AMA-20260611 by the-reminder

Salsa series returns to heat up summer

By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com

NORTHAMPTON — In an effort to fill the streets with a lively atmosphere through music and dance, the Salsa in the Plaza and Salsa in the Park series will return to downtown Northampton this summer.

Salsa in the Plaza returned on Monday, June 1, and will take place every Monday until August 31 from 7-9 p.m. at the EJ Gare Plaza. The public is invited to come and enjoy a creative mix of Latin and Afro-Caribbean rhythms like salsa and bachata, merengue and cha-cha, kizomba and more.

Presented by the city of Northampton and Dancejoy, and hosted by McCoy Jamison, the event is focused on community, joy and culture, according to the organizers. Northampton Arts Council Events Producer Steve Sanderson told Reminder Publishing that all attendees need to bring is themselves and their energy.

In that same spirit, the Salsa in the Park series also returns for the 2026 season. The city’s Arts and Culture Department is once again inviting the public for celebrations of salsa through worldclass Latin music, community connection and open-air dancing at Pulaski Park.

Set for Saturday, Aug. 1, Friday, Aug. 28 and Saturday, Sept. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m., Salsa in the Park welcomes dancers to participate for free in the series designed for all ages and skill levels. The city installed a professional portable wooden dance floor over

the café section’s stone pebbles. to provide a smooth and safe surface for everyone to move. Sanderson said Salsa in the Park has become a beloved community event due to its high energy through dance and music.

“We like the DJs to be able to spin vinyl. It’s really cool when a DJ can mix from multiple records on a turntable, and July is just too hot,” said Sanderson on the event’s uniqueness, populari-

ty and late summer run. “It was an idea that was brought to me by my friends DJ Rodger and Mark Guglielmo, and they were both salsa dancers and DJs, and they really thought that having a salsa event in Pulaski Park would be incredibly successful ... they really believed in the idea. I give them full credit, and so we brought it to life. When they pitched it to me, I knew it was immediately what downtown

Northampton needed.” The 2026 event kicks off on Aug. 1 with a special choreography performance and instruction by Dancejoy, featuring McCoy Jamison. Aug. 28 will feature a massive double bill with DJ Bongohead and powerhouse headliners Cheo Y Los Consentidos. The season finale on Sept. 5 includes a high-energy set by

McCoy Jamison, pictured giving a salsa lesson to someone in Holyoke, will be part of the Salsa in the Park celebration in Northampton.

Gándara Center opens new women’s recovery residence

By Tyler Garnet tgarnet@thereminder.com

SOUTH HADLEY — For women working to rebuild their lives after addiction and hardship, Hermanas Del Rio is offering more than recovery services. It will also provide a space to regain stability, independence and hope for the future through supportive residential care.

Gándara Center officially celebrated the opening of the new women’s recovery residential program with a ribbon-cutting and open house on May 15 at 87 Canal St.

Community members, local legislators, elected officials, partners and supporters attended and toured the newly established program space designed to support women on their recovery journey in a safe, welcoming and culturally responsive environment.

Hermanas Del Rio, which translates to “Sisters of the River,” reflects healing, connection and the strength found in community. The opening of Hermanas Del Rio represents Gándara Center’s continued commitment to expanding access to compassionate, community-rooted recovery services for women across Massachusetts.

The program creates a space where women are supported with dignity, care and connection throughout their recovery journey, according to the organization.

Vice president of behavioral health, substance use and Recovery services, Chelsea Bryant, talked with Reminder Publishing about the newly opened facility.

“There’s a lot of thought

Salsa

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DJ Bongohead.

Sanderson said the salsa gatherings connect the community

into making it look like a home and not just another facility,” Bryant stated.

The space includes a 19-bedded co-occurring program so the team can serve women who have a substance use and a mental health diagnosis. One of the beds is identified for pregnant and postpartum mothers.

The facility also has a wellness room so individuals can have some peace, and a dining room where they can eat as a family, according to Bryant.

Hermanas Del Rio provides on-site treatment, case manage-

with the cultures tied to salsa dancing’s history.

“I like to see all kinds of people from every walk of life in downtown Northampton enjoying our beautiful park, enjoying music from any culture, and it’s

ment, and wraparound services to help individuals on their path to recovery with housing and financial stability. They also connect women with the community.

“It’s really a safe place for individuals to continue on their path to recovery and finding stability in their life,” Bryant stated.

Bryant said that community, local, and state government support are important to helping women in recovery.

“It’s really important to have community partners in our state legislation behind us because we have so many things going against

wonderful that it [these salsa events] brings together people from different walks of life,” added Sanderson. “When Salsa in the Park is happening, downtown Northampton feels like a real city. There’s something about

us with insurance, with all sorts of staffing issues, so it’s always nice to be able to open a program and have your community wrap around you, because that’s what the individuals that we’re going to serve are going to need. They’re going to need that same community and that same legislation pushing to support substance use treatment and mental health treatment,” Bryant explained.

Those looking to get help or learn more about Gándara Center can visit gandaracenter.org. Bryant said they can call the number on the website. The organization

the smell of food mixing with the music that makes it feel like a bigger city than it actually is.”

In case of inclement weather, follow @nohoarts on Instagram for updates, as cancellation notices will be posted by 10 a.m. on the day of the event. For more information on this year’s Salsa in the Park series, visit northamptonartscouncil.org.

Sanderson said both events are perfect for the summer months, and the late summer dates specifically serve as a great time to bring salsa to Pulaski Park because it is the home stretch before fall begins.

also takes self-referrals or referrals from other providers. Bryant explained that there is an intake team that will review the request to determine which of the center’s eight programs best helps the individual.

For nearly 50 years, Gándara Center has provided culturally responsive behavioral health, substance use recovery, prevention, and educational services to more than 18,000 individuals, families and children annually across Massachusetts through more than 70 locations statewide.

“People tend to vacation in July, so in August you want to go out and you want to do things because in the back of your mind is that impending doom, fall and then winter is coming, so you want to get out when you can still wear your shorts and your skirts and tank tops and get out there and dance and be sweaty and be happy, and Salsa in the Park gives you that,” Sanderson said. “Also, if you don’t know how to dance, you’re still welcome there. You can be a terrible dancer and come and have a great time. Nobody’s going to judge you, just come and move your body.”

Community partners, state officials and the Gándara Center leadership team gather at the grand opening of Hermanas Del Rio on May 15. Reminder Publishing submitted photo

Budget concerns dominate council meeting ahead of vote

By Tina Lesniak Correspondent

EASTHAMPTON — As Easthampton voters prepared to decide a proposed tax override on June 9, the city’s ongoing budget challenges remained front and center during the City Council’s June 3 meeting.

Residents and councilors spent much of the evening grappling with a series of supplemental appropriations, while several members of the public urged councilors to become more informed about the financial decisions facing the city.

“This council should be the last line of defense for our funds,” resident Cathy Wauczinski told councilors, noting that she had yet to receive information she previously requested regarding a line-item budget.

The override vote has dominated discussion in recent weeks as city officials warn that cuts will be necessary even if voters approve the measure.

Several of the appropriations

discussed on June 2 involved expenses that Finance Committee Chair Thomas Peake described as difficult to predict during the annual budgeting process.

Public hearings on two requests — $20,000 to cover the remainder of the city’s Medicare tax obligation for the current fiscal year and $10,000 for additional legal fees for the city attorney — were continued until the council’s June 17 meeting. Councilors said they wanted more detailed information before taking action.

The council did approve a $23,000 appropriation to cover reinstated hours and overtime for the city auditor. Mayor Salem Derby restored hours that had previously been cut under former Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, and officials said the funding is needed to address a backlog of work.

The request prompted questions from councilors about how the additional spending was authorized. Councilor Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid asked whether the change should have been

brought before the council in advance. Council President Koni Denham agreed that this sort of spending needs to be “reined in” in the future.

One of the largest appropriations approved during the meeting was $582,500 to cover snow and ice removal costs from this past winter.

Director of Public Works Greg Nuttelman said the city faced a particularly challenging winter season. Responding to questions about the nearly $247,000 spent on road salt, Nuttelman explained that while sand can provide traction, salt is necessary to melt ice and improve safety.

After residents questioned whether the expense would affect the current fiscal year’s budget, Peake explained that the funding comes from free cash, or surplus funds remaining from the previous year’s budget. Snow and ice expenses are difficult to budget for in advance because weather conditions cannot be predicted months ahead of time.

“We’re only people and we’re doing the best with what we can,” Nuttelman said.

The council also approved $60,182 to cover the cost of replacing a school nurse at Mountain View School after the employee took a leave of absence and later resigned. The funding will pay for a substitute nurse hired through an agency, associated agency fees and salary differences tied to the replacement nurse’s greater experience. Questions from residents and councilors focused on why the school district could not absorb the expense. School Committee member Sam Hunter said several unexpected out-of-district student placements had strained the district’s budget, leaving no available funds to cover the additional personnel costs.

Seventeenth Annual Juneteenth Jubilee returns to Amherst on June 19

AMHERST — The Black Business Association of Amherst Area and Sankofa Gumbo will present the 17th Annual Juneteenth Jubilee incorporating Mass Humanities’ Reading Frederick Douglass Together program featuring keynote speaker renowned historian Dr. Amilcar Shabazz.

State Rep. Mindy Domb will give remarks during the award ceremony when honors will be bestowed to the New England Chapter Female Co-Chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America Kathleen

Anderson, who will receive the inaugural Extraordinary Leadership Award and UMass Amherst 21st Century Leader Charles Walker-Hoover, who will receive the Youth Excellence Award.

Other program highlights include drumming, dancing, an interactive fashion show and a vendor marketplace.

There will be open mic for spoken word, hip-hop performances and inspiring gospel music. Africana Bowl and Talk of the Town will prepare food for the community buffet. BBAAA

member Alysia Bryant of Carefree Cakery is commissioned to do two cakes — one for Juneteenth and another to celebrate BBAAA’s tenth year anniversary of providing networking, mentorship and technical assistance to local entrepreneurs.

BBAAA President Pat Ononibaku remarked, “We are grateful to our sponsors for entrusting us to put on an important and meaningful Juneteenth program centering the power of community, conversations, joy and the arts. We dedicate this Juneteenth to

the late oral historian Dr. Demetria Shabazz who grew up in Galveston, Texas. Establishing community-wide Juneteenth celebrations in Amherst and keeping it going was among her passion projects when she and her family settled in Amherst 20 years ago.”

Donations for Hadley Black fire survivors are welcome and will be collected at the event. Additionally, Juneteenth T-shirts will be for sale to support BBAAA youth-engaged programming. Seventeenth Annual June-

teenth Jubilee sponsors include: Amherst Cultural Council, Mass Humanities, Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition, Greenfield Northampton Cooperative Bank, Greenfield Savings and UMassFiveCollege Federal Credit Union. Juneteenth marks the historic moment on or around June 19, 1865 when Union Army soldiers entered Galveston, Texas with news of freedom coming from the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863.

The Easthampton City Council attempted to tackle ongoing budget concerns on June 3 as the a proposed tax override vote on June 9 looms.

Photo credit: Easthampton Media

Graphic Design Department:

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, Holly Mulligan, Whitney Conlon

Tag sale fundraiser to take place June 13

By Trent Levakis tlevakis@thereminder.com

NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Parents Center Tag Sale fundraiser is back for another round on Saturday, June 13, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the front lawn of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence.

This year, the Parents Center is celebrating its 40th year of supporting community parents and families, and the annual tag sale is one of the oldest and biggest fundraising events spearheaded by the organization.

The Northampton Parents Center is a nonprofit cooperative drop-in center for children, birth to kindergarten age, and their caregivers. Since 1986, the center has prided itself on being a community space that provides a safe, nurturing environment for families with young children to socialize. Free daily drop-in playgroups are Monday through Thursday, 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the lower level of Edwards Church.

Northampton Parents Center Executive Director Lindsey Kind started with the center as a program assistant in 2023 before taking on her current role in 2025. She told Reminder Publishing that the tag sale has been one of the center’s original fundraisers and has always served as an effective annual connector between the organization and the community at large.

“It’s been happening for

many years, and the folks who started Northampton Parents Center were a group of parents and grandparents who came together, and they wanted to try and find a space where they could raise kids in the community and find connection,” Kind said. “It’s just been this tradition, and it’s such a wonderful community event.”

Gently, clean and good-conditioned used items, toys, books and more will be available at a pay-for-what-you-want rate with 100% of proceeds going to support the center’s free programming. King said they will collect donations until the first week of June, and people can email npctagsale@gmail. com for info regarding donation drop-off guidelines or to volunteer.

“It’s not a tag sale with just kids’ stuff; it has small household items, adult clothes, shoes, bikes, the full range. And so, we collect donations from the community throughout the month of May, and when we have the tag sale, we don’t price anything, so it’s all by donation. People can take what they need and pay what they can, and all the money that’s raised goes right back into the parent center so we can continue to offer all of the play groups, workshops and things are offered at no cost to families,” King added.

The event has no rain date, but tents will be set up in the case of inclement weather.

King said the event is always

a good reminder for the public about the community within the Parents Center and how the organization has been a reliable support for families and young children for four decades.

“The phrase it takes a village, you get to really see that happening in real time at our playgroups, and I think there’s something really meaningful about a free drop-in play group. There’s no such thing as late; you do not have to register, you don’t have to pay. You can just completely show up as you are, and the community is just so important. Because the Parents Center has been around for almost 40 years, the village has such a far-and-wide reach. It’s multi-generational. There are grandparents who come to play groups with their grandkid, and that same grandparent used to come 25 years ago with their kid,” said King. “That gives me goosebumps pretty much every time. It is a village, and I think we’re really, really fortunate to have a space like the Parents Center. It’s not something that exists everywhere, and it’s a special place. The village is far and wide.”

In an effort to secure more sustainable funding for the Parents Center and its work, the organization has begun a Friends of NPC monthly donor program offering a few different tiers of monthly donations starting at $5 that the public can sign up for. The monthly donation will help provide the sustainable

funding needed for the organization, and the first 50 Friends will receive an NPC tote bag.

King said she hopes to see a great turnout for another year of the Northampton Parents Center tag sale. She added that the event is always a great example of the community stepping up in support of the organization.

“I think the tag sale is such a great example of that, where you do get to see the support from more of the community at large and families that used to come to the Parents Center that come back to support the tag sale, or people already asking to volunteer, whether they’re really active at play group or not. The tag sale is sort of this flagship fundraiser,” King said. “I love that we were right downtown for the tag sale, so you get to interact with members of the community, and it’s great visibility too. People who aren’t familiar with the Parents Center come to the tag sale, and we just get to let them know who we are and what we do. I love the tag sale for that reason. To just sort of have that visibility in the community and just see people show up. The Parents Center is bigger than all of us, I think, because it’s been around for so long and it’s a lifeline for young families and parents.” For more information on how to sign up for the Friends of NPC, or to learn more about the organization in general, visit northamptonparentscenter.org.

Northampton Jazz Festival honors women in jazz

NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton Jazz Festival will kick off its 2026 festival season with a documentary film, “The Girls in the Band,” on Thursday, June 11, at 8 p.m. at Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley St.

The 2013 film, written, directed and produced by Judy Chaikin, tells the untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and their groundbreaking journeys from the late 1920s to the present day.

After the screening, Chaikin and Grammy award winning vocalist, Catherine Russell, will lead a Q&A session with the audience. Russell’s mother, the gui-

tarist, bassist and vocalist Carline Ray is interviewed in the film as one of the members of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm orchestra of the 1940s.

The film, which holds five awards from film festivals in two continents, tells the stories of talented female musicians who endured sexism, racism and diminished opportunities for decades, yet continued to persevere, inspire and elevate their talents in a field that seldom welcomed them.

Interviews with jazz musicians Marian McPartland, Anna Mae Winburn, Dr. Billy Taylor, Clora Bryant, Peggy Gilbert, Herbie Hancock and others reveal the

hardships that female musicians endured as they persevered to play and establish all-female bands such as The International Sweethearts of Rhythm.

“As the Northampton Jazz Festival takes shape this year, we are proud that most of our bands will be led by women, instrumentalists and vocalists,” said Ruth Griggs, president of the Northampton Jazz Festival.

“Even today, female led bands need to be presented with intentionality, and we honor the brave and determined women who kept playing their instruments and made a name for themselves during those early days of jazz in America.”

The film director, Judy Chaikin, is a graduate of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women and is best known for writing, producing and directing the Emmy nominated PBS documentary, “Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist.”

In 2004, she received her second Emmy nomination for the documentary Building on a Dream and directed and cowrote the short romantic-comedy film, “Cotillion ’65,” which has appeared in 40 film festivals winning Best Short, Best Come-

EASTHAMPTON

Elodie L. Fagnand

Elizabeth Poudrier (Gorton)

Elizabeth “Betty”

DINING ENTERTAINMENT

‘La Casita Experience’ to transform MassMutual Center

By Peter Tuohy ptuohy@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD — The MassMutual Center will soon host one big celebration of community, blending music and dance, live performances, DJ sets and interactive visuals to represent the high energy nightlife experience rooted in Puerto Rican culture.

“La Casita Experience” rolls into Springfield on June 27, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the event at 7 p.m. Tickets are $39 for general admission and $67 for VIP.

The event is inspired by the traditional casita, which translates to “little house,” but culturally represents a deep symbol of home and community. Venues are transformed into immersive Caribbean environments where culture lives and breathes, with a custom-built casita structure surrounded by live salsa, bomba y plena performances and nonstop reggaeton.

It is the work of MLopez Promotions, a full service event production and entertainment company, created by Marcos Lopez, that has created high quality live experiences across the northeast for over a decade.

The mission of “La Casita Experience” is to “create cultural experiences to authentically represent Puerto Rican heritage

Jazz Festival

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dy, Best Director and Audience Choice Awards. In 1996, Chaikin won the Blue Ribbon at the American Educational Film and TV Festival for the docudrama, “Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I A Woman,” featuring Julie Harris.

and empower local communities by providing opportunities for artists, vendors and creatives to showcase their talent,” a press release said.

“‘La Casita Experience’ is more than just a cultural event, it is a movement that inspires pride, fosters unity and leaves a lasting legacy of cultural appreciation and community empowerment,” the release stated.

The event is following massive success in Rochester, New York, where it sold out to over 1,000 patrons. It makes a stop in Buffalo, New York, before heading to Springfield.

Jessica Del Valle, who was brought in to assist with marketing and communications for the event, said it’s partly rooted in the experience of a Bad Bunny concert and aligns with the concept of promoting culture, ambiance and the traditions of Puerto Rico.

Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, recently transformed the field at the 2026 Super Bowl’s Apple Music Halftime Show into a full casita experience, similar to this event, that blended many aspects of Puerto Rican life and culture.

“This is just a whole vibrant event that really inspires, fosters unity and leads a legacy of cultural appreciation and community empowerment,” Del Valle

said. “Anyone that appreciates diversity and enjoys embracing cultural diversity, music, rhythm, will definitely engage with and appreciate the experience. It’s a very colorful and vibrant experience … it’s basically the unity, community and tolerance in a festive ambiance, in a safe space where music and dances and artistic values can be combined.”

She said the experience in Springfield will be larger than

“I hope that the great joy we all had in learning about these amazing women will be shared by the viewers, and that the film will bring these artists the admiration and respect they so rightly deserve,” says Chaikin. “This film is my tribute to their courage and musical artistry, which has never been properly celebrated. It’s also an homage to my younger self who has never stopped loving jazz, music and the golden sound of a trumpet. My greatest satisfaction will come if this film can inspire a new crop of young female jazz musicians to stand on the shoulders of those early pioneers and to reach for the stars.”

Tickets for Northampton Jazz Festival Film Night are $15 in advance on Eventbrite (plus online ticketing fees) or $20 at the door. There will be a light dessert reception for guests at 7 p.m. For more information, visit northamptonjazzfest.org/ jazz-film-night or facebook.com/ northamptonjazzfest, or email info@northamptonjazzfest.org.

previous shows, so they’re excited to build the space with the “ambiance that people enjoy.”

“There’s usually good Puerto Rican food and there are a lot of surprises that we try to implement in every city that we go to,” Del Valle said.”

She gave special recognition to the MassMutual Center, Springfield Downtown, and the Springfield Puerto Rican Parade for giving support to the event. Tickets can be purchased at massmutualcenter.com/events/ detail/lacasitaexperience.