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By Credit search: For the Recorder

By SHERYL HUNTER

For three and a half years, multi-instrumentalist Michael Pattavina of Greenfield has hosted the Bluegrass and Beyond session at the Rendezvous in Turners Falls. These sessions occur on the last Friday of the month except during December and the warm weather months of May through August. This month’s session will be held on Friday, Jan. 31 at 9 p.m. and will be an evening of honky-tonk music with special guest Betsy-Dawn Williams.

By BILL DANIELSON

It was a Sunday and a big storm was on the way. The morning was fairly calm, but clouds had moved in and there wasn’t much time before the snow started to fall. In a perfect world I could have simply kicked off my shoes and settled in for a quiet winter morning, but we don’t live in a perfect world. Instead, we live in a world that requires firewood to be moved from time to time, and, like it or not, it was time.

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Early Wednesday morning (Jan. 29) we will welcome the Year of the Snake. As readers may know, the Chinese Zodiac comprises 12 signs. Each is assigned an animal, and the animals repeat in a 12-year cycle. This roughly corresponds to the time it takes Jupiter to orbit the sun.

By NAN PARATI

Last Sunday the word went out: Y’all! It’s gonna snow, day after tomorrow!

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

(Editor’s note: This is part two in a two-part series.)

By ADA DENENFELD KELLY

NORTHFIELD — Selectboard members signed two letters of support this week as the town looks to make up the funding gap preventing the Schell Bridge reconstruction project from moving forward.

By ANITA WILSON

A Hampshire County college student received a bill for a cellphone plan he never signed up for with a telephone number he didn’t recognize.

By SHERYL HUNTER

January is the month of new beginnings, and with the new year comes the arrival of new music. In the upcoming weeks, some popular Franklin County-based musicians playing their first local shows of 2025 where they will give audiences the chance to listen to new music before it is officially released.

By ADA DENENFELD KELLY

NORTHFIELD — After voters shot down a proposal for a public safety complex in May 2023 due to concerns about the burden on taxpayers and wetlands encroachment, the Emergency Services Facility Committee is evaluating plans for a facility on the same property that would only house the Fire Department.

By BILL DANIELSON

Anyone who has ever dabbled in the art of photography will understand that you find yourself at the mercy of your environment. Of course, I am speaking of outdoor photography in this case. Studio photography is an entirely different organism because in that particular endeavor the art lies in manufacturing an environment. If you are outdoors, however, you have to find ways to make due with what you’ve got on any particular day.

By TINKY WEISBLAT

A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to bring something sweet to a meeting. The meeting took place on our National Day of Mourning for the late President Jimmy Carter so I decided to make something with peanuts or peanut butter. Carter was a peanut farmer before he went into politics.

By TINKY WEISBLAT

James Bridgman of Northampton will speak about his recent book, “Forgotten Immigrants: The Bohemians of Turners Falls, Massachusetts,” on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 2 p.m. at the Great Falls Discovery Center on Avenue A in Turners Falls.

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Aliza Fassler is a scientist who spends a lot of time outdoors, and the Greenfield native offers a tip that can lead to an extraordinary experience. The next time you’re perspiring while outdoors on a warm day, keep an eye out for a tiny flying insect. If a golden green sweat bee (Augochlorella aurata) lands on you, there’s a chance you could observe it licking the salt on your skin. If you look carefully, you might even see its miniscule tongue. “It tickles!” said Fassler.

By SHERYL HUNTER

There’s no denying that January is a slow time for live music, especially shows by more prominent musicians who choose not to tour this time of year. But all is not lost. You need not look further than our local breweries to find and enjoy some excellent local music. As a bonus, these shows are often free and in an intimate setting.

By BILL DANIELSON

Anyone who makes a regular habit of watching birds will recognize that there is a predictable rhythm to the seasons. Winter is the harshest time of year and as a result there are fewer species to look for. At my house, in the month of January, I have managed to see a maximum of 31 different species. Different people living in different places will probably see a smaller number than that, but there may be the occasional yard that has more species to offer.

By SYDNEY TOPF

Rosa Hernandez-O’Neil was surrounded by early educators growing up. Her mother ran a child care center in their home and her sisters all worked in the field. So, at 16 years old, Hernandez-O’Neil decided she wanted to join the family business as a teacher’s assistant.

By MARA MELLITS

For Patricia, a farmworker in Hampshire and Franklin counties, a typical day in the growing season starts at 4 a.m. A single mother who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in 2003, she drops her child off at a babysitter’s house before going to work. She often doesn’t pick up the child until 6 or 7 p.m., or sometimes even later if she stays to pick vegetables.

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Bread is one of humanity’s earliest foods. It is certainly the oldest food that uses cultivated crops. It is meaningful to us humans in many ways. It symbolizes warmth, nourishment and home.

By EVELINE MACDOUGALL

Over the last few decades, many people felt inspired to learn skills that were common in earlier times. The recent pandemic era nudged even more people to take up practices like baking sourdough bread, knitting, building furniture, and a mind-boggling number of other pursuits. Tutorials are readily available through libraries and on the internet, but there are limits, right? We’re unlikely to find hobbyists handcrafting cars, building computers from scratch, or making their own shoes.

By AMY NEWSHORE

It’s that time again for thinking about the new year ahead and what aspirations we may have for ourselves. The beginning of a new year can awaken motivation to engage in habits, activities and goals that are good for us. For example, we might want to stop drinking or smoking, exercise more, be more patient with our spouse and children, eat healthier, treat ourselves with more kindness, or carve out more opportunities for fun and pleasure.