Discover fun and educational events happening this weekend in Western Mass, along with announcements, upcoming events, links, resources and the HFVS podcast.
SUGGEST AN EVENT
Summit Farm in Plainfield, MA has pick-your own organic strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in the hilltowns. Raspberries are ripe for the picking now, and blueberries will be ready mid-July. Call Ed Stockman for harvest schedule: (413) 634-5024. (Photo credit: Sienna Wildfield)
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, place, age appropriateness and costs before attending.
DINNER IN THE HILLTOWNS
Friday, July 2nd at Blue House Cafe in Haydenville: Gluten-free and vegan dishes. BYOB. 268-7441
Friday, July 2nd at Elmer’s Store in Ashfield: Garlic Cilantro Chicken with Sauteed peppers and onion – or – Portabello mushroom tacos. Both come with mixed beans, salsa and sour cream. BYOB 628-4003
Friday & Saturday, July 2nd & 3rd at Bread Euphoria in Haydenville: Oven fried chicken and herbed biscuits with Grafton smoked cheddar and honey butter, with Potato salad and Veggie option of Veggie burgers. Watermelon and watercress salad. Watermelon and cucumber mojito. Chocolate semifriedo with blackberry mint sauce. Also available: Sandwiches, salads, soups and pizza (including Gluten-Free pizza!). Beer & wine available. 268-7757
BULLETIN BOARD
ADVERTISING & ANNOUNCEMENTS: Deliver your message to a large local family based audience while supporting the work of Hilltown Families. Advertise your event, camp, workshop, fundraiser, business or announcement here in the Bulletin Board section of our List of Weekly Suggested Events.
Deadline to enter to win: July 11th
Alyssa Pratt-Miranda writes: I think most people in this group have established childcare already (or older children), but I thought I’d post this just in case. Our first baby is due in November and we’d love to look into nanny share options when I have to start up work again in February of 2011. We’re moving to Easthampton in August. I haven’t really thought through the logistics yet so we are pretty flexible with days, times, and whose house the kids would be at. Are there any families in the same situation, or do you know of any expecting mamas in the Noho area who might be interested in talking with us about this? Post replies here.
Deadline to enter to win: July 7th
PEDIATRICIAN: Love your pediatrician? Share the love and let us know. Recommend a pediatrician to families in Western Mass looking for a doctor for their kids HERE.
PAINTBOX THEATER GIVEAWAY: Congratulations to Chrisoula Roumeliotis of Worthington, MA on winning a family season pass for four to the Paintbox Theater Summer Series! – If you did not win tickets, you should still check out this summer theater series. For more info call (413) 585-3220, or visit New Century Theatre at www.newcenturytheatre.org/paintbox.html
Deadline to enter to win: July 7th
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Interested in becoming a Contributing or Guest Writer for Hilltown Families? Have an idea for an on-going column? Have a review or resource you’d like to share? We welcome writings that reflect the positive work and educational efforts activists, families, teachers, and artists work towards and accomplish and how that affects, supports and empowers our families. All writing styles welcomed, including DIY posts. Send your query to hilltownfamilies@gmail.com.
Katie Flanders writes: Any good preschools around the Hilltowns? Thanks! Post replies here.
HILLTOWN FAMILY VARIETY SHOW
This week on the HFVS we will be spinning birthday songs and new tunes by The Sweet Colleens, Coal Train Railroad, Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its!, and Sugar Free Allstars.Tune in on Saturdays from 9-10am, or listen to our podcasts HERE. Encore episodes are aired every Sunday from 7-8am. Families have several ways to tune in to the Hilltown Family Variety Show:
Streaming Audio: Surf on over to ValleyFreeRadio.org on Saturday & Sunday mornings and listen to us live via streaming audio.
On Your FM Dial: Tune in to WXOJ 103.3FM if you live near Northampton, MA.
PODCAST: Listen to the most recent episodes of the Hilltown Family Variety Show anytime you wish! Click here to see our current select of episodes, and be sure to subscribe to our podcast too!
WEEKLY LIST OF SUGGESTED EVENTS
Suggest an Event | Local Forecast | Free Museum Passes | Family Centers (Ages 0-4) | Movies in the Valley | Movies in the Berkshires | Farmers’ Markets | Listen Here
Events Happening in the Hilltowns
Saturday – 7/3
6-10am – FAMILY RADIO: Valley Free Radio (WXOJ-LP 103.3FM Northampton, MA) offers 4-hours of commercial-free family programing every Saturday, including the Hilltown Family Variety Show and Spare the Rock. Tune in on your FM dial, or listen live via streaming audio at www.valleyfreeradio.org.
8:30am-12:30pm – FARMERS’ MARKET: On the town green. Ashfield, MA (MARKET)
9:30am-4:30pm – MUSEUM ADVENTURES: Open Hearth Cooking Demo at Historic Deerfield. During the hot summer months, come learn how people in early New England kept cool, and preserved summer produce. Open hearth cooks will demonstrate how to make cooling beverages including lemonade and switchel (a drink made with molasses, ginger, sugar and water). See how people preserved summer vegetables like cucumbers or beets. Drop in anytime. 775-7175 www.historic-deerfield.org Deerfield, MA (FREE w/admission)
10am – OUTDOOR ADVENTURES: A Wheelie Good Time on the Manhan Rail Trail – Bring Strollers, wagon, bikes, trikes or just your feet for a child friendly stroll along the Manhan Rail Trail with the Easthampton Family Center. Meet on Payson Ave at the Easthampton Safety Complex. Picnic Snack provided after the stroll. 563-7672 Easthampton, MA (FREE)
10am-5pm – MUSEUM ADVENTURES: Kick off your 4th of July weekend celebration at Norman Rockwell Museum with their annual family baseball festival. Share a rare inside look at baseball legend Babe Ruth, through a special visit from his granddaughter Linda Ruth Tosetti; enjoy a game of catch with the Troy, N.Y.-based ValleyCats; learn about creating award-winning sports illustrations with artist Graig Kreindler; and enter into a 3D art-making workshop with pop artist Charles Fazzino. Children and teens 18 and under are free, adults free with Museum admission. www.nrm.org Stockbridge, MA ($)
11am-10pm – 4TH OF JULY: Fourth of July family celebration on the Town Common. Chicken dinner (11-3), Russian Dancers (11:30), Pioneer Valley Concert Band (1pm) and fireworks in the evening. Call for tickets for Russian Dancers: 896-0506 West Springfield, MA
12:30pm – MUSEUM ADVENTURES: Chow Time in the aquarium at 12:30pm at the Berkshire Museum. 443-7171 www.berkshiremuseum.org Pittsfield, MA (FREE w/museum admission)
1pm – SCIENCE STUDIES: Amherst Solar will be set up with their telescopes on the Amherst Town Common all summer. Stop by with the kids and see Sunspots, Prominences, Limb Darkening and more. 256-6234 amastro.org Amherst, MA (FREE)
1-5pm – HISTORIC ADVENTURES: Tour the William Cullen Bryant Homestead. Explore the ancestral home of the great 19th-century poet, newspaperman, and essayist, and wander the grounds above the Westfield River. Try the “I Spy” family activity using a hands-on spy pack to discover the Homestead’s secrets. 634-2244 Cummington, MA (>$)
6pm – 4TH OF JULY: Pre-firework activities at Michael E. Smith Middle School (100 Mosier St.). (Rain date: 7/5) Fireworks at dark. South Hadley, MA (FREE)
6pm – SPORTS FANS: Take the family out to the ballpark to see a Pittsfield Colonials baseball home game at Wahconah Park. www.pittsfieldcolonials.com Pittsfield, MA ($)
6:15pm – DANCE: At Jacob’s Pillow, “First Lady of Tap” Dianne Walker, with award-winning performers Derick K. Grant and Tasha Lawson and live music under the direction of Paul Arslanian, showcases a range of tap styles with dancers of The School after their first week of intensive study at the Inside/Out Stage. 243-0745 www.jacobspillow.org Becket, MA (FREE)
7:30-10pm – NATURE STUDIES: Firefly program at Sheep Hill. Annual Firefly Hike and Campfire. The evening will feature campfire stories, S’mores, and the glittering jewels of the summer meadow. There will be nature crafts for children before it gets dark, and stories by the fire followed by a walk through the darkening meadow to experience the dazzling firefly show. www.wrlf.org Williamstown, MA (>$ donation)
8:45pm – DRIVE-IN MOVIE: Northfield Drive-In movie theater is featuring ooo as their first show, and ooo as their second show this weekend. (603) 239-4054 www.northfielddrivein.com Northfield, MA ($)
6pm – 4TH OF JULY: Entertainment at Stanley Park with music and F-15 flyover. Fireworks at dusk. Westfield, MA
Dusk – FIREWORKS: The following towns have firework displays: East Longmeadow, South Hadley and Westfield. Click here for details.
Sunday – 7/4
7-8am – FAMILY RADIO: Valley Free Radio (WXOJ-LP 103.3FM Northampton, MA) airs encores the Hilltown Family Variety Show every Sunday morning. Tune in on your FM dial, or listen live via streaming audio at www.valleyfreeradio.org.
8am – WOMEN’S TRAIL RUN: Women of all levels are welcomed to a casual weekly trail run at the Chesterfield Gorge. All distances/All levels welcome. Organized by Leslie Charles and Tanya Rapinchuk. West Chesterfield, MA
9:30am-9:30pm – 4TH OF JULY: Old Sturbridge Village celebrates Independence Day with special daytime activities: join a citizen’s procession, hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence, sign a giant copy of the Declaration, play 1830s-style “Base-ball,” and much more. After daytime celebrations conclude at 5:00 p.m., OSV reopens from 6:00 – 9:30 p.m., for an evening of music, magic, family games and activities followed by a 30-minute fireworks display at dusk. www.osv.org Sturbridge, MA ($)
10am – 4TH OF JULY: The Town of Chesterfield will host its 63rd annual Independence Day Parade on Sunday, July 4th. This year’s parade promises to be better than ever bringing fun and family attractions that have made this event a Hilltown tradition. The parade will feature bands, floats, animals, clowns, antique and collectable cars and fire and emergency vehicles. Chesterfield, MA (FREE)
10am-1pm – COMMUNITY DANCE: Jacob’s Pillow offers a new community-wide celebration full of free events and classes especially suited to encourage participation in dance. Let’s Dance! will feature free dance workshops for teens and adults in Pilates, Yoga, Zumba, Swing, and Arab-American Fusion, as well as a special Families Dance Together Class for adults and children. The Pillow will present free performances on the Inside/Out stage by Ballroom Dancing for Tough Guys and Boston Tap Company. Bring a picnic to enjoy on the Great Lawn. 243-0745 Becket, MA (FREE)
10am – 4TH OF JULY: Jaycees Summer Carnival and Fireworks. Parade at 10am. Activities during day. Fireworks at dusk. East Longmeadow, MA
11am – 4TH OF JULY: July 4th will begin with the Williamstown Parade at 11 AM winding up Route 2 from Southworth Street and continuing onto Spring Street where the Flatbed Jazz Band will be playing at the base of the street and parade goers can enjoy a barbecue. Following the barbecue a reading of the declaration of Independence will be held at the Williams College Museum of Art. www.williamstownchamber.com Williamstown, MA (FREE)
12Noon – 4TH OF JULY: July 4th Parade starting in Buckland at noon, traveling to Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School in Shelburne. All are invited to be in parade; Floats, Decorated Bikes, Horses, Oxen, Antique Vehicles of all types, Bag Pipes and any other music or dance groups. Parade followed by Chicken Barbecue Meal, Military Band Concert, Games, & other enjoyable activities. 522-4585 Shelburne Falls, MA
12Noon – 4TH OF JULY: Celebrate a revolutionary weekend with Shakespeare & Company! At 3pm a free, ever-popular reading of the Declaration of Independence features some of the most stirring words of political rhetoric ever written, spoken out loud by Company actors and special guests from the community. It is preceded at noon this year by Revolutionary Moments, a special collection of vignettes compiled by Tina Packer and featuring Shakespeare & Company actors. Revolutionary Moments highlights the influence of Shakespeare on some of history’s most fascinating figures. Community barbecue from 1:30-6:30pm. www.shakespeare.org Lenox, MA
2pm – SPORTS FANS: Take the family out to the ballpark to see a Pittsfield Colonials baseball home game at Wahconah Park. www.pittsfieldcolonials.com Pittsfield, MA ($)
4pm – FAMILY CONCERT: Mohawk Trail Summer Concert Series will host a free family concert : An American Music Hour, Featuring All Charlemont Performers Yanagita/ Bogin, Violin & Piano Duo, Charlotte Dewey, soprano & Jim Ballard, piano Small Change, Acoustic Swing Band, with guest John Clark, horn. Concert will be at the Federated Church. 625-9511 www.mohawktrailconcerts.org Charlemont, MA (FREE)
5pm-11pm – 4TH OF JULY: Independence Day Celebration in Amherst. This promises to be an event that everyone will enjoy; activities include a children’s carnival, face-painting, games, field races, a pie-eating contest, the Amherst Community Band, and of course, fireworks. Location: Various around town. Amherst, MA (FREE)
7:30pm – 4TH OF JULY: Star Spangled Springfield at Riverfront Park. Fireworks at dusk. Springfield, MA (FREE)
8:45pm – DRIVE-IN MOVIE: Northfield Drive-In movie theater is featuring ooo as their first show, and ooo as their second show this weekend. (603) 239-4054 www.northfielddrivein.com Northfield, MA ($)
Dusk – FIREWORKS: The following towns have firework displays: North Adams, West Springfield, Amherst, Sturbridge, Springfield, Pittsfield and Stockbridge. Click here for details.
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