Author Archives: Gary Sanderson

A South Deerfield, Mass., native, Gary was the longtime sports editor at the Greenfield Recorder, a daily newspaper in Greenfield, Mass., where he retired in June 2018, having worked parts of five decades over 39 years. A senior-active, nearly 40-year member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and the Outdoor Writers Association of America, his Thursday column "On The Trail" ran for nearly 40 years, ostensibly focusing on fish and wildlife, conservation and issues pertaining to them in the Connecticut Valley, where his roots reach deep into its oldest burial grounds. He and wife Joanne live in a historic Greenfield Meadows tavern today known as Old Tavern Farm, which has a rich history dating back to the mid-18th century. The home, which became a National-Register-of-Historic-Places building on his watch, served as a small, seasonal bed and breakfast from 1999-2015. Gary's other interests include history, anthropology, archaeology, literature, genealogy, Americana, country auctions, and early-American architecture and landscapes, as well as hunting, fishing and especially reading. His primary focus is the Pioneer Valley, its people, places and critters.

Read & Rant

It’s three till noon, a late start on column day. Please excuse me. Other priorities. So now, here I sit, once again trying to come up with something, potentially dangerous, even though I do have some benign topics in the hopper. My first priority this morning was to finish William McKeen’s recent Hunter S. Thompson […]

Wildcat

Wow! Imagine that. The cougar killed more than a month ago on a Milford, Conn., highway was wild, not the escaped or released pet the experts were praying for. Yes, the road-killed cat was wild indeed, had traveled all the way from South Dakota’s Black Hills, no journey for lightweights. So mark my words, admittedly […]

Lakeside Respite

Loons laughed, wailed and moaned as we enjoyed perfect vacation weather last week on a peaceful North Country lake called Harvey’s in West Barnet, Vt. Most of the time, it was just me, wife Joanne, grandson Jordi and the three dogs. No TV, no cell-phone service, no computer distractions. A heavenly change of pace in […]

Clearing the Air

Here I sit, vacation relaxed, yet compelled to write about a leftover subject I couldn’t get to last week that fits snugly into this, the week of Casey Anthony’s surprising Florida acquittal. My story is about an unfortunate defendant who, like Anthony, was falsely accused and, unlike Anthony, didn’t live to tell about it. Nope. […]

Birthday Ramble

This is a  post on my 58th birthday as I race toward old age with no regrets and no apologies for indiscretions. Though lame, I’m still young at heart, had a great time getting here, will enjoy what’s left and cling with fury to my rebel spirit, borne of the Sixties. * Maybe I should […]

Man’s Best Friend

Catalpa pollen, fawn prints, second nests and puppies: that’s where we’re headed today after an otherwise uneventful week by a careful observer in the fertile Meadows. Catalpas? Well, my itchy eyes and allergic tickles should have told me they were blooming. As kids we called them banana trees, and they bug me every year around […]

Road Kill

So, what’s up with this dead cougar that showed up on a Milford, Conn., highway early Saturday morning? If this is the first you’ve heard of it, then it’s either shame on the news sources that feed you or shame on you for living in a bubble. The story spread like the Arizona wildfires, beginning […]

Fortitude

Strawberries are ripe, hayfields are scalped and the sweet smell of wild rose fills the meadow air … along with a personal sense of accomplishment following a fruitful weekend trip to The Fort at No. 4. There, in historic Charlestown, N.H., participants from far and wide converged for an entertaining French & Indian War battle […]

Power Plays

The powers that be and those who manufacture power form a dangerous alliance, one fish, fowl and bipeds should flee, escaping schemers and investors who may yet breathe their fatal fire, its toxic smoke just a balmy breeze away. First the fish, still struggling to survive, adapting to the industrial cesspools in which they live. […]

Tom Terrific

What a difference a day makes in the game called turkey hunting. Ask 34-year-old Sunderland hunter and Northampton native Ray Cichy II. He killed what may prove to be Massachusetts’ second-largest gobbler taken since records have been kept. Cichy’s 5-year-old trophy tom, taken last week in Hatfield, registered at just under 85 points, according to […]

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