#73: Pulaski Park reopens!

First off in today’s show, some little stories from around town, including Maurice DeBois talking about his visit yesterday to Smead Island by Montague in the Connecticut River.  He was looking for pre-colonial artifacts… and then the Northfield Mountain Reservoir was released and the water was rising, so he called for rescue.

Next is coverage from the re-opening ceremony of Pulaski Park, Northampton’s main downtown public outdoor gathering place.  Initial design and community input sessions started in 2007.   Demolition and construction started last year.  Lauren Stimson, of Stimson and Associates, the designers, talks about special features of the park, including the rain garden/drainage ditch which takes dirty water from Main St and filters it naturally.  Also there is a play structure of natural materials, cafe and picnic tables, oaks and sycamores planted to replace trees that were cut, a drinking fountain, and more.  The Expandable Brass Band plays as part of the celebration, and people give feedback about the park.

#72: Treecycle, Eli D, Andy Singer cars’n’bikes

In the first 10 minutes, Craig O’Neill, one of 3 partners of Treecycle, talks about their origins starting the arbor business on bicycle. They expanded and bought a truck, and now have just bought a bike trailer instead of a second truck (which would’ve cost 80 times more, if new).

For the bulk of the show, live guest Eli Damon and I, with support from Andy Singer’s book “Why We Drive: the past, present, and future of automobiles in America”, talk about bikes and cars, how to bike more safely (www.cyclingsavvy.org), and some history of how automobiles have shaped our culture.

#71: Water, Berries, Black Lives

It’s dry.  According to a sign I read on the street, a vegan diet’s “water footprint” is 400 gallons per day!  Wow!  But zowzie, a “traditional diet” uses 1000 gallons of water per day!  source: http://www.truthordrought.com/#!National-Geographic-A-Vegan-Diet-Saves-600-Gallons-of-Water-Per-Day/cjds/54c51c600cf2fadc224fdad2

Russ Masse, a co-worker who also works as a bartender sometimes, says that in bars, at the end of the day, they pour the leftover ice in the sink and gush the hot water on it while they go about their business cleaning up, til all the ice is melted.  Russ shares stories about talking to friends and coworkers about water conservation.

 

I came across Blanche Derby straddling her bicycle eating raspberries.  Even the raspberries are dry and withered this year.   Blanche knows all about what to eat in Northampton:  https://www.youtube.com/user/thederb720

 

The bulk of the show is speeches from the AFSC/BLM event on the steps of City Hall the previous evening.  The week before,  graphic videos of police murders of two black men were played around the world (Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castille in St. Paul).  They were only two of at least 5 black people killed by law enforcement in the US that week, but these two were recorded by non-police, and the videos were made public, leading to another swelling of awareness among white people about how black people are not safe or valued in this country.

Some speakers include Zion Barbour, of the Northampton High School Students of Color Associaton; Alisa Klein, Northampton City Councilor; AfroPanther, Z, Izzy, residents; Misha from SURJ, and Jossie Valentin, Holyoke City Councilor.

#70: Citizenship

 

On July 4th, 51 new U.S. citizens were sworn in on the steps of the Northampton courthouse.  What does it mean to be a citizen of the U.S.?  There are some clips from the joyous celebration, including comments from Vira Douangmany Cage, who is running for State Rep to replace the retiring Ellen Story in the Amherst area.

 

Nao Sakurai, long-time resident of the US but citizen of Japan, talks about her hesitancies to become a US citizen, and desires to be a global citizen.

 

A friend who was staying at our house, Pablo, explains how he is a US and French citizen tho he was born in Mexico and lives in Germany, and feels like a citizen of the western world.  Annie Doran, my housemate, shares about feeling US privilege for the first time on a high school trip to Brazil.   More recently she lived in Lewiston, Maine, and witnessed incredible generosity and forgiveness in the refugee community she was involved with there.

#69: Duane – trail mowing; solar grill; Race Amity Day

Duane talks about his adopt-a-trail work, mowing and trimming along the rail trail from North St to Taco Bell.

 

Some people at the Tuesday farmers’ market who were demonstrating a solar grill describe their project.  (Even Larsen from SolSource https://www.oneearthdesigns.com/)

 

And there are clips from the June 12 Race Amity Day event in Amherst.  Voices include Amilcar Shabazz, Ray Elliot, Ellen Story.

 

#68: Orlando Vigil

This show is recordings of speeches given on the steps of Northampton’s City Hall on June 17, 2016, several days after 50 people died in a massacre at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, FL.  Speakers talk about the importance of nightclubs as a safe, or supposed to be safe, gathering space for LGBTQ people, a place for people to be accepted and to thrive.  The speeches are a call to action given in sorrow and love.