Amherst In A Storm

Amherst (Ghost) Town Center 9:00 AM

Wind whipped flag in front of AFD Central Station

DPW clearing crosswalks around noon

Amherst College clearing crosswalks town center

Town Hall steps being made safe

Main Street town center 12:20 PM

How bad is it out?

Town Center 12:15 pm (clock is still broken):  Even the anti-war protesters did not show up today

Sun at high noon

Big Y brought in their majestic flag

5:20 PM

A Symbolic Salute To Black History

Flag to remember & honor black history now flies in front of Amherst Town Hall

About three dozen citizens -- including town officials, members of the Massachusetts 54th black infantry regiment and state representative Ellen Story -- braved the frigid weather to assemble under the vacant flagpole immediately in front of Town Hall for a flag raising to honor Black History month.

These days (and that term spans the past 50 years ) it's common to hear how Amherst would be nothing without the University of Massachusetts, our largest employer.

Crowd sings "Lift Every Voice And Sing"

But in a more historic sense Amherst would be nothing without the contributions of the hard working impoverished class who built this town with their bare hands, fought to preserve the Union, and continue the struggle to make Amherst a better place for all.

 Selectman Jim Wald reads the proclamation

In the past month the Amherst Select Board has issued proclamations to honor both Irish and Black history.

A nice salute indeed.

Walk The Plank

I didn't even notice it yesterday morning when I took a quick "drive by" shot of the DPW getting it done in town center at the height of the storm and posted it to my Facebook page.

But if you look closely at where the UN flag normally is, you can see pranksters had replaced it with a pirate flag.  Flying upside down no less.  The pretty blue UN flag, which was new three months ago to replace a tattered one, is currently M.I.A.

Somebody finally noticed the switch this morning and down came the skull and crossbones.

Let's hope that sagacious town employee also takes a closer look at the main flags in town center:  The P.O.W. flag is looking a tad ratty. 

POW flag looking as haggard as, well, one of our POW's

Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Amherst Town center 10:11 AM (depending on who you believe)

So hopefully the town clock will be running soon (probably not today) as it could simply be that somebody forgot to wind it, which is a chore required twice a week.

An electronic motor that would pretty much guarantee round-the-clock accuracy would cost $21,000.

Because the Community Preservation Act committee is more than flush with money now that the town voters decided to allow a doubling of the CPA tax you would think somebody would put in for it under "historic preservation."

Director of Facilities Ron Bohonowicz tells me that the historic old bells actually work but have been silent these past 15 or so years due to neighbors complaints (12 noon or 12 midnight could be a tad noisy).

There's also a special fire bell up in ye old historic tower operated by a big barrel of rocks that would send out a different faster type of ringing to alert fire fighters.

Even Miss Emily took note of the "ticking of the bells" calling firefighters to the Great Fire that devastated the downtown the night of July 4th, 1879. Although Town Hall was not yet constructed, so the bells probably came from the original fire station in town center.

A decade later, on March 11, 1888 smack in the middle of a major blizzard another conflagration took out the Palmer Block in town center, where Amherst Town Meeting convened.  The town acquired the land and constructed Town Hall the following year.

Since town officials refuse to allow the 29 commemorative flags to fly in town center this coming 9/11, maybe they will allow the bells of Town Hall to ring once more ... in memory of the unforgettable. 

Urban Renewal

North end of town center looking towards ever present UMass.  Kendrick Place back right

The long neglected north end of Amherst town center is making up for lost time. 

 Governor Patrick, Kendrick Park 10/21/14 (Kendrick Place developers behind him)

Back on October 21st new Senate President Stan Rosenberg and the outgoing Governor Patrick came calling to announce a $1.5 million MassWorks grant to bury unsightly utilities lines along East Pleasant/Triangle Street corridor.  Now town officials are requesting Town Meeting approve $100,000 for additional "streetscape improvements."

Jonathan Tucker bottom right presents to the JCPC

Planning Director Jonathan Tucker told the Joint Capital Planning Committee this morning the MassWorks grant did nothing for street level improvements, so this $100K request would add  lighting, trash receptacles, benches, bike racks, trees, etc.

The impacted area includes Kendrick Park which has been awaiting a multi-million dollar renovation for a few years now. 

This request is sure to fire up NIMBYs who are still peeved about the Kendrick Place development (rear of top photo slightly to right) and the recently approved One East Pleasant Street mixed use project, both of which will bring significant numbers of residents to live in the downtown. 

Hence the need for basic window dressing. 

9/11/14

AFD Central Station 9:00 AM 

So another anniversary has come and gone.  Well, gone if you mark the duration of the attack:  Stunning in its savagery, unimaginable in the extent of damage inflicted in under two hours. 

The 13th anniversary remembrance at AFD Central Station brings it all back, a ritualistic reinforcement of grief.  The Chaplain's prayer, the ringing of the bell, police and fire personnel standing at attention and of course the heartrending bagpipes playing Amazing Grace.

 

AFD Central flag at half staff

My time in town center with one of the commemorative flags this year was perhaps the most unique out of the past 13 years.  A homeless individual, one of Amherst's usual suspects, came over and was being a nuisance.

He started by pulling out a lighter and acting as though he was going to set my flag on fire, and followed up with nasty, loud "expletive deleted" that would have made President Nixon blush.

All of which is protected by the First Amendment (okay, maybe not burning my flag, but burning his own).

Thus it reaffirmed for me the unique power of that glorious rectangular cloth of red, white and blue.  The freedom it so nobly represents, even though that freedom can be, at times, inconvenient.

 

After receiving four separate complaints from downtown businesses APD had a chat with my homeless friend

First Day Celebration

Community spirit was alive and well on the Amherst town common as a couple hundred folks turned out for the First Day Celebration, a community party commemorating the first day of school tomorrow.  Parents seemed happier than their school aged children.

Thursday  UPDATE:

Bad start for #Amherst Crocker Farm Elementary School.  Unleashed, unidentified dog bites 2 kids on playground.  http://t.co/CSTw33A2Dh
— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) August 28, 2014

My friends at MassLive pick up the story

School Superintendent Maria Geryk introduced all the principals in the Amherst Regional Public School System and Town Manager John Musante welcomed the crowd as part of the new town/schools Amherst Together initiative.

 Carol Ross, John Musante, Maria Geryk .  All we needed was WHMP radio

Sam The Minuteman greets Ultimate Frisbee members

UMPD mounted patrol brought Miranda

AFD Ladder 1 towers over the Middle School chorus

Things That Go Bump ...

Cottage Street near town center

Last night the Select Board gave unanimous approval for the DPW to install three speed bumps along the short length of Cottage Street, which connects Triangle Street with Chestnut Street and is often used as a "cut through" to get to the High School or Middle School.

Although rookie SB member Connie Kruger expressed reservations: "I see them as a last resort" and she feared, "Now everybody is going to want them." But she still went along with the other four members in voting yes.

DPW Chief Guilford Mooring called them "The best option," pointing out that the majority of speeders are not local residents who live on the street so "education" will not work all that well.  

And the road is already undergoing major renovations, so to install the bumps now would be slightly more economical. Total cost of the project is $122,000.

Moose On The Loose

Animal Welfare Officer Carol Hepburn, APD, Amherst College PD and Environmental Police played hide and seek most of the morning into the early afternoon chasing a young moose dangerously close to Amherst town center.

 APD blocking Hitchcock Street leading to Amherst College track

Police shut off traffic at a number of locations but had to move quickly as the moose did not want to cooperate with attempts at herding, so a marksman was called in.

Environmental cop with tranquilizer gun

The first two attempts to bring the beast down with a tranquilizer shot failed, but the third attempt was the charm. 

One moose down for the count

Paid a visit to Amherst College President Biddy Martin

Moose by Martin pic.twitter.com/3ytduVjlzk
— Biddy Martin (@Biddy_Martin) May 15, 2014

Open For Business

It's 10:05 AM, do you know where your town workers are?  Working

 

The Amherst Regional Public Schools on the other hand ...

Then There Were None

12/24/13 Kendrick Park

As always seems to be the case the Boy Scouts sold the last of their Christmas trees, just as we head into the day.

And all is right with the world, even in Amherst.

Car vs Pedestrian Accident Town Center

 Scene is well lit but wet

Amherst and State Police are still on scene in the heart of downtown Amherst investigating a car vs pedestrian accident that sent two victims to area hospitals the more serious to Bay State Critical Care unit in Springfield and the other minor injury, said to be a female child, taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton for an arm injury.

The accident occurred around 6:45 PM in between Brueggers Bagels and Ren's Mobile on North Pleasant Street, just past the intersection with Kellogg Avenue.  There is no crosswalk where the car stopped.

 

Mass State PD accident reconstruction team on scene

A Horse Is A Horse

 Unless of course that horse's name is Ms. Jada.  Central Fire Station 

With two fires in Amherst quickly stopped by AFD and an unstoppable one in Hadley over the weekend, along with an overflowing number of "college aged youth"  transported to the hospital for intoxication there was, refreshingly, at least one family oriented event that attracted a major crowd to Amherst town center early Sunday afternoon: the annual Halloween Fest.  

 Parade through town center down Kellogg Street to the Bangs Community Center

Even a downtown Bar got into the spirit

Twenty downtown businesses participated, giving out candy to the kids (and occasional parent).  Customers at busy locations like Rao's Coffee, Bart's Ice Cream or Antonio's Pizza seemed amused by the sudden influx of ghosts, goblins, robots, and my little horse. 

 

No fun Amherst event is complete without Representative Ellen Story

United We, Sort Of, Stand

UN flag flies 24/7, 365 days a year in front of Amherst Town Hall

One of the earlier political "firsts" for the loquacious little town of Amherst, trumpeted nationwide via the Associated Press (because print media loves "firsts") a generation ago, is still visible to this very day flying only yards from Town Hall.

And still talked about by Town officials.

Last Monday, with little comment, the Amherst Select Board voted unanimously to declare October 24 "United Nations Day" in Amherst.

Just as 40 years ago Amherst went all out to celebrate the anniversary (started in 1948) by becoming the fist "town" in America to "permanently" fly the UN Flag at their seat of government.

New York City and Los Angeles also fly the UN flag but they are, um, cities.

The late 60s and early 70s was a time of nationwide political upheaval -- especially in "college towns" -- mainly focused on the Vietnam War. Thus the anti-war movement found fertile ground in Amherst, "where only the h is silent".

And to this day, in town center, the weekly vigil for peace still holds court starting at high noon.

The fly the blue flag movement started with Mrs. Robert McGarrah, "housewife" of a UMass professor (naturally), who collected over 500 signatures in November, 1972 on a petition presented to the Amherst Select Board.  The first week of December the SB voted unanimously to approve the idea.

 11/12/72

And as we know from the festering controversy over flying commemorative American flags on 9/11, which is banned four-out-of-every-five years, the Select Board alone has final say over the public way.

Ironically the petition stated:  "We can be patriotic citizens of the United States and a patriotic country in the world community."

Patriotic indeed.