Occupy Miss Emily

So in addition to a throng of outsiders who descended on Amherst for the Extravaganja pot festival or UMass Soccerfest on Saturday, a small group of historic Civil War reenactors also set up camp on the Dickinson Homestead east lawn, less than a musket shot from town center.

Had it occurred during her lifetime Miss Emily probably would not have noticed, since her upstairs windows faced south towards Amherst College and west towards downtown.

But she certainly took note of the great fire that devastated "merchants row"--most of the downtown--in the dead of night, July 4, 1879.   Her reclusive room became a front row seat:  "We were waked by the ticking of the bells--the bells tick in Amherst for a fire, to tell the firemen.  I sprang to the window, and each side of the curtain saw that awful sun.  The moon was shining  high at the time and the birds singing like trumpets."

Her ever protective younger sister told her it was only fireworks celebrating the July 4th holiday.   "Vinnie's only the 4th of July I shall always remember.  I think she will tell us so when we die, to keep us from being afraid."

Less than seven years later, set against a rising fog, Miss Emily was called back.  As always, loyal Lavinia was near at hand--perhaps whispering reassuringly that everything would be okay. 

Civil War camp, east lawn Dickinson Homestead

Party Houses of the Weekend

1. 

26 Allen Street, Amherst (Gateway to UMass/Amherst)

So yes, you would have to go some in order to win the ignominious Party House prize over the past weekend when Amherst was about as busy as it could possibly get with many of those folks in a party mood.  Although Extravaganja attracted the usual thousands to town center it was also--as usual--a well behaved event.  Well, except for a numerous tickets handed out for pot consumption.

Our Party House winners, on the other hand, stood out from the crowd precisely because everybody around them was NOT making obnoxiously loud noise very late at night or throwing bottles.  And as a result offenders received $300 noise tickets (as opposed to pot possession tickets that only carry a $100 fine) and were arrested and thrown in jail, as opposed to the pot rally where nobody was arrested.

According to APD logs (2:00 AM early Saturday)

Report of loud party, loud music, and people throwing bottles at the house across the street
Loud voices on porch from gathering of individuals.  No cooperation received from tenants or guests.  Brad Sloan attempted to close door on officer and then refused to leave when asked to do so.  Sloan begins to resist arrest when I attempted to place him under arrest.  

Brad Thomas Sloan, 33 Allston Brighton, MA, age 25  Disorderly conduct, resisting arrest
Lauren C. Mark, 25 Sunset Trail, New Fairfield, CT, age 21, noise violation
Laura Kristin Moynihan, 151 18th St, Lowell, MA, age 20, noise violation

Ownership card for 26 Allen Street

 

50 High Street, Amherst (my immediate neighbor 50 years ago)

 1:30 AM early Sunday morning

Loud party with music and voices upon arrival . Ms Simpson was asked to clear the party and she did not.  She was advised of consequences and still would not clear the party.  She was placed under arrest for noise violation.

Apparently officers gave her three chances to comply and at one point she shut off the music and lights saying to her friends police had "no right to be here and no right to shut down the party."  And when she did turn the lights on after failing to clear the guests, that she described as too drunk to leave, officers noted one of them standing in the window striking a pose with his middle finger prominently up in the air.  

Arrested for noise:
Anna Francis Simpson, 50 High Street, Amherst, age 32

Ownership card for 48/50 High Street

And just so the apartment complexes get almost equal representation, we have Puffton Village. Unit #398  to be exact.  Also very early Sunday morning, or very late depending on your viewpoint.  6:48 AM to be exact.

According to police logs:

A loud stereo was blaring coupled with yelling and laughter.  Guests of the residence were also on the roof rolling full cans of beer down the tin roofs while jumping up and down causing a thumping noise.  The resident was placed under arrest.

Joseph Hebard Barry, 109 Oakton Ave, Boston, MA, age 20 Noise violation

You don't bring me flowers

A swarm of runners heads towards the flowers in Amherst's 2nd annual Daffodil Fun Run

While maybe not quite as large as the throng who attended the Extravaganja pot festival in town center yesterday, it was good to see such a large turnout for a healthier endeavor like the Daffodil Fun Run, a 3.1 mile run/walk past scenic spots in Amherst that attracted over 1,000 participants with all the proceeds going to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County, an iconic local social service agency.

An almost equally large swarm of walkers headed up the rear of the pack

A Day of Reckoning?

Sunday morning epilogue: AFD transported four intoxicated individuals to CDH last night including one naked male and treated at the scene (Mullins Center) fourteen total. A week ago Thursday totals were far worse: 24 treated, 14 transported.

The centre held...this time.  

#####

Original Post (All day/night Saturday reverse chronological order):

11:15 PM  AFD responding to UMass Washington high rise dorm for ETOH female

10:22 PM AFD sending ambulance to Mullins Center for two ETOH patients (passed out drunk). Westfield Ambulance hired by Mullins Center was busy taking another ETOH patient to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

815 PM: Mullins Center line snakes out almost to the road waiting for techno music extravaganza

State Police, Hampden County Sheriffs, and the APD, prepare for darkness

7:15 PM  Extravaganja 2012 Pot Rally is done. No arrests (as in hands cuffed behind back and thrown in cell), but thirty (30) citations issued for possession of less than an ounce of pot. Each citation is a $100 fine. Now the real partying begins, with alcohol the drug of choice. And by the looks of the parking lot at APD headquarters, they are ready for anything.

AFD APD respond to reported drug overdose (4:10 PM). Gone on arrival

Crowd of thousands at 4:15 PM

Town Center very busy around Town Common 4:20 PM

APD bike cops make a bust 3:00 PM

Town Common Extravaganja 10:00 AM (2 hours until start)

7:30 AM
And so it begins...like a Hollywood disaster movie: sun shining brightly, a vivid blue sky, a bird chirping incessantly from a far off perch.

All across the region folks are starting to stir.  Soon, many thousands will descend upon us:  SoccerFest at UMass, Extravaganja pot festival on the town common.

By daylight things will be fine.  They always are.  Although a thousand students will start to party.

Then darkness comes.  More--much more--than a thousand students continue to party.  The Mullins Center opens for "Fantazia," a techno dance extravaganza attracting thousands more, who revel in partying.

The stage is set.

Bus route detours to mitigate parties

Shutesbury Library site contamination confirmed

 Shutesbury Library proposed site (former auto body shop)

As residents of Shutesbury hold their breath awaiting the decision of Judge Rup concerning the eligibility of voters in the contentious 522-522 tie Override vote, town administrator Rebecca Torres received confirmation from an environmental consultant that PCBs are indeed present at the site and an "Immediate Response Action plan" required by the state Department of Environmental Protection for PCP detection within 500 feet of drinking wells has been implemented.

Additional soil samples from beneath drum will be taken and analyzed

UMass Alumni Association chaos

A confidential "for internal audiences only" consultants report commissioned by Vice Chancellor of development and alumni relations Mike Leto using $24,500 of taxpayer funds discovered "Significant issues with respect to the UMass Amherst Alumni Association Board of Directors." The critique goes on to conclude "an in depth inquiry of volunteer issues and relationships would be strongly recommended in the near future."

UMass Amherst contributes $1 million annually to the finances of the Alumni Association which is independent of the University via a 501-(c) (3) non profit classification.  The report found: "UMAAA's $2.3 million in revenues are significantly lower than all aspirational peers, who also have nearly twice the number of alumni."

UMass Amherst has 226,046 living alumni with almost half--110,562--residing in Massachusetts (with 46,000 of them in Boston).

In 2010 the alumni association switched from a $40 annual dues paying model to a "let them all in" model making virtually all UMass/Amherst grads members.  At the time there were only 5,000 dues paying members or 2.2%, significantly below industry standard of 20% (+/-3)and well below the high water mark of 8,000 subscribing grads in 2001.

The report also sites 26,114 donating members but that figure represents anyone who ever donated to UMass for any reason most of them independent of the Alumni Association.  That number (12.3%) comes closer to industry standard, thus demonstrating that, on average, UMass alumni do have affection for their alma mater.

The report also reveals a bloated bureaucracy with  "more full time employee than either current peer."

Like the venerable Amherst K-12 public schools, it's not like all that extra money buys above average results:  "Campus partners rated Alumni programs/events and campus partnerships as fair-to-average," even though "a higher percentage of expenditures is spent on programs and activities."

In an overview the report discloses the problems have been ongoing "for over a decade", and reaches the level of "dysfunctional," which creates an atmosphere where "there are no winners."

Bentz, Whaley, Flessner go on to recommend "visionary, respected, and energetic staff leadership" and to accomplish this the "executive director should flatten the management structure so that she has more operational oversight of the association and more knowledge of the staff operations."

The volunteer board of directors "must cease the in-fighting and hostility that has been described as its mode of operation of over a decade."  Surprisingly the report does NOT recommend throwing money at the problem:  "The UMAAA has sufficient revenue for an organization of its size and alumni population.  Funding should be reallocated to support signature programming opportunities and reduce or eliminate funding for other programs."

 #####

The report was dated March 7, 2011.

According to a Daily Hampshire Gazette article dated March 23, 2011 the report was being kept "under wraps":

"Ed Blaguszewski, a spokesman for UMass Amherst, declined to comment on reports of conflict within the Alumni Association."

"Anna Symington, the association's executive director did not respond to Gazette written requests for comments on the report."

"Mike Leto, the vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs, did not respond to a message left with his office seeking comment on why the report was commissioned and what it found."

"Sean LeBlanc, president of the Alumni Association, said in an email message that he took part in a conference call in January with the consultant, but declined to say what was discussed. He added that he hadn't seen the report and did not know what it contained."

"Representatives with Bentz Whaley Flessner did not return phone calls from the Gazette seeking comment on the report."

A sanitized report was released on May 12, 2011 with very limited distribution

 ####

Fast forward to today:

Shorty after the consultants report was completed Executive Director Anna Symington suddenly retired.  Sean LeBlanc was replaced by Ronald Grasso as president of the Alumni Association in an election with no other contestants, garnering about 20 votes out of 33 board members eligible to vote.

A former "disgusted" member of that upper echelon with "nothing good to say about the Alumni Association" reports wanting "to quit half way thru my term, and I refused to run for another."

Groundbreaking!

Dr Kate (center) behind Ginger the therapy dog

About 100 friends, family, business consultants, employees and patients came together to celebrate the long in coming groundbreaking for the Atkinson Family Practice new medical facility on Research Drive in East Amherst.  The project--like all construction proposals in town--was vociferously opposed by neighbors for the usual reasons of traffic and noise.

Or maybe just because it represents progress.

Amherst Select Board member (and a patient) Diana Stein on left.  Dr. Kate: "This is one of the happiest days of my life."