Category Archives: Columns

Published pieces I’ve written, primarily in The Recorder, Greenfield, Mass.

Aug
17
2024

Falls River Has Become Fall River

by Gary Sanderson

A sharp, irritating, old thorn again found its way to my paw recently, placing me on a path I have previously traveled but never discussed in print. I guess now is the time to go there. So, let’s venture off on a little discovery mission to set the record straight and put a vexing question […]

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Jul
30
2024

Locating First Encampment of Deerfield’s 1704 Captives

by Gary Sanderson

Although it’s probably too late to prove the location of an important colonial Greenfield landmark, it never hurts to ponder the possibilities. The place under consideration is the first overnight encampment occupied by captors and captives retreating from the surprise pre-dawn attack on Old Deerfield by French and Indian raiders on February 29, 1704. The […]

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Jul
04
2024

Fawning Season

by Gary Sanderson

Father’s Day has dawned and I’m back in my study, where I’ll remain until the cold of winter shifts me to my kitchen writing nook near the woodstove. Facing two sun-splashed windows instead of sitting with one at my back, this seat can brighten my perspective some. Plus, my library is closer, which is a […]

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Jun
13
2024

Shad-Run Surge

by Gary Sanderson

With fragrant pink weigelas in full bloom and mock orange buds opening into white flowers, I know the annual Connecticut River American shad run is near its end, typical with Memorial Day in the rearview. Long ago were the days when I was among the eager anglers wading the margins of deep, narrow migration channels […]

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Jun
13
2024

Constant Bliss Ambush

by Gary Sanderson

Gray, rainy, spring morning. Woodstove idle. Cool indoors. Still writing in my comfy winter kitchen nook. I’m thinking about colonial New England soldier Constant Bliss, who, by chance, popped into view during recent local-history meanderings. What a name, huh? Constant Bliss. Something to stive for. Perpetual joy. Very un-Puritanical. Born to Reverend John and Anna […]

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May
17
2024

Great Horned Owls Nest

by Gary Sanderson

All I can say about last week’s start of the four-week 2024 Massachusetts spring turkey-hunting season is, what a difference a year makes. It matters not that I no longer view wild turkeys through a hunter’s lens. My interest in the state gamebird will never fade. I will forever continue to observe and learn about […]

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Apr
25
2024

New Weir Information

by Gary Sanderson

I spoke too soon about ancient Indian weirs in the neighborhood. So, with new information in hand about the stone fishing structures, a follow-up’s in order. My last column questioned the curious (to me) design, and thus the functionality, of two extant, manmade, downstream-pointed weirs on the lower Westfield and uppermost Chicopee rivers. Little did […]

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Apr
05
2024

Indian Weir Dynamics: A New Twist

by Gary Sanderson

A long, winding path sat me in this bow-back Windsor chair this morning – seasoned-oak oozing warmth from the woodstove to stimulate thought about Indian weirs. My introduction to these manmade fish-catching structures occurred more than 30 years ago. Deerfield artist/illustrator Al Dray had been following my columns on salmon, shad, and ancient spring fishing […]

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Mar
31
2024

The Penalty-Box Home Run

by Gary Sanderson

March daybreak. Frosty. Spring in the air. Calm and clear. Brooks rattling – one a soothing roar, the other a gurgling whisper. Endless dawn sky blushing to a soft, warm blue. Soon the glitter of frosted lawns would vanish under the first rays of sun peeking over the eastern horizon. The perfect setting for an […]

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Mar
15
2024

Punch Brook Revisited

by Gary Sanderson

One never knows what peripheral treasures will appear during deed research. This one focuses on new information about a brook I wrote about less than two years ago. First, a preface. The brook reference jumped off a deed last week while I was trying to figure out a fascinating Revolutionary War powder horn owned by […]

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