Deerfield Lion’s Club donates $4,500 to South County EMS

SOUTH DEERFIELD — In honor of the Deerfield Lions Club’s 78th birthday, the club has donated $4,500 to South County EMS, which allowed the agency to purchase four new medical bags.

“We are really grateful to the Lions Club for their generous donation,” said EMS Chief Joshua Sparks, adding it is a “wonderful example of community coming together.”

The money comes from a fundraiser the club started in 1973 to help the town of Deerfield buy an ambulance. After some funds were donated, surplus funds were kept in a savings account and the club has used the balance to donate to South County EMS. Club member Pamela Hodgkins said the club’s members loved the idea of donating a gift to the agency.

Watermelon Wednesdays welcomes back Solomiya Ivakhiv

WHATELY — Ukrainian violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv will return to the Watermelon Wednesdays concert series on May 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the West Whately Chapel.

Ivakhiv will be joined by University of Massachusetts Amherst professor of keyboard music Steven Beck on the harpsichord, as they play a selection of J.S. Bach’s sonatas. Proceeds will go to help Ukrainian musicians repair or replace instruments damaged by the nation’s ongoing war with Russia.

Advance tickets are recommended and can be purchased on Watermelon Wednesday’s website at watermelonwednesdays.com.

May 31 deadline approaching for The Ryan Scholarship

CONWAY — High school seniors in Conway are invited to apply for The Ryan Scholarship by a May 31 deadline.

The Friends of the Field Memorial Library welcomes applications for the scholarship, which honors the life and work of Ryan Walsh Martel, who grew up in Conway and went to work on environmental policy on the state and national levels before he died of brain cancer at age 41 in 2022.

Walsh Martel attended Conway Grammar School and Frontier Regional School before heading to Deerfield Academy as a day student, where his parents said he was exposed to a new world of cultural backgrounds.

Even as he went to serve as an energy and climate policy advisor for U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Brian Schatz, or as the senior director of the federal policy team at Boston-based nonprofit Ceres, his dedication to his hometown was always there, especially to the Festival of the Hills, which he tried to attend every year.

The scholarship, which will be in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, will be awarded to a Conway high school senior who presents the best plan, through education or work, to lessen the impact of climate change while helping carry on Walsh Martel’s legacy.

To apply for the scholarship or to find more information, visit fieldmemoriallibrary.org/the-ryan-scholarship. Students can also contact scholarship coordinator Thad Bennett at theryanscholarship@gmail.com or 413-369-0119.

Whately Community Preservation Act application deadline approaching

WHATELY — The deadline to submit applications for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding, to be voted on during a fall Special Town Meeting, is Tuesday, June 11, at noon.

Applications must be for time-sensitive projects that cannot wait until the 2025 Annual Town Meeting and applicants must explain why the project is time-sensitive. Applications may be submitted to townclerk@whately.org.

The Community Preservation Committee considers applications for funding for eligible projects pertaining to housing, historic preservation, open space and recreation. The CPC encourages applicants to have received the approval of the relevant town committee, such as the Conservation Commission, Housing Committee or Historical Commission, before submitting them. Information on project criteria and eligibility and a link to the application form can be found via the CPA Project Application tab on the CPC page at whately.org.