WHAT’S HAPPENING IN AMHERST

There is a lot going on in the Amherst area this winter. We offer a list of some select events below.

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. 

Saturday  December 7 and Sunday December 8.  Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Hampshire County 39^th Annual Winter Craft Fair. 10 am – 4 pm. Northampton High School, 380 Elm Street, Northampton.  The Northampton Winter Craft Fair is the perfect place to enjoy a fun-filled day while doing your holiday shopping. The fair takes place at Northampton High School on the first full weekend of December every year. The two-day fair features one-of-a-kind handmade crafts from 90 juried artisans, delicious food, a fabulous silent auction on Saturday and plenty of free parking. The fair also features a wonderful children’s book sale with thousands of gently-used, pre-loved children’s books at bargain prices, organized by children’s book author/illustrator Diane deGroat. $5 Admission benefits Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County.

Saturday December 7 and Sunday December 8. Exhibition: Avital Saglyn: A life of Exploration. (final two days). UMass Museum of Contemporary Art (Fine Arts Center). Free.

Saturday December 7. Massachusetts Book Awards Holiday Dozen. Representatives Mindy Domb, Natalie Blais, and Lindsay Sabadosa are co-sponsoring and will welcome you to a special book party hosted by the Jones Library! Twelve Valley writers, recently honored by Mass Book Awards, will have lightning book talks, mix, and sign books sold by Amherst Books for the avid readers on your holiday list! Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young children’s literature included. Participating authors: Heather Abel, Lisa Brooks, George Howe Colt, Anne Fadiman, Noy Holland, Natasha Lowe, Richard Michelson, Sabina Murray, Ilan Stavans, Ellen Doré Watson, Dara Wier, and Jane Yolen.

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

Monday December 9. Talk: Leah Penniman – Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land. 6:00 pm-7:30 pm. Congregation B’nai Israel, 253 Prospect Street, Northampton. Free and open to the public. This talk will explore reparations and rematriation of land for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color farmers and earthkeepers, discussing the toolkit used by the Northeast Farmers of Color and the Black Farmer Fund to return stolen wealth and territory. Leah Penniman is the co-director and program manager of Soul Fire Farm and author of the book Farming While Black.

Tuesday December 10. Human Rights Day. Town Hall, 4-5 pm. Please join the Amherst Human Rights Commission and the Amherst Business Improvement District (BID) for light refreshments and a Community reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the North Common. Candles and Copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be provided.

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.

Thursday December 12. State of the Town Address (rescheduled). 6-7:30 pm. Amherst Regional Middle School Auditorium. Please join us for a State of the Town Address Address by: Town Council President Lynn Griesemer and Town Manager Paul Bockelman. Remarks by: Senator Jo Comerford Representative Mindy Domb, School Committee Chair Anastasia Ordonez, and Library Board of Trustees Chair Austin Sarat. Ceremonial Swearing-In: New and Promoted Police Officers and Firefighters Entertainment: Amherst High School Performers

Thursday December 12. Amherst in 1919. 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Woodbury Room, Jones Library. What was our town like a century ago? Join Marianne Curling from the Amherst Historical Society for an evening of photographs and stories to find out!

Friday December 13. Cuppa’Joe w/ Town Manager Paul Bockelman and BID Director Gabrielle Gould. 7:30 am – 9:00 am at Amherst Coffee. Join us for a special holiday edition of Cuppa’ Joe.

Friday December 13. Living Building Tour at the Hitchcock Center.  4:00 pm - 5:00 pm @ Hitchcock Center for the Environment Did you know the Hitchcock Center is a Living Building? It is the 23rd building in the world and the 4th in Massachusetts to achieve the Certified Living Building designation! It is designed to model systems in nature, it’s net zero energy and water, has composting toilets, and has been made with responsibly sourced non-toxic materials. Come find out what makes our building a special teaching tool empowering visitors to ask, “what does sustainability look like in the built environment and in my community?” Bring your questions so we can learn together. Tours typically last from 1-1.5 hours. Free Registration encouraged.

Saturday December 14. Democracy in Amherst: The First 250 Years. 2:30-4:00 PM. Woodbury Room, Jones Library. Learn about the history of Amherst’s town government from multiple perspectives. We begin in 1735, when Amherst officially became a separate precinct of Hadley, with Jones Library Special Collections Librarian Cyndi Harbeson, who will set the stage with a brief historical overview of the first two centuries of democracy in Amherst. We end with Amherst’s more recent history as former State Representative Ellen Story and former Select Board member Nancy Eddy share their experiences of Amherst town government in the last decades of the 20th century.

Tuesday December 17. Immigration Activist Josh Rubin, Who Helped Close Two Migrant Teen Prisons, to Speak/Show Film. 7 PM. Northampton Center for the Arts. 33 Hawley Street, Northampton. Activist Josh Rubin sparked a national movement around immigration justice for teen migrants imprisoned by the US. Inspired by Rubin, hundreds of people have come to the border, to witness and to help. Rubin is the subject of the new film, “Witness at Tornillo which will be screened. The public is invited at no charge (voluntary donations are welcome). Journalists can also meet Rubin at a press conference that morning, Pioneer Valley Workers Center, 20 Hampton Avenue #200, Northampton 11 a.m.. The event is organized by Western Massachusetts Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice, a local group that formed in June 2018 and sent a delegation this summer to witness at the detention center for migrant teens in Homestead, Florida, now closed thanks in part to Rubin’s kindling of nationwide movement. The group will be sending a delegation to the US-Mexico border early next year.

Friday, January 3rd, (5-8:30 pm) and Saturday, January 4, (9:00 am to 1:30 pm). Ski and Winter Gear Sale to Benefit the Amherst Historical Society. 2-Day Pop Up Ski Shop new and used gear, at the Pacific (Masonic) Lodge, located at 99 Main Street, Amherst. Great discounts for the beginner skater to the expert skier, all in adult and youth sizes. Experts will be on hand to help with sizing and selection. All proceeds benefit for the Amherst Historical Society. Questions, email Bonnie at amhersthistory@gmail.com. CONSIGN YOUR GENTLY USED WINTER GEAR-Equipment accepted only on Thursday, January 2, from 5:30-7:30 pm at Pacific Lodge, 99 Main Street, Amherst. Outgrown your skis or winter gear? Bring in your gently used gear to sell on consignment during the 2-Day Pop Up Ski Shop.  The seller sets the price and if sold, receives forty percent of the sale price for their used equipment. Donations also accepted. Contact Bonnie at amhersthistory@gmail.com for more details.
Want to have first look at the merchandise? Contact Bonnie about volunteering to help unload the gear on January 2 ^nd.