28th annual Plant Extravaganza set for Saturday

GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Garden Club’s 28th annual Plant Extravaganza is coming to the John Zon Community Center on Saturday, May 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m, rain or shine.

The plant sale will feature local perennials, annuals, shrubs, houseplants and bulbs. Special craft vendors will also provide a selection of crafts, artwork, maple syrup and more, and guests can enjoy morning coffee and baked goods. Soil testing will be offered by the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association from 9 to 11 a.m.

All proceeds from the Plant Extravaganza support the community projects of the Greenfield Garden Club. The club consists of people who are interested in gardening, with the intent to stimulate community interest in gardening; to help maintain public gardens, monuments or other community properties; and to promote knowledge, awareness and interest in gardening through public programs and demonstrations. For more information, go to thegreenfieldgardenclub.org.

Four Rivers students have artwork on display

GREENFIELD — Four Rivers Charter Public School students will present their end-of-year art show at The LAVA Center, 324 Main St., as part of the year’s second Greenfield Arts Walk. The exhibit showcases an array of styles and focuses, highlighting students’ diverse inspirations and discoveries throughout the school year.

There will be a reception for students, their families and members of the public on Friday, May 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibit will also be viewable during gallery hours on Thursday, May 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, May 31, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Four Phantoms Brewing Co. hosting plant sale

GREENFIELD — Colrain’s Little Wolf Forest Farm will be at Four Phantoms Brewing Co., 301 Well St., on Saturday, May 31, from 2 to 6 p.m. selling a variety of plant starts: herbs, flowers, fruits, vegetables and rainbow cultivars. Everything comes with a digital cultivation guide with planting instructions.

Library welcomes author Elaine Harootunian Reardon

GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Public Library will welcome local author Elaine Harootunian Reardon on Wednesday, June 4, at 2 p.m. in the library’s Conference Room to read from and speak about her book, “Stories Told in a Lost Tongue.”

A story of immigration and assimilation spanning three generations, the book is an exploration of heritage and healing found in everyday rituals. There is a teller of fortunes, a monk who travels with a donkey, and the tastes and smells at the kitchen table as the alchemy of cooking raises memories of those that were loved.

“Stories Told in a Lost Tongue” is Harootunian Reardon’s third book of poetry. The two previous chapbooks are “The Heart is a Nursery For Hope” (2016) and “Look Behind You” (2019). Harootunian Reardon has won several awards and has been published in various journals and anthologies in the United States and Europe.

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Marlboro College alumni artists to display work at LAVA Center

GREENFIELD — Join local and regional Marlboro College alumni artists for a reception for their group exhibit, “Marlboro Remainders,” on Saturday, June 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The LAVA Center, 324 Main St.

The featured artists are Annie Quest (Westminster, Vermont), Jack MacKay (Putney, Vermont), Maureen Tadlock (Putney, Vermont), Lucy Loomis (Barnstable), Mark Manley (New Hampshire), Steve Kemish (Scituate), Lindy Whiton (Greenfield), Diane Worth (Northfield), Robban Toleno (Conway) and Mark Littlehales (Marlboro, Vermont).

“The original idea for this gallery show came from the realization that fellow alumni from Marlboro College were beginning to retire and to return to their artistic passions,” Whiton said in a statement. “Many of us worked jobs that incorporated our creativity, but retirement was going to allow us to focus on our art. I reached out to a group of my old buddies and asked them if they would like to have a joint show and to let the world know that we were still doing our Marlboro best.

‘“Marlboro Remainders’ illustrates that Marlboro is still with us, still teaching us to think,” Whiton continued. “We are all still in contact, to one degree or another, and the strength of our bond is like the strength of our education. We honor Marlboro College. Here is a collection of multiple visual art genres, with no particular theme other than a shared education 40 to 50 years ago.”

The exhibit will stay up for the month of June. Items will be for sale and information about the artists will be available.

Next Writers Read set for June 11

GREENFIELD — The LAVA Center at 324 Main St. will present its next installment of the monthly Writers Read series, featuring Morning Star Chenven, Joan Livingston and Rebecca Daniels, on Wednesday, June 11, at 7 p.m.

On the second Wednesday of each month, three writers read from their work, followed by a discussion facilitated by Lindy Whiton. There is a suggested donation of $1 to $5.

Chenven is a writer/poet, musician, choral director and performance artist. She is working on a book based on the life of her Russian Jewish immigrant grandparents that is centered around themes of forgiveness, love, passion and duty.

Livingston, a Buckland resident, is the author of novels for adult and young readers, including the Isabel Long mystery series, which features a former journalist who becomes a private investigator solving cold cases in the hilltowns of western Massachusetts. Her book releases this spring include “The Twin Jinn and the Alchemy Machine,” a magical realism book for middle grade readers; “The Swanson Shuffle,” in which a young woman works in a psychiatric halfway house, where she learns more than she expects from its ex-patients; and “Finding the Source,” the eighth book in her mystery series.

Daniels writes creative non-fiction. Her books include “Women Stage Directors Speak” (McFarland, 2000), “Keeping the Lights on for Ike” (Sunbury, 2019), “Finding Sisters” (Sunbury, 2021) and “That Day And What Came After” (Sunbury, 2024). She moved to western Massachusetts in 2015 on retirement from teaching theater.

LAVA Center showcasing films by Hiranandani, Kepes

GREENFIELD — The LAVA Center at 324 Main St. will offer film screenings every second Thursday of the month starting with a program on June 12 at 6:30 p.m. that will highlight the work of local filmmakers Elly Hiranandani and Gyuri Kepes.

Hiranandani will screen their short films “Scheherazade,” an adaptation of a poem by the same name; “Burnout,” a story where a high school girl struggles with her mental health; and “Our Last Summer,” a story about Maeve and Olivia, childhood friends, as they drift apart and toward new people. Gyuri Kepes is planning to screen a rough cut of his latest short, “Pyg Man.”

There is a $1 to $5 suggested donation.

Two exhibits on display at Artspace

GREENFIELD — Artspace Community Arts Center at 15 Mill St. has two exhibits on display through Friday, June 13.

Lydia M. Kinney’s solo exhibit showcases structured and layered abstracted paintings. Kinney is a Greenfield Community College alumna based in Greenfield. For more information, visit artspacegreenfield.org/lydiamkinney.

“The Overlap,” a GCC student group exhibit, showcases work by artists Acadia Black, Emilio DiDonna, Calla Hubert, Caroline James, Nayana LaFond, Tyler Milliken, Charis Mockel-Cole, Olivia Vassar, Morgan Willis and Rich Sergeiko-Marcotte. These students are part of GCC’s Visual Arts Seminar instructed by Chenda Cope. For more information, visit artspacegreenfield.org/the-overlap-gcc.