Category Archives: Shelburne Falls

Shelburne Falls

Ode to Porchfest

I was honored when Dave Dumas, one of the hosts at the Shelburne Falls Porch Music Festival, offered me a challenge to write an Ode to Porchfest. I would read it that day, July 13, before the lineup of musicians performed. He didn’t tell me how or what to write. But with that title, I figured it should be in poetic form.

To be honest, it’s been many, many years since I’ve written a full-length poem. I did write brief ones in my Isabel Long Mystery Series for a character, Cary Moore, a highway worker who wrote poetry good enough for a big shot poet to steal.

But a full-length ode? I would need to do some research.

According to the Poetry Foundation, an ode is “a formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea.” Likely the most famous is John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” Written in 1819, the language is a bit flowery by today’s standards. Here’s how it starts: “Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness.”

Eh, not my style although there are two lines I repeat throughout my ode that have similar language. I knew I wanted the poem to rhyme, so that was another test. I also chose to abbreviate the event’s title to Porchfest.

I took my time, revisiting the poem each day to add more lines or to revise another or just read it aloud. I wanted to include Porchfest’s history, including how it came to Shelburne Falls, the mythical village where I live in Western Mass. Plus, I wrote lines about what was generally scheduled to happen that day and specifically, on the porch of Dave and Susanne Hynes’s house on Green Street on the Buckland side.

I kept the poem a secret until today at noon when I read it aloud. I timed the release of this post to come after that. And here it is below.

ODE TO PORCHFEST

Music, music all around

On the porches in our towns

People walk amid the choices

Lured by instruments and voices

O Porchfest

Thou art the best.

In 2007, Ithaca’s the first

Lesley Greene and Gretchen Hildreth

Both saw its worth

An afternoon of song

People strolling along

O Porchfest

Thou art the best.

Now Porchfest is in many states

Even Canada, that’s great

The total so far is 232

And on different days, that’s true

O Porchfest

Thou art the best.

The Village’s Porchfest has its fifth year

Thanks to Dorothy Strano-Bennett who brought it here.

She was only thirteen

And a resident of Queens.

Grateful for the welcome during the plague

Her grandmother’s State Street porch became a stage

Masks were on the musicians that day

When people came to watch them play.

O Porchfest

Thou art the best.

Dorothy’s dad Paul Bennett took charge

Since then the festival has grown large

Here are the facts:

Over 70 acts.

Hundreds of artists are performing today

Rock, jazz, soul, and reggae

Poetry, prose and joke

Acoustic, experimental, and folk.

If you’re keeping score

On porches, yards, in front of stores

At restaurants and clubs

The Mill, Water Street Barn, and Floodwater brew pub

O Porchfest

Thou art the best.

We’re here on Green Street with Susanne and Dave

Who’ve created a program of music to crave

Indie rock with Brook Bateau

Honest folk with Bob Chabot

Matt Price’s intricate songs

Yes, this lineup is very strong

Kevin Keady, a satirical folkie

Ralph Carson, our favorite Okie

And Jack Dwyer, who sings and swings

Thank you all for the music you bring

O Porchfest

Thou art the best.

So, on July 13, 2025

The festive spirit continues to thrive

Enjoy what you hear

Expect more next year

O Porchfest

Thou art the best.

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Art Abandonment, Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls

Pick Me Up!

That’s what it said on the piece of paper Hank found in a small plastic bag tucked between the slats of a wooden bench. He was enjoying a coffee he had bought and sitting at a favorite spot near the Bridge of Flowers in our village when he discovered the bag. But wait, there’s more: a pair of earrings was inside.

As the photo above shows, the earrings have a translucent glass bead and a flat tear-drop with gold leaf bits encased in a clear resin.

The message goes on: “(hurry before someone else does.) This handmade gift has been left here with the hope that it brings you joy. Keep it, pass it on, or leave it for someone else to find.”

Hank brought it home to me.

I was charmed by the gift and the story of how he found the little treasure when he placed his hand on the bench. Then, I tried them on. Yes, I felt joy wearing them.

But there’s more. A second note gives information about Art Abandonment, a group of artists “who leave their creations in random locations across the globe for others to find and enjoy.” It has a link to Facebook.

The discovery makes me wonder who left the earrings. The Bridge of Flowers is a big attraction in Shelburne Falls, the village where we live, so it could have been a visitor or someone local.

The concrete bridge with its graceful arches was built over the Deerfield River in 1908 by a railway to handle freight. But the company went bankrupt nine years later after trucking became more popular.

Fortunately, Antoinette Burnham suggested transforming the 400-foot bridge into a garden — two long rows of flowering plants and shrubs separated by a wide footpath. The Shelburne Falls Women’s Club sponsor the Bridge of Flowers, which celebrated its 90th year in 2019. 

Volunteers assist two gardeners in maintaining the bridge, which draws thousands of people to our village when it is open from April 1 to Oct. 31. It’s free to enter but donations are welcome. Here’s the website for more, including what is in bloom. 

By the way, I walk it every day. So does Hank. We’re often together although not that time.

But back to those earrings. I’ve worn them every day since their discovery — using a plastic backing so I don’t lose them while wearing a mask or working outside. They have indeed brought me joy, so thank you to the anonymous creator and donor.

By the way, I have met several people who have remarked about the earrings. I typically smile and tell them, “There’s a story behind them.” And, yes, they want to hear all about it.

MY BOOKS: Writing is something else that brings me joy. I am three-quarters of the way through no. 6 of my Isabel Long Mystery Series. You can check them out on Amazon. Thank you, if you do.

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COVID-19, Shelburne Falls

My Very Quiet Village

When Hank and I returned to New England, we wanted to live in the country but be able to walk to things. That’s what we got when we moved to Shelburne Falls in Western Mass. We live on the Buckland side and it’s a short walk, oh, less than a half-mile, to a coffee shop, restaurants, small shops, a candlepin bowling alley, and our son, Zack’s Floodwater Brewing. You get to know the people living here very easily. And then there is the bustle of visitors who want to take in the quaint village, and in season, our famous Bridge of Flowers, and the potholes on the Deerfield River.

Ah, but all of that is on hold while we get through this COVID-19 health crisis.

Hank and I walked down to the village Saturday. Businesses had signs on their doors explaining why they were closed. The governor issued an order last week that only allows restaurants to do takeout; bars were closed. The village’s two markets, McCusker’s (part of the Franklin Community Co-op) and Keystone (owned by a family) were open, as well as the liquor store. So was Mocha Maya’s coffee shop, for takeout only.

And then our clever son, Zack was set up at the door of his brewery. He had scored bottles that he filled with the beer he makes. People could place an order on their phones and he would have the bottles, the outside sanitized, ready for them to take. By the way, he was donating $2 from each bottle sold to a local education foundation.

Zack said his experiment turned out very well. (I believe sometime this week his order of growlers should be in.) We were there when a woman said she was driving by and saw his setup and had to stop. She place her order standing on the sidewalk. Another man pulled in as we were leaving. While these sales can’t make up for a bustling, music-filled weekend at the brewery, I admire our son’s ingenuity.

Sunday I stuck to home. It was just too cold to venture into the woods, my hope that morning. So, I got back into my new book. I now know whodunnit and it’s up to Isabel to find out. But first I have to put her in some danger.

Today I am back in the newsroom. We are an essential business, providing news, which we are even making available for free on our website: https://www.recorder.com/

We are quite isolated there, as no one has been allowed in the building for a week now. It’s just a small crew; the rest are working from home. That is an option for all of us, but for now this works.

FREE WEEKEND: Thanks to all who got a free copy of Chasing the Case this past weekend. It was a hugely successful experiment. Not only were people getting a free copy, they were buying the two other books in the series … and a book I self-published.

 

 

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