Hilltown Families 
Suggested Events 06/20/09-06/26/09
Worthington Swim Club Open House is on Saturday, June 20th from 12Noon-3pm in Worthington, MA. (Photo credit: Sienna Wildfield)
SUGGEST AN EVENT
If you have a family-friendly event or educational program happening in Western Massachusetts that you’d like to let us know about, post your event on our “Suggest An Event” page. The events below are “suggested.” Please take the time to confirm that these events are happening, along with time, location, age appropriateness and costs before attending
FEATURED EVENT
SATURDAY, JUNE 20th: Summer Solstice Celebration with Erica Wheeler in Conway, MA. Join Mountain View B&B for a mountain-top house concert to celebrate the beauty & bounty of summer. Enjoy great music, delicious food and spectacular views of the surrounding hills and mountains of Western Massachusetts and Southern Vermont. Celebration begins at 4pm with a potluck meal. Music and dessert are from 6-8pm. Children are free. To view the venue and directions go to www.mtviewbb.com. For more info contact HF Listserv member Joanie Schwartz, joanie@delaprealestate.com, 413.369.4700
About Erica Wheeler: Wheeler is an award-winning singer/songwriter based in western Massachusetts with six CD’s to her credit. She has shared the stage with Indigo Girls, Shawn Colvin, Greg Brown, and more. Her music made the Top 10 on Billboard’s Gavin Americana Chart and she has been a featured guest on NPR’s All Things Considered. Erica’s songs take you on a journey though the American landscape and the lives lived there. Known for her poetic and visual songwriting, Erica’s music is pure Americana, with hints of folk, country and bluegrass. Erica combines her career as a performing artist with her lifelong interest in natural and cultural history to offer The Soulful Landscape writing workshop. Her environmental work has been featured in national publications such as Orion, Yankee and Yes. Her most recent CD, Good Summer Rain, was sponsored in part by the Trust for Public Land, a national conservation organization. www.ericawheeler.com
BULLETIN BOARD
- What if your daughter is part of a risky or hurtful activity? Here’s how to handle it with girls, parents, and at school: When Her Friends Make Bad Choices. – Do you initiate conversations with your daughter/stepdaughter at least 5 times a week? Click here to take part in the Daughters.com poll.
- What impact will the Farm Safety Bill have on our regions small farms and local food processors? Maribeth Ritchie of Sangha Farm, a small family farm in Ashfield, MA, has shared info with a call for action HERE.
- Did you know that a quarter million experimental genetically engineered trees may be grown in the U.S? Concerned? Click here to read more.
- There is a Green Directory in the works for the Pioneer Valley. Check out Jessica Gifford’s post HERE.
- The Nields write: June 24 Wednesday at 6:30 pm We will once again break all the rules and sing at the library. This time it is the M.N. Spear Library in Shutesbury, MA. We are responsible for kicking off the summer reading program with some singing. Full disclosure, we are actually singing behind Town Hall, but it sounds so cool to say that we are going to be singing in LOUD voices in the the library. You’ll have to imagine that. This will be a family show with a mixture of songs for kids, grown ups and maybe even a bit of singing along. Dontcha know.
- Donna Guthire has recommended Meet Me At The Corner: Virtual Field Trips for Kids as a free educational website for kids this summer.
HILLTOWN FAMILY VARIETY SHOW
New music we're listening to: "If the World Was Upside Down" by Joe West and "26 Animals" by Artichoke.
Tune in to the Hilltown Family Variety Show on Saturdays from 9-10am on Valley Free Radio (VFR), 103.3FM (Northampton, MA), or listen via streaming audio at www.ValleyFreeRadio.org. Every Saturday VFR offers four hours of commercial-free, quality family program from 6-10am, including Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child from 7am-9am. It’s better than Saturday morning cartoons!
This week’s episode of the HFVS is the Father’s Day Episode with new music by Spiral Up Kids, Joe West, The Sippy Cups, Cathy & Marcy with Christylez Bacon, and Ziggy Marley. We’ll also be featuring tunes from LP’s in the attic, including music by The Bubble Gum Singers and Orchestra and The Radio Revellers.
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Events Happening in the Hilltowns
Saturday – 06/20
- 7am-9am – RADIO SHOW: Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child on 103.3FM WXOJ, Northampton, MA or starting at 8am on The River.
- 8:30am-12:30pm – Ashfield Farmer’s Market.
- 9am-10am – RADIO SHOW: Hilltown Family Variety Show on 103.3FM WXOJ, Northampton, MA – FATHER’S DAY EPISODE.
- 10am – OUTDOOR ADVENTURE: The hike in the Catamount Hills scheduled for Sunday, June 14 as part of RiverFest was so popular and over subscribed that the leader, Muriel Russell will lead two more hikes the next two Saturdays, June 20 and June 27 to accommodate those not able to go before. Muriel Russell, local expert in Catamount history, will lead an exploration of cellar holes and caves in the Catamount State Forest. This is always a popular hike because of its variety and it is not too strenuous. Bring bug repellant, water, flashlight to explore caves and a lunch to enjoy at McLeod Pond. Directions to start: From Rte. 112 in Griswoldville, Colrain, take Adamsville Rd. to Lively Rd., then quick left onto East Catamount Rd. (steep and dirt) to end where there is parking. Please register with Muriel Russell (413) 624-3311.
- 11am-3pm – MUSEUM ADVENTURES: Storrowton Village Museum Opening Day in West Springfield, MA, with guided tours of the recreated village and Early American craft demonstrations. (Free)
- 11am – FILM: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh will be screened in the auditorium at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA.
- 12Noon – 10pm – Taste of Amherst. Brady Rymer will be playing at Noon.
- 12Noon – 4pm – MUSEUM ADVENTURES: At the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA, Opening Celebration Frogs: A Chorus of Colors. (Free with museum admission)
- 12:30pm & 5:30pm – FILM: At Shakepeare & Co. in Lenox, MA begins free family screening of A.A. Milne’s The Wind in the Willows all summer. 5:30pm on Wednesdays (Free)
- 1:30pm – READING PROGRAM: Ed the Wizard will be at the Meekins Library in Williamsburg, MA for the launch of their summer reading program. (Free)
- 4pm – CONCERT & POTLUCK: Summer solstice celebration with Erica Wheeler in Conway, MA. Potluck meal. 413.369.4700 (Kids Free. Rain date: 06/21)
- 6-10pm – CELEBRATION: The Becket Arts Center hosts a Summer Solstice Bash with music, food, balloon rides and art in Becket, MA.
- 6pm – MOVIE NIGHT: All Thumb Movie Night at the Meekins Library in Williamsburg, MA for kids ages 11 and older. (Free)
- 8pm – THEATER: Carousel at Barrington Stage in Pittsfield, MA.
Sunday – 06/21
- 7:30-9am – OUTDOOR ADVENTURES: Bird Walk at Notchview in Windsor, MA. 532-1631 x13 (Free)
- 8am – OUTDOOR ADVENTURES: Summer Solstice & Father’s Day Family Hike. Meet at The Trustees of Reservations trailhead on Petticoat Hill Road in Williamsburg, MA. Additional parking is available at the Dunphy School parking lot. This hillside is covered by a 100-year-old forest criss-crossed by old stone walls. It is a moderate one hour hike, (approximately 1.5 miles), and some climbing is involved. Interested folks can meet after the hike for breakfast at Williamsburg’s newest local restaurant, The Hilltown Silver Spoon. 268-7523 (Free)
- 1-3pm – VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: The Highlands’ Least Wanted Field Day at Bear Swamp in Ashfield, MA. 268-8219 (Free)
- 1-4pm – MUSEUM ADVENTURES: Special Sundays at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA.
- 12Noon – 4pm – Taste of Amherst.
- MUSEUM ADVENTURES: The Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum offers Fathers Ride on Father’s Day. 625-9443(Free)
Weekdays 06/22/09-06/26/09
For more events happening this week visit our “Suggest An Event” page. There are also fun suggestions on our THINGS TO DO, PLACES TO SEE page. If you know of an upcoming event that you would like to share with other families, please feel encourage to do so by posting it HERE.
PITTSFIELD, MA
It’s Easy Being Green!
The Pittsfield Green Expo, kicks off with a free 3pm panel discussion featuring Crispina french of the Alchemy Initiative (that’s her recycled handiwork at left); Chris Swindlehurst of Brown Oil; Barbara Zheutlin, director of Berkshire Grown; and Al Silverstein of the Center for Ecological Technology at the Berkshire Museum. From 5-8pm, green-themed vendors will fill Dunham Mall, located off the first block of North Street, and at 6pm, rain or shine, The Green Mile , a one-mile footrace down North Street, will begin. Proceeds benefit the West Side and Morningside Neighborhood Initiatives & prizes will be awarded to male and female champions in different age groups.
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Fun for the whole family!
Everyone’s invited to hula hoop on the lawn of St. Joseph’s Church with hoop artist and choreographer Stefanie Weber, who is organizing an all day hoop festival on July 11th. Enjoy the Piston Poppers’ antique and collectable cars on display on North Street, and don’t miss performances by the Clothespin Puppeteers and Nutshell Playhouse outdoors at Persip Park. The Catholic Youth Center cheerleaders perform at St. Joseph’s Church lawn, and the B-Boys from Rhythms Dance Center will be breakdancing at the corner of North and Maplewood Streets. Plus Clifford the Big Red Dog will be a very special guest at Chapters Bookstore, where you can also get your face painted for free! And Chapters is hosting a sneak preview of the amazing one-of-a-kind birdhouses going up for auction to benefit the annual Pittsfield Garden Tour, not to be missed!
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