Posts Tagged ‘Northampton’

Dave Russell & Friends

JANUARY 24: BENEFIT KIRTAN FOR ARSON SURVIVORS, NORTHAMPTON, MA: Yoga Sanctuary, Thornes Marketplace, 150 Main St. (3rd Floor). Benefit to raise money for the survivors of the recent arsonist fires that left city residents homeless or with great losses. Handicap accessible, easy parking in adjacent Thornes parking garage. 7:00 P.M. $10 – $25+ donations. ALL proceeds go to Northampton Friends Relief Fund. Kids welcome. www.yoga-sanctuary.com

Go if you can make it!

This blog is not usually focused on local people, but the person was a special one for Northampton. Bonnie Ascher.

I knew her only as Bonnie. I was told that I would meet her when I moved to Market St. When you are forewarned about a person before you meet them your antenna sticks up. Well I forgot about it until after a few weeks on Market St when I went to the dumpster behind my house. Bonnie was on me like white on rice. She was wondering what I was doing in Stuart’s dumpster (she also shared it) Well I explained in a long winded manner that I was a new tenant in the building. And I was going for my first dump run. She asked me my name and what I did for a living. She said she doesn’t remeber names but only what they do in relation to other people or their location. So from then on I was called Genius. She loved to talk to me about my schooling. So I took the time to tell her. She always looked me directly in the eye.

Well I only knew her for a year but will never forget her. We on earth will miss you Bonnie. I have captured some parting thoughts people have said from another site HERE

October 29, 2009

As a downtown resident, Bonnie was someone I could count on seeing each and every day. Somedays it was just a hello, other days she asked after other folks. I for one will certainly miss running into her. My thoughts are with you.

~ Michael, Northampton, Massachusetts

October 29, 2009

I am sorry for your loss.

I knew Bonnie for years because she would come into my workplace frequently. When I was pregnant with my twins, Bonnie gave me a fantastic book, “Super Baby Food” about making your own baby & toddler food – I used that book constantly and then gave it to another friend with a baby.

She will be missed by many.

~ Rachel, Easthampton, Massachusetts

October 28, 2009

Beckie,I’m very sorry for the loss of your mother.My thoughts and prayers are with you.Your friend,Michelle

October 28, 2009

Jeanette and family:

I was very sorry to learn of Bonnie’s death. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Best wishes to you.

David Robinson

North Haven, CT (formerly of Longmeadow and Springfield)

~ David Robinson, North Haven, Connecticut

October 28, 2009

To the Ascher Family, Iam sorry about the loss of your daughter, Bonnie.

You will be greatly missed Bonnie! Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

From everyone at Spoleto

Inner Visions

Performing at the Iron Horse Music Hall

St. John in the US Virgin Islands is home to this unique sounding band with over twenty-five years experience in the field of reggae music. Their mix of the young and the mature performing together creates a mystical sound that touches people of all ages.

No longer billed as the Virgin Islands best kept secret, they have taken the the world with their brand of Reggae music and have taken their audiences captive through their energetic live performances.

It’s been a journey filled with many changes over the years that has resulted in the strong foundation band you see now. In 1995 they recorded their first album and the rest has been history

Discipline, respect, and a sincere love for humanity in a tight family bond are some of the things that stand out when people first meet this great group of fine young men.

Today Inner Visions is a mystical mix of the young and the mature performing together to form a sound that is sweet, danceable, well arranged yet thought provoking. The band has been joined by “Grasshopper’s” two Sons who by themselves have driven the band to new heights previously unheard of.

The group has now traveled extensively to neighboring sister Islands of the Caribbean including Puerto Rico and St Thomas. Their music has taken them to far away destinations such as Cancun Mexico, the USA and recently even across the Atlantic to Europe.

Performing at prestigious festivals and events such as SXSW Music and Film Interactive (in Austin TX where the BBC News found them so interesting they interviewed the band), Club Marley’s (in Universal Studios Orlando FL, Musikfest (Bethlehem, PA), California World Music Festival (Grass Valley, CA), Sierra World Music Festival (Boonville, CA), Grassroots Festival (Truman, NY), Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (Hillsdale, NY) Hot Tin Roof (Martha’s Vineyard), Antilliaanse Festen ( Hoogstraten Belgium), Reggae Summer Nights (Hamm Germany), Dios Latinos Festen (Amersfoot, Netherlands), Het Park Festen (Rotterdam, Netherlands) has truly introduced a slice of St. John to the world!

The band’s sound today is a cultural journey through the musical influences of yesterday and meshes quite smoothly with the sounds of today!

“Inner Visions” is an Independent organization boasting two strong lead vocalists and a three part harmony that will soothe the savage beast in anyone. They do their own productions and spend quite a bit to ensure that they give fans the best quality recordings possible.

Seems that even as their well produced and strong albums continue to sell out, fans still say their energy and stage performance always seem to outshine their awesome body of work.

See a few live performances at www.myspace.com/innervisionsreggae

If you miss your 70′s Reggae and need a fix, here it is! See them live as soon as you can and be “InnerGised!”

Inner Visions

Amtrack

By MARY CAREY
AMHERST – A Pioneer Valley Planning Commission proposal that would eliminate an Amtrak Vermonter stop in Amherst is moving full steam ahead, but Amherst officials are not all aboard.

“We have a constituency that is very well suited for train travel, and we have a demonstrated performance record,” Town Manager Larry Shaffer said Friday. “The notion that somehow we’re going to dismantle that to try to create ridership in another corridor, we think doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

About 1,000 passengers a month for a total of 12,679 in 2008 got on or off the Vermonter in Amherst, headed for Washington or points north. It’s by far the busiest stop along the route in western Massachusetts with the exception of Springfield, said PVPC planner Dana Roscoe. The train also stops in New York City.

But by rerouting a leg between Palmer and Springfield and eliminating a stop in Amherst, while adding stops in Northampton, Greenfield and Holyoke, Amtrak could reduce travel time and save the Vermonter, Roscoe said. The Green Mountain State subsidizes the aptly named Vermonter 100 percent – Massachusetts contributes nothing, Roscoe said. “Vermont is saying if we can’t improve the service, we might have to discontinue it.”

“That’s a bummer to hear that,” said Al Wilbur, an Amherst Railway Society member who owns a bed-and-breakfast on Route 9 in Amherst and had just gotten back from a train trip to Washington. “A number of guests do come by train, and it’s convenient for me to be able to say I could pick them up. I would hate to see it go. It’s so cool to go down to a station where trains actually stop in town.”

Train enthusiasts particularly like the part of the journey between Palmer and Amherst, where the track is older and makes a clickety-clack sound when the train runs over it. “That’s all part of it,” Wilbur said.

“That station is vital to the town, especially our student population, and we must advocate strenuously to save it,” said Stephanie O’Keeffe, chairwoman of the Select Board.

“We need more options for train service, not fewer, so to eliminate the Palmer detour and Amherst’s station would be going in the wrong direction.”

O’Keeffe questioned the wisdom of targeting the second busiest station in western Massachusetts. “Why would you close that? And how would you accommodate all those travelers?”

“Amherst is where the most likely users come from and go to,” said former Select Board member Robert Kusner. He has been agitating for high-speed rail service to Boston for some time.

Roscoe said the 12,679 people who are getting on or off the train in Amherst now don’t all come from Amherst. Nor is it their final destination. It’s just the most convenient place for people within a certain radius now, Roscoe said.

“I don’t really see that Amherst is losing anything,” he said. “People in Amherst could very easily jump on a PVTA bus and be in Northampton in 20 minutes at no cost.”

But the town manager isn’t buying it.

“From my perspective, we want to be positive about this,” Shaffer said. “We don’t want to prevent anybody from getting a benefit that they think makes sense for their communities, but we don’t want that benefit to be at the expense of the town of Amherst.”

Shaffer wants to know when “Amherst will be brought into the conversation,” he said.

“We want to be at the table when our fate is being discussed. People are discussing closing our Amtrak station, and we haven’t been consulted on it.”

written by  Mary Carey

Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.

History of the Montrealer

The Montrealer was originally a service of the Boston and Maine Railroad (BM), running between Montreal and Washington. The southbound line from 1972-1974 was called the Washingtonian, and the northbound was called the Montrealer. The Washingtonian was also Train 185, which came from New York and later along with most other regular trains on the Northeast Corridor, folded into one NortheastDirect in 1995. The Ambassador ran the same route but terminated in New York. Both services used the Boston and Maine’s Connecticut River Railroad south of Vernon, Vermont, rather than the current route over the New England Central.

Amtrak’s Montrealer acquired a reputation as a party train due to the large numbers of skiers who would take the train, staying up late into the night or not sleeping at all. Amtrak equipped the train with its own dedicated lounge car outfitted with a piano, dubbed the LePub.

The Montrealer was suspended from early April 1987 to mid-July 1989, because of deteriorating track conditions on the Boston and Maine Railroad, which had been taken over by Guilford Transportation. During the suspension, Amtrak offered “Ambus” service (operated by Vermont Transit) to Springfield, Mass., where passengers would board an Amtrak train for points south to Washington. This situation precipitated the only instance of Amtrak seizing another railroad by eminent domain, followed by the re-sale of the track by Amtrak to the Central Vermont. Led by Jim Jeffords, Vermont’s congressional delegation secured federal funds to rebuild the track. Only the section between Windsor, Vermont and Brattleboro, Vermont was transferred, however, leaving the line between Springfield, Massachusetts and East Northfield, Massachusetts as an obstacle. The train was reinstated in July 1989, this time taking the long way over the Central Vermont Railway (CV) from East Northfield to New London, Connecticut, rather than traveling over the direct Guilford Rail System (formerly BM) track.

In 1989, when the train returned to service, the stop in Northampton, Massachusetts was discontinued, although the replacement daytime “Ambus” service via Vermont Transit continued running, and a new stop in Amherst, Massachusetts, was added. The crew change was shifted from Springfield to Palmer at the same time. In 1992 a stop was added at Willimantic, Connecticut, but service there was discontinued in 1995 upon inception of the Vermonter.

The bike path in downtown Northampton has been at a standstill since last winter. It seemed  it was moving at a fast pace when the two bridges were installed. But since that snowy fall day nothing has been added. Maybe soon