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By LISA GOODRICH

The Smiarowski family name has been a fixture in Valley farming since around 1923 when Alexander Smiarowski came from Poland, and purchased farmland in Montague for a dairy, along with cucumbers, asparagus and corn.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

In response to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to give FirstLight Hydro Generating Co. a water quality certification for its operations in Turners Falls and Northfield, two environmental advocacy nonprofits have joined others in the Pioneer Valley in filing an appeal with MassDEP’s Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution.

By RYAN AMES

A new era has arrived for the 2025 New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Valley Blue Sox as first-year head coach Endy Morales has come back to his roots to manage the team he starred for from 2016-2019. The Holyoke product picked up his first victory of the season on Tuesday in the team’s 1-0 shutout against the back-to-back NECBL champion Newport Gulls at Mackenzie Stadium.

By LISA GOODRICH

When farming is in the family, the land calls no matter where else life takes you. Aaron Moody, owner-operator of Moody Family Farm, was born in Greenfield, and from the beginning, he knew that he loved working with animals. Three generations of Moody’s family farmed, and young Moody occasionally worked at his uncle’s dairy farm while growing up.

By CAROLYN BROWN

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Holyoke was known for its thriving paper industry – that’s how it got the nickname “Paper City.” Now, over a century later, the city will celebrate the legacy and impact that paper production had on the area with the inaugural Holyoke Paper Festival.

By RYAN AMES

HOLYOKE – The Valley Blue Sox kicked off their 2025 New England Collegiate Baseball League season in the win column after downing the Newport Gulls, 1-0, at Mackenzie Stadium on Tuesday night.

By STEVE PFARRER

Stephen Platt, who teaches 19th and 20th century Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, made a significant name for himself with his two last books.

By CAROLYN BROWN

The Pioneer Valley Wine Festival will return for its sixth year at Auction Acres in Brimfield on Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8, from noon to 6 p.m.

By CHRIS LARABEE

As the national art and celebrity worlds coalesced at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Met Gala in early May, the exhibition coinciding with the event at the nation’s most-visited museum also featured several local ties.

By JACOB NELSON

“It’s usually around April 20 when I plant things in the field that can handle light frost,” says farmer Dan Greene of Good Bunch Farm. “Then there’s about a longer wait until the next big planting date in late May. By then the threat of frost is gone and you can finally plant all the warm-loving crops. After that, you really don’t have any time except for weeding and harvesting.”

By GARRETT COTE

NORTHAMPTON — This weekend marks a milestone for the annual Pioneer Valley Invitational (PVI), as the event will celebrate its 10-year anniversary by welcoming 64 total ultimate teams from along the East Coast to the Oxbow Marina. The tournament is hosted by the Northampton boys and girls ultimate teams and will span across Saturday and Sunday – with the winners of the A Divisions earning a spot in the national tournament later this spring.

By LISA GOODRICH

The spring planting season is upon us, and home gardeners are out in full force on weekends, visiting farm stands and garden centers hunting for just the right elements for their gardens and outdoor spaces. The season celebrates the return of the sun and warmer overnight temperatures, with many sun-loving species taking center stage on magazine covers, websites, and in newsletters.

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — Every UMass athletics program has finally found a home for next season.

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — The White House’s discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2026, released on May 2, proposes slashing two line items that, if approved, could significantly alter Community Action Pioneer Valley’s services.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Legendary Afrofuturist bandleader, composer, and musician Sun Ra had an eye on the cosmos. Though he passed away in 1993, the members of his 13-person musical ensemble, the Sun Ra Arkestra, have since kept his legacy alive through shows around the world – and one of their next ones will be in the Pioneer Valley. Sun Ra Arkestra will play the Academy of Music on Sunday, May 18, at 8 p.m, in a concert co-presented by the Northampton Jazz Festival and Signature Sounds.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Hands Across the Valley Quilt Guild, an Amherst-based quilting group, will have its biennial show on Saturday, May 3, and Sunday, May 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hampshire College’s Robert Crown Center Gymnasium. The show will feature more than 200 quilts by local quilters.

By EMILEE KLEIN

AMHERST — When UMass Permaculture organizes its weekly student farmers markets in spring and fall, vendors interested in selling their wares must act fast to scoop up the limited number of spots.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Northampton choral group Pioneer Valley Cappella’s next show, “Last Words,” will call attention to the deaths of unarmed Black men through its central work, Joel Thompson’s “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed.”

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — Staff at the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) were checking their inboxes on April 2 and found a strange email in the spam folder.

By CAROLYN BROWN

Easthampton Film Festival will return for its fourth year from Thursday, May 1, through Sunday, May 4, bringing with it a slate of movies that were created, in large part, by local filmmakers.

By JACOB NELSON

In many ways, farming can seem like a romantic way of life. “Being outside, providing for yourself, providing for your community – and the health changes I saw in myself, eating fresh food from the land – it all resonated so deeply,” says Cara Zueger, who runs Free Living Farm in Petersham with her husband Michael.