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
______
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
Leeds Historical Signage is up!
Finally, after nearly two years, the Leeds Historical Interpretive Signage project is complete! You may have noticed the sleek black posts with signs postioned around the village at key locations of historical signifance to Leeds. These signs were designed to inform and inspire an appreciation for our village’s vibrant manufacturing past, and an understanding of the devastation inflicted on Leeds by the 1874 Mill River Flood, and maybe even a bit of awe as to how the town’s manufacturing base bounced back bigger and stronger after the Flood. Signs are located at both ends of the Mulberry Street Bridge, along the bike path at the Mulberry Street garden, across from the Hotel Bridge on Main Street, at the Flood Memorial on Main Street, on Front Street near Grove Ave, at Memorial Park across from Leeds School, and at Cook’s Dam. The project was funded by a 2016 Northampton Community Preservation Act grant. If you would like a Self-Guided Leeds Historical Walking Tour brochure to take along with you as you tour the new
2018 Membership
Our Membership page is here.
Thank you.
Hotel Bridge, Leeds MA
HeatSmart Northampton Kickoff Event
Tuesday, September 12 from 7-8:30 pm
Northampton Senior Center at 67 Conz St.
Learn how to reduce your heating bill, ditch the window air conditioner and reduce your carbon footprint at the same time! HeatSmart Northampton is the latest City program to help residents and businesses save on their heating and cooling costs by providing discounted pricing on cold climate air source heat pumps. Learn more about heat pumps and generous state and utility rebates that reduce installation costs, meet Northampton’s competitively-selected installer, hear from your neighbors on their experiences with heat pumps, and get your questions answered!
For more information go to: HeatSmartNorthampton.org.
Eclipse Glasses to be Collected for Reuse
The City of Northampton will collect eclipse viewing glasses through September 15, 2017 for reuse. Drop off locations are at Northampton City Hall, 210 Main Street, and at the Northampton Department of Public Works (DPW), 125 Locust Street.
Pioneer Valley residents are encouraged to bring their usable eclipse viewing glasses to City Hall or to the DPW.
Transfer Station permit holders may also drop them off at the Glendale Road Transfer Station on Wednesdays from 8:00am – Noon and on Saturdays from 7:00am – Noon, or at the Locust Street Transfer Station, Monday through Saturday 7:00am – 4:00pm.
Collected glasses will be donated to Astronomers Without Borders, which will arrange for them to be reused in South America and parts of Asia, both of which are anticipating eclipse events in 2019.
Glasses that are torn, scratched, or are otherwise rendered unusable can be recycled by removing and discarding the dark lenses and recycling the paper- board portion.
Outdoor Theatre Production in Leeds
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
______
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
Local to be Hero Honored at Leeds Memorial Day Ceremony – May 28, 1:00
Renee (Mac) LeVay, a life long resident of Leeds served in WWII as a paratrooper. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, helping to defeat Germany in their last major offensive of that awful war. When Mac returned home from the war he married his Leeds’ sweetheart, Annette Bachand, and raised three children. Mac was the very first custodian to work at Leeds Elementary School. In fact, in 1953, it was Mac who opened the doors for the first time to students and staff!
Did you know that the Veteran’s Memorial was once located on the Leeds Main Street Green? It was Mac LeVay who took care of that Memorial, raising and lowering the flag, year after year. Unfortunately, the Green became a hang out for wild kids–graffiti and vandalism ensued, so Mac formed a committee with his brother Brad, a Korean War veteran, and other veterans of other wars to research and record the names of all Leeds residents who served their country. Working with the LCA and City Council they relocated an updated Memorial to the current location across from the Leeds School.
The 2017 Memorial Day Ceremony will have a special dedication by Brad LeVay to honor the service of his brother, Renee (Mac) LeVay. Please bring your family and join your Leeds neighbors to honor all who served our country so bravely. Jane Bowie, VA nurse, will be the speaker. There will also be a color guard and a wreath laying ceremony. Hope to see you on Sunday, May 28th!
Crabapple trees in bloom
Pizza Party 2017 Photos
Annual Pizza Party