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- Sun, Nov 28, 2010, 10:54 A
Great cover article in this week’s reporter.
Ryan and Sarah Voiland are very impressive local entrepreneurs. I encourage everyone to read the article and to support their farming efforts in Montague and Granby.
- Thu, Aug 19, 2010, 5:40 P
Letters about alleged violation of Open Meeting Law by GM School Commmitee
In the new August 19th issue of the Montague Reporter, we printed letters submitted by Sandy Brown and Jeff Singleton, both related to the Northwest District Attorney's Office recent findings regarding an alleged violation of Open Meeting Law by members of the Gill-Montague School Committee.
The findings were delivered earlier this month in a letter from Assistant DA Cynthia Pepyne to GMRSD's attorney. We've posted a transcript of that letter here: http://montaguerepor...hool-committees.html
- Wed, Dec 23, 2009, 8:29 P
Montague Reporter, 12/23/09: Read All About It!
Coming to you a day early this week: Turners Falls Airport Commission gets ready to hire a new manager, two Greenfield men and an Ervingside woman are the three finalists; White Paper or Whitewash? -- opponents claim state study on sustainability and carbon impacts of biomass burning is "biased from the start," as some consultants hired by the Department of Energy Resources are already on record in support of biomass electricity; Rep. Chris Donelan suggests that Wendell get out of the Mahar district and regionalize with Amherst so other towns can pursue their plans for K-12 regionalization with Mahar; Singleton accepts the Hanold challenge on budget alternatives in the wake of town planner debate; Wailin' Dave at the Deja Brew; the Warblers Rock; Talking Pictures: Me and Orson Welles (coming to the Amherst Cinema); the story behind the lighting extravaganza on Griswold St, and more! Read it slow -- no paper next week!
- Thu, Oct 8, 2009, 11:07 P
Read All About It! (Montague Reporter, 10/9/09)
This week in the Montague Reporter: Montague City polling station may move... to Precinct 3! Erving says "No Way" to gas stations in the aquifer recharge zone; Millers Falls may have the most beautiful planters in town, catch them before the frost; Chamber pots, turnips and sleighs provide interesting reading for Montague Center residents... in days of yore; MOVE member Ramona Africa coming to Brick House for documentary on Philadelphia police bombing; Leverett sees no gain in regionalization push; Wendell picks up speed on internet connections in the town center; and MontagueMa.net looks forward to a party in the 3rd St. parking lot. And much more: falling arches, bridge work, flu shots (are they really good for you?) and Thoreau revisited. All in this week's issue. Look for it wherever fine newspapers are sold!
- Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 3:54 P
Shakespeare: Last week at the Shea, this week on MCTV
Fresh and Witty Gentlemen of Verona
Turners Falls -- Several hundred folks who stayed in town for Labor Day weekend were treated to a delightful performance of William Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at the Shea Theater on Sunday afternoon. The production was the first stop on the Cambridge American Stage Tour, an annual undertaking by a company of students and recent graduates of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, UK. Their performance in Turners was a last-minute addition to the Shea's fall schedule, made possible by the Shea's board of directors, who welcomed the production to Franklin County after company manager Tim Checkley contacted them "in desperation," explaining that the venue they'd booked on the Cape had cancelled two weeks' before the show was supposed to go on.
Shea board members hustled to promote and support the free performance, sending out press releases, printing tickets, and arranging accommodations for the sixteen-person troupe at "Queen of Cheese" Ricki Carroll's place in Ashfield. On Sunday afternoon, they opened the theater doors and started handing out tickets an hour before curtain, and were rewarded with a capacity crowd that included both regular theatergoers and first-time visitors of all ages. "We're thrilled about the turnout," said Robin Paris, president of the board of directors, as she welcomed the audience, "We really weren't sure if people would come out on a holiday weekend."
The Cambridge players quickly established that their take on this Shakespearian classic would be fresh and witty by opening with an intricately choreographed ensemble dance number in which, by lip-syncing a well-known Italian aria, the young man Proteus managed to convey all that we needed to know: that he is in love -- and also in love with the feeling of being in love -- and that his best friend, Valentine, is not. Instead, Valentine is intent on seeing the world, and he leaves Verona at the end of the scene, headed for the big city of Milan.
We soon learn that the object of Proteus' affections is Julia, who, though not initially quite as smitten, quickly falls under love's spell. As this part of the story unfolds, we make the acquaintance of some other important characters -- the noblepersons' servants, including Julia's sensible maid Lucetta, Valentine's clever man Speed, and Proteus' deadpan servant Lance, who, as played by Josh Higgott with a tip of the hat to Charlie Chaplin, had the audience in stitches time and time again.
The plot starts to thicken when Proteus is sent to Milan by his father, where he immediately falls in love with Silvia, the same girl who's already caught his friend Valentine's eye. Proteus chooses to betray both his friend and his sworn love, Julia, in order to pursue Silvia ... but despite his ardent efforts, Silvia does not fall in love with him.
As the story unfolds, and eventually resolves, all sorts of interesting and universal questions are raised: Should feelings guide actions? What about when feelings suddenly change? How does love of friends stack up against romantic love? What does it mean to love someone (or something) who doesn't love you back? How much should one do for love? In the play, as is typical of Shakepeare's romantic comedies (though not so much of real life), everything works out in the end. However, to its credit, this production found a way to use stagecraft to put an ambivalent twist on the ending, helping the resolution sit better with modern audiences.
"Two Gentlemen of Verona" was an excellent show, a triumph for the Shea and a great gift for those who had the chance to see it last week. If you missed it, never fear! MCTV volunteer extraordinaire Don Clegg was there to record it, and it's already begun airing on Channel 17. (Schedule available over in the MCTV area of this here website.)
- Wed, Aug 19, 2009, 10:00 P
Read All About It! (Montague Reporter: August 20, 2009)
Montague pickle farmer Addie Holland joins global warming research team in Siberia; Erving gas station hearing fizzles out; Brule crashes TFHS '69 reunion; Hemond's Breakfast Club returns; expanded hours for Great Falls Farmers Market; POETRY PAGE; New moon movie series in Wendell blasts off with 2001; Connecticut River song semi-finals, lobster wars, mud burritos, and more.
Brought to you this week by the board of directors and many other wonderful folks who pitched in so Detmold could take a vacation. Thanks, everyone!
Available now and for the next TWO weeks in many great area establishments ... the next issue will be published on September 3. In the meantime, please send in your news and support our advertisers!
And subscribe! Get your paper delivered AND help provide this local non-profit with a more reliable stream of income.
$20 for 26 issues / Montague Reporter, 58 4th St., Turners Falls, MA 01376
- Wed, Aug 12, 2009, 10:23 P
Class of ‘69 Plans 40th Reunion Bash to be Remembered
Class of ‘69 Plans 40th Reunion Bash to be Remembered
By Nancy Currie Holmes
Turners Falls – On June 12th, 1969, one hundred and eighty students graduated from Turners Falls High School. As with most classes, we married, joined the military, or went to work at mills and offices. Many attended college near and far. We tried to stay in touch.
The class of ‘69 had a five-year reunion at the Millers Falls Road & Gun Club, a 10th at the French King, 15th at Thomas’s, and our 20th and 25th at Brickers – and then they stopped. It seemed we all were busy with jobs and families, and no one had the time or energy to take on the task of organizing reunions.
But a small group of girlfriends from the class have a get together every so often, and last August we got to reminiscing one night, after a few glasses of wine, and realized how we all have aged, and how quickly time is passing, and how we miss the good old days. So it was decided – it was time to have another reunion.
Oh, the good old days! Our class was the typical class: the scholars, the athletes, the cliques; many of us could reasonably claim to be in all three categories. There was the class play, Lock, Stock and Lipstick. The prom held in the gym – “Moon over Keijo” was our theme – followed most of the rules. But the times they were a-changing, and we were ready to jump right in. The music was different: songs like Aquarius and Crimson and Clover; from bands like the Beatles, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, and the Doors. President Richard Nixon took office; millions of Americans participated in a Vietnam Moratorium. A man landed on the moon!
Our class dedicated our yearbook to Robert Kennedy, and quoted his words to inspire. We worked diligently to create Snoopy and his dog house as our class float for the Booster Day parade, and we dared to portray Jesus as a black child for the Christmas mural, in the hallway of the school. We held ‘sit-ins’ to show our dissatisfaction with bagged lunches when the cafeteria was under repair, the firing of our principal, Mr. Franklin, and the necessity of taking gym, especially in blue gym suits! We smoked in the bathrooms, skipped out of class and hid in our cars till we could pull safely away to the Pig Pen, the Boondocks, the Patch woods or whichever favorite get-away spot made us feel we were in control.
So on the weekend of August 14th and 15th, 95 people and approximately 55 classmates will gather once again. This will be a time to renew old friendships, reminisce on days gone by and share life experiences, old and new.
Friday night, the TFHS class of ‘69 will be having a Pub Crawl starting at 4:00 p.m. at Ristorante DiPaolo, 166 Avenue A, for a wine and cheese gathering, then heading down the Avenue to Jake’s for some great burgers or seafood, then on to BTU (Between the Uprights, formerly 2nd Street, formerly the Bridge Café) to catch the results of the game on any one of seven TV’s. Then, for good measure, a stop by the Rendezvous on 3rd Street, known to locals as “the Voo”.
On Saturday, the party will continue at one of the favorite local spots, the Schuetzen Verein Club in Gill. There, the reunion resumes at 4:00 p.m. for social hour, with memorabilia and photos to peruse. We’ll have a quiz about the school and classmates, music by locals Ken and Mike Little and John Currie; Bub’s BBQ will be serving at 6:00 p.m., followed by dancing to the music of Ruby’s Complaint, a band led by Valley Idol Alana Martineau.
TFHS alumni from 1964 through 1974 are welcome to join us after 7:00 p.m.
The committee had a great time planning this event, and it is sure to be a great weekend!
Contact: 863-2213 for more info, or search for TFHS Class of 1969 on Facebook.
- Thu, Aug 6, 2009, 2:46 P
Read all about it! (August 6, 2009)
Parliamentary pie-fight produces pared-down school budget - but will it stand? And the majority said, "Wha' happened?"; Native spokespeople speak with Gill selectboard on spokes burial site -- partnership proposed; Previews of Montague and Wendell Old Home Days, Block Party in Turners; Erving goes Green!; Reviews of Kristen Ford Band and Tuvan Throat Singers in Greenfield; Chris Sawyer-Laucanno's incandescent memories of Paris, the burning of Shakespeare & Co, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Fireword letter, in his own hand; Coming right up: Farmers' Market week in Massachusetts; and Deval Patrick vows not to shrink from tough challenges, while socking it to the little guy with new sales taxes... and more!
Available now and for the next TWO weeks in many great area establishments ... in July and August the Reporter is bi-weekly, so the next issue will be published on August 20. In the meantime, please send us your news and support our advertisers!
And subscribe! Get your paper delivered AND help provide this local non-profit with a more reliable stream of income.
$20 for 26 issues / Montague Reporter, 58 4th St., Turners Falls, MA 01376
- Thu, Jul 23, 2009, 10:36 P
Read all about it! (July 23, 2009)
Naughton debates the pros and cons of voting down the regional school budget;
While (of course) I hope people read my column, I also hope that we'll see more debate before and at town meeting (maybe even some on this site).
- Thu, Jul 23, 2009, 10:18 P
Read all about it! (July 23, 2009)
In this week's Montague Reporter: New owner for Railroad Salvage, hopes to take the building down for.... salvage; town of Gill invites Native American tribes to consult on Mariamante property; Aimee Mann at Mass MoCa; art reviews in Montague Center and ye olde Cumberland Farms; Kulik talks about the most interesting six months in his legislative career; Naughton debates the pros and cons of voting down the regional school budget; Wendell Free Library may soon get 90% of its electricity from the sun; and more!
Available now and for the next TWO weeks in many great area establishments ... in July and August the Reporter is bi-weekly, so the next issue will be published on August 6. In the meantime, please send us your news and support our advertisers!
And subscribe! Get your paper delivered AND help provide this local non-profit with a more reliable stream of income.
$20 for 26 issues / Montague Reporter, 58 4th St., Turners Falls, MA 01376
- Thu, Jul 9, 2009, 10:07 P
Canalside Nature Walk w/ bonus photos
[To see Davol's photos from the walk, visit http://www.facebook....0000090310930&ref=mf]
And here's the article:
Canalside Nature Walk
by David Detmold
Great Falls – Whether or not he is alone, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation naturalist Steve Winters faithfully carries on his interpretive nature walks each Wednesday and Friday morning, departing from the bird bath in front of the main entrance of the Discovery Center at 7:30 a.m.
Sometimes as many as three people join him for these personalized inspections of the local geology, flora and fauna along the canal, the River, or the byways of downtown. Sometimes fewer. On some outings, he is accompanied only by a comprehensive Audobon field guide to New England plants and birds and animals.
But what if the life form being inspected is neither animal, vegetable, nor, by definition, mineral? We’ll get right back to that. This is not the first summer Winters has been leading guided tours of the natural world within walking distance of the Avenue, as faithful readers will recall. “The walks are calm and relaxing,” admitted Winters. “They’re kind of addictive.” He continues leading them until Labor Day.
What about all this rain? “It’s been good for the wildflowers.” And the slime mold. “Slime mold is kind of a fungus,” explained the bearded, bespectacled naturalist, as he stared down at a goodly specimen of the amorphous yellow glop spreading in the mulch beside the Center’s service entrance.
Winter’s calm, abstracted mien bears some resemblance to Sigmund Freud. “It defies our typical classification. It is neither plant nor animal.”
Well, what the heck is it then?
“It pops up overnight. It might be gone tomorrow. It moves like a glacier, disperses its spores and drifts, grows along its edge and dies away behind.”
Further research revealed that it’s not really a fungus, either, but some sort of weird unicellular, or acellular mass of naked protoplasm that feeds on bacteria on decaying vegetative matter. (If you can call it feeding.)
It looks like someone got careless with a can of expanding foam. Or dropped a bag of Peeps on a hot skillet. “That’s a nice way to start a nature walk,” said Winters, as we headed off toward River.
The canal was full to the brim from weeks of soaking rain funneling down the watershed. It rushed and ran in its concrete channel, twisting in sinewy currents, a thing of raw power, pure oxygen, and twice as much hydrogen. Tree swallows arced and pirouetted above the surface, catching insects on the fly, and generally enjoying themselves more than other flying creatures.
Across the brokeback footbridge, a wary specimen of Sylvilagus floridanus eyed us, her liquid black pupil fixed timorously in a pale ring of white fur. She hopped off as we approached, white cottontail bounding away through the tall grass. But one of her offspring endured our approach, cropping clover close to the River wall. The young one’s ears stood straight up, shafts of sunlight rendering them translucent, dewy in the vanishing mist. When we got too close, he scooted under the chain link fence, and continued his breakfast, a few away from us, unconcerned.
Tall spires of mullein, with scattered yellow florets, stood sentinel around the grassy lawn. Scarab beetles were in fair supply on the green ragweed, along with a lone ladybug. Common St. Johnswort was common, its cheery butter-colored flowers revealing its reputed medicinal qualities as a natural anti-depressant. The spreading white umbrels of Queen Anne’s Lace nodded on tall pylons of green, each flower a botanical miracle of construction, with the dark central nubbin representing the Queen lost within her lacy ruff.
We walked for an hour along the canal, and saw many things: evidence of ancient rivers washing sand and sediment into an ancient lake, creating thick sandstone deposits, undergirded by crumbling washes of shale where the thin-bedded lacustrine sands settled on the shore 20,000 years earlier. Or maybe it was the other way around; you’d have to ask Winters. Geology is his specialty, and he has authored a self-guided geology walking tour of Turners Falls to help ground you on your rambles. (You can pick it up at town hall, the Carnegie Library, Jay K’s Liquors, or the Discovery Center.)
Standing on the bike path, we saw how black and white birch had rooted in the shale beds beneath the back wall of the Discovery Center. Then an alarm bell sounded across the way, and flashing lights from the door of the Strathmore Mill distracted us.
Three minutes later, the fire chief drove down the access road in his purple car, followed 30 seconds later by one fire engine, then another. Soon, the building inspector arrived. Turned out, a lightning strike the night before had knocked out power to the hydro generating plant on the ground floor of the mill, disabling the sprinkler system at the mill’s north end. It was the second time in as many weeks the fire department had responded to a false alarm at the Strathmore.
We studied a variety of ferns while this was going on, including sensitive ferns and hay scented ferns, interspersed with ripe blackberries. Daisy fleabane bloomed with a myriad of tiny stars. On the lot where the new bank building will soon be built, caterpillars crawled up huge mounds of earth. Three crows stood in a dead oak tree beside the flooded railbed. One preened the feathers of another. All three ignored our passing, as something quite beneath their dignity.
- Thu, Jun 25, 2009, 10:55 P
Read All About It! (June 25, 2009)
In this week's Montague Reporter: School committees find their own strength in Franklin County Caucus; Bunny Caldwell retires after 12 years at the helm of the Senior Center in Montague; in Erving, they can't find four votes to build a new $2.3 million Senior Center; in Montague Center, a new farmer's market is on the way; Sacrebleu! Bastille Day at the Rendezvous!; Tines and Tunes II; and much, much more.
Available now and for the next TWO weeks in many great area establishments ... in July and August the Reporter is bi-weekly, so the next issue will be published on July 9. In the meantime, please send us your news and support our advertisers!
And subscribe! Get your paper delivered AND help provide this local non-profit with a more reliable stream of income.
$20 for 26 issues / Montague Reporter, 58 4th St., Turners Falls, MA 01376
- Thu, Jun 18, 2009, 2:25 P
Read All About It! (June 18, 2009)
In this week's Montague Reporter: BioMass jam in Greenfield as 400 crowd into ZBA hearing; Sweet Talk on the Ave makes a comeback; Diamond Dusters take the Small Town Girls Softball League Title!; Turtles Cross in June; Route 2 Repaving Makes Motorists Cross; Gill Has a Town Forest -Yea!; Bernie Sanders needs your support for Single Payer Health Care; and much, much more.
Pick it up starting today... or better yet, subscribe! Get your paper delivered AND help provide this local non-profit with a more reliable stream of income. Also, please support our advertisers!
$20 for 26 issues / Montague Reporter, 58 4th St., Turners Falls, MA 01376
- Thu, May 28, 2009, 10:29 P
Read all about it! (May 28, 2009)
A "miracle steeple" for the Wendell meetinghouse; Union Street in Montague Center suffers "cut and run" tree removal; lampreys are back and they have just one thing in mind; Governor Patrick talks broadband in New Salem; new curbside recycling schedule for Montague (begins June 1); new chairs for Gill selectboard and Gill-Montague School Committee; Jeoffrey Pooser interview; news from Erving ... and much, much more!
Pick up the new issue in local stores now ... or better yet, subscribe! Get your paper delivered AND help provide this local non-profit with a more reliable stream of income. Also, please support our advertisers!
$20 for 26 issues / Montague Reporter, 58 4th St., Turners Falls, MA 01376
- Thu, May 21, 2009, 2:54 P
Read all about it! (May 21, 2009)
One Hallmark Museum gone, one salvaged -- at a cost to the town of Montague; town and school election results; sizing up the biomass plant; new Mexican restaurant coming to the Ave in June; all about bears; sympathy for Captain Turner, postcard from Paris, and much, much more!
Pick up the new issue starting this afternoon ... or better yet, subscribe! Get your paper delivered AND help provide this local non-profit with a predictable stream of income.
$20 for 26 issues / Montague Reporter, 58 4th St., Turners Falls, MA 01376
- Thu, May 14, 2009, 5:01 P
Montague Reporter: Read all about it!
Joe, the answer is yes! I just got my copy of this week's Reporter, and there's a news article by Joshua Watson on the front page about the proposed biomass plant. It covers the May 7 meeting of the Greenfield planning board and also contains background information about the project, including a bit about pros and cons.
- Thu, May 14, 2009, 2:15 P
Montague Reporter: Read all about it!
Hello Jen
Any news reports yet on the proposed BIO plant in Greenfield the Pros and Cons , How it will affect not just Greenfield but the surrounding towns as well ?
- Thu, May 14, 2009, 10:12 A
Montague Reporter: Read all about it!
This week in the Montague Reporter: Star Trek! Reviewed! Valley Idol try-outs filled with falling stars! And -- the race is on! In Gill, for selectboard; in Gill and Montague, the majority of school committee seats up for grabs; and in Montague, Mark Fairbrother, Ed Golrick and Jack Nelson duke it out for selectboard -- three men going mano a mano for ONE empty seat.
Read all about it, along with highlights of the police logs, a bang-up underview of the rusty superstructure of the Gill-Montague bridge (rated 33.9 on a scale of 100 by engineers who know), and a bird's eye view of the final vote: Banned in Turners Falls! The Tomahawk Chop. No, you are not insane. Read it and weep. On village newsstands this afternoon.
- Thu, Apr 23, 2009, 10:02 A
Montague Reporter: Read all about it!
Willie Nelson, stripped, at the Mullins Center; the Hermit's Castle mobbed by spring sightseers; lightning strikes not once but twice in Montague on Wednesday morning when a house fire sends two to hospital for smoke inhalation and a white pine is blasted into smithereens by the water department offices on Millers Falls Road; Montague Center School reuse hearing draws a crowd; mostly town officials at budget hearing to review FY '10 budget gaps; mostly firefighters and their family members at fire district meeting; $50,000 set aside for new fire truck; and much, much more!
Look for this week's issue on newstands later today. Better yet -- subscribe! The basic rate is $20 for 26 issues. Send your name, address, and a check to The Montague Reporter, 58 4th St. Turners Falls, MA 01376
