Arts
350 attend inaugural Ska Fest: Organizers say the event exceeded expectations
By PAIGE HANSON
Ska music has always had a niche following within western Mass, especially during the ’90s with students playing their own small ska shows in college dorms, underground DIY venues and locations such as Daddy-O’s in Springfield and Pearl Street...
Comedy with a side of raunch: Local theater troupe invites audiences to help solve ‘who done it’
By ADA DENENFELD KELLY
A raunchy and comical dinner theater troupe brings murder mysteries to supper time.The Comical Mystery Tour was created 29 years ago and has performed across the county and beyond.“We don’t make a lot of money doing it, we just do it because we love...
Sounds Local: Music builds community: Inaugural Greenfield Reggae Festival is Aug. 11 with headliner Michael Palmer
By SHERYL HUNTER
Since moving to Greenfield in 2020, Mpress Bennu Nembhard has worked hard to make the town a better place. She has done this through her job as chair of Greenfield’s human rights commission, becoming president-elect of the Franklin Country Rotary...
Remembering a master of the omelet: Bill Shea, who passed away earlier this month, perfected this simple recipe
By TINKY WEISBLAT
I seem to write a lot of memorial columns these days. Fortunately, I’m not yet of an age where my own generation is dying a lot. My parents’ and aunts’ and uncles’ generation seems to be meeting the grim reaper with regularity these days, however.I’m...
Centuries of history waiting to be seen: Wheel-View Farm in Shelburne hosts homegrown museum
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series about the history and modern-day workings of Wheel-View Farm in Shelburne.Lifelong Shelburne resident Carolyn Wheeler is of the fourth generation to live and actively farm on familial land, and...
Speaking of Nature: Where there’s a willet, there’s a way: The third and final installment of my First Encounter Beach trips
By BILL DANIELSON
Sometimes the photos and the ideas pile up so quickly that it can take weeks to clear the decks. Such is the case this week. I went to Cape Cod at the beginning of July and I had three wonderful visits to a magical place called First Encounter Beach....
Sounds Local: Put your skanking shoes on: Inaugural Pioneer Valley Ska Festival is this Saturday, July 27, at Hawks & Reed
By SHERYL HUNTER
A year ago, Eric Coles launched 413Ska, an event production and marketing organization in Northampton. He booked his first show at JJ’s Tavern in Florence. It was a small show but it was a start, and over time the shows and audiences have grown. He’s...
A perfectly timed food holiday: July 26 is National Coffee Milkshake Day
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Some food holidays are annoying. National Cheese Doodle Day (March 5) seems superfluous. If you’re the sort of person who eats those unnaturally orange snacks, you don’t need a holiday to remind you to consume them. Ditto National Glazed Doughnut Day...
Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: A plant that’s sure to turn heads: Acanthus plants inspired classical Greek architecture
By MICKEY RATHBUN
Anyone with a passing knowledge of art history is familiar with the acanthus plant, whether they know it or not. The acanthus leaf, broad and serrated, is the decorative motif on the capital of the classical Corinthian column, more ornate than the...
Speaking of Nature: Heron in the mist: An otherworldly scene on my second day at First Encounter Beach
By BILL DANIELSON
My second visit to First Encounter Beach came on a Monday. The hustle and bustle of moving day was a thing of the past, but I am generally immune to routine traffic issues because of the early hours that I keep. There was no one on the road at 5:45...
An intimate concert in the hills: Watermelon Wednesdays celebrates 25 years of presenting world-class acoustic music
By MELISSA KAREN SANCES
Even the bats are moved.At intermission they dance out of the belfry of the West Whately Chapel, like musical notes across a sunset staff. And after precisely cut watermelon slices are enjoyed, darkness falls and the second set begins, they flutter in...
Valley Bounty: Peaches make their sweet return: Clarkdale Fruit Farms in Deerfield celebrates a bountiful season
By LISA GOODRICH
After much anticipation, peaches are ripe and now available on farm stands and at farmers markets in the Valley. Ben Clark, fourth generation farmer and owner/operator of Clarkdale Fruit Farms, explains that western Massachusetts is generally the...
Conway poet writes ‘for people who love language’
By SAM FERLAND
With her second collection of poetry, Conway resident Libby Maxey is documenting various moments of belonging and isolation while reflecting on time spent during the COVID-19 pandemic that may have been forgotten if not turned into poetry.“I think the...
Shakespeare reimagined: New play based on ‘King Lear’ explores themes of dementia and addiction
By ADA DENENFELD KELLY
Over 400 years after Shakespeare wrote “King Lear,” a theater production reimagines the story as one about the complexities of dementia.Director Toby Vera Bercovici of Cleveland Heights, Ohio and Northampton created the play over the course of five...
Faith Matters: Embodying the spirit of Jeong: Universal values of mutual respect and love echoed across various faiths
By THE REV. DR. CANDI ASHENDEN
Before heading to South Korea in August to visit my son who teaches there, I did a little research into the religions of South Korea and was intrigued by what I learned. I discovered that South Korea, a vibrant country with a rich cultural tapestry,...
Films for the whole family: Greenfield Garden Cinemas’ Studio Ghibli Fest continues through the end of the year
By CHRIS LARABEE
There’s still time to be spirited away to the world of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated worlds, as the Greenfield Garden Cinemas’ Studio Ghibli Fest continues through the end of the year.Building off the success of last year’s more-limited festival, folks...
Sounds Local: Women take center stage: Four female singer-songwriters to perform at July 26 Off the Common event in Greenfield
By SHERYL HUNTER
Despite the oppressive heat, July has been a good month for music fans, and it only gets better in the weeks ahead. As the month is ending, it’s almost time for the second event in the Off the Common summer music series. Hawks & Reed Performing Arts...
Mosaic mural by Ashfield artist lands on Keystone Market
By ADA DENENFELD KELLY
When Ashfield artist Robert Markey looked at the empty wall on the side of Keystone Market in Shelburne Falls, he saw a blank canvas.When the building’s owners agreed that the wall could be the location of Markey’s latest mosaic mural, he was excited...
Embracing the smash burger: Attempting to make at home the newest trend in fast food
By TINKY WEISBLAT
My love for food is rooted in tradition and family — so it can take me a while to catch on to current trends in Foodie Land. I have thus only just discovered the smash burger.Smash burgers are the current chic descendant of the hamburger, a dish that...
Step into this ‘outdoor living room’: Greenfield couple’s garden is their place to unwind and get creative
By EVELINE MACDOUGALL
A Franklin Street neighborhood in Greenfield has become even more welcoming for passersby of many species, thanks to the efforts of Dawn Kennedy and Margo Townley, who’ve transformed their property into a bountiful haven on less than one-fifth of an...
Your Daily Puzzles
An approachable redesign to a classic. Explore our "hints."
A quick daily flip. Finally, someone cracked the code on digital jigsaw puzzles.
Chess but with chaos: Every day is a unique, wacky board.
Word search but as a strategy game. Clearing the board feels really good.
Align the letters in just the right way to spell a word. And then more words.
