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.

Whoa, Nellie!

With more than a week to digest Greenfield’s June 8 biomass vote, I must admit to finding it encouraging on a couple of levels. First, the people have spoken loud and clear. How else to describe a 3,300-700 mandate, one that would have likely been more overwhelming had neighboring towns voted? Second, this may be the beginning of the end for […]

Holiday Issues

The Friday of Memorial Day Weekend turned into an eventful day around my Upper Meadows home in Greenfield. First, while taking a leisurely morning walk with my wife through the sunken meadow down the road, I lost the Tri-Tronics remote-control for my dog collars. Then, upon returning home after a quick, once-around search mission, I […]

Riverside Romp

The hayfield was high, the stream low for mid-May as I descended the compacted farm road to a sunken meadow I visit daily with dogs Lily and Buddy, along a placid stretch of the Green River, still, knee-deep flat-water pooling above a sharp S-turn. I was two-thirds of the way down a short decline to […]

New Buddy

With Bessie and Ringo gone to doggie heaven, I was down to one English Springer Spaniel until this week, when a 10-month-old male from fancy breeding came my way through a field-trialer and wing-shooting friend. What sold me on this animal was his pedigree back to 1996 national champion Denalisunflo’s Ring, not to mention many […]

Greed Kills

That “Drill, baby, drill” chant popularized by frothing, taunting, right-wing crowds during the McCain presidential run has been conspicuously silent in recent weeks, huh? Yep, the silence is deafening. Where have the proponents of offshore oil-drilling gone now that the Gulf of Mexico is swamped in environmental disaster, millions of gallons of crude oil fouling […]

Myth and Mystery

I enjoyed an idyllic, restful weekend, reading studiously under bright sunny skies in the comforts of home, pleasing natural stimuli, sights and sounds, everywhere. Does it get any better? My wife was out of town visiting grandsons Jordan and Arie, providing me with plenty of time to read a fascinating book about birds and their anthropomorphic ways. I purchased it noontime […]

Stormy Skies

It’s that time of year when, sadly, I must report, not write, despite what’s going on around me. Given a choice, I always prefer writing to reporting. There’s a big difference. One not everyone understands. The time is right for writing. Perfect, in fact. The early spring has produced a rare overlap of beautiful colors from the magnolia, […]

Coincidence?

What a difference a day makes. That’s what I was thinking the day after last week’s column about the spring buds and flowers that had greeted me on a morning backyard visit with dog Lily. What had struck me first the previous day were the burning bush’s tiny pink buds, a new color, subtle, lining […]

Native Wonders

I was out back early Wednesday morning with four-legged friend Lily by the brook, running clear and strong, its soothing rattle penetrating dense air as the dog made her rounds, splashing enthusiastically across a shin-high rapid to wet her coat before taking a little romp on the opposite bank. She broke into the perimeter of […]

Fish Tale Addendum

Because I got carried away last week writing about the Medieval Warming Period’s relationship, if any, to contemporary global warming, I ran out of space for an interesting e-mail from old friend Steve Stange. I had mentioned Stange the previous week in a 1974 fish story about the day we coaxed a chain pickerel — […]

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