Time for the Quarterly Mea Culpa: Been Busy

Although I am a strong believer in the general principle that entering into the world of social media means a sustained commitment to that activity, I am also all too aware that life sometimes intervenes, and blogging activity therefore waxes and wanes. And sometimes, even within that natural cycle, there are spikes: the equivalent of tonight's so-called (and over-hyped) "Supermoon." Admittedly, we are more likely to notice the lows rather than the highs.

The fact is: most of us have other commitments, many of which legitimately take precedence. I have a good many acquaintances in the blogosphere. Some drop temporarily out of sight when busy with daily work or completing a book or other project. Some, exhausted from publishing multiple posts per day on current events month after month, in addition to their paying day jobs but for no material reward, decide to call it quits or "go on hiatus" for an undetermined period (which probably helped many a career and yes, perhaps, marriage). Yet others, by contrast (God only knows how), just keep going on all cylinders and all fronts.

In my case, it's simply been a matter of first things first. 2012 has proven to be unexpectedly busy: mainly in good ways, I am pleased to report.

For the most part, it has been the "day job" that has kept me busy: some travel during winter and spring breaks, completing the search for and hiring a stellar new library director at Hampshire College, wading through a resultant backlog of student work, and then mainly just teaching classes and (this being the spring semester) supervising theses of graduating seniors: some great ones; reading them, at once pleasurable and instructive.

At the same time, I've been busy with related academic activities:  writing the introduction to an intriguing memoir of women's experience in interwar Belgium and World War II Britain (1, 2), and several book reviews. In addition: revising plans for our Hampshire College field study program in Prague and Kraków and developing a new one with a focus on historic preservation and heritage studies at the Master's level in collaboration with Rutgers University.

Then there is the Town of Amherst. The first half of the year is also when your Town government moves into high gear in preparation for annual Town Meeting. The Joint Capital Planning Committee, on which I serve with Diana Stein as one of two representatives from the Select Board, begins meeting in the fall but turns to a detailed review of new spending proposals from January through April, in preparation for debate on the budget at spring Town Meeting. The Select Board itself has to review and take positions on the articles on the warrant.

Although there are a number of "political" petition articles on the warrant this year—i.e. those that take stands on supra-local issues such as national security and human rights, my bet is that those that meet basic standards of legality and administrative pragmatism/fiduciary responsibility will pass easily. The most controversial articles, by contrast, are likely to be those dealing with the rezoning of Atkins Corner and North Amherst village centers (Articles 24 and 25), and the proposal to create a "local historic district" in the Dickinson historic district downtown (Article 27). All are vital to the future of a sustainable Amherst, and all require a steep two-thirds majority.

At any rate, I take solace in the fact that this blog is not primarily concerned with news and contemporary events, and so, most of what I have to say can usually wait. (To the extent that I do need to comment on pressing political issues, I do that at Select Board and Town Meeting [video here], or on the Town Meeting Listserve—also known as the "Yahoo List.")

And in the interim, I have all along continued to share information and views with my friends on Twitter: that's where one finds real immediacy. It's the daily bread of social media for me, which I attend to religiously (more on that later). Just follow me at @CitizenWald.

The Shape of Our Politics (candidate statement deadline today, and more)

Speaking of deadlines: As most Amherst residents know, the 2010 census resulted in a redistricting not only of congressional seats, but also of Town Meeting. The office of the Town Clerk, GIS staff, and a citizen Districting Advisory Board worked hard to come up with new districts that meet that met the daunting legal standards of proper proportions and shape.

Just over a year ago, there was one unrelated glitch, when the Select Board and Clerk's Office, misinterpreting news stories on the closing of North Church as the home of regular worship, inadvertently reassigned the voting site for Precinct 1 from that congregation's parish hall to Immanuel Lutheran Church in the neighboring precinct. (For better or worse, I was stranded out of town on that Monday and was thus unaware of the screw-up until I returned home and began to receive irate emails from fellow residents of my hyperboreal precinct.) Soon thereafter, the Select Board rectified the mistake.

But back to deadlines. Because of the redistricting, all 240 seats representing the 10 precincts in Amherst Town Meeting are up for grabs this year, rather than being distributed over a triennial cycle. (In order to restore the triennial system, highest vote-getters in each precinct will get three-year terms, the next-highest will get two-year terms, and the remaining winners will get one-year terms.)

Citizens had to submit nomination papers by Valentine's Day (love that).

Meanwhile, the last deadline is upon us:  candidates are asked to submit brief statements about themselves and their reasons for running to the League of Women Voters by the end of the day today (these will also appear in the Amherst Bulletin shortly before the election). It's especially important this year, and yet, because of the larger-than-usual number of candidates, statements will have to be shorter than usual. The cunning of reason again, I guess. The winners will get plenty of chance to talk in Town Meeting, and having to distill one's personal-political "mission statement" into a mere 40 words (only about 40 percent more than a "tweet," if we reckon a word at the traditional five characters) is good practice for having to give a speech in two to three minutes.

And history?

One reason that we are mandated to come up with basically compact and contiguous districts of roughly equal population with a compelling rationale is that redistricting was, historically, abused: at first for mundane partisan-political purposes, and more recently, for racist or other discriminatory purposes. The mother of all cynical redistrictings was of course the "Gerrymander," celebrating its 200th anniversary this year (one of the February anniversaries I was not able to note in time), named after (sad to say, yes:) our Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry (last name pronounced, by the way, with a hard "G" rather than a "J").

As the always informative and often entertaining Mass Moments (a project of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities) explains:

...in 1812, a political monster — the "Gerrymander" — was born in the Massachusetts State House. Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill that created oddly-shaped voting districts in several parts of the state. The lines of these districts gave Gerry's party an advantage in the upcoming election. An artist added a head, wings, and claws to the strange shape that was the governor's new home district and declared it looked like a salamander. A quick-witted friend decided a better name was "Gerry-mander." Within a month, the image appeared as a cartoon in the local papers and gerrymander, later gerrymander [with a soft "g"], entered the language. The term has referred ever since to any deliberate redrawing of voting districts to influence the outcome of an election.

None of that stuff here.

Turn in your statements.

Vote early, vote often.

Amherst Village Center Rezoning: A Conversation

As the final day of Annual Town Meeting approaches, there are still plenty of questions about the proposed rezoning of the North Amherst Village Center and the emerging Village Center at Atkins Corner in South Amherst.

Those questions concern both the general proposed uses and the new overlay of "form-based codes," which are an established planning and smart-growth tool but not one that is yet familiar to the general public.

Last week, Amherst Media invited several of us involved in the process to engage in a brief conversation about the process, for the benefit of Town Meeting members and other residents.

The task was, briefly, to explain at once the general logic behind rezoning of village centers, the specifics of the proposed uses for these two areas, and the nature of the new "form-based codes," which take the place of traditional dimensional regulation.


Taking part were:

• Rob Crowner, member of the Planning Board, who will make the motion at Town Meeting. (Rob is a past Chair of the Public Works Committee and member of the Comprehensive Planning Committee.)

• Laura Fitch: architect and North Amherst resident (Pulpit Hill Co-Housing). In her professional capacity, Laura is employed by fellow North Amherst resident Barbara Puffer-Garnier to design plans for one of the proposed new developments in the village center.

• Me: I, too, am a North Amherst resident, as well as a member of the Select Board (I will be presenting our official position on the article at Town Meeting). As the former Chair of both the Comprehensive Planning Committee and the Historical Commission, I am also very much engaged with issues of sustainability and how they relate to historic and neighborhood character.

• Sarah LaCour: a professional planner and historic preservationist, currently employed in North Amherst as Director of Conservation and Planning, W. D. Cowls, Inc. Land Company. W. D. Cowls is among the property-owners proposing new development in the district.

 Further coverage: meetings and interviews relevant to the zoning article, from Amherst Media (ACTV).

x

Snowtober Snapshots

Just a few scenes of damage and continuing clean-up:

outside Police Station

Sweetser Park

Hampshire College clean-up

Hampshire College clean-up

Hampshire College: broken apple tree outside my office

Hampshire College: the weight of the snow uprooted this tree outside my office

all that is left

crews still at work in North Amherst November 14

crews still at work in North Amherst November 14

crews still at work in North Amherst November 14

crews still at work in North Amherst November 14

Breaking News Broken: Planning Board Decides to Do . . . Nothing

I had hoped to be able to post a fuller report of the four and a half hours of deliberations by the Zoning Subcommittee and Planning Board last night. However, fate is not cooperating. The latest bulletin from Town Hall announced that 99% of Amherst residents were expected to have power by 6:00 p.m. Unfortunately, I find myself in the 1 percent. For Occupy Wall Street, I'd be part of the 99%, and I'd much rather be in that category in this case, as well.
In any case, since I am forced to give an abridged report: Jonathan O'Keeffe of the ZSC, working with Planning staff, had crafted a set of proposed compromise amendments to the North Amherst warrant article, addressing the strongest objections by a vocal group of Amherst residents, as well as other likely concerns of Town Meeting members.
The Planning Board, after much back-and-forth, rejected these recommendations, mainly on the grounds that they seemed to undo the Board's previous stance, taken through due process and at the appointed time. Mr. O'Keeffe withdrew the motion. The Board then likewise declined to consider an alternative motion that would have signaled the Board's willingness to endorse any hypothetical Town Meeting amendment in the spirit of the recently withdrawn motion. (Got that?). And so it went.
As the hour grew late, a hopefully offered move to adjourn found no second. This allowed time for debate on changing the current "date certain" on which Town Meeting was to take up the Rezoning article. The result: another discussion that in the end left things exactly as they had stood when the meeting began.
It's a shame, really: each argument had some merit. The proponents of the amended article hoped to address significant resident concerns, and thereby to give the controversial measure a better chance of success. Of course, the initial endorsement by the ZSC irritated the originators of proposed new denser development projects. The Planning Board's refusal to endorse the amendments, although rooted in an avowed desire to uphold the integrity of that body's process and preserve the full and proper deliberative rights of Town Meeting, irritated already restive residents.
As a result, both contending parties--the protesting petitioners and the prospective builders--were angered. And everyone who attended the meeting (I wager) went home frustrated as well as tired.

Breaking: Zoning Subcommittee Recommends that Planning Board Backtrack on Controversial Intensified Use in North Amherst

Responding to an outcry from a group of North Amherst residents, the ZSC tonight recommended that the Planning Board keep a portion of Montague Road under its current residential neighborhood zoning, rather than the proposed marginally more intense village center residential. In addition, it bowed to residents' wishes in proposing that not only apartment buildings, but also townhouses be allowed only by special permit rather than the less stringent site plan review. The Planning Board meets at 7:00 to take up this issue as well as hear a presentation by the Cecil Group, the consultants for the rezoning of both North Amherst village center and Atkins Corner, an emerging de facto village center in South Amherst.
Sent from my iPhone

Planning Bodies Continue to Grapple With Village Center Rezoning

The Zoning Subcommittee (ZSC) of the Planning Board again took up the question of village center rezoning for North Amherst and South Amherst at a public hearing tonight

Although I was unable to arrive for the start of the session, the tenor and basic content were the same as that of previous sessions: objections from a vocal group of residents concerned about what they view as the encroachment of commercial uses into current residential areas, and in particular, the growth of rental housing that they fear (especially to the extent it might attract students) would alter neighborhood character. Controversy centers both on proposed uses and on the new application of form-based codes, an overlay zoning that regulates appearance rather than uses.

Members of Town staff and the Subcommittee attempted to address the questions and argued that the concerns were exaggerated—or simply misplaced, to the extent that they involved issues not properly within the domain of zoning, as such.

The Zoning Subcommittee voted 2-1 to recommend the proposed rezoning to the Planning Board as a whole, which is now taking up the issue. Voting in favor were Jonathan O'Keeffe and Rob Crowner. Bruce Carson voted against it only on procedural grounds: He strongly supported the measure and simply felt that it would be more effective to deal with it at a Special Town Meeting this winter rather than at the Annual Town Meeting early next month.


Update (post-10:00 p.m.)

After three hours of public comment and internal debate, the Planning Board recommended the warrant article to Town Meeting by a vote of 5 in favor, 2 opposed, 1 abstaining.

During public comment, the Planning Board sought first to encourage reactions to the South Amherst/Atkins Corner rezoning proposal, given that almost all discussion to date has focused on North Amherst. As in meeting of the ZSC, a representative of Atkins Farms/Fruitbowl spoke strongly in favor of the measure. At the ZSC hearing, a representative of the large nearby Applewood retirement community, which is also eyeing an expansion, had likewise spoken in favor of the measure. Negative reaction came chiefly from residents Seymour and Alice Epstein, who restated the contents of an open letter to the ZSC: They fear that increased density could have a fateful or even fatal effect on the life of abutters: noise from a nearby shooting range would impair the mental development of children, construction would threaten the existence of the Eastern Brook Trout, and the impact of traffic in the two new roundabouts was unpredictable; hence any rezoning should be postponed until after the actual vehicular circulation could be measured and studied. Planning Director Jonathan Tucker, although noting the thorough preparation that had gone into the zoning proposal, also said that the Board would welcome the submission of any empirical documentation on the issues in question.

The North Amherst discussion added little that had not been said in any of many previous meetings: Residents repeated their insistence that they were not opposed to development as such and proceeded to articulate their opposition to proposed altered uses or density in the village center area. As in the past, the main theme, repeated in several variations, was opposition to rental housing—in particular, anything that might become undergraduate rentals—as well as opposition to commercial or even mixed-use development in areas now predominantly residential. Paola Di Stefano summarized the contents of an open letter to the ZSC and other Town boards and officials by several residents: the belief that there is already too much rental housing in North Amherst, opposition to any zoning designation other than Neighborhood Residential (the current proposal is for the more flexible Village Center Residential) on Montague Road north of Mill River and on the residential stretch of Cowls Lane, "without exceptions for previous or present business use" (emphasis in the original). The letter and petition moreover note the pain of the signatories arising from the fact that the consultants had not adopted the particular vision of the neighborhood that these residents themselves had proposed.

Only a very few residents—notably several members of the North Amherst co-housing project, which was the object of fear-mongering when it was in the planning stages but is now considered a model of dense and sustainable development—spoke strongly in favor of the project and density and intensified and diversified use in general. Architect Laura Fitch, for example, welcomed the opportunity to address and redress what she called "the zoning mistakes of the 1970s."

In a quasi-new twist, it appeared that the objectors might be placated if the controversial areas of Montague Road and Cowls Lane would be removed from the plan—though this would of course seem to vitiate the purpose of the measure, which is to intensify appropriate development in the village center. A number of other town residents—including some from other precincts—expressed these and other concerns.

Planning Board deliberation was fairly limited. Members attempted to clarify regulations and definitions and address the numerous objections. Rob Crowner and Jonathan O'Keeffe, for example, noted that attempts to exclude certain logically appropriate portions from the Village Center simply because residents objected to the designation made little sense. After all, they reasoned, the whole idea behind a "center" is that it is encompasses a certain critical mass of territory and population.

There followed some deliberations as to whether it made sense to proceed with a vote at November Town Meeting. Did the public adequately understand the measure? Was it too complex for Town Meeting to grasp? Should it be divided or further modified? Should discussion be postponed to a Special, later Town Meeting, in order to satisfy public doubts and criticism?

Noting that the Planning Board had already held close to 40 meetings plus 5 or 6 public hearings, a visibly frustrated Planning Director Jonathan Tucker declared, "the notion that somehow Town Meeting members would not have had the chance to educate themselves" is simply "not credible." Everyone is busy, but "then it's our responsibility" to inform ourselves as best we can. "Anyone who contends that this process has not been adequate is deluded."

Planning Board member and contrarian Richard Roznoy thereupon spoke up: "If a 'delusional' can ask a question..." He repeated his longstanding complaint that the proposal did not adequately address transportation needs, specifically, public transit. (His dedication to complete streets and other sustainable transportation policies is self-evident: he arrived dramatically on his bicylce just in time for the end of North Amherst planning charrette last summer, in helmet, and yellow and black jersey and spandex pants, in order to comment briefly on this topic before the meeting dispersed.) In Roznoy's view, the "transportation flaws are just too major" and "cannot be rectified."  Vice Chair Jonathan O'Keeffe asked: was it not true that the basics were there and could always be modified? Mr. Tucker read from the relevant portion of latest draft in order to demonstrate that transportation was indeed adequately addressed. Stephen Schreiber pressed Roznoy on which public transit was being excluded, saying "This is a huge step in the right direction, and I don't see how this precludes public transportation." Roznoy, it became clear, (a) did not consider the mere option or even presence of public transit adequate (e.g. he seems to have insisted not just on bus routes, but also on designated bus lanes, even though this may not be compatible with the engineering or aesthetic of a rural village center), and (b) truly prefers light rail—which, as Mr. Schreiber noted, many of us may want, but few if any of us will live to see.

Mr. Roznoy concluded by saying that he is prepared to be described as "delusional" and to explain his vote at Town Meeting, The latter, it should be noted, is no idle threat. A year ago, the Planning Board brought forward the long-awaited Development Modification Bylaw, which the Town had been eagerly awaiting for many years as a replacement for an old anti-sprawl measure, which, court decisions suggested, was unconstitutional. Indeed, the ticking clock on the expiration of this old Phased Growth Bylaw was perhaps the only factor that lent any common sense of urgency to a Master Planning process that had dragged on for a decade. At that Town Meeting, Mr. Roznoy, in effect offering an unofficial personal minority report, spoke strongly against the Bylaw, arguing that it was so complicated that he could not understand it. The measure, which faced strong opposition from others likewise opposed to or confused by its provisions, went down to defeat.

In the end tonight, the Planning Board voted 5 to 2 to 1 to recommend the Village Center Rezoning measure to Town Meeting,

• Voting in favor were Rob Crowner, Connie Kruger, Jonathan O'Keeffe, Stephen Schreiber, and Chair David Webber.

• Bruce Carson, as at the ZSC, voted against, but only because he preferred a Special Town Meeting as the forum. Richard Roznoy, as expected, opposed the measure because of its presumed inadequacies regarding transportation.

• Sandra Anderson abstained, like Mr. Carson, not due to content, and instead out of preference for a different procedure (voting schedule or forum).

(Circumstances permitting—always a big "if—I will try to elaborate on these concerns if I am, as I hope, able to prepare a more thorough review of the issues prior to Town Meeting.)


[update: corrected a few typos]

Spring Flowers at the North Amherst Library

Last fall, volunteers put in new plantings around the North Amherst Library, mostly to take the place of the stately old beech tree that had to be taken down, but also as a part of a larger landscape beautification effort. This spring, we began to see and enjoy the results. Here, the scene in early May (in the background of the first shot: the historic 1826 North Congregational Church).

 

The structure itself—Amherst's oldest library building—acquired a newly colorful aspect when it was repainted, thanks to a Town Meeting appropriation under the Community Preservation Act.

Repairs this coming year, likewise to be supported with CPA funds, will help to stabilize the building's foundation (reports to follow).

15 May 1886 Death of Emily Dickinson. Do You Know the Stamp? The Souvenir Cover?

On this day in 1886, the poet Emily Dickinson died in the home in which she was born, here in Amherst, Massachusetts. Although she published a few poems and shared more in manuscript with friends and family, the bulk of her oeuvre of 1789 pieces was, of course, discovered only after her death. The history of their publication and editing is a story in its own right, in some ways more dramatic than that of her life.

The Emily Dickinson Museum describes the funeral as follows:

Dickinson’s white-garbed body lay in a white coffin in the Homestead parlor, where the family’s former pastor Rev. Jonathan Jenkins of Pittsfield (Mass.) led a prayer and Thomas Wentworth Higginson of Cambridge (Mass.) read Emily Bronte’s poem on immortality, “No coward soul is mine.” Higginson, who gazed into the casket before it was closed for the service, reported: “E.D.’s face a wondrous restoration of youth – she is 54 [55]; looked 30, not a gray hair or wrinkle; perfect peace on the beautiful brow. There was a little bunch of violets at the neck; one pink cypripedium; the sister Vinnie put in two heliotropes by her hand ‘to take to Judge Lord’” (Years and Hours, Vol. II, 475).

The honorary pallbearers, among them the president and professors of Amherst College, set the casket down after exiting the Homestead’s back door, and their burden was shouldered, at the poet’s own request, by six Irish workmen who had been hired men on the Dickinson grounds.

Following her late directions, they circled her flower garden, walked through the great barn that stood behind the house, and took a grassy path across house lots and fields of buttercups to West Cemetery, followed by the friends who had attended the simple service. There Emily Dickinson was interred in a grave Sue had lined with evergreen boughs, within the family plot enclosed by an iron fence.

Originally the grave was marked by a low granite stone with her initials, E.E.D., but some decades later niece Martha Dickinson Bianchi replaced it with a marble slab bearing the message “Called Back.” The title of a popular Hugh Conway novel, the words were also the complete content of a letter the poet sent her cousins as she entered her final phase of illness.

Below is the Dickinson commemorative stamp (Scott # 1436) that the US Postal Service issued in Amherst in 1971.

Designed: Bernard Fuchs
Modeled: Leonard C. Buckley
Vignette: Arthur W. Dintamen
Letters engraved: Albert Saavedra
Printed: Giori Press

It is based on the famous 1847 daguerreotype—or: "derogg-a-type" (some sort of Freudian slip?)—as outgoing Amherst College President Anthony Marx embarrassingly referred to it at an elite reception following Garrison Keillor's benefit performance there for the Dickinson Museum last winter. (Good luck with that, New York Public Library!)

That youthful image, jealously guarded in the Rare Books and Special Collections of Amherst College—and in fact specially brought out for the above occasion—is the only authenticated representation of the poet, although other candidates appear from time to time and remain the subject of debate.

Image via Wikipedia

Although I was young in 1971, I had been a stamp collector for some years, and I also already knew something about Emily Dickinson and her work. Just what it was, I no longer remember precisely (this was even before Julie Harris's performance of the "Belle of Amherst" on network television in 1976, which I do remember quite well). I believe that we read Dickinson in school; it would have been about the right point in the curriculum, as I recall. Perhaps my mother had taught me about her, too. At any rate, Emily was already a growing presence in my life. (A few years later, I bought my own first paperback edition of her poems.)

So, I ordered a first day of issue cover.

It was the heyday of the first day of issue "souvenir cachets," as these unofficial, privately and often commercially embellished envelopes were known. Mount Holyoke College, which counts Dickinson as one of its most distinguished students (if not actual  "graduates") maintains a page that catalogues the proliferation of those items and other covers involving the stamp. (Note: Back in Emily's day, of course, it was the "Mount Holyoke Female Seminary," as one irate aficionado prissily informed visiting Dickinson scholar Lyndall Gordon after a lecture at Amherst College last fall.)

Below is a rare unused copy of one such cachet, produced by the particularly prolific "Art Craft" company.  It is one of the more repulsive exemplars of the genre. Even leaving the general bad taste aside, it is reprehensible because it is everything that Dickinson was not: sentimental, conventional, cloying, dishonest.

 

The whole presentation is profoundly false, but it begins with the distortion of Dickinson's image, a distortion admittedly ascribable to the poet's own conflicted family. Never happy with the haunting daguerreotype that so appeals to our modern sensibility, they were also dissatisfied with their own early attempts to modify and soften it. In 1897, at the request of Emily's sister, Lavinia, Boston artist Laura Hills first added the fuller and more styled hair and a flat angular lace collar. She subsequently turned the collar into a full-fledged ruff, part of a white dress rather than a superimposition on the old dark one. Emily's niece and zealous guardian of her legacy Martha Dickinson Bianchi had the new image modified still further in 1924, when she published The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson. Taken altogether, the Hills image with its subsequent modifications is quite an accomplishment, in that it manages to be infantilizing and meretricious at once.

I haven't the time or the energy to produce a digital graphic comparison right now, but sometimes the simplest approach is the best: Just cover the falsified image of the hair on the souvenir cachet with your fingers, and you'll see the lineaments of the poet's only authentic image emerge.

I didn't go for one of those fancy cachets. I'm not sure I saw an advance advertisement, but in any case, I think I was, haltingly, already developing a sense of taste and historical evidence. For example, I viewed with a certain skepticism the inordinate interest of some my friends in the deliberately exotic philatelic productions (some were issued on gold foil) of the feudal states of the Arabian Gulf, which to my mind were geared to the market of gullible western collectors rather than actual postal users. (1, 2)

In any case, a kid back then had limited funds and no checking account. The standard practice was to send a request, containing cash payment for the stamps and the proverbial "self-addressed envelope," to the "Postmaster" of the issuing locale, and then, lo and behold, a week or so later, the coveted cover would arrive in the mail.

Looking at mine for almost the first time since then, I see that I made a mistake in the Zip Code by transposing the digits to read 00102 rather than 01002. I know better now. I even know not to pronounce the "h" in Amherst. Not sure which I learned first. Anyway: been there, also got the t-shirt. A week ago at the North Amherst Rezoning Visioning session, I was surprised to hear that the head of the Cecil Group, the consultants who also took part in the public design process for Kendrick Park, still had not absorbed that little linguistic fact of life (though he also, upon learning this, appropriately poked fun at himself).

The spring is always a big season for Dickinson-related events here in Amherst, first and foremost the Poetry Walk, which takes place on the Saturday closest to her death anniversary. This year's Poetry Walk was distinctive, and it was moreover preceded by other events of note (hint: got a cell phone?). Separate reports to follow.


Resources

• Houghton Library, Harvard University:  Emily Dickinson Commemorative Stamps and Ephemera (1 Box: includes stamps, Amherst newspaper articles, ephemera, and a pane of 50 stamps "in a presentation binder stamped in gold lettering: 'Harvard University.'" [in case anyone had any doubts about...what])

• US Postal Service: Women on Stamps

•  National Postal Museum

Back and Busy

In a recent comment to my last piece, a student reader gently asked why I was blogging rather than reading senior theses.

Well, in fact, for better or worse, I wasn't.  Reading theses and other student work was precisely what I have been doing. as is all too apparent, I haven't posted anything here for a month—which, mea culpa, is an eternity in the blogosphere—because I was simply too occupied with other matters.

The onset of spring coincides with the busiest part of the academic term, but there have been other special distractions and pressures this year:  for example, completion of work on the Governance Task Force, as we move toward implementation; the search for a new College president, which resulted in the bold choice of environmental expert Jonathan Lash of the World Resources Institute (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

And here in town, it's been busier than usual, too, with an unprecedented string of zoning and development initiatives:  the final phase of the Kendrick Park planning process , the three-day charrette for the controversial ARA "Gateway" project between UMass and the Town of Amherst, the North Amherst Village Center rezoning visioning process last weekend, and the South Amherst/Bay Road-Atkins Corner planning session yesterday (Saturday). (With any luck, I'll report on some of these—but, the way things are going, don't hold me to that.)

That, and annual Town Meeting, which has now begun, and seems headed for big controversy over issues ranging from the proposed solar array on the old landfill, to zoning amendments on duplexes, parking, and the raising of chickens and rabbits.

It's already been more of a bloody slugfest than many expected. First, there was the unexpected debate over the Community Services line of the budget, and the addition of funds for the re-opening of War Memorial Pool. Then came a protracted fight over Community Preservation Act appropriations—primarily our historic preservation proposals, which for some reason have become a favorite target of naysayers.

Never a dull (or free) moment, it seems.

North Amherst Church Closes its Doors on 184 Years of History

The words on the signboard at Amherst’s historic North Church gave no hint that anything was out of the ordinary: “Christmas Eve Service,” “5 30 PM.” Most of us in the neighborhood and even throughout the town by now knew better. The building was about to close, for the congregation had neither the numbers nor the dollars to sustain it. The last regular service had taken place in November, so the Christmas Eve worship would be the final one, special in several senses.


Midday

I drive by the building every day on my way to or from work or errands, but this time, I made a point of stopping to take a closer look while the sun was still shining brightly. It was one of those days of classic sharp but not cold winter light, showing off the white building with its octagonal steeple and distinctive weathervane against the blue sky to best advantage.

To be sure, the light also mercilessly picked out the flaws of age: the uneven surfaces of the narrow clapboards (victims of too many winters, summers, and scrapings), the rust stains descending from the lanterns on the pilasters that defined the recessed bays in which the triple arched entrance doors were set.

The greenish-black doors themselves looked as severely dignified as ever, but just a bit more tired and the worse for wear, the result perhaps not just of their the flaking paint, but also of the more joyous contrasting colors of wreaths and ribbons.

5:30 p.m.

One stepped from the nocturnal cold into the gently illumined sanctuary, not knowing quite what to expect. How should the last worship service of a venerable congregation look and feel, the end of a tradition that had begun in 1826?

A few simple decorations—purple advent banners, and evergreen garlands and wreaths on the balconies, and flowers and candles at the front table— subtly adorned the classic early nineteenth-century sanctuary. A large sculptural paper Star of Bethlehem hung over the piano, which featured, along with recorders and other instruments, in the “Gathering Music” that served as a prologue to the service, proper.

“It is a pleasure to welcome so many of you whom we haven’t seen for a long time,” as well as the usual attendees, Rev. Nada Sellers began. Although she has now been working three-quarter time as an educator at the Edwards Church in Northampton, she insisted, “I still feel this is home.” “North Church is a place of radical and wonderful inclusion,” she declared, adding that she never lost an opportunity to affirm that. Just how radical the change was can be seen from the fact that Oliver Dickinson, who funded the church's construction, stipulated that a purchaser of a pew would forfeit it if he "shall let the said pew or any part thereof to any negro or mullatto or in any way admit any negro or mullatto to the possession or occupancy of the same."  He dropped that requirement in 1830.  By 1970, at the height of the controversies over the Vietnam War, the pastor resigned, saying the church had become "a captive of our culture ... supportive of the status quo and unable to speak the prophetic word of God's judgement and grace."

Asking God to become present in the midst of those assembled, Rev. Sellers began the service. It was simple in the extreme: traditional American and European hymns (including a Gospel song and a rendition of a Polish carol), brief scriptural readings from the plainspoken (some would say: prosaic) “Contemporary English Version” of the Bible. No communion.

In her “Closing Thoughts,” the Rev. Sellers said, “Our season of waiting is over,” referring to the Advent season but also the fate of the congregation and its building. In case anyone missed the allusion, she explained, “For those of us for whom North Church has been home, this has been a difficult period of waiting.” As the 184-year history came to and end, she called upon those present to share their reminiscences and feelings. Two older congregants spoke of having grown up in the church. Declaring, “this church means so much to me and my family,” a woman who had been attending for 60 years explained that both her wedding and her mother’s funeral had taken place there. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful, church.” Another said, “I am just so happy to be here. . . . but I feel sad because this worship is too short.” Among the most recent members to join was a Haitian couple, who had found their way to North Church when they came to the University. They were moved not only by the welcome they had received, but also by the generosity that the congregation had shown toward their disaster-stricken homeland. Another younger member said, “I just love this church,” and several times broke down in tears.

Rev. Sellers, again drawing an implicit parallel between the congregation and the liturgical season, closed by noting that, despite the appearance of dormancy, things are active beyond our sight. It is the shortest day of the year, and yet the light will increase again. “The Christmas light is now dawning: can you see it?” The service ended, as is the custom now in many churches, with a candle-light singing of “Silent Night.” Congregants passed the flame from back to front of the rows of wooden pews, and at the close of the service, extinguished their candles as they exited.

The contrast between this service and the midnight mass at Grace Episcopal Church on the Common, with its elegant vestments, its trumpet and organ, its formal choir, and its obeisance to ritual objects, could not have been greater. The latter was more impressive. The former was more affecting. Even when something was awkward or incongruous—the projection screen with the stock Christmas images, for example—it was honest and unpretentious—like the “dirty hands district” of North Amherst itself. It was hard not to be moved.

* * *

Postscript

The Amherst Bulletin had written extensively about the church when the closing was announced, but only the broadcast media were represented on Christmas eve, in this case, by WWLP-22 and WGGB-40. Apparently there was some lapse in communication, for church officials and parishioners alike seemed surprised at the presence of reporters and crews with equipment and lights on the street below.

Indeed, the journalists made a beeline toward me when I arrived early. I explained that I was, alas, merely an interested neighbor and a representative of the Town, on behalf of the Historical Commission and Select Board. Although many congregants and other visitors were initially hesitant to exit through the main doors because of the waiting press, several did speak to the reporters, who found the church closing to be an engaging “human interest” story and simply wanted to be able to tell the wider public what was happening and what people were thinking.

Here, the story from WWLP-22:

Final worship for Amherst church
North Congregational Church to close its doors

Updated: Friday, 24 Dec 2010, 11:41 PM EST
Published : Friday, 24 Dec 2010, 9:56 PM EST

* Elysia Rodriguez

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - This Christmas Eve, members of an Amherst church gathered for the last time.

It has been a congregational church since 1828 [1826; JW], but following services on Christmas Eve the North Congregational Church's future is uncertain.

Peter Ives a retired minister told 22News, “This is a wonderful congregation that has been part of the united church of Christ for many years and a beautiful building so it's very sad but over the years the membership has gotten smaller."

With a shrinking congregation, the church on North Pleasant Street couldn't keep up. It is a heartbreaking loss for its members.

Margaret Evans said, “We came here for years with a really awesome minister and it was a great place to be and it's sad."

It could also be a loss for the entire community, unless someone steps up to buy the building and maintain it the way it is.

Jim Wald, the president [Chair; of the Amherst Historical Commission said, “This is a very important building. It's got a wonderful in tact 19th century interior wooden pews balcony and everything and we'd hate to see that lost." [sic]

While North Church is closing, there are two other United Church of Christ Congregations in Amherst.

Final worship for Amherst church: wwlp.com

Here, WGGP-40:

Amherst church celebrates final service

Posted: Dec 27, 2010 06:39 PM

Updated: Dec 28, 2010 01:12 PM
Video Gallery
<1>
Church's final Christmas
2:14

By: Jenna Hagist

AMHERST, Mass. (WGGB) -- It was the end of an era for one local church after being a place of worship for nearly 200 years.

Dozens came together Christmas Eve night to say goodbye to the North Congregational Church in Amherst as they attended its very last service. "It was a time of saying goodbye but also drawing close together ...it was a very beautiful service," said retired minister Peter Ives.

Members of the church have been trying to keep the church alive for the past few years but financially could not keep up with the building."So they are trying to find another owner who would treat it in a suitable way. Could be another faith community, could be shared, could go to a private purchaser," said Jim Wald.

The decision came as attendance was dwindling. The church can accommodate 400 people but lately only a few people would attend. "I think it was a feeling of inevitability. Whenever I came most of the pews were filled with elderly people and there were few of us young families, said Ann Awad.

Members of the community are hopeful that the church history and spirit will continue. "Even though they are sharing their last service tonight, this is an important area and historic building, something is going to happen that will be different and in a new form," added Ives.

Coming soon:  North Church:  the past and the future.

Last Service at Historic North Amherst Church (preliminary report)

Christmas Eve:  The historic 1826 North Amherst Church held its final service tonight.

parishioners and well-wishers leave the sanctuary

 I'll have a more detailed report soon, but reporters from WWLP Channel 22 in Springfield were there,

and interviewed attendees before and after the service for this segment.

Season of Light in the Pioneer Valley

To drive along Routes 5 & 10 in South Deerfield is to be confronted with the dominating presence of Yankee Candle Company, and never more so than at the winter holiday season when this somewhat mysteriously popular tourist attraction goes as overboard with decorative lights as it does with everything else.

Returning to any other local destination, but above all, to sleepy, rough-edged North Amherst, is by definition either anti-climactic or calming (depends on your definition of what is attractive).

Cinda Jones's decoration of the Cowls Company offices stands out as the rarity on Route 63.

Just a little bit further north, nearer to my house, the only two decorations are of a different character.

You know you're back in Amherst.

Related articles

• Rekindling the family business (boston.com)

Fall Colors at the North Amherst Library

The autumnal oranges, browns, and yellows were visible at the North Amherst Library this past week—on the walls of the building—as repainting got underway. This refreshing of the exterior (restored to these original colors over a decade ago) is being financed with funds from the Community Preservation Act.

Related articles

• Central Library getting new coat of enchilada red (mysanantonio.com)