 |
History Fair Weekend
October 23, 24, 25
Come see, learn, and explore
Hadley's history.
The weekend is full of fabulous
events.
You can watch re-enactors on the
Common,
take a ride in a stage coach,
visit a one room schoolhouse, hear talks,
have dinner in Hadley's historic church,
watch an original play about Hadley,
and much more.
The Souvenir Shoppe in Town Hall
will be open October 24.
"Angels of
Hadley" play.
This wonderful original play will be performed
by the Hopkins Academy Drama Club, and is sure to be a hit.
Get your tickets at the Hopkins Academy
office, the Goodwin
Memorial Library or the 350th Souvenir Shoppe
|
On Friday
7:30
PM Original Play “Angels of Hadley” featuring the Hopkins
Academy Drama Club at Hopkins Academy, 131 Russell Street.
The playwright, Brian Marsh, teaches at the PVPA,
and is descended from several of Hadley's founding families.
Tickets are
$10 adults, $5 students and
seniors, on sale at the Hopkins Academy office during
business hours, 7 AM to 3:30 PM, the
Goodwin Memorial Library and the 350th Souvenir
Shoppe.
On Saturday
All day:
Living History Display and Demonstrations on the West
Street Common 9AM to
5PM with Firing Drills, Crafts and more.
Featuring Benjamin
Church's
Recreated Company, The Society of the 17th Century and two
Native American re-enactors, Ken Hamilton
and John Santos.
Firing Drills will be at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm.
In case of heavy rain, please go to the Most Holy Redeemer
Church.
Stagecoach Rides at the Farm Museum 11 AM to 3 PM, weather
permitting, $5 Adult and $1 Child, plus demonstrations of
blacksmithing,
beekeeping, weaving and corn shelling. Items for sale
include popcorn, baked potatoes, beverages and valley produce.
The farm museum
provides a wonderful glimpse into the town's farming history,
with many unusual objects waiting to be discovered. For a
video clip of the museum
produced by masslive.com recently, please click on
Hadley Farm Museum
Open House at the Historical Room
of the Hadley Historical
Society Collection located on the 2nd floor of the Goodwin Memorial
Library,
10 am to 3 pm. Come see this amazing collection of old
photos, clothing, furnishings, documents, pictures, and more.
9:00
to 10:00 Talk and tour of the
Hockanum Schoolhouse,
Hockanum Rd (Rt 47 S). Come see the newly renovated schoolhouse.
The desks,
charts and pictures from the 1930s are on display, and former
students will talk about going to school there.
10:15
to 11:15
“Eastern European Talk and Video” by Jeffrey Mish, at the Historical Society Room, Upstairs in the Goodwin
Memorial Library
12:00
Representative John Scibak will read a proclamation from
Governor Patrick, proclaiming October 24th Clarence Hawkes
Day, on
the Common.
Read about Clarence Hawkes below.
12:45 to 1:45
Native American talk by Allan Zuchowski,
Porter Phelps Huntington House Barn, 130 River Drive
2:00 to 3:00 Tour and talk about the
North Hadley School and North Hadley
Roman Catholic Church in the 1950s by Dr. Joseph
Zgrodnik,
North Hadley Hall, 237 River Dr
2:00 to 4:00
Historical children's games at the Goodwin Memorial Library. Also at
the library will be a display of models of some of Hadley's
historic homes,
the models were made last spring by Hopkins Academy 8th graders for a science project.
5:00 and 6:30 Fall
harvest supper at the First Congregational Church,
reservations required. Menu: Chicken-n-gravy,
biscuits, potatoes,
green beans, squash,
rolls, apple or pumpkin pie, and beverage. Seatings at
5:00 and 6:30 PM. Cost at door: $12 adults, $7
children
under 12. Pay in advance $11/$6.
For reservations contact Pat Osip 584-6741 or the church
office 584-4117.
7:30
Original Play “Angels of Hadley” featuring the
Hopkins Academy Drama Club at Hopkins Academy.
Tickets are $10 adults, $5 students and seniors, on sale at
the Hopkins Academy office during business hours, 7 AM to
3:30 PM, at the
Goodwin Memorial Library and the 350th Souvenir Shoppe.
On Sunday
9:00
AM Coffee hour and displays, Most Holy Redeemer Church, Parish Hall, 120 Russell Street
1:00 PM Book
signing at Barnes & Noble for the book Cultivating a
Past: Essays on the History of Hadley, Massachusetts,
a publication in
celebration of the town's 350th anniversary in 2009. On hand
will be the editor and many of the authors. From 1:00
to 2:00 PM.
3:00 PM
Original Play “Angels of Hadley” featuring the
Hopkins Academy Drama Club at Hopkins Academy. Tickets
are
$10 adults, $5 students and seniors, on sale at the Hopkins
Academy office during business hours, 7 AM to 3:30 PM, plus
at the
Goodwin
Memorial Library and the 350th Souvenir Shoppe.
4:00 PM Hadley Village Music.
"Songs of Inspiration." Featuring "The Creation - A Rock Contata" by Bobrowitz & Porter. Special Guests:
Justina Golden, Clifton J. & Kara Noble, Jim Henry, Rob Terreden, Evelyn Harris, Hadley First Congregational Church Bell Choir,
The North Hadley Congregational Church Choir & Friends. North Hadley Congregational Church. Donations appreciated.
|
Who is
Clarence Hawkes?
by James A. Freeman
Clarence Hawkes lived from 1869-1954. Although related to William Clark
Smith, first sitting President of the University of Massachusetts, and to
William Cullen Bryant, Cummington's renown poet, he was born in Goshen to a poor
farm family and had to make his own way. Tragedy assaulted him: he lost half of
his left leg at nine and was blinded at thirteen by a gunshot accident. Hawkes
began his recovery at Boston's Perkins Institution for the Blind. There he
became a friend of Helen Keller and impressed celebrities like Julia Ward Howe.
He returned to the Valley and supported himself by giving lectures in cold
churches and hot barns. Soon his poetry began to appear in print. After his move
to Hadley in 1892, and his marriage to Bessie Bell, his nature books were
published. 60-some volumes, like Noah's ark, transported stories about bison and
sled dogs and broncos to an estimated five million readers. In addition, he
wrote four novels and several autobiographies. The French government used one to
comfort their soldiers blinded in World War I. Translated into Braille, Danish,
French, Chinese, Finnish and Japanese, these books won the admiration of
naturalists for their truth. Calvin Coolidge, Teddy Roosevelt, zoo directors and
four colleges (Amherst, Hobart-William Smith, Syracuse and A. I. C.) honored
him. To celebrate his birthday in 1943, United Press furnished its 1400
newspapers with a flattering notice. /Time /magazine summed up the national
admiration by saying, "Unfortunate the boy or girl who grows up ... without
reading about Shovelhorns, the Moose monarch; Shaggycoat, the astute beaver;
Black Bruin, the genial bear, and a score of other wild personages whose
biographies have been set down by the typewriter of painstaking Clarence Hawkes"
(19 April 1926). His life benefited that of his small town, too. Once the dog of
actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was appearing in Northampton, found its way to his
home. Hawkes returned it but wrote a successful book about its further
adventures. He designed floats for the 1909 celebration of Hadley's 250th
anniversary. He composed the anthem for Hopkins Academy that students sing
today. In addition, he could recognize eighty birds by their calls. He became an
authority on baseball and football, regularly attending games at Amherst and the
University of Massachusetts. Today his house still stands on the West Street
common and the grave marker for him and wife Bessie in Old Hadley Cemetery sums
up their life: "They loved animals and little children."
|
|
