WHAT’S HAPPENING IN AMHERST
There is a lot going on in Amherst this fall. Here is a listing of some select events.
Sunday, November 24. Mothers Out Front: Electric School Bus Campaign Launch Party. 1-2:30 p.m. Jones Library. Mothers Out Front will hold an informational gathering to which we welcome the public to come and learn more about Mothers Out Front’s new campaign to replace Amherst Regional Public School’s old diesel school buses with electric school buses. We’ll provide information about electric school buses and about our organization. Feel free to drop by and add your signature to our petition, even if you can’t stay the whole time! Light refreshments will be served. Childcare will be provided upstairs in the children’s library.
Sunday November 24 at 2:30 p.m. (also Friday Nov 29 at 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and Saturday NOV 30 at 11:00 a.m. ). Picture Book Theater. Eric Carle Museum. Corinne Demas’ picture book, The Littlest Matryoshka comes to life with music and large string puppets and featuring illustrations from the book. TIckets, which do not include museum admission are $5 and may be purchased at the admissions desk. Book signing with Corinne Demas follows the program.
MONDAY, November 25. Climate Action Now Gathering. 7-9 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst. 121 North Pleasant Street. Special Guests: Western Mass Sunrise Organizers. Sunrise Organizers will present on preparing for the Sunrise Climate Action Strike.
Monday November 25. Public Forum on Amherst Public Schools. Town Room, Town Hall. 6:00 p.m.
Monday, December 2. State of the Town Address. 6 p.m. Amherst Regional Middle School Auditorium.
Monday, Dec 2. Talk. Can We Build a Social Media That’s Good for Society? Ethan Zuckerman. 4 p.m. UMass Integrative Learning Center 3rd Floor Communications Hub. Ethan Zuckerman, director of the MIT Center for Civic Media and associate professor of the practice at the MIT Media Lab, will talk about what it would mean to build social media expressly designed to strengthen democratic society.
Tuesday, December 3. Public Listening Sessions on Planned Capital Projects.
Tuesday, December 3rd at 3:30 p.m. at Bangs Center Large Activity Room
Tuesday, December 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at Crocker Farm Elementary School, Cafeteria
Tuesday December 3. UMass Jazz Ensemble Concert. 7:30 p.m. Bowker Auditorium. The Department of Music and Dance presents a concert by Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Jeffery W. Holmes.
Wednesday. December 4. Talk: The Teacher’s Strike Wave. Eric Blanc
5:00 p.m. Goodell Hall, Bernie Dallas Room. Eric Blanc is the author of the book “Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics” (Verso, 2019).
Saturday December 7. UMass’ Choirs’ Third Annual Holiday Card to Amherst. 7:30 p.m. UMass Fine Arts Center Concert Hall. The UMass department of music and dance will present the third annual “Holiday Card to Amherst” concert by the Chamber Choir, Chorale and Lab Choir. Led by choral conductors Tony Thornton and Stephen A. Paparo, the combined choirs will present a diverse program of works from the classical repertoire along with popular and traditional holiday carols and the ever-popular audience sing-along. Featured works on the program will include “O Tannenbaum,” “See Amid the Winter’s Snow,” “Brightest and Best, “Oseh Shalom,” “Carol of the Stranger,” and “O magnum mysterium,” as well as traditional carols. In a new twist, concertgoers are also encouraged to wear their most outlandish winter attire to take part in the “Tackiest Holiday Sweater” contest, with the winner to be crowned by the audience. Ticket prices are $10 for the general public, $5 for students, seniors and UMass Amherst employees and free for UMass students. Tickets may be purchased at the Fine Arts Center Box Office, by phone at 413-545-2511, or online. Free and secure parking is available in nearby university lot 71 off Massachusetts Avenue and lot 62 via Thatcher Way or Stockbridge Road.
Monday, December 9. Public Listening Sessions on Planned Capital Projects
Monday, December 9th at 3:00 p.m. at Fort River Elementary School, Cafeteria
Monday, December 9th at 6:00 p.m. at Wildwood Elementary School, Cafeteria
Tuesday December 10. Climate Change Theater Action Amherst. 6:30 p.m. Bangs Center. Common Share Food Co-op brings the International Climate Change Theater Action project to Amherst in an effort to raise funds for the coop while participating in the global movement for climate justice. We will be hosting a staged reading of 5-minute plays focusing on food justice and community resilience, celebrating the unsung warriors who are “lighting the way” to more sustainable futures. All plays will be performed by local actors and students.