It has never been easier to respond on your own, whether online, over the phone or by mail–all without having to meet a census taker. Leeds households should have received an invitation in the mail to complete the 2020 census. Your household’s invitation will have a 12 digit Census ID number. If you did not receive a 2020 Census invitation because you use a P.O. box, or misplaced your invitation, please go to:  https://www.2020census.gov . Click “Start Questionnaire”. Then click the link “If you do not have a Census ID, click here”. (This link is directly under the larger login button.)

Completing the census ensures that our community receives the resources it needs including how much federal dollars we’ll receive over the next ten years.  Census data is used by many local, state and federal programs, so it is important that everyone is counted.  Additionally, the census impacts political representation as congressional and state legislative districts are redrawn based on the census count and determines the number of seats our commonwealth gets in Congress.  Your response to the census is confidential and protected by federal law. Your answers can only be used for statistics and are not accessible to any other government agency.

SATURDAY, JUNE 22 AT 10:00 (Rain Date – June 23)
You are all invited to the official opening of the Beaver Brook Greenway located on the east side of Haydenville Road (Route 9) across from National Grid. Even if you’ve already checked out the area and the cool wildlife blind, there will be more to see at the June 22nd opening. Permanent, colorful and informative interpretive signs will be located along the trails highlighting points of interest. From the custom made wildlife blind you can look to Beaver Brook and perhaps spot a great heron, otter, or wood duck. Enjoy lemonade and cookies at the picnic table area. The City of Northampton purchased the strip of land in 2010. In the past few years it has been rehabilitated by the Broad Brook Coalition and Leeds Civic Association volunteers. The project has been funded by a Community Preservation Act grant. We hope you, your friends, and your families explore this new little jewel in Leeds.

 Tuesday, December 11th at 6:00 p.m. in the Leeds School Cafetorium 

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR NEIGHBORS OF LEEDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 

Dear friends, 

We are collaborating to reach out to the Leeds community to establish a plan with neighbors should the Leeds Elementary School ever be faced with a serious safety concern. This need stems from discussions happening in schools across the country on how best to react to an active shooter situation in school or on school grounds. 

As you know, this is a tough topic to discuss with children because of the maturity level of the content, as well as the fear it incites. At the Leeds School, we have instructed our students to look to adults for direction and those directions may be, “run!” The obvious question is: run where?, and the obvious answer is: to safety. But where exactly is “safety?” 

That is where you, neighbors, come in. We would like to invite you to become partners in the safety and well-being of the children. We envision that if an active shooter were to infiltrate our community, kids could run into the nearby neighborhood and knock on doors knowing that they are turning to safe locations and that they will be cared for until they can be safely reunited with their primary caregivers. 

Please consider helping us to teach our students to trust our neighbors. Would you be willing to welcome strangers, whose average age is eight, into your homes and be willing to provide them with safety and a brief moment of social and emotional support? 

Together, let’s start this discussion between Leeds Elementary School and you: our neighbors. We look forward to a dialog on how to best meet this need that we hope will never arise. Please join us on Tuesday, December 11th at the Leeds School Cafeteria at 6:00 p.m. to plan with us. 

With thanks, 

Sal Canata, Principal, Leeds Elementary School
Alisa Klein, Ward 7 City Councilor 

by Matt Verson

The Beaver Brook Greenway located in Leeds along Rt. 9 across from National Grid, has been undergoing some transformations this past season. First, the erection of an informational kiosk next to Northampton’s Corrosion Control Facility, and secondly, a timber framed wildlife blind. As of this writing, the blind is under construction. Both of these projects are the result of the Beaver Brook Working Group receiving CPA funds to develop this 100 acre parcel for people to enjoy the unique natural setting found there. Although this was the site of a working farm about 40 years ago – it’s main feature now is a bit of open water – frequented by birds and wildlife. The purpose of the blind is to allow for people to sit comfortably out of the weather, and afford a good viewing perspective of the water.

When the Beaver Brook Working Group first started discussing a blind, we thought it would be cool to keep our funds in the communityandemploylocaltradespeopletoshowwhattheycould do. Wally Halva at the Hampshire County Jail donated shop time and services by building the kiosk, and Joel Strate transported the kiosk. In April, Tom Jenkins of Westhampton felled the trees and dragged them to the landing with his oxen, Rock and Star. In August, Neil Godden of Goshen with his portable sawmill milled the logs into timbers and boards. A host of other folks participated by donating time or materials to the project including Dave Bowman for the roof boards, Goshen Stone for plinths and stair landing, Hathaway Construction for gravel, RK Miles for the metal roofing material. Underground Supply helped erect the structure, and Bob Marvel planed the floor boards.

The relationship between Tom Jenkins and his oxen, the way they silently moved the massive walnut, cherry, and locust logs through the forest, it was unassailable the special husbandry a teamster develops. The interest that the oxen took in their surroundings – nibbling on the emerging garlic mustard, tasting a twig here and there, was a reminder that animal traction is not just a blast from the past, but an invitation to ground oneself in the here and now.

To watch Neil Godden operate his mill on-site, visually scanning the logs and then physically working them with his hatchet and hewing axe to accommodate their natural features, was a testament to Neil’s skill, taught from master to journeyman and apprentice down through the mists of time in ancient Europe. Later, the intricate layout of non-linear timbers, each weighing several hundred pounds that would later come together to within a 32nd of an inch – while a hardy volunteer crew held them overhead – all of this was a connection, to craft, community, and nature.

The objective now is safe parking off the road near the kiosk, and clearing some trails to avoid having to wade through the undergrowth. Picnic tables andabenchwillfollownext season, and some folks are working to clear invasive species, and rehabilitate the old farmstead garden that still provides a variety of blooms.

June 22-25 at 7:30pm

The title is The Mill Project and the performance invites the audience to place themselves in history while imagining our shared future.

The Mill Project, presented by Theatre Truck, is an original new play featuring five local actors and was devised by the ensemble using historical research. The result is an exploration of the first generation of American women who worked away from home: their freedoms and exploitations, their strengths and the dangers they faced, and the expectations society held for them.

The play deconstructs the historical record, remembering women’s experience of labor in the textile mills of nineteenth century New England through a “performance-collage” drawing on letters, newspapers, pamphlets and etiquette books. Woven in a tapestry of original music and movement, the play puts the “mill girls” of factory towns like Leeds into relationship with the experience of American women today. The rebellion of these early female communities against exploitation led to the early labor movement in the United States.

There will be four performances, June 22, 23, 24 and 25 at 7:30pm on the Leeds Common across from the historic Nonotuck silk mill. The audience is invited to bring a blanket or chair and a picnic in the tradition of outdoor Summer theatre. This performance is recommended for ages 14 and up. Parking is available in the Chartpak lot. In the event of heavy showers or storms, Rain Date Friday June 30.

Theatre Truck is a collaborative of multidisciplinary artists crafting mobile and site-specific performance, sustainably and playfully. Their inaugural production, The Emily Dickinson Project (2015), took place in the house and grounds of the poet’s Amherst homestead. The Water Project (Immersive) took place in New Salem, MA last September and was set to live music.

Oh sing me the song of the Factory Girl! The honest and fair and true! — J.H. Warland, 1846

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Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets:
$20 in advance, $15 students/seniors in advance
$25 cash only at the door, $20 students/seniors at the door. For more info contact: www.theTheatreTruck.com

Collage Art by Nancy Meagher