Winterfest 2012

The week before the Winkle Picker Festival in Ashfield (see previous post), there is a Winterfest in Amherst at the Cherry Hill Golf Course-- a full day of winter fun for the whole family -- especially if we finally get snow.
Check out the fun:

• chili cook-off
• cross country ski lessons
• ice sculpture contest
• sledding
• bird-watching treks
• frisbee toss
• fireworks
• food
• oh -- and the cardboard classic!

Like I said -- fun for the whole family!  There is a cost of $5/child, $8/adult, or $20/family.  Visit the website for more info (like sponsors, directions, etcetera.

Winkle Picker Festival

You can't tell me this doesn't look like tons of fun -- especially for the cold days of mid-February....

Hadley Heritage in Photos

Back in the autumn, an Amherst graduate student with a particular admiration for Hadley began the first piece of her PhotoVoice Project: Hadley's Heritage.  She rounded up a small group of photographers, gave them photo prompts, and sent them out into Hadley each week to photograph their images of those prompts.  You can see the beautiful results (and read more about it) at HadleyMAHeritage.org.
Those photos were followed up by conversations about Hadley's heritage, in response to the photos, and those conversations will eventually be included as part of the project.  In a couple of months, there will be public exhibits and even the opportunity to add your own photos.  Start looking through your photos -- how do you see Hadley's heritage?  (I know there are some key Hadley locations that I would like to see added to the project, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity of submitting a few more of my own photos.)  Enjoy!

Updated School Closings Links

Some of the links have changed (and the radio station disappeared) since I first created my shortlist of school closings links, so here's an updated version.

22News WWLP
WGGB ABC40

If I come up with more, I'll land them here.
Happy Friday!  Enjoy the white.

Snow Closures -- Find Them

Since it is January and we are supposed to get some snow, freezing rain, and a nice wintry mix over the next 24 hours, I thought this would be the ideal time to remind you of the link to the right which will direct you to three sources of information for snow closures.  The link is also posted below:
Info for School Snow Closures
(Public buildings and churches are also frequently listed, so even if you don't have kids in school, this can still be an important link to look at.)

Farewell, Superintendent Young

In case you haven't yet heard, Hadley's Superintendent of Schools, Nick Young, has been chosen to succeed Superintendent Gus Sayer in South Hadley.  Young was one of five finalists for the position (all of whom had school tours over the last week and a half), and was voted in unanimously last night by the school committee. 
For more information, see the stories on MassLive or GazetteNet.

A Little Taste of Persia

Mr. Madley and I had a delightful dinner last Saturday night at Moti -- a Persian Mediterranean restaurant in Amherst.  I had first tasted their goods at Taste of Amherst last June in the form of a lamb gyro and immediately fell in love.  I had the same thing Saturday night -- seasoned lamb and fresh vegetables in a creamy tzatziki sauce all wrapped up in a thick pita and served with potato strings (like fries only lots thinner) -- super delicious; Mr. Madley enjoyed a lamb kabob with rice and veggies.  With its warm and inviting atmosphere, and its menu of wraps, platters, soups, salads, vegetarian fare, specialty rices, kabobs, and very tempting appetizers, I think Moti may become one of our new favourite spots.  Plus, it can definitely be counted in my "cheap eats" list (which I blogged about a year ago but desperately need to update) (and it's just down the street from Captain Candy, which we happily visited after dinner).
See Moti's menu at their website.