year’s cohort are...

Valley Bounty: Enjoying the fruits of a hot summer: Variety and new crops are keys to success at Roundhill Orchards

By JACOB NELSON

“I know people that won’t even touch yellow tomatoes,” says Kate Miller Carl, the matriarch of Roundhill Orchards in Southampton. “To me, if there’s something novel, I want to try it just to see what it’s like.”When Carl and her late husband, Alfred R...

For the love of the stage: Former Radio City Rockette offers variety of theater classes in Holyoke

By PAIGE HANSON

Beginning on Sept. 9th, a host of new acting, singing and dancing classes will be taught at Broadway Brings Joy, a musical theatre training program for youth, teens and adults based out of Holyoke.Founded in 2022 by former Broadway professional and...

Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week's winner: Leslie Laurie of Pelham

Leslie Laurie of Pelham made this “refreshing watermelon feta salad with a touch of olive oil and homegrown mint” in a hand-thrown bowl by Megan Hart of Conway.How to enter: Snap a pic of something delicious-looking and send it with your name, town...

Finger-picking good: Amherst autoharp workshop hosts weekly jams for all levels

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Music from centuries-old folk songs and contemporary and classical tunes emanates through the hallway at the Bangs Community Center on a recent morning, as some of the autoharp players hold the instrument upright against their shoulders and below...

Where it’s fun to get lost: Mike’s Maze returns Sept. 6 with a circus theme

By CHRIS LARABEE

Corn one, come all! The circus is coming to Sunderland this fall, as Mike’s Maze turns itself into a corn-ival for the 2024 season, with its “Join the Circus” theme. With stars and the theme’s phrase etched into the corn field, the famous labyrinth is...

Earth Matters: Coming together for climate action: Hitchcock Center facilitates conversation and action on a community level

By BILLY SPITZER

We are all experiencing the impacts of climate change more each day, in our own communities and around the world. Recent data from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication shows that 72% of Americans understand that climate change is real,...