The BSE FlowCovering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Student-run newspaper of the buckland-shelburne ELEMENTARY school communitY • Shelburne falls, mass.

Vol. 1, no. 4 • Dec. 22, 2014 • FREE

James Nichols photo

Quit it! You’re shovin’ me! Who farted?

Christopher Columbus and his men guilty in Caribbean natives’ deaths

> Read Katie Martin’s exclusive report — Page A2

JUSTICE FOR THE TAÍNO AS JUDGE HAYES RULES

2015FEATURES — Page B4

> Sneak Peek Plus —Biographies! • Josh Simp-son! • Holiday stories! • Triangle Man! • So much more! Can’t possibly fit any

Oh no, now we’re stuck! Ouch! Hey!more into this wee tiny box!

Cha-ching!

Fifth-graders sell $3,300 in fudge, bank on favorite spring field trips

“That’s a good amount of money (and fudge),”

said Ms. Goodman.

By JOY BOHONOWICZ, KYLIE LOWELL,

and OCTAVIA CRAWFORD

Congratulations to Areia Heilman, our top fifth-grade fudge seller! Jacob Pelletier came in second.

Both fifth-grade classes sold $3,300 worth of gourmet fudge and chocolates from Mo’s Fudge Factor on State Street, and the fifth grade gets a third of that.

The money will support next spring’s field trips.

“That’s a good amount of money (and fudge),” said fifth-grade teacher Jacqui Goodman, who has held the annual fund-raiser with Mo’s almost as long as Mo’s has been in business — about seven years.

She added her favorite flavor is dark chocolate raspberry.

She told the Flow as the fund-raiser was getting started that she didn’t have a set amount for how much she hoped to raise.

STUDENTS in Mrs. Eklund’s and Ms. Goodman’s classes are a persuasive bunch, having sold thousands in fudge this fall. They are, from left to right, back to front: Olivia Poirier, Jacob Pelletier, Ashton Monska, Jeffrey Buck, Charles Broughton, Brooke Looman, Mirra Girard, Connor Bailey, Jules DeBeauport, Tove Schweitzer, Katie Martin, Juliana Patten, Dameon Marshall, Conner Hayes, Elly Patnode, Nathan Leger, Octavia Crawford, Teagan Andross, Kylie Lowell, Joy Bohonowicz, Kaylie Henry, Tyler Dubreuil, Kylie Lowell, Gabe Corliss, and Areia Heilman.

From the storm, a Christmas tree

Janice Sorensen photoNEW LIFE for a snow-felled tree top. White pine graces a neighbor’s home.

By JOHN SNYDER

Winter kicked our butts early this year, with snow falling fast and furiously the day

before Thanksgiving. Power lines took a toll, the roads dis-appeared, and many of us were left powerless while houseguests and uncooked turkeys cooled their heels.

Trees snapped, of course, and in the cleanup some felled boughs found new life.

Artist Janice Sorensen was out collecting branches from the side of Route 112 near the Buckland Rec, aiming to fashion something homey for Christmas to go with her menorah, when she saw friend and neighbor Stacy Kontrabecki.

Turned out Kontrabecki and her husband, Whip Withington, had just lost the top of a white pine lining their driveway. They offered it to Janice; husband Mi-chael Burstein tromped out and lugged it home; they cut it to fit and dressed it like royalty.

Kontrabecki, a forester, has other salvaged pieces like this, “and Yule logs in the making with all the other hardwood casualties ... and smaller Charlie Brown trees. Bring your own chainsaw,” she tells the Flow.

BUCKLANDERS Janice Sorensen and Michael Burstein have a new tree. They also observe Chanukah. More holiday traditions on Page B4.

Paul Franz photo

Holiday Voices

Blackout cut power but the show went on

By OCTAVIA CRAWFORD

The huge snowstorm that brought power outages to the area just before Thanksgiving affected

thousands of people.I talked to one person whose

family made the best of it: Ains-ley Bogel.

According to Ainsley, the blackout was fun because her sister, Eliza, and their grand-mother made their own version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade when they couldn’t watch it on TV. They marched around the house, with Eliza leading the way, playing the saxophone and pushing a big Snoopy dog in a wagon.

“It was the middle of the night when we lost power. We had to light candles but our fridge, stove, and freezer were running because of our genera-tor,” Ainsley said.

Like a lot of people, the fami-ly had no power for Thanksgiv-ing. Visiting Ainsley and Eliza and their mom and dad were the girls’ grandmother, aunt and uncle, and baby cousin, Fiona.

“My dad had to grill the turkey and the stuffing in the back yard. My mom had to boil the mashed potatoes in melted snow,” Ainsley said.

“It was really exciting. I think it’s the Thanksgiving I’ll never forget,” she added.

— With John Snyder

Ring in the New Year at Cowell Gym ‘Early Night’

Welcome 2015 on New Year’s Eve at the Second Annual Early Night, a fun, warm, and free indoor event for all ages.

The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. On tap:

An inflatable bounce house; tables with games and seating for seniors; dancing with music for all ages; craft and activity area for kids; and light refresh-ments in the gym lobby.

Early Night ends with a New Year’s Eve countdown featuring a silver basketball ball drop!

The gym is at 51 Maple St., Shelburne Falls

For more information or to volunteer to help with the event, contact Doug Martin at 625-3054 or visit Cowell Gym (CowellGym) on Facebook.

Donations to the gym’s operat-ing fund are always appreciated.

Holiday voices, photos continue — Page A4Spotlight: Wayne Kermenski

Practicing Principal Wayne Kermenski spent the fall studying under Principal Joanne Giguere and running the 4-5-6 pod. He’s set to return to teaching science at Mohawk in January 2015, so we asked his views of

Buckland-Shelburne:“I came to BSE because I heard this was a great school and Ms.

Giguere is a great principal. My goals are for students to feel wel-come and happy, and to feel fulfilled in their academics,” he said.

He said his personal goal is to get his administrative license. At, 30, he said, he decided to go back to school to become a

teacher. He describes that as “a great combination of my two loves in life: psychology and environmental science. If you put them together you can become a great teacher who can work well with students,” he said.

He added: “I like BSE because I feel like this school really cares about its students and has a really good feel to it ... a really happy, positive energy. People really do care about the students here. You guys are really great kids.’

— BSE Flow staff

PRACTICING PRINCIPAL Wayne Kermenski earned praise from staff, families, and students for his work. He returns to Mohawk in January 2015. Principal Guiguere says he’ll definitely be missed.

Kara Bohonowicz photo

“I’m just trying to get what we can get,” she said. “In the past we’ve earned up to $800 [in net proceeds]. Five hundred would still be good.”

Areia Heilman single-handed-ly sold $275. She had 14 cus-tomers, who bought everything from chocolate walnut to sea-sonal favorites to truffles.

“I’m a good businessperson. I’m persuasive and a little pushy,” Heilman told the Flow.

Michelle Olanyk, who owns Mo’s, told the Flow she’s re-turned about $100,000 over the years to local groups that have worked with her in her fundrais-ing program.

TOP: Michelle Olaynk, owner of Mo’s Fudge Factor, ships her products far and wide. ABOVE: Deliciousness.

John Snyder photos

A2 Monday, dec. 22, 2014 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

NewsABOUT US

We’re the inde-pendent, stu-dent-run, and family friendly

newspaper of Shelburne Falls, Mass. We prac-tice journalism, current events, history, ethics, lan-guage arts, and commerce. We’re proud of our paper and community and hope you’ll keep in touch.

CONTACT

For all purposes, including letters to the editor, correc-tions, story tips,

and advertising:

• Call 413-325-6348;• Write bseflow@gmail.

com;• Write The BSE Flow,

30 Church St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370; or

• Find our box at BSE’s office, 75 Mechanic St., Shelburne Falls, MA.

STAFFIn alphabetical order.

Ainsley Bogel, grade 4Eliza Bogel, grade 4

Harper Brown, grade 4Joy Bohonowicz, grade 5

Kara Bohonowicz, co-adviser

Octavia Crawford, grade 5Brian Gagnon, grade 7Myah Grant, grade 4

Brooke Looman, grade 5Kylie Lowell, grade 5Katie Martin, grade 5

Bennett Snyder, grade 4John Snyder, co-adviser,

designer, publisher

ADVERTISE OR DONATE

We welcome your adver-tisements and donations, and

believe they will lead to dramatic success for all concerned.

• We print 12 issues a year and deliver for free to all BSE staff and students’ families, the Mohawk Trail Regional School District School Committee, local town halls and public service departments, and to you at retail establishments wherever local news-papers appear in Buck-land, Shelburne, and Colrain.

• Write The BSE Flow, 30 Church St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370;

• Call 413-325-6348; or• Write bseflow@gmail.

com.

WE BELONG

We belong with pride to the National Elementary

Schools Press Association, the Journalism Educa-tion Association, the New England Scholastic Press Association, and the Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association.

PLEASE NOTE

Reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accura-cy and suitability

of the material presented herein. We assume no lia-bility for your misadven-ture dealing with any part of our newspaper, wheth-er owing to our negligence or otherwise, except as provided by law.

We are a scholastic newspaper and reserve the right to decline submis-sions of any sort we may feel unsuitable for our readers and staff.

The BSE Flow Vol. 1, No. 4 is © 2014 Advance The Story, Shelburne Falls, MA, 01370. All rights reserved. We are printed at the Daily Hamp-shire Gazette in Northamp-ton, Mass.

School garden coor-dinator Emily Stone Crehan has posted to the BSE parents

and community Facebook group to extend her appre-ciation to Sonya Hamdan, head of the BSE cafeteria, “for again utilizing con-tributions from the school garden in the student and staff meals.”

Crehan writes: “This year the garden yielded three big bags of pota-toes and three big bags of kale. In years past the cafeteria has served the school garden’s tomatoes, carrots, butternut squash, and watermelon.

“Thank you, Sonya and the caf team, for all your hard work preparing meals at BSE! She’s been a

supporter of the BSE gar-den from its inception and we are very grateful for her continued support.”

Told of the post, Ham-dan said she was delight-ed that volunteers were working to supply kids and staff at BSE with school-grown garden produce.

“We love it. It’s great. We need more,” she said.

By OCTAVIA CRAWFORD WITH

KARA BOHONOWICZ

Strenghtening and sustaining fami-ly involvement in families with young

children was Melissa Pincus’ incentive to apply grant money to create The Brain Building Literacy and Learning Activities Lending Library.

Its kickoff Dec. 3 al-lowed families a hands-on experience: Sensory blocks were the hit of the eve-ning, along with pizza.

Buckland-Shelburne pre-schooler Charlie Murray, enthralled with the blocks, was overheard amid the happy chatter of kids and adults, “Hey, Mama, they’re so pretty. Lookit, there’s sand in here.”

Mama, otherwise known as Amy Murray, discussed the Lending Library as Charlie and first-grader Ainsley played with toys. She said she was glad for

the opportunity to borrow high-quality education-al toys, both because of the way they’ve set their family budget and also because the program helps her keep her home free of clutter.

The books and toys are available at Buckland Shelburne Elementary School and local libraries. Families can borrow items for a month or two.

According to CFCE Co-ordinator Melissa Pincus, the lending library serves early-education students and their families from Ashfield, Buckland, Char-lemont, Colrain, Hawley. Heath, Rowe, Plainfield, and Shelbure.

For more information or to make an appointment to ex-plore and borrow materials, call Pincus, CFCE coordi-nator, of Kate Dwyer, early childhood coordinator, at 625-6194, or write mepin-cus@mohawkschools.org.

Eric and daughter Laurel Colbeck, who will attend BSE’s preschool program in 2015, check out the lending library’s offerings.

Early-education lending library connects with families with toys

Kaara Bohonowicz photo

Brain-Building

By KATIE MARTIN

Mrs. Goodman’s fifth-grade class held a mock trial in the gym

Nov. 5 after researching facts about who killed the native Taíno people of the Caribbean.

[The Taíno became ex-tinct as a culture following settlement by Spanish con-quistadors in the 1500s.]

There were six groups at the mock trial: the Taíno group, Columbus’ group, Columbus’ men, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, a prosecutor, and the jury. Each group had to collect facts for the defense. Who would have to face the truth: that they were the ones responsible for the death of the Taíno?

The jury was chosen at the last minute. The prosecutor had to research everyone’s topic, and at the trial they asked the groups questions — and the groups had to be pre-pared with answers.

The judge, Conner Hayes, delivered an open-ing speech, and the trial began.

Explorer Christopher Columbus ‘guilty’ in genocideMock trial exonerates King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella

Each group explained why they felt they were not guilty.

The prosecutor asked tough questions, and

everybody gave great responses.

At the end, the jury said that the guilty party were ... Columbus and his men!

At that, our judge paused and gave a final word: “They’re guilty!”

After the trial we asked Hayes if the verdict sur-prised him. He said it did.

The judge in the case, Conner Hayes, indicates the general region where, in the late 15th cen-tury, Colombus and his men encountered, and later cruelly exploited, the indigenous Taíno population. “They wanted their gold,” Hayes said.

Katie Martin photo

Posting thanks for cafeteria chief in school-garden goodness

SONYA HAMDAN keeps kids going. To volunteer with the school garden, call Buckland-Shelburne Ele-mentary School’s office at 413-625-2521.

BSE Flow staff photo

Becca Byram photos

Dan told us that some people think it’s OK to flush things they really shouldn’t flush. Some peo-ple flush plastic bags but that clogs up the filter and it’s a lot of work for Dan. Even supposedly flushable

By LEAH ROSNER

Dateline: Buckland

Our class went to the Shelburne Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant

on Gardner Road, the place where, if you live here, is the place your poop goes after you flush.

According to our tour guide, Dan Fleuriel, the plant’s chief operator, this is a unique treatment plant because it makes the waste into fertilizer to help plants grow.

Dan seems to love his job very much. He showed us all around, over the bridges, and even inside his lab. In the lab he took samples and let us look through a microscope, where we saw microor-ganisms, otherwise known as little bugs in the water. We tried to match the lit-tle bugs with the pictures of the bugs we saw on a poster.

Wastewater treatment plant turns up ‘fragrant’ facts

wipes are hard to deal with at the wastewater treatment plant.

This was a great tour. We learned a lot and it was fun.

* * * Top: The group stands

next to a constructed wet-land that uses phragmites reed grass to de-water and stabilize the sludge.

The beds were installed in 1995 and are closed every three to four weeks.

“They’re near full and will need to be excavated to remove three to four feet of dewatered sludge,” Fleuriel says.

Bottom: “The group stands at the headworks, what we call the point where the raw sewage enters the treatment facil-ity. Larger components of the sewage and items that might harm equipment downstream are removed here. Probably the worst air of the tour is encoun-tered here,” he adds.

“I really thought King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were going to lose because they gave Colum-bus the money and power to kill the Taíno. They didn’t know he was going to kill them but they still have him the money and power.”

The Taíno were a peaceful group, Colum-bus attacked their huts at night, made them slaves, and made them look for gold. If they didn’t, “there would be consequeces,” Hayes said: “Columbus would do things like cut off their hands,”

“I don’t think anybody thought they [the Taíno] were guilty.”

Hayes also said he was surprised Columbus’ men were found guilty.

“They didn’t really do anything. They would’ve gotten killed if they didn’t follow Columbus.”

Hayes said he had to give a speech at the begin-ning of the trial, and was a little nervous speaking in front of a bunch of grownups including par-ents and grandparents.

Dear Editor,Every year,

students in Mrs. Goodman’s class

are given a small box around Halloween time. On Halloween they take the box with them trick-or-treating. This is fund-raising for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, an organization that helps kids and families in other countries.

These people need food, clean water, school sup-plies, or medicine.

We always feel proud to help others in need and I am so proud of us because we raised $185.50. Just

recently, Mrs. Goodman mailed in our money and it will be helping families in need.

So, if someone comes to your door next Halloween, make sure that you have a few extra pennies so you can make some people in need smile the biggest smile that they have ever smiled.

— Elivia Kingsley, student

Amanda Kingsley photo

UNICEF drive all treat, no trick

monday, dec. 22, 2014 • The BSE Flow A3Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Editor’s note:Ainsley

Bogel has given “Be-wildered in Buckland’s” concern, above, care-ful consid-eration.

She replies, “Force him with cookies and take away his phone!”

Got a question for Ainsley? Write Ainsley Says, The BSE Flow, 30 Church St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 or bseflow@gmail.com. Include your name and contact information.

Features‘Who Was?’ biographies

Must-ReadDear Harper

Harper responds...Dear Bewildered,

I think that you should put a limit on the time that your child spends on the computer or iP-hone. I usually get a break when I come home from school because my mother understands that working six hours at school is very hard. I play on my iPad mini or watch television for up to an hour but if I have a lot of homework I only do 20 to 30 minutes. Then I crank out all of my homework.

Well, I try to. After I finish my homework and cello practice I finish up the last few minutes of screen time. I can use an hour every day either all at once or by splitting up my time.

It might be hard to do this at first but you can tell your child that if he can do this all week then at the end of the week you guys can go out to dinner or he can get a treat or extra time on the iPhone or computer.

For the instrument, your son should do at least 20 minutes of practice every other day. When I practice my cello, I usually have a glass of juice nearby, or some small candy treats. I drink a sip of juice or eat a piece of candy after I complete a song. If you would prefer not to have juice or candy, you can substitute water for juice and Graham crackers or something like that for the candy. The choice is yours.

Good luck! I hope your son stays on task.

Sincerely, Harper

Harper Brown is The BSE Flow’s advice columnist and New York bureau chief. Got a question? Write Dear Harper, The BSE Flow, 30 Church St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 or bseflow@gmail.com. Include your name and contact information.

Dear Harper: I am a parent of a BSE student who always

prefers to play on the iP-hone or computer before doing homework. Also, he never wants to prac-tice his music instrument. How should I make him focus on this stuff? — Bewildered in Buckland

Limits, rewards help students stay

on their game

Harper Brown

Ainsley Says

Ainsley Bogel

By JOY BOHONOWICZ

Biographies are interesting to read because they’re page-turners. These

are often about real-life problems that get real-life solutions.

My teach-er last year, Mrs. Page, got me interested in reading biographies. We did reports on them, and I started reading Penguin’s Who Was books be-cause my friends had them. Now I love reading the series.

Once I started reading biographies I couldn’t stop. I’ve actually finished books in-stead of getting bored and stopping. I like learning about people.

To me, the Who Was books are ike mysteries: They keep me interested and wanting to know what happens next. Each chap-ter tells about a problem and the solution.

There are things you don’t expect — real sur-prises. In fact, Who Was books are better than biographies in general be-cause they tell more about the happy times in peo-ple’s lives instead of just telling the bad times.

For example, in “Who Was Walt Disney,” the au-thor explains all about the different houses Disney, his brother, and his family lived in.

Biographies tell the de-tails of people’s lives but the Who Was books tell about things that people really want to know.

I have also read biogra-phies of Harriet Tubman and Helen Keller, and I’m reading “Who Was Albert Einstein?” now.

Harriet Tubman in-terested me because she helped people on the Un-derground Railroad.

Helen Keller was real-ly interesting. I read her biography two or three times. She learned how to read and write even though she was blind and deaf. She had to master sign language and braille.

She attended a school for the blind and had a strict teacher. Helen Keller is famous because she was one of the first people to who was deaf and blind to graduate from college.

Albert Einstein liked math and science.

I liked that Walt Disney moved to many different houses with his parents. He was a kid who loved attention. He loved play-ing jokes. He was a more-active-type of guy. He brought a rat into school with a leash. He liked drawing. He was famous because he made cartoons and produced Mickey Mouse and other amazing films.

At school, our reading levels are rated A-Z, and we are tested by using Dibbles testing at school. This tells us what level we read at. Almost all the books in the library and in our classroom are labeled that way.

The Who Was series is an average of M reading level.

Our teachers really encourage us to read the books in our test results level.

I recommend the Who Was book series for any-one, especially kids who are looking for interesting books with surprises.

Joy Bohonowicz

“Who Was Walt Disney?”

by Whitney Stewart

Woof!

Hunters’ dog earns her keepBy KYLIE LOWELL

Dateline: Hawley

We woke up on Saturday morn-ing at 6. When we were ready,

we told Harper to load up in the back of my dad’s Chevy pick-up, where her crate waited. Then we headed out.We got to the field around 7 and stared our hunt.

Luckily, there was only one other hunter there with his dog, and we knew him, too. We both went our separate ways. (That’s why it’s a good idea to wear orange because we could see his orange from a good distance.)

We started off by going in the field with some tall grass around. There really were no birds that Harper saw or smelled In that area. You can tell when Harper gets a scent because her nose is at the ground and her tail goes back and forth really fast.

And as I mentioned in my previous column (“Pointing out hunter safe-ty — and pheasant,” Fea-tures, November 2014), Harper isn’t trained that much. This was her first time hunting birds.

As we searched in that area we saw a bird fly up on the other side of the field. Then we heard a gunshot. The other hunter had shot but missed. My dad was hoping the bird would fly over to us so Harper could chase after it while he shot the bird.

Nothing else happened more exciting than that. Yes, Harper did a few points here and there, but they were not a steady point. So there were no birds in that section as far as we knew.

Then we headed down in the woods. There was

more tall grass there, and swampy areas. The birds like those types of areas.

We also have a bell on Harper so we know where she is.

After a bit of searching in the woods we heard the other hunter fire again. We continued our jour-ney in the woods. Again, Harper did mini points but not long enough for it to be a bird again.

Suddenly she lowered her body, dropped her nose to the ground, and swished her tail back and forth very fast. After a minute of this we knew a bird was here. We fol-lowed Harper, who was leading us to the bird. There were branches and thick brush everywhere,

so it was going to be pret-ty hard to get a nice shot.

Harper circled the same spot until ... a woodcock came up fast! Harper didn’t even have a chance to point. It was a struggle for my dad because he wasn’t expecting the bird because Harper hadn’t had a chance to point. He missed. But I get that: it was a hard shot with all those branches and how quick it was.

The woodcock didn’t go too far, though we didn’t see it again. We sloshed through the swampy area and back toward the field. Once again, Harper started to put her nose to the ground and got all ex-cited. Her tail went back and forth super fast. But something was different

this time. She was even more excited than before.

Once we got out in the field but were still at the edge of the woods, Harper did a point and circled.

Then she froze in this AMAZING point: She didn’t move a muscle. It was probably one of the most still and beautiful points ever. We knew there was a bird.

My dad moved to-ward her slowly, saying “Whoa.” Again she did not move a muscle. My dad got really close to her, and then said ‘Go!’

She darted, and out flew a hen pheasant. My dad shot and wounded the bird, which fell to the ground. To put it out of its misery he stepped on it. He said he wished he hadn’t had to do that. Hunters like to make a clean kill so no animal suffers.

What an amazing job Harper did for a dog not trained for this activity — and her first time!

Then a lot of other hunt-ers showed up, and we left. When we got home we grilled the bird. It was delicious.

Kylie Lowell, grade 5, writes about nature and the hunt-ing life for The BSE Flow.

“Then she froze in this AMAZING point.

She didn’t move a muscle. It was probably one of

the most still and beautiful points ever. We knew

there was a bird.”

Kylie Lowell shows off the hen pheasant her family’s new hunting dog, a German shorthaired pointer called Tumble Down Huckle Hill Harper, flushed on her first outing.

Lowell family photo

Happy holidays from your friends at The BSE Flow!

Eliza Bogel’s Triangle Man

1. Gld finche2. Sparo3. Picock4. Vulcher5. Egol

6. Chicidey7. Chickkan8. Rustir9. Pigin10. Kro

Bennett Snyder’s Typo Report'Scene' it?Where in the school is this?

Think you know? Maybe you’d better look it ‘up.’

© 2014 Eliza Bogel

A4 Monday, dec. 22, 2014 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Your turn

The Buckland Historical Society offers a beauti-ful, full-color, 2015 cal-endar of Robert Strong

Woodward’s paintings, entitled “New England Heritage.”

Woodward was a New En-gland artist from Buckland and sold his work to such celebrities as Jack Benny, George Burns, and Robert Frost.

The calendars are $20 and the proceeds benefit the Buckland Historical Society.

They can be purchased at:• Andy’s & The Oak Shoppe,

352 Deerfield St., Greenfield;• Boswell’s Books and Saw-

yer News, Bridge St., Shelburne Falls; and

• Buckland Public Library, Upper St., Buckland.

They can also be ordered at store.bucklandmasshistory.org.

The 2015 calendars are in

About Robert Strong Woodward

Woodward was born in Northampton in 1885. At 21, he suffered an accidental gunshot wound and was paralyzed from the waist down.

He settled in Buckland on his uncle’s farm and turned to painting. During his career, he lost three studios to fire.

In his lifetime, Woodward painted around 600 oils and 285 known chalks.

Through his landscapes, barn paintings and window pictures, Woodward documented a pass-ing New England.

His Southwick studio in Buckland remains lovingly maintained, virtually un-changed from how he left it.

See more of our local artist at robertstrongwoodward.com.

Got a local business? We’re widely read, family-powered, and growing.

Advertise with The BSE Flow January through March...

We bet you’ll stay. For easy rates, call 413-325-6348 or write

bseflow@gmail.com.

INTERVIEWS BY KYLIE LOWELLPHOTOS BY KARA BOHONOWICZ

What do you like most about the holidays?

AMY MOREY“My family and

that you are part of it.”

TOM MINER [Of Thomas Min-

er, Optician, 27 Bridge St.] “I like the fact that people are in a good mood. It's a giving time of year, so you give things to people as opposed to getting things. Archie [bulldog, inset] likes the fact that all sorts of people are around. A lot of kids come to visit. He usually gets a banana in his stocking, and a new dog bed.”

DAVID FAIN“It’s a reminder

of God’s blessings.”

WENDI WARGER[Wendi owns Lind-

say’s Emerald Store and Confec-tions, 1 Deerfield Ave.] “I love the

smells, I love the sights. I just think

it’s very pretty.”

HANNAH and HEATHER LOOMIS Hannah: “Seeing family.” Heather, a registered nurse: “I like the

happiness it can bring for some people, getting together with loved ones, and good food.’

GRANDPA LOWELL “This Christmas especially because

we are leaving for Arizona on Christmas Day. I like getting together with all the family, which we will be doing a week from Sunday.”

Lowell family photo

Related feature See “Holiday Traditions,” Page B4

BMagazine

Section

Jamey’s World — Page B3

Scouts and dancers — Page B3

Traditions — Page B4

2015 Sneak peek — Page B4

Glass artist Josh Simpson builds words of life — Page B2

Story by Katie Martin Photos by Kara Bohonowicz

Dec. 22, 2014

B2 Monday, dec. 22, 2014 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Shaping worlds

McCusker’s Market3 State St, Shelburne Falls

Open Daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (413) 625-9411

Green Fields Market144 Main St, Greenfield

Mon-Sat 8-8 Sun 9-6(413) 773-9567

Serving your communitywith deliciously healthyfoods for over 35 years!

www.franklincommunity.coop

The co-op is committedto having healthy food

within everyone’s reach----check out our Food For All program

where SNAP & WIC recipients can recieve 10%

off their purchases.

Two co-op store locations, everyone welcome, every day.

Stop in for an application.

By KATIE MARTIN

Josh Simpson, glass-blower, designs and creates many piec-es in his studio in

Shelburne. He works with glass to create master-pieces. Among his master-pieces, which you can see at Salmon Falls Artisans Showroom and all around the world, are his glass planets.

He also makes vases, bowls, and other glass pieces.

He gave The BSE Flow a tour of his studio, which is in a red barn, in early December. It was cold outside, with snow on the ground, but inside the studio it was warm, with three furnaces glowing orange with incredibly hot glass. The handles of the furnaces were shaped like metal dragons.

In his “Planet Room,” Simpson works very hard making cane: colorful glass rods. Then he cuts these up into circles and melts them and gold foil and other crushed, col-ored glass into the planets so they look kind of like barnacles.

When Simpson is al-most done with a globe he breaks it off of the rod that it’s on and uses a blowtorch to shape the planet into a sphere.

When it’s cool enough he sands off the bottom — because where the glass was connected to the rod it is razor-sharp.

Simpson says it takes longer to sand and polish the bottom of the globe than to make the whole thing. He uses a spinning

Each fragile planet a labor of love

disk that’s coated in dia-mond dust to do this part.

Then he etches his name into the bottom of the globe with a drill that makes a high-pitched sound like a dentist’s drill. Each one has to be perfect before he will sign it.

It takes many steps to smooth out what was once so sharp it could cut your finger into something as smooth as a pebble.

When asked what he would say to a kid who wants to become a glass artist, he said, “Take classes. Go to school. Get practice.”

You have to be able to do many things at once. You have to work the mol-ten glass in the furnace and keep it on the stick so it doesn’t fall off onto the ground, and all the while you have to shape it and watch out that you don’t burn yourself.

Glass becomes hard to work with if it is left out even though it takes so long to cool down, so it’s a pretty difficult job.

It’s no coincidence that Simpson makes glass plan-ets and likes space. His wife, Catherine “Cady” Coleman, is an astronaut. She’s been to space several

times and was on the In-ternational Space Station.

> For more informa-tion, including videos, articles, exhibitions, and details of Josh Simpson’s globe-spanning Infinity Project, visit Josh Simpson Contemporary Glass at www.megaplanet.com.

— With reporting by Kara Bohonowicz

monday, dec. 22, 2014 • The BSE Flow B3Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Shaping worldsGoing Places

John Snyder photoEarly December, guests of the Shelburne Grange, which holds Pack 85’s charter: Leaders Sam Jones (L) and Adriaan Tuttman (R) with scouts, L-R, Ethan Poirier, Everett Jones, Bennett Sny-der, Henry Jones, Palmer King, Phineas Tuttman, and Thomas Adams.

John Snyder photoFinal rehearsal, within hours of Ballet Renversé’s Ninth Annual Holiday Recital, “Songs and Carols of the Season,” at BSE Dec. 18. Featuring Ballet Renversé Dancers, Cynthia James in “Ave Maria,” choreographed by Isadora Duncan; Cheryl Hanna, pianist, performing Christmas med-leys, and a fantastic Teacup Auction. Pictured, L-R (rear): Jessica Frederick, Ruth-Ellen Verock, Karen Shulda, Cynthia James, Kathy Steinem; (front) Pat Schmidt, Myah Grant, Ella Cottrill, Madalyn Lilly, and Colleen Rauch.

To parents who enrolled children in our journalism workshops this spring and fall, thank you for your trust in this project, which is just the most remarkable and productive adventure. The lives they’ll touch from here — it’s humbling. Thank you for this amazing opportunity.

And thanks to our advertisers and donors. Without you we couldn’t do this.

John Snyder, adviser and publisher, The BSE Flow.

Tel. 413-325-6348; e-mail bseflow@gmail.com

Josh Simpson and Cady Coleman’s son Jamey, 14, helps make glass planets, and even creates his own

glass art. Like his parents, he’s an airplane pilot.

He told the Flow that he enjoys playing squash, Ultimate Fris-bee, baseball, tennis, and video games.

The Flow asked Jamey what he might like to do for a living, giv-en that his parents have such in-teresting careers. He said it might be cool to float around in space as an astronaut (like his mom), blow glass (like his dad), or even have a regular desk job.

The important thing, he said, is that he love it:

“My dad tells me, ‘Just do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.’”

— John Snyder

SECTION FRONT: Josh Simpson shows how cane, crushed, colored, glass, and other mate-rials help create unique worlds suggesting what he calls plant and animal life forms and geographic and geologic formations. Previous page, left to right: in the Planet Room with BSE Flow reporter Katie Martin; spinning and shaping a primordial world in motion; Jamey Simpson blows into a long metal rod to help puff out the planet; Katie reacts to the sudden loud whir of an etching device Josh will use to sign off on a planet for sale; meeting NASA astronaut Catherine “Cady” Coleman, who says we’re on our way to sending explorers to Mars. “I won’t get there, but someone your age might. You might,” she tells Katie.

B4 Monday, dec. 22, 2014 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Holidays bring out the kid in all of us.

“Born to die upon Calvary,” a choir sings

in my mem-ory every holiday season. The little girl in me, who sat on hard pews in the white-stee-pled church then, sits in my soul now.

She re-minds me of church. A wooden easel plastered with flannel scenes of Jesus’ life play across my mind like Dickens’ ghosts: a bright star above the stable; the mi-raculous loaves and fishes; the scratched body on a cross and a yawning tomb.

That little-girl-self and I remember Christmas in church: Plays crowded with towel-head-ed shepherds and tinseled an-gels; parties laden with cookies and ringing with laughter. Choir performed with pride and joy.

Then, the penultimate kero-sene-lit Christmas Eve service.

There was no church on Christmas morning. Travels to family celebrations were the highlight of my youthful Christ-mases. Grandma’s dates were a treat. I loved the feeling of the smooth peanut butter and crunchy sugar coating melting into gooey sweetness.

A porcelain doll with an eyelet white dress was the one elaborate gift of my childhood. Aunts, uncles, and cousins, bear hugs from Grandma, and har-monica carols from Grandpa made my holiday warm and happy.

Christmas is different today.My church-centered-child-

hood Christmas tradition did not carry over to my family, nor did large family gatherings.

Cranston trees, cards, crafts, and cookies are frivolous neces-sities these days. Preparation for the morning of Dec. 25 con-sumes our season.

The presents will all be torn open, and the kids will explore every aspect of them. Santa and I will rest amid boxes after a month of full-on preparation for 15 minutes of full-on gifting.

But a truth whispers to me, “Remember, Christ, our Saviour, was born on Christmas day to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray.”

It is in these quiet December moments that I tell the young memory-keeper the stories of how the lyrics to “Born to Die” have become a real, daily experience:

“From His throne Jesus came, laid aside Heaven's fame in ex-change for the cross of Calv'ry; for my gain suffered loss, for my sin He bore the Cross — He was wounded and I was set free.”

I tell her that the flannel figure of Jesus actually jumped off the Sunday School easel and became real. I recount the hard time of my life and rejoice in telling how Jesus set me free. She listens keenly as I explain that God is not mad at me, but rather is adoring and loving. That I no longer hide from Him because I learned that Jesus took my shame. That life with Him is a fun adventure full of dreams come true. That Jesus, the one born in a manger, is my knight in shining armor.

I tell her that not one joyous tradition compares with the experience of being loved by Jesus. I celebrate His life every day of the year.

Christmas Then

and Now

Chanukah, though not one of the Jewish High Holidays, captures mainstream attention

due to its near coinci-dence with Christmas and tends to spark more interest than other holi-days from non-Jews.

I have celebrated Chanukah, also known as a Festival of Lights, with my family since I was a child. The tradition we practiced involved lighting candles on the menorah at sundown, singing Hebrew prayers and an exchange of gifts.

This repeats each night of Chanukah, of which there are eight. Each night an addition-al candle is lit, increasing the light. The gradual growth in the brilliance of the flames from night to night mirrors what is occurring in nature as we pass through the darkest and shortest days and welcome a few more minutes of light after we pass the Winter Solstice.

I remember as child, lov-ing that, as with most Jewish holidays, we could begin as soon as the sun went down, and I would sit and watch the sun sink from view and then scream to my family to come light the candles.

It was important in our family to place our menorah, with its candles burning, in our win-dow for the neighborhood to see. The history of Jews, both ancient and modern, has been marked by various forms of prejudice, persecution, and even genocide.

Even today casual (or severe) anti-semitism is common in many places. Because of this history, of which most Jews are keenly aware, it feels important to let our light shine bright-ly in the face of all injustice everywhere.

Even though our culture and traditions may be unfamiliar or misunderstood by some, we don't hide our light, instead we show the world that even in the darkest times we can kindle a flame of hope and knowledge and justice.

Perseverance in the face of adversity, both of our own people, and of oppressed peo-ple everywhere, is the value I hope to pass on to my son, and it is indeed, a common theme in all Jewish holy days and celebrations.

Like any other family celebra-tion we gather with friends and family, have parties, cook lots of food, and continue or create meaningful traditions that will live on in our young family members into the future.

The feeling is joyous and warm and fosters a wonderful connection between us as family and as humans.

What I love about being Jewish is that I am a part of one of the world's great Wisdom Traditions that values expres-sion of all kinds, learning in all its forms, and a commitment to justice and freedom for all people.

Selah!

Chanukah’s Light Shines

Brightly

Traditions

BY KARA BOHONOWICZ

BY RACHEL SILVERMAN

‘The true meaning of Christmas...’

By MYAH GRANT

People say “Merry Christ-mas,” but do they know what it really means? I asked my father, Mike

Grant, the pastor of Moore’s Corner Church in Leverett, to explain.

“The first six letters of the word Christmas are Christ. The real meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, a time of peace on Earth and good will toward men,” he said.

I asked when Christmas started. He told me, “The birth of Jesus Christ was 2,000 years ago, but it was made a United States federal holiday in 1870 by President Ulysses S. Grant.”

My father’s favorite part of Christmas, he said, is “Spending time with my family and being thankful for all we have.”

He added, “Christmas is a time for people to give gifts, just like the three wise men who gave gifts to Jesus at his birth.”

So Merry Christmas to you. Peace on Earth, good will to-ward men.

The BSE Flow is proud to bring you these voices from members of our community who were so gracious in answering our call to share something of what makes the holiday season — and their lives — so special. In 2015 we hope to bring you many more voices from our readers of all ages on themes they’re interested in, passionate about, and eager

to share with all of us — their friends and neighbors. Naturally, we’d love to hear from you, too.Our mailing address is The BSE Flow, 30 Church St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370. You can

also write to us at bseflow@gmail.com or call 413-325-6348. Our best wishes to you and yours for a happy, safe, and prosperous new year.

Respectfully,

John SnyderAdviser and publisher, The BSE Flow

2015FEATURES

we’re working on!

> Coming up in

Yule, a holiday tradition dating back to the fourth century, celebrates the winter solstice. I spoke

with Arwen and her mom, Vila Maya King, who celebrate Yule, and they shared a lot of infor-mation with me:

Yule started in Northern Europe in Finland, Iceland, and Norway. It focuses on the cycles of seasons. The main thing the holiday celebrates is family and gathering with family and loved ones.

According to Arwen, another big aspect of Yule is giving.

“We have opportunities to give all year, and at Yule you re-member those who are in need,” she told me.

Two main parts of Yule are the feast and festivities. Tra-ditionally, in the feast, you eat cornbread, plum pudding, cranberry dressing, butter rum, and eggnog.

When people started cele-brating Yule they were farmers so they were celebrating a good harvest and giving thanks for it — because going into the winter months they knew it was going to be hard. Way back then, peo-ple used to think the sun wasn’t going to come back because the nights were getting longer and days were getting shorter, so they celebrated in honor of

the sun by getting a tree and lighting the Yule log to tell the sun to come back in the spring because they knew they needed the sun to start their harvest.

The holiday is celebrating knowing that, even in dark times, light is always there.

Arwen and her mother have some of their own traditions for celebrating Yule. For instance, besides the traditional foods, they have meat stew with vege-tables and lots of spices, spiced cake, Yule log cake, and hot, spiced milk.

The first thing they do is go out and choose a tree to cut down. Once they’ve cut it down, they say a blessing, promising to plant another tree in place of the one that they cut down.

Instead of burning their Yule log, they place candles in little

divots in the log and burn those. They also have a Yule log cake that they eat as a part of their tradition. When they burn the Yule log they give thanks for all that they have and ask for continued blessing for them and especially for those less fortunate.

During the festivities, they play games like Pictionary and card games.

Yule is a fun holiday to celebrate. Maybe you and your family will add it to your own holiday celebrations.

ARWEN AND VILA MAYA KING cel-ebrate Yule and added their own tradition of playing games.

Ainsley Bogel photo

BY AINSLEY BOGEL

Celebrating winter solstice with warm Yule

Rhonda Stowell Lewis is a BSE alumna and 1989 Mohawk grad, Today she’s the principal of

Hiram L. Dorman Elementary School, in Springfield’s Pine Point section.

She tells the Flow how she and her family celebrate Kwan-zaa, which celebrates African heritage, runs Dec. 26-31, and culminates in a feast.

The holiday revolves around seven important principles called Nguzo Saba: They are umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibil-ity), ujamaa (cooperative eco-nomics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity), and imani (faith).

“We celebrate Kwanzaa every year. We have the candle holder, kinara, and the seven candles. There are three green,

three red, and one black in the middle,” Lewis explains.

“We have a friend who I taught with for six years who provides us with our gifts. She brings us a basket with seven gifts wrapped up. We read our book, one principle a night, and discuss what it means and how we can follow it during the year.”

Then they open a gift.“The kids take turns opening

the gifts, which of course is their favorite part,” Lewis tells the Flow.

If you wanted to say some-thing cheery to someone who celebrates Kwanzaa, the holiday greeting is “Joyous Kwanzaa.”

— BSE Flow staff, with apprecia-tion to Amy Roberts-Crawford for introducing us to her classmate and pal Rhonda.

Kwanzaa for a principled life, with gifts

BSE and Mohawk alumna Rhonda Stowell Lewis with kids Iris and Isaiah. Kwanzaa is about principles, she says.

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