Saving Lives 2022 at Buttery Brook Park

Food, Entertainment, and AED Training Event
Saturday, October 22, 2022 at Buttery Brook Park (rain date 10.23)

A new AED (Automated External Defibrillator) was recently installed at the front of the Log Cabin adjacent to the playground at Buttery Brook Park, located at 123 Willimansett Street (Rt 33), South Hadley. Come and be part of making South Hadley a safer community and learn how to use the AED and participate in some hands-on CPR training (sessions every half hour from 12-3pm). In addition to a free lunch provided by some favorite local restaurants, training participants will receive a $5 coupon good at any Bean Group restaurant, and be entered into a lottery tree raffle. 

The day’s activities also also include a Pickleball Tournament featuring Women’s, Men’s and Mixed Divisions (11am to 8pm), music by Deejay KStyles and a beer tent (12-7pm). Plan to stay to enjoy the music and a beer, and watch the Tournament on the Park’s new Pickleball courts (lighted at night) to see the game in action.

Download a flyer (1-page printable PDF). For questions about the event, email: southhadleypickleball@gmail.com.

Bike/Walk to host Oct. 16 guided Trek at River to Range Trail

The South Hadley Bike/Walk Committee is holding a free, guided Trek this Sunday. Participants of all ages and new Trekkers are always welcomed!

River to Range Loop Trek
Sunday, October 16, 2022 at 1:00pm
(meet in the parking area at 12:45pm)

Trailhead adjacent to the MHC Boathouse at 240 Ferry Street, South Hadley
Parking in the trail lot on the right as you enter from Ferry Street
River-to-Range Loop and Bachelor/Stoney Brook Trail Maps (PDF)

Meghan Stone and BWC Member Caroline Martin will lead the Trek and naturalist Dan Ziomek, known his ‘Birdsongs’ radio program on 93.9 The River, will be on hand to talk about local birds and their voices. Located at the Bachelor Brook-Stony Brook Conservation area on Ferry Street, the one mile loop offers beautiful woodland and field views, with seasonal views of the Connecticut River. The trail, which is designed to accommodate all levels of mobility, features an easily traversed surface and is well suited for all ages. Wear weather-appropriate clothing and safe footwear; if desired, bring walking poles and water. 

In the event of inclement weather a cancellation decision will be made by 10am. For more information and any weather updates, visit: www.southhadley.org/bikewalk.

Save the date the our next Trek at Leaping Well Nature Trail on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 1pm! (Meet at 12:45pm, trailhead is just before Mosier Elementary School)

November 8 Election information for South Hadley voters

Massachusetts voters can now vote early by mail in all elections with no excuse required. In South Hadley, in-person voting will be offered October 22 to November 4 during early voting hours at the Town Clerk’s office, and on Election Day, November 8, 2022, at South Hadley High School. 

South Hadley voters will have ballots for two elections, one for the Massachusetts State Election and another for a local special election (residents requesting vote-by-mail ballots will receive both election ballots, with a separate return envelope for each). 

The local special election will elect one candidate to fill a vacancy on the South Hadley Selectboard following the death of member Sarah Etelman earlier this year. The person elected will serve the remainder of that term until the Town Election in April, 2023 when a member will be elected for a full term. 

The Massachusetts State Election will elect candidates for the offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, State Auditor, Representative in Congress, Governor’s Councilor, State Senator, State Representative, District Attorney, and Sheriff. There will also be four statewide ballot questions.

For details about voting by mail, voter registration, forms, deadlines, in-person voting locations and hours, sample ballots, links to information about the four ballot questions, and other information, visit the South Hadley town website at: https://www.southhadley.org/620/Elections.

Voices of Resilience-Free Exhibit Opens September 18

The Center Church in South Hadley is hosting an exhibit entitled The Voices of Resilience: The Intersection of Women on the Move. From September 18 to October 19 the public is invited to discover the stories of women whose diverse lives changed the course of history and whose voices continue to resonate today. The event, which is free, will open on Sunday, September 18 at 2:00pm, and then be open to the public on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm, Sundays from 11am to 2pm, and Wednesdays from 4-7pm. Center Church is located across from the Town Green on Route 116, at 1 Church Street, South Hadley.

For a flyer and more details, see: centerchurchsouthhadley.org/voices. Local sponsors include E-ink, Mount Holyoke College, PeoplesBank, Thomson Financial Management, Odyssey Bookshop, Sankofa Gumbo, Inc. The program is supported in part by an LCC grant from the South Hadley Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass. Cultural Council, a state agency.

Confronting Empire: UMassAmherst free, public, online lecture series begins 9/19/22

The UMass Amherst Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series presents Confronting Empire, a series of free, public, online lectures that will begin in Fall 2022 and continue through Spring 2023. The series traces the history of U.S. imperialism from the conquest of North America to the creation of an overseas empire in the late 19th century and to the present day. It also offers a critical historical analysis of the various traditions and movements that have opposed U.S. empire, including Black radicalism, Marxism, revolutionary feminism, armed struggle, international solidarity, pacifism, and liberal, electoral, and diplomatic activism.  

The Series will open with a Keynote at 7pm on September 19, 2022 via Zoom: U.S. Policy in the Global South featuring Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Vincent Bevins, and Amy Goodman (moderator). Program details and registration: https://blogs.umass.edu/feinberg/menchu/

For more information on lecture topics and speakers, and registration for all of the free, public programs in the 2022-2023 Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series, visit: https://blogs.umass.edu/feinberg. Click to view the series calendar of events. 

The 2022-2023 Feinberg Series is presented by the UMass Amherst Department of History in collaboration with the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracyand more than two dozen university and community partners. It is made possible thanks to the generosity of Kenneth Feinberg ’67 and associates. 

Woodlawn Dedication & Community Day Celebration 9/10/22

Come and enjoy a festive community day of activities, food and fun for all ages on Saturday, September 10, 2022. The Woodlawn Dedication Celebration begins with family activities during the day at Woodlawn Park and concludes with an adult evening of music and dancing inside and on the patio the adjacent Senior Center. 

The Woodlawn Park/Senior Center complex is located at 45 Dayton Street in South Hadley. 

After a brief dedication ceremony for Woodlawn Park’s athletic field and new playgrounds, outdoor, FREE intergenerational family activities from 11am to 1pm will include face painting, yoga, Nerf archery, a Neighborhood Trek and tour of outdoor fitness equipment at the complex, and a Whiffle Ball home run derby. A cornhole tournament from 1pm to 5pm will follow (ages 13+, team entry fee; register via theScoreholio app under ‘Celebrate Woodlawn! Tournament’). During the day there will be music by DJ Kstylez, and food and beverages will be available for purchase. 

The celebration will conclude with an Adult Evening of Music and Dancing from 6:30pm to 9:30pm inside at the Senior Center and on the patio for young-at-heart adults of all ages featuring the popular Northampton-based Bad News Jazz and Blues Orchestra with vocalist Cindy Reed. With music from Benny Goodman and County Basie to Frank Sinatra and contemporary arrangements of jazz, rock, funk, and blues, the popular Northampton-based group was voted Hampshire Gazette Reader’s Choice ‘Best Live Jazz’ in both 2022 and 2021. Admission is free and will include food specialties from many of South Hadley’s most popular restaurants and the SHHS Culinary Program to sample at no charge. Beer, wine, hard seltzer, and soft drinks will be available for purchase. This indoor event will be held rain or shine.

Free parking for the Woodlawn Dedication celebration will be available at the Senior Center Lot on Dayton Street, and on Newton Street at PeoplesBank (after the bank closes at 12pm), and at Woodlawn Plaza (where Rocky’s is located).

Save the date and view or download an event flyer for more information!

In the event of rain, outdoor events will be canceled. For more information and any weather notices: www.SouthHadleyRecreation.org

The Adult Evening of Music and Dancing is sponsored by the Friends of the South Hadley Seniors and supported in part by a grant from the South Hadley Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

KYT State Senate Candidate Forum

A recording of the recent forum can be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/745965069
Candidate information: http://www.knowyourtown.org/election-info/meet-the-candidates

Know Your Town (KYT), a local community group, will present an online forum for State Senate candidates at 7:00pm on Monday, August 29, 2022 via Zoom. The two candidates in the Democratic Primary, Sydney Levin Epstein of Longmeadow and Rep. Jake Oliveira of Ludlow, will participate. The State Senate candidate in the Republican primary, William Johnson of Granby, is unopposed and has declined the invitation to participate. 

Know Your Town member Joan Rosner will open and close the forum, and Ira Brezinsky will serve as the moderator. Candidates will have four minutes to present opening statements. Attendees will then be able to ask questions of the candidates by typing them into the Chat feature. Special thanks to shctv.com for event simulcasting and providing a recording for later viewing. 

Please plan to attend this forum to learn more about those who are seeking to represent South Hadley and in the State Senate! To request a meeting link, email Martha Terry at: mterry@knowyourtown.org

As a result of redistricting enacted in November 2021, new Congressional, Senate, Council, and House districts in Massachusetts become effective for the 2022 election cycle. South Hadley will move from the Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester Senate District represented by state Sen. Jo Comerford to become part of the Hamden, Hampshire, and Worcester State Senate District currently represented by state Sen. Eric Lesser, who is running for Lt. Governor and leaving his state senate seat. For more about South Hadley voting districts and communities in our new State Senate district, see: https://www.southhadley.org/401/Voter-Information (scroll to the last paragraph).

The state Primary Election is Tuesday, September 6, 2022, and winners will face off in the general State Election on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Polls for both elections will be open from 7am to 8pm, and all South Hadley precincts vote at South Hadley High School, 153 Newton Street. 

For more information about KYT, visit: https://www.knowyourtown.org

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Visit http://www.VoteInMA.com for details about mail-in voting and complete information about Elections and Voting in Massachusetts.

2022 Massachusetts Primary Election on September 6

As a result of redistricting following the 2020 census South Hadley’s State Senate District will change with this election cycle, and the town will leave the Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester State Senate District to become part of the First Hampden and Hampshire District. That district includes Belchertown, East Longmeadow, Granby, Hampden, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Palmer, South Hadley, Warren, Wilbraham, and parts of Chicopee and Springfield. South Hadley will remain in the First Congressional District and the Second Hampshire State Representative District. 

Tuesday, September 6 is Primary Election Day, and polls will be open from 7:00am to 8:00pm for in-person voting. All precincts vote at South Hadley High School, 153 Newton Street (Route 116).

Voters in the Democratic and Republican primaries will select candidates to run in the State Election on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Offices on the ballot include Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Representative in Congress, Governor’s Councilor, State Senator, State Representative, District Attorney, and Sheriff. To select and view sample primary “ballots” for South Hadley that list the candidates in each primary, go to: www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com.

Voting by Mail with no excuse required is now available in all elections to Massachusetts voters, who may apply for a ballot to vote early by mail. The ballot will come with an instruction sheet, a brown envelope to sign and place the completed ballot in, and a postage-paid, pre-addressed white return envelope. Ballots can be returned by mail (be sure there is enough time for delivery), in person to the Town Clerk’s office at South Hadley Town Hall during office hours or any early voting site in South Hadley, or in the secured ballot drop box behind the South Hadley Police station. Ballots must reach the local election office by 8pm on election day to be counted, even if they are postmarked on or before that date. You can track your ballot at: www.TrackMyBallotMA.com.

Saturday, August 27 is the deadline to register to vote in the September 6, 2022 Primary Election. To check or update your registration online or register to vote, visit: www.RegisterToVoteMA.com. 

Monday, August 29 at 5:00pm is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot for the primary. If you are not registered with a party, your application form must indicate which party’s ballot you wish to receive. Those who are unenrolled (or ‘independent’) may vote in the party primary of their choice, and choosing a party ballot will not change your registration. 

Monday, August 29 at 5:00pm is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot for the primary. If you are not registered with a party, your application form must indicate which party’s ballot you wish to receive. Those who are unenrolled (or ‘independent’) may vote in the party primary of their choice, and choosing a party ballot will not change your registration. 

Visit www.VoteInMA.com for application forms and complete information about Elections and Voting in Massachusetts. For details about voting in South Hadley, see: www.southhadley.org/620/Elections. The Town Clerk’s office hours are Monday to Thursday, 8:30am to 3:30pm, and the phone is 413-538-5030 x6183. 

New Pickleball Courts at Buttery Brook Park Open for Play

Nets at the new pickle ball courts at Buttery Brook Park were installed on Tuesday, July 26 and the courts are open for play! We look forward to seeing you! Buttery Brook Park is located at 123 Willimansett Street (Rt. 33) in South Hadley, MA.

Ribbon Cutting and Learn-to-Play Clinic August 8 at 1:00pm
August 8th is National Pickleball Day. Please join us at the Buttery Brook Park Pickleball courts where we will have our ribbon cutting and a learn-to-play-clinic. The ribbon cutting will be held on Aug 8 at 1pm followed immediately by a learn-to-play-clinic. All ages are welcome to come and learn to play Pickleball. Paddles will be available for use for anyone who needs one. More learn-to-play-clinics are planned for September.

For more information about pickleball and upcoming events at our new courts, visit South Hadley Pickleball on Facebook.