Category Archives: Local history

Historical posts about the Connecticut Valley, most likely the Pioneer Valley.

Jul
15
2019

Yesteryear Rifle

by Gary Sanderson

Discovery. It’s enticing. A mission. A search. A chase. An addictive game. Connecting can be euphoric. Especially when an answer comes out of nowhere. Totally unexpected. Slaps you upside the head like a branch in the woods. Which brings us to a peculiar, 8½-inch, black, pointed, ground-stone object I purchased years ago among a collection […]

posted in Columns, Genealogy, Indians, Local history | No Comments

Apr
18
2018

Talkin’ Turkey

by Gary Sanderson

You know you’re getting old when, day in, day out, you read about baseball diamonds, football fields, gyms and most-valuable-player awards named after people who were either your coaches, teammates or opponents, also friends and folks you knew well.Which brings me to turkey hunting and the spring season that opens in a little more than […]

posted in Columns, Local history, Politics, South Deerfield | No Comments

Apr
04
2018

Springtime Bramble

by Gary Sanderson

Eleven o’clock, gray and damp, gentle spring rain falling, dogs patiently awaiting their daily morning romp around the upper hayfield and down through a Green River-side Christmas tree farm and wetland I long ago dubbed Sunken Meadow. On my walk out back to the kennel, I pass the two-plant rhubarb bed at the southwest corner […]

posted in Columns, Local history, Tavern Tidbits, The Dogs | No Comments

Oct
25
2017

October Ain’t What It Used To Be

by Gary Sanderson

It was Day 6 of the 36-day pheasant season and I had not hunted or even given it much thought. Too hot. Cooler days ahead. OK, there’s no denying I’m getting old and ain’t what I once was physically. Nonetheless, I still have the enthusiasm and physical (limping) prowess to navigate punishing coverts. That said, […]

posted in Columns, Local history, The Dogs | No Comments

Sep
13
2017

Just One Of Them Days

by Gary Sanderson

Deadline looms. It’s 1 p.m. Old Eli Terry just sounded a single-chime, his pendulum heartbeat loud and clear from a custom dining-room shelf midway up the south wall. It was almost as though the old fella wanted to warn me it’s getting late. Before long, it’ll be evening, time to build the Thursday sports pages. […]

posted in Columns, Indians, Local history, Musings, The Dogs | No Comments

Sep
06
2017

Bear Moon’s Rising

by Gary Sanderson

It’s Saturday afternoon, sky blue, sun shining, breeze cool, moon waxing toward it’s full harvest splendor in the midnight sky. Making my rounds, I pull into Clarkdale for peaches. The place is hopping, parking lot full, but I find a space and back in. Myself, I always like my chances better than backing out. Inside, […]

posted in Columns, Local history | No Comments

Aug
23
2017

Crying Wolf

by Gary Sanderson

It’s midafternoon along North Hillside Road in South Deerfield. I’ve parked in a sunny barnyard cluttered with vehicles, tractors and equipment, am walking toward the small auto-body shop behind the barn. Body man Scott Kolakoski comes highly recommended by friends and family. My Tacoma’s front bumper needs to be replaced after getting crunched while parked […]

posted in Columns, Local history, South Deerfield | No Comments

Aug
10
2017

Rattlesnakes, Falcons And Riverside Fish Racks

by Gary Sanderson

OK. A little of this, a little of that this week. First, a new topic I almost addressed a few weeks ago, then pushed to the side. Plus, I intend to rehash a couple of often-discussed subjects, both classic re-emergers that seem to boomerang now and again. Remember, I have filled this weekly space for […]

posted in Columns, Indians, Local history, Salmon, Shad | No Comments

Aug
03
2017

Sugarloaf Cliff-Dwellers?

by Gary Sanderson

Peripherals are sweet little morsels that, during historical research, arise like wandering spirits searching for their lost shadows. A case in point occurred Monday at the former downtown fire station of my South Deerfield childhood. Now the creative upstairs home of New York transplants Ken Schoen and Jane Trigere — with Schoen Books filling the […]

posted in Columns, Local history | No Comments

Jul
26
2017

Magic Moon

by Gary Sanderson

Green corn and smoked sturgeon, anyone? Huh? OK. Fair enough. If it doesn’t sound like standard fare, it probably shouldn’t. Which isn’t to say it was always meaningless in these parts, thus the name of the new August moon, which began Sunday in the midnight sky. Called the Sturgeon or Green Corn Moon, it carried […]

posted in Columns, Indians, Local history, Salmon, Shad | No Comments

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