‘Light Up the
Fairgrounds’
seeks entries
GREENFIELD — WHAI, Bear Country, The Outlaw and EZ 107.5 invite residents to participate in this year’s “Light Up the Fairgrounds” drive-thru holiday event on three weekends in November and December.
According to a press release from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County, one of three organizations that will benefit from the fundraiser, the event will incorporate more than 50 holiday light displays crafted by businesses, individuals and organizations at the Franklin County Fairgrounds. There is no cost to enter, but entrants will be responsible for all costs incurred to create the display. Entries will be juried to avoid duplication and ensure balance.
Every display entry will be eligible to win cash prizes, the release states, with $1,000 going to the first place winner, $500 for second place and $250 for third place. The prizes will be awarded based on votes cast by attendees.
The minimum donation required to attend the three-weekend event — on Nov. 26, 27 and 28, and Dec. 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12, from 5 to 9 p.m. each night — is $5. Proceeds from admission fees will support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Regional Dog Shelter and the Franklin County Fairgrounds.
Complete contest rules, event information and entry forms are available at bbbs-fc.org/events-2. The deadline to enter is Nov. 5.
Ribbon cutting
ceremony to
celebrate Fiske
Ave. improvements
GREENFIELD — Mayor Roxann Wedegartner invites the community to join in celebrating the pollinator gardens and site improvements at Fiske Avenue that were made possible with a $23,000 AARP Community Challenge grant and the dedication of community volunteers. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held rain or shine on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.
Recent improvements to the Fiske Avenue parking lot include the creation of a pollinator garden, along with plantings on top of the new wall that was installed last fall, according to a press release from the Mayor’s Office. At the Main Street end of the site, two new benches were installed on Sept. 17, along with a chess table and bicycle repair station. The Celtic bee was also reinstalled.
GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Public Library, in collaboration with Greenfield Community College and Greenfield High School, will participate in the community reading project “Reading for Change.” Participants will read Jamil Zaki’s book, “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World.”
According to a Greenfield Public Library press release, the community reading project will involve a virtual kickoff event on Thursday at 6 p.m. The event will include introductions, an overview of the project and a community building exercise. The release advises it will be helpful, though not necessary, to have read the first three chapters of “The War for Kindness” in advance.
Zaki’s book describes research-informed strategies for increasing kindness and empathy in a world characterized by racial inequality, political polarization and decreasing trust in social institutions. Copies of the book are available at the library.
For more information and to request the Zoom link, visit bit.ly/3knvhx9.
GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Public Library is joining libraries and residents from across Massachusetts for the Commonwealth Watch Party and Community Conversation on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
According to a Greenfield Public Library press release, participants will view a video of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson discussing “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” in a presentation recorded for the National Book Festival. Live conversation will follow, facilitated by civil rights advocate and former state Rep. Byron Rushing, and Professor Roopika Risam, a scholar in digital humanities and African diaspora at Salem State University.
To register, visit bit.ly/NBF2021MassWatchParty.
GREENFIELD — Two Greenfield students, Ashley Alward and Amy Ehmann, graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in May. Both earned bachelor’s degrees in information technology.