(2/23/07) Not much news this week, but here are a few nuggets.
Finally: After much delay, Fresh Side opens at its new South Pleasant Street location on Monday, February 26th. The old space will close for a while as the Fresh Side folks convert that location into Take5.
Not the Same Old Thing: If the Saturday night dinner-and-a-movie routine is getting a little stale, head over to the Totman Gym at UMass (corner of North Pleasant and Eastman Lane) Saturday, February 24th for Pioneer Valley Roller Derby. Who knew? Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the bout begins at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.
Broadway at ARHS: CATS is being staged at the High School Thursday, March 1st through Saturday, March 3rd. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m., with a 2:00 p.m. matinee on March 3rd as well. Tickets will be on sale from 10:00 a.m. to noon all this week in the ARHS cafeteria and will be available at the door. Tickets can also be reserved by e-mailing Claudia Weinberg or by calling her at 253-7153. Reserved seats (rows F-Q) are $15 for the general public and $10 for students and seniors; unreserved seats (rows R-Z) are $10 for the general public and $8 for students and seniors. Sunday, March 4th at 2:00 p.m. is the snow date.
Snazzy Wheels: The Fire Department recently took delivery of a shiny new 2007 GMC Horton ambulance. The $151,000 emergency vehicle is having communication and advanced life-support equipment installed, and is expected to be put into service on or about March 2nd. It replaces a 1995 model, and will be the primary response unit out of the Central Fire Station. Amherst maintains a fleet of five ambulances.
Frontline Journalism: Boston Globe reporter, author and UMass alum Charles Sennott, along with BBC senior producer Kate Peters, will take part in a panel discussion Tuesday, February 27th at 5:30 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge of the UMass Student Union. The event is titled “The Historian as Journalist, the Journalist as Historian: Understanding the Past to Prepare for the Future.” Sennott is a foreign correspondent who has spent 15 years covering the Middle East and Central Asia, and has been the Globe's bureau chief in Europe and the Middle East. He often appears on the BBC, NPR and CNN as an analyst on terrorism and religious extremism. Peters has covered conflicts in Chechnya, and has been bureau chief in Afghanistan and Baghdad. The event is free, and the public is invited.
It's That Time Again: The first Thursday of each month, the Art Walk is held from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This month, that's March 1st. Downtown galleries as well as those at UMass and Amherst College will be open for perusing and admiring, often with wine and cheese.
Rock the Vote: March 7th is the registration deadline in order to be eligible to vote in the Town's March 27th election. This applies both to those new to town and those who have moved from one part of Amherst to another. The Town Clerk's office will hold a voter registration session on March 7th from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Mail-in voter registration forms are also available at Town Hall, many other Town buildings, and at UMass, Amherst College and Hampshire College, and must be post-marked no later than March 7th. For more information click here, or call the Town Clerk's office at 259-3035.
Tunnel Vision: New York has the Lincoln and Holland, Boston has the Sumner, Callahan and Ted Williams, but Amherst has the coolest tunnels by far – our salamander crossing tunnels. Sunday, March 4th is salamander tunnel maintenance day, and everyone is invited. Bring gloves, rakes and shovels to get the tunnels ready and get the area spruced up for spring. If there's too much snow or the ground is too hard, the maintenance day will be rescheduled. Call the Hitchcock Center at 256-6006 and leave your name and number to register.
Meet the Author: Leonard Richards, UMass history professor, Amherst resident and author, will read from and sign his new book, The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War on Saturday, March 3rd at 1:00 p.m. at the Jeffery Amherst Bookshop. In 1987, his book The Life and Times of Congressman John Quincy Adams was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for biography.
Comic Relief: It's been a slow news week here at inAmherst.com, and we're not alone in that. Front page news in Tuesday's Gazette was a multi-part feature about local dog names. That provided a good belly laugh to those who read it all the way through. Back in the day, there were some words you just wouldn't find in a family newspaper.
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-- Stephanie O'Keeffe
