On April 3, members of Indivisible Northampton and local activists gathered on King Street to protest Citizens Bank’s financial ties to companies that operate ICE detention facilities.
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Survey seeks input about promoting city as a destination
The city is seeking input from the public, both locally and afar, through a Community and Visitor Perception Survey that was launched on April 9.
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EASTHAMPTON
Schools highlight student successes, some changes
The School Committee took the opportunity to showcase the work of its students and staff and the hopes it has for a revamped middle school experience.
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21 S. Broad St. Westfield, MA www.ameliaparkarena.org
Grow Food market returns for 2026 season
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON — Grow
Food Northampton’s Tuesday Market returned for the 2026 season on April 14, kicking off another 30 weeks of a staple event in the city.
Located in the plaza between Thorne’s Marketplace and the EJ Gare Parking Garage, the market will run every Tuesday from 1-6 p.m. until Nov. 3. This is the 19th season of the market and the 11th season as a program spearheaded by Grow Food Northampton.
The opening market on April 14 featured 34 local farms, food and craft vendors, and musical performances from indie pop duo The Sawtelles. Grow Food Northampton Farmers Market Manager Helen Kahn told Reminder Publishing that each week, the Tuesday Market will host dozens of local farmers and vendors selling fresh vegetables, cheese, meats, mushrooms, microgreens, honey, maple products, bread, baked goods, flowers, plants, herbal products, hot prepared food, crafts and more.
A rotation of local musicians is scheduled to perform at all 30 markets, and more than 40 farm and food vendors, and over 20 artisan vendors will join the market over the course of the season. A complete list can be found at growfoodnorthampton.org/farmers-markets/.
“The number and variety of local farms, herbalists and food purveyors attending the market
grows every year,” said Kahn. “The market provides a weekly opportunity for our community to connect directly with the peo-
ple growing, raising and producing our food. There is a buzz of excitement around town, anticipating the opening of this sea-
son’s Tuesday Market.” Kahn added that they took a
Grow Food Northampton’s Tuesday Market returned for the 2026 season on April 14. Reminder Publishing photos by Trent Levakis.
See GROW FOOD on page 3
Executive Editor: Chris Maza
Managing Editors: Dennis Hackett, Ryan Feyre
Staff Writers: Sarah Heinonen, Deb Gardner, Amy Porter, Trent Levakis, Cliff Clark, Tyler Garnet, Peter Tuohy
Graphic Design Manager: Beth Thurber
Graphic Design Department: Leigh Catchepaugh, Lorie Perry, Sophia McClellan, Susan Bartlett, Jim Johnson-Corwin, Molly Arnio
Sales Manager: Scott Greene
Account Executives: Matt Mahaney, Paula Dimauro, Lisa Nolan, Jeanette Grenier, Paul Poutre, Andy Shaw, Laura Tassistro
Classified Account Managers: Roxanne Miller-Longtin, Evan Marcyoniak, Shannon Spada
Sales Support: Carolyn Napolitan
Financial Department: Nancy Banning
Circulation Department: Nate Halla
Indivisible Northampton protests Citizens Bank
By Sydney Wietecha Correspondent
NORTHAMPTON — On April 3, members of Indivisible Northampton and local activists gathered on King Street to protest Citizens Bank’s financial ties to companies that operate ICE detention facilities.
The street was lined with protesters standing outside the Stop & Shop on 228 King St., where a Citizens Bank branch resides. Those who gathered held their signs proudly and waved to the frequent car horns and affirming cheers that passed.
The protest was organized by Indivisible Northampton, a local activist group that formed in 2022 after merging with Swing Left Western Mass. The group works to get people involved in politics, support progressive candidates and build a strong network of community activists.
“We’re a part of a coalition, the De-ICE Citizens Bank Co-
alition, which is a national coalition, and there’s 70 different groups all across wherever Citizens Bank is located. And our goal is very simple, it’s to get them to stop investing in [and] financing ICE prisons,” said John Majercak, a protest leader for Indivisible Northampton. “There’s two large companies, the GEO Group and CoreCivic. They are notorious for all kinds of human rights violations, deaths in their prison camps. Citizens Bank is the primary financer of these corporations and their prisons.”
“Our demand to citizens is to get them to stop being in that business,” he continued.
According to the Indivisible Northampton website, Citizens Bank has deepened its relationship with the private prison industry, taking on new roles in financing both CoreCivic and GEO, all while continuing to tell their customers that they’re focused on strengthening communities.
Furthermore, Citizens Financial Group has been a financier of the private prison and detention industry since at least 2012, according to The De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition, which is made up of dozens of local pro-democracy groups. In 2019, in response to grassroots activists and shareholder pressure, eight of the country’s largest banks ended their relationships with the private prison industry. But Citizens Bank stayed the course, according to the coalition.
Since 2024, Citizens has played key roles helping GEO and CoreCivic access more than $2.5 billion in financing, including $100 million in January 2026, the coalition states.
Because of these developments, that movement has spread nationwide, including to Northampton.
Majercak emphasized the importance of individual action on a local level: “In the end, the way
that we can make change happen is one person at a time ... we can’t do it all, but we can do our part, which is to give people courage and let them know that if this is how they think, then they can say something too and to help encourage people haven’t made up their minds yet or are not paying attention to pay attention and to get involved.”
He also encouraged community participation: “If you’re not sure where to start, go to Indivisible Northampton Swing Left Western Mass.’ website or social media, and there’s a million ways to get plugged in. That’s how I got started a year ago. Or a year and a half ago. So, we’re very welcoming. All the local groups are very welcoming, and we always need more help.”
The De-ICE Citizens Bank protests are held every Friday from 12-1 p.m. on King Street, directly outside the Stop & Shop. For more information, visit in-slwm.org.
Protesters stood outside the Stop & Shop on King Street to protest Citizens Bank and its ties to ICE detention. A branch of the bank is located inside the Stop & Shop.
Reminder Publishing photos by Sydney Wietecha.
Grow Food
chance starting the market a little earlier this year, but it paid off as temperatures were in the 80s during the afternoon, and crowds formed and bustled throughout the market.
“We’re very excited to be back out on the plaza,” said Kahn. “I’m honestly always surprised at how many people come to a farmers’ market because there are other places where people can get great food, but not to this quality and not directly from the people growing it. I think there is a real ethic in this community of people appreciating that they’re getting items directly from the farmer and wanting to support these farmers.”
Several new farms and vendors will join the robust lineup of returning vendors this year, including Bombeta Farm of Florence and Leominster, Bare Bone Roots of Savoy, First Tube Microgreens of Easthampton, Foxtrot Farm of Shelburne Falls, Herb Whisperer of Huntington, Larsdalen Lavender of Greenfield, Lilo Sourdough Creations of Becket, Portals Bakery of Holyoke and Twisted Bakery of Lake Pleasant.
Tellus and the Satellite Bar is also part of the market and will set up shop right outside its restaurant door to serve its signature pizza, sandwiches and drinks.
Kahn also pointed out that, as always, SNAP benefits can be increased by $10 each week at the Grow Food Northampton market tent through the SNAP Match Program. SNAP Match is made possible by the generosity of lead sponsors like Florence Bank, River Valley Co-op, Valley Home Improvement, Greenfield Savings Bank, National Grid, Baystate Health, PeoplesBank, Whalen Insurance and several other local businesses.
“As financial cuts and chaos at the federal level impact our
farmers and market customers, we continue to focus on local as much as possible,” said Kahn.
“We are grateful for our generous sponsors who support a robust SNAP Match program, making fresh, local, nutritious farm foods accessible to all in our community.”
Additionally, several vendors accept HIP — or the Healthy Incentives Program — the statebased benefit which allows SNAP customers to purchase an extra $40 to $80 per month in fresh produce from local farmers. Customers are encouraged to pay with cash to lessen the burden of high credit card fees on farmers. Folks can also save money by riding their bike to the market and using a $2.50 token to spend as part of the Bicycle Benefits program.
“Because we have the SNAP Match program, because we have HIP, this amazingly delicious and nutritious food is more accessible to people who are facing food insecurity,” said Kahn.
“Along those lines, one thing we’re doing slightly differently this year is that we’ve always had our SNAP match, but this year during the winter market, I was noticing that there’s more and more people saying, ‘I don’t even have $10 on my EBT card,’ or ‘I’m running out this month,’ and so what we’ve decided to do is we don’t want to deny that extra $10 to folks just because they have a low balance, so now people can take any amount on their card, and we’re still going to give them $10 no matter what. It’s a little thing we can do. Thank goodness for all our really generous sponsors. We end up providing about $55,000 every year, $10 at a time.”
Kahn added, “Every time we hand out $10, we know exactly where it’s going, it’s going right back into the community, these growers and our neighbors.”
To receive a weekly Tuesday Market newsletter listing vendors and specials, sign up at growfoodnorthampton.org/signup.
EASTHAMPTON
Schools highlight student success, middle school changes
By Tina Lesniak tlesniak@thereminder.com
EASTHAMPTON — With the threat of budget cuts looming at its April 14 meeting, the Easthampton School Committee took the opportunity to showcase the work of its students and staff and the hopes it has for a revamped middle school experience.
In a unanimous vote by the committee, Director of Curriculum and Grants Julie Anne Levin became assistant superintendent. Although the new title comes with no salary increase, it does contain new job roles. However, Superintendent Michelle Balch noted that Levin is already completing those tasks. She described Levin as “instrumental” in the work the team has completed this year and someone who “leads with heart.”
Several members of the School Committee echoed those sentiments. Committee Member Sam Hunter said that Levin has a “real connection with students and families.” Committee Chair Laura Scott described Levin as “whip smart” and someone with an “incredible heart.”
“She is a gift, and I am so grateful,” added Scott.
During the district showcase portion of the meeting, Balch
introduced Megan Kelley-Bagg, the STEAM teacher at Mountain View School, to discuss and show some of the projects her students have done throughout this year. From house and bridges, Kelley-Bagg walked the committee through what the students did and learned and then the committee got a chance to see the work up close.
Balch the then presented plans for a middle school transformation, which will focus on making the middle school years more relevant to students, using an interdisciplinary approach and helping them acquire real world knowledge.
“We heard you and we listened and we’re making adjustments,” said Balch.
The plans for next school year include a dedicated middle school STEAM teacher and a foreign language teacher. It will also have a schedule adjustment so that students can better access classes and programs, including new Compass Core classes in each grade: digital literacy in sixth grade, financial literacy in seventh grade and civics in eighth grade.
Levin also spent some time reviewing the results of a recent English learner audit. The district was found to be compli-
The Easthampton
ant in six areas, including initial identification of English learners and parent empowerment. Levin noted that this was a significant improvement from the last audit six years ago. According to the audit, the district does still need to work on several areas, such as aligning its literacy program,
timelines for reaching out to new students and professional development for staff.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Salem Derby did address the $3.8 million budget deficit that the city is facing and his plans for a Proposition 2 ½ override vote.
“Our priority is to minimize the
impact to services,” said Derby. Scott noted that no specifics are available yet, but that they will address those as soon as they are known. She added that this financial situation is one that many communities in the area are facing. Scott expects that more will be known at the April 28 meeting.
Hampshire Pride Parade returns to Northampton in early May
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON — In what has become the largest of Pride festivities in the region, Hampshire Pride’s fourth annual Pride Parade returns Saturday, May 2. Kicking off at 11 a.m., the parade steps off from Sheldon Field and makes its way down Route 9 and Main Street’s downtown area to disperse at the end of
Crafts Avenue, where everyone will gather in the Armory Street Parking Lot for an afternoon festival. To view the parade, the public is directed to line the roads anywhere between Old Ferry Road and Crafts Avenue.
Hampshire Pride Director and Co-Founder Clay Pearson told Reminder Publishing that the event has grown under its new formation since 2023. Pearson explained that Hampshire
Pride is the natural successor of Noho Pride, which was known as Northampton Pride before that.
This year’s event is expected to be the biggest celebration yet, with the max total of 130 vendors set to be on site of the festival area at the Armory Street parking lot next to the garage and behind Thornes Marketplace. An event map will be made available to help locate different vendors.
“This year, the big bold
change that we’re making is we’ve done some investment, and we’ve provided the tents for all our vendors, so all of our tents are going to be rainbow and trans flag colors,” said Pearson.
At 1 p.m. at the festival site, the Hampshire Pride Resist Rally will begin.
“It’s an LGBTQ+ rally to discuss manageable things that individuals can do to make a positive change for the community, and so we’ll have a bunch of speakers there,” said Pearson.
There will be two stages on site, one with different entertainment and musical performances and the other as a drag exclusive stage featuring about 20 different performers set for the afternoon.
The majority of Pride Month events typically occur in June with the country’s designation of the month to the celebrations, but the Hampshire Pride celebrations take place on the first weekend of May to honor the tradition of Pride celebrations born from the Northampton Gay and Lesbian Activists who began pride marches in the city back in May of 1982. It would be 17 more years until then-President Bill Clinton signed a proclamation to recognize Pride Month every June.
“Northampton Pride, or
Hampshire Pride, or Noho Pride, this continuation from the gay and lesbian association, GALA on May 15 1982, it’s a long time coming. It’s over 40 years of celebration, with a brief pause there for a pandemic,” said Pearson. “This long history means we are older than Pride Month. Pride Month did not become official in June until 1999. So, we have kept the tradition of having our Pride in May.”
Pearson added, “It also allows all of these students from the five college networks to have their Pride experience while in school and then get to take those Pride experiences and push them out into their local areas whenever they go back home for the summer.”
To volunteer or learn more about Hampshire Pride and its upcoming parade, visit hampshirepridema.com.
“It’s a lot of work. I do a lot of work, but I also have a committee of six people that are helping me out. I couldn’t do it without them,” said Pearson. “I wish I could clone myself and make more but unfortunately that’s not within my capabilities, so it really comes down to relying on the community to step up and volunteer and help out. That’s what the spirit of this is truly about.”
Survey seeks input about promoting city as a destination
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON —
The city is seeking input from the public, both locally and afar, through a Community and Visitor Perception Survey that was launched on April 9.
The effort stems from a $75,000 grant awarded to the city through the Casino Mitigation Fund to support a comprehensive digital marketing campaign aimed at promoting Northampton as a vibrant destination for residents and visitors alike. Northampton-based marketing firm Marketing Doctor is a partner in this effort and is leading the survey.
Efforts thus far have focused on the planning phase, including stakeholder interviews and the early development of an overarching strategy. The project grew out of discussions with stakeholders about the best way to promote and market Northampton as a destination. The survey aims to further inform and shape the city’s branding and marketing strategy.
By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com
NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Community Music Center will honor the memory of longtime member Evelyn Harris
The survey is available at surveymonkey.com/r/RCYM82X and responses are anonymous.
The city states that this is not a satisfaction survey, nor is it tied to any specific initiative or project. Instead, Northampton is making a genuine effort to listen to and understand how Northampton is perceived, what people value about it and where there is room to grow.
Chief of Staff Alan Wolf told Reminder Publishing this effort spawned from conversations with the mayor’s economic development department, which Wolf leads with Operations Manager Annie Lesko. Wolf said in partnership with Marketing Doctor, the city gathered members of the downtown business community to talk about how city efforts could best help downtown cope with changing economic environments.
Wolf explained that throughout history, main streets in American cities everywhere have had to adapt to changing economic conditions, from malls to big box
with the Evelyn Harris Community Sing-In at First Churches of Northampton on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m.
The event will feature a performance by the Ujima Singers and will reunite alums of the Ku’Um-
stores, the growth in online shopping, the pandemic and, most recently, inflation and national conflict. The effort aims to help the Northampton community prioritize what they want to promote about their city for visitors and neighbors.
“All of those things have been changing the nature of how people use downtowns. One very clear way that it was identified the city could help was to come up with a branding and marketing campaign, probably mostly digital, that promotes the city. Like a destination marketing campaign,” explained Wolf. “That was the kind of thing we could go to the Casino Mitigation Fund for, and the mayor also matched it with city ARPA funds to make it a $150,000 initiative. The hope is that the initiative will last two to three years, and you are now seeing phase 1 of this, which is the development of the messaging that we’re working on.”
The city began its partnership with Marketing Doctor on this effort last fall. The marketing firm
ba Women’s Choir, which Harris directed for 15 years. The public is invited to join in song as the Community Music Center revisits some of Harris’ standard and beloved repertoire. This event is free and open to the public.
Harris celebrated her 20th year as a faculty member of the Northampton Community Music Center last June and performed with the Afrocentric music collective that she founded, the Ujima Singers, just a week before her sudden passing last December. To honor her legacy and promote the power of music as activism, the Ujima Singers will present a free program of acapella music that Harris taught at NCMC, inviting the community to lift every voice and sing.
The program will feature music from Sweet Honey In The Rock, the black women’s acapella group that Harris was in for 18 years, and popular spirituals and freedom songs of the African American canon.
“Prior to the Ujima Singers, Evelyn directed the Ku-Umba Women’s Choir at NCMC for 16 years. Over this time, she instructed over a hundred women in music of the civil rights movement and other music of the African American canon, a powerful act of community education,” said Indë Francis, marketing coordinator with the Community Music Center. “Because the Ku’umba Women’s Choir disbanded in 2021, most of these women have not had the opportunity to gather in grief or in song. The Evelyn Harris Community Sing-In will be a powerful moment for both ensembles to unite in their shared repertoire and transmute our grief and civil unrest into harmony.”
Harris was born in 1950 in
then led interviews with community stakeholders in the business and arts community. Marketing Doctor is specifically focused on identifying what draws people to the city, what keeps them here, what works and what doesn’t.
“In my role as economic development director, I see my role to support downtown Northampton by bringing people to the city to do things that are interesting, and that then hopefully they eat here, come to our music venues, shop at our retail establishments. The city cannot open businesses, but we can make sure there are people coming, and this is designed to drive that,” said Wolf. “It was widely agreed upon that this was a good investment on the part of the city in its role by the downtown businesses.”
After this survey is conducted, Marketing Doctor will make recommendations about a digital marketing campaign with associated branding assets that help attract people to Northampton.
Wolf explained that the grant funding from the Casino Miti-
Richmond, Virginia, and demonstrated her voice from as early as five years old when she was admitted to her children’s choir that had an age minimum of seven. Growing up in tumultuous times as Richmond was slowly desegregating, Harris graduated high school as valedictorian in 1968 and went on to attend Howard University as a voice major.
While attending college, Harris was part of a class of activists who successfully got the university to accredit gospel choir and a jazz program into the music department. Eventually, when living in D.C., Harris auditioned for the African American women’s acapella group, Sweet Honey In The Rock, and from 1974 to 1992, found great mentorship and sisterhood with the ensemble.
She moved to the Pioneer Valley in 2002 and eventually found a powerful community connection through her voice and shared love of music, and for her desire to create space for Black music in the valley.
“Her voice alone inspired thousands, and those who knew her personally were blessed by her vivacious energy, pouring back into her in turn, so that even at her lowest, the singer was fiercely upheld by her friends,” added Francis. “As she became more invested in the Valley, Evelyn dreamt of creating a space in the Northampton area as a beacon of Black art, intergenerational community and political education through music.”
Harris was hired at NCMC in 2005 to teach private voice lessons and to succeed Justina Goldren in directing the women’s vocal ensemble, A Little Lunch Music. In 2006, the ensemble was reimagined to better represent Harris’s specific strengths and background
gation Fund is valuable funding for the city to use toward fighting back against the pull of the MGM Casino in Springfield in terms of music and other entertainment options.
“The idea was, we can’t wait, we need to get started now to try and bring people back and excite them about what’s happening downtown, and there are many, many exciting things going on here that we just want people to be aware of and get the word out as far as possible, that sort of 50mile ring, to make sure people realize Northampton is still an exciting place,” said Wolf.
Whether a lifelong resident, a regular visitor, or someone who has only heard of Northampton from a distance, all perspectives can fill out the survey, according to the city.
“I guess my hopes for the survey is we get what we need to make a killer campaign that people can really embrace and get around, and make people think about Northampton when they’re making plans,” said Wolf.
and was renamed the Ku’Umba Women’s Choir.
In the wake of the pandemic, the ensemble eventually disbanded. For years, Harris and NCMC Executive Director Jason Trotta envisioned a program that would provide space for connection and collaborative expression among members of the valley’s multiracial community, inspired by the exploration of the music of the African American diaspora and civil rights movement that had been the focus of Harris’s work. After many years of planning and discussion, the Ujima Singers were born in 2023,
The group continues to provide an intergenerational creative space now under the direction of Franics, who is a Northampton-born artist.
“We invite everyone in the community, especially those whose lives have been touched by Evelyn Harris’s musicianship, to join us. As Evelyn would have it, her passing is an occasion to lift our voices as resounding echoes of the great, great impact that hers has had on our community,” added Francis.
Francis said they hope to see a great turnout for this celebration of Harris’ life and impact in the community.
“We look forward to filling the First Churches’ sanctuary with soul,” added Francis. “In this time of particularly devastating fascism on the part of the American government, this program will equip our community with protest music and the courage to speak and act in solidarity with one another. We are honored and grateful that Evelyn chose our community to activate through her work, and we show our thanks by pushing on in her legacy and demanding justice through song.”
SMITH VOC VS WESTFIELD TECH ACADEMY
SOFTBALL
The Smith Vocational softball team made an impressive showing on April 13 when they took on Westfield Tech Academy. The game ended with a score of 34-14.
REMINDER SPORTS PHOTOS TAKEN BY SAM BLAKE
First baseman Mallory Radwich makes a great over the shoulder catch.
Grace Hunt leads off of first base after reaching base on a hit.
Addie Ducharme reaches third base safely.
Willow Hicks hits the ball to the outfield and runs down the first baseline.
Addie Ducharme tosses the bat towards her dugout after getting a walk.
Grace Sampson starts pitching against Westfield Tech.
Addie Ducharme frames the pitch but just misses for a strike.
Outfielder Brooke fields the ball and throws it into the infield.
Willow Hicks runs to second and steals the base.
Grace Hunt fields the ball and throws the runner out at first base.
DEERFIELD — As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Historic Deerfield’s 2026 season is centered on bringing the Revolutionary era to life as a lived, local experience in Western Massachusetts.
Starting April 18, visitors can explore the era through a new series of exhibitions that examines the Revolutionary period from multiple perspectives: political, cultural, aesthetic and deeply personal.
Drawing from its extensive collections and the stories of local residents, Historic Deerfield’s upcoming exhibitions illuminate how the Revolution was experienced, debated and understood both in New England and across the Atlantic world.
The three exhibitions include “Picturing the Revolution, Dressing the Revolution, Fashion and Politics 1760-1789” and “A Town Divided, Deerfield in the Age of the Revolution.” The first two exhibitions will run from April 18 to Jan. 3, 2027 while the third exhibition will run from April 18 until Jan. 2, 2028.
Together, the exhibitions reveal how images shaped political narratives across the Atlantic world; how garments, textiles, and adornment became declarations of allegiance; and how one rural Massachusetts town grappled with the upheaval transform-
ing an empire into a republic. According to organizers, by placing Deerfield within the wider currents of Revolutionary thought and commerce, these exhibitions illuminate Western Massachusetts’ essential role in the birth of the nation.
Historic Deerfield Marketing and Communications Director Danaë DiNicola said that during the spring and summer, Historic Deerfield is offering hands-on and immersive programs that connect visitors directly to 18th-century life. These programs include weekly trade demonstrations like blacksmithing, tailoring and pottery; hearth cooking programs featuring historically significant foods like election cake; and family-focused activities at the Discovery Center that explore Revolutionary espionage through coded messages and invisible ink.
Special events include Wooly Wonders in early May, which highlights the agricultural and textile traditions that underpinned the colonial economy, and a Juneteenth Witness Stones Walking Tour that expands the Revolutionary narrative by honoring the lives of enslaved people in Deerfield, including Prince, an enslaved man who sought self-emancipation.
Above, from left: “Picturing the Revolution.” A blacksmithing exhibit taking
Later in the season, Historic Deerfield is collaborating with Plays in Place to present “A Stake in the Ground: 1774,” a series of outdoor, site-specific performances set on the eve of the Revolution.
“Altogether, the season invites visitors to explore the Revolution not as a distant story, but as something that unfolded in homes, workshops and communities like Deerfield,” DiNicola stated.
Historic Deerfield is a museum of early American life located in an authentic 18th century New England village in the Connecticut River Valley. Through
its preserved historic houses and extensive collection of decorative arts, it offers visitors a chance to engage directly with the material and cultural history of early America.
DiNicola said Historic Deerfield generally offers a robust lineup of exhibitions, demonstrations, and public programs, but has unified the theme of the American Revolution into a lot of its offerings this season. “Recognizing the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution was quite important to Historic Deerfield, particularly because this region played a meaningful role in that history,” DiNicola stated. “Our goal is not just to commemorate the anniversary, but to encourage thoughtful engagement with it.”
She continued, “This 250th anniversary of the Revolution has given us the opportunity to unify our offerings and allowing us to explore a topic from unexpected angles.”
DiNicola said most of His-
toric Deerfield’s daytime offerings, including exhibitions, trade demonstrations, hearth cooking programs, and Discovery Center activities, are included with general admission and do not require advance registration.
Historic Deerfield is open Wednesdays through Sundays, as well as Monday holidays, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Visitors can purchase tickets upon arrival at the Hall Tavern Visitor Center or at the Flynt Center of Early New England Life.
However, certain special programs and events, such as “A Stake in the Ground: 1774,” do require advance tickets, which can be purchased through Historic Deerfield’s website. Readers can find more information at historic-deerfield.org.
General admission is $20 for adults and $5 for youth ages 1317; children 12 and under receive free admission as do Historic Deerfield members and Deerfield/South Deerfield residents.
