Greenfield Notebook: Nov. 12, 2021

GREENFIELD — The School Committee voted unanimously Wednesday evening to change the Oct. 10 holiday on the school calendar from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, beginning with the 2022 to 2023 calendar and for all calendars moving forward. 

School Committee member Glenn Johnson-Mussad spoke in favor of changing the name.

“Obviously our education system and our consciousness as a country has been evolving … and we have been trying to face some of the harms that were done by people from Europe coming here and killing Indigenous people, taking their land, spreading disease that resulted in mass death and destruction,” he said. “It’s a very strange thing to have a day, a celebration, for the person who initiated all that.”

School Committee member Mayor Roxann Wedegartner noted the committee had received one letter in opposition to the change.

GREENFIELD — Just Roots, at 34 Glenbrook Drive, will host a plant medicine workshop on Sunday, Nov. 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The event will be held outdoors and space is limited, according to a Just Roots newsletter. Masks are optional.

Participants must register by Nov. 15 by emailing DivinahRakia@gmail.com. Include your name, preferred pronouns, contact information and why you are interested in plant medicine, the newsletter states.

There is a sliding scale cost of $75 to $125. Payment can be sent using Venmo @LilyRakia-Chandler.

GREENFIELD — Community Action Pioneer Valley’s board of directors will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Meetings are scheduled every two months, according to a notice from Community Action Youth & Workforce Development Programs Administrative Coordinator Hayley Johnson. Meetings planned over the next year will occur on Jan. 18, March 15, May 17, July 19 and Sept. 20, all starting at 5:30 p.m.

To access the Nov. 16 Zoom meeting, visit bit.ly/31Tx2vq. Meeting ID: 824 2791 5692; Passcode: 01301. To access the meeting by phone, call 1-646-876-9923.

GREENFIELD — Ross Gay, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry, will lead a virtual discussion on “The Book of Delights: Essays” on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 11 a.m.

This event is hosted by Authors and Artists, which has scheduled associated programming leading up to its 2022 festival. For more information about the festival and to register for the free book discussion, which is co-sponsored by the Greenfield Public Library, go to authorsandartistsfestival.wordpress.com/.

GREENFIELD — The LAVA Center’s series of short climate change plays, collectively titled “A Global Green New Deal,” continues on Saturday, Nov. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Thursday, Nov. 18, from 6 to 7 p.m. at 324 Main St.

Four or five of the short plays will be read at each event, followed by a discussion of the issues raised in the plays, according to a LAVA Center press release. Filmmaker and theater artist Vanessa Query will host Saturday’s program, while writer Patricia Crosby will host Thursday’s program.

GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Suicide Loss Support Group is now meeting in the Mohawk Mall in person, every second Tuesday of the month from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

This peer-led group is free and open to anyone who has lost a loved one to suicide. Meetings are held in the Mental Health Association’s suite on the first floor at 91 Main St. (across from Zuttermeister Chiropractic).

Registration is not necessary. Email facilitator Jen Matoney with any questions at afspjen@gmail.com.

GREENFIELD — Artspace Community Arts Center at 15 Mill St. is offering a series of one-time poetry classes in November and December. They are as follows:

■Poetry and Collage — Monday, Nov. 29, and Saturday, Dec. 4, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

■Language Games — Wednesday, Nov. 17, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

■Experiments in the Poetic Line — Monday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 20, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

■Revision: Process and Strategies — Friday, Dec. 3, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Classes cost $38. To learn more about upcoming classes, visit artspacegreenfield.com/classes2.