Special Town Meeting, Dump Stickers, and More

Getting Our Finances in Order

Residents are asked please to attend a special town meeting on Monday, June 23, at 7 p.m. at the Hawley Town Office. The three articles on the warrant are financial items that need to be cleared up before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. Moderator Scott Purinton will do his best to get us through the agenda quickly. If the weather is nice, we’ll hold the meeting outside; in that case, feel free to bring along a chair.

Dump Stickers

We have received dump stickers for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. They are a purple shade; I can’t figure out whether to call them eggplant (aubergine?) or blackberry, but they should look nice on your car windows. I (Tinky) will be in the office on Tuesdays from noon to four. I’m also available by appointment. If I’m not at the office, feel free to call me at home (413-339-4747) to set a time, as long as you don’t do so early in the morning.

Greg Cox in East Hawley also has some stickers and punch cards if you prefer to get them from him. Or you can pop a check (made out to the Town of Hawley) in the mail to me, and I’ll send you what you need.

The prices are the same as last year’s: $40 for a sticker or $41 for two for the same household. And punch cards are still $10 for 10 punches.

Big Rock Walk

This Saturday, June 14, beginning at 10 a.m., Peter Gotta of East Hawley will lead a walk to the site of a “glacial erratic,” a huge rock in the woods that was deposited here long ago by a glacier. The rock is said to be remarkable.

Join Peter and the gang at the entrance to the Old Town Common (adjacent to the Hawley Bog). The walk will be followed by a pot-luck picnic lunch and by a short clean-up session for those who wish to help tidy the Common for the summer season.

Tag Sale Deadline

Hawley’s giant tag sale is fast approaching! This Saturday, June 14, is your last opportunity to donate items for the sale. Bring them to the Hawley Grove (the old Boys’ Club building across from the Meeting House on East Hawley Road) between 10 a.m. and noon that day. And please return the following weekend to shop!

Mohawk Trail Concerts

This weekend Mohawk Trail Concerts will return to the Charlemont Federated Church. As you may know, MTC was started in Hawley by Arnie and Ruth Black, who were renting a cabin at Singing Brook Farm, and our own late neighbor, the composer Alice Parker.

The first concert will feature soprano Amy Burton and pianist John Musto performing Broadway, French, and cabaret songs.

The suggested donation is $25, but any donation is welcome. If you’d like to volunteer to work at a concert, please contact me, Tinky, at drtinky@earthlink.net. Here is the lineup for the concerts this season.

Charlemont Forum

The Forum will return to the Charlemont Federated Church on Thursday, June 26, at 7 p.m. with a talk called “Vision: One Man’s Journey with Blindness and Justice.” The speaker, David Tatel, has served nearly 30 years on our nation’s second-highest court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has championed equal justice and decided landmark environmental and voting cases. He has been blind for the past 50 of his 80 years.

As always, the forum is free to the public and open to all. It and Mohawk Trail Concerts are both funded in part by the Charlemont-Hawley Arts Council.

Hawlemont Community Garden

Shelving Needed

We are looking for some shelving (an old bookshelf would do nicely) to position outside the Hawley Town Office. It will host “Hawley Home Grown,” a garden-sharing project we have in mind. (More on that once we get the shelf!) If you have some shelving to spare, please call me, Tinky, at 413-339-5518 or 339-4747. Your neighbors will be grateful.

Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day this coming Sunday to all; after all, everyone either is a father or has had one. I love remembering my own father on this special day, even though he has been dead for more than a quarter of a century. Here’s a commentary I wrote about him a few years back and recorded for New England Public Media.

That’s all for now. I’m sure there will be lots more news very soon.

Warmly,

Tinky Weisblat
Gal Friday
Town of Hawley